Editing in the Dark

Susan sighed yet again. The assignment was part homework and part bonding exercise and it was entirely pointless. She was doing post-graduate work, an MD of sorts, yet the teacher for this particular class treated the students as if they were still in high school. They practiced getting to know each other routines, and bonding dynamics, and other stuff that was all utterly unnecessary for someone who was studying narrative in audiovisual media.

So, here she was doing homework designed to "see the world through another person's eyes". But, she always did that! As a professional editor, you weren't the cameraman, or the director, or the script-writer. You edited according to the script. At best, you might introduce a few of your own pacing ideas or cut something that wasn't actually necessary. Adjusting her glasses, Susan saw her own pale blue (almost gray, according to a few of her friends) eyes reflected in them, staring back with a decidedly bored look.

So, this time the assignment was to record a series of takes, write a script for them, store it all on a portable media device (be it USB, SD, etc.), and toss it in a bowl. Then, you'd randomly select another student's media device from the bowl and, without looking at the script, edit the scenes to make a story out of it. In the end, they'd compare your final cut with the original script. What Susan was working with had to be Pan's recordings. It was all business-like, with no artistic touch. Everything had to be perfectly functional and, if it exceeded that requirement, it was discarded. Pan worked as a media manager for a company that specialized in institutional videos, where the emphasis was on telling the story with minimal embellishment and creativity was discouraged.

She would've preferred Ralph's video. Ralph was in the music video industry, and, just by chance, he was also way hotter than Pan. At least Ralph's work would be more familiar to her. She stared into Pan's mind numbing material for another few minutes, then decided to skip forward a few takes. How had he managed to fill the whole memory with such boring scenes? It wasn't just 'boring'; the SD card she'd gotten was completely full and the footage on it represented at least seven different kinds of boring. Ralph appeared in one of the scenes, his face was so handsome, he didn't belong in this awful footage.

Then again, she should not be one to judge. She was a bit short of perfect herself. It was not her view, but having been told so many times, she had almost begun to believe it... almost. Her nose was long and large, but it was still somehow feminine and it gave her a sharp, piercing stare that some men found intimidating; the rest found it incredibly sexy. Her lips were full and compensated her nose, her cheekbones were high and prominent but not enough as to make them masculine. Her skin was flawless, it appeared as if she had been carved rather than born. Then again, she did spend hours toiling in the gym and she followed her diet fanatically. Her bra cup size was nominally a C, but, depending on her diet and exercise it would vary by almost a letter up or down. Her hair was taken care of in expensive salons, and yet, she managed to pull off a look of natural, rather than cultivated beauty. She could be thought of as a "girl next door" – if the girl next door happened to be incredibly sexy.

Another take now, and Ralph was laughing at something Pan said, but then again, Ralph would laugh at almost anything. His perfect teeth showed and she sighed. He was wearing a tight polo shirt that made his body shape really stand out. Then, he was gone, and some stairs appeared... then a building in the sunset... then the main road that led to the university where they were currently studying... she started zoning out.

Ralph, Pan, Mary and Susan had been friends of sorts for a few years now. It was almost impossible to have a high profile working as an editor and not know (or at least have heard of) all others in the business. She had heard of the other men and women in her class, but they weren't as close as the four of them.

Mary couldn't be more different than Susan. Susan felt just a touch of envy; Mary's natural beauty didn't require gym, massages, or any of the other things that Susan did to be attractive. Her skin was a healthy olive color that didn't need tan (unlike Susan, whose tan was worked to perfection), and her face, although comely, was much softer in expression. If Mary took her clothes off and stood standing in her underwear, you'd guess she was a Victoria's Secret model. Her body and Susan's were so alike they had shared clothing more than once and it didn't look any less flattering on the other. Her eyes were honey -colored and she seemed like a natural partner for Pan - which she was, they'd been a steady couple for three or four years. You'd think Mary had Mediterranean genes, but nobody was quite sure. The best description of her family lines was "from Ottawa". Before that? Nobody knew.

