An Unplanned Bonding

Abby was chewing her lip while digesting this information and Katie spoke into the silence with questions of her own.

"So, can we go back a little? You said that the Bond can be altered. Are you saying that she could transfer her Bond from Justin to someone else? Like she could go back and be with Paul like she had originally planned?" Katie asked.

I felt Abby tense up in my lap. It wasn't particularly obvious, and I was pretty sure nobody else had noticed. But I could tell that she wasn't happy with the idea, and especially because Katie was the one to bring it up.

"Yes, exactly," answered Cliff. "Look, Abby, you obviously left with no intention of returning, so I'm guessing you didn't take a token with you, right?"

She shook her head briefly.

Cliff reached to his waist, and I was intrigued to see that he had a leather pouch attached to his belt. It reminded me of a medieval money purse. I could only guess that such things managed to stay in fashion in their isolated village. Opening the pouch, he reached in and pulled out a wooden disk, about the size of a half-dollar coin, and tossed it onto the table. It sounded like it was made of a dense wood, clunking down and sliding to a stop next to the engagement ring box still sitting in the center.

"I brought an extra, you can use that one to come home when you're ready," he said toward Abby.

He then nodded once towards the disk and continued, "That there is a token which the dryads make for us. If you're carrying one when you approach the village, they'll see you and someone will be there to part the barrier and let you in. It's filled with their magic, which they recognize. If you want, there's plenty of power in a token to draw out a few spellforms, including the one we would use to make changes to your Bonding."

He reached out and scratched his thumbnail across the wooden disk, creating a thin groove that glowed brightly in a deep forest green color. Abby barely paid attention to the display, not finding it at all novel or impressive. Katie and I, on the other hand, were mesmerized at seeing something that was demonstratively magical in nature.

Katie reached out tentatively and picked up the token, staring at the glowing line. We both watched as the scratch seemed to heal itself and the green light disappeared, leaving behind a smooth wooden disk once again.

Katie looked up and spoke with some awe in her voice, "We never knew something like this existed. We were all so upset when Abby told us that there was no way to break the Bond without one of them dying. I don't really blame her, she was just doing what she had to do to survive, but when she showed up with Justin that first time... our whole life was turned upside-down."

She put the token down and picked up the ring box. "Maybe we have a way to fix everything now," she said quietly, almost to herself.

Abby was watching, and I felt a profound sadness wash over her. It was pretty obvious what Katie was implying.

As Katie sat, silently cradling the ring box in one hand and running her fingers over the band with the other, Abby slid off my lap and stood.

"I need some time alone to think," she said, barely loud enough for everyone to hear, not really hiding her sadness. She walked back to the bedroom and closed the door behind her with a barely audible click.

Katie was lost in her own thoughts, and probably wasn't even aware of how devastated Abby was. Abby was dealing with profound rejection, and I was struggling to keep her emotions from overwhelming me.

"Look, um," I said then cleared my throat, "Thank you -- both of you, for stopping by and giving this to us. It's great to finally have some options, but we're going to need some time to decide what we're going to do."

Cliff and Sarah both nodded with confused but polite smiles.

"We need to go soon, anyway," Sarah spoke up. "We don't have a vehicle, so we hired a driver for the day, he's waiting outside for us. We'll make sure to leave a phone number with you guys before we go. That way, you can call us directly if you have more questions, or need something."

"I'm sure Paul will be happy to see her again, if she decides to patch things up with him. As long as you have the token, Abby can show you the way, and we can take care of everything else once you get to the village," Cliff added.

At the mention of Paul, I felt Abby collapse onto the bed and she began sobbing.

"I, uh... I think I need to go check on Abby. It was nice meeting you two." I stood and shook both of their hands briefly and headed to the bedroom. Katie could handle getting them out the door, I had someone that needed my help.

I sat down next to Abby on the end of the bed, and she flung her arms around me, sobbing and shaking.

We didn't speak. Instead, I sat and held her as her thoughts washed through her and I felt their impact. She was realizing that these last two weeks had been filled with happiness. She had been optimistic about her future with us, glad to be free of the isolation and loneliness of her hometown, and had two people that had shown her love and acceptance.

