How to Weaken a Cub's Resistance

She stopped talking for the moment. Thinking she was done, Sandra began to react. Then Josie piped back up.

"Oh yes, and, uh... kinda 'fun' fact about me, I guess... I have matching birthmarks on my ankles that look just like gummy bears."

The audience laughed and "aw"'d. Sandy joined them.

"Fun!" she assessed with a nod. "How 'beary' 'beary' cute! Well, I'm sure we'll have the privilege of seeing them soon enough. As well as any birthmarks, tattoos or other beauties you ladies bear, in more intimate areas. And, eh...just between you and me, Mrs. Josie 'Jojo' Greer," she added, "If I may say so, you look as if you yourself might be as delicious as a gummy bear."

The Greers blushed. Jojo slipped back in place and gave the Hartwells their turn.

"Okay—hello, hello, all," Sheryl waved. She stepped forward as her wife had begun to raise her hand, making Kenzie feel a trifle awkward. Kenzie's mind wandered as Sheryl Lindsey Hartwell described herself. She knew Sher'd jumped in out of excitement, but Kenzie wished she'd thought quick enough to beat her to the punch. The truth was, besides being interrupted, she had another little pet peeve that had just been poked. While she realistically knew it wasn't as nearly big a deal, whatever the group activity... Kenzie hated going or being last. Granted, right now they were merely introducing themselves. And some would argue that being last in a participation was a nice thing, being saved as the "best" and all. Kenzie couldn't see it this way. She'd encountered a bit too much evidence to the contrary. One very real example was a restaurant's wait staff's tendency to take her order after everyone else's, such as last week at the Moonbeam. Again, she knew it was no huge thing. It shouldn't bother her, it just... did, somehow.

Her mind wandered back over, to hear her wife finish her intro.

"And, uh, let's see, fun fact about yours truly," mused Sher. "...Okay, here it is. Whenever I go up or down a set of stairs, I have to step on the top one or the floor with my left foot. I don't even know why, I just have to. 'S like a compulsion. If I see I'm gonna end on the right one, I get this wonky feeling inside that it's gonna feel... wrong. So I have to switch off so I can finish on the left."

Sandra paused with raised brows, during which the amused audience tittered. She rejoined.

"...Very interesting!" she chortled to the also giggling Sher. "Well, let's see if tonight we can get you started on the right foot. And then your lovely wife? Kenzie?"

Kenzie opened her mouth. "W—"

"Save the best for last?" Sandy added with a smile, as a reflex. It was clear she'd neither meant to interrupt her, and so Kenzie forced the irritation down. She paused, cleared her throat, and proceeded.

"Well a'right, erm... Kenzie Beth Hartwell here, I'm 38, I'm...an Easter baby...most years at least. I was born April 1st. Rumor has it my goofball Mom gave birth to me, handed me to my Dad and said, 'April Fool!'"

The crowd laughed.

"And, that's my fun fact, by the way," continued Kenzie. "Aside from that, uh...I'm a chef at the Green Street Grill... ummm, and speaking of food, there's very little I don't care for—as you can probably tell by the size of my belly..."

Sheryl affectionately rolled her eyes, frankly weary of Kenzie exaggerating said size of said belly. This time she remembered not to verbally butt in. She merely slipped her arms around Kenzie's middle, hugging her to show everyone just how hardly overweight she was, how fully and far her arms extended. Kenzie, thinking of more traits to describe herself, realized what Sher was doing. And try as she might not to... she just had to smile.

"Um... hee hee," she giggled. "I-I adore my wife, did I mention that?... I...love to read, just about anything... at the same time, I love my phone and my iPad. I love books, but I also love technology," she chuckled. "And... oh, geez, uh... for now, hope that's enough."

"Of course it is," their hostess assured her. "Well, wonderful! Awesome to meet you ladies! You are gonna be the centerpiece of our evening's entertainment. We'll start as always with our game. Or should I say, our... ahem! ...First game. Wanna hear what it is??"

The audience and couples applauded.

"You got it," said Sandra. "It's strip memory. My darling husband Louis will now—Lou, if you would, please, angel?—wheel the card table out to the floor," she announced, as Lou stepped from behind the tripod to do so. "This table was made special for us, for games like this. As you can see, the top is slanted up so everyone can see, there's a cloth sewn on top with sleeves, and the cards in them.

