Podcasts about Miss Stevens

 My Date With ‘Miss Big Kahuna'Teen genius lures Sarah Stevens to the water park.Based on a post by edstevens94301. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories.Westville High - The Water ParkMy name is Doug Waldorf, and I'm an Evil genius.Not seriously, I'm an evil genius. My IQ was tested at 195, that's the genius part. And I'm definitely evil. I'm the son of Huey Waldorf, whom you probably haven't ever heard of. Other people call him "Roach Man." Sound familiar?Mom and dad divorced last May. Prior to that I occasionally heard some explicit arguments about dad's unsuccessful sex acts. Seems dad has a healthy interest in many and frequent sexual expressions that mom has no interest in, whatsoever.No only does she not want to experiment in anal stuff; She calls it sodomy and preaches condemnation on him for even begging her for it. Mom's hardly religious, but she is very full of herself and obsessed with her social image.The best ones I overheard were the negotiations for blowjobs. Damn, my dad was desperate. The stuff he tried to trade for coming in her mouth! But never would she ever deep throat him; and hell no; she ain't swallowing that nasty snot for nothing!She didn't respect him, either. I guess I couldn't blame him for giving up on her. And at least he should more class than Danny's dad, down the street from us. See, Danny's dad got caught screwing the hot babysitter. The whole neighborhood knows about that stuff.No, my dad gave up a lot just to walk away as quickly as he could.My only demand was that he take me with him.After my parent's divorce, Dad and I moved so he could take a job opportunity. I found myself walking the halls of my new school, Westville High.As I walked around the brick-lined halls, I noticed that the whole place was full of bimbos and sluts.There's Tina. She's a redheaded little minx who's fucked and sucked almost every male in this school. She's wearing an all-white tennis outfit, and you can see that her tits are just crammed into that little tank top. Shit, her skirt just flipped up, is she wearing any underwear?There's Nurse Brown. That nurse's uniform can't be regulation. It's impossibly tight on her curvy body. The front buttons on her uniform are undone all the way to her stomach, and I can see her black lace bra encasing her pillowy tits. What do they put in the water around here, anyway?There's Principal Schwartz. She's a buxom blonde wench who dresses like a slutty secretary. Today, she's wearing a pencil skirt which is damn tight on her ass, and slit almost all the way up her thigh. She's wearing a loose blouse. Wow, she's got huge fucking tits! I kind of like the evil scowl she's got on her face, too.I'll fuck them later, I told myself. For now, I'm hunting bigger game. Where is Sarah Stevens?I was particularly interested in Sarah Stevens, the slutty high school teacher who had been the subject of multiple stories. In one particularly hot one, she got roped into a drama production, and got into all kinds of sexual hi-jinx with the juvenile boys running the show. I particularly wanted to see the video of the show, where one boy stripped her out of a tight corset and fucked her from behind right there on the stage.Ahead of me, I finally saw her. That has to be Miss Stevens, I thought, standing among a crowd of guys. They were all yelling shit at her, trying to get her to pay attention to them. She had a small smile and her face. She looks pleased with all the attention, I thought.Holy shit! I stared at her apparel. Is that really what she's wearing around school?Ms. Stevens looked to be in her mid-twenties. She's about the same height as I am: 5' 8". Her platinum blond hair was curled in little waves which fell below her shoulders. She's wearing a sports tank top which clings to her ample tits. Her athletic, toned waist and large curvy tits were clearly highlighted by the stretchy material. She's wearing exercise shorts as well, which had a white tie around her waist. Look at that ass! It looked like I could balance a book on that thing!Damn. She's hotter than I thought, and probably just as slutty as all the stories say. To fuck her, I just have to figure out a way to get her alone, and it looks like all the other guys in this school have the exact same idea.I quickly put my plan into action. I filled out a few forms, and, presto, I am the new president of the "Water Park Club." Naturally, our noble purpose is a dedication to the enjoyment of "Water Parks".Every club at Westville has to have at least three members. I quickly bribed two obtuse classmates in my Spanish class, Marie and Greg. These two underage kids just want access to money and cigarettes, so it's easy for me to use my ID (I'm eighteen) and a little bit of evil cash to get them to sign up.Now, with the Water Park Club officially formed, I had to look for a chaperone.I asked Miss Stevens, of course. During our lunch break, there's a line of guys loitering outside her door, all hoping to get lucky and convince her to "relieve their aching erections."Since no one was actually talking to her, I walked right up and explained to her about my club."The Water Park Club," she said, "What's that about?""Well, it's a club for people who like Water Parks," I explain patiently. "Do you like Water Parks?""Yeah! Water slides are super fun," Sarah agreed."Then you have to join," I said quickly. "We could use a chaperone for our next event.""When's your next event?" she asked me.I sighed inside, and told myself to be patient. I would be fucking this idiot in due time. Just for fun, I looked down her valley of cleavage peeking out from under her tank top. "We are planning to go to the Big Kahuna Water Park this weekend. It should be really fun!"Big Kahuna.That's how I managed to get to score a trip to the Big Kahuna Water Park with the gorgeous Miss Stevens.As soon as we arrived, I quickly paid off the two idiots with five dollars in quarters; they happily found their way to the arcade.Then I went to find Miss Stevens. She was sitting under a large beach umbrella reading a copy of US Weekly magazine. The cover of the magazine was "Bieber Fever!" She was wearing a tight purple dress which had a little flower pattern on it. The dress looked almost painted on, and her ample tits bulged out through the deep U-shaped cut at the chest."Hey Miss Stevens," I said, and she looked up at me."Where are the other two members of your club?""I'm not really sure," I lied, "I guess they ditched me. Can you do some rides with me? All of the rides here are for two people!""I thought I would grab some rest time," Miss Stevens complained."But who will I go on rides with? And I'm the president of the Water Park club!"Reluctantly, she agreed.The beautiful Miss Stevens stood up, and we walked to the lady's room together for me to wait for her to change. She went inside for a few minutes. I sat outside patiently.After a minute or two, she poked her head outside and sheepishly asked me to come inside. I did so, checking first that the bathroom was empty."Can you unzip me?" she asked.She turned around and lifted her hair up."Of course," I said. I fiddled with her zipper for a while, it was quite stuck. "I just don't have enough leverage," I said."What's leverage?" she asked."Never mind. Can you just bend over the sink so I can pull the zipper harder?" I told her.Obediently, she bent over the sink and put her hips against it, bending at the waist. I stood directly behind her, with my crotch pressed firmly against her ass. I fiddled with her zipper for a while longer, stretching out the time that I was pressed directly against her electrifying ass. Then, finally, I wrenched her zipper downward, and it finally gave way.With her dress undone, Sarah shimmied out of it. Under her dress, she was already wearing her bikini.Oh my lord! My heart skips a beat. I'd read descriptions of her, but it's just incredible to see Miss Stevens in the flesh.Sarah Stevens was built like a swimsuit model or like a Playboy bunny. Under her clothes, she was wearing a very skimpy bikini. The bikini top was light blue, and was patterned with tiny white polka dots. The bikini top was well-fitting: two triangles that strained to hold in my teacher's overflowing tits. It had thin, white spaghetti strap ties which met behind her neck. Her tits were nestled together by the bra into a pool of cleavage that threatened to suck in my gaze.Her bikini bottoms had the same blue and white polka dot pattern, with white spaghetti strings tied in looping bows at her hips. How does that bottom stay on? Those ties look so fragile that I could undo her bikini with one quick move;"Ms. Stevens? Could you help me with my swimsuit now? My shorts are a little tight." No reason to complicate things, I reasoned. According to what I've read, Miss Stevens is looser than a pack of worn out rubber bands."Doug. You're really cute, and I'd love to see what's under your short," Miss Stevens says with a sexy grin. "BUT. I have a new policy. No sex with my students.""Really? Since when?" I was genuinely surprised that she was offering resistance."Since 10 minutes ago. My magazine US Weekly is very clear that teachers play an important role in society, and teacher/student relationships are a big no-no," she said with just a hint of self-righteousness."Okay, Miss Stevens. No sex. Got it." Yeah, right, I thought to myself. We'll see.I am just going to have to work a little bit harder, I thought. Shouldn't be a problem for an Evil genius like me.The Towers."Which ride should we do first?" she asked, when we had emerged from the changing room."How about that one?" I pointed to a tall, twisty one in the middle of the park.I had already memorized the layout of the park, and for the ride I had pointed to, all riders must have a partner. One person has to ride behind the other on a small plastic sled.When it was our turn to start the ride, Miss Stevens climbed onto the front of the sled, and I sat behind her. Her ass, clad in her polka dot bikini bottoms, was directly in front of my cock, and I quickly got an erection. I poked my cock directly into her tight, bikini-clad ass.I groaned involuntarily at how good it felt! As we got into position to start the ride, I ground my rigid cock forward and back, through the cleft of her ass cheeks. She didn't even seem to notice. Then I looped my hands around her waist, pulling my beautiful teacher in tight to me.The ride was fun, but I was mostly concentrating on the feeling of my cock, wedged firmly between her ass cheeks. It was great!For our next ride, I sat behind her again, my cock again was lodged deeply in the crack of her ass. The ride was down through a dark tunnel. Halfway down the slide, I grabbed onto her dangling tits with both hands.My hands were now full of her bouncy, full tits. I jiggled them, marveling at their roundness and size. Daringly, I felt her large nipples, like little erasers on my fingers. I felt her rippled darker areola ring through her bikini top, and pinched her large nipples. It felt great to have her full tits in my hands!The ride lasted about a minute, and as we crashed into the pool at the bottom, I was happy with how I'd copped a full feel.She came out of the water, her blond hair matted to her head."Did you just feel up my tits?" she accused me."No no, Miss Stevens. I was just trying to steer our slide! You know: left-right-left-right.""Oh, Ok," she said happily. "Thanks for thinking of that!"On our next ride, she got in front once again, and I sat behind her. Once more, my cock slipped between her ass cheeks like it was made to go there. Before we pushed off to go down the slide, Sarah paused to ask me, "Aren't you going to steer?""Oh, yeah. I forgot," I said. Then I put each of my hands on one of her bikini-clad tits, and we rode down together.On our fourth ride, I had her sit in the back. Her long legs encircled me, one on each side. I couldn't help but stare at her almost muscular calves and her luscious, bare thighs. They're intensely smooth, and I could feel every inch of them as they slid past my waist and we sat together.Then she put her arms around me, encircling my stomach, almost like she was hugging me. The feeling of her firm tits on my back was electrifying!"This ride has a stick shift," I explained carefully. "Pull up when you want to slow down, and push forward to go faster."I guide her hands to my full, rigid erection in front of her. She held on with both hands.We went down the ride together, and I groaned in pleasure as her hand jerked my cock back and forth frantically all the way down.After we crashed into the pool of water at the bottom, Sarah said, "The stick shift didn't work too well.""Well, the one on that sled must have been broken," I said.Lunch Lessons."Should we get some lunch?" I said.In the line for lunch, Miss Stevens told me she was on a diet. "I feel like I'm getting fat," she confided in me.She turned around, and I made a big show of staring at her perfect ass. It's immensely firm and tight. It's still wet, and little drops of moisture dotted it. Her blue and white polka dot bikini bottom is a thin triangle covering only the most meager portion of her crack.My cock twitches. Down boy, I tell my cock. You're going to get a piece of that later."Yeah, you should watch it," I lied. "Guys don't like fat chicks."She sat down to save us a couple of seats. I ordered her lunch, and paid for our food."A cheeseburger and French fries? I can't eat that stuff!" Sarah's nose crinkled in protest."No, no, these are a new thing. Super low fat cheeseburger, and skinny French fries.""Really? I love burgers and fries, and I've never heard of that before," she said."Oh, it's a new thing. A specialty, of this particular water park."I did say that I'm an Evil genius, right?During lunch, I made sure to bring up my next demented topic. "I was reading this in the news the other day. A bunch of scientists ha

 My Date With ‘Miss Big Kahuna'Teen genius lures Sarah Stevens to the water park.Based on a post by edstevens94301. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories.Westville High - The Water ParkMy name is Doug Waldorf, and I'm an Evil genius.Not seriously, I'm an evil genius. My IQ was tested at 195, that's the genius part. And I'm definitely evil. I'm the son of Huey Waldorf, whom you probably haven't ever heard of. Other people call him "Roach Man." Sound familiar?Mom and dad divorced last May. Prior to that I occasionally heard some explicit arguments about dad's unsuccessful sex acts. Seems dad has a healthy interest in many and frequent sexual expressions that mom has no interest in, whatsoever.No only does she not want to experiment in anal stuff; She calls it sodomy and preaches condemnation on him for even begging her for it. Mom's hardly religious, but she is very full of herself and obsessed with her social image.The best ones I overheard were the negotiations for blowjobs. Damn, my dad was desperate. The stuff he tried to trade for coming in her mouth! But never would she ever deep throat him; and hell no; she ain't swallowing that nasty snot for nothing!She didn't respect him, either. I guess I couldn't blame him for giving up on her. And at least he should more class than Danny's dad, down the street from us. See, Danny's dad got caught screwing the hot babysitter. The whole neighborhood knows about that stuff.No, my dad gave up a lot just to walk away as quickly as he could.My only demand was that he take me with him.After my parent's divorce, Dad and I moved so he could take a job opportunity. I found myself walking the halls of my new school, Westville High.As I walked around the brick-lined halls, I noticed that the whole place was full of bimbos and sluts.There's Tina. She's a redheaded little minx who's fucked and sucked almost every male in this school. She's wearing an all-white tennis outfit, and you can see that her tits are just crammed into that little tank top. Shit, her skirt just flipped up, is she wearing any underwear?There's Nurse Brown. That nurse's uniform can't be regulation. It's impossibly tight on her curvy body. The front buttons on her uniform are undone all the way to her stomach, and I can see her black lace bra encasing her pillowy tits. What do they put in the water around here, anyway?There's Principal Schwartz. She's a buxom blonde wench who dresses like a slutty secretary. Today, she's wearing a pencil skirt which is damn tight on her ass, and slit almost all the way up her thigh. She's wearing a loose blouse. Wow, she's got huge fucking tits! I kind of like the evil scowl she's got on her face, too.I'll fuck them later, I told myself. For now, I'm hunting bigger game. Where is Sarah Stevens?I was particularly interested in Sarah Stevens, the slutty high school teacher who had been the subject of multiple stories. In one particularly hot one, she got roped into a drama production, and got into all kinds of sexual hi-jinx with the juvenile boys running the show. I particularly wanted to see the video of the show, where one boy stripped her out of a tight corset and fucked her from behind right there on the stage.Ahead of me, I finally saw her. That has to be Miss Stevens, I thought, standing among a crowd of guys. They were all yelling shit at her, trying to get her to pay attention to them. She had a small smile and her face. She looks pleased with all the attention, I thought.Holy shit! I stared at her apparel. Is that really what she's wearing around school?Ms. Stevens looked to be in her mid-twenties. She's about the same height as I am: 5' 8". Her platinum blond hair was curled in little waves which fell below her shoulders. She's wearing a sports tank top which clings to her ample tits. Her athletic, toned waist and large curvy tits were clearly highlighted by the stretchy material. She's wearing exercise shorts as well, which had a white tie around her waist. Look at that ass! It looked like I could balance a book on that thing!Damn. She's hotter than I thought, and probably just as slutty as all the stories say. To fuck her, I just have to figure out a way to get her alone, and it looks like all the other guys in this school have the exact same idea.I quickly put my plan into action. I filled out a few forms, and, presto, I am the new president of the "Water Park Club." Naturally, our noble purpose is a dedication to the enjoyment of "Water Parks".Every club at Westville has to have at least three members. I quickly bribed two obtuse classmates in my Spanish class, Marie and Greg. These two underage kids just want access to money and cigarettes, so it's easy for me to use my ID (I'm eighteen) and a little bit of evil cash to get them to sign up.Now, with the Water Park Club officially formed, I had to look for a chaperone.I asked Miss Stevens, of course. During our lunch break, there's a line of guys loitering outside her door, all hoping to get lucky and convince her to "relieve their aching erections."Since no one was actually talking to her, I walked right up and explained to her about my club."The Water Park Club," she said, "What's that about?""Well, it's a club for people who like Water Parks," I explain patiently. "Do you like Water Parks?""Yeah! Water slides are super fun," Sarah agreed."Then you have to join," I said quickly. "We could use a chaperone for our next event.""When's your next event?" she asked me.I sighed inside, and told myself to be patient. I would be fucking this idiot in due time. Just for fun, I looked down her valley of cleavage peeking out from under her tank top. "We are planning to go to the Big Kahuna Water Park this weekend. It should be really fun!"Big Kahuna.That's how I managed to get to score a trip to the Big Kahuna Water Park with the gorgeous Miss Stevens.As soon as we arrived, I quickly paid off the two idiots with five dollars in quarters; they happily found their way to the arcade.Then I went to find Miss Stevens. She was sitting under a large beach umbrella reading a copy of US Weekly magazine. The cover of the magazine was "Bieber Fever!" She was wearing a tight purple dress which had a little flower pattern on it. The dress looked almost painted on, and her ample tits bulged out through the deep U-shaped cut at the chest."Hey Miss Stevens," I said, and she looked up at me."Where are the other two members of your club?""I'm not really sure," I lied, "I guess they ditched me. Can you do some rides with me? All of the rides here are for two people!""I thought I would grab some rest time," Miss Stevens complained."But who will I go on rides with? And I'm the president of the Water Park club!"Reluctantly, she agreed.The beautiful Miss Stevens stood up, and we walked to the lady's room together for me to wait for her to change. She went inside for a few minutes. I sat outside patiently.After a minute or two, she poked her head outside and sheepishly asked me to come inside. I did so, checking first that the bathroom was empty."Can you unzip me?" she asked.She turned around and lifted her hair up."Of course," I said. I fiddled with her zipper for a while, it was quite stuck. "I just don't have enough leverage," I said."What's leverage?" she asked."Never mind. Can you just bend over the sink so I can pull the zipper harder?" I told her.Obediently, she bent over the sink and put her hips against it, bending at the waist. I stood directly behind her, with my crotch pressed firmly against her ass. I fiddled with her zipper for a while longer, stretching out the time that I was pressed directly against her electrifying ass. Then, finally, I wrenched her zipper downward, and it finally gave way.With her dress undone, Sarah shimmied out of it. Under her dress, she was already wearing her bikini.Oh my lord! My heart skips a beat. I'd read descriptions of her, but it's just incredible to see Miss Stevens in the flesh.Sarah Stevens was built like a swimsuit model or like a Playboy bunny. Under her clothes, she was wearing a very skimpy bikini. The bikini top was light blue, and was patterned with tiny white polka dots. The bikini top was well-fitting: two triangles that strained to hold in my teacher's overflowing tits. It had thin, white spaghetti strap ties which met behind her neck. Her tits were nestled together by the bra into a pool of cleavage that threatened to suck in my gaze.Her bikini bottoms had the same blue and white polka dot pattern, with white spaghetti strings tied in looping bows at her hips. How does that bottom stay on? Those ties look so fragile that I could undo her bikini with one quick move;"Ms. Stevens? Could you help me with my swimsuit now? My shorts are a little tight." No reason to complicate things, I reasoned. According to what I've read, Miss Stevens is looser than a pack of worn out rubber bands."Doug. You're really cute, and I'd love to see what's under your short," Miss Stevens says with a sexy grin. "BUT. I have a new policy. No sex with my students.""Really? Since when?" I was genuinely surprised that she was offering resistance."Since 10 minutes ago. My magazine US Weekly is very clear that teachers play an important role in society, and teacher/student relationships are a big no-no," she said with just a hint of self-righteousness."Okay, Miss Stevens. No sex. Got it." Yeah, right, I thought to myself. We'll see.I am just going to have to work a little bit harder, I thought. Shouldn't be a problem for an Evil genius like me.The Towers."Which ride should we do first?" she asked, when we had emerged from the changing room."How about that one?" I pointed to a tall, twisty one in the middle of the park.I had already memorized the layout of the park, and for the ride I had pointed to, all riders must have a partner. One person has to ride behind the other on a small plastic sled.When it was our turn to start the ride, Miss Stevens climbed onto the front of the sled, and I sat behind her. Her ass, clad in her polka dot bikini bottoms, was directly in front of my cock, and I quickly got an erection. I poked my cock directly into her tight, bikini-clad ass.I groaned involuntarily at how good it felt! As we got into position to start the ride, I ground my rigid cock forward and back, through the cleft of her ass cheeks. She didn't even seem to notice. Then I looped my hands around her waist, pulling my beautiful teacher in tight to me.The ride was fun, but I was mostly concentrating on the feeling of my cock, wedged firmly between her ass cheeks. It was great!For our next ride, I sat behind her again, my cock again was lodged deeply in the crack of her ass. The ride was down through a dark tunnel. Halfway down the slide, I grabbed onto her dangling tits with both hands.My hands were now full of her bouncy, full tits. I jiggled them, marveling at their roundness and size. Daringly, I felt her large nipples, like little erasers on my fingers. I felt her rippled darker areola ring through her bikini top, and pinched her large nipples. It felt great to have her full tits in my hands!The ride lasted about a minute, and as we crashed into the pool at the bottom, I was happy with how I'd copped a full feel.She came out of the water, her blond hair matted to her head."Did you just feel up my tits?" she accused me."No no, Miss Stevens. I was just trying to steer our slide! You know: left-right-left-right.""Oh, Ok," she said happily. "Thanks for thinking of that!"On our next ride, she got in front once again, and I sat behind her. Once more, my cock slipped between her ass cheeks like it was made to go there. Before we pushed off to go down the slide, Sarah paused to ask me, "Aren't you going to steer?""Oh, yeah. I forgot," I said. Then I put each of my hands on one of her bikini-clad tits, and we rode down together.On our fourth ride, I had her sit in the back. Her long legs encircled me, one on each side. I couldn't help but stare at her almost muscular calves and her luscious, bare thighs. They're intensely smooth, and I could feel every inch of them as they slid past my waist and we sat together.Then she put her arms around me, encircling my stomach, almost like she was hugging me. The feeling of her firm tits on my back was electrifying!"This ride has a stick shift," I explained carefully. "Pull up when you want to slow down, and push forward to go faster."I guide her hands to my full, rigid erection in front of her. She held on with both hands.We went down the ride together, and I groaned in pleasure as her hand jerked my cock back and forth frantically all the way down.After we crashed into the pool of water at the bottom, Sarah said, "The stick shift didn't work too well.""Well, the one on that sled must have been broken," I said.Lunch Lessons."Should we get some lunch?" I said.In the line for lunch, Miss Stevens told me she was on a diet. "I feel like I'm getting fat," she confided in me.She turned around, and I made a big show of staring at her perfect ass. It's immensely firm and tight. It's still wet, and little drops of moisture dotted it. Her blue and white polka dot bikini bottom is a thin triangle covering only the most meager portion of her crack.My cock twitches. Down boy, I tell my cock. You're going to get a piece of that later."Yeah, you should watch it," I lied. "Guys don't like fat chicks."She sat down to save us a couple of seats. I ordered her lunch, and paid for our food."A cheeseburger and French fries? I can't eat that stuff!" Sarah's nose crinkled in protest."No, no, these are a new thing. Super low fat cheeseburger, and skinny French fries.""Really? I love burgers and fries, and I've never heard of that before," she said."Oh, it's a new thing. A specialty, of this particular water park."I did say that I'm an Evil genius, right?During lunch, I made sure to bring up my next demented topic. "I was reading this in the news the other day. A bunch of scientists ha