Her life before this was just emptiness in comparison. Paul didn't really make her happy. She had once thought that he would make a great life partner, but she could now see that he was never going to bring her joy the way being with Katie and I did.

What was hitting her the hardest, though, was seeing the wistful way Katie was sitting there holding her engagement ring. She still hadn't put it on, she had just been caressing it with her fingertips in longing. The message was clear: Katie wanted that life she would have had before Abby came along. Now that we had a way to make that happen, she was ready to toss out the interloper and put on the ring.

I wanted to fight on Abby's behalf, to insist that we make this work with the three of us if only to save her from the sadness she was feeling. But, I knew that no amount of arguing would change Katie's feelings. She wasn't in love with Abby the way she was with me, so this weird misshapen love triangle we'd ended up in wasn't worth staying in if there was an easy way out.

Abby was in love with Katie, and her feelings had only deepened with time. Now that she knew her feelings were unrequited, the rejection was devastating.

I held her as she wallowed in her misery. Eventually, we ended up laying down, still fully clothed and on top of the bedclothes, as she burrowed her head into my chest. She was worn out and felt hollow beyond the aching sadness, and I was relieved when I felt her fall asleep.

I wouldn't risk moving her, and I eventually fell asleep waiting for Katie to come to bed.

I slept fitfully, which isn't surprising considering the emotional wringer I'd been through.

My dreams were made from a mishmash of my feelings. There was always an overwhelming feeling of abandonment or loneliness.

I was a child, running around the marketplace near the house where I grew up, looking for my parents.

I was standing on a dirt road, reaching my hand out towards Justin and Katie, who were walking into a house together, holding hands. As I walked towards the house to follow them, each step I took caused the whole house to move further away.

I was sitting on the log by the water, only this time I could do nothing but cry, because I knew in my heart that nobody was going to come rescue me.

Abruptly, Justin and I awoke with a start. We were scrambling to separate our tangled limbs and get off the bed. We had both been hit with a feeling of icy cold, followed by a tingling like static. It was a little like a limb that had fallen asleep, only it was everywhere at once.

The bedroom was bathed in a green glow, but otherwise, the only light was coming from the hallway through the partially open door. The green color was familiar to me, it was the color of dryad magic, and the source of the glow was a large spellform drawn on the wall of the bedroom.

Katie was standing in front of it, holding half of the token that Cliff had given us. It had been snapped in half, and the broken edge was glowing brightly with its internal power. I knew that even in the hands of a beginner, it could be used to draw complex spellforms and do some impressive things.

"What... What the hell is that!?" Justin blurted out. He was out of his depth and couldn't make sense of any of it. To his eyes, he was seeing a neon sign whose letters had been bent into unrecognizable symbols. However, the individual lines of the spellform were much thinner than any neon glow tube, and as he approached, he could see that the spellform wasn't actually drawn on the wall. All of the lines were floating in the air just above the surface.

I didn't recognize this spell, but I'd seen enough of them that I could already guess the purpose of it. Clearly, after Justin and I had left, Katie had continued to chat and learned some of the basics about the spell to manipulate my Bond. She had been in such a hurry to get rid of me that she was practicing drawing it already. I had to hope this was practice, at least, and that she hadn't sent Cliff and Sarah back home to get Paul and bring him here tonight.

Regardless of her goal, I felt my heart sink down to the pit of my stomach all over again.

"This is part of the spell for changing a Bond," Katie replied while looking over her shoulder at Justin. She then pointed out the individual components and explained their purpose.

"This big thing on the top is the symbol for the Bond itself," she pointed at a stylized horizontal chain with large loops on each end. I couldn't help but see it as a pair of heavy iron shackles. It made sense that such a spell, intended to link individuals together, would have a symbol like that.

"Then, below that, these two symbols activate the spell form and let me connect it to the Bond between you and Katie. I don't know what this one on the left is supposed to represent, but this one here that looks sort of like three stretched out 'S' shapes represent mind, body, and spirit."