"Now to the rules. Each of you'll be a team together with your wife. There're thirty-six cards total, six rows of six. On the front of each card is an animal. There're two of each animal, much like Noah's Ark. Each of your turns'll consist of you picking two cards. If they don't match, you put 'em back where they were. But if they do—here of course is the fun part—each member of your opponents' team takes off a piece of clothing."

This part always pleased the audience, who cheered. Sandy appreciatively settled them down.

"But, you each must remove one, each time. You can't have your wife take off two things and you none, or vice versa. The game ends when one couple is stripped completely naked," she smiled saucily at them. "And one more rule: your individual turn is just that: one turn. Whether you make a match or not, you don't get to go again; you have to wait your next turn. Everyone clear on that?"

Everyone was. Sandra continued.

"Fun-tastic! It might seem easy, but trust me, it's trickier than you think. Louis and I found that out ourselves; this was one of the first games we played together. Ah, memories. Pun intended. Oh, yes, and before I forget: audience, no help from you. Wives, you may quietly consult and advise each other, but once your partner goes to pick her cards, remain silent. If you blurt anything out, accidentally or intentionally, you'll be penalized three pieces of clothing each. I feel that's decent motivation not to cheat. Okay! Now. Each of you'll take a turn on your own, and we'll alternate teams. Normally we'd go alphabetically by name. But since whoever goes second in this game has a slight advantage, I'm gonna flip a coin. So shall we say, heads for the Hartwells, tails for the Greers?"

All four were fine with that. So Sandy tossed. Heads.

"A'righty then; Greers, you're up first. Who's gonna go?"

Alphabetical now seemed as good a way to decide as any. So Barb went first. The table, she noted, was impressively sizable. It was in a less than ideal spot for Lou's tripod, but this was why additional cameras were mounted around the room. Lou liked to clip and cut bits from each angle to make the vids aesthetically interesting. The tripod could nonetheless grab frontal footage of the girls as they took their turns. The cards were eight inches by a foot. Barb mentally assigned each a number, going left to right, then up to down. This being the first turn, it really didn't matter which she chose. So she went with row three, column three (number fifteen). She plucked it from its sleeve and looked. A sheep. Like all the cards, it bore an image of the animal, with its name in a rectangle.

"Please show and tell us what it is," Sandra requested.

"It's a sheep."

"Excellent. Now hold on to that one and pick another."

Babsy scanned the backs of the cards, as if hoping the other sheep would telepathically bleat out at her. Her eyes wandered to the fourth card of the sixth and last row—thirty-four—deciding this was the other one she wanted. Hm.

"'Kay... this one's an owl."

"All right, not a match," Sandy noted. "Mrs. Greer, please put those two back where they were. ...Hartwells, your turn. Who's going?"

This time Kenzie did not wait for her wife to volunteer. Not wanting to go last, she took the opportunity herself.

"Ooh, me! Me." She advanced to the cards, tapped her chin a moment, and selected the top right corner—row one, column six.

"'Kay, this is... a fish."

"All right," said Sandra, "And now for your second."

Keeping with the corners, Kenzie went to the opposite, bottom left—row six, column one—and plucked it.

"And here we've got... a wolf."

"Very well, back those two go. Mrs. Josie Greer, your turn. Have at 'em."

Josie nodded, and Barb whispered her a brief review of which animals they'd found thus far. Jojo's next nod went to her as Kenzie returned to Sheryl's side. Josie approached the cards, rubbing her palms and wiggling her fingers.

"Lez-see..." she mused. "This one looks good to moi..."

She opted for the second card in the top row, which was revealed to be—

"...A cow!"

Still no matches. The card to this cow's immediate right—row one, column three—looked as good as any other, so Jojo went with it.

Gasp. "Omigod, the other cow!!" Josie exclaimed, holding up both to show. The crowd laughed and applauded.

"Aww, what?!" said Sheryl. "Come on!" Kenzie chuckled.

"OH! Congrats, Greers!" Sandy called. "I'll take those two cards, you can give them to me. And as for you, Hartwells, I'm sorry, but rules are rules. Start strippin'!"

The guests cheered and whooped, mostly just to encourage the gals, as all that came off first was a shoe each. As Sandy'd explained, they'd be playing a strip game before the main event, and so each made a point to bundle, as it were. Early September-bundle. This basically meant accessories, jewelry and such, and shoes with socks. As far as their little "extras," Barbara wore a bracelet and a hair clip. Kenzie sported her newsgirl cap. Sheryl wore a necklace, as did Josie, who also placed a ribbon in her mane. And so as Sher and Kenzie each kicked off a kick, the unshoed feet remained sock-clad. Their hot 'n' happy hostess announced that this brought them to Sheryl's turn. So Sheryl half-sauntered and half-limped to the table, which now bore only thirty-four cards. The first she chose, as she showed and told, was a frog. The second was a rabbit. Back they went, and round two commenced.