Quaranteam – Book 1: Part 22 Andy answers the ladies most vulnerable concerns.. Based on a post by CorruptingPower, in 25 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels. "So why me, huh?" Sarah asked her. "Why'd'ja choose me to play with you and Andy?" Piper bit her bottom lip, as if she was a tad nervous, before she shyly looked up at Sarah. "'Cause I'm kinda turned on with how you talk, Sarah, and I was kinda hoping you could talk to me that way while I was trying to make our man happy?" Despite all the massive confidence he'd seen Piper bearing almost the entire time he'd known her, she seemed almost nervous that Sarah would consider turning her down, as if her voiced desire was a step too far beyond the pale. Sarah licked her lips as her eyes widened. "I will totally fucking do that as long as you agree to just one fucking condition. If you don't, well, I can just go upstairs and leave you two to it." Andy was about to ask, but Piper beat him to it. "What condition is that?" "You can't, like, get fucking mad at me for anything I say, or anything I call you. 'Cause if I'm gonna fucking do this, then I'm gonna fucking do this, and I can't be all in my fucking head about you thinking I'm being mean or rude or shit. So you can't be all pissed off that I call you dirty things if you're fucking asking me to talk fucking dirty to you," Sarah giggled. "That cool, bitch?" "Not only do I promise not to get mad, Sares," Piper said to her. "I promise to like it." Sarah nodded. "Good, then why the fuck aren't you on top of that cock already?" Piper pursed her lips into a smile. "I was waiting for you to tell me I could, Andy." Sarah's hand swatted over and spanked Piper's ass with a loud smack. "He shouldn't have to tell you, you daft bitch. You wanted to fuck him, he totally didn't say 'not now' or some shit, so that means fucking time is on!" In the middle of Sarah's sentence, Piper reached down to grab his cock and get it aligned so she could slide right down onto it, straddling him to get his cock as deep inside of her as she could, her other hand resting on his shoulder. "That's a good girl," Sarah purred. "Don't you feel so much better without an empty cunt, you athletic slut you?" Piper nodded, leaning over to kiss Sarah again, although Sarah pushed her back after a few seconds, clearly intent on keeping her mouth free so she could talk to her. "I've had like a dozen partners, and not one of them made me feel like Andy does," Piper said, looking at Sarah's face. Sarah slapped Piper's ass again, this time even harder. "So why are you fucking telling me, bitch? Am I the one whose cock is jammed up your stupid snatch?" Piper moaned as Sarah's fingernails dragged against that reddening flesh, shaking her head, turning to look at Andy. "You feel so fucking good inside of me, Andy," she said to him. "Thank you for taking me in." On 'in,' she bounced down hard in his lap. "Thank you for saving my friend." On 'friend,' she did it again. "It's a shame you're on fucking birth control," Sarah teased, "because these are fucking breeding hips, and you'd look super fucking cute with a baby bump, but I guess you need to go and win your gold medal before we can talk about getting you bred like a proper bitch." Piper's tongue swiped out over her own lips, as she nodded. "I'll do it eventually," she said eagerly. "I'll happily bear your child, Andy, but I gotta do the Olympics first, to prove to myself that I can really do it." "You don't  " Andy started but Piper kissed him once more, jamming her tongue into his mouth sloppily, making sure to silence him. "Hmm, I think she likes the idea of you fucking breeding her, Andy," Sarah said with a laugh. "The idea of you pumping her fucking cunt so full of fuck cream that it's practically oozing out of her, so messy and sloppy, like a good little whore. You like that image don't you, Pipes?" The athletic brunette nodded quickly. "I do I do I fucking do so fucking much," she panted, as Sarah reached one of her hands in to pinch one of Piper's tan nipples firmly, giving it a twist, which made the girl groan huskily. "And yet, you're still fucking holding back," Sarah scolded. "You gotta fucking give in like a good girl, otherwise you won't get what you fucking what, what I know you think you fucking deserve, but you don't deserve it until you've ditched all those fucking fears and embraced who the fuck you are from now on." She gave Piper's ass another hard smack before sliding her hand around the athlete's waist, moving her thumb down to rub against Piper's clit, as Andy felt her start to tighten up even more around his shaft. "But I bet, I just fucking bet, that if you just let it out, let it all fucking out, you'd feel fucking better, and you'd get what a good bitch deserves." "Fuck, Sarah, you're so fucking good with those fingers," Piper whimpered. "Damn fucking straight I am," Sarah said. "But I'm gonna stop if you don't cut loose." "I'm, I'm fucking scared," Piper whispered quietly. "We all were, Pipes, but you learn to fucking let go and trust, not just in Andy but in the family, in all the fucking rest of us, that we've got your fucking back, that we're gonna fucking take care of you, so either you're fucking in or you're out, what's it gonna be, bitch?" "I'm in,” she cried, her voice shredded and frantic, clearly about to have an immense orgasm. "I'm in I'm in I'm so fucking in,” "Not fucking yet you aren't," Sarah said harshly. "Gotta let that last fucking guard down, gotta let that last fucking truth out. You'll feel better, bitch, but you gotta fucking say it,” "Andy Rook, I fucking love you!" Piper shouted before she kissed him hard, and she started to have a monstrous orgasm, her whole body violently trembling, and the spasms of her cunt around his cock forced his own release, as he started spewing arcing loads of steaming jism inside of her, the two of them locked together on top and bottom, the intensity of the orgasm cratering them out. As soon as it had passed, Piper buried her face into Andy's neck, laughing a little bit even as he could feel her eyes watering, tears of joy slipping from her face. "I thought I'd never say that to another person as long as I fucking lived," she whispered against his skin, "but I do, I fucking love you, Andy Rook." "And I love you too, Piper Brown," he said, stroking her hair with one hand, his other intertwined with Sarah's. They stayed like that for a minute or so before Piper started to giggle, turning to look over at Sarah. "I don't know how you do it," she said to the tall redhead, "sitting there watching and not demanding to get involved." "Oh I'm happy enough to wait my fucking turn," Sarah giggled. "But pretty quick Imma need you to get off of him so I can fucking get off." Piper's giggle burst from her as she nodded then leaned over to kiss Sarah. "Thank you for that," she told her. "I hate having to ask for help." "That's what family's for," Sarah answered. "But get a little, give a little, so Imma also need you to help me out here." The brunette climbed from his lap, and his cock was absolutely soaked with their juices, and while he was starting to soften, that feral look in Sarah's eyes told him he wasn't done yet, and made him begin to stiffen up again. "Whatever you need, Sares," Piper said, "I got you, boo." "I'll just need a helping hand," Sarah said, getting up off the couch. Andy tried to get up as well, but Sarah shoved him back down once more. "Who told you you could fucking get up?" she giggled. "I need you to stay there and let me run the fucking show this time, 'cause I'm a little fucking nervous, and I want to have the fucking control to do this how I think fucking feels right. I hope that's fucking okay with you, because if it isn't, well, I don't fucking care, now, do I?" Andy wasn't entirely sure what Sarah had in mind, as she turned away from him and moved to straddle his legs, but very quickly, it dawned on him what she was doing. "I can't fucking believe Emily did this shit before I did," Sarah said, reaching one hand back to grab his cock. Her position had her legs spread wide, as she moved to rub the tip of his cock along her cunt before dragging it downward, nestling it against the rosebud of her asshole. "Had to be fucking first to something, I guess." He could feel the tall woman getting his cock aligned right and then slowly started sitting down on it, his shaft pulsing in excitement as he felt her body, tight and a little unprepared, try and resist his cock's entrance before she finally seemed to lose patience with her own hole, as she pushed down to get the head of his cock inside of her ass. Her head leaned back, her eyes looking up at the ceiling, as a guttural, almost paleolithic, moan of pain and pleasure boiled out of her. "Fuck that's fucking big that's big holy fucking shit balls that's a big fat fucking cock and it's fucking going up my fucking ass oh my fucking God what the fuck am I doing?" "We can stop if  "   Sarah looked back over her shoulder at Andy with a wildness in her eyes that he'd never seen before, a deranged grin on her face. "Stop? Are you out of your fucking mind? This is the greatest fucking feeling I've ever fucking felt in my fucking life! Why the fuck would I want you to fucking stop?! I want fucking all of it!" she said to him as she pushed herself down onto his cock until he was buried as deeply as he could get inside of her backdoor, the tall girl's skin covered with a layer of goosebumps that made the fine red hairs of her arms stand on end, her body vibrating in orgasm as she did. "Jesus Fucking Christ, I feel like such an utter fucking whore and I fucking love it! You've got that big fucking cock jammed right up my fucking virgin asshole and it made me fucking cum just going the fuck in, so now you gotta fuck me or I gotta fuck you but somebody's gotta fuck somebody right the fuck now!" Piper had sort of been standing off to the side a little bit, and one of Sarah's hands shot up and grabbed one of the brunette's wrists, yanking her close. "Er, what, what am I supposed to be doing here, Sarah?" "You can fucking rub or you can fucking lick, but you gotta fucking work that fucking clit of mine while he's fucking my ass, so get fucking to it!" she barked, and the commanding tone to her voice made it clear the actress was not asking for input on the matter. The tanned athlete took one of her hands timidly down to rub against Sarah's cunt before moving to stroke her clit, as Sarah began to bounce up and down in his lap, one hand on the arm of the couch, the other on Andy's hip. In this position, Sarah had completely control of the tempo and the force with which she slid her ass down onto his cock, something he'd expected her to use to keep it slow and tender, but instead, Sarah was practically trying to break the couch, slamming her ass down into his lap as hard as she cold each time, while Piper was caressing her clit. "Fuck that's so fucking good oh my god why didn't I ever get fucked in the ass before I love this so fucking much but it's all your ass, Andy, Daddy, it's only ever your fucking ass, you're the only one to ever fuck me this way, and I fucking love that and I keep God! I keep fucking cumming over and over again, so please Daddy, please please please cum in my fucking virgin ass and let me fucking feel it, let me feel you own the last fucking bit of me no man's ever had, because I don't need any other fucking man but you because I fucking love the ever loving shit out of you you big cocked motherfucker you hear me I fucking love you Andy so fucking cum, cum right the fuck up my ass! Fuck! Fuck! Muph!" She leaned her head back at the end onto his shoulder, craning her neck so that she could jam her lips against his, as he felt Piper's other hand cradling his balls, squeezing them gently, and the sensations were all too much, as his body let loose another orgasm, flooding Sarah's rectum with a gusher of an orgasm as their tongues clung to each other before they both slumped back, his back against the couch, her back against his chest, both of them nearly too exhausted to move. Huginn, who had remained completely undisturbed by all of this, finally had had enough, and the black cat got up and hopped down the couch, moving to a different unoccupied couch, hopping back up, curling into a ball and settling down once more, a perturbed look on his face. Then Sarah began to feverishly giggle, waves of curved red hair over her face before she pushed them out. "Em was fucking right. That was totally fucking amazeballs. Thanks Pipes." Piper winked a little bit as she pushed a fingertip inside of Sarah's cunt, causing the actress to gasp a little bit in surprise before Piper slid the finger back out, lifting it up to her lips, licking it in front of the two of them. "We're definitely gonna need a shower before we get into bed," she said, and they all laughed at that. Chapter 38 In a rather unusual turn of events, Andy woke the next morning on November 18th to an empty bed. It wasn't uncommon for him to awake with only a couple of the girls still in bed asleep with him, but a totally empty bed was almost an unheard of experience at this point. He glanced at his Apple Watch and saw that it was around 10:30, which meant he'd definitely slept in a bit. Like most writers, Andy was generally a nocturnal creature, staying up late and getting up late, which had put his schedule at odds with some members of the family, but they'd mostly learned to make it work. He slipped on some boxers, pulled on his jeans and tugged on a t shirt,  this particular one a gift from some fantasy convention he'd been a guest speaker at,  and headed over to the balcony, stepping out onto it with a smirk. Down at the pool, most of the girls were nearly finishing their morning work out, being led by Sheridan, a sea of sports bras and yoga pants, doing the last part of their high intensity section of the workout, and Andy could vaguely hear Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby" being played from a portable speaker near them. (Andy still wasn't sure which bothered him more, the fact that they were listening to Vanilla Ice or the fact that Vanilla Ice opened that song with "Stop! Collaborate and listen!" and yet there were no signs of any collaboration going on. In fact, it didn't seem like Ice understood what the word collaborate meant. The writer in him just couldn't bear it.) Lauren and Taylor weren't there as he expected they'd gone in to work today, especially since it was Taylor's first day of working in months. He hoped that she fit in well with the 49ers organization, but at this point, he wasn't entirely even sure who was working there. Niko also wasn't working out as he figured she'd gone to work at the base today. He wasn't sure what her schedule was like these days so he trusted her to let him know when she was coming and going and when it would be important for him to know. She was more than capable enough to manage her own schedule. It was nice to spot that both Fiona and Moira were in the group, between Ash and Sarah in the front row of three, and both seemed to be in good spirits. Moira's unruly mass of red curls had been braided into a tightly woven tail that whipped behind her as she danced to the beat of the music, occasionally slapping against either Fi or Sarah, both of whom laughed wildly when it did. It made Moira look a little like a redheaded version of the original polygon model of Tomb Raider, now that he thought about it. The weather was still mostly overcast, and it looked like rain might even be on the schedule for later in the day, something he didn't mind one bit. California had mostly been in a drought for years, and any rain the state could get was seen as a blessing, particularly since they now lived in more densely wooded areas. The last thing Andy wanted was a wild fire to take his new home. He leaned against the railing, just enjoying looking over both the estate and his family before Sheridan finally spotted him up on the higher floor balcony as the song came to an end. She pointed to Andy to draw the girls' attention to him, as all of them turned to look at him. The words were out of his mouth before he even knew he was saying them. "Good morning, angels," he shouted to them. "Good morning Andy!" they shot back in matching cadence. "You know, you really ought to join us some mornings, Andrew," Emily teased politely. "Hmm. I'd be worried about making a fool of myself." "I can make sure we don't overwhelm you on your first work out, dude," Sheridan said to him with a wink and a grin. "Let's give it a go tomorrow, 'kay?" Andy groaned a little bit. "God help me. Okay, I'll give it a try, but no making fun of me!" All the girls made various catty comments and gestures as he rolled his eyes and headed back into the house. He had a little bit before any of them were back inside anyway, even if they were finished with their workout. While the pool house was being converted into Tala's workshop, it still had a large group shower room, and the girls tended to go and cool down in there before splitting off afterwards. A few of them would go and shower in their own individual bathrooms, but the majority of them enjoyed the communal experience, as it let them all continue to get to know each other. Andy headed down to the kitchen and found that Jenny had made him a mini breakfast burrito that was waiting with a glass of pineapple juice on the little kitchen island, Katie also sort of milling around the room as both women bowed to him when he entered. He'd tried to get them to stop doing that, but he'd learned that attempting to discourage his staff of anything generally only resulted in them doing it even more than they were originally, so he was trying a new tactic now,  let them burn themselves out on it and hope they'd stop on their own. "Enjoy your breakfast, sir!" Jenny said, moving around the counter before dropping down onto her knees. "I know I'll enjoy mine!" Her fingertips unbuttoned Andy's jeans and he was thankful he hadn't put on a belt this morning, as Jenny began to lick and suck on his cock, slowly running her tongue along it while her wife watched on, although there was an unusual expression on Katie's face, something Andy wasn't quite sure of. "What's on your mind, Katie?" he said, feeling Jenny's lips slowly push down around his length. They had told him before that they wanted to make getting their needed dose as low impact for him as possible, and had stressed that they enjoyed this sort of casual acquisition. "You look like you're worried about something." The Hispanic girl sighed and nodded. "I, I wanted to discuss something with you, sir, but I wasn't sure quite how to bring it up. Shit, I'm nervous even thinking about it now." Andy nodded, chewing a mouthful of his food before taking a sip from the glass to wash it down. "Look, you don't have to tell me anything, Katie, but if something's on your mind, you'll probably feel better if you just get it out of your head. No matter how much worse you think it'll be if you say it, letting it rattle around your brain like a cage full of bees is only going to be worse." "I suppose that's fair, sir," Katie said, chewing on her finger nervously. "It's just, this isn't the sort of thing I thought I'd ever say, sir, and it makes me feel strange. I think it's probably just part of whatever the treatment's doing to me, but it's, it feels like it's both a part of me and not a part of me, you know? Like some part of me I didn't know about but was lingering in the dark shadows of my mind the whole time?" Andy frowned a little. "No, I can't say I do know what you're talking about." Jenny's mouth popped off his cock as she made an exasperated noise from his waistline. "Uuuugh! Just tell him already!" she said, frustration in her voice, before she pushed her lips back down around his cock once more. "Sir, I think, I think I'd like for you to fuck me, maybe just the once, maybe just to see if maybe I might like it," Katie said, her voice sounded terrified that he would reject her or yell at her. "I mean, I don't have a problem with if both of you don't, but you certainly needn't do it on my behalf, Katie," Andy told her, as Jenny started to suck harder, as if to pull the resistance out of him. "You made it very clear to me when I arrived that you were a lesbian, though, and I wouldn't dream of asking you to change that." Katie threw her hands up, her eyes widening a little bit, almost in shock at herself. "That's just it! I am! I know I am! I've always thought girls were the only sexy things in the world! The idea of being with dudes just made me uneasy! I imagine I felt about guys the same way you feel about guys,  I don't want to be with that!" "Then why  " "I don't know, alright?! I don't fucking get it! Thinking about any other man just makes my stomach all queasy and nauseous, but the last few weeks, when I've been thinking about what it looks like when I see you fucking Jenny, I don't feel like I do when I think about any other man, and I don't understand what's going on!" The woman looked like she was about to cry, and Andy reached over and grabbed her hand, pulling her over towards him, his fingertips curling around hers. "I am never going to make you do anything you don't want to do, Katie," he said sternly. "But they did tell us that the serum was going to have some side effects, and that it was likely going to make some physiological changes to our bodies, some foreseen and some unforeseen." Jenny had eased off the speed of the blowjob a bit, but hadn't stopped entirely. "If you want to try actual sex with me, I'm not opposed to that, but  " "But you don't want me to think I'm doing it on your account. I'm not, sir, I assure you! I don't even know where these thoughts are coming from, but I told Jenny about a week ago, I had a sex dream with you in it, and we were fucking, and in the dream, it seemed like I liked it quite a lot," Katie sighed. "I know that doesn't necessarily mean anything,” "They say sex dreams generally aren't about sex." "But, but when you were taking Whitney the other day? I found myself getting wet, thinking about what it would be like, what it would be like to be her, to be getting fucked by you, and, and I think I want to try that at some point, not the tying up or collaring or anything but, but I think I'd like for you to fuck me once, just to see, just to see if I really do feel differently about you than I do all the other men in the world,” "And you're okay with this, Jenny?" he said, reaching down to stroke Jenny's hair back. Jenny nodded, popping her lips off his cock with a loud smack. "I still want both of us to be there any time you dose either of us, sir, but if this is a thing she wants to try, well, it would be unfairly judgmental of me to fuck you myself and not allow her to do so as well. 'Sides, she told me about these feelings long before she told you, and that's all that really matters." She smiled at him kindly, then lowered her lips back down around his shaft once more, her eyes still looking up at when she did. "Then it's fine with me, Katie," he said, looking back at the Hispanic woman, one of her hands being held by him, the other being held by Jenny from below. "Thank you, sir," Katie said. "For being willing to do that with me, and for not judging me because of it." "Katie, look. If you want to try it, that's fine. If you try it and you don't like it, that's fine. If you try and do like it and want it more regularly, that's fine. If you change your mind right before we're about to do it, that's fine. Whatever you want here, it's fine. I just want you to be satisfied with whatever decision you made, and I want it made because it's what you want, and not what you think I want, okay? I am surrounded by beautiful women, and I'm just trying to do everything I can to do right by all of you. So whatever you want, you just need to tell me." She nodded, before looking down with a smile. "You were taking your time because I was talking to him, weren't you, Jen?" The curvy girl between his legs giggled a little and nodded, then started thrusting her face into his lap faster and more intently, and Andy could feel that release building up inside of him, even as he finished the last bite of breakfast. He was more than a little taken back when Katie leaned in and whispered into his ear, "My wife's such a good little cocksucker, isn't she? Give us our breakfast, Master, that fucking load of hot cum right into her fucking mouth." The unexpected words made his cock throb and finally he pumped a few squirts of his cum into Jenny's mouth, as she shuddered at his feet. The woman kept her lips sealed just past the head of his cock while her fingers jerked along the rest of his length, making sure to milk out the last of it before she pulled her head back, keeping her lips pursed together before standing up and immediately kissing Katie, swapping that cum between them, Katie's form trembling as she leaned against Jenny, the Latina being held up by her wife for just a moment until the orgasm passed. Both women pulled from the kiss, licking each others lips for just a moment before turning to look over at Andy, almost as if they were ready for a second course right now. Katie winked at him. "You know, I know it's all chemical, but dios mio if that orgasm from tasting your cum doesn't leave one sweet ass high,” Jenny moved to tuck his cock back into his pants, zipping them back up and buttoning them, as she glanced over at Katie. "Don't forget to update the Needs Board, hun," she told her wife, who nodded in response. "Got it, babe. Anyway, sir, let me think about it, but next time, I think I'd like you to fuck Jenny with me there, and then fuck me with Jenny there, so I have some time to let it settle in my brain that I'm going to go through with it," Katie said to him. "You know, actually fucking a dude." "Whatever you want, Katie." "Thank you, sir. Oh, don't forget, you have a phone meeting at 2 with that director candidate, Erica Xiao." He nodded. "Good. Yes. Thank you for reminding me. I might have forgotten if you hadn't." Jenny snickered a little. "Em would've had your balls if you had." "She's got them anyway," Katie shot back. Andy arched an eyebrow at them. "Don't you two start." He drank the last of his pineapple juice then pushed the plate forward. "Thanks Jenny, for everything. I'm going to head to my office. Maybe send down lunch a little after one." "Yes sir. Also, don't forget that Miss Steele will be here sometime today." "Oh right," Andy said, chuckling. "Sometimes everything gets so busy, I can barely remember my own name, much less who's coming and going. Katie, can you set up a large portion of the back yard to fence off, so that Maya's dogs will have a place to run and play without us worrying about them getting into the pool if she wants to leave them outside?" "Miss Steele's got dogs?" Katie said, groaning. "Great. Now I get to start having to watch the backyard for landmines." "That's why I was thinking if we gave them their own area that's fenced off, at least we'd have it clearly marked that it's the part of the yard with occasional hazards, although Sarah insisted that Maya is known to always clean up after her dogs. Maybe put a bin outside for her to toss them all?" Katie nodded. "I can spend the day prepping the yard so we're not all worried about stepping in dog shit when we're walking in the grass." "Good on you." "Did Miss Washington said what kinds of dogs they were, sir?" Jenny asked. "Pomeranians, I think," Andy said. "Those aren't dogs, those are animated dustmops," Katie said with an amused snort. "And here I was worried they would be Saint Bernards or Rottweilers." As he headed down to his office, he was starting to run through the checklist of things he needed to do today in his head. He definitely wanted to talk to Moira now that she was up, but he figured he would let her come to him in her own time, as it had been so long since they'd really talked to one another. He would need to pair with Maya when she arrived, and he also needed to check on Lexi and see how she was doing. As much as he wanted to head over to Xander's and see his friend's new house and meet all the rest of his partners, Xander had asked him to wait until the weekend, so he would have more of a chance to get settled, both into the house and into the household. He was almost at the door of his office when his iPhone began to ring, and he fished it out of his pocket, surprised to see Phil The Younger a.k.a. Lesser Phil a.k.a. Phil Pak (not Phil Marcos), on the screen, as he answered it. "Heya man, long time no talk!" Andy said to him. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" "Nothing good I'm afraid," Lesser Phil sighed. "I'm not going to be able to make poker night on Friday. In fact, I may not be able to make poker night for a while, I'm afraid." "That sucks man. What's going on?" "Well, me and the family were relocated, so we're quite a bit further from you now, and the place where we're at is very strict on quarantine procedures, so if we came and saw you and the rest of the gang for poker, we'd have to quarantine for a week before we would be allowed back in to our house, so while we'll try and do it a couple of times a year, for the foreseeable future, it's probably off the table." "Where's they move you to that's got such strict guidelines?" "They're calling the place Valhalla Shores. They decided that they didn't want to put all their eggs in one basket and have New Eden be the only place for Level Fives in the Bay area, so they built a new one over closer to the coast. We're where Pacifica used to be, basically, although I think they tore almost all the old city down and put up this place, like a giant gated mansion community. It's a little snobby for my liking, personally, but you know how Brandy has always been in terms of keeping up with Joneses, so when the NSA offered to move us over to here, she made me jump on it immediately. It's mostly just spooks and techbros over here," he sighed. "You'd fucking hate it. I know I do, but it keeps peace in my household, and that's about all I can ask." "Wait, techbros and spies crossbreeding? That sounds like a horrible idea, like, just the worst. On the other hand, if your quarantine protocols are that strict, it might mean I never have to deal with techbros again, and that might make the whole thing absolutely worth while. Hey, can I recommend a couple of cockish investors over here in New Eden to get transferred over there?" Phil the Younger laughed. "You fuckin' wish, dude. Whole place is fucking creepy anyway. Brandy says some of the women are kind of Stepford ish, and she feels like they're definitely an in crowd and an out crowd and she has zero interest in joining the in crowd. They keep trying to get her to join one of their hot yoga classes, but she said they'd have to break her legs to get her to do that shit. I hope she was being figurative, but you know Brandy." "That I do. Well, we'll miss seeing you guys, but I get it. You're doing what you have to do to keep your family safe and sound. Keep us posted, but I appreciate you calling to tell me personally." "Copy that, man," he said. "See you on the other side." After Lesser Phil had hung up, Andy wondered how many actual community hubs had formed in the Bay area since the cultural rebuilding had started. He also wondered how hard it would be for him or any members of his family to leave New Eden, even for a short while. He'd been craving an animal style In N Out burger for nearly a year now, and while he could ask Jenny to make something equivalent, there was nothing quite like having the real deal. He was certain Niko would know what the current entrance/exit policy for New Eden was, and he resolved to ask her when he saw her. It couldn't be that strict, he realized, because Lauren had been coming and going to the training camp for over a week now. Maybe he could just get in the Tesla and drive down to an In N Out, assuming he could find one that was open. When he walked into his office, he saw that his two cats, Muninn and Huginn, were curled together in a bundle in his writing chair, the two forming a sort of gray black yin yang symbol. Also, as promised, atop of his desk was a brand new laptop, a silver MacBook, with a Post It note on top of it. It was from Whitney (he could recognize her meticulous handwriting) and said "Try it. If you hate it, we'll get something different. “w" As much as he wanted to move the two cats so he could sit down in the chair where he got his best work done, he decided it was okay to sit at the desk for a while, even though it felt way more formal, although he realized he wasn't doing much creative today, mostly just the assorted busywork that sprung up around the actual creative process. The new laptop was set up with access to his emails and had all of his writing transferred onto it, so he could consult back to other things as he started answering questions from his agent and his editor, losing an hour or so before there was a knock at the door. "Come on in," he said. The door opened and Moira and Fiona slipped in together, closing the door behind them. All of their possessions clearly hadn't arrived from cross country yet, because he noticed each of them was wearing one of his t shirts, the fabric hanging big and loose over them like an overcoat. Moira had on one of his Biffy Clyro shirts, which he found fitting, whereas Fiona had clearly dived way back into the depths of his closet and was wearing a Gin Blossoms t shirt. "It's good ta see ya again, Andrew," Moira said shyly, smiling across the room at him. "I've missed ye something fierce." "How are you feeling, Moira? I knew the serum can react strangely to people who've had complicated medical history, and I imagine dengue fever isn't the only strange bug you've picked up over your wild and crazy life." "I cannae tell ye how great I feel, Andrew," she said, starting to move across the room to him. "An' how thankful I am ye trusted Fi enough t' let her bring me in wit' her. Yer, nae mad, are ye?" He shook his head. "Look, Moira. We had a wonderful time together, but that was decades ago. But I've always trusted Fi, and if you and her were together before now, there's no reason any of that should change." "Of course it'll have t' change, ye big dummy," she giggled. "Ye know she's always loved ye, ye daft shite? E'en when I came inta her life, that has nae changed." "Except she's changed and I've changed, so maybe it has changed too." "You haven't changed that much, Andy," Fi said, "and neither have I. You still trusted me enough to offer me a place in your family, even when I had a condition I wouldn't tell you about." "Were ye surprised when ye saw me?" Moira asked him. "Well, I'd figured it out before I saw you. I figured it out as soon as I heard your voice, and that let me put two and two together. But I was very surprised when I heard your voice, yeah." "Surprised inna good way, I kin hope?" "Naturally, although I was hoping you were going to be happy with me, even with the weight I've put on and the hair I've lost," he chuckled. "I think ye look sexy, ya galoot," Moira twittered. "Hold me hands, Fi. It's all I kin do t' keep from havin' a crack at him right now." Fiona wrapped her arms around Moira's waist, shaking her head. "He's not going anywhere, Moira," she said with a kind ease. "Aye, an' neither are we, an' I don' wannae be too far behind the other gare ruls, an' two of 'em are already in th' lead." "One day at a time, love. One day at a time." "You two want to sit and have a chat?" Andy said. On the other side of his desk were two chairs, so he could entertain meetings in here if he needed, although the chairs held the cats more often than they held people. "Oh aye, let's have a chinwaggle," Moira said, slipping from Fiona's arms, moving over towards Andy's desk, but instead of moving to sit in one of the chairs across the desk, she moved to slide herself up and into his lap, her legs dangling over one of the arms of the chair. Fi then moved across the room, and moved his laptop to one side, so she could scoot her ass up and onto his desk directly in front of him, making sure not to knock anything off. "So tell m  " he started to say before Moira leaned in and kissed him hard, her body light in his lap, but the strength with which she pulled his lips onto her own was more than a bit forceful. "I bloody love ye, Andy," Moira said to him. "And Jaysis, do you smell fookin' amazin'." Andy grinned a bit, arching an eyebrow. "Sounds like you may have picked up a little bit of Piper's superpower along the way. I wonder if that's a side effect of the dengue fever antibodies you have in your system." "I cannae tell ye where it comes from, but Jaysis, you smell better'n any meal I've ever eaten in me life. I want ta breathe ye all day long,” She buried her face against the nape of his neck, as he looked to Fiona for sympathy, but saw only mirth on her face. "So, Moira, tell me what you've been up to since we last saw each other." "School," she said, pronouncing the word like 'skoo will,' "then more school, then residency, then Doctors Without Borders, at least until I ran in ta Fi again in DC. It's no tha' excitin'." "Doctors Without Borders, tending to patients in the middle of warzones? That's the absolute definition of exciting to me." "Then you're a fool," she giggled. "I mean, yeh, I was shot at now an' again, but that's a part o' life anyway, isn't it? I was tendin' to kids who needed doctors, an' while I loved tha' work, when I shacked up with Fi again, she wanted me to be safer, wha'ever th' hell tha' means." "It means you're saving lives without people trying to take yours, Mo," Fiona scolded, kicking the Scottish lass with the tip of her leather boot. "She's still undecided whether she wants to take up private practice here in New Eden, or if she wants to go and work in the hospital they're finishing up alongside the base." "In a few years, anyway," Moira said. "After I've given ye a son." Andy's head leaned back a little bit. "Little early to be thinking about stuff like that, isn't it, Moira?" "Like hell, Andy," Moira said, pulling her face back from his neck so she could look him in the eyes again. "You," she said, tapping his chest with a fingertip, "need children. I," she continued, tapping her own, "want tae have one or two before I get back to the medical life. So all we're doin' is just wastin' fookin' time until you get me ripe." "You still don't need to rush right into it, Moira," Andy said, stroking his fingertips against the back of her neck. "Take some time to get settled and comfortable here in the household before you go rushing straight towards the respawning finish line." "Spoken like a laddie who doesnae realize our clocks 'r tickin'," she grumbled. "But, aye, I'll do me best nae to rush it too much. And all the other gare ruls have bin sooo kind tae us. I didnae know what t' expect, 'specially wit' all th' famous faces y'got around these parts." "They're just people, like anyone else," Andy replied. "Think how I feel, trying not to let anyone down." "Ach, yer daft, laddie," Moira said, tickling him a flash. "Yer a good man, an' tha's all tha' matters." "Emily told us all about her experiences this morning, what with the poker game and how it felt being traded like cattle. She was horrified by what horrible things the few remaining men in power are up to, and Niko explained how she basically had to force you to get into the game to rescue Asha and her mother from Covington," Fiona said. "I'm sure that must've been quite taxing." "You had to risk people to win people, and while I certainly didn't want my ex as part of my life, I didn't want to consign her to a life with someone horrible either," he sighed. "I feel very fortunate that it all worked out in my favor, but it was such a gigantic risk." Fiona tugged his chair a little closer to the desk with her leather boot, shrugging. "Life's one colossal risk, Andy. You've always known that." "You think your mother's going to be okay with you being part of a polypod, Moira? I only met her the once, but she struck me as an especially stern Catholic." "When th' news comes out, she'll come 'round, 'specially since th' Pope's apparently okay wit' it, or so we were told a' th' base," Moira shrugged. "Besides, it saves me th' trouble from havin' t' tell 'er I'm shacked up wit' Fi here. She's still nae comfortable wit' 'th' gays,'" she said, making air quotes with her fingers. "Didnae know how t' break it t' her tha' her daughter's as queer as a two dollar bill." "I hope I'm not coming between you two," Andy said. "Nah," Fiona laughed. "We're both bi, and both need some cock in our life. Yours'll do. It was generally my favorite." "An' mine, although I didnae try tha' many." "Tell him how many, Mo." "I don' wanna." "C'mon." "Fi,” "Mo,” Moira sighed. "Fine, wha'ever. I've only had three cocks, Andy, an' yours was right smack dab in th' middle. Me first was a boy in school, and me most recent was another doctor jus' before I hooked up with Fi again. I generally prefer gare ruls to lads, but ye always felt, felt like home t' me." "She was worried that her piercings were going to put you off her," Fi said. "Between the nose stud and the pierced nipples, she told Niko that she felt too different than anyone else it sounded like you had in the family." "I'll admit, I'm not generally a big fan of excessive piercings, but the whole look works on you, Moira. I mean, if you'd had one of those septum piercings like a bull ring, I might have had some reservations, but who am I to tell someone what they do to their body?" Fiona giggled slightly. "I jokingly suggested she get one of her eyebrows pierced once and she slugged me hard enough that she almost dislocated my shoulder." "Do I look like I wanna join bloody Evanescence?" Moira growled. "Did you two decide if you want a bedroom to yourselves, or one each?" Moira shook her head. "We're wit' you, laddie, no matter where y' lay yer head down." "Although I was thinking I might turn one of them into an office for me to work, if that's okay," Fiona said. "Sort of like your little office here." "Yeah, of course," Andy said. "Whatever you want. At some point, all the rooms will be spoken for, but until they are, they're fair game for whoever wants them." "At some point, some of them are going to have to be nurseries," Fiona stressed. "Especially since you've already got two pregnant ladies in the house. How far along are they?" "A couple of months," Andy said. "So it's still early days, and we haven't really told many people outside of the family yet, since the first few months are the diciest." "When's th' big wedding gonnae be?" Moira asked. "Niko told me her family wouldn't give two shits if the wedding happened after the kid was born, but Ash said her family might have some issues with it, so she and I might have a legal ceremony beforehand and then when the world is open again, when I have the giant wedding ceremony, she'd be part of that too." "Seems a fair compromise," Fi agreed. "It would also mean you have someone to function as Head of Household if you were incapacitated and needed someone to make a decision on your behalf." "Don't go planning to have me put into a medical coma any time soon, Fi," Andy joked. "That's still a few months down the way." "Good thing you've got yourself a doctor in the house now, hmm?" "How're you two feeling about all of this? I know it's a lot to process all at once." "It's a lot of bloody names ta learn," Moira grumbled. "I almost want ta see nametags on e'eryone fer a few months." "You'll pick them up pretty quick," Andy said. "And I was smart or lucky enough to not get any two partners with the same first name, thank god for that." "I dinnae find out if they tol' you, Andy," Moira interrupted, "but jus' so ye know, my cycle's shorter than th' rest of th' gare ruls. They kin go about ten days 'fore they cannae think clearly, but I kin only go about six." "Nobody told me that, no," Andy said. "Any other differences I should know about?" "Nothin' ye need concern yerself with," she replied, kissing his cheek. "I'm sure all th' lasses have got their own quirks so ye need nae concern yerself." "Alright then, I'll try not to worry. Anyway, I appreciate you stopping by to say hello, but I do have an online meeting in just a little bit, so I hate to kick you out but  " "No no! You've got work to do, so c'mon, Mo," Fiona said, hopping off his desk, pulling Moira from his lap. "Let the man talk to the voices in his computer." Moira leaned down and kissed him one final time, resting her face against his for what felt like minutes before she smiled and pulled back. "I love ye, ye daft git." "Love you both," he said, as they slipped out of his office. The meeting went as well as could be expected, and Erica Xiao seemed like she might actually be a good choice for directing the first Druid Gunslinger movie, as she seemed to intuitively grasp the undercurrents of the story without having to explicitly call them out, something that was a refreshing change of pace from the first couple of candidates he'd interviewed. Of course, he didn't get the final say on who was directing the movie, but Working Title seemed to genuinely care that he liked the director, so that they would remain true to the books. They'd gone against authors' wishes before, and it hadn't gone well for them, so now they were trying to make sure the author approved of, or at least understood the reasoning for, any changes that were made in the process of translating it from a book to a movie. After that, he decided he needed to go and check on Lexi. Even though Phil had told him that her imprinting process time would take a bit longer, he thought it wise to swing by and make sure that she wasn't in any pain, but when he arrived by her door, he found Niko sitting on a chair in front of it, a Lee Child book in her hands. "Hey Niko," Andy said, approaching her. "I thought you were on the base today?" Niko shook her head, smiling at him as she tucked a slip of paper in as a bookmark before closing the paperback up, setting it on a table next to her. "With Lexi having a different reaction to the serum, Phil asked me to stay here and keep tabs on her, and report in what other irregularities she was going through, especially since I noticed a few right away." Andy's brow furrowed in worry. "How concerned should I be?" Niko sort of tilted her head a little. "That's just the thing, babe. I don't think you need to be at all worried, but you are definitely going to have a challenge on your hands for the first few days after she wakes up. I think letting Jenny help with that, though, would be a wise move." "What the hell does that mean, Niko?" She jerked her head over her shoulder. "C'mere and lemme show you." After sliding off the chair, she opened the door and they both stepped into the room, and Andy immediately started to panic, but he felt Niko's hand take his and squeeze it reassuringly. "She's fine, Andy, regardless of how she looks." "What, what the hell is happening to her?" There was a large growth on one side of her, a faded white swell over her body, and Andy didn't even know what exactly he was looking at. "She's healing," Niko said. "The reason you're going to want Jenny to help is that by the time she wakes up, I think Lexi's not going to have any scars left. It's almost like she's shedding the scarred layer of skin and replacing it with fresh, newly healed skin, like a snake molting. We've seen it in rare cases on the base. I told you early on that I knew the serum did some basic additional healing when it was first taken into the woman's body, but that level of healing varies a lot from patient to patient, more than anything else about it. When she was injected on the base, I knew there was a, call it ten to fifteen percent chance this might happen, that the serum might go into overdrive with her scars and began repairing the skin and the nerves, but I didn't want to get her hopes up in case it didn't happen, because we still don't know what does and doesn't cause the reaction." "And, and you're telling me her skin will just be back to normal?" "Whoa, easy there. 'Normal' is a very flexible word, and one that we don't like using on the base," Niko told him. "She's likely to be healed but considering all of those nerves will be freshly regrown, they are going to be hyper sensitive, and that means people are going to have to be careful around her, because it'll be easy to overwhelm her until those nerves have gotten accustomed to working again and they know how to moderate their intake. We also have no idea what it's going to do to her PTSD, if anything, and that's what we need to keep an eye on." "But, she is going to be okay, right?" "This isn't going to be a problem, Andy, but it's up to all of us to make sure that the repercussions of her sudden healing don't overwhelm her. But I think it'll be okay." Andy sighed, turning to press a kiss against Niko's cheek. "Is there anything else you aren't telling me?" "Honey, what I'm not telling you could fill up Levi's Stadium, but you just have to trust me that I'm doing it all with your best interests at heart, okay?" He chuckled, shaking his head. "You're lucky you're so cute." "It's one of my natural defense mechanisms," she teased. "C'mon, let's leave her be." They stepped back out into the hallway and Niko closed the door behind her. "I figured I should be here when she wakes up, so I can explain to her all of what happened, and prepare her for what to expect. It's the least I can do." She jerked her chin upward, to get Andy to look behind him. "Looks like you're up." Nicolette was walking down the hall, a soft smile on her face. "Just letting you know, Master, that Miss Steele's ride over just buzzed the gate and she should be at the front door any minute. Miss Washington and Miss Stevens said they would meet you there." Andy kissed Niko again before turning to walk with Nicolette towards the stairs, heading to the front door. "Showtime!" Chapter 39 It was with a little surprise that Andy stepped out of his front door to see a familiar electric blue Tesla parked in front of it, Phil helping Maya remove her things from his trunk. "Hello Maya," Andy said, walking down the steps towards her, seeing Emily and Sarah were already there, Emily talking with Maya while Sarah was crouched down next to the little carrier, giving the dogs inside scratches while cooing at t