Pan was someone you'd instantly know; he possessed Greek ancestry (perhaps you had guessed from his name), his skin resembled Mary's, and his eyes were almost green, his hair was chestnut brown with curls that defied any brush, for they always fell near his eyes. He'd be very attractive except for his perfectly neutral expression, which happened to stay on his face permanently. And, his clothing ideas were far from flattering; you'd know he had a body because he could grab things and walk, but his pants and shirts seemed to do whatever possible to hide his shape.

Ralph, on the other hand, could've worked as an actor or a model or he could simply smile and people would give him things. Just as Pan seemed to be Mary's perfect partner, Ralph happened to look just like Susan's other half - only he wasn't. He was a bit of a playboy (OK, quite the playboy) because he knew he could be, so he wasn't ready to settle down just yet. Mary could imagine Ralph working in the porn industry if he so desired, and more than once she had given herself satisfying orgasms while imagining fantasies centered on him. She'd pursue Ralph if she thought there was a chance it would last more than a single night; but she figured he needed at least another year of his current lifestyle before he might start to think differently.

There was a mind-numbing empty-kitchen take that lasted for at least 10 seconds with absolutely no camera movement. What the hell, Pan? What was she supposed to make out of this?

The screen flickered and went dark for a second, then the kitchen came back and a dark silhouette flashed by. She could see the camcorder's remote control just in front of the camera lens. Judging by the silhouettes at the beginning of the clip, she could figure out what happened. Someone had rested their hand, or an object, on the control and accidentally pressed the [REC] button. That was why the storage device was full. The camcorder must've run out of memory in that room and Pan never noticed it. She could hear giggles in the background...

"Where were we, now?" That had to be Pan's voice.

A silhouette appeared again, followed by another. They were chasing each other around the table that held the camcorder - and they appeared to be quite nude. Mary jumped out towards the kitchen but Pan grabbed her wrist just before she could escape. Susan's eyes widened. Pierced nipples? Mary? Seriously? But that wasn't the biggest shock, nor was she shocked that Pan looked way better without clothing than he did fully dressed. With his tousled hair and complexion, he looked like a Greek statue, his body had everything it needed, right where it was needed. But, the real difference between Pan and the Greek statues, besides the color, was what dangled between his legs. Greeks had considered small penises to be alluring and attractive; they would've seen Pan as somewhat distasteful. He wasn't enormous, but... perfect for deepthroating, that was Susan's judgement, at least. He had a nice one. What did he say he did to keep in shape? Savate, the French martial art derived from Muay Thai. Well, it did his body good.

The biggest shock actually was his face. He had a look that emanated indescribable lust. Such an expression would've made any girl wet. Mary probably was. Together, they looked like a pair of Greek gods frolicking. Suddenly, Pan pulled Mary towards him and, although he was whispering, the camera's microphone (when Susan cranked up the volume) had done its job.

"I caught you. You know what's next."

"Seriously? I've just escaped that bedroom to avoid yet another round! You can't be for real!"

Staring into the screen, Susan could see now that Mary had just been fucked at least once. Her pussy's neatly trimmed hairs were still glistening with something that definitely wasn't dew and her hair was a mess. If it had been just once, it had to have been one hell of a fucking session.

"C'mon, I'm not done yet..." and it was obvious, he was sporting an erection that grazed against her hip.

Mary sighed as if giving in to a kind of punishment, but the glint in her eyes told the truth; she didn't mind a bit. Pan turned her around, guided her to the nearest wall and made her face it, placing her hands against it for leverage.

"Now, you know how I like it. Lift your ass a bit higher..." and it was necessary, Pan was significantly taller than Mary. Once she did so, he positioned himself behind her and started moving his hips. From the vantage point that the camera offered, Susan knew he wasn't inside her. He was teasing Mary, sliding his cock against her nether lips but not getting in. He hugged her from behind and pressed his body against hers.

The heavenly-proportioned woman sighed, her breasts moved slightly with her breathing.

"You win. You don't have to convince me, I'm ready..."

"Are you, really?"

"Pan..."

