Blowing Off Some Steam

It certainly wasn't the sweetest thing that she had ever heard, but the gist of what her brother was saying seemed nice enough. And she had to agree that it wasn't that bad hanging out with him, even if it was out in the mosquito infested woods. She took a seat in the chair that she had brought out earlier. The sun was just beginning to go down and except for their voices and the occasional 'pop' from the fire it was silent.

"It is pretty nice out here. Thanks for bringing me. I never get to do anything like this. It's pretty, the sunset," she said, sipping her drink.

"You can thank me again in the morning, when you're dying of a hangover," he said. "It is pretty, though."

As they sat there in the growing twilight, imbibing alcohol and chatting about nothing in particular by the light of the fire, Emily began to experience a troubling need that she hadn't previously given a thought to. She had to use the bathroom, but from what she had seen, there was no bathroom.

"You guys didn't happen to build and outhouse around here, did you?" she asked.

Jason laughed. "There's toilet paper on a shelf in there, but other than that, the world's your outhouse, my dear."

"Oh man. I've got to pee."

"Then go pee."

"But, I've never...I mean, what do other girls do when they have to go?"

"How should I know? I've never watched them. Just go squat beside a tree or something," he said. It seemed like she may be over thinking the situation. Jason didn't think that it was the first time that his sister ever had to relieve her bladder. He was amazed that she hadn't had to do it sooner, considering the way that she was sucking down the drinks.

"But it's getting dark, don't be a jerk!"

"I'm not trying to be a jerk, but what do you want me to do? I can't pee for you."

"I..."

"Want me to go with you?"

She nodded, more than a little embarrassed. She hadn't considered such a thing to be a problem, but suddenly the prospect of relieving herself in the woods, at night, seemed terrifying.

"Let's go then, before you pee your pants."

They stopped at the cabin to grab the roll of toilet paper before walking a short distance away into the trees. "Turn around," she told him, reaching for the button of her jeans.

He did as she ordered, chuckling at her discomfort. At least she wasn't drunk enough to where she having a hard time keeping her balance, then she would have had a real problem. "All that and I don't even get to watch."

"Gross, Jason! Why would you want to?"

"Just picking on ya."

He stood there in silence, leaning up against a tree and looking up at the sky. After a few minutes, he was beginning to wonder if Emily was ever going to do her business or what.

"How's it going back there?" he asked.

Emily practically growled in frustration. She had to piss so badly that it hurt, yet she was unable to produce any type of a stream. Her legs were starting to cramp up from squatting in such an awkward position, and she wasn't all that certain that if she did start to go that she wasn't going to soak her pants and underwear anyway. "It's not."

"Well, I'm going to, if you're not." He tried the only thing that he could think of to help her overcome her bladder shyness, he unzipped his pants and urinated into the dry leaves. That and he wasn't going to wait around forever for her to go.

It was hard for her to explain why, but when she heard Jason spraying the ground a little ways away, all of a sudden it was like a flood gate opened. She managed to finish without soiling her clothes or suffering any major cramping.

"Feel better?" he asked. "You're a real camper, now."

"That was so, so embarrassing."

"Don't worry about it," he told her, on the way back to the fire. "It's not like we have to tell anyone about it."

"First of all, I agree, we're NEVER telling anyone about it. Second, if you ever really expect to have a girl spend the night out here with you, then you need to build an outhouse. A nice one."

They spent a bunch more of the night around the fire, roasted a couple of hotdogs, but for the most part, just worked on killing the Black Velvet bottle. Shortly before midnight, they headed back into the cabin, fired up the lanterns, and listened to the radio while they played darts. They celebrated the death of the whiskey bottle with a healthy shot of moonshine, not that there was anything particularly healthy about it.

Emily fired a dart at the board, missing by a mile and nearly breaking a window. "You know," she said, having a seat at the table while Jason laughed at her total lack of accuracy, "this is getting dangerous. I got to call it quits."

"Good idea. Want me to roll out your sleeping bag?"

"I didn't say I wanted to go to sleep. You want to stay up with me, don't you? I'm not sleepy."

"Sure, sure. I have to use the outback," he said, leaving temporarily to relive himself. Upon his return, Emily was looking through the Penthouse magazine.