Quaranteam – Book 1: Part 17 Andy has his interview for primetime. Based on a post by CorruptingPower, in 25 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels.   It turned out that a dozen women all getting ready for television appearances was, in fact, a major operation. The master bathroom was large enough that four of the girls could use the mirror at the same time, but beyond that, they had to party up with "prep buddies," each making sure they were getting themselves ready as well as their prep buddy. Andy was, of course, ready long before anyone else was, even with Emily, Sarah, Ash and Niko sharing him in the shower. He left the four of them in there, although they emerged not long after, each running a hair dryer while they applied their make up and got into their outfits. He was glad to escape the bathroom as early as he did. The girls were in go mode now, and the last thing he wanted to do was get in anyone's way, so he took the time to prep the house. The house had a large empty room that seemed like it was meant to be used as a ballroom. They'd used it as their poker room on and off, but it was also just a nice place where lots of people could stand around and talk. It also had French windows opening into the garden, so the lighting of the room was excellent. Andy figured it would be the best place for the group interviews to take place. Katie and Nicolette helped him get enough chairs for everyone into the room, while Jenny was prepping a large lunch for all of them, a massive batch of jambalaya, so they would have a bit of leftovers in case the 60 Minutes crew arrived hungry. They were scheduled to arrive at one in the afternoon, and had asked them not to make plans into the evening, so clearly the interviews would take as long as they took. Nicolette had been doing cleaning a bit at a time for the last two weeks, so the only thing that really needed to get a major touch up was Andy's writing room, which the 60 Minutes people had asked to use for their one on one interviews, something he'd agreed to, although he was going to lock his laptop away before they arrived. He didn't imagine they'd want to steal his writing, but he was notoriously paranoid when it came to that sort of thing. The cats seemed extremely confused by all the hustle and bustle, but also seemed content to just rub up against the leg of whoever was closest, and follow people around when it seemed like they were going from one place to another. Andy also took time to check in with both Tala and Jade, making sure they doing okay and still on board with talking to 60 Minutes, something he was glad he did. Tala, as expected, was starting to feel the mental itch from having been primed the day before but not yet imprinted, though she was handling it far better than Sheridan had, even if she wasn't as far along with it. She said she'd never felt quite so sexually frustrated before, but that it was a great feeling to have, and that she enjoyed her body acting with wills and wants of its own. Jade had news for him as well. "I want you to imprint me as soon as you're done imprinting Tala, Andy," the bubbly blonde said to him. "And I want you to record it. Not for 60 Minutes, though, but for my father. He has tried to control me my entire life, and I'm just friggin' sick of it, so I want him to see that his dang control is broken, and that I'm giving that control to another man, a better man. So you can use my phone to make the video of it, and I don't care what it shows and what it doesn't, as long as he sees my face when I'm taking that orgasm, when I'm starting that imprinting process, so he knows that he can't push me around any more." She'd been talking with a sort of intensity that he'd never seen from her before, and he let her finish. When she stopped talking, it was almost as thought it dawned on her how forcefully she'd been lecturing him on what to do. "That's, that's okay, right?" "You're sure about this, Jade?" he said, taking her hand in his own. "I'm sure he's done some rough things over the years, but he's still your father, and you want to be careful not to do anything you'll come to regret." "The only thing I regret is being that asshole's daughter," she said, wrath in her voice. "I know it's a lot to ask, especially since I'll be sucking you off, which means that it'll be hard not to get your cock at least a little in the shot, but it's important to me, okay? I'm, I'm reclaiming a part of myself that bastard's taken from me. So you asked me earlier what I wanted, and that's what I want. And I want him to see it while I'm imprinting, so there's no way he can talk to me about it." He nodded. "Alright then. You can change your mind at any time between now and then, but if you don't, then that's what we'll do, just for your father, just at your request. Although, you probably also want to record a message for him to go along with it before hand, so he's not just randomly getting that video without any context." She bristled in mirth, nodding quickly. "Good point. I'll record that on my phone after lunch." "Or during the time they're doing one on one interviews with anyone else. I know they're planning on doing smaller interviews, one with Emily and Sarah and one with just me, but I don't know who else they're going to want to talk to." "If they want to talk to me, they can, and if the 49ers organization has a problem with it, well, the heck with them, I don't have to continue being a cheerleader for them anymore." "Give it some thought. You've still got time." By lunchtime, everyone was ready except for the staff, who'd gone to get themselves ready once lunch had been served. Nobody was sure if the 60 Minutes crew would want to talk to them, but Andy felt it best to make sure that anyone who was willing to have a conversation with Katie Couric was in a state where they could. Nicolette had said she didn't care one way or another, and while Katie wasn't thrilled about the idea of being interviewed, she agreed that if Katie Couric wanted to talk to the two of them, she and Jenny would make themselves available for it. Over the course of lunch, it was clear the girls were doing everything they could to keep Andy's mind off the interview, as the family got to know both Tala and Jade better, while Whitney was still in Nicolette's chambers, in the middle of the imprinting process, and Fiona and Moira were in the early stages of it in the master bedroom. Tala had decided that her first project, once she got her workshop set up in the poolhouse, was going to be to make Andy a puzzle desk of his very own, and once that idea had been voiced, all the girls had thoughts and ideas on things to incorporate, with Sarah filling in suggestions based on his books, and Aisling filling in suggestions based on his life. Niko thought it should also incorporate all the girls' names, so that he might have a better time remembering everyone, which made everybody laugh, simply because the family had indeed grown so large. They were just finishing cleaning up after lunch when the doorbell rang, and Andy's heart felt like it stopped just a little. Ash poked him with a smile. "It's just the media, babes," she teased. "You'll do fine. Go say hi." He headed up from the dining room and down to the front door, where Nicolette was standing in the doorway, greeting the visitors. Standing in the doorway was Katie Couric, one of the best known journalists in America, with a couple of crew members behind her. "Hey, Ms. Couric," he said to her as he approached. "Welcome to my home." He held out his hand and she seemed thankful for the normalcy of shaking hands. "Please, Mr. Rook, call me Katie," she said, "and thank you for inviting us for the interview. I know the President's office had something to do with it, but you could have said no if you didn't want to. Having a couple of famous faces like Miss Stevens and Miss Washington selling the new normal will help the general population of the nation make more sense out of this tragic new normal." "Well, I'll call you Katie if you'll call me Andy," he said. "How's your tour of New Eden been so far? Niko mentioned you did a short interview with her at the base, although you mostly just talked with Dr. Varma and my boy Phil." "You're friends with Mr. Marcos?" she said. "Is that how you got in here?" "Well, there's a story behind that. I can tell you now, but I suspect you'd rather get it down on camera. It's not all that long a story, nor is it really that interesting. I suspect Phil's story was a lot more engaging than mine will be." "Did you get your writing room all set up for our interview?" "I did," he said, "and we also set up our ballroom with chairs, so you can talk to all of us together first. I know Em and Sarah are willing to talk to you either in their little studio, or you can use my writing study instead. It's up to you." "I'll have my team take a look at both locations while we're getting set up in the ballroom. Is everyone in the house willing to take part in the interviews?" "Two of my partners have chosen not to take part, simply because they aren't sure how their employers would react to it, but everyone else in the house is willing to chat," he said, as he felt a hand sliding onto his shoulder. He turned around to see Lauren standing behind him. "Actually, Andy, Sheridan and I have decided we're going to do it anyway, and if the Niners or the people at Cirque have a problem with it, fuck'em, we'll sue their asses into the ground," the tall blonde Aussie told him. "If this is gonna be the new normal, pretendin' like it's not is just as bad as sayin' it ain't, so we'll be there." "You're sure, Lauren?" he asked her, smoothing his hand over her hip, knowing it usually soothed her nervous when she was wound up. She placed her hand over his and gave it a soft squeeze, smiling at him. "Yeh, 'sides I dunno how much of management's gone at this point already. You gambled with us, so let us have a turn at the plow fer a change." He leaned up and kissed her softly. "Well, I've known you long enough, hon, to know if your mind's made up, there's no point in trying to talk you out of it." Andy glanced back at Katie Couric, shrugging. "Guess you get your pick of the litter then." Behind her, the crew had started ferrying in lights, tripods and camera equipment. While Andy had thought he'd only seen two additional people at first, it turned out Katie Couric traveled with a crew of nine, and there had been a second and third S U V behind the van that he hadn't seen. It felt a little like his house was being invaded, but he did his best to not get in anyone's way, as Nicolette started to lead a producer away, to show her where both Andy's writing room and the actresses' little studio were located. "C'mon, I'll take you down to the ballroom, and we can get settled there," he said, starting to lead Katie and her two companions down the hallway. One of them, Geraldine Amato, was the unit's head producer, and the other, Poppy Delgato, was the lead camera woman. "Was your crew mostly women before the plague hit?" "Mostly," she said, "although I've got a couple of men in here as well, and thankfully, they've been given the treatment via their wives. My husband has been getting it through myself as well, for about a month now." "I'm a little surprised they let your whole crew into New Eden," he said, as they headed down the stairs to the lower level. "They've been fairly paranoid about letting people in, I've been told, so I imagine you had to quarantine for a little bit after you got here." "We did," she said, stopping to look at one of the promotional posters on the wall, this one in particular for "The Trouble With Werebears." She glanced over at him with that winning smile she loved flashing on the news regularly. "In fact, Geraldine here's now sharing my husband with me, because she didn't have anyone before hand, and needed someone she could count on to be around while doing her job." She reached up and tapped at the words 'New York Times Bestselling Author' on the poster. "It says here you're a bestselling author, but I have to admit that before preparing for this interview, I'd never heard of you." He shrugged with a little smile. "There's leagues of difference between a Bestselling Fiction author and a Bestselling Genre Fiction author, I'm afraid. When you're talking non genre, you're talking hundreds of thousands of copies, but for genre, well, drop a zero off there, so if you're not into urban fantasy, I won't take it as a slight. Jim Butcher, who's probably the most popular of us working in the field, only sold a couple hundred thousand copies for his most recent Dresden Files book, and that series has a huge following, far bigger than my little corner. Hell, I think the reason a publisher finally took a gamble on me was that I was playing in a similar wheelhouse and they were hoping to piggyback off his success." "E. F. Winston is a genre writer, but her books have sold in the hundreds of millions," Katie countered. "So clearly there are breakout stars." "Ah, but those are young adult books, and the teen fiction genre has a handful of crossover success that never seemed to roll over into other things in our genres," he sighed. "The Dagger Academy books were definitely science fiction, but you didn't see a spike in sales for people like John Scalzi or William Gibson when those books took off, did you? The same for those Harry Potter books. Sold by the truckload, and yet, did many of those kids go and read works from Roger Zelazny, Fred Saberhagen, Emma Bull, Terry Pratchett, Steven Brust, Simon R. Green or any of the other massively prolific fantasy masterminds we've had working for decades? No, we're not all that different than any other form of entertainment,  everyone's just hoping that they get one big bite from the apple at some point during their career." "But I heard they're making a movie based on your books?" "Well, when two high profile actresses are willing to sign onto a project, that goes a long way into pushing it out of Movie Hell," he laughed. "The option had been signed years before that, but once Sarah and Emily expressed interest in playing supporting roles, well, that got the whole thing into turnaround quite quickly. It's like the screenwriter William Goldman always said, 'Nobody in Hollywood knows anything.'" Andy shrugged a little bit as they entered the ballroom. "Besides, I figured you'd want to get all this out during the on camera interview." "Oh, we'll go over it again then, but it doesn't hurt to do a little pre camera screening, just so I know what kinds of things you're likely to say, so I can facilitate the conversation in moving in the right directions," she said. "You've been interviewed several times before. Hasn't anyone ever done that?" "Nope," he said, moving to sit in one of the chairs in the front row. "But then again, I've never been interviewed for television before." They'd originally set up the 17 chairs as one chair facing two rows of eight, but Geraldine started moving the two rows of eight into four staggered rows of four. "We'll bring in some risers, so we can get everyone into one big shot," Geraldine told Katie. Poppy nodded. "We'll need to set up four cameras in here," she said, as she started to help Geraldine block out the room. "One for the group shot, one for Katie, one for Andy and one to rove to whoever's answering questions in the group setting. We can use fixed cameras for the first three, and I'll manage the fourth. We'll have them all rolling all the time and you can just pick and choose what you want in the editing room." "How do you want to order them, Katie?" Geraldine asked her. "Well, Andy here in the front corner, then Niko, the woman we interviewed yesterday next to him. That'll be our link between the segments. Then Sarah and Emily next to her, because star power up front. Beyond that, we can figure it out." "I'd like to insist Aisling, my first partner, be up front with me," he said, just as Ash was walking into the room, along with Emily. "The balance might be a little weird," Poppy frowned. "No no," Geraldine, "we can make that work. We'll just do five in front and three in the top row, so we frame Andy in the center, with Niko and Aisling on one side, Emily and Sarah on the other." "Good," Katie said, "that reinforces the whole 'large family' front and forward as our first visual cue, so that the viewer has to confront it right away. Does that work for you?" she said, asking Andy his opinion for the first time. "That'll work," he replied. "You can even put the three staff at the back, since they're willing to be here for this, but aren't likely to volunteer much in the way of answers." "Jenny and Katie, er, Kate might not, Master," Nicolette said, entering the room with the rest of Katie Couric's crew in tow, "but I'm certainly planning on speaking my mind given a chance, because I don't want people to be given the wrong idea." "What's the wrong idea?" Katie asked, tilting her head just a little bit. "That we're here involuntarily, or that this isn't what we wanted, or, hell, even that Master Rook here wouldn't let us change if we wanted," the French maid teased. "You know if I had a nickel for every time he's sort of reminded me I don't have to call him Master, and I've had to remind him that I like calling him Master, well, I could enjoy a nice two week stay in the Bahamas, once it's opened up again. In fact, little secret, every time he reminds me of it lately, I've just gone out of my way to say it even more, so I can watch him blush." "I think you like watching him blush," Ash said, moving to close in around Andy. "Katie Couric," Andy said, "this is my first partner, Ash Blake, and I'm sure you've probably already met Emily Stevens." Katie made it a point to shake Ash's hand first. "A pleasure, Miss Blake." She then turned to Emily, taking the tiny blonde's hand and shaking it as well. "I've actually interviewed you before, Miss Stevens, although I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't remember. You seemed quite busy on that press junket, and I know they were just wheeling journalists in and out for you." "I keep a diary of anyone who's interviewing me, Ms. Couric," Em said, a wry grin on her face, "so I assure you, I remember the interview quite well. Any surprises we should be wary of?" "Oh, I've always got a few things planned to lighten up an interview," the journalist said, somewhat evasively. "It's not like I'm interviewing Vladimir Putin or anything. You're not going to have me murdered for a question you don't like." "Well," the Brit said, "I still wouldn't anger Sarah too much. She's, excitable, and prone to fits of exaggeration." "I'm fairly certain she's never poisoned anyone to win a role, Em," Andy said to her. Emily clicked her tongue in amusement. "Let's not be too hasty with that judgment, Andy. Anyway, shall I round everyone up and we can get started?" "Yes, I think my team will be ready to start in about twenty minutes, so if you can get everyone together, that would be excellent." By the time all the girls were in the ballroom, risers had been placed under the seats, the lights and sound were set up, a boom microphone used to cover the majority of the girls, although clip on mics were used for Katie and Andy. They also had a handheld microphone that the girls could pass around if anyone wanted to give a detailed answer. They were structured as had been discussed, with Niko and Aisling to Andy's left in the front row, and Emily and Sarah to his right. Behind them, Lauren, Taylor, Sheridan and Piper sat. The third row had Asha, Hannah, Tala and Jade. In the back row sat the staff, Kate (his Katie), Jenny and Nicolette. All of the fiancees were up front, and everyone else was sat in order of arrival, with the exception of the staff, who were at the back, at their own request. It felt right that Ash was on one side of him and Emily was on the other, as if the two of them wanted to be close in case he needed support. It wasn't until Andy saw it framed up in the monitor as they were showing Katie that it dawned on him just how big his household was growing, and even still, he knew there were already three more in the house not in this shot. He was always aware of how big his family was, but seeing everyone together in one single framing shot, it really drove the size of it home, and it felt huge. "Okay, Andy, let's start with how you telling us a little bit about yourself and how you got here." For the next few minutes, Andy gave the shortest possible version of his bio, how he'd moved to California a decade and a half ago, his writing for the Silicon Valley companies, as well as his novels, which transitioned nicely into him talking about how he got his vaunted level 5 status, regaling 60 Minutes with the story of how the guy who'd come to test them, Dave, had been a big fan and given he and his then roommate Eric level 5 status as a return gift for Andy having given him an advanced copy of his next novel. "I hope I'm not getting Dave in any trouble by telling that story," he finished. "No no, each member of the initial Bay Area team was given five level 5 statuses to give away as they saw fit," Katie Couric told him. "Most of them just gave them to friends or family, but Dr. David Straussman hadn't used any of his until he met you, and there were no rules on who he could or couldn't give them to, so that's fine." "Straussman," Andy repeated. "Huh. You know, I didn't even know his last name until right now. I hope he's doing okay." "He's doing quite well," Niko said. "I see him every so often wandering around the base." "So Andy," Katie said, bringing them back on task, "how did you fill out the form you were given with the testing process?" "Well," Andy said, "Dave stressed to us when he gave us the link that we should be honest, and to answer the questions knowing we wouldn't be judged for our responses. I don't actually remember a lot of it, because it was a very long questionnaire, like, ridiculously thorough. But I suppose what you're getting at is what key things do I remember answering." "Yes, that's what I'm asking." "There were definitely questions about my sexual preferences, like, a lot of those, but there were also basic demographic questions about what range of people I felt comfortable dating, was I into women, men or both, and how did I feel about polyamory." "Did that surprise you?" she asked him. "Sure, but not as much as I expect it probably shocked people back in the Midwest. It's not what I would call common place around here, but you see it mentioned often enough in people's online dating profiles that most people have at least some awareness of it here in the Bay." "And how did you answer the polyamory question?" "I actually put 'no preference,' but you have to remember, to some extent when this started, we thought this was all some temporary thing, and we certainly didn't know that the casualties to men in America were going to be as high as they were," Andy said, sighing a little bit, Ash taking his hand, squeezing it reassuringly. "Do you remember what ages you put that you would be comfortable with?" "The low end was set to 18, and I didn't adjust it, and I set the high end to 35. I suspected no one younger than their mid twenties would be interested in me, so the low end didn't really matter." "You can start to see how his mind works," Hannah teased, "and how he just misses things sometimes." That let the girls have a soft laugh, releasing a little bit of the tension. "Were there any things that you said were absolute deal breakers?" Katie asked. "Just two," Andy admitted. "Must not be allergic to cats, and must not smoke, although we ended up with someone who vapes." "And who is that?" "That'd be me," Sheridan said, "but I'm working on quitting, so, it's a stopgap on the way to that. And it's been much easier stepping down from that than it was stepping to that from smoking." "Who showed up first?" "Aisling showed up I think it was actually the very next day," Andy said. "I was a little surprised how quickly everything moved. Usually anything the government's managing is a total clusterfuck, but I think since we were basically right by the site where the treatment was developed, they were rushing it out in order to keep as many people safe as they could." "Aisling, let me ask you Aisling, was Andy the sort of man you dreamed about ending up with when you entered into the process?" "At first, my head was a little clouded, because the process when it started wasn't as refined as it is now, so when I met Andy, my mind was a little fogged up with lust, but he ticked all the boxes of what I wanted out of a man. He didn't look exactly like I expected him to, but yeah, within a couple of days, I knew I loved him pretty hard. Still do." "Would he have been the kind of person you would've gravitated to in a bar?" Katie asked her. "I would've thought he was cute, but I was horrible at dating, and only had a couple'a boyfriends before him, so I'm a bad judge of character for that sort of question." "How many of you would've approached Andy in a bar?" Katie asked the group of them. Andy chuckled, rolling his eyes. "Be honest." Sarah put her hand up immediately, and Tala raised her hand as well, as the rest of the group giggled a little bit. "As progressive as we all like to think we are, Katie," Niko said, "women still generally don't approach men in bars, so maybe that's more on us than saying anything about our tastes." "Sarah, I saw you put your hand up," Katie asked. "You're an Oscar nominated actress who's know worldwide. What about Andy would've made you approach him?" Over the next couple of minutes, Sarah and Emily related the story of how they'd attended one of Andy's Q&As at ComicCon in costume, so that nobody would recognize them, and talked about how she'd had a crush on him because of his writing for a long time, which Katie laughed about, and Andy was certain would make for good television. "So how many of you would say you're in love with Andy now?" she asked the group after Sarah finished her story. About half of women raised their hands, although several of the others looked like they were considering raising their hands. The front row all raised their hands, as expected, but Lauren and Piper also raised their hands, which surprised Andy a little. "So those of you who wouldn't say you're in love with him, how would you describe your relationship with him?" "Deep respect and affection, but not at the love stage, not yet anyway," Sheridan said. Most of the other girls seemed to nod and agree with that. "Why do you say 'not yet,' Sheridan?" "You have to keep in mind, Katie, a lot of us have only known Andy a few weeks right now," she said, leaning forward just a little bit. "We had to make probably the biggest choice of our lives, and we had to do it basically on a hunch. Our choices were to defer treatment and go on being afraid we were going to die, or take the treatment and get paired up with a man for the indefinite future. That's a hell of a gamble to ask of anyone." "Who's unhappy with the decision they made, raise your hand," Katie said, only to get no hands raised in response. "Everyone's happy being paired with Andy, maybe for the rest of your lives?" "Look, Ms. Couric," Hannah said. "You're going to find every one of us girls has a different story, a unique story, and each one of us came to where we are now on an entirely different path, m'kay? But we'll all tell you the same thing,  Andy's treated us with an immense amount of respect and affection, and he's made sure that nobody's doing anything they aren't comfortable with. Shit, he's even done stuff he's been a little uncomfortable with because it's made us feel more comfortable, and how many women can say that about their partner? So while a bunch of us aren't in love with him, yet, we all admire and respect how much he's gone out of his way to make sure we feel like we're part of a goddamn family, a good goddamn family." "Do you want to continue to grow the family, Andy?" "If you ask him," Em said, jumping in before he could respond, "he wanted to stop growing it a while ago." All the girls laughed at that. "But at this point, I think we're all doing what we can to stick together, and a lot of us girls wanted to protect our friends, to keep them safe, so we took turns presenting them all to Andy, trying to convince him to bring them into our home and into our family." "Everyone had someone they wanted to pitch?" Katie said, smiling at Andy. "That must have been overwhelming." "Not everyone wanted to pitch someone, but almost everyone," he said with a laugh. "And it was a lot of names and faces that were presented all at once. I said upfront, though, that I wasn't going to bring everyone on, and that there was only so much of me to go around. In the end, I think we mostly made it work to everyone's satisfaction." "So how many more people are coming?" "Well, we have three people who are in the imprinting process right now, and two more people arriving tomorrow, and if I have any say in the matter, that will absolutely, positively, definitively be the limit of women I can handle in my life," he chuckled. "And how much say do you actually have in that matter, Andy?" "Very little!" Emily joked, and all the girls laughed, as did Katie. "It would take a super compelling case for us to add, like, anyone else to the family past that," Sarah said, "but I think it's totally for the best that we never say never. Sometimes exceptions have to be made." "Like I told you yesterday, Katie," Niko said, "I think if Andy had total control of the matter, he would've probably put a hard limit in after myself, Ash and Lauren were in his life. He told me multiple times early on that he barely felt like he deserved one amazing woman, and at that point, he already had three, so it's been a growth process." "But this is the new normal now," Katie said. "Or at least it's going to be. Families with one man and several women, because so many men in the US have died. Raise your hand if you know a man who's lost their life to the plague here in the US." All the women raised their hands, and of course Andy had his raised as well. "How does that feel?" "I think we're all suffering from some degree of post traumatic stress disorder," Piper said. "The losses, they're too big for any of us to process, so we're sort of clinging to one another, holding on to the only family that we know for certain that we can protect." "Piper, you were actually supposed to have competed in the Olympics by now. How does that feel, knowing that when it starts up again next year, the US basically doesn't have almost any of their male athletes to compete?" "At this point, it's impossible for it to even make sense in my head any more, Katie," she sighed. "Most of the people I trained with have died over the last several months. A lot of my trainers died. I've lost colleagues, friends and family members. I don't even know where to start mourning, because there's so damn many people to mourn. I consider myself lucky that my sister's husband took everything seriously, and completely refused to leave the house this year since the word of the plague got out." "It's something we've talked about in here a bunch," Andy said. "And we sort of keep coming back to that famous Stalin quote. 'A single death is a tragedy, a million deaths are a statistic.' It's so many dead men that the mind can't even make sense of it. It's like 9/11, but if each of the Twin Towers was holding exclusively almost every man each of us knew and loved. My own brother died a few weeks back, and he was one of the kindest and most careful souls I know, but he ran out to help someone get their storm shutters up before a particular bad thunderstorm rolled through, and a few weeks later, he was just gone, almost overnight. It happened so fast, I didn't even hear about it until after he was already gone." "It's actually unproven that's a real Stalin quote," Tala said. "I read an article that said it was attributed to a French humorist." "Sure, but even if Stalin didn't say it," Andy said, "it's still pretty relevant here. It doesn't really matter who said it, it's the sentiment that's important. We're talking about a matter of scale, and the human mind's capacity to comprehend that scale. At the end of the day, that's a hell of a lot for anyone to handle. So we're all just doing our best." "Normally," Emily said, "when a friend or loved one dies, there is typically a funeral or a wake, a gathering of all that person's surviving circle coming together, to celebrate their passing and remember them, but we have been denied that, and it has made all their passings that much harder to process, somehow transformed them all into seeming less real, because our normal emotional milestones haven't happened along the way. We are adrift in our emotional morass." "That's true," Katie said. "We, as Americans, haven't had to confront all the deaths simply because we aren't allowed to go out and do so, and that somehow makes it feel less concrete." "It hits you every day," Jade said, "little by little. Lauren described it to me a few weeks ago as a slow motion car crash that we're all stuck in, and nobody can get out of." "So, Jade, I understand you're one of the newest arrivals here," Katie said. "Have you gone through the imprinting process yet?" "Not yet," she said. "Tala and I arrived yesterday, but we wanted to wait a little bit, to spend some time with Andy and his family, to makes sure that we would be happy getting melted into their pot. I'm happy to say we're both going to do it, but it's the kind of commitment you gotta be certain of, you know?" "Have you seen what the imprinting process is like?" "Um, yes?" she said, trying not to blush a little. "When we arrived yesterday, we had a third person with us, another woman who was joining the staff and faculty of the house, but not the family itself, a young woman named Whitney." "So, Andy, explain to me the difference between family and staff, and how you decide that." He immediately put his hands up, almost like he was at gunpoint. "First and foremost, I do not decide that," he laughed, and all the girls laughed with him. "When the military came and relocated us from our little condo and brought us here to New Eden, the house also came with three members of staff attached with it, all of whom I was told had been selected to mesh with me, and whose boxes I would tick as well." "That was the three of you in the back, Nicolette, Jenny and Kate, yes?" Katie asked. "We had all been told a bit about Andy before he arrived," Nicolette said, "and his answers to the questionnaire implied that he would eventually be willing to play into our tastes." "Eventually?" Katie asked. "Well, sure," Nicolette giggled. "I know the first few times I called him Master, it rattled his cage a little bit, but he eventually realized I liked saying it, and nobody was making me do it. One of the things that we girls all figured out early on was that just because Andy was okay with something didn't mean he had any real experience with it, so we would need to hand hold him a bit through it. So while Andy said he was okay with bondage and discipline stuff in his questionnaire, he didn't have any real practical experience in it. So we've found ways to teach him about that kind of thing without it ever feeling like we were lecturing to him. He sort of set that expectation up front when he told us communication was everything, and he couldn't have been more right." "And Kate? I hear that you and Jenny had a different experience," Katie asked. "Damn, uh? Andy?" Kate (his Katie) asked. "How real you want us to get here?" "We're not hiding anything," he chuckled, "so fire away." "So, uh, Katie," Kate coughed. "I'm actually a lesbian. Not a bisexual who mostly identifies as a lesbian, I mean straight up, hardcore, one hundred percent, unrepentant fully committed lesbian. And Jenny here is my wife, but she's bisexual." "Hi!" Jenny cheerily said with a wave. "When we signed up for this, we, ah, we were planning on hiding that from Andy, and I was simply going to fake it, and go along with the ruse, so that we could stay together, and we could still get the treatment, which, as you already know, takes both a female and a male component to work," she sighed. "So I, er, we lied, and claimed we were both bisexual. Since we were married, wherever we went, we were going to go together, and we figured we could just keep up that lie as long as we needed and make it work." "And what happened?" Katie asked. "Day two, I folded, before we'd even been imprinted," Jenny said with a shrug. "When we met him, Andy wasn't at all what any of us were expecting him to be, but I mean that in a really good way. It didn't feel right lying to him. We'd had a few days together before he showed up, the three of us, us two and Nicolette. We'd talked about it, and Nicolette volunteered to go first, so that if it didn't go well, my Katie and I could request to be moved elsewhere, since we were a little more particular than she was about how we got paired up." "What do you mean, you folded?" "I started talking to Andy, and, and it all just came tumbling out, how we were a little unsure, how my Katie wasn't really into men, and, I just felt like I had to tell him everything before we were committed to anything." "How did you react to that, Andy?" "I could tell they were afraid that I was going to be angry," Andy said, his tone as breezy and relaxed as he could keep it, "but I wasn't. Why would I be? I simply wanted to talk with them about how they wanted to handle it, because at that point, I knew a bit more about the physiological affects of the treatment than they did, so I wanted to prepare them for it, if they wanted to move forward." "Do you still consider yourself a lesbian, Kate?" Katie asked her. "Absolutely. I don't feel any sexual attraction to Andy what so ever," she said. "Now, with that said, I can also admit that I have received biochemically induced orgasms from him regularly as part of the treatment process, and I don't think that affects my sexual identity in any way. But Andy and I haven't ever had direct sex. He's offered, but he's also never pressured. I might take him up on it some day, to see if the chemical and neurological changes the treatment have made to me might compensate for my lack of sexual attraction to him, but then again, I may not. That's my decision, well, our decision, to make," she said, taking Jenny's hand in hers. "And nobody's going to tell me who and what I am. I get to decide that, and fuck anyone who says otherwise." "So if you haven't had direct sex with him, how are you getting what you need from him to keep your treatment managed? Go ahead and be as direct as you want, and we can bleep parts of it out if we need to, but I think they're just going to air it as we send it." "Well, to be frank about it, I don't ever actually fuck Andy, but that doesn't mean I don't swallow his semen. I do that around once a week, either directly from him, or second hand from my wife. I consider sucking his cock just to be another task around the house that needs doing now and again. No offense, Andy." He laughed, waving a hand in his air. "None taken, but you already know that." "And that's enough?" Katie asked. "Just swallowing semen, either directly or second hand?" Kate nodded. "It's fine. I haven't had any adverse side effects, and it's easy enough right before he's about to pop for him to point it elsewhere, or for Jenny and I to split it after he does pop. I'm never going to have an encounter with Andy without Jenny present, and she's always my focus, not him, because she's my wife, and he's just, my boss." "And everyone in the house is okay with that?" "This is the world we live in now," Lauren said. "Lotsa fellas used to get all hung up onna things that they did and didn't like, but who's got time for that anymore? Life's too short to hold onta old grudges, so if we can, we're all gonna take it on the chin and just keep movin' on together." "Now Lauren, I understand you're also a lesbian." "Nah Katie," the tall blonde Aussie corrected. "I'm definitely bisexual, but I just lean a lot more towards the ladies than I do the fellas. I very much enjoy my sexual encounters with Andy, but I'm not one of his primary partners, despite showing up so early. I'm in love with him, like he is with me, but he's not my Big Love, if you folla. I've got me own primary partner here, in Taylor. We'd split before New Eden, and when she came back, I was right pissed off, but we've worked it out, and now she and I are back to being a couple again." "Does that put you on the outs with Andy?" "Nah," she laughed, "it just means the master bed doesn't need triple reinforcement. I love Andy and all he's done for me, for alla us, but I ain't interested in being one of his wives. I wanna marry Taylor at some point, but that doesn't mean I don' wanna stay part of this family. That works for us, so, y'know, fair play." "How many people do sleep in bed with you on any given night, Andy?" "There's always at least five of us in the bed," he answered. "Myself, Ash, Niko, Emily and Sarah. But sometimes more people want to cram in, and we never say no." "What's the most the bed's ever held for a night?" "Oh, uh, everyone who isn't staff, I think, but last week, so before some people had arrived," he said, trying to remember, "so, what, 11?" "Yes, that was the maximum. On the day when we found out Andy's brother died," Emily said, "we all crawled into bed with him and just wrapped our arms around him, as we all shared a good cry, then fell asleep holding one another, but that's extremely uncommon." "Five or six would definitely be the average," Ash said. "So the four of you would say you're closer to Andy than the rest of the women in the house?" "Well, we're all his fiancees, so we'd better be, Katie!" Sarah laughed. "He asked Ash first, and then Niko asked him before he could even get the words out to her, so once he freakin' told us, me and Em, we both demanded he propose to us as well immediately, because we come as a package deal." "What do you mean by that, Sarah?" "Okay, well, here's the thing. Emily and I have been a couple for almost two years now, but we're both, well, we're both totally into dudes and chicks. So while we super love each other, we also knew we were going to need a regular cock in the equation. When we found out that the writer of my favorite freaking book series of all time was in play, we decided we had to freaking have him." Andy was a little amazed Sarah could do so much to self censor, but realized she'd probably been doing it for interviews forever. "So you put in a request for the two of you to be paired up with Andy, and the government made that happen?" There was a long pause, as everyone was trying to decide what to say and how to say it, but eventually Emily broke the silence. "Something like that, yes," she lied. "We'll put a pin in that and come back to it later," Katie said, and Andy's guard was immediately up. He'd been wondering what sort of problems this interview was going to throw up, and now he felt like he knew what one of them was. "Have you had to send anyone back, Andy? Had any partners show up that you didn't think would be compatible?" "Just one," he admitted. "My ex girlfriend was sent to me, because she hadn't disclosed that we'd been together about a decade ago. She was eager to rekindle the relationship, but I was not. It ended on terms that made me unwilling to revisit it again, so we helped her make other arrangements. We hadn't been compatible back then, and I didn't feel comfortable gambling that she'd grown enough that I would've been compatible with her now." "You didn't send her back to the government?" "New Eden isn't that large of a community, so sometimes we just see if we can make things work among ourselves first, and we found a solution that everyone seemed happy with, including my ex. In fact, the people that my partners here pitched to me that I didn't think would be good matches for our family, we worked to pair them up with other people here in New Eden instead, so they were still local and safe. It's a small town, so we have to look out for one another. Problems here are rare and generally manageable." "Not always, though, we've heard," Katie said. "I take it you've heard about the fatality that New Eden had last week?" Everyone nodded. "It was horrible, hearing about someone dying from something so easily preventable," Hannah said. "Like, they totes warned us about that ish before we left the base, so why the hell would someone chance it?" "They did warn you?" "Very thoroughly," Emily insisted, horror in her voice. "They told us multiple times, again and again and again, that if we took in semen from any man other than the one we were paired up with, it would be toxic, if not fatal. They even showed us a recording of a woman who'd already been imprinted getting semen from a man she wasn't paired up with on her skin, and the large, violent rash that immediately broke out. I am told they show that footage to everyone, to drive the point home. Seeing that sort of instantaneous reaction should've been enough to discourage anyone from testing those boundaries." "They're talking on base about showing some of the autopsy photos from the fatality to the people who are getting the treatment now," Niko said, "to make sure everyone understands how serious it is not to dally outside your family." "Have any of you ever been tempted?" "I think we all value our lives too much for that," Sarah joked. "And love Andy far too much for that," Ash said. "Definitely," Emily agreed. "Why would anyone task such a pointless risk?" "Did any of you know the woman who died, or the man she partook from that killed her?" Katie asked them. "I met her briefly," Andy said, "but I wouldn't say I knew her. And none of us ever even met the man accused of doing it to her." "Major Peters told us yesterday he's currently imprisoned at the base, pending local law enforcement being able to take custody of him. They're going to charge him with murder, they were telling us." "They should," Sarah said. "They told everyone when they brought them here to New Eden what would happen if people engaged in any form of sexual activity with anyone they're not paired with, and they fucking did it anyway!" "The problem," Andy sighed, "is that the man, whoever he is, already has multiple women paired up with him, which means that whatever they do to him is going to affect those women as well, even if it's just that they have to come to a prison for their weekly intake. Those women are already tied to him. I'm sure they're looking into some way to remove the binding and reimprint a woman onto a new person, but there's only so many problems they can solve at once." "Does it bother any of you that your health is tied to Andy's?" Katie asked the group. "Bother is the wrong word," Sheridan said, annoyance in her tone of voice. "Concern is the right word. We're very protective of Andy, because he knows our lives are all fully dependent on his for the time being, and that if he dies, we all probably die with him. So, sure, we're concerned, but I think all of us feel comfortable in knowing that Andy's got our best interests at heart, and is keeping that all in mind." "One of the two people arriving tomorrow is going to be his bodyguard," Jenny said. "A friend of mine from college, who's going to guard his life with her own." "Who's the other?" "A director friend of mine," Emily said, "whom I thought would be an excellent addition to the house. She was one of the AD's on some of the latter Dagger Academy movies." Katie Couric clapped her hands together. "Okay, why don't we take a break, then do some of the one on ones, and then we can circle back and do another group interview to close out the day. Our team can leave you one of our cameras here tonight, so you can get that video of someone being imprinted, and we'll come by and pick it up tomorrow before we leave town. We appreciate you trusting us with that, as I know it can't have been an easy decision to make, but I think that footage will go a long way to convincing people this treatment is in their best interest. As for today, we'll go ahead and finish getting set up in Andy's office, and when you're ready Andy, we can sit down and do our one on one and drill down on some things I've got further questions on." "Sure," he said, as all the girls were standing up and stretching. "Let me go grab a quick drink, and I'll meet you in my office in about ten minutes, okay?" "Sounds good." Katie and her crew were escorted by Nicolette down to Andy's office, while the girls stood up and started chatting among themselves, while Emily and Ash closed it around Andy. "That went about as well as can be expected," Emily said to them. "I feel like we've got some kind of curveball coming," Ash said, taking Andy's hand in her left and Emily's hand in her right. "After you're done, Andy, we'll talk a bit again. I'm sure you'll get surprises before any of us do." He took his time, grabbed a bottle of Vanilla Coke, drank it then headed down to his office, which today felt a little like going into a lion's den. With all the girls in the ballroom, the large group session had allowed the attention to bounce around a great deal, and he felt like he could catch his breath, but here, it was just going to be the two of them, and he didn't have anyone to run interference for him from time to time. Andy headed into his office and saw that even his cats weren't in there, likely having been moved by the production crew, as Andy moved to sit down in his writing chair, Katie Couric sitting across from him. "Are you ready?" she said to him. "Yep," he answered. "Let's do it." After the mics were checked, the cameras were tested and the lights were adjusting, Andy's one on one began with a softball question. "So how'd you fall into writing urban fantasy, Andy?" "The best advice I ever got was 'if the stories you want to read don't exist in the world, it's your job to put them there,' so I've stuck with that," he said. "I knew what kind of stories I wanted to read, and nobody was really writing those, a sort of fantasy western/samurai hybrid. I mean, you had Butcher's Dresden books, but those were more of fantasy noir hybrids, and I wanted to get into the sort of stories that people like Akira Kurosawa and Sergio Leone used to tell, where you could kill off characters, where actions had consequences and where you never really knew when the next gunfight was coming, because it felt like they could happen at any time. Joe Abercrombie does it in high fantasy, but I wanted something that was happening in our time, in our world.&am

