Give and Take Ch. 02

"I swear she went this way, little light up top but still think she would make a sweet snack if we can find her."

Was I not sufficiently clear with this guy? I shifted my path, hopping onto the stool next to the man.

"Do me a favor and act like you know me and we're good friends please?" I whispered.

The stranger turned, eyes raised in surprise only a moment before settling back into an easy smile, his Tom Selleck mustache twitching to suppress a laugh at whatever adventure the resort had brought him today. The lines at the corners of his eyes told me that laughing had been his natural state of being for all of his forty-some years.

"And a good morning to you as well miss. About time you came to visit ol' Felix, been so long I nearly forgot your name." He slipped into the ruse so easily I wasn't even sure if the Kentucky in his voice was natural or just part of the role he had adopted for the occasion.

I smiled gratefully at my co-conspirator. "Like you could ever forget your favorite Ashley. Although you did forgot that it was afternoon."

He waved dismissively. "Fifty-fifty shot."

A guffaw escaped my lips and I realized simultaneously that he was wearing an unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt over his swim trunks, either oblivious to or not caring about the bottom half of his shirt being submerged in the water as he sat on his bar stool. I was betting on the latter. "Fair enough I suppose but is it really so hard to keep track of time around here that you have to resort to a coin flip."

"Oh, no I meant fifty-fifty on you being my favorite Ashley. There's also evenings and nights, so it's only one-in-four on the time of day thing."

I'm too busy facepalming to see man-bun approach. "Look at you getting wet. And I haven't even had the chance to buy you that drink yet."

I was preparing a sarcastic barb when Felix intervened. "But I've already ordered for the lady. We wouldn't want for her to be over served, now would we?" He lifted my hand, kissed the knuckles for man-bun's benefit. "Isn't that right my dear."

A devilish grin crossed my face as I looked to Felix, then locked eyes with man-bun. "Of course. I want a clear head so I can remember every second with Felix."

Man-bun shrugged. "Let me know when you're done with gramps." And with that he left, pulling his Bimbo behind with a tug of her wrist.

I burst into nervous laughter once the coast was clear. "What is wrong with that guy? I'm not even his type, did you see his girlfriend?" I pantomimed cupping balloons on my chest as if I needed to explain my implication.

Felix looked thoughtful for a moment before replying. "No, but you're a new taker around here and some of the givers are obsessive completionists."

"You make me sound like a pokemon."

"Poke you where?"

"You know, gotta catch 'em all?"

"Must have been before my time."

How old was this guy? I wave it off. "Never mind that, what's all this giver and taker business, man-bun said something similar. I know this is supposed to be some anything goes sex resort, but isn't that a little on the nose?"

He laughed, holding his hands up in protest of his innocence. "The reference is to giving and taking pills, God's honest truth. But yeah, that's pretty normal slang here."

I chewed my cheek, wholly unconvinced. "Mhmm. After two hours I get the impression that nothing is 'normal' around here." Normal received a set of finger quotes. "But fine, let's say it's the pills. So you're telling me that if a woman gives a Blue pill to another woman, the woman is the giver and the transformed man is the taker?"

"Correctamundo. In theory. Probably. I'm sure it's happened once or twice. Say, let's get some drinks! Gregg, what's the special today?"

A bartender with short buzzed hair and a lumberjack beard sighed from where he was leaning against the back wall. "Sex on the beach" he deadpanned, his eyes betraying that it killed him on the inside to go through this exchange.

Felix's eyes glittered with delight. "I'll pass. How about a drink?"

Gregg groaned in pain, which to my shame made me laugh. He shot me a look that chastised me for encouraging the silliness. "Felix, we go through this charade every single Sunday. And you've been staying here for how long now? Surely we can retire the joke by now?"

Based on the smile on his tormentor's face, it was obvious that the plea had fallen on deaf ears. "I'm sorry Gregg, you know I love you. Two specials please."

Just then, a swirl of activity hit the tiki bar as the three swimmers I had eavesdropped on earlier joined us, the blonde claiming the stool to my immediate left, with cherry red and Marty further down.

"Better make that five specials." The blonde announced to Gregg before leaning over the bar in order to look past me to Felix: "And be nice to Gregg, you're such a tease sometimes." Then her eyes flicked to me. "I'm Sammi by the way. Is Felix being nice to you? He'd better."