I recognized that one already. It was a common symbol in Life magic spells. Life magic could only target living things, and there were different symbols depending on whether you wanted to focus your spell on trees, animals, people, or some combination. It was even possible to target specific parts of something, like a spell to strengthen the roots of a nearby tree. The triple 'S' confined the scope of the spell form to people or other sentient creatures.

"But, I don't understand. How are you able to do this? You've never done anything like this before, aren't you worried you'll make a mistake and blow up the whole building or something?" Justin's voice held more than a trace of fear. He was facing the unknown and saw nothing but danger in it. I felt like this was a good time for me to step in and calm him down.

"That's a dryad token she's using, Justin. There's nothing to be afraid of," I said, using a calming voice. "It's alive, and somewhat intelligent. As you draw with it, it will sense your intentions and guide your hand to prevent you from making mistakes. Even if you forget a line or something, it will help pull you to the right place and fix it. As long as you have seen the spell and have a good idea of how it is supposed to work, the magic will help make sure you draw it correctly.

"On top of that, there's no way to cause explosions using Life magic. It can only manipulate living things, usually by altering them or causing them to grow in a specific manner."

He quickly calmed, then seemed to take notice of my emotions. I wasn't sure exactly what Katie was planning, but it seemed clear that I would be out of their lives very soon. In a way, I was happy for Justin, though it was profoundly bittersweet. He had finally gotten some closure from Katie regarding his marriage proposal. He no longer had to fear that she was going to reject him. I tried to focus on his positive future and suppress my own sadness.

Katie smiled at my supporting words and lifted her hand back up to the drawing. "Now, this doesn't actually do anything yet, I have to add modifiers to actually make it do something."

With careful movements, she drew a sideways 'V' next to the previous symbol, looking like an elongated less-than sign. Then, after adding a couple curved lines to the open end, it became obvious that it was meant to be a representation of the profile view of an eye.

Immediately, the room brightened even more. This new light was coming from an aura around Justin and I. Unlike the rich forest green glow of dryad magic, this new light was more white with a hint of green and yellow. Tiny white wisps were lifting away from everywhere on our skin, gathering into a bundle about as thick as my wrist, which joined us together.

"That modifier makes the Bond visible, which is cool, but not super useful by itself," Katie continued.

Justin was fascinated by the sight, and was slowly stepping from side to side and watching the ethereal rope move around and stretch.

"In order to actually make a change, you have to make the Bond tangible, too," Katie said. She turned back to the wall and drew another symbol, which looked like a square with a tilted diamond inside.

There was a flicker as soon as she finished, but the overall appearance of the light didn't change from what I could see.

Katie put the token piece down on the dresser then stepped over between Justin and I. Reaching out to the glowing rope at its midpoint, she wrapped her hand around it, and I was shocked to feel a tingle all over my body. I couldn't help it -- I gasped at the sensation.

Katie let go quickly and held her hand back like it might burn her, but she was looking at me.

"Did that hurt?" she asked, appearing to show real concern.

"No, it just made my whole body tingle. It was a surprise, that's all," I answered.

"Yeah, I felt that too," Justin piped in. "But, I don't get it, what's the point of that? What are you trying to do?"

"I wanted to prepare all of this and make sure I understood how it worked," Katie said with her hands on her hips. "At this point, we have to make a decision together."

"I don't understand," Justin reiterated. "What do you want to do with this?"

Katie smiled and said, "At this point, I can touch the link, move it, reconnect Abby's Bond to someone else. But we all have to agree, together, on what we want to do. Let me tell you what I've been thinking, and then we'll decide."

It took a while, but we discussed everything to exhaustion. In the end, Katie's plan made the most sense. By the time we had made our decision, the spell was fading, but it was still functional and it didn't need to be redrawn. That was rather fortunate, since the token she had been using was now inert, looking like nothing more than an old dried-out piece of wood.

Worn out from all the emotional extremes I'd gone through, I laid in bed and fell asleep while Katie and Justin were still excitedly making plans.