Quaranteam – Book 1: Part 10 Andy Rook is given a gift as restitution.. Based on a post by CorruptingPower, in 25 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels. Andy pulled his boxers back on, then his t shirt. "Well, it's entirely up to you, obviously. Take your time, get to know everyone, me included, and we'll play it by ear moving forward." The two walked out of the room, leaving Nicolette to tend to Sheridan. "Everyone's so warm and friendly, and you're not at all like that prick Covington." "I did try and tell you that in the letter." "And that's another thing! An honest to god letter, explaining everything for me before I even came out to talk to people. Who does that sort of thing?" "A writer, clearly," he chuckled. "It was a very good letter. But I think it was Niko and Ash who convinced me that everything would work out for the best," she said, hooking her arm into his. "They're still a bit worried about you, but I told them that grief is a monster you kill with a million tiny cuts, not one big one." Andy nodded. "It gets the better of us all sometimes. But you're getting along with the ladies alright?" She swatted his arm with her calloused fingers. "They're lovely, and Niko was nice enough to fill in all the details that your letter left out. I'd apologize for my first impression, but clearly that was that bastard's fault and through no fault of my own. If I had my way, I'd have been at the Olympics right now, but they're obviously being delayed until next year." "Then you should definitely not stop training," Andy told her. "Just because you're here right now doesn't mean you aren't going to get that chance next year. Talk to Jenny, let her know the kinds of dietary specifics you have for your meals, and then get back into the swing of things. Lauren's a trainer for the 49ers, so she can probably help you out a bit here and there." Piper smiled at him, waving a hand. "I'll talk to her, but we've got the team's trainer on Zoom speed dial at this point. I just hope there's enough space around New Eden for me to work out. God, are they really calling it that?" Andy shrugged. "Rich pricks have pompous tastes." "Speaking of which, I heard from Ash last night that you've got another girl showing up today." He rolled his eyes a little bit. "I swear, if I could find a way to monetize gossip, I'd be the richest man ever. Yes, there's another woman coming by today. One of the poker players, Nate Watkins, was supposed to bring someone over earlier in the week, but his son had already imprinted her while he was off playing poker. I told him it was fine, but he insisted his son needed to be punished for it, so apparently the son will be bringing his newest girl over for me today. Whole thing is a colossal fuck up if you ask me, but whatever. She'll probably show up, not be interested in me, and I'll redirect her back to the center." Piper giggled, shaking her head. "You really don't know a thing about how people work, do you Andy? Alright then, I'm off. I need to go get changed and get a run in. You're right,  I've been going too easy on myself during the pandemic, so I need to get back out there, and a run around New Eden will give me a chance to scope out the town." "There you go. Just remember to hydrate, and have fun." She kissed him on the cheek and headed back towards her room, as Andy headed downstairs, going into the kitchen. He'd worked up quite an appetite this morning. "Can I get you something, sir?" Jenny said, cleaning up the dishes from some of the girls' earlier breakfasts. "Yeah, can I get one of those weird French ham and cheese sandwiches you made the other day, Jenny?" She nodded with a smile, pushing those large oval glasses back up onto her nose. "One croque monsieur coming right up." Her oak colored hair flipped as she spun around and moved towards the fridge. "Did you speak with Nicolette this morning, sir?" "I did, and I'm sorry that I made you all feel uncomfortable, Jenny. It won't happen again." "We like feeling like part of the family, sir," she said, as she started to make the sandwich, "but that simply felt like it was going too far. Just keep us a little at arm's length, and everyone will be perfectly content. We don't mind the girls talking with us all the time, but you're the Master of the House, and, well, we prefer it remain that way." "Heard, understood and acknowledged, as my friend used to say. Oh, do me a favor and make sure Sarah eats some lunch today? You'll probably find her in the downstairs central living room, face glued to a book." "Finally told her she can read your next work, did you, sir?" "Apparently nobody told her it was in the house until I mentioned it this morning." "Very good sir. I'm sure she's having the time of her life, and she never felt like that before." Andy gave her the side eye, and Jenny began laughing. "You leave the masterpiece that is 'Dirty Dancing' out of this, Jenny." "Yes sir. Sorry sir," she said with a smile that made it clear she wasn't sorry in the least. After lunch, Andy headed upstairs to put proper pants on, then retreated to his study and worked adding more to the next Druid Gunslinger novel, although if he was entirely honest with himself, he was doing more editing than actual writing. The editing process was important, however, and he needed to trim some of the excess fat he'd been introducing to the story for a while. His editor had, on more than one occasion, accused him of "flavor bloat," where he would write pages and pages and pages of descriptives with nothing actually happening, and Andy was determined not to get such feedback on this manuscript. Early in the afternoon, Emily poked her head into his office, and the cats immediately hopped up to greet her. "So sorry to disturb you," she said, her British accent ensuring she could do no such thing, "but there's a Benny Watkins at the gate saying he's got an appointment to meet you today. Nathaniel's son I assume? Nicolette's just buzzed the gate open, so perhaps we should go out front and meet him?" He sighed, closing his laptop, nodding. "Yep, let's go see what this whole mess is about." As they walked upstairs, Emily peppered him with questions. "Do you have any idea what it is young Mr. Watkins has in store for us?" "His father, Nathaniel, gave me a little bit of an idea, but not all that much, so I have a feeling I'm going to be just as surprised as you are." "Nathaniel seemed like a rather nice man, for the short time I spoke with him. Not at all how Sarah described Mr. Vikovic." "She didn't like Gregor?" "It wasn't that she disliked him," Emily said as they reached the front door. "She just said he didn't talk very much, whereas Nathaniel seemed quite pleasant and conversational." They opened the front door just in time to see the Watkins family limo pulling up in front of the house. Andy felt a little bit nervous, but Emily reached up and took his hand, squeezing it reassuringly. "It'll be fine, love," she said to him. "Let the man keep his pride." After the limo parked, the driver, a large Israeli man who looked like he could kill Andy with an olive fork, moved to open the back door. Nathaniel Watkins stepped out first, a wide smile on his face. "Ah, Andrew, so glad to see you and Miss Stevens are getting along well. I had hopes that you two would take to each other." "He's an excellent man, Nathaniel," Emily said to him. "I never had any doubts about that." "Yes well, let me first introduce my son, Benjamin. Benny, get out here." Benny stepped out of the car, and Andy could immediately sense why Nathaniel wanted to knock him down a few pegs. The younger Watkins was dressed in several designer fashion labels, all expensive, but none of them matched even in the slightest. Benny's hair was cut short, and he looked like he trying to grow facial hair, but the man was too young to make a proper go of it, and it all just looked wrong. The boy was wiry more than fit. "Hello Mr. Rook," the young man said, staring right at Andy with resentment. Nathaniel's face made it clear that he knew this whole experience was going to be a struggle for the younger man, but also reinforced the idea that this was punishment for his son. "Are you going to apologize to him?" "I'm sorry I took your woman, Mr. Rook," Benny said, but his tone conveyed anything but regret or remorse, almost as if he was trying to goad Andy by repeating that he'd taken something from him. "Hannah dear, would you mind stepping out now?" The last person to emerge from the car was a short teenage Asian girl, dressed in an almost embarrassingly large overcoat, her dark hair in a ponytail with blonde stripes in it, an orange scrunchy holding it in place. She was shorter than both Nathaniel and Benny, around the same height as Emily, and her face had a smug grin on it. "Oh my god, it really is Emily Fucking Stevens. Shoots. I'm totally gonna be a sister wife with Emily Fucking Stevens. This is so fucking rad," the girl said. "Now Hannah," Nathaniel said, "I know you weren't particularly keen on pairing up with Benny, so let me ask you, would Mr. Rook be more to your liking?" Hannah looked Andy up and down, then nodded. "Definitely. He's fit, he's cute, and if he can make Emily Fucking Stevens happy, I don't see how I could possibly be let down," she giggled. "Then why don't you go join Mr. Rook, my dear?" Nathaniel said, while handing Hannah an envelope. "I'll take my coat back, however." Hannah slowly opened the coat, and Andy suddenly understood that while the coat might have been partially for his benefit, it was mostly to rub it even further in Benny's face. Underneath the coat, she was wearing a white, orange and black cheerleader outfit that said 'wildcats' on the front of it. One thing that captured the eye immediately was that Hannah was very well endowed. Her tits were large, almost straining against the uniform and whatever sports bra she had on underneath. She was very much bustier than most high school cheerleaders were, but it absolutely worked for her, her legs in long black stockings beneath the surprisingly long skirt. Andy remembered cheerleader skirts being more daring in his day, but this one hung down to her knees, the stockings disappearing up within. She had a rounded face, but still seemed quite athletic, despite her incredibly well-endowed chest area, and a large silver cross hung on a chain, resting on her collarbone. "You see this, Benny? These gigantic titties of mine I've caught you drooling over so many fucking times, you asshole? This toned ass you tried to get me to shake at you? These athletic thighs you were trying to sneak looks at? You're never gonna get any of it," she said as she handed the coat to Benny, making sure the boy got a good look at her in the outfit, before she skipped over to Andy, grinning the whole way. As soon as she reached him, she threw her arms around his waist and pressed her massive tits against his side, like two pillows crowding against him. "I'm Andy's tiggo biddy cheerleader slut now, you fuckin' perv," she said, sticking her tongue out at Benny, whose face was bunched up in frustration. Based on that look, Benny had clearly seen Hannah in this outfit many times, and fantasized about her again and again. Andy remembered that Nathaniel had said the boy had made multiple passes at her, and that she had rejected each and every one. "I'm gonna fuck his brains out until he can't even stand upright. But you? You ain't never gonna get nun a this. I hope you fuck off and die angry." The girl was clearly still upset about the boy's responses when she'd continually rejected him. "Now, Benjamin," Nathaniel said, "you're going to take out that envelope I gave you earlier, and you are going to read it aloud." Benny reached into the chest pocket of his designer jacket and pulled out an envelope, opening it, starting to read, but not aloud, trying to scan through it as much as he could, his eyes growing wider and wider. "It says what happens if you don't read it aloud, Benjamin," Nathaniel stressed. The younger man cleared his throat and started to read, hatred seething in his voice. "Firstly, as part of the punishment for my actions, I, Benjamin Watkins, am losing a portion of my inheritance that my father had planned for me. Active immediately, my father is hereby giving 40% ownership of Inner Light Investments to one Andrew Rook. When my father passes away, I will also receive 40% ownership of Inner Light Investments, and my father's wives will each receive 1% ownership. Secondly, as further part of my punishment, any and all educations that Hannah Nakamura wishes to receive for the rest of her life will be paid for, in full, by me, Benjamin Watkins. Thirdly, half of my two hundred million dollar trust fund is being transferred in ownership to one Andrew Rook, which he will have full access to immediately, in the form of cash, stocks and bonds. Finally, any retaliatory actions by me, my partners or my friends, against Andrew Rook, Hannah Nakamura or anyone else in Mr. Rook's circle of family and/or friends, will result in my immediate forfeiture of the rest of my trust fund to Mr. Rook, as well as all Inner Light Investments stock set to pass to me upon my father's death. Failure to read this letter aloud will be considered a retaliatory action. With this, I have paid my price in full for my transgression except for one final thing." He looked over at his dad. "That's where it ends. What's the final thing, Dad?" Nathaniel Watkins then slapped his son across the face as hard as he possibly could, knocking the boy to the ground. "There is one rule you will learn comes first and foremost in life, boy," he said, pointing a finger at the young man who had started to cry on the ground. "You do not fuck with the money, and until you have earned some on your own, I am the fucking money in this house. By stealing what didn't belong to you, you have cut off one of your own legs and will have to learn how fucking precarious your situation is." "But Dad!" "Don't you say another fucking word, you sniveling little shit. You should be thankful that Andrew was so understanding about this. His insistence that this didn't need to be made a big deal over is the reason you're still even in this fucking family. You aren't losing that money to him; you're paying it to him for being kind and courteous enough to let you keep the other fucking half of it. If he hadn't been so generous, I would've thrown your ass out of my house, my family and all of New Eden for your treachery, taking a woman who wasn't yours at any point at all. She was delivered to me, and I had promised her to Andrew, and instead, you stole from both myself and him, making me dishonor my promise to him." "Dad, it was only some bitch!" Nathaniel Watkins slapped the boy again, just as hard, if not harder. "For the next month, that 'bitch' is going to be your Mistress, you goddamned brat. Everything that woman, Deborah, says to do, you're going to do, and if you don't, you are fucking done in this family. I have clearly failed to raise you properly, and that's on me, but if there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's that you certainly do enjoy the lifestyle that you currently have, so if you want to keep even a little chance of keeping it, you are going to let her order you around like a goddamn pet. You're her bitch now, and if that means you have to wear a gimp suit and a ball gag for a month, so fucking be it." "It's not fair!" the young man wailed, tears running down his bruised face. "Fair? Fair?!" Nathaniel bellowed so loudly Andrew was afraid the man would strike his son yet again. "When I was your age, I was working three jobs to save up enough money to pay for housing while I got my education. You've never done a day's worth of hard work in your life. You've enjoyed the fruits of my labors, and you've spit in my eye every step of the way, so now you're going to learn what it's like to pay the cost. Get in the fucking car, before I change my mind and cut you out entirely." The boy glared up at him, but then crawled into the back of the limo, his sense of self preservation having won out over his pride. Nathaniel sighed, and walked over towards Andy, while the man's driver took two suitcases out of the trunk of the limo, clearly Hannah's things, bringing them up to the front door of the house. "I'm sorry you had to witness all that, Andrew, but now you know what kind of trouble my boy has been to me over the years." "Hey, better this than you or I having to going all John Wick on him." The bearded man laughed. "You know, at this point if you told me you were secretly a master assassin in the Before Times, I might just believe you." Andy laughed. "I wasn't, but don't fuck with my cats." "Ah, but that's just what a master assassin would say to throw me off the track," Nathaniel laughed, tapping at his temple with one fingertip. "All of the details about the transfer is in the envelope I gave to Miss Nakamura here, and you simply need to have your finance manager contact mine." Andy frowned in amusement. "I don't even have a finance manager, Nathaniel." "Then mine now also works for you. His name is Zack Burchelli. I'll call him on the limo ride back and tell him to expect your call. He takes his fee out of your investments, so it's in his best interests for him to do well by you, and I'll make sure you get the same deal I have." "Are you sure about this?" Andy sighed, feeling a little guilty of depriving the boy of so much of his inheritance. "I mean, we only met this week and you're just giving me a hundred million dollars." Watkins rolled his eyes, grinning. "It's only money. I'll make loads more. Besides, if it helps me reshape that worthless son of mine into a decent human being, it'll all be worth it." "Deb'll do that," Hannah said to them. "She's baller, and putting her in charge will teach him some humility. The money'll be the carrot to her stick, but most def she's gonna beat him stupid with that stick for the next month." Nathaniel smirked and gave Hannah's head a pat. "I told you that you'd like this one, Andrew. She's got spirit. Getting dressed up in her old Woodside High School cheerleading outfit was her idea, by the way, to really stick it Benny. As I said before, she should technically be a freshman at Stanford right now, but the university is closed until the pandemic passes. I have no doubt she'll be a cheerleader there as well. And you're fine with the last thing, dear girl?" Hannah nodded. "It'll be dope. I'm sure Andy won't mind, and if he does, well, I'll change his mind," she giggled. Andy turned to look at her, and the Asian girl just beamed up at him with a toothy grin, almost daring him to ask, but he decided not to. "You really didn't have to go to such lengths on my account, Nathaniel." "Again, let me stress this, it wasn't on your account, Andrew, only to your benefit," Nathaniel said, shaking his hand. "And I think I put in enough warnings that it shouldn't come back on your and yours, but if it does, well, you'll suddenly be even more wealthy, and my son will have lost everything. Oh! And before I go, I spoke to my friend over at Working Title, and they're eager to get things moving forward on a Druid Gunslinger movie, especially if you might have Sarah Washington and Emily Stevens attached for parts. They're talking possible franchise, you know, especially since you're alive and still writing more of them, because that means they won't run out of source material any time soon. That's a value add as they say." "Sarah would swallow her own fist to get that role," Emily said with a smile, "so thank you again, Nathaniel." "No problem at all, my dear," he said, shaking her hand as well. "I'm mostly just glad to have settled this with only my son's pride being wounded. I hope we can part as friends, Andrew," Nathaniel said, moving to shake Andy's hand one more time. "It's refreshing to see someone so salt of the earth here, and we're all the better for it. Emily and Hannah are very lucky ladies." "Friends it is," Andy said. "We can make it a point to have lunch or dinner once every couple of weeks." "I'd enjoy that very much. Now, time to take Benny back to Deborah, and see what she has in store for him. I'm hoping it's a chastity belt of some kind, but it is, as I said, her decision." "Make sure you have her take pictures, so if you need to, you'll have evidence to use against him later. Should be a reminder not to cross you further." Watkins smirked, tapping his temple again. "You're always thinking, Andrew. I love it. Ciao!" With that, Watkins slid back into his limo and the driver closed the door behind him before getting back into the long vehicle, slowly driving it off the property. "You know, you generally don't see limos that much these days," Emily said to him. "That's because they're chintzy AF," Hannah said. "So you DTF right now, or what?" "Look, Hannah, just because you're here doesn't mean you have to stay here if you don't want to," Andy started, but then yelped a little bit as Hannah's small fingertips closed around his groin though the jeans and boxers, squeezing his cock. "M'kay, lemme break it down for you, Andy," she purred. "I am horny like you would not fucking believe, so maybe I'm not making myself clear enough. I kinda turn into a little cock crazed bimbo when I'm too fucking horny for my own good. You got three choices right now. A) You can fuck me right here and now on the porch. B) You can take me inside the house and fuck me right there in the entryway. Or 3) you can take me into the house, up to your bedroom and fuck me there." "Being randy also apparently messes with your indexing system, Hannah," Emily giggled. "Oh, there's also option D) all of the above, but the rumor is that doing any one of the first three will knock me on my ass so I can't do the rest." She blew a stray bang of blonde hair out of her face dismissively. "Sounds like total bullshit to me, though." "I can't help myself, Andrew," Emily said, sliding her right hand down the front of his pants, having to work with Hanna just a little bit, so that she could get her fingertip across the head of his cock, getting a bit of that glistening precum onto her finger as she lifted it out. The small British girl then moved around, sliding her body in behind Hannah's, the two close to the same height, although Hannah was a little bit shorter, Emily's hips pressing up against the cheerleader's, pinning the girl's body between Andy's and her own. "Wrap your arms around him in a great big bear hug and I'll prove to you that you aren't ready for this." Hannah again dismissively blew air out of her mouth, shooting Emily a skeptical look over her shoulder before she dutifully wrapped her arms around Andy's midsection, holding onto him as best she could, before Emily pushed her fingertip into Hannah's mouth, making the cheerleader get her first taste of Andy, priming her. If it hadn't been for Emily's arms pinning Hannah against Andy, the cheerleader would've immediately collapsed to the ground in violent orgasm, but as Emily had her trapped, Andy instead got to feel Hannah's whole body experience a personal earthquake, her face scrunched up tightly, an extremely high pitched squeal shredding through the air, and he could feel the girl's thick nipples suddenly harden, pressed right against his side, even through the layers of fabric. After several seconds, the Asian girl started to breath again and looked up at him, her brown eyes watering with tears but a broad smile on her face. "Holy fuckballs it's fucking true," she whimpered. "I thought I knew what orgasms were like, but I've never felt anything like that in my life. I think I just touched God." She licked her lips, lifting one hand up to rub the back of her hand against her eyes, wiping away the water from them. "And I want more. Fuck it, I gotta have more, like right fucking now." Her other hand had moved back to his cock again, rubbing against it. "No," Andy said. "We're going to take all your stuff inside, and up to the bedrooms, and we're going to give you a bedroom of your own for the time being, and while we're walking you up and getting you settled in, you can tell us a little bit more about yourself. Then, after a little bit, we'll take you into the main bedroom and get you imprinted." "But I  " "Your other choice is that I can make you wait until after dinner," Andy said, trying to be as authoritative as he could. "Which would you prefer?" "Sooner, sir," she grumbled. "Excellent, let's take your stuff in and you can tell me and Emily all about you." "Whaddaya wanna know?" she said, grabbing one of her suitcases while Andy grabbed the other. Andy had taken the larger one, so he didn't feel bad about letting Hannah carry one herself. Even rolling it along, the larger suitcase was more like a steamer trunk than a practical travel suitcase. "You lived in California your whole life?" Andy said, as they walked into the house. She shook her head. "Moved here about five years ago from Hawaii after my dad's company closed down and we had to move. Dad's second generation Japanese American, and mom's pure blood Hawaiian, but I think she was still glad to get off the island. She said she always knew everyone everywhere she went, and wanted to go someplace we could blend in more. We moved to Woodside when I was 13. Dad's a UX engineer for Playtronics and mom teaches third grade." They headed up the stairs, starting to walk down the hallway along the collection of bedrooms. Andy had to stop and check, finding the first completely unoccupied one, leading Hannah into it. "And what are you going to Stanford for?" "Premed," she sighed. "I'm still debating if I want to get into pediatrics or be a neonatal specialist, but I'll totally have time to figure all that out, considering it's, like, totally a billion years in school, so good on me for having that choad pay for it all." "Nathaniel said you were Benny's tutor, and that the boy tried hitting on you several times." "Fuckin' perv didn't like being told no, and he even got handsy one time, so I decked him, and he went crying to daddy over it," she grumbled, moving to put her smaller bag next to the dresser in the room. "But daddy told him that girls get to say no, and he never tried getting grabby again, but he kept on talking shit." Andy rolled the trunk over as well, placing it between the bed and the dresser. "Nathaniel said you made a go at him as well." Hannah giggled a little bit, rolling her eyes. "I mean, kinda, sorta, sure, I guess. He was separated from his wife at the time, and I knew it would piss Benny off so much, I think I just wanted to see if I could get away with it, but his daddy said no, and he eventually unseparated from his wife, so I guess it all worked out. I was mostly just being a brat." "And you know you can't fuck other men any more now, yes?" Emily asked her. "I mean, I guess," Hannah shrugged. "I thought that was just bullshit too, but if that first thing they told us at the base is true, then I guess all of it is, which means if I sleep with another dude, I'll die, right?" "That's our understanding, but we've certainly never tested it," Andy said. "But the rest of the stuff? About needing to fuck? About it giving you the best orgasms of your life? And that it'll keep you safe from the virus? All that's true?" Emily grinned. "I can speak from personal experience that whether it's biochemistry or natural talent, Andrew has made me cum harder than I even thought was possible." "How many women am I gonna have to share him with?" "There are nine other women in the family currently, four of whom intend to marry him, two of whom have decided simply to remain sexual partners, and three of whom are new enough to still be as of yet uncertain of what they want for their futures," Emily said to her. "There are also three women on staff, who are sexual partners of Andy's as well, but prefer to keep that relationship more professional, enjoying a level of distant removal from the family." "What's that mean?" Hannah asked, her face scrunched up in confusion. "It means I like it when the Master orders me around," Nicolette said, poking her head into the room, "and that the cook and the gardener are lovers, but understand they have physiological needs they have to have tended to in order to stay alive. Hell, the gardener's a lesbian, but Andy's cum still makes her cream herself, so she's willing to drink it. Hey, I'm Nicolette, the house maid." She held out her hand to shake Hannah's. Hannah took it and shook it, before shooting Andy a suspicious look. "You make the French maid actually wear a French maid's outfit?" Nicolette giggled, which made the Asian girl's head spin to look at her. "He's told me multiple times I don't have to wear it, but I like it too much to stop, just like I like calling him Master, when he told me I don't have to do that either. But I just love the way he still blushes a little when I say it, so I know he likes it, don't you Master?" she said, giving a little curtsy in his direction. Andy was sure he was blushing a little, so he only smiled slightly. "No comment." "Told you," Nicolette said, poking Hannah in the side. "Just be yourself in what you want, tell him that and he'll probably give it to you, barring a few exceptions." "Oh yeah?" Hannah said, perking up a little more. "What's on the no fly list?" "He's a bit squeamish about being forceful or inflicting, but he'll do it up to a point, although he's never gonna hurt you," Nicolette said. "Uh, what else did Niko tell me?" "So I see Niko's the one with the big mouth," Andy chuckled. "Well, her and Ash told me a lot, so I can't remember which one said which. Oh! No inflicting pain on him, but I think Ash was just joking when she said she wanted to try and put nipple clamps on him," the maid said, giggling again. "She suggested it to me, and I politely declined." "The strap ons in the house are just for the girls to use on girls, not on the Master, although I don't think anyone's asked him that directly." "Niko did when she had a few drinks in her, but I shut that down right quick." Hannah nodded. "So big daddy's ass is exit only, but is he willing to have a go at ours?" Nicolette smiled broadly and gave an over exaggerated nod. "Oh yeah. In fact, I'm a little disappointed he hasn't had a go at mine yet, especially after we all heard Niko's first time not too long ago. And Taylor's." "Enjoyed it, did they?" Emily asked. "Taylor was pretty loud, but holy shit, Niko was loud enough the neighbors might have heard her, and they're at least a mile away. I asked her about it the next day and she said it the greatest sexual experience she'd ever had in her life. Said it made her cum even harder than she did when she was imprinting, if I could believe that." Nicolette licked her lips, looking at Andy. "So, needless to say, I'm hoping the Master'll take a crack at my ass sooner or later. I'm sure he's noticed me bending over a lot more as of late." Andy had turned a darker shade of red. "Well, you should've said something, Nicolette." "But it's so much fun watching you blush, Master," she said, batting her thick eyelashes at him. "Well, you've got an open invitation to my ass, Daddy," Hannah purred. "Mine and Sarah's as well," Emily said, "although you will need to go slow with us. We're, ah, both unaccustomed to it, but anything good enough for Niko is good enough for us." "Nobody's had my ass either, Daddy, so you've got a whole world of eager virgin assholes to explore," Hannah giggled. "Well, I didn't say mine was untouched," Nicolette said, "but it's still ripe for the Master's taking." "That's, good to know?" Andy laughed. "Oh, and Andy's not into bestiality or watersports, thank god," Nicolette said with a dramatic laugh, "because I'd have to be the one cleaning that shit up." Everyone laughed a little bit at that. "Everything else is fair game, though?" Hannah asked. "Well, if there's something else, I'm sure he'll tell you before you get too far down the path," Nicolette said. "If nothing else, the Master is remarkably straight forward." "He's also still in the room," Andy added, amusement on his face how they were talking about him in front of him like he wasn't present. "How many more women are you going to add here?" Hannah said, pushing the trunk up against the side of the bed. "Well, the banquet hall table holds sixteen people, so last night, I figured I was going to add just two more, but Nicolette has informed me that she, Katie and Jenny don't wish to be at our table any more, because it removes the level of distance they want, so I suppose it'll probably be five more, and I'll just have to tend to the needs of two to three women every day." Andy laughed a little. "I mean, there's worse ways to pass the time." "How are you going to pick them?" "I haven't really picked anyone," Andy said with a sheepish smile. "I took a test, several months ago, and based on that, they've just been sending me people. Although Emily told me that if I wanted to, I could apparently just ask for someone, and there's a good chance they might send them to me." Hannah looked down at her hands and then looked up, a conflicted expression on her face. "Can, may I make a request?" Andy's head tilted to one side. "I mean, you can certainly ask. The worst thing I can do is say no, so might as well ask." "Can I ask you to request someone specific for the house? Would, is that forward of me?" "It sort of depends on who you're wanting me to request, Hannah," Andy said. "I feel a little odd requesting anyone, honestly, so if you have someone specifically you want me to bring into the house, I'm going to need a reason for it." That made the Asian girl hesitate for a moment. "Can I think about it for a little bit?" "Sure," Andy said. "I expect the soonest we would see anyone else show up would be next week, and it's probably just going to be one, maybe two people. After next Friday, though, who the hell knows what's going to go on." "What happens next Friday?" "The news breaks, but let's talk about that later. It'll do your head right now. I would've talked to you about it before, but Emily went ahead and primed you already, so I imagine that lust is bubbling up pretty fierce right about now." "Sorry not sorry?" Emily said to him, a pixieish grin on her darling face. "So he can make a go at you here, Hannah, if you want to wake up alone tomorrow morning, or we can take you to the main bedroom, if you're okay waking up surrounded by other people." "Where are you sleeping, Emily?" "Oh, I'm always going to be sleeping with Andy. Always always always." The British actress had a tendency to say things three times in a row if she wanted to drive home a point particularly emphatically. "I'm going to take one of the bedrooms and turn it into a personal study, but I want to be sharing a bed with Andy all the time unless circumstance demands I be away from him for a while, on a film shoot or something." "Are there going to be more Dagger Academy movies? I don't like how they ended with you losing Eduardo, the love of Dahlia Hairtrigger's life, and her having to do her last year at the Academy alone?" "Well, poppet, I'm afraid there are no more novels to adapt, so unless E. F. Winston decides she wants to write more of them, it's quite unlikely. I'm hoping to be part of the cast for the films based on Andy's books, though." "Oh yeah!" Hannah said, looking at him. "Mr. Watkins said you were a writer, but I've never heard of the Druid Gunslinger books." "They're aimed at a slightly older audience, I think, but I'm sure Sarah will love to tell you all about them." "Who's Sarah?" "Another of Andy's soon to be wives. Sarah Washington. Maybe you've seen her in movies?" "Wait. Wait. 'Ballerina Badasses' Sarah Washington? That Sarah Washington is gonna be my sister wife?" "Well, she's certainly here," Emily said with a laugh. "She's downstairs reading Andy's most recent book right now, which I very much doubt we can pry her away from." "I've got so much to learn and discover here, but yeah, let's go to the main bedroom. I feel like it's getting hard to think, so let's go before I can't keep my head clear." "Sure," Andy said, "off to the main bedroom." "Nicolette, can you come with us?" Hannah said. "We're going to need a hand briefly." "We are?" Andy said. Hannah flashed him another broad as miles grin, nodding. "You'll see soon enough! Don't rush your surprise." She grabbed Emily's hand, and then pulled her along, as the four of them started to walk down the hallway. The girls walked several steps behind him, and Hannah whispered into Emily's ear first, making the British woman giggle, before whispering into Nicolette's ear, the maid taking a turn giggling. "Oh you're wicked, girl," Nicolette said. "I fucking love it. You've definitely got a wildcat here, Master." "It says so right here on my tits!" Hannah laughed. As soon as they got into the room, Hannah handed her cellphone to Nicolette. Emily leaned in and whispered into Hannah's ear, which made Hannah gasp and blush. "Oh god, yes! You do you, girl! I fucking love that!" Emily's face broke into a wide grin like she'd just eaten a canary. "Well, it's your show, girl, so do what you want to." She then moved over to whisper into Nicolette's ear, and the maid immediately started giggling all over again. Hannah reached up and grabbed the back of Andy's neck and pulled him down so she could kiss him, and it was sloppy, her tongue almost wanting to lick every inch of his mouth, before she pulled back. "So I can do anything I want? It's okay if I drive?" Andy laughed, shrugging his shoulders, spreading his hands. "Within reason, of course." "Oh, it's all reasonable, and enjoyable," Hannah said, before she grabbed Andy's shirt and pulled him around the room, finally settling on the big armchair, pushing him to sit down. She slowly slid one knee up on one side then her other knee up the other, straddling him. "I'm sure I'd be a shitty stripper, but I've never met a boy who didn't want to do this." She tugged up the cheerleading top, as well as the bra, and let those massive tits spill free, a tidal wave of tan flesh with large aerolas and thick stiff brown nipples. Hannah had at least double Ds, but Andy wouldn't have been at all surprised if they were even larger, and was nearly overwhelmed when she leaned forward and mashed them right up against his face, bringing her arms forward so he felt like his head was being engulfed by them. " Umm. That's it, daddy. Get a face full of those big ol' titties of mine. Some day soon Imma let you fuck'em. Boys have been asking me for a titfuck for years now, and I've always said no, but for you? Goddamn, I'm wet just at the thought of it." Her fingertips smoothed across his shaved head, and when he tried to pull back, she only pulled his face forward even more, holding him there until he thought he was going to suffocate. Eventually, though, she let him pull his face back, wrapping his lips around one of her nipples, suckling hard on it, teasing it with his teeth, which made her give a dramatic shiver, her fingernails raking against the back of his head. "But I gotta be yours first, Daddy," she said, slowly lifting one knee up, drawing it in under her before rolling in a twist, landing her ass in his lap with a heavy whomp, her back to his chest, feeling his cock straining against the jeans. "So don't you move and let your newest fucktoy do her thing." She scooted back into him so she could reach her hands down and unbutton his jeans. "All the boys at school said I was a wicked cocktease, but that's just because I didn't fancy most of them. The guys I hooked up with, though?" She leaned her head back and whispered into his ear. "I was the biggest fucking whore for them imaginable," she moaned. "Blowjobs, handjobs, missionary, doggy, cowgirl, in a car, in a bar, on a boat, near some goats. I made sure my boyfriends never went home with blue balls. A couple of them even begged me to stop, saying they were afraid they were shooting dust," she giggled. "Not one of them made me cum like just the very taste of you did though, Daddy." Andy reached a hand up, sliding it to cup one of her tits, trying to do his best to contribute, but Hannah had him pinned in place pretty good. "Now let's see what your slut's got to work with. It felt kinda big. Is it kinda big?" she giggled, then finally fished his cock out from his unzipped jeans and boxers, not pushing them down, just making them tuck underneath his cock and balls. "Holy fuckballs!" she gasped. "You thick cocked monster, Daddy! That is one big, beautiful, fat fucking prick! Oh god, I hope it tears my slutty little teenage cunt right the fuck up!" As soon as she had it free, she lifted her hips up to draw her skirt up, moving it higher and higher until Andy could feel his cock being rubbed along the one of her stockings. "I know I should wait and take it slow, but fuck it!" Her hand pulled his cock back just enough as she slammed down, forcing her tight young snatch to swallow up his cock. Apparently she hadn't put on panties beneath that skirt. She was easily the tightest cunt he'd ever felt, her body quivering and squirming atop of him, and he was almost worried that he'd hurt her until that giddy laugh burbled out from her throat. "Oh my fucking god that is some good fucking cock!" she shouted. "Where has this goddamn cock been all my life?" Hannah reached up and pulled the scrunchy from her hair, tossing it aside to let her mane hang loose, shaking her head to make her hair fall in her face for a moment, as she took one hand and pushed her skirt down her legs a little, her other arm folding across her chest. Andy heard a click sound, and tried to peek around Hannah, but she leaned over and made sure he couldn't get a good view. "Uh uh, you stay right fucking there, and you let me ride this giant fucking hog of yours until you give me what I want, and don't you doubt for a fucking second that I want it, oh hot shit do I want that fucking cum." Andy was trying to figure out where to put his hands, but Hannah was already moving, tugging the skirt back up again, lifting both of her hands back to rub along his head, when Andy heard another clicking sound. As soon as Andy's hands touched her hips, she suddenly reached down and grabbed his wrists, pulling his hands up to cup those mammoth tits of hers, followed by another click and then another moan. "I really should be bouncing on this schlong of yours, daddy, but I just love how it feels stretching my teenage cunt open, prying that cunt until I can't help but fit like a good little sleeve, only as big as you're making me," Hannah groaned. "Don't you want me, baby? Don't you wanna force fuck your newest whore until she's weeping your cum? 'Cause that's what she fucking wants. I know you can feel how fucking wet I am around that giant cock," she giggled. "Maybe just a little bounce." Hannah lifted her hips up, sliding her twat up his cock. Andy wasn't sure how far up she was going to lift, but after a few inches, she snickered and thrust down again, which only made her moan all the harder. "Fuck fuck fuck that's fucking good,” "You know, Andrew," Emily said, her voice moving closer, "when Hannah told me her plan for this moment, I offered her a little suggestion, one which she found incredibly erotic. Would you like me to tell you what it is?" "I think you should, don't you?" he said, Hannah making sure he couldn't peek and see what was happening. "Oh, I think you rather might enjoy a surprise instead," she laughed, getting even closer before Andy heard yet another click. He knew he'd heard that sound before, but couldn't place it. "You really should see her like this, Andy," Emily purred. "All wanton and wound up on your lap, eager to get your spunk inside of her but too wired to be able to move. And you, being so noble, not rushing her, when really, I think the little slut's as desperate for you to fuck her as you are." There was a rustling sound, and Andy felt his legs being pushed apart a little by Emily's soft hands. "Which is where I come in." There was another click, then another. Then Andy could feel the skirt fluttering, as one of Emily's hands shifted, the tip of her thumb rubbing along what little of his cock was exposed, before moving to strum Hannah's clit tenderly, the Asian cheerleader wriggling even more in his lap. "Fuck, she's frigging me, Daddy. She's rubbing my little cunny while you're ripping it open, and it all feels so fucking good." "It's a good starter, innit?" Emily said, "but I can do better. Hannah, be a good little fuckpuppet and start grinding on him, would you love?" "I don't know, Emily," Hannah whimpered, almost a touch of fear in her voice. "I'm scared I'm gonna start having chain orgasms or something." "Of course you are, darling," Emily replied, "but that's no reason to be frightened. They're wonderful." The movements were tentative at first, but slowly Hannah's hips began lifting up then pushing down again, starting to ride his cock, although clearly pacing herself to not go completely out of control. "Now," Emily said, as Andy thought he felt her moving to her knees, "let me see if I can expedite this along a little more." Andy damn near jumped when he felt Emily's tongue near the base of his cock, the British woman giving a delightful shiver against him, one hand still using a thumb on Hannah's clit, the other keeping Andy's thighs pressed wide apart enough that she could slip in, her head beneath the skirt, as her voice was a little muffled. "Ah yes, I know how we can kickstart this. Hannah, dear, are you ready for my husband to be to blow your fucking mind by blowing his load?" "Oh god, I want it so goddamn bad, Emily, Andy,” Click. "I need to feel that hot jizz inside of my snug snatch, I'm so fucking desperate for it." "But you know what'll happen when he does, don't you?" Hannah nodded, but didn't say anything, while Emily's tongue was flicking along the point where Andy's flesh met Hannah's. "I can't hear you, darling!" Emily said in a sing song voice. "I'll start imprinting." "And what does that mean, you silly girl?" "That I'll be bonded to him, connected to him,” "Is that what you want?" Hannah nodded again, her hair thrashing about, before she realized that Emily still couldn't hear her nodding. "I want it, I want it, I want it so fucking bad,” Click. "Well, you tell him what you want him to make you, and I'll make sure he does, but if you don't say it, he won't do it, and frankly, I won't blame him one bit." "Please, Andy, Daddy, Master, whatever the fuck you want me to call you, please give me that cum, please fill up my cunt and let it mark my very soul." Andy could feel Emily's tongue moving downward, starting to lash over his balls, flicking along them, that weird clicking sound filling the air again, as Hannah continued begging. "I've never wanted anything like this in my entire fucking life, needed something so fucking badly, to feel you jizzing me up, putting a big ol' creampie in my tight teenage twat, doing what it does, what I want it to do to me so fucking much. I wanna be your slut, Andy, yours and nobody else's. I wanna feel that nut branding me as your whore for life, your wanton and willing cheerleader fucktoy who will take every drop of cum you give her. I need it. Oh fuck do I fucking need it, You gotta give it to me, Andy, before I lose my fucking mind." At that point, Andy felt Emily's lips wrapping around his balls, sucking his nuts into her mouth, washing them with her tongue, rolling them around, almost coaxing them to give up their secrets, as Hannah started spasming again on his lap. The sensations were brutally intense, threatening to overwhelm him.. "Please, Daddy, please please please; make me your girl, your slut, your whore, your toy, your fuckhole, your plaything or wife or whatever the fuck you want me as, just make me fucking yours with that goddamn cum already! Cum in me! Show me how fucking owned I am! Oh my god, I'm fucking cumming! Cum with me! Cum! Fucking cum already!" Between Emily's tongue, Hannah's grinding movements and her quivering cunt, Andy's resistance was futile and he felt his balls try to draw up, only to be kept in place by Emily's lips, even while his cock began spewing hot cum inside of Hannah's cunt, sending the girl redoubling with spasms, her already tight snatch locking his cock inside of her until those spurts had stopped and her body sloughed almost lifeless against him in the chair. Emily began giggling profusely beneath the skirt, and he felt her mouth pull off his balls, giving the base of his cock a little lick before she pushed the cheerleader up and off his cock, forcing her to slide a bit more against Andy's chest. Once she had his cock out of the cheerleader, she moved to lick it clean, and Andy was certain he could feel Emily trembling just a little bit, having rediscovered for certain that every bit of his cum would send her into orgasms. After a minute or so of a tongue bath on his cock, Emily slipped out from under the skirt and moved to help Andy lift her up, carrying Hannah's unconscious form to the giant bed, laying her down. Emily had given his knob an excellent spit shine, so Andy tucked his cock away, and pulled up his boxers and his jeans, zipping and buttoning them up, before he noticed that Emily was standing next to Nicolette, who was still in the room. The two of them were looking at Hannah's cellphone. "No, that's definitely the one. Send him that one," the British woman said to the maid. "That's what I figured, but I wanted to be sure," Nicolette said. "And the rest of them?" "Why, send them to Andy's phone, and all the girls' phones as well," Emily said, leaning in to kiss Nicolette, letting the maid get a taste of a few remaining droplets of Andy's cum, forcing the French girl to vibrate a little, a short but nonetheless powerful orgasm rippling through her at even that small amount. "Am I going to regret asking what this is all about?" Andy said, as he walked over to join them. Emily took the phone from Nicolette's hand, selected a photo and turned the phone to show Andy. It was a picture of Hannah on his lap, although her face was covered by her hair. Her cheerleading top was pulled up, but her arm folded across her tits hid her nipples from sight, and while portions of Andy's form were visible, it didn't clearly identify him either. But also just importantly, Hannah's skirt was clearly over the head and shoulders of Emily, who wasn't totally visible in the photo either, but made the image all that more erotic. "When you told Nathaniel that you weren't going to let Benny watch, Hannah asked us to send him a picture that showed the whole thing without giving him any of the good bits, or showing anybody's face," Emily giggled. "He'll know it's her, and you, and me, but he can't prove it to anyone." "So you took a picture," Andy said to Nicolette, who had a comfortable smirk on her face. "Oh, I took loads of pictures, Master, and in most of them, you can see her tits, her face, I like this one in particular," she said, taking the phone back from Emily, scrolling over to show one that was a close up Emily's face, her tongue extended to lick his cock, Hannah's cunt visible and framed in the shot. "But these are just for the family."

