Before I knew it, I already faked my way through success and half-assedly picked an outfit for Tanya that actually well.

A very comfortable and loose shirt with a 100% cotton tag from a random African country, Honduras, believed?

It felt really nice upon touch, and when I brushed my hand along it I can feel the smooth, static-electricky sensation, it does look like dog fur can easily stick, though.

A boba tea-ish colored coat, one that's heavier on the shoulders, waist-height in length with buttons at the end of its sleeves kind of like a corporate white shirt… This coat would the main attraction to the eye and the main thing keeping her warm.

I saw that she had a plethora of skirts, most knee-height, some that came down to her ankles, or dresses that came way over the toes and would spread like a flower on the ground.

Though, as mentioned previously, it was predicted to rain this evening, so Tanya decided on some khaki cargo pants, and I picked out a pair of black boots for the occasion.

She agreed but like… I feel bad, those boots probably weren't the best… Like, the coat and pants match colors, then the shirt and boots match color, it seemed, monotone somehow, I don't know how to describe it, considering I only ever buy bras and panties and hoodies and t-shirts and shorts.

Yeah, stereotypical, right?

I digress.

After picking out her clothes, she packed it neatly in a suitcase…

"I got a flight to catch later."

She said very casually and naturally. Which implied to me that Tanya was going to catch a flight to go on a coffee date? At noon?

If Ann—technically my best friend—was the kind of unpredictable which meant she would do horrendous stuff with her surprisingly high emotional intelligence to manipulate people around her to do her biddings. This woman, Tanya was unpredictable because she was unreasonable and illogical.

I can see why they would cross paths, and I could see how Tanya would know about the guild war, so coming here was probably a good idea from me.

…Unless she was deliberately keeping me here for some reason to waste my time, and she had nothing to do with Ann, their relationship ended at the transaction between them and Sarah.

I digress, after packing her suitcase and reorganizing her stuff back into the closet, she sat down to her bed and looked at me… What the hell am I supposed to do besides from sitting down next to her awkwardly.

"So…" I coughed, "Are you going to tell me now? If Ann had any business in the guild war?"

"I will." She nodded calmly as she leaned closer.

Yet, she didn't elaborate, which irritated me, and I rudely—and a tad expectantly—asked:

"... Do I have to let you fuck me for the information?"

Tanya didn't answer as she crawled over her bed and lay down, still in her simple yet alluring fit of loose shirt and underwear, and only then did I realize that the AC in her bedroom was on the whole time.

The cold air sent shivers down my spine, my nipples erected, standing straight against my bra as the atmosphere went terrifyingly quiet just like when we last met.

So… I naturally caved in, laying down besides her like a good girl.

I had removed my hoodie and hung it at the rack by the door, now, I was just wearing my plain, very stretchy and blanket-esque shirt with shorts, barely anything to cover myself, so when the cold hits and I saw that Tanya was also half-naked, my natural instinct were to scoot over a little closer.

I didn't know if I want to face her or turn my back against her.

So, naturally, I lay facing the ceiling… I believe that there was no wrong result, because eitherway, she rolled over and wrapped one arm over me, the other forcibly went under my head as a second layer of pillow.

"Come closer, Cory. I want to tell you a story."

And so, like a good girl, again, I turned over to face Tanya.

I peered into those blue eyes as her short blonde hair were resting around my peripheral vision.

I took great notice, being tranced by how restful her eyes were, I can see the dying stars and the heatdeath of the universe in those eyes of Tanya's… Her eyes were rather, dark… Not in a mental health deteriation way, but more in a careless way, like she had given up on litting her eyes on fire.

I often see those eyes in depressed people, but Tanya didn't seems like someone who was depressed… Perhaps, I was just not educated on the matter, and or perhaps, it was just a normal resting face that I haven't seen before, so behind those blue that gradually turned black could still be carrying the greatest battles mankind ever saw.

She pulled me ever so slightly, and I realized that was my cue to make skin-to-skin contact.

I feel her average-sized breasts pressed against my disgustingly-below-average breasts, I could even feel individual shirt buttons of hers imprinting themselves onto my shirt.

One hand I awkwardly placed over Tanya's waist, the other just resting between our faces like a barricade.

Then, she spoke.

"I will tell you what you should know about Ann…" She whispered, "If you let me tell you a story."

"..." I paused for a long second.

"Sure…" I answered.

Tanya smiled, I could not see it in full because she had pulled my head even closer, but I could see some muscle movement, creases forming around the rims of her lips.

"Have I ever told you about Jimmy?" Tanya asked.

"That sounds like a child's name."

"Mhm… Technically he is, and he's my first kiss."