It was Babsy's turn once more. She blew on her hands, connected them with a clufp!, and shimmied her palms. So besides the two cows, she reminded herself, they'd found a sheep, an owl, a fish, a wolf, a frog and a bunny rabbit. But she began to see Mrs. Sandy's point about it being tough to remember where stuff was. She thought she remembered the first two she'd chosen and what they were, but was fuzzy on the others. She figured this time she'd go with card one—row one, column one.

Gasp. "Oh, the fish!"

A bit of excited murmuring ensued. She knew they'd found the other fish, but... oh, shoot, shoot, shooooooot, where was it??

The Hartwells tried not to show it, but grew excited when they realized Barbara couldn't remember. Sheryl leaned in to Kenzie and cupped a hand to whisper, but Kenzie nodded that she didn't need the reminder. Josie thought she remembered as well, but like her wife was less sure. She made loose fists and tapped her knuckles together in anticipation.

Finally, Barb chose. Card eleven: row two, column five. Oh, she hoped she was right... but she was not.

"Oh damn, a pig!"

Her audience and fellow contestants reacted accordingly. "Not a match!" Sandy announced. Babs apologetically slunk back to her wife. Everyone aware of what was now to happen, the Greers went into the motions to take off one of their own shoes.

"Kenzie, that brings us to you...ladies, do please wait for your opponent to pick her cards before shedding your garments."

They needn't wait long. Kenzie pranced to the cards, plucked the first one Barb had just picked at the top left corner, and beelined to the top right corner.

"Boom, boom! Two fishies!"

"There we have it!" said Sandra. "I'll take those, and Josie and Barbara, you may now 'de-shoe.'"

The teams were on literally even footing again: all in one shoe and one sock. It was Josie's turn. With less to remember, she too tried to review where everything was. She and Barb privately agreed on a new card to try, and up she went. Row five, column one. Jojo turned it over, hoping for a familiar creature. Unluckily for her, this hope was in vain.

"Aaaaaaa... fox."

Looking for lightning to strike twice, this time she went to the card directly above. To her dismay, it was the other pig.

"Oh god, you're kidding me!" she half-laughed and mock-wept, showing everyone.

The Hartwells had lucked out again with the help of the Greers. Sher now got to collect both pigs, taking away the Greers' remaining shoes. This opened round three, and forth padded Barbara in both black socks, with bright fluorescent stripes of pink, green, blue and yellow. After a spell of deliberating, she chose card thirteen—row three, column one.

"Oh cute, a monkey."

She took a jaunt down the table to card thirty-two—row six, column two—and fished it from its sleeve.

Gasp. "Omigod, the other monkey!!"

More applause. This re-evened the score, taking the last of eight shoes off eight feet. Kenzie's third turn consisted of a whale and the other owl yet to be found. A ping of excitement struck Josie's mind. She knew they'd seen the first owl already, and also believed she remembered where. Barb had no input for her, so she went straight to the cards. She picked the one Kenzie'd just picked at row three, column six, then went to row six, column four.

"Got 'em!" she celebrated. "I got the owls! How's that for a hoot??"

Her cute joke drew a cute collective laugh. The Hartwells had to take off another article, so off came one each of their socks.

"Oooh, this carpet is soft!" observed Kenzie.

"I know!" Sher agreed, smoothing the floor with her bare sole. "It almost tickles!"

It was Sheryl's turn. She whispered to Kenzie, asking which one Kenz thought she should pick. Kenzie said the second from bottom at far right looked good. It was getting difficult to discern which had been seen already and which hadn't, but this sounded like a plan. Sher plucked it and looked. The good news was that it clearly hadn't been drawn yet. The not so good news was that it was the first of this animal they'd seen.

"'Kay... 's a lion."

With no clue where the other lion was, she could only guess and hope she got lucky—or found another animal they'd not seen. She went to row three, column four. To her disappointment, it wasn't the companion lion. To her relief, it was another new animal.

"Oh, a zebra. 'Parently my turn took place in Africa this time."

They were back to Barbara, who was beginning to think her wife's memory was superior to her own. She decided card twelve was calling to her now, at row two, column six.