 Karen Saves The Universe: Part 2Can a strange marriage survive?Based on a post by LingeringAfterthought, in 3 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories.I want you, Red. I need to make you mine; mine forever. I've never felt like this before; I know I never will again. Marry me." Cal pleaded."I;” Karen murmured, glancing around their group to make sure she wouldn't be overheard, "I don't know what to say. You're wonderful; and you've done so much for me, but this has all been so fast. We're still just getting to know each other; and half the time it doesn't even make sense to me why you would want me; but I; I just; can I just finish school?" she asked."How you can even think about school when someone like me is ready to give you everything you ever wanted, to take care of you completely, it's just crazy;” Cal murmured, sliding his hand up between her legs and brushing along the edge of her panties.Karen blushed and squeezed her thighs together, looking around embarrassed. "I just; I just worked so hard to get in. Juilliard's been my whole life for so long," she said, looking up into his eyes pleading.Cal looked at her through hooded eyes, "Keep looking at me like that and we won't be waiting for anything." His eyes heated as he pulled her closer, dominating her with a hungry kiss while she squirmed self-consciously. The couples around the table smirked as Cal grew even more bold in his explorations.When he released her, Karen hid her face in his neck as the others cheered. They were his friends, happy to see him happy. Cal glanced at a waiter nearby and gestured for more drinks for the table. The opening act on the stage below finished its last set, but the crowd refused to let the show end. Cheers filled the club, with the crowd demanding an encore.Castor, the lead singer, waited for the crowd to quiet with a grin, then his eyes drifted upward and his face lit with excitement. "Thank you, thanks guys, you're a great audience. For an encore, we'd love to give you a taste of our next album. We've been banging it out in the studio and I can't tell you how excited we are for it to be released. Problem is, it's got this insane keys part that can't be played by just anyone, but I think I see our studio angel in the audience tonight. Kare, baby; will you come help us out?" he asked, reaching upward to where Karen sat.Cal's friends turned to look at Karen in surprise. "You play? Like, for real?" Cal's friend Tony yelled across the table to her in surprise. Karen nodded in embarrassment, glancing at Cal.Everything suddenly froze as Karen rose and walked over to the table, standing over her younger self looking at Cal's face. "Look, you little dummy; look at it! It's right there!" she yelled at Young Karen."What's there?" Holland asked, craning his neck to try to see what she was yelling about."Cal, for all his big words, rich gifts, and grand gestures; he hadn't told his friends anything about me; because nothing of who I really was mattered to him. Only the things he wanted about me mattered to him ; that I was shy, and submissive, and just grateful to have someone pay attention to me. And here ; look at his face! It fell!" she yelled, gesturing to where Cal sat, leaning back in his chair."His face appears still to be attached, to me;” Holland said, doubtfully."It's just a phrase. His face didn't actually fall, but his eyes; look, he's still smiling, but you see it in his eyes. He's not happy for me. He's not happy because the moment stopped being about Cal and how he was the great boyfriend spoiling his new stupid girlfriend on her birthday. Once the moment became about me; that I was asked up on stage; that I could do something his friends admired; ugh, why didn't I see it?" she moaned."What happened?" Holland asked.Karen rubbed her eyes with her hand. "I was young. I was asked to do something. I was asked for help. I was a stupid ninny that had absolutely no ability to say 'no' without thinking the world would end; so, I went up and played with the band.""Oh; was that bad?" Holland asked."No, it wasn't bad. It was a great song. I played well and I was just tipsy enough to not feel all the eyes that were looking at me, making my skin crawl. And you know; some part of me; I wanted to do it. I wanted to show myself that I could play for people; outside a quiet studio," Karen admitted. "Everyone always went on and on about how I needed to get over being so self-conscious and how it would hold my career back. That, and part of me wanted to show Cal's friends that I was more than just another girl in the long line of girls that he had gone through; that I was worth something.""Sometimes I wish our crew would see that I was worth something more;” Holland said, ruefully."Yeah; it's hard when you're young. You're dying to show the world what you're worth, how you're special, but they mostly just need you to work hard and do as you're told," Karen sighed, looking around the club. "Some people will never see what's special about you. They see what they want and they really don't care about the rest. It's those people that see who you really are; without wanting anything from you; those are the ones you need to hang onto."Karen turned her back on the club and the room re-formed into her Newark apartment. The intercom buzzed and Dana rolled out of bed to answer it. "What's up?" she asked."Hey; um, I don't have my keys. Can you buzz me in?" Karen's voice shakily asked through the intercom. Dana frowned in confusion and pressed the button to allow her entry. Soon, she opened the door after Karen's tentative knock."What happened, Kare? I thought you'd be gone all weekend," Dana said, taking in her roommate's appearance. Karen looked unharmed, but her face was puffy and her makeup was streaked from crying and trying to wipe it away."I; uh; I played at the club tonight. Castor Graham was the opening act and he asked me to come up for the encore, so I did.""You played in front of rowdy drunk people? That's fantastic! How did it feel?" Dana asked, offering her back for Karen to lean on while she took off her heels."I was scared; but after a while it was fun. The keyboard was facing the crowd and after a while I looked out over the people and; they looked happy. They liked it. It felt good, then.""God, I wish I'd been there. I'm so proud of you! What did Cal and the entourage say?""Um; I; don't know," Karen blinked and looked around the apartment. "When, uh; when I um; when I got back to the table, they were all gone." Karen wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and cleared her throat."Wait, what?" Dana said, her tone darkening like a storm cloud, threatening imminent destruction. "Say that again. You get called up on stage to perform, you play in front of all those people; like the freakin' keyboard genius you are; and when you got back, those motherfuckers were gone?""I; I think they were gone? The table was empty from what I could see; and the, uh, the security guy; he couldn't let me into the area. He really only knew Cal, and um;” Karen choked and turned her face away, trying to breathe through it and stop herself from crying."Karen; that's not; wait, how did you even get home?" Dana asked, unzipping Karen's dress and grabbing a pair of yoga pants for her."Well, my purse and phone were gone from the table, so I couldn't call anybody and I didn't have any money;” Karen choked. "The security guy was really nice and said I could use his MetroCard if I returned it, so;”"Oh, Christ On A Crotch-Rocket!" Dana yelled, throwing a sweatshirt at Karen, who caught it and pulled it over her head. "Kare. You gotta stop dating this guy. He's a piece of shit. Trust me. I didn't know it when I sent you over there to play, but he's walking excrement;""It's probably just a misunderstand;""And believe me, I'm sure he'll come back with some half-assed explanation, because that's what they all do;""And he tells me all the time that he;""Yeah. He ‘tells ‘; you pretty stuff. He ‘buys ‘; you pretty stuff. Problem is, words and money are nothing to him. Where the hell is he when you're walking home in fuck-me club clothes from the train station and trying not to lose your virginity, huh? Kare. I know you've been through hell, but you are worth more than this. You need a guy that walks you down the sidewalk and puts himself on the traffic side; just in case, because that's who he is. You deserve that. Don't you get it?" Dana asked, taking Karen's hair down and brushing it out, gently."Cal isn't; it's probably just; something;” Karen whispered, biting her lips closed.Dana stopped brushing and wrapped her arms around her roommate, squeezing her hard. "There is real love out there, Kare; and if you don't deserve it, I don't know who does. Someday, you're going to meet a guy that actually loves you and it's going to blow your mind when the games and bullshit are gone. It's like; when a guy is in love, gravity changes for them, or something;”Holland jumped up and pointed excitedly at Dana. "She's right! When I met the Zendayans, my tongue swelled up and;""Are you listening to my story at all, or are you just fantasizing about pretty girls?" Karen huffed."Um; both?" Holland replied, smirking. "I mean, you and Dana were really pretty; and there's just one bed here, and;"Karen shot him an exasperated look and he shrank back behind the bulkhead. "Anyway;” she said.The room dissolved and re-formed, both girls sleeping in the queen-sized bed they shared, morning sunlight streaming in through the dirty window, when the buzzer sounded. "Day, c'mon time to go," a man's voice sounded from the intercom. Karen's head peered out from under the blanket and she ran over to the intercom, tripping over some bottles of wine that they (mostly Dana) had consumed the previous night, trying to rid Karen of her birthday misery."Um; she's almost ready!" Karen replied, then ran to the bed and shook her hungover roommate awake. "Day, someone's here for you; they say it's time to go."Dana grunted and turned over, away from Karen. "Go do it for me; just say you're me again," Dana grumbled into her pillow.Karen swallowed nervously, but gamely grabbed Dana's dress, quickly got ready, and ran out the door. Upon leaving the building, she stumbled into the guy waiting outside. "Um; I'm ready! I'm ready! Dana Stevens. Thanks for waiting;” she panted.The man gave her a quick considering look, then walked her to a large extended-cab pickup truck that looked ridiculously out of place on the streets of Newark. "Miss Stevens," he said, opening the passenger side door and offering his hand to help her up into the vehicle."Thanks. Thank you;” she said, precariously climbing up the runner board in her heels until she settled herself up onto the seat."Just wait there, a bit," he said, after closing the door. Walking back to the building, he selected a key from his collection, opened the building door and walked in. Not long after, he emerged from the building carrying Dana over his shoulder and carrying a bag stuffed haphazardly with clothes. Opening the door behind Karen, he dumped Dana unceremoniously into the back seat and tossed the bag of clothes on top of her. Dana, still in her pajamas, put the bag under her head and turned away from the sunlight streaming into the cab."Dean, this is Karen. Karen, my brother Dean," Dana mumbled, as she draped a pair of sweatpants over her head to block the light."Oh; um, sorry," Karen said, flushing red as she glanced over at Dean's face. "I didn't mean to; um, I'll just go;""Lock the doors, and get us out of the city, Dean. She's coming with us," Dana ordered. "She's on asshole detox!"Karen jumped as the truck's doors locked and Dean wordlessly pulled out into the street and started out. She clasped her hands in her lap nervously. She hadn't packed anything. She had no phone. She didn't have time to let Dana drag her to West Virginia for a visit. Dana had been trying to talk her into coming with her to where she had grown up with her grandparents, but in the excitement of her birthday, Karen had forgotten the trip was this week. She knew better than to say anything, though. Dana wouldn't care, and Dean; who knew what Dean Stevens the brother would think. He didn't say much, but he obviously knew better than to argue with hungover Dana, which was something they had in common."She knows where we're goin?" Dean asked, checking his mirrors as he merged onto the freeway. Dana grunted in assent. "Why ain't she singin' it, yet?" he rumbled, seemingly amused."Because She's Not A Drunk College Kid, Idiot!" Dana howled, holding her head in pain.Dean smirked and started humming "Country Roads" to himself."I hate you so much;” Dana growled, pulling the bag of clothes over her head again. Dean only laughed.After a few miles of road, Karen looked at her roommate in the back seat, and unbuckled her seatbelt. She began to turn to lean over the front seat when Dean reached over and pushed her back down and pointed at her seatbelt. "Um sorry; I just;” Karen trailed off, horrified that she had done something wrong. She couldn't finish her sentence and sat back down, blinking back tears as she put her seatbelt back on.Dean glanced over, looking her up and down for a moment. With a sigh, he put his turn signal on and pulled off the road into a gas station at the next exit. "Do what you need to do," he said, curtly.Karen jumped up, turned around and loosely buckled the seatbelt across the sleeping Dana's hips, then turned, sat down again, and buckled her seatbelt. "Thank you," she mumbled. Dean turned to the back seat where his sister continued sleeping and his face softened. He looked at Karen a second time, sitting with her hands in her lap again, clenched like she expected a tongue-lashing from him for delaying the trip. His eyes drifted down to her feet, where her cold toes were turning pink in the strappy, uncomfortable-looking heels she wore when she came running out of the apartment building on his sister's fool errand. Reaching back, he grabbed a pair of thick socks that had fallen out of the bag of clothes and tossed them to her. Smiling gratefully, Karen removed the strappy heels and pulled on the warm socks as he pulled out onto the road again.The road stretched on. The scenery gradually becoming more rural, the traffic less crowded. Karen found herself relaxing and breathing more slowly as the land passed by. She occasionally glanced at the gas gauge and compared them to the passing road signs to try to discern when they might be pulling over to refill the tank. The third time she did it, Dean shook his head. "Bedford, hon," he chuckled. "You know, you could just ask me. I might be a longshoreman, but I don't bite.""Not like Dana, then," Karen replied, biting her lips so she didn't smile."Hm. Sounds like a story," he said.Karen nodded. "The first time we met, I was waiting to audition for our agency and I was almost going to leave, I was so scared. Day asked to see what I was playing and I handed her the music. Instead of looking at it, she took my hand and bit me. Said it was 'for luck,'" Karen said, laughing to herself."It worked, too. Kare needed to get of her head. She plays better when you throw her off balance, first," Dana said, rising to a sitting position and running her fingers through her hair."Is that so?" Dean asked, looking over at Karen."Yeah. I think too much. My teacher always said I played things perfectly, but he could hear me thinking about it the whole time. Day's a true performer, though. She doesn't think at all - she plays with her feelings, and that's what an audience connects with," Karen said, smiling proudly at Dana."Thoughtlessly playing with feelings; sounds about right," Dean said, chuckling when Dana punched him in the shoulder. "Speaking of, we're coming up on Bedford. Let me know if you need anything."Dana growled at this but said nothing as Karen blinked in confusion. Soon, Dean pulled off the interstate into a gas station and up to a gas pump. Dean hopped out of the truck and began filling the tank. After noticing the bug-splattered windshield, Karen changed back into her strappy heels and walked over to where the island held the squeegee and mop. Dean watched, bemused, as she diligently scrubbed the dried carcasses of insects off the glass while dressed to the nines. Karen finished and climbed back into the truck, only to have Dana grab her shoulder and start whispering in her ear and pointing at the convenience store. Karen, appearing distressed, blushed and said something back to Dana, who gestured emphatically.Dean kept watching as Karen seemed to screw up her courage, took her purse, and walked quickly into the store. He shot his sister a flat look. Dana only grinned, stretched, and put her feet up on the front seat. Shaking his head, he followed into the store."And what would you be needing all those for, hon?" the guy at the till asked while ogling Karen, who looked like she wanted to disappear under the rug."Um; it's uh;” Karen stammered."I need to ask for state regulatory purposes," the guy continued, as he put a large box of condoms on the counter and rang it up."They're for me," Dean said, as he tossed some drinks, chips and cookies on the counter. "Uncut and hangs to the left. Anything else the state needs to know about my cock?" The till guy cleared his throat and began ringing up the additional items and bagging them without further comment. Annoyed, Dean grabbed the bagged items in one hand and took Karen's hand in the other and left the store. "You know, you don't have to do everything my little sister tells you," he said under his breath as they walked to the truck."Then why'd you buy them? Seems like you can't tell her 'no' any more than I can," Karen replied, a little surprised that she had the guts to argue with him.Dean laughed, "I don't want her knocked up any more than you do." He helped her up into the truck and tossed the bag of items to his sister.Dana went digging through the bag and retrieved the box. "Wait a minute, these are just regular. Didn't they have lubricated?" she complained. Karen swallowed uncomfortably, searching for an answer as Dean pulled her seatbelt out and buckled it around her."Don't need lubricated if the guy does his job right," Dean said, grinning at her cheerfully. "Raise your standards and you won't need so many, either.""Hum; lower yours, and maybe you'll actually need some," Dana retorted, opening the package of cookies. Karen just shrank in her seat and covered her flaming cheeks as they pulled back onto the freeway.The scenery turned into wooded hills with mountains growing in the distance. Steering down the curved roads, Dean sighed quietly, a peaceful smile on his face. Karen leaned forward in her seat, trying to see everything as it passed, excitement lighting her face. Dana had fallen asleep again.Near evening, Dean turned the truck down a long, dirt road and reached behind him to shake Dana awake. "Watch for him, Day;” he said. Dana sat up, suddenly alert and scanning the darkening woods around them."What are we looking for?" Karen asked.