The way she said his name - with longing lust - made Susan shift in her seat uncomfortably. She felt her body reacting, the warmth spreading from where her legs joined.

"Pan?" Mary actually cooing? Wow. They're quite different when they're alone, "please fu..." She was cut short, he had been rolling on a condom with her unawares and he began sliding into her from behind just as she started to speak, eliciting a very well deserved hiss of pleasure.

Like some kind of tan vampire, Pan bit into Mary's neck as he began to thrust in and out of her. His pace wasn't slow, she didn't need time to adapt to him, they had already gone at it. Mary's luscious lips parted as he continued going in and out of her, her face slowly contorting into an expression of undiluted bliss. Her ass lifted of its own accord and started to meet his thrusts halfway. There was the telltale sound of sex, wet flesh slapping against wet flesh.

Her lover stopped biting and whispered something in her ear, something Susan couldn't hear due to their union being louder than the words exchanged. What she could hear made her moan and her sculpted legs quivered with sinful delight.

Pan actually smiled with smug, sexual satisfaction, "told you."

"I can actually do you without changing positions."

Not waiting for him to answer, Mary, with Pan embedded, allowed herself to be penetrated to the hilt but didn't allow him to pull out. Instead, once he was inside, she started moving and twisting her hips with a movement that would've put a salsa dancer to shame. Suddenly, she stopped and with a determined face, stood apparently still. His legs appeared to go weak as he placed his hands on the wall just above hers and grunted deeply. Whatever she was doing with her internal muscles seemed to please him - judging by his face. He pulled her hair, making her look up and, while not aggressive, he seemed to be making it clear who was in charge.

He whispered something again and nibbled on her ear. Placing both hands on her hips, he forcefully made her body grind against him, then separate, then again, grind... Mary's moan made Susan wet just to imagine what she was feeling. His right hand went over to her breast while the left guided her hip as his cock went in and out without pause. Once he felt her nipples, he traced small circles around her small areolas and then pressed against the piercing. He flicked his finger, making the small metal part move sideways. Mary let a low pitched moan escape her lips.

Susan was intently listening to their lovemaking, and at the same time listening carefully for any sounds coming from beyond the university's editing aisles. Not only because she was watching something that could arguably be considered porn, but also because she had been fingering herself for a few minutes now.

"God, Pan! Don't stop!"

"Nnnnh..." Pan's look was the picture of ecstasy as he pounded away at a pace that could only be described as ferocious. Mary's hips were being savagely moved outward and inward as she received one of the most animalistic fuckings that Susan had ever seen.

"So fucking good.." His tone was of boundless pleasure one second, and the next, of concern, "too fucking good... I think... it ripped..."

"Pan, oh, Pan..." After hearing him, Mary stopped dead in her movement, "Pull out! Pull out!"

"Aren't you on the pill by now?" Her lover wasn't stopping for a second.

"Just started... It won't be... ah, stop! Won't work until next month... Pull out. Now."

He couldn't do anything against her tone with such authority and did as asked. Indeed, the condom covered only the base of his dick.

"I'm sorry babe, I know you want to, so do I, believe me, but we can't..."

Mary was stopped in the middle of her sentence. Pan was pointing downwards.

"What?"

"You can't leave me like this. Condoms are too far from here. Get on the floor. Now." Pan took the torn condom and carelessly threw it somewhere in the kitchen.

Now it was she who couldn't resist his authoritative tone as she complied with his order. Both bodies disappeared below the table. Susan heard a wet, sloppy sound and something like a moan or a hmph' sound came from a masculine voice, then, from a feminine voice, a very similar sound. They had to be in a 69 position, judging by how they were being muffled.

A male grunt, accompanied by a pop as if she'd just separated from his cock... then a female obscured moan as a very subtle slurping sound was heard. More urgently, their moaning and grunting came to a crescendo and then, everything went very, very quiet.

As a few fingers appeared on the table, Susan felt her orgasm begin and rode it through the next seconds, her mouth firmly closed, allowing no sound to come through. The rest of the hand came up and Pan's face, smeared with womanly juices, appeared above. Susan felt her fingers being gently massaged by her pussy muscles. He offered his hand and Mary came up. Their heads weren't visible but their kiss was audible. The torsos went out of the frame and a conversation that was just getting started faded away. The kitchen remained empty for the next two hours that remained on the file.