"Why do you guys have this up here? You sit around and jerk each other off or something?"

"Danny brought it up here a while ago, and no, we don't do that. You seemed to be more interested in it than I am, anyway. Sure you didn't want the girls to come up?"

"Jason! I've never been with a girl."

"Doesn't mean you don't want to," he teased.

She hadn't ever given it much thought. "Maybe, I don't know. Not either one of those two, though. Like I said, they're mean. I am kind of sad that Danny's not here."

Jason raised his eyebrows. Emily hadn't made mention of him the entire night, now she wished he was here as she casually flipped through a porno mag. "Oh yeah? Why's that?"

Realizing how that she had opened herself up to the question, Emily decided that she might as well just tell her brother what she was thinking. "Well, I haven't had a chance to, you know be with a lot of guys or anything. If I was ever going to take a chance this would be a good place to do it."

"You wanted to sleep with Danny?" Jason thought this was a good time to pour them both another shot. It was the first news of this that he had heard from either side. Danny certainly had never shown any interest in his sister, as far as he knew.

"Stupid, huh? He'd never want to."

"I'm pretty sure he would, especially if you were both hammered and out here in the woods together. What was I supposed to do, just wait outside until you were done? Weren't you worried what I would think?"

Emily put down the magazine and drank her shot. They still seemed to burn like hell no matter how many of them that she had. "Yeah, a little, but you already said that you'd be happy for me if I got some guy to spend the night with. You can't take that back."

"Yeah, that's true, I guess."

"And you probably planned on nailing one of those sluts tonight. I'd have to sit around and listen to that. What's the difference?"

That was a tough question. There was a difference, it was just difficult to articulate. Should he tell her that it would be alright for him to bang one of her classmates while she waited alone outside all night, but it was not okay if it was the other way around and she played around with Danny? Damn her trying to use logic on his foggy brain.

"I guess there's not much of a difference," he said.

"No there's not. So you're saying that the next time we come up here that you won't have a problem sitting down here while I take Danny up into the loft and make sweet love to him?"

"Oh god, that's not what I'm saying, I..."

"You wouldn't like it, I can tell. I'm kinda glad now that he's not here so something like that wouldn't happen. I don't want to make you mad or have you mad at Danny."

"Listen, if you want to hook up with him, don't let me stop you. I'd prefer it if you didn't have sex right in front of me, though. You wouldn't like it if I did that to you."

"Hmm." Emily was trying to picture it, and couldn't decide right away. On one had, it would be kind of exciting, on the other, it would be weird. "I don't know. Might be kind of sexy."

"I think you've had enough. I'm cutting you off."

"Oh, lighten up, would ya? We're just talking."

"Yeah, I know we're just talking, it's what we're talking about that's making me feel uncomfortable. We go days at a time without talking to each other and now we're talking about stuff that's...you know, kind of intimate."

"I'm sorry to make you feel uncomfortable. I'm sorry that I've had sex on my mind since we got here, I don't have tons of friends to talk to. Tina's been gone all summer and she's about the only one that I could ever talk to about crap that's bugging me. You're supposed to suck it up and listen to me when I have a drunken rant because you're my brother and you love me." Emily crossed her arms and began to pout, causing her brother to sigh in frustration. Everything had been going so well up until this point.

"You're right. You're my sister and I love you, but I reserve the right to feel uncomfortable. Keep in mind that a conversation about having sex in front of other people isn't one that I would have an easy time with, no matter who I was talking to. And you haven't really been ranting until the last few minutes, let's just try and stay peaceful at least. We can talk about whatever you want."

Emily thought that that sounded fine, having to agree that she had been going off on a tangent. They stayed awake for another hour or so, keeping their conversation a bit more 'G' rated, at least what she could remember of it.

*****

When Emily opened her eyes the next morning, it was nearing eleven and stifling hot in the loft of the cabin. There wasn't a trace of moisture in her mouth and a steady throb inside her head instantly reminded her of the amount of spirits that she had consumed the night before. She climbed down the ladder and got a bottle of water out of the cooler, taking a long drink, then placing it to her temple. Luckily, she had anticipated such a situation and brought a bottle of aspirin with her. She dug it out of one of her bags and had a small handful for breakfast.