For once, I wasn't drawn into vivid dreams, just one of those nights where time seemed to jump forward as soon as my eyes closed.

Eventually, I again found myself in a benign dream. I wanted to smile at being here again. I was standing naked in a bathroom, reaching in to turn on the shower.

As my hand ran through the water, I felt it reach a pleasant temperature and then stepped in and closed the shower curtain. Standing under the spray, I ran my fingers through my hair, wetting it down fully, and then I wiped the water from my eyes so I could pick out the right bottle.

As I picked up the shampoo bottle, I reveled in the familiarity of everything. This was the same shampoo I'd been using for days, the same bathroom. But something felt different.

This dream wasn't a dream... I was now awake enough to realize that.

As I watched through Justin's eyes, I relaxed and just let things continue without trying to push for anything to happen. I knew that I didn't have to do any Urging for this to have an entertaining ending. We never spoke about it, naturally, because I knew it would make him uncomfortable and he'd stop, but I knew that if Justin was in the shower alone, he was going to masturbate and give us both a nice orgasm before he finished washing up.

I felt Justin jump, startled by something. He was rubbing shampoo through his hair then just stopped, staring at the wall. I must have accidentally projected some of my thoughts. Oh well, we both knew what was going to happen, and he'd obviously learned to not be bothered by having me spy on his play time.

I never reciprocated, though, at least not to completion. If I was in the shower alone, I had no problems teasing Justin by running my hands all over my body, kneading my breasts, pinching my nipples, and rubbing my fingers through my labia. It was fun, and I got a kick out of knowing he was watching, but I didn't try to orgasm, because I felt guilty knowing that I would cause a sticky mess in his pants that he'd have to take care of.

I felt him smirk at this thought, and he began to rinse out his hair.

Some part of my mind was nagging me, though, telling me that something was different. Alarm bells were going off in my head as he stood under the shower head rinsing out the shampoo.

Justin was too tall to stand under the shower head. He had to bend over to rinse his hair.

My eyes popped open in shock.

Looking around, I saw that I had been sleeping on Justin's chest. I couldn't feel anything from him. That familiar warm feeling of fuzziness that I got whenever he was asleep was gone.

But I could still feel water cascading down over his body in the shower.

No, not Justin. It was Katie. Of course! How could I have forgotten what we did last night?

I sent a single word to her.Katie?

She giggled, then spoke aloud in the bathroom, "Hey, you're awake! It's so cool, I could actually tell that you were awake and watching me!"

I stared wide-eyed into the dark bedroom, then grinned at her glee.

"So, is this the part where I'm supposed to masturbate while you watch?" she asked, while slyly grabbing her breasts and rubbing them in an overly-dramatic fashion. After waiting a moment for me to respond, she gave up and turned off the water.

"I didn't really need a shower this morning," she said to the empty bathroom, "I just thought about your story of the way that Justin woke you up that first time in the motel, and it sounded like fun."

I had carefully gotten up without waking Justin and was entering the bathroom at this point.

She opened the shower curtain and stood unashamedly as we looked at each other. I couldn't help it, I found my eyes roaming downwards over her wet, naked body. She grinned widely.

"It's so different..." she said.

"What is?"

"The way you see me. Like, I've seen myself naked in the mirror pretty much every day of my life. I know how I look, but now that I can see myself through your eyes, it's all brand new again. You look at me like you're looking at a sexy underwear model, even though I know it's just me.

"Is this how Justin looks at me, too?" she finally asked.

She didn't wait for an answer, reaching for a towel to dry herself off before climbing out of the bathtub.

"Let's wake up Justin and we'll have breakfast together." Katie wrapped her towel around her body and grabbed a second one to wrap around her hair.

We went to the bedroom and she stood for a minute. I assume she was deciding how to wake him up. She just reached over and flipped on the ceiling light, making him groan and cover his eyes with an arm.

She chuckled at his reaction, then stood smiling, glancing back at me.

"Let's see how long it takes him to remember," she whispered, quiet enough that only I could hear.