 Karen Saves The Universe: Part 2Can a strange marriage survive?Based on a post by LingeringAfterthought, in 3 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories.I want you, Red. I need to make you mine; mine forever. I've never felt like this before; I know I never will again. Marry me." Cal pleaded."I;” Karen murmured, glancing around their group to make sure she wouldn't be overheard, "I don't know what to say. You're wonderful; and you've done so much for me, but this has all been so fast. We're still just getting to know each other; and half the time it doesn't even make sense to me why you would want me; but I; I just; can I just finish school?" she asked."How you can even think about school when someone like me is ready to give you everything you ever wanted, to take care of you completely, it's just crazy;” Cal murmured, sliding his hand up between her legs and brushing along the edge of her panties.Karen blushed and squeezed her thighs together, looking around embarrassed. "I just; I just worked so hard to get in. Juilliard's been my whole life for so long," she said, looking up into his eyes pleading.Cal looked at her through hooded eyes, "Keep looking at me like that and we won't be waiting for anything." His eyes heated as he pulled her closer, dominating her with a hungry kiss while she squirmed self-consciously. The couples around the table smirked as Cal grew even more bold in his explorations.When he released her, Karen hid her face in his neck as the others cheered. They were his friends, happy to see him happy. Cal glanced at a waiter nearby and gestured for more drinks for the table. The opening act on the stage below finished its last set, but the crowd refused to let the show end. Cheers filled the club, with the crowd demanding an encore.Castor, the lead singer, waited for the crowd to quiet with a grin, then his eyes drifted upward and his face lit with excitement. "Thank you, thanks guys, you're a great audience. For an encore, we'd love to give you a taste of our next album. We've been banging it out in the studio and I can't tell you how excited we are for it to be released. Problem is, it's got this insane keys part that can't be played by just anyone, but I think I see our studio angel in the audience tonight. Kare, baby; will you come help us out?" he asked, reaching upward to where Karen sat.Cal's friends turned to look at Karen in surprise. "You play? Like, for real?" Cal's friend Tony yelled across the table to her in surprise. Karen nodded in embarrassment, glancing at Cal.Everything suddenly froze as Karen rose and walked over to the table, standing over her younger self looking at Cal's face. "Look, you little dummy; look at it! It's right there!" she yelled at Young Karen."What's there?" Holland asked, craning his neck to try to see what she was yelling about."Cal, for all his big words, rich gifts, and grand gestures; he hadn't told his friends anything about me; because nothing of who I really was mattered to him. Only the things he wanted about me mattered to him ; that I was shy, and submissive, and just grateful to have someone pay attention to me. And here ; look at his face! It fell!" she yelled, gesturing to where Cal sat, leaning back in his chair."His face appears still to be attached, to me;” Holland said, doubtfully."It's just a phrase. His face didn't actually fall, but his eyes; look, he's still smiling, but you see it in his eyes. He's not happy for me. He's not happy because the moment stopped being about Cal and how he was the great boyfriend spoiling his new stupid girlfriend on her birthday. Once the moment became about me; that I was asked up on stage; that I could do something his friends admired; ugh, why didn't I see it?" she moaned."What happened?" Holland asked.Karen rubbed her eyes with her hand. "I was young. I was asked to do something. I was asked for help. I was a stupid ninny that had absolutely no ability to say 'no' without thinking the world would end; so, I went up and played with the band.""Oh; was that bad?" Holland asked."No, it wasn't bad. It was a great song. I played well and I was just tipsy enough to not feel all the eyes that were looking at me, making my skin crawl. And you know; some part of me; I wanted to do it. I wanted to show myself that I could play for people; outside a quiet studio," Karen admitted. "Everyone always went on and on about how I needed to get over being so self-conscious and how it would hold my career back. That, and part of me wanted to show Cal's friends that I was more than just another girl in the long line of girls that he had gone through; that I was worth something.""Sometimes I wish our crew would see that I was worth something more;” Holland said, ruefully."Yeah; it's hard when you're young. You're dying to show the world what you're worth, how you're special, but they mostly just need you to work hard and do as you're told," Karen sighed, looking around the club. "Some people will never see what's special about you. They see what they want and they really don't care about the rest. It's those people that see who you really are; without wanting anything from you; those are the ones you need to hang onto."Karen turned her back on the club and the room re-formed into her Newark apartment. The intercom buzzed and Dana rolled out of bed to answer it. "What's up?" she asked."Hey; um, I don't have my keys. Can you buzz me in?" Karen's voice shakily asked through the intercom. Dana frowned in confusion and pressed the button to allow her entry. Soon, she opened the door after Karen's tentative knock."What happened, Kare? I thought you'd be gone all weekend," Dana said, taking in her roommate's appearance. Karen looked unharmed, but her face was puffy and her makeup was streaked from crying and trying to wipe it away."I; uh; I played at the club tonight. Castor Graham was the opening act and he asked me to come up for the encore, so I did.""You played in front of rowdy drunk people? That's fantastic! How did it feel?" Dana asked, offering her back for Karen to lean on while she took off her heels."I was scared; but after a while it was fun. The keyboard was facing the crowd and after a while I looked out over the people and; they looked happy. They liked it. It felt good, then.""God, I wish I'd been there. I'm so proud of you! What did Cal and the entourage say?""Um; I; don't know," Karen blinked and looked around the apartment. "When, uh; when I um; when I got back to the table, they were all gone." Karen wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and cleared her throat."Wait, what?" Dana said, her tone darkening like a storm cloud, threatening imminent destruction. "Say that again. You get called up on stage to perform, you play in front of all those people; like the freakin' keyboard genius you are; and when you got back, those motherfuckers were gone?""I; I think they were gone? The table was empty from what I could see; and the, uh, the security guy; he couldn't let me into the area. He really only knew Cal, and um;” Karen choked and turned her face away, trying to breathe through it and stop herself from crying."Karen; that's not; wait, how did you even get home?" Dana asked, unzipping Karen's dress and grabbing a pair of yoga pants for her."Well, my purse and phone were gone from the table, so I couldn't call anybody and I didn't have any money;” Karen choked. "The security guy was really nice and said I could use his MetroCard if I returned it, so;”"Oh, Christ On A Crotch-Rocket!" Dana yelled, throwing a sweatshirt at Karen, who caught it and pulled it over her head. "Kare. You gotta stop dating this guy. He's a piece of shit. Trust me. I didn't know it when I sent you over there to play, but he's walking excrement;""It's probably just a misunderstand;""And believe me, I'm sure he'll come back with some half-assed explanation, because that's what they all do;""And he tells me all the time that he;""Yeah. He ‘tells ‘; you pretty stuff. He ‘buys ‘; you pretty stuff. Problem is, words and money are nothing to him. Where the hell is he when you're walking home in fuck-me club clothes from the train station and trying not to lose your virginity, huh? Kare. I know you've been through hell, but you are worth more than this. You need a guy that walks you down the sidewalk and puts himself on the traffic side; just in case, because that's who he is. You deserve that. Don't you get it?" Dana asked, taking Karen's hair down and brushing it out, gently."Cal isn't; it's probably just; something;” Karen whispered, biting her lips closed.Dana stopped brushing and wrapped her arms around her roommate, squeezing her hard. "There is real love out there, Kare; and if you don't deserve it, I don't know who does. Someday, you're going to meet a guy that actually loves you and it's going to blow your mind when the games and bullshit are gone. It's like; when a guy is in love, gravity changes for them, or something;”Holland jumped up and pointed excitedly at Dana. "She's right! When I met the Zendayans, my tongue swelled up and;""Are you listening to my story at all, or are you just fantasizing about pretty girls?" Karen huffed."Um; both?" Holland replied, smirking. "I mean, you and Dana were really pretty; and there's just one bed here, and;"Karen shot him an exasperated look and he shrank back behind the bulkhead. "Anyway;” she said.The room dissolved and re-formed, both girls sleeping in the queen-sized bed they shared, morning sunlight streaming in through the dirty window, when the buzzer sounded. "Day, c'mon time to go," a man's voice sounded from the intercom. Karen's head peered out from under the blanket and she ran over to the intercom, tripping over some bottles of wine that they (mostly Dana) had consumed the previous night, trying to rid Karen of her birthday misery."Um; she's almost ready!" Karen replied, then ran to the bed and shook her hungover roommate awake. "Day, someone's here for you; they say it's time to go."Dana grunted and turned over, away from Karen. "Go do it for me; just say you're me again," Dana grumbled into her pillow.Karen swallowed nervously, but gamely grabbed Dana's dress, quickly got ready, and ran out the door. Upon leaving the building, she stumbled into the guy waiting outside. "Um; I'm ready! I'm ready! Dana Stevens. Thanks for waiting;” she panted.The man gave her a quick considering look, then walked her to a large extended-cab pickup truck that looked ridiculously out of place on the streets of Newark. "Miss Stevens," he said, opening the passenger side door and offering his hand to help her up into the vehicle."Thanks. Thank you;” she said, precariously climbing up the runner board in her heels until she settled herself up onto the seat."Just wait there, a bit," he said, after closing the door. Walking back to the building, he selected a key from his collection, opened the building door and walked in. Not long after, he emerged from the building carrying Dana over his shoulder and carrying a bag stuffed haphazardly with clothes. Opening the door behind Karen, he dumped Dana unceremoniously into the back seat and tossed the bag of clothes on top of her. Dana, still in her pajamas, put the bag under her head and turned away from the sunlight streaming into the cab."Dean, this is Karen. Karen, my brother Dean," Dana mumbled, as she draped a pair of sweatpants over her head to block the light."Oh; um, sorry," Karen said, flushing red as she glanced over at Dean's face. "I didn't mean to; um, I'll just go;""Lock the doors, and get us out of the city, Dean. She's coming with us," Dana ordered. "She's on asshole detox!"Karen jumped as the truck's doors locked and Dean wordlessly pulled out into the street and started out. She clasped her hands in her lap nervously. She hadn't packed anything. She had no phone. She didn't have time to let Dana drag her to West Virginia for a visit. Dana had been trying to talk her into coming with her to where she had grown up with her grandparents, but in the excitement of her birthday, Karen had forgotten the trip was this week. She knew better than to say anything, though. Dana wouldn't care, and Dean; who knew what Dean Stevens the brother would think. He didn't say much, but he obviously knew better than to argue with hungover Dana, which was something they had in common."She knows where we're goin?" Dean asked, checking his mirrors as he merged onto the freeway. Dana grunted in assent. "Why ain't she singin' it, yet?" he rumbled, seemingly amused."Because She's Not A Drunk College Kid, Idiot!" Dana howled, holding her head in pain.Dean smirked and started humming "Country Roads" to himself."I hate you so much;” Dana growled, pulling the bag of clothes over her head again. Dean only laughed.After a few miles of road, Karen looked at her roommate in the back seat, and unbuckled her seatbelt. She began to turn to lean over the front seat when Dean reached over and pushed her back down and pointed at her seatbelt. "Um sorry; I just;” Karen trailed off, horrified that she had done something wrong. She couldn't finish her sentence and sat back down, blinking back tears as she put her seatbelt back on.Dean glanced over, looking her up and down for a moment. With a sigh, he put his turn signal on and pulled off the road into a gas station at the next exit. "Do what you need to do," he said, curtly.Karen jumped up, turned around and loosely buckled the seatbelt across the sleeping Dana's hips, then turned, sat down again, and buckled her seatbelt. "Thank you," she mumbled. Dean turned to the back seat where his sister continued sleeping and his face softened. He looked at Karen a second time, sitting with her hands in her lap again, clenched like she expected a tongue-lashing from him for delaying the trip. His eyes drifted down to her feet, where her cold toes were turning pink in the strappy, uncomfortable-looking heels she wore when she came running out of the apartment building on his sister's fool errand. Reaching back, he grabbed a pair of thick socks that had fallen out of the bag of clothes and tossed them to her. Smiling gratefully, Karen removed the strappy heels and pulled on the warm socks as he pulled out onto the road again.The road stretched on. The scenery gradually becoming more rural, the traffic less crowded. Karen found herself relaxing and breathing more slowly as the land passed by. She occasionally glanced at the gas gauge and compared them to the passing road signs to try to discern when they might be pulling over to refill the tank. The third time she did it, Dean shook his head. "Bedford, hon," he chuckled. "You know, you could just ask me. I might be a longshoreman, but I don't bite.""Not like Dana, then," Karen replied, biting her lips so she didn't smile."Hm. Sounds like a story," he said.Karen nodded. "The first time we met, I was waiting to audition for our agency and I was almost going to leave, I was so scared. Day asked to see what I was playing and I handed her the music. Instead of looking at it, she took my hand and bit me. Said it was 'for luck,'" Karen said, laughing to herself."It worked, too. Kare needed to get of her head. She plays better when you throw her off balance, first," Dana said, rising to a sitting position and running her fingers through her hair."Is that so?" Dean asked, looking over at Karen."Yeah. I think too much. My teacher always said I played things perfectly, but he could hear me thinking about it the whole time. Day's a true performer, though. She doesn't think at all - she plays with her feelings, and that's what an audience connects with," Karen said, smiling proudly at Dana."Thoughtlessly playing with feelings; sounds about right," Dean said, chuckling when Dana punched him in the shoulder. "Speaking of, we're coming up on Bedford. Let me know if you need anything."Dana growled at this but said nothing as Karen blinked in confusion. Soon, Dean pulled off the interstate into a gas station and up to a gas pump. Dean hopped out of the truck and began filling the tank. After noticing the bug-splattered windshield, Karen changed back into her strappy heels and walked over to where the island held the squeegee and mop. Dean watched, bemused, as she diligently scrubbed the dried carcasses of insects off the glass while dressed to the nines. Karen finished and climbed back into the truck, only to have Dana grab her shoulder and start whispering in her ear and pointing at the convenience store. Karen, appearing distressed, blushed and said something back to Dana, who gestured emphatically.Dean kept watching as Karen seemed to screw up her courage, took her purse, and walked quickly into the store. He shot his sister a flat look. Dana only grinned, stretched, and put her feet up on the front seat. Shaking his head, he followed into the store."And what would you be needing all those for, hon?" the guy at the till asked while ogling Karen, who looked like she wanted to disappear under the rug."Um; it's uh;” Karen stammered."I need to ask for state regulatory purposes," the guy continued, as he put a large box of condoms on the counter and rang it up."They're for me," Dean said, as he tossed some drinks, chips and cookies on the counter. "Uncut and hangs to the left. Anything else the state needs to know about my cock?" The till guy cleared his throat and began ringing up the additional items and bagging them without further comment. Annoyed, Dean grabbed the bagged items in one hand and took Karen's hand in the other and left the store. "You know, you don't have to do everything my little sister tells you," he said under his breath as they walked to the truck."Then why'd you buy them? Seems like you can't tell her 'no' any more than I can," Karen replied, a little surprised that she had the guts to argue with him.Dean laughed, "I don't want her knocked up any more than you do." He helped her up into the truck and tossed the bag of items to his sister.Dana went digging through the bag and retrieved the box. "Wait a minute, these are just regular. Didn't they have lubricated?" she complained. Karen swallowed uncomfortably, searching for an answer as Dean pulled her seatbelt out and buckled it around her."Don't need lubricated if the guy does his job right," Dean said, grinning at her cheerfully. "Raise your standards and you won't need so many, either.""Hum; lower yours, and maybe you'll actually need some," Dana retorted, opening the package of cookies. Karen just shrank in her seat and covered her flaming cheeks as they pulled back onto the freeway.The scenery turned into wooded hills with mountains growing in the distance. Steering down the curved roads, Dean sighed quietly, a peaceful smile on his face. Karen leaned forward in her seat, trying to see everything as it passed, excitement lighting her face. Dana had fallen asleep again.Near evening, Dean turned the truck down a long, dirt road and reached behind him to shake Dana awake. "Watch for him, Day;” he said. Dana sat up, suddenly alert and scanning the darkening woods around them."What are we looking for?" Karen asked.