Spotting Jason on the porch, she went outside to see what the plan for the day was. He was laying on a lounge chair in the shade, motionless. Sunglasses made it impossible to tell if he was awake or not.

"Are you alive?" she asked.

"Yeah. My head aches a little, but other than that, I'm okay. How about you?"

"The same, I guess. I brought some aspirin. Want some?"

"Yes, please."

She brought him the bottle of aspirin and a bottle of water. "So, what's on the agenda today?"

"Oh, I don't know. I was just going to lay here until I came up with an idea that's good enough to motivate me to move."

"Heh, yeah. We stayed up pretty late. I don't remember going to bed," she said, having a seat beside him. It was much cooler on the porch than it was inside.

"Yeah, you finally passed out. I didn't think you were ever going to shut up. I've never heard you say so much at one time before," he said.

Emily smiled until she starting remembering bits and pieces of the things that they had been speaking about. There was no telling exactly what all that was said.

"I remember a lot of it, but not all of it. Do me a favor, if I said anything really stupid, don't tell anyone, alright? I had a lot to drink."

"Yes, you did," Jason agreed.

"Yes I did what? Say something stupid or have a lot to drink?" she asked.

"Both. Now do us a favor and stay quiet at least long enough for the aspirin to start to work. My ears are still bleeding from last night."

Emily didn't think that was very nice, but she bit her tongue and sat quietly in the shade. Letting the pain killers do their job seemed like a reasonable course of action, at least for the time being. After a while, she couldn't take it any longer.

"I'm sorry. Whatever I said, I'm sorry."

"You don't have anything to be sorry about, don't worry."

"You sure? 'Cause for some reason, I feel like I did something really stupid, but I don't know what," she said.

"You're probably just feeling remorse for putting your brain through such misery. Try not to think about it and I'll make us some lunch here in a few."

Jason grilled them up some burgers for lunch, opting to use up the meat that he brought before all of their ice melted and it spoiled. They both felt better after eating, lethargic but much better. They went out to the pond so that he could do some fishing while Emily read her book. It was still ungodly hot, but they managed to find a little shade to keep it bearable.

"Why didn't you say anything about this pond? I would have brought my bathing suit."

"Didn't think about it, I guess. We don't ever swim in it," Jason replied, casting out.

"Why not? Is there something wrong with it?"

"Not really. You're welcome to hop in if you want to, but the water's like ice cold all year round," he explained.

Emily put down her book and walked over to the water's edge. She knelt and dipped a hand in, to see if what he was saying was the truth. It seemed downright warm to her.

"Doesn't feel very cold to me."

"Yeah well, you don't have to believe me, but you just stuck your fingers in like three inches of water. Get out to where it's very deep and you'll freeze your ass off."

She looked at him, still skeptical. It wouldn't really make any sense that he would want to keep her from going swimming for no reason, so she thought that he was most likely telling her the truth. The thing was, it looked so clear and inviting...

Jason smiled, knowing what she was thinking. "Go for it. I'll try to hook you when you go into shock so that I can pull you out."

Emily frowned. "Maybe I'll just sit over here and dip my toes in. It's just so freakin' hot out."

"I know what you mean," her brother agreed, looking up into the cloudless sky. "Didn't think that you had the guts to do it, anyway."

"What? Are you daring me?"

"It would seem that way."

"Terms?" she inquired.

"Easy. Walk out until the water gets up to your shoulders, then go under. Swim around for, let's say three minutes."

"And what do I get if I do it?"

"My respect and admiration," he replied.

Emily scoffed. "That's not worth anything. How about if I do it, you have to do it too, and you have to serve me dinner tonight."

"Fine, I guess."

"And just to be clear, I'm not talking about earthworms and tadpoles, I brought spaghetti, you ought to be able to handle that."

"You brought spaghetti on a camping trip?"

"And meat sauce."

"Fine, fine. I'm tellin' ya though, three minutes in there is going to be a long time," he warned.

"I'm not scared," she said.

Emily took off her shoes, removed her glasses, and took her phone from her pocket. As she began to wade out, the first real temperature change hit her when the water began to come up to about the hem of her shorts. Once above her waist, it was shockingly cold. When she actually did get to about shoulder level, it was nearly unbearable.