"..."

What the fuck did this bitch just said?

She must've saw me visibly taken aback, pulling my head away to stare into her soul, and she giggled with her eyes closed.

"Jimmy is mentally undeveloped, he suffered from a rare disease that is similar to extreme autism. It didn't help with the fact that when we first met in my hometown's ballroom event and tangoed together, he asked what kind of sandwich do I know how to make, because a good wife must know how to make a good sandwich."

I didn't response, just in awed that it was the first time Tanya was ever this vocal… Maybe she's just that kind of person, I guess.

"That should tell you about what kind of family he was raised into." She added.

"Sexism?" I asked, and when she nodded, I continued, "That, uh- kinda reminds me of a story about how there's hardly genuine free will since… Well, your parents shape how you think… In political ideology, view of life and probably religion, too… I know not many religion follower that discovered their faith on their own without parental push."

"Mhm…" Tanya pulled me closer to kiss my forehead, "That is a topic of another time, okay dear? Too sensitive for a bed-talk"

"Bed-talk?" I giggled like a little kid as Tanya continued,

"We were in the same town. Yet, I never met him. I wasn't outside that often in my early years, not that I am outside much now apart from working and getting groceries, as you might know. So, we hung out more often, he was the one that opened my heart up again."

"..." Tanya then looked at me.

"Cory… Do you remember your first kiss?" She abruptly asked.

I nodded, I think everyone would.

"When Jimmy went off to college, I was desperate and cold… I was no one in this world without an anchor holding me down, sometimes I feel like I would float away into hell, it was… One of the most lonely times of my life, I could see him in the clouds, and when it rains, I feel him holding my hands, giggling like a little kid as he led me through the forest and hiding under this little bunker that someone built, probably there since the Cold War, there were some Switzerland MRE in it, hardly touched, but we never ate them."

At this point, Tanya started carressing my cheek, while I stay silent.

"Then, that summer, guess who's back to town?" She asked.

"Jimmy?" I replied.

"His corpse."

"What the fuck?"

"Just kidding," She bursted out laughing, "He came back for his summer break.

With one more kiss on my forehead to ease my frustration, Tanya continued:

"Thinking back, I didn't know how he got into college when he couldn't even comprehend the fact that I got different genitals than him. There was this one time where he asked why I sit down whenever I pee in the bush and not just stand up like him, it was a very awkward and fascinating conversation."

"I don't think this is something you're supposed to tell me…" I commented.

"Do you want to listen, still?" Tanya asked.

"Yes."

"So," She chuckled, clearing her throat, "Before he depart to college, we made a promise. With all the money we've saved up over his school year, we'll go on a trip aboard."

"Ooh…" I vocalized, just so she knew that I was listening, though, I was half-confused about what she did to make money, considering how she implied that she hadn't lost her first kiss, so I don't reckon she was whoring herself out yet?

Unless of course, Tanya was such a whore that she had sex with people for money since her college-age years, while keeping her lips sealed for a guy who didn't know any better. Though, it was best not to ask.

"We booked a flight to Cambodia, wanting to visit the pagodas and Phnom Penh." She said, "And it turned out Jimmy wasn't allow entry into the country. Apparently, he finally remembered that he'd once been accused of perversion by the prime minister's daughter during a visit years ago."

"It was an international mishaps that was handled peacefully at the end. Though, he told me that it was a misunderstanding, and that there was a snake on her pants, but he slapped it away so hard they couldn't find it afterwards."

"Do you know what we did next after being denied our entry, Cory? Our return flight was scheduled for another three days, and we couldn't afford a one-way flight home… So, for the first day, we took turns watching our luggage as we slept in the airport."

"On the second day, however, we snuck out after some old foreign Asian woman started arguing with the terminal staff in a language that we sure weren't Cambodian. So, Jimmy and I succesfully entered Cambodia without permission, and we lived like normal tourists do… Motels, street food, motorcycle trips through the more commercialized part of the city where there were mostly stalls and shops."

"On the last day, before our return flight came later that midnight, we found ourselves in the forest. And we found a giant abandoned church."

"Can you imagine it, Cory? A giant church with strange symbols we never have seen before, not Christianity, not Judaism, not Buddhism, not anything we know of… But it was shaped like a church, with a podium and multiple seats in the middle of a forest, way deep among the trees."

"As we ventured inside the darkness of the abandoned building, hearing birds chirping and small rodents passing through, with only a few rays of natural sunlight spotting through behind us, I led him on the main podium, looking down at the seats."

"And we kissed, it was one of the greatest moments of my life."

"Sometimes… I would be awake at night, wondering how he is doing these days."

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