Remember the Oscars best picture flub? Jordan Horowitz is the guy who stopped that train before it wrecked. In this episode, he and his producing-directing. partner (and life partner) Julia Hart tell the story of that wild night when their film La La Land was announced as the winner, but wasn't. They also describe bringing Black women superheroes to life in Fast Color, working together as a couple, and so much more.Originally released for subscribers only in 2020. Questions? Comments? Criticism? Hit us up on social media at @theblcklst. To learn more about The Black List, visit ​www.blcklst.com​. Mentions:+La La Land x Oscars mixup: https://www.forbes.com/sites/natalierobehmed/2017/02/27/the-full-story-behind-the-la-la-land-an d-moonlight-oscars-mix-up/#419bc6d42298+Fast Color: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/fast-color-reviewed-a-superhero-movie-that-pa ys-close-attention-to-ordinary-life+Miss Stevens: ​https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/miss_stevens+The Keeping Room: https://www.fastcompany.com/3051556/the-keeping-room-star-brit-marling-and-writer-julia-hart- on-making-a-feminist-western+Stargirl: ​https://ew.com/movies/stargirl-director-julia-hart-disney-plus/ 

This week, Franklin and Kate talk to filmmakers Jordan Horowitz and Julia Hart about La La Land and that wild 2017 Oscars night mixup, bringing Black women superheroes to life in Fast Color, working together as a couple, and so much more.Questions? Comments? Criticism? Hit us up on social media at @theblcklst. To learn more about The Black List, visit ​www.blcklst.com​.Mentions:+La La Land x Oscars mixup: https://www.forbes.com/sites/natalierobehmed/2017/02/27/the-full-story-behind-the-la-la-land-an d-moonlight-oscars-mix-up/#419bc6d42298+Fast Color: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/fast-color-reviewed-a-superhero-movie-that-pa ys-close-attention-to-ordinary-life+Miss Stevens: ​https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/miss_stevens+The Keeping Room: https://www.fastcompany.com/3051556/the-keeping-room-star-brit-marling-and-writer-julia-hart- on-making-a-feminist-western+Stargirl: ​https://ew.com/movies/stargirl-director-julia-hart-disney-plus/ [Originally released for subscribers only in 2020]

Don't "Miss" out on this episode covering Miss Stevens, the film, not the person. Look, they're not all gunna be out right bangers alright. Sometimes I just type out the first thing that comes to mind. Let me try again, you deserve it. Don't "Miss" out on th- ok its not happening. What is happening though, is the thorough enjoyment of this episode, please do enjoy, I'd prefer it if you did.Instagrams:@TheReviewPodcasts@g.a.h._@UnoSoloMio Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

jay, bella, and ally discuss season 6, episode 1 of riverVALE (the best show on tv). We also get sidetracked talking about the 2016 box office failure Miss Stevens starring lili reinhart and timmy tim.

Dear Parents, We’re going to have a great upcoming week. Below is a short description of what’s coming up and important links and/or announcements: Watch these announcements on video here. Mr. Gray’s Class Podcast Walk Through the Ancient World Monday, May 24 Virtual Open House = Thursday, May 27 Extra Minimum Days: Thu, May 27, Fri May 28, Thu Jun 3, Fri Jun 4 Pizza and Movie Lunch Friday, May 28- Please let me know if you would like an alternative to pizza due to food allergies End of Year Information Promotion = Wednesday, June 2 at 9:15am (bring your own blankets for the soccer field) Movie Permission Slip Walk to the Jeffrey Trail Picnic Tuesday, June 1 Permission Slip Reader’s Workshop This week the kids will have a chance to do open reading. They may bring books from home or choose books from my classroom. Please have students start bringing back books from home that are either from our school library or from my classroom library. Writer’s Workshop The kids are working on some end of year projects. Math Math Answers and Help Here What happened to math class? We will begin working on the stock market game. They will be choosing companies and watching live to see if their money grows (or shrinks☹️). History On Monday May 24th, we have a virtual assembly called Walk Through the Ancient World. Students will be given a character or characters and do a very small performance. Students are also encouraged to dress up. Please have students dressed for the performance first thing Monday morning. They can bring a change of clothes for recess/lunch after. Please have students bring headphones if they have them. Science The kids will work with Miss Stevens in science lab. Thank you, Mr. Gray

Dear Parents, We’re going to have a great upcoming week. Below is a short description of what’s coming up and important links and/or announcements: Watch these announcements on video here. Mr. Gray’s Class Podcast Happy Mother’s Day to all the wonderful Moms of Room 36! Walk Through the Ancient World Monday, May 24th Reader’s Workshop This week the kids will have a chance to do open reading. They may bring books from home or choose books from my classroom. Please have students start bringing back books from home that are either from our school library or from my classroom library. Writer’s Workshop The kids will finish working on their research-based information essay about teen activism. Then, they will choose a new topic to focus on in writing. Math Math Answers and Help Here What happened to math class? We will continue working on the end of our final unit: Area and Surface Area. Next week, we will begin studying surface area. History We will study Ancient Rome. On Monday May 24th, we have a virtual assembly called Walk Through the Ancient World. Students will be given a character or characters and do a very small performance. Students are also encouraged to dress up. More information will be sent out at the end of next week and students will find out their character on Monday, May 17th. Science The kids will work with Miss Stevens in science lab. Thank you, Mr. Gray

Note from the Host: I am in no way claiming to be a film critic. These are just my opinions on these films and how they left me feeling upon viewing each of them. I hope you enjoy the episode! This episode is dedicated to all of the film lovers and theatre nerds out there! Aside from theatre, Aliya truly loves dissecting film and the ins and outs of the film industry. The film industry has been stuck in a consistent cycle of producing lackluster films specifically made with lower budgets, all-star casts, and cliché scripts in order to easily cash out at the box office. But true filmmakers and artists see the bigger picture and use these lower budgets to their advantage to create a story that the audience can and will resonate with. That being said, the films mentioned in this episode are great examples of how a passionate and creative director can reach viewers who have been involved onstage, offstage, and in other realms of theatre to celebrate this marginalized group of artistic professionals. Films mentioned in this episode: Miss Stevens (2016) Lady Bird (2017) Antebellum (2020) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dear Parents, We’re going to have a great upcoming week. Below is a short description of what’s coming up and important links and/or announcements: Watch these announcements on video here. Mr. Gray’s Class Podcast Reader’s Workshop This week we will start a unit on Dystopian Books. This week kids will be reading their own Dystopian books and finishing a Dystopian project. I have some Dystopian Books in my classroom. Our library Mrs. Rusmisel is trying to curate Dystopian Books for our school library. Here is a list of books that would be great to read during our Dystopian Unit for the next few weeks. The students tend to really enjoy this genre. Writer’s Workshop The kids will finish working on their research-based information essay about teen activism. Then, they will choose a new topic to focus on in writing. Math Math Answers and Help Here What happened to math class? We have completed all our end of year testing for 6th grade. The kids will have an opportunity to earn some extra points with an optional statistics review test. Then, we will finish the second half of our Area and Surface Area unit which we never finished earlier this year. History We will continue our study of Ancient Greece. Students will continue a study of Greek Gods and Mythology. The kids will make their own Greek God and write an origin story for that God. We may also start studying Ancient Rome. Science The kids will work with Miss Stevens in science lab. Thank you, Mr. Gray

Dear Parents, We’re going to have a great upcoming week. Below is a short description of what’s coming up and important links and/or announcements: Watch these announcements on video here. Mr. Gray’s Class Podcast Yearbooks Order Here Student Newspapers Reader’s Workshop This week we will start a unit on Dystopian Books. This week kids will be reading their own Dystopian books and have an opportunity to read in book clubs. I have some Dystopian Books in my classroom. Our library Mrs. Rusmisel is trying to curate Dystopian Books for our school library. Here is a list of books that would be great to read during our Dystopian Unit for the next few weeks. The students tend to really enjoy this genre. Writer’s Workshop The kids will continue working on a research-based information essay about teen activism. The kids will turn their original research into a multi-faceted information book focusing on a teen activist, their cause and more research into a topic. Math Math Answers and Help Here What happened to math class? This is a big week for math. Monday will be our End of Unit Assessment on Data Sets and Distributions (Statistics).Students can use one page of notes on the test. On Wednesday and Thursday we will take tests given out by the district. Wednesday will be the basic skills test and Thursday will be the End of Course Assessment. Here is a schedule of April Math Tests. History We will continue our study of Ancient Greece. Students will continue a study of Greek Gods and Mythology. The kids will make their own Greek God and write an origin story for that God. Science The kids will work with Miss Stevens in science lab. Thank you, Mr. Gray

Dear Parents, We’re going to have a great upcoming week. Below is a short description of what’s coming up and important links and/or announcements: Watch these announcements on video here. Mr. Gray’s Class Podcast Yearbooks Order Here Student Newspapers 6th Grade Behavioral Guidelines Reader’s Workshop This week we will start a unit on Dystopian Books. The kids will takes quiz on Among the Hidden on Monday. They can use their notes and work from last week. This week kids will be reading their own Dystopian books and have an opportunity to read in book clubs. I have some Dystopian Books in my classroom. Our library Mrs. Rusmisel is trying to curate Dystopian Books for our school library. Here is a list of books that would be great to read during our Dystopian Unit for the next few weeks. The students tend to really enjoy this genre. Writer’s Workshop The kids will continue working on a research-based information essay about teen activism. Students will prepare and write their essays. Math Math Answers and Help Here What happened to math class? We will continue our Data Sets and Distributions Unit. This week we will focus on calculating measures of spread using a 5-number summary and making box and whisker plots. Tuesday will be a mid-unit assessment covering lessons 1-14. Here is a schedule of April Math Tests. History We will continue our study of Ancient Greece. The kids will debate the question: Was Alexander the Great really “great”? Students will also begin a study of Greek Gods and Mythology. Science The kids will work with Miss Stevens in science lab. Thank you, Mr. Gray

Dear Parents, We’re going to have a great upcoming week. Below is a short description of what’s coming up and important links and/or announcements: Watch these announcements on video here. Mr. Gray’s Class Podcast Monday April 12th is a Minimum Day Reader’s Workshop This week we will start a unit on Dystopian Books. We will read Among the Hidden all together this week. Next week after kids will be reading their own Dystopian books and have an opportunity to read in book clubs. I have some Dystopian Books in my classroom. Our library Mrs. Rusmisel is trying to curate Dystopian Books for our school library. Here is a list of books that would be great to read during our Dystopian Unit for the next few weeks. The students tend to really enjoy this genre. Writer’s Workshop The kids will start a new unit on writing research-based information writing. Math Math Answers and Help Here What happened to math class? We will continue our Data Sets and Distributions Unit. This week we will focus on calculation measures of center like mean and median. We will also calculate the M.A.D. (Mean Absolute Deviation). Here is a schedule of April Math Tests. History We will continue our study of Ancient Greece. The kids will research, answer, and debate the question: Was Alexander the Great really “great”? Science The kids will work with Miss Stevens in science lab. Thank you, Mr. Gray

Fondafest comes to an end with a look at the western-comedy Cat Ballou. Neither of us had seen it. What did we think? Tune in to find out. We also chat about I'm Thinking of Ending Things, Arkansas, The Glass Castle, All My Friends Are Dead and Miss Stevens. marriedwithclickers@gmail.co

Dear Parents, We’re going to have a great upcoming week. Below is a short description of what’s coming up and important links and/or announcements: Watch these announcements on video here. Mr. Gray’s Class Podcast Friday, March 26 is a minimum day. Virtual Book Fair March 15-28 Read-a-Thon is March 22-29- Register Here! Spring Break is March 29- April 2 Make Up Picture Day is April 7 Reader’s Workshop The kids will review motifs, themes, and symbolism and we will have a quiz. They will also make a one-pager about motifs, themes, or symbolism in the books they are reading. Writer’s Workshop The kids will finish our journalism unit by making their own, personal digital newspaper. The kids will work with drawings, documents, and a website to put all their articles together. Their newspaper and articles will be published and available for you to see! Math Math Answers and Help Here What happened to math class? We will work on the first half of our Area and Surface Area (Geometry Unit). We will work on finding the area of parallelograms and triangles and take a homework quiz on Thursday. History We will start studying our next Ancient Civilization: Greece.The kids will have a check of their work on Monday and then read articles about Ancient Greece. Science The kids will work with Miss Stevens in science lab. Thank you, Mr. Gray

Dear Parents, We’re going to have a great upcoming week. Below is a short description of what’s coming up and important links and/or announcements: Watch these announcements on video here. Mr. Gray’s Class Podcast Virtual Guys Night Friday March 19 7:00-8:15pm RSVP Here Virtual Book Fair March 15-28 Read-a-Thon is March 22-29- Register Here! Spring Break is March 29- April 2 Make Up Picture Day is April 7 Reader’s Workshop The kids will continue our unit on Deep Study of Character. Next week we will look at how troubles in stories turn into motifs, which turn into themes. We may also start looking for symbolism in our books. Writer’s Workshop The kids will continue in our new journalism unit. Math Math Answers and Help Here What happened to math class? We will work on the first half of our Area and Surface Area (Geometry Unit). We will work on Area and Surface Area up until spring break, then after spring break we will switch to statistics. History We will start studying our next Ancient Civilization: Greece.The kids will compare and contrast Athens and Sparta and study the wars between Greece and Persia. Science The kids will work with Miss Stevens in science lab. Thank you, Mr. Gray

Dear Parents, We’re going to have a great upcoming week. Below is a short description of what’s coming up and important links and/or announcements: Watch these announcements on video here. Mr. Gray’s Class Podcast Report Cards Live on Aeries Friday, March 5th Spring Conferences (by request only) As I say in the video, spring conference week is next week. Spring Conferences are by parent request only. If you would like to have a conference simply send me an email telling me what you’d like to meet about (goals, 7th grade, grades, etc.). At that time I will schedule a conference with you. Minimum days Tuesday-Friday next week. Virtual Guys Night Friday March 19th 7:00-8:15pm RSVP Here Make Up Picture Day is April 7th Reader’s Workshop The kids will continue our unit on Deep Study of Character. Next week we will look at how troubles in stories turn into motifs, which turn into themes. We may also start looking for symbolism in our books. Writer’s Workshop The kids will continue in our new journalism unit. Math Math Answers and Help Here What happened to math class? We will continue our unit on Rational Numbers. We will study common factors and common multiples. We will have a review day and an end of unit test on Friday. History We will start studying our next Ancient Civilization: Greece. Science The kids will work with Miss Stevens in science lab. Thank you, Mr. Gray

Dear Parents, We’re going to have a great upcoming week. Below is a short description of what’s coming up and important links and/or announcements: Watch these announcements on video here. Mr. Gray’s Class Podcast Report Cards Live on Aeries Friday, March 5th Spring Conferences (by request only) As I say in the video, spring conference week is coming up in a few weeks. Spring Conferences are by parent request only. If you would like to have a conference simply send me an email telling me what you’d like to meet about (goals, 7th grade, grades, etc.). At that time I will schedule a conference with you. You may want to wait until grades are finalized around March 1st (or after report cards are available March 5th). As soon as you are ready we can schedule a conference, we don’t have to wait until the official conference week. Read Across America Day March 2nd Picture Day Thursday March 4th Virtual Guys Night Friday March 19th 7:00-8:15pm Reader’s Workshop The kids will continue our unit on Deep Study of Character. Next week we will look at how troubles in stories turn into motifs, which turn into themes. We may also start looking for symbolism in our books. Writer’s Workshop The kids will spend the week rehearsing and recording their podcasts. We may also start our next unit, journalism. Math Math Answers and Help Here What happened to math class? We will continue our unit on Rational Numbers. We will study the coordinate plane the whole week and the kids will have their first homework quiz of this unit on Wednesday. The homework quiz takes questions directly from their homework. This quiz will go on trimester 3 grades. History The kids will finish studying Ancient China! We will study the ancient silk road, the Great Wall, and Terra Cotta Warriors. Science The kids will work with Miss Stevens in science lab and research endangered species in our class. Thank you, Mr. Gray

Dear Parents, We’re going to have a great upcoming week. Below is a short description of what’s coming up and important links and/or announcements: Watch these announcements on video here. Mr. Gray’s Class Podcast Trimester Ends February 26th, Grades on Aeries Friday, March 5th Read Across America Day March 2nd Picture Day Thursday March 4th Spring Conferences (by request only) Reader’s Workshop The kids will continue our unit on Deep Study of Character. Next week we will look at how the setting affects characters and vice versa.We will have a quiz on Thursday which will be the last grade of trimester 2. Writer’s Workshop The kids will spend the week preparing for and eventually recording a podcast based on their literary essays and studies of character. Math Math Answers and Help Here What happened to math class? We will continue our unit on Rational Numbers. We will work on graphing, writing, and solving inequalities and the kids will have their first homework quiz of this unit on Tuesday. The homework quiz takes questions directly from their homework. This quiz will go on trimester 3 grades. History The kids will continue studying Ancient China! We will study the ancient silk road, the Great Wall, and Terra Cotta Warriors. Science The kids will work with Miss Stevens in science lab. Thank you, Mr. Gray

Dear Parents, We’re going to have a great upcoming week. Below is a short description of what’s coming up and important links and/or announcements: Watch these announcements on video here. Mr. Gray’s Class Podcast No School Monday, February 15th Read Across America Day March 2nd Reader’s Workshop The kids will continue our unit on Deep Study of Character. Next week we will look at how the setting affects characters and vice versa. Writer’s Workshop The kids will work on and publish their third of 3 literary essays. If you haven’t yet discussed their literary essays with them, please do. There is some great analysis happening in our class. Math Math Answers and Help Here What happened to math class? We will begin our next unit on Rational Numbers. We will start next week by looking at both positive and negative numbers on a number line. We will also study the absolute value of numbers. History The kids will continue studying Ancient China! Science The kids will work with Miss Stevens in science lab. Thank you, Mr. Gray

Critic Witney Seibold joins Dan and Alonso to discuss two nightmarish classics that have more in common than just Los Angeles street names: Billy Wilder's sardonic SUNSET BLVD. (1950) and David Lynch's surreal showbiz saga MULHOLLAND DR. (2001). Follow us @filmandmoviepod on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook; subscribe and leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your episodes.Follow Witney @witneyseibold and check out Critically Acclaimed: http://www.criticallyacclaimed.net/SUNSET BLVD. is streaming on Amazon Prime: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07VQ9BV2Q?tag=alonsoduralde-20MULHOLLAND DR. is streaming on HBO Max: https://play.hbomax.com/page/urn:hbo:page:GX-oc1A6TUbAcSAEAAAAi:type:featureWitney recommends GEMINI: https://www.hulu.com/movie/gemini-f993a2e8-4b6a-455a-9965-ce725018801eAlonso recommends MISS STEVENS https://www.hulu.com/movie/miss-stevens-6a6cd609-fd15-4f97-b7ea-a4aa69edab99 and QUEEN KELLY https://watch.indieflix.com/movie/49-lalwtoltkbjs-queen-kelly

Dear Parents, We’re going to have a great upcoming week. Below is a short description of what’s coming up and important links and/or announcements: Watch these announcements on video here. Mr. Gray’s Class Podcast Read Across America Day March 2nd Reader’s Workshop The kids will continue deeply studying a character of they chose last week. We will work on a project all week where the kids will make resources for studying their character including a website dedicated to the character. They will turn in their project on Thursday. Writer’s Workshop The kids will work on and publish their second of 3 literary essays. If you haven’t yet discussed their literary essays with them, please do. There is some great analysis happening in our class. Math Math Answers and Help Here What happened to math class? We will continue our expressions and equations unit. We will study the exponents using algebraic expressions and exponents. We will have an End of Unit Test on Friday. It will cover everything from this unit. We will have a dedicated review day on Thursday. History The kids will continue studying Ancient China! Science The kids will work with Miss Stevens in science lab. Thank you, Mr. Gray

Dear Parents, We’re going to have a great upcoming week. Below is a short description of what’s coming up and important links and/or announcements: Watch these announcements on video here. Mr. Gray’s Class Podcast Valentine’s Day → no food even individually wrapped food Bring gifts on Thursday February 4th If you bring gifts/cards/trinkets you must bring something for every student in our class I can give out the class list for purpose. Simply have your child come ask me for one. Gifts will sit in class until Friday, February 12th and then kids will take them home. Global School Play Day Wednesday, February 3rd Reader’s Workshop The kids will continue deeply studying a character of their choosing this week. We will work on a project all week where the kids will make resources for studying their character including a website dedicated to the character. Writer’s Workshop The kids will finish and publish their first of 3 literary essays. Then they will start thinking about and crafting their second literary essay. If you haven’t yet discussed their literary essay with them, please do. There is some great analysis happening in our class. Math Math Answers and Help Here What happened to math class? We will continue our expressions and equations unit. We will study the distributive property using algebraic expressions and exponents. We will have a Mid-Unit Test on Wednesday. It will cover everything we’ve done in this unit so far: solving equations, evaluating expressions, writing expressions using percentages, and the distributive property. History The kids will begin a study of Ancient China! Science The kids will work with Miss Stevens in science lab. Thank you, Mr. Gray

Dear Parents, We’re going to have a great upcoming week. Below is a short description of what’s coming up and important links and/or announcements: Watch these announcements on video here. Mr. Gray’s Class Podcast Picture Day Moved to the first week of March Reader’s Workshop We continue our deep study of character unit. We will consider the pressures exerted on characters and take a quiz on what we’ve studied so far on Thursday. Writer’s Workshop The kids will begin our 6th grade writing unit: The Literary Essay. The kids will use the planning documents from last week to begin to write an essay related to the texts they are reading. Math Math Answers and Help Here What happened to math class? We will continue our expressions and equations unit. We study algebraic expressions and how to interpret them. Also, the kids will take a test that all 6th graders in the district take on Wednesday. This will be a review of many of the concepts we have studied so far this year. The results will not be a part of our gradebook. History The kids will continue the study of Ancient India, specifically, society and the caste system in Ancient India. Science The kids will work with Miss Stevens in science lab. Thank you, Mr. Gray

Dear Parents, We’re going to have a great upcoming week. Below is a short description of what’s coming up and important links and/or announcements: Watch these announcements on video here. Mr. Gray’s Class Podcast No School on Monday, January 18th and no school on Tuesday, January 19th. Picture Day is January 27th Reader’s Workshop We continue our deep study of character unit. We will look at out how some traits matter more than others and consider the pressures exerted on characters and ourselves. Writer’s Workshop The kids will continue to prepare boxes and bullets outlines in anticipation of our next writing unit: The Literary Essay. Next week we will make outlines comparing characters from different stories or comparing themes or ideas from different stories or series. Math Math Answers and Help Here What happened to math class? We will continue our expressions and equations unit. We will continue studying solving one-step equations algebraically and take a homework quiz on Friday. History The kids will continue the study of Ancient India, specifically, society and the caste system in Ancient India. Science The kids will work with Miss Stevens in science lab. Thank you, Mr. Gray

ear Parents, We’re going to have a great upcoming week. Below is a short description of what’s coming up and important links and/or announcements: Watch these announcements on video here. Mr. Gray’s Class Podcast Irvine Parent Education Program Presents: Cyberbullying and Digital Drama January 12th at 5:30pm on Zoom Mustang Milers Registration (Registration closes January 8th) Picture Day is January 27th Reader’s Workshop We start a new unit on a Deep Study of Character. The kids can continue reading fantasy books or can choose fiction books to do the work for this unit. Writer’s Workshop The kids will review each type of writing we have gone over so far this year: narrative, opinion, and information. The kids will choose one piece from last week to develop more thoroughly. Math Math Answers and Help Here What happened to math class? This week we will be starting a new unit: Expressions and Equations. We will start off by using our knowledge of tape diagrams to think about how equations stay in balance. On Friday, the kids will be joining all other 6th graders in Irvine who are taking a mid-year basic skills test. The test is for district information and will not go in the gradebook. History The kids will continue the study of Ancient India, specifically, the development of Hinduism and Buddhism in Ancient India. Science The kids will work with Miss Stevens in science lab. Thank you, Mr. Gray

Aspiring writers and directors should take a page out of Julia Hart’s book: don’t wait to tell your story. And if that story experiments with or outright subverts filmmaking genres by centering those typically underrepresented on screen, all the better. “What I find exciting and interesting as a filmmaker is finding new ways to tell old stories about different people,” she says, taking us inside her writing, casting, and directing processes. A New Yorker who for years taught high school and wrote screenplays on the side, Julia made the leap to full-time artist after her 2014 feature “The Keeping Room” ended up on Hollywood’s Black List. With her husband, writing partner, and film producer Jordan Horowitz, Julia has brought to the big screen her directorial debut “Miss Stevens,” superhero riff “Fast Color,” this year’s Disney+ teen musical drama “Star Girl,” and Amazon Studios’ hit “I’m Your Woman,” a 1970s-set crime noir starring Rachel Brosnahan. Check out her Meet the Maker feature on “I’m Your Woman” here: https://bit.ly/3aPpyfo Kicking off this New Year’s Eve episode are podcast team members Jack Smart, Christine McKenna-Tirella, Kasey Howe, Benjamin Lindsay, and Samantha Sherlock shouting out their favorite film and TV performances of 2020! McKenna-Tirella also provides a recap of the year in Backstage, including all newly added features and resources available to working artists. --- Backstage has been the #1 resource for actors and talent-seekers for 60 years. In the Envelope, Backstage’s podcast, features intimate, in-depth conversations with today’s most noteworthy film, television, and theater actors and creators. This is your guide to every aspect of acting, from voiceover and commercial work to casting directors, agents, and more. Full of both know-how and inspiration, In the Envelope airs weekly to cover everything from practical advice on navigating the industry, to how your favorite projects are made, to personal stories of success and failure alike. Join host Jack Smart, Awards Editor at Backstage, for this guide on how to live the creative life from those who are doing it every day: https://bit.ly/2OMryWQ Follow Backstage and In the Envelope on social media: - https://www.facebook.com/backstage - https://www.twitter.com/backstage - https://www.twitter.com/intheenvelope - https://www.instagram.com/backstagecast Looking to get cast? Subscribe here: www.backstage.com/subscribe Browse Backstage casting listings: https://bit.ly/3mth68e Check out our community-driven virtual programming, The Slate: https://bit.ly/2WDNXf0 Backstage stands in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement: https://bit.ly/3cuMBt5 Special thanks to... - Host: Jack Smart - Producer: Jamie Muffett - Social media: Katie Minard, Alysa Cirelli - Design: Mark Stinson, Caitlin Watkins - Additional support: Kasey Howe, Samantha Sherlock, Benjamin Lindsay, Oriella St. Louis

Dear Parents, We’re going to have a great upcoming week. Below is a short description of what’s coming up and important links and/or announcements: Watch these announcements on video here. Mr. Gray’s Class Podcast What Happened to Math Class? Understanding Why Math Looks Different and How to Help Your Child? Checking Grades PTA Event Cancelled Mustang Milers Registration (Registration Open Now and closes January 8th) Fantasy Reading Unit Information IUSD Face Coverings Guide Do you shop at Amazon, Ralphs, and Irvine Marketplace? Fundraise for our school at no extra cost to you. https://www.woodburypta.org/fundraising Reader’s Workshop Information on Fantasy unit here. We will continue our Unit on Fantasy books that will take us through January. Next week, the kids will grow and become more sophisticated readers of fantasy by using elements from the real world to understand the fantasy genre. Writer’s Workshop We will continue our unit on Narrative Craft. The kids will be looking at narrative writing in a whole new way. Math Math Answers and Help Here What happened to math class? The next few weeks will be dedicated to in Unit rates and Percentages. Here is a quick rundown of what we will be studying. Next week we will be finishing our study of percentages. On Wednesday, we will have a big review day in anticipation of the end of unit test on Thursday. History We will continue studying the civilization of the Ancient Israelites. Science The kids will work with Miss Stevens in science lab. Optional Science Fair Information. Thank you, Mr. Gray