Sammi was a blonde whirlwind, one of those women who just arrived as a swirling mass of words and hair that immediately drew all eyes to herself. I blinked for a moment absorbing the storm before I could form a coherent response. "Oh yes, Felix has been quite the gentleman. And I'm Ashley." I waved down the line to the two seated behind Sammi.

"Chloe" chirped cherry red.

"Marty" offered emo black.

Five drinks arrived. Bendy straws rose from frozen swirls of color that looked more like dessert slurpees than proper drinks. Not my usual thing, but when-in-Rome.

"You know they don't even put any booze in these?" Felix offered. "It's just a big sugar rush that you're getting."

"Every fucking Sunday..." Gregg muttered before trailing off into what I assumed were words he wasn't supposed to say out loud about customers.

I sipped in silence, the straw hanging from my lips as my eyes ping ponged between Sammi and Felix while they carried the conversation with occasional interjections from the other two.

Sammi and Felix were long term guests, essentially permanent residents at the resort, and it seemed like they were plugged into every aspect of the resort's social scene. They swapped gossip on the comings and goings of every giver and taker in the hotel, even new arrivals.

Despite his protests about Felix's jokes, Gregg eagerly played the role of informant, filling us in on the debaucheries he had witnessed during last night's shift. A true pro, he didn't even skip a beat when I sucked air through my straw, swapping in a fresh glass of frozen goodness while wrapping up a story that involved a Bimbo, maraschino cherries and a 4 iron. The story beggared belief: the lie clearly called for a gap wedge.

As they bantered back and forth, I wondered if Sammi and Felix had ever hooked up. As much time as they had spent together at a place like this, it seemed like a mathematical certainty, but there was no undercurrent of that between them. The vibe they gave of was that of partners in crime rather than lovers, ex- or otherwise.

Chloe interrupted my musing. "Hey guys, can I ask you a question? About the pill?" All eyes turned to her. "Do you find that the pill makes you feel like, you know, achy? Like, down there?"

"Just makes me horny" I deadpanned between sips. It was true: that rush of teenage hormones had been overwhelming when I first transformed. I had jumped on Virgil instantly. It was a true testament to the skeeviness of man-bun that he could so thoroughly put me off.

Sammi howled with laughter at my pronouncement. "Damn girl, you don't say much but when you do it is to the point."

"You guys, I'm serious, this is a real problem!" Chloe pouted, not seeing the humor. "My body craves it and I don't have a steady giver. You're so lucky to have Gio."

Sammi patted Chloe's hand lightly. "Hey girl, I'm sure I can talk G into a sharing arrangement whenever he gets back in town, but in the meantime, didn't I see you getting hot and heavy with that staffer the other day?"

For a brief moment, Chloe's skin color matched her hair color. "You saw that? I don't know, he works here, maybe it's a bad idea."

"Chloe! Of course I saw it, you were making out in the middle of the Marketplace. And do you really think it would be the first time a staffer shagged a guest here? So if you're feeling that hard up, go find that cute boy who is totally into you and drag him into a dressing room and maybe don't mention it on your comment card when you check out. Or do mention it, his boss would probably count it as a good review."

I drained the rest of my drink to keep from laughing. Sammi's voice was still bright and cheerful, but carried a note of exasperation that told me this wasn't the first time that she had heard about Chloe's boy troubles. As I reached the end of the drink I winced and rubbed my temples, fighting off a brain freeze from drinking the icy concoction too fast.

"Alright there?" Felix asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay, just drank too fast and gave myself an ice cream headache." Felix nodded sagely in response. I was starting to feel a little drained though. The booze, the sun and the jet lag seemed to be catching up to me. "Actually, I'm starting to feel a little tired, I think I'm going to head back to my room for a bit, but it was great meeting y'all."

Sammi smiled sweetly at me. "Okay cutie, get some rest. And hey, if you feel like rallying tonight, we can always dress up and go to the Sunset Bar."

"That sounds great, I'll see what I can do." With that I excused myself with a wave to the group, wrapped myself in a towel and began the walk back to my room. I smiled when I reached my hallway. I was still barefoot, but at least I had found some friends.