"Oh, a fox!" She was pretty sure this was not the fox they'd located earlier. But... oh gosh, here we go again; where was it??

She went to row five, column four, but her memory failed to serve. This card was a duck.

"Rats!"

"Ah, but no, Mrs. Greer, that would be a mallard duck," Sandy corrected, playfully teasing her. "There are no rats on those cards."

Babsy humbly smiled at the quip, en route back to Jojo. Kenzie believed she recalled where Josie'd found fox number one, so she routed her sights to row five, column one.

"Yes! Got it!" She promptly retrieved row two, column six, and the foxes were accounted for. Barb, feeling a bit abashed, lifted a leg and pulled her first sock off. But Josie surprised the lot of them by skipping the socks altogether and going right to the top—literally, whipping her shirt over her head, letting moxie get the better of her. The audience cheered with approval at her bra-hugged rack. The flattered Jojo tossed her shirt with a flourish, turned to Barbara, and passionately kissed her. For no reason, other than to convey that even if they lost, this was still good fun. Josie shook her rack at her, bapping and batting Babs' boobs with her own. Just as earlier when Sheryl'd charmed Kenzie by hugging her svelte belly, Babs couldn't help but smile.

It was Josie's turn. She went to card seven, at row two, column one, and found a new animal: a gopher. More careful consideration persuaded her to the only corner that hadn't been examined, bottom right. Another new animal.

"...And a squirrel. A'right..."

Back they went. The fun and spark of the game were mined in its challenge, as more unveiled animals also meant more spots to keep track of. Sheryl reapproached, this time making her first pick her own decision. She went low, choosing the card at row six, column three. A whale. She knew her wife had found the other whale earlier. But where? She was pretty sure it was in the second column...somewhere around the middle, probably. She settled on the one third from the top.

"Oh, damn! Wolf!"

"Do we get partial credit for the same first letter?" Kenzie chortled to Sandra.

"I'm afraid not," Sandy smiled at her. "Okay, girl who cried 'wolf': back in the sleeves."

Control of the game returned to Barbara Ann Greer. She now felt she could redeem herself, as she really thought she recalled where the other wolf was. She discreetly drew the card—almost as if she thought drawing it carelessly would change it—and looked.

Bingo. Another excited gasp.

"The other wolf! Got it!" She whipped out the card Sheryl'd just put back, and made the next match. Kenzie removed her second sock with her bare foot's toes, and both her peds enjoyed the cloud-soft carpet. Sher, on the other hand, provided the next surprise. Emulating Josie's pluck but with her own move, she kept her other sock on, unfastened her jeans and whipped them down. The crowd whooped it up once more as she unzipped. Panties on display, the leggy Sheryl kicked her jeans to the growing heap.

A considerable body of cards still occupied the middle of the table. But as the matched cards—and discarded clothes—accumulated, the game lessened in difficulty and progressed more quickly. Kenzie successfully drew both whales, and Josie surprised everybody again (herself included) by removing her bra—pants and socks still on—setting her girls free to bounce out and delight everyone (herself included). She let Barbara take off her other sock, paused for effect, threw the audience a smirk over the shoulder, slowly reached to undo the hooks... and let the crowd go wild.

The bra hit the floor. A topless Jojo fished a bluebird, and the same first zebra Sheryl'd previously drawn. Sher drew a bear, and the other rabbit yet to be found. The girls figured they must've seen most if not all the animals in the pack. The next matches inevitably came in waves. As everyone except Josie was barefoot as it felt so nice to let their piggies out, accessories came off next. In due turns, the wives found the zebras, the ducks, the squirrels, the gophers, the frogs, the sheep, the lions, and the rabbits. Only the bears and bluebirds remained. The now much more exhilarated—not to mention aroused—audience leaned forth to drink in the game's final moments. The floor was now invisible, buried under a mound of apparel and jewelry.

Though they'd started with less, the Hartwells had made most of the matches. Sheryl'd like to think her video game-oriented mind sharpened her memory to come in handy for times like this. Each competing wife had genitals on display. The challenge of exposing the girl-goodies ranged amongst them. The fun-loving Josie who enjoyed flaunting her body found it easy. It was a trifle tougher and more embarrassing for Sheryl and Barbara. And perhaps most modest, blushing Kenzie had to work hardest to muster the courage. Especially as the audience tauntingly chanted at them, "Take it off! Take it off! Take it off! Take it off!..."