Susan regained her composure and breathed in normally. She wiped her fingers against a paper sheet she found with old annotations. She copied the last file to her portable hard disk and erased the original. With her mind somewhere else, she edited with the footage that was left.

* * *

"...I was thinking about life in the city, there is beauty to be found in places we find common and unattractive, it's just the right angle that was needed to show it," Susan explained as her editing was shown to the rest of the class. She waited for a reaction from the experienced and hippie-like editor that was in charge of the topic.

"Good! Good. Pan?"

"I wanted to show that the light changes the intention of what we're showing. There's the city during the sunset, and also during the day. There's a kitchen with lights on during the night, but also with the lights off and natural daylight coming through the windows. It's the same with Ralph there, below the lamplight at night and then in the sun during the day (Ralph's trademark laugh seemed to say "and I look awesome in both"). Lighting temperatures can set the mood off and make things look more or less serious than we need."

"Interesting points, both of you! Now, we know a script is important for editing, but if you get to know the editor -or director- you're working with, you can come up with a middle point that will give the artistic feel," he glanced at Susan, then at Pan, "but also the original idea that might have been much more technical."

Susan was gone, mentally. Every time she saw Mary, she could only imagine her pierced nipples suffering from the sweet torture of her lover. And when looking at Pan it was impossible not to picture his abdominal muscles lasciviously working as he pounded relentlessly into Mary's needy pussy. Ever since last week, when she first saw the material, the unofficial extra scene had become her number one masturbation fuel. She fawned over them fucking like there was no tomorrow; she had even learned to synchronize her fingering and the use of her favorite dildo to their pace.

Ralph's vision of another student's footage was way off. Pan sucked the fun out of the scenes given to him. The only one that could interpret correctly was the woman who had received Mary's recordings. The rest of the lecture was spent understanding how Sarah had caught what Mary had intended to portray.

Susan eyed Ralph with desire but he took it as mock flirting, because she usually did that to him. This time she had been very serious about it but he didn't notice the change. He winked back, but turned to watch the teacher rant away happily about the different examples.

* * *

And so, two agonizing weeks went by. Susan fingered herself madly every day, watching Pan and Mary go at it like animals. She had formed her own imaginary version of how their 69 worked, how he licked her tender flesh like a delicacy that he needed to conquer, how she took his full length in swift, practiced strokes...

They were working on their first serious exam. They had to choose a two-paragraph story from a list of 10 possible choices and tell the story without using any live actors and without using any kind of animation.

The editing rooms were all but booked solid, each student trying to make the most of their free time after work and classes, making their schedule and booking fit perfectly. Susan had asked for the night openings; she had a very erratic client right now and she needed her day open so they could show her the material she'd work with, the script hadn't been handed to her as of yet, the director was nowhere to be found... but she was already getting paid, so it was all good for her anyway.

When she got to her editing room, she found Ralph there, chilling already. He was checking the possible final version of his story. He eyed her and smiled his perfect and terribly expensive smile that made her tingle even though she had just enjoyed a Pan-Mary inspired orgasm. She went ahead to the small room within the editing aisle and deposited her small purse on one of the shelves and hung her coat there. The architect had been very considerate for the editors.

She came out of the room and found Ralph with his chin resting on his hands, still watching. She looked at herself in the mirror. She must've been sending the wrong signals, because she was absurdly sexy, she was showing more than the enough skin to drive a man into a lustful mood. Yet, Ralph hadn't even given her a second look.

He stood up and turned around to see Susan behind him. He had been waiting for the editing computer to finish saving his project and now he was ready to leave. He gave her a appreciating look (finally!) and spanked her playfully before heading out.

"Call me if you're feeling lonely, Sue."

The prick! She was feeling lonely. Perhaps she had been too cold for him, or maybe she'd need to call him if she didn't get her thoughts straight in a few minutes.