"How you makin' out?" Jason asked from the bank. He had his phone out, ready to start timing.

"Just getting used to it, water's fine," she replied through clenched teeth.

"Sure. You might as well just start swimming so I can start the timer, you're not gonna get used to it. Remember, I've got my rod here in case you stop moving."

"You're a jerk!"

"Heh, yeah."

Emily took a breath and submerged. She spun onto her back and began to backstroke in a long, slow circle. The surface of the pond seemed to be a bit warmer than the rest, still cold, but a little warmer at least.

"How long has it been?" she asked.

"Oh, did you want me to start the timer?"

"Yes, I wanted you to start the fucking timer, I've been out here for like ten minutes!" She seemed upset.

"Kidding, I'm kidding. Thirty seconds."

She managed to keep moving, and eventually the time was up. Though she got her wish of cooling down, it didn't cross her mind to spend any longer in the water than she had to to fulfill the terms of the dare. She slogged her way out of the water and stood shivering in the sunlight. It felt like she had just stepped into a blast furnace.

"Holy crap!" she stuttered.

"Yeah. You alright?" He couldn't help but smirk at her even though he was now indebted to do the exact same thing.

"Fine. It was refreshing. Get your butt out there."

Jason prepared himself and did what he was told, eventually ending up submerged in the breathtaking, penis shrinking water. He had known what he was getting into when he made the dare, so it wasn't exactly a surprise, though that did little to make things easier.

"Three minutes and counting," Emily announced.

As the clock began to tick down, Jason received a text from Danny. Emily suddenly remembered some of the things that she had said to her brother about Danny the night before. She almost read it without saying anything, but she couldn't quite bring herself to do it.

"You got a message from Danny. Can I read it?"

"Knock yourself out. Just keep an eye on the time!" Jason wasn't at all concerned about whatever the message may contain.

"He wants to know if you're still at the cabin with your sister. Should I tell him yes?"

"Go ahead."

"Can I ask him if he got lucky last night?" It would be interesting to hear what Danny would say about the girls if he thought that he was talking to her brother.

"I don't care what you do, just tell me when I can get out!"

"Oh, yeah. You bitch more than I do. Got about fifteen seconds," she told him, busying herself typing.

Jason didn't care if he was bitching or not, his sister didn't have a set of testicles that were retracting into her abdomen. He floundered around for what he thought was fifteen seconds, then trudged his way back to shore, shaking like a wet dog once he neared his sister.

"Stop, jerk!. You'll get your phone wet." She was staring at the screen as though it was the most interesting thing in the world.

"What'd he say?"

"He said a bunch of people showed up and he ended up puking his guts out in Lisa's backyard."

"Heh." Jason took his shirt off and wrung the water from it. "Does he think he's talking to me?"

"Yeah. Do you want your phone back?"

"Naw. I've got to get the feeling back in my fingers before I use it, anyway. I take it that's a 'no' to the lucky part."

"Sounds that way," she agreed. "That's kind of lucky when you think about it, he probably would have caught something."

Jason had to laugh, even though he was still fairly miserable from the dip that he had just taken. "Oh man, you should tell him that."

Emily laughed along with him, this was as much fun as she'd had since they arrived at camp. "He said that sometimes you have to take chances."

"Yeah. I'm sure he would have if he could have." He paused for a moment while his sister set his phone on his shoes that were sitting beside her. "You gonna ask him if he's gonna come up and 'make sweet love' to you?"

Emily stopped smiling. "You don't have to be an asshole," she said rising to her feet.

"Hey, I'm not trying to be. I can go someplace else tonight. I thought that's what you wanted."

Emily turned toward her brother. She supposed that the was actually being serious. "I know what I said before. I think I'm kind of over that, especially after what he pulled yesterday. I mean, I kind of feel like I'd just be his last choice. It's not a good feeling."

"Hey, it's up to you, but you got to remember that he has no idea what you were thinking. I mean, you hardly ever even speak to each other, how would he know?"

"I know, I know. Just don't say anything to him, alright? I'm not saying I won't change my mind, I just want to think about it before I put myself out there," she said. It was hard to be quite as bold when she didn't have a gut full of whiskey.