Dear Parents, We’re going to have a great upcoming week. Below is a short description of what’s coming up and important links and/or announcements: Watch these announcements on video here. Mr. Gray’s Class Podcast What Happened to Math Class? Understanding Why Math Looks Different and How to Help Your Child? Mustang Milers Registration (Registration Opens December 7th and closes January 8th) Families Forward Teen Holiday Gift Drive Fantasy Reading Unit Information IUSD Face Coverings Guide Do you shop at Amazon, Ralphs, and Irvine Marketplace? Fundraise for our school at no extra cost to you. https://www.woodburypta.org/fundraising Reader’s Workshop Information on Fantasy unit here. We will begin our Unit on Fantasy books that will take us through January. Next week, the kids will grow and become more sophisticated readers of fantasy by thinking about how the quest of characters can be both internal as well as external. Also, we will compare themes in fantasy and history. Finally, students will self-assess using reading progressions. Writer’s Workshop We will continue our unit on Narrative Craft. The kids will be revising endings to their small moment stories and publishing a small moment story at the end of the week. Math Math Answers and Help Here The next few weeks will be dedicated to in Unit rates and Percentages. Here is a quick rundown of what we will be studying. Next week we will be beginning our study of percentages. We will discuss what percentages are and how to display them on double number lines and tape diagrams. History We will continue studying the civilization of the Ancient Israelites. Science The kids will work with Miss Stevens in science lab. Optional Science Fair Information. Thank you, Mr. Gray

I’m Your Woman is a 1970s-set crime drama that stars The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’s Rachel Brosnahan. The story follows a woman when she’s forced to go on the run with her baby when her husband betrays his partners. The film is directed by Julia Hart, and co-written by Hart and her husband Jordan Horowitz. The duo have also created films like Fast Color, Miss Stevens, and Stargirl, among others. In this exclusive interview, Julia and Jordan discuss how their writing partnership works logistically, why writing partners need the same outlook on life, how to properly write a gender-bending film, and why Hollywood has such as a misconception around it as an industry. If you enjoyed this interview, look for the print version on Creative Screenwriting’s website, and join millions of viewers for the new YouTube video essay series, Creative Principles, which dissects new films, series, and more: bit.ly/2FARJz5

Dear Parents, We’re going to have a great upcoming week. Below is a short description of what’s coming up and important links and/or announcements: Thanksgiving Break Message from Mr. Battenfield Mustang Milers Registration (Registration Opens December 7th and closes January 8th) Families Forward Teen Holiday Gift Drive Fantasy Reading Unit Information IUSD Face Coverings Guide Do you shop at Amazon, Ralphs, and Irvine Marketplace? Fundraise for our school at no extra cost to you. https://www.woodburypta.org/fundraising The 6th Grade Hoodie Shop is now open! https://woodbury6thgrade.itemorder.com/sale Every year, a custom sweatshirt is made for the 6th Grade Class and students look forward to this beloved Woodbury tradition. Congratulations to this year's contest winner, Liv Kong, whose artwork is featured on the front! Hoodie prices range from $32-$34 each and come with custom embroidery on the side of the hood. The last day to order is Wednesday, November 25th. Once the Shop closes, we will not be accepting any more orders. All funds raised from this sale will benefit our 6th Grade Fundraising efforts. Thank you for your support! Reader’s Workshop Information on Fantasy unit here. We will begin our Unit on Fantasy books that will take us through January. Next week, the kids will suspend judgements about characters because they are not always what they seem, think metaphorically in their books and learn real-life lessons from their stories. Writer’s Workshop We will continue our unit on Narrative Craft and make strides to improve our writing process. We will take stock of our work and make goals on how to improve, redraft to bring out the true meaning of a story, put forth the story arc, and elaborate on important parts. Math Math Answers and Help Here The next few weeks will be dedicated to in Unit rates and Percentages. Here is a quick rundown of what we will be studying. Next week we will be looking at how equivalent ratios have the same unit rate, looking at constant speed, reviewing for a quiz and taking it on Friday. History We will begin studying the civilization of the Ancient Israelites. Science The kids will work with Miss Stevens in science lab. Optional Science Fair Information. Thank you, Mr. Gray

Dear Parents, We’re going to have a great upcoming week. Below is a short description of what’s coming up and important links and/or announcements: Watch these announcements on video here. Mr. Gray’s Class Podcast Thanksgiving Week: Minimum Day Tuesday, No School Wednesday/Thursday/Friday Thanksgiving Break Message from Mr. Battenfield Mustang Milers Registration (Registration Opens December 7th and closes January 8th) Families Forward Teen Holiday Gift Drive Fantasy Reading Unit Information IUSD Face Coverings Guide The 6th Grade Hoodie Shop is now open! https://woodbury6thgrade.itemorder.com/sale Every year, a custom sweatshirt is made for the 6th Grade Class and students look forward to this beloved Woodbury tradition. Congratulations to this year's contest winner, Liv Kong, whose artwork is featured on the front! Hoodie prices range from $32-$34 each and come with custom embroidery on the side of the hood. The last day to order is Wednesday, November 25th. Once the Shop closes, we will not be accepting any more orders. All funds raised from this sale will benefit our 6th Grade Fundraising efforts. Thank you for your support! Reader’s Workshop We will begin our Unit on Fantasy books that will take us through January. I have written down several thoughts about this unit that I hope you can check in with your kids about the magical journeys and far flung adventure they are experiencing in their books. More information about Fantasy books here. Writer’s Workshop The kids will start a new unit: Narrative Craft. We will start off next week planning out ideas for personal narrative stories and then learning strategies to write better stories. Math Math Answers and Help Here The next few weeks will be dedicated to in Unit rates and Percentages. Here is a quick rundown of what we will be studying. Next week we will be interpreting rates. History The kids will continue our study of Ancient Egypt. Science The kids will work with Miss Stevens in science lab. Optional Science Fair Information. Thank you, Mr. Gray

Dear Parents, We’re going to have a great upcoming week. Below is a short description of what’s coming up and important links and/or announcements: Watch these announcements on video here. Mr. Gray’s Class Podcast Grades available on Parent Portal Friday the 20th After School Fantasy Reading Unit Information IUSD Face Coverings Guide Read These Books! (make a goodreads.com account with your child to help find books) Reader’s Workshop We will begin our Unit on Fantasy books that will take us through January. I have written down several thoughts about this unit that I hope you can ready through with your children here. Writer’s Workshop The kids will start a new unit: Narrative Craft. We will start off next week planning out ideas for personal narrative stories and then learning strategies to write better stories. Math Math Answers and Help Here The next few weeks will be dedicated to in Unit rates and Percentages. Here is a quick rundown of what we will be studying. Next week we will anchor our ideas about measurement and use our knowledge of solving ratio problems to convert measurements. History The kids will continue our study of Ancient Egypt. The kids will write opinion essays on who was the best pharoah. Science The kids will work with Miss Stevens in science lab. Optional Science Fair Information. Thank you, Mr. Gray

JUMP Music Initiative Podcast EP#1 with Guest Kate Stevens KATE STEVENS Award winning Calgarian. Kate Stevens vocal talents are diverse with a mix of emotive folk & soulful pop with major influences from timeless voices such as Etta James, Ella Fitzgerald, Amy Winehouse, Carole King and Joni Mitchell. Her vocals combine uniquely with the sound of her chosen instruments, the ukulele, the piano and the guitar. She creates distinctive melodies and meaningful lyrics. Kate is a community builder, collaborator and supporter for youth musicians. Miss Stevens was nominated for four 2019 YYC Music Awards and was awarded the 2019 YYC Music Awards RnB Artist of the Year. She was a double award recipient of the 2018 YYC Music Awards Female Artist of the Year and The Zackariah and the Prophets Memorial Award. In 2018, she received the SOCAN Foundation for Young Canadian Songwriters Award. Miss Stevens debut EP, Handmade Rumours was released in 2017, she released two singles in 2018 - it's real and Right Choice and now her newest single - Meant for Me was released in June 2019. https://www.katestevensmusic.com https://www.instagram.com/katestevens JUMP Music Initiative is a not for profit that hosts music industry workshops and live original music showcases for young artists. These events are generally held in a central location for easy access and open to all ages. JUMP Music Initiative: Music Education, Opportunities to Play Live and Band Development. JUMP Music Initiative jumpmusicinitiative@gmail.com www.jumpmusicinitiative.com www.instagram.com/jumpmusicinitiative

You’re in for a real treat with this one. We try to unravel one of the most unnecessarily confusing Christmas movies ever made and barely talk about the movie Timothée Chalamet is actually the lead in. Olivia Wilde proves girls with square heads can be hot in Love the Coopers (2015) and Timmy Tim gets hot for teacher in Miss Stevens (2016).

The boys are biweekly! With Riverdale still away, Miss Stevens will play. Tom and Jordan talk about the hit film starring Riverdale alum, Lili Reinhart. Don’t worry, regularly scheduled Jugheads will be back with season 4 of Riverdale, but for now we need to fill the void. Come back for more in 2 weeks time when we’ll be talking about another property that’s tangentially related to your favourite show and ours, Riverdale! ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast so you can hear us every week…Give us a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5 star rating and review us while you’re at it! We’ll Shout you out on the pod! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @Jugheadspod and email all your burning questions and comments to jugheadspod at gmail dot com

It's "movie-swap" time, everybody! Henry and Chloe gave each other a movie to watch that they'd never seen before -- and now it's time to review them! We hunt white whales for Ron Howard's In the Heart of the Sea (2015) then struggle as a teacher in Miss Stevens (2016). Later we tackle new trailers for Martin Scorsese's The Irishman and Sam Mendes' 1917, Universal's choice to pull The Hunt from release after recent mass shootings plus we also read some listener reviews and discuss Four Weddings and a Funeral, Green Room, Revolutionary Road, Killing Them Softly, Unsane, Rushmore, Idiocracy, Shutter Island, They Shall Not Grow Old, The Gazebo, and The Finest Hours. 0:00 - Intro: Chloe's Trip to Maine + Henry's Joan Jett Concert21:54 - Retro Review: In the Heart of the Sea (2015)1:10:02 - Retro Review: Miss Stevens (2016)1:34:49 - News: The Irishman and 1917 Trailers1:44:15 - Listener Review Live-Readings2:05:00 - Mail: Universal Pulling The Hunt From Release After Mass Shootings2:25:26 - Picks of the Week: Four Weddings and a Funeral, Green Room, Revolutionary Road, Killing Them Softly, Unsane, Rushmore, Idiocracy, Shutter Island, They Shall Not Grow Old, The Gazebo, and The Finest Hours2:36:15 - Outro: Donate Below! Patreon: Patreon.com/thefilmbudsBonus Shows: Thefilmbuds.bandcamp.comWebsite: Thefilmbuds.comEmail: Thefilmbudspodcast@gmail.comTwitter: @filmbuds/@ChloBo74275186Letterboxd: @HenryFahertyInstagram: @thefilmbuds

It's "movie-swap" time, everybody! Henry and Chloe gave each other a movie to watch that they'd never seen before -- and now it's time to review them! We hunt white whales for Ron Howard's In the Heart of the Sea (2015) then struggle as a teacher in Miss Stevens (2016). Later we tackle new trailers for Martin Scorsese's The Irishman and Sam Mendes' 1917, Universal's choice to pull The Hunt from release after recent mass shootings plus we also read some listener reviews and discuss Four Weddings and a Funeral, Green Room, Revolutionary Road, Killing Them Softly, Unsane, Rushmore, Idiocracy, Shutter Island, They Shall Not Grow Old, The Gazebo, and The Finest Hours.   0:00 - Intro: Chloe's Trip to Maine + Henry's Joan Jett Concert 21:54 - Retro Review: In the Heart of the Sea (2015) 1:10:02 - Retro Review: Miss Stevens (2016) 1:34:49 - News: The Irishman and 1917 Trailers 1:44:15 - Listener Review Live-Readings 2:05:00 - Mail: Universal Pulling The Hunt From Release After Mass Shootings 2:25:26 - Picks of the Week: Four Weddings and a Funeral, Green Room, Revolutionary Road, Killing Them Softly, Unsane, Rushmore, Idiocracy, Shutter Island, They Shall Not Grow Old, The Gazebo, and The Finest Hours 2:36:15 - Outro: Donate Below!   Patreon: Patreon.com/thefilmbuds Bonus Shows: Thefilmbuds.bandcamp.com Website: Thefilmbuds.com Email: Thefilmbudspodcast@gmail.com Twitter: @filmbuds/@ChloBo74275186 Letterboxd: @HenryFaherty Instagram: @thefilmbuds

Born in California, and raised in Costa Rica, Elizabeth started in the non-profit world before making a detour into film. She began her career working on Rick Alverson's feature film Entertainment, the television series Highston, and Lovesong for director So Yong Kim. Elizabeth continued to work on a diverse array of independent films including Miss Stevens, Another Evil, Women Who Kill, Dito Montiel's The Clapper, and Sollers Point. Most recently, Elizabeth has costume designed the feature films Charlie Says for Mary Harron, Fast Color again for Julia Hart, and The Mountain, again for Rick Alverson.  

Find Britt on Twitter and Instagram @brittckeller. Clay is on Twitter @claykeller and also hosts the Screen Drafts (@screendrafts) podcast, which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Follow the show on Twitter @ChalametChasing and on Instagram @ChasingChalamet. You can email us at chasingchalamet@gmail.com. Please consider leaving us a rating and a review on Apple Podcasts! This show was written, hosted, and produced by Dane McDonald. Find him on Twitter and Instagram @TheDaneMcDonald. Will Biby is our producer and editor, you can find him on Twitter and Instagram @willbiby. Our cover art was designed by Jessica Deahl. Find Jessica on Instagram @jdeahl or on her website: jessicadeahl.com. Our music is by Jacob Horn. Find more from him and the Jacob Horn Trio on Spotify, Apple Music, and Bandcamp.

There’s nothing mini about this ’sode! We’re talking Chapter 44 No Exit this week on Jugheads, and it’s…Grizzly! Tom and Jordan get right into it after talking about the new Kanye West mini-series, Miss Stevens, Avengers: Endgame, and whether or not Jordan wrote the banter segment song. This week, Archie’s being a cabin boy, Betty wrestles with the well-being of the children of the Sisters of Quiet Mercy, and Veronica gets close to Reggie. Plus, Jughead’s authority is challenged when Cheryl implicates the serpents into her night crimes. Stick around for regular segments: Betty or Veronica, Farchies, and Jordan’s interesting fact! All this and more in Chapter 44 of Jugheads: No Jugsit. ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast so you can hear us every week…Give us a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5 star rating and review us while you’re at it! We’ll Shout you out on the pod! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @Jugheadspod and email all your burning questions and comments to jugheadspod at gmail dot com

Its Episode 106! Hannah (LWL) and Ella (Culture Whisper) return for Ella’s choice Miss Stevens. Miss Stevens is a 2016 drama directed by Julia Hart starring Lily Rabe in the titular role and Timothée Chalamet. Miss Stevens chaperones three drama students to a weekend state drama competition and that’s the plot. At the same time the students are competing against each other at the event reciting their favourite drama pieces there is drama in real life. Miss Stevens is struggling with the death of her mother and on a personal journey through grief but distracted by the advances of a sleazy teacher and the complicated affections of a teenage Timothée. The star of the show is Chalamet, acting his chops off for the competition and everyone in the film, the result of this leaves everyone else looking a bit average. Ultimately, Miss Stevens is a road trip for her, but her journey is eclipsed by how good Chalamet is and while he is brilliant he takes the focus away from her and into his less developed character. There is also an awkward subplot of their romantic attraction that the film didn’t need to have. Scores [supsystic-tables id=111] Miss Stevens is not quite the profound and moving experience the filmmakers want it to be but it’s still an interesting film and a must view for any Chalamet fans. That said at 86 minutes you won’t regret spending time with it and it zips along with a breezy soundtrack. Miss Stevens scores 3.29 overall, scoring strongly on small screen. What do you guys think? Have you seen Miss Stevens? What did you think? Please let us know in the comments below! Episode #106 Crew Links Thanks to the Episode #106 Crew of Hannah Woodhead (@goodjobliz) and Ella Kemp (@efekemp) from Truth & Movies podcast (@TruthAndMovies) Find their websites online at: hewoodhead.co.uk and  howmanystars.co.uk Please make sure you give them some love Flixwatcher Spotify Playlist It has to be Putting on the Ritz, but there is no Gene Wilder version so we have added the Mel Torme Version! More about Miss Stevens For more info on Miss Stevens, you can visit the Miss Stevens IMDB page here or the Miss Stevens Rotten Tomatoes page here. Final Plug! Subscribe, Share and Review us on iTunes If you enjoyed this episode of Flixwatcher Podcast you probably know other people who will like it too! Please share it with your friends and family, review us, and join us across ALL of the Social Media links below.

Dave and Alonso have mixed feelings about the big horror movie but are much more enthusiastic about the week's three women-directed films. Subscribe (and review us) at Apple Podcasts, follow us @linoleumcast on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, urp! Join our club, won't you? Dave's streaming pick of the week: LE BONHEUR Alonso's streaming pick of the week: MISS STEVENS

Josh (Currently Watching): ‘Forever’, Amazon Prime Video, Fred Armisen, Maya Rudolph… Scott (Currently Watching): ‘You’, Lifetime + Netflix, Pen Badgley, Xoxo, Gossip Girl, Greg Berlanti, Brothers & Sisters, Dirty Sexy Money, Elizabeth Lil, God Friended Me, Early Edition, Kyle Chandler, You and Lil blowing up the IMDB Movie Meter, Josh says phooey to the meter, Friday the 13th (Series), Dead of Summer, What happened to the cast of Lost?, Part of Five alert! streaming on Netflix, Zach Cherry… Josh (Show to Revisit) ‘Peaky Blinders’, Netflix, Josh is shocked Scott doesn’t like it, Scott has only watched the pilot of ‘Peaky Blinders’ though… Scott (Needs to Revisit) ‘Goliath’, Amazon Prime Video, the greatness of Billy Bob Thornton, William Hurt, Tania Raymonde—another ‘Lost’ alum, Nina Arianda, Chez Jay, on location; Santa Monica… Josh (Recommendation: Completed Series) ‘The Americans’, Amazon Prime Video, winning the Golden Globe!… Scott (Recommendation: Completed Series) Prime Suspect (U.K.), Helen Mirren, Tom Wilkinson, Luther expansion of this series in tone?, Masterpiece Theater, PBS… Josh (Looking Forward to) ‘You’re the Worst’, FXX, Love ‘Terriers’, Shawn Ryan’s twitter account was too much for Josh, have you tried to a 5 act structure in 160 characters… Scott (Looking Forward to) ‘Crashing’, HBO, ‘High Maintenance’ gets the call up to Sundays, plus HBO pairs it with ‘Crashing’, Pete Holmes, ‘Sex Education’,  Artie Lange and his nose, ‘Bird Box’, ‘Roma,’ Beautiful Box’, biggest addiction; fantasy sports (Josh), soda (Scott), Timothee chalamet, Call Me By Your Name, ‘Miss Stevens’ and ‘Fundamentals of Caring’ two good little indie films on Netflix, look at the calendar, thanks! Good bye! 

Born in California, and raised in Costa Rica, Elizabeth started in the non-profit world before making a detour into film. She began her career working on Rick Alverson's feature film Entertainment, the television series Highston, and Lovesong for director So Yong Kim. Elizabeth continued to work on a diverse array of independent films including Miss Stevens, Another Evil, Women Who Kill, Dito Montiel's The Clapper, and Sollers Point. Most recently, Elizabeth has costume designed the feature films Fast Color for Julia Hart, The Mountain, again for Rick Alverson, and the upcoming Charlie Says for Mary Harron.

Cooper joins us once again to shut our mouths for A Quiet Place then investigate a strange health center in Gore Verbinski's A Cure for Wellness (2017). Later we tackle A24's Hot Summer Nights trailer, Han Solo's annoying runtime, movie performances we'd like to have seen live, if A Quiet Place became a reality, problems of differing film opinions plus we also talk Phantom Thread, All the Money in the World, Chef's Table, The Expanse, Miss Stevens, Splinter Head, Amelie, and Breathless. 0:00 - Intros: Chloe's Sick, Crashing Towers of Plastic Cups, and Great Expensive Beer12:15 - Review: A Quiet Place58:16 - Retro Review: A Cure for Wellness (2017)1:18:50 - News: Hot Summer Nights Trailer, Han Solo Trailer #2/Annoyingly Long Runtime1:24:58 - Mail: What Movie Performances We'd Like to See Live, A Quiet Place Reality, and Issues with Differing Opinions on Films2:07:31 - Picks of the Week: Phantom Thread, All the Money in the World, Chef's Table, The Expanse, Miss Stevens, Splinter Head, Amelie, and Breathless2:23:20 - Outros: Go Watch Jacob #2's New Short Film! Last Meeting by the Mushroom Tree (Short Film): https://vimeo.com/265091761

Cooper joins us once again to shut our mouths for A Quiet Place then investigate a strange health center in Gore Verbinski's A Cure for Wellness (2017). Later we tackle A24's Hot Summer Nights trailer, Han Solo's annoying runtime, movie performances we'd like to have seen live, if A Quiet Place became a reality, problems of differing film opinions plus we also talk Phantom Thread, All the Money in the World, Chef's Table, The Expanse, Miss Stevens, Splinter Head, Amelie, and Breathless.   0:00 - Intros: Chloe's Sick, Crashing Towers of Plastic Cups, and Great Expensive Beer 12:15 - Review: A Quiet Place 58:16 - Retro Review: A Cure for Wellness (2017) 1:18:50 - News: Hot Summer Nights Trailer, Han Solo Trailer #2/Annoyingly Long Runtime 1:24:58 - Mail: What Movie Performances We'd Like to See Live, A Quiet Place Reality, and Issues with Differing Opinions on Films 2:07:31 - Picks of the Week: Phantom Thread, All the Money in the World, Chef's Table, The Expanse, Miss Stevens, Splinter Head, Amelie, and Breathless 2:23:20 - Outros: Go Watch Jacob #2's New Short Film!   Last Meeting by the Mushroom Tree (Short Film): https://vimeo.com/265091761

This week WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE SNAKES?!? as we discuss Buffy season 2 episode 19, I Only Have Eyes for You! We switch it up a little this week as Sam brings you some fresh-out-of-the-oven atonement theory and Jordan talks about forgiveness. PC Plugs: Sam - Queer Eye on Netflix Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Season 3 on Netflix Jordan - Annihilation (film) Miss Stevens on Netflix Tyler Huckabee on Twitter If you enjoy our show, find us on Apple Podcasts, subscribe and leave a review!

De ‘kiezen tussen je iPhone en je zorgverzekering’ episode. Want de ondergang van Obamacare en opkomst van Trumpcare lijkt plotseling heel snel te gaan. Als de Republikeinen tenminste hun onderlinge geruzie over de zorg onder bedwang kunnen krijgen… Ook: Russia-gate, een dag zonder vrouwen, en de vele maatregelen waarmee Trump relatief onopgemerkt wel degelijk met succes de VS aan het veranderen is. Onze tips deze week: The Conspiracy Trap http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2017/03/06/trump-russia-conspiracy-trap/ en de film ‘Miss Stevens’… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM8MH53IRHg

This week Scott Pearson Eberly is joined by Josh Tepper. "Streaming Breakdown": Legion from FX In-Depth (1:00), Impostors from Bravo In-Depth (16:28), Patriot from Amazon In-Depth (29:05), Girls from HBO In-Depth (42:16), and Detroiters from Comedy Central In-Depth (59:52). "Manager's Special": Silver Streak on Netflix (1:09:05), Fast Times at Ridgemont High + Fast Times TV show, The Man in the Moon on Amazon Prime (1:13:49), Reese Witherspoon, Miss Stevens on Netflix (1:16:19), The Breakfast Club on HBO GO (1:19:17), and Super Mensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon on Netflix (1:23:53). "Meet the Nielsens": (1:26:57) TV ratings: Winds of War, Magnum P.I., 60 Minutes, Dynasty, and Dallas. Videodrome, White Dog (movie about a racist dog), Rocky II, Airplane II, Sylvester Stallone, The Academy sues a local awards show on Channel 9 in Los Angeles. 

Intro, Super Bowl 51 Main Review: Hacksaw Ridge Top 5 Mel Gibson Movies What Else We Watched: The Edge of Seventeen, Paterson, The Fits, Miss Stevens, Begin Again Next Episode: The Birth of A Nation, Top 5 Rebellion Movies, Super Bowl Commercials, Video Game Corner

Den unge engelsklærer Miss Stevens får til ansvar at tage med tre af sine elever på en weekendtur, for at deltage i en drama-konkurrence - en opgave hun på ingen måde klædt på til. Væk fra skolens vante rammer begynder grænserne mellem lærer og elever at forvinde, og de begynder at se på hinanden som almindelige mennesker. Men er det en god ting? http://www.ikassenshow.dk/2016/11/i-kassen-276-miss-stevens-2016.html

Episode Summary: This week on the FadCast, Rob Huebel joins us to discuss his film "Miss Stevens" and other indie dramadies. Recounting his lustrous career in acting, directing, writing, and more, we dive into his passions in the indie realm. He gives us the details on "Miss Stevens," gives his opinion on MTV based on his show "Human Giant," and reveals some hilarious moments behind-the-scenes in some of his iconic roles. How did you like the show? Which is YOUR favorite episode to date? We want to know YOUR opinion, so tell us in the comment section below. Episode Breakdown: Pooya: You are listening to FilmFad.com’s FadCast Episode 111 Ryan: With our special guest, Actor/Writer/Director and co-star of “Miss Stevens,” Rob Huebel Pooya: Today we’ll talk indie films that fall into the realm of drama and comedy Ryan: as we discuss the love of these passion projects, including Rob Huebel’s role in “Miss Stevens” Pooya: oh yeah, You’ll hear all that and more so let’s get started! (Intro Music break) Current Events - Anna Kendrick's as Robin in Ben Affleck's "The Batman" & Leonardo DiCaprio behind a "Captain Planet" movie. (3min) Script Read - "I Love You Man" (3min). Main Topic - Indie Dramedies and the passion behind them!  (27min)   Do YOU want to be featured on an episode of the FadCast?! Well then, call the FadCast hotline at (310) 651-8127 and leave us a voicemail to possibly be featured on an upcoming episode! Awesome, right?! We know!!!

It's said the still waters run deep so Neil Rosen, Bill McCuddy and Bill Bregoli take a look at director Peter Berg's historical disaster movie "Deepwater Horizon" which stars Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell and Kate Hudson." Then there's the indie drama "Miss Stevens" and the raunch comedy "Mike & Dave Need Wedding Dates." Not to mention the strangest movie Daniel Radcliffe has ever made - "Swiss Army Man" and the all too timely political documentary "Weiner." It's not just sausages anymore!

Tyler and David discuss what they've been watching, including The Dark Knight Rises, Lady in White, Bone Tomahawk, The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum, Moneyball, Miss Stevens, Dr. Strangelove, The Magnificent Seven, Sully, Julieta, Operation Avalanche, The Spirit of the Beehive, Night Train to Munich, Atlanta, South Park, Project Runway and Survivor.

Dave and Alonso are joined by legendary New Zealand actress Rena Owen to discuss the new U.S. Blu-Ray of the Kiwi classic ONCE WERE WARRIORS; plus we discuss why you really need to see both the latest JT Leroy documentary as well as THE CULT OF JT LEROY to get the full story. Subscribe (and review us) on iTunes, follow us @linoleumcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, will you meet me in the middle. Join our club, won't you?

Episode 30 of One Week Only! Our key film this week is "Miss Stevens," a low-key comedy about a 29-year-old High School teacher chaperoning 3 students at a weekend Drama competition. Lily Rabe is terrific as the quiet, socially-awkward but thoughtful teacher, and her performance won her Best Actress at this year's SXSW Film Festival. Directed & Co-Written by Julia Hart, the film is now in theatres & coming soon to VOD, from The Orchard. For our "Not Yet in Theatres" segment this week, we interview director Paul Taylor about his film "Driftwood," a dialogue-free thriller about a mysterious woman who is rescued and/or kidnapped by an older man for unknown reasons. The film won the Narrative Feature Jury Award at this year's Slamdance Film Festival, and it screens on September 18th at the Arclight Hollywood as part of the Slamdance Cinema Club. Find the complete Slamdance Cinema Club schedule online at www.arclightcinemas.com/news/ArcLight-Presents-Slamdance-Cinema-Club. We also review the fake documentary "Operation Avalanche" about faking the moon landing, by Matt Johnson (The Dirties); the psychological thriller "The Good Neighbor" starring James Caan, by Kasra Farahani; and the stirring ecological documentary "When Two Worlds Collide" about the indigenous people of Peru's fight to preserve the Rainforest, by Heidi Brandenburg & Mathew Orzel. Hosted by Carlos Aguilar & Conor Holt. Music by Kevin MacLeod at www.imcompetech.com