Soup Style Bk. 07 - Hide or Not?

Chapter 1: Aida and Elsebet Saving the World

Having helped develop (for someone else to market) sets of anal sex training toys, Elsebet thereafter had people calling on her for their related (and not so related) ideas. The original set had been to enable easily interchanging sizes that could be useful in training or prepping for anal insertions.

The calls on Elsebet were fun to hear, and, for her, fun to explore. The topics were startlingly sexual.

Need longer duration for lubricants that can respond to temperature changes or friction experiences? What temperature range? Was one surface living tissue? What safety concerns?

Want interactively shape-shifting toys that, while inserted, instead of merely vibrating to the prompts, the shape of the toy transforms as if dancing within its placed position? Displacing volumetrically?

Some involved needing more basic chemistry than Elsebet had on her own. Her neighbor, Perizat, until now operating her own catering biz, had dropped out from graduate studies in chemical engineering. Whatever had caused her to drop out, though, she was not lacking in knowing how to help solve any chemistry or materials sciences concerns that had Elsebet at a standstill on her own.

These were no ordinary challenges.

The design challenges?

The novel materials?

The specifications for use conditions?

Increasingly, though, it was not just chemistry that was a basis for their bonding together. Perizat was anxiously wondering how to exit from catering. She knew that she immediately needed some other source of livelihood. But, what?

Serendipity? The threads had woven together nicely, as Ashley's grandfather had introduced Elsebet to Aida, and, Aida had a complimentary set of knowledge to Perizat's skill sets. Together, they were increasingly pulling together as a team. Although Aida had natural talents plus an ability to retain and apply all that she learned, she had only a small fraction of the experience already in Perizat's toolkit. Teaming together was astonishingly productive.

You may remember that Perizat was unusually tall and slender. Except that she had big boobs. Big. Boobs. Big out of all proportion to the rest of her. Her breasts were destined to be monuments of desire. Both her ass checks together would have fit into the palm of someone's hand, and that easily (and more often than she wanted) left her being double penetrated.

Never in her life had Perizat ever initiated the opening to sex. But when Aida casually showed off her own breasts, that took the breathes away from Elsebet and Perizat.

EmmaLee had been brought, almost against her will, to meet with Elsebet by Carla. Both EmmaLee and Carla had grown up within a few houses of where Elsebet was now living. EmmaLee's parents were from the wave of Vietnamese immigrants. She was tall, slender, bright, friendly, fashion-conscious, a proven marketing genius, a proven operations manager, and a graduate from the same schools, youth groups and network of this neighborhood as was Ashley, but, from the time before Elsebet had moved in, from the time before Elsebet had won the adoration from successive generations of Carlas and EmmaLees who were participating in her mini-camps. Mini-camps resulting from hints by Elsebet's landlord's agent.

Carla's family line, originally from the Philippines, had arrived to the neighborhood in generations both before and after EmmaLee's family had arrived. Carla was a Pinay. Also tall, slender, brighter than anyone else who ever lived, friendly, fashion-conscious, and talented at so many things she was a polymath. But what was more fun for her than being smart was fooling around. She had been flashing herself at every opportunity, and, doing so with nipple clamps had won her fame and fortune. Doing so with anal inserts had won her a smaller number of higher paying fans that she wanted to focus on for her efforts. This paid her far better than computer coding. She had the degree in software from the best academic school in the state, and, had been accepted into and completed fashion merchandising management training at the most successful retailer in the world. But no matter how many hours a day she put into her work, no matter how many bosses or vendors or suppliers or customers sang her praises, it wasn't until an ex-girlfriend had posted social media that included Carla flashing that life became exhilarating for Carla.

Exploring the world of social influencers, Carla came upon Alexandra. Getting together with Alexandra was a deja vu experience for both of them. By this time, Alexandra and Aida were spending a lot of time at Ashley's house. On the day that Carla with EmmaLee in tow showed up at Elsebet's house, both Alexandra and Aida coincidentally happened to be talking art with Elsebet to design and fabricate a trinket that could replace a link in Alexandra's necklace that would represent her relationship with Ashley's grandfather.

Carla was prescient in sensing something that was going to be born out of this collaboration among the women. There were marvelous synergies likely to emerge from just a few tweaks to this social formula.

As the absentee landlords of the houses being rented to Elsebet and Perizat, both Carla and EmmaLee had over the years already influenced what was here. They had callouses from their mastery in archery. They had hacked law enforcement drones. They had information, skills and wherewithal that far exceeded, well, anybody else's everything.

The work paid for by Carla and EmmaLee had directly led to the new business that now would open the world for these neighboring women. Who were, coincidentally or not, unknown to them, tenants of landlords whose identities were well hidden within trusts and business entities.

The Portuguese models were her newest customers. Customers with big bankrolls. The women from the old neighborhood had capabilities to mentor and groom for business and people to blossom further from here. They were glad to see what they now saw first-hand, and gladly, quietly, left for the seeds they had planted to grow.

Testing their component ideas, these particular experiments required putting on fabrics impregnated with concoctions. Between applications at test, Aida was wearing an entirely sheer fabric that was a little darker than her earrings (hence, also a little darker than her nipples, but her nipples were easily seen moving beneath the sheer fabric). Her nipples and areolae were crinkling and aroused. No milk was dripping, but, every visible expanse of skin was proudly displaying the changes from her pregnancy. Could she be pregnant? Again? Already?

Elsebet murmured a question to Aida, "ready to try this next one?" Aida nodded. Both looked over to where Alexandra was nursing both infants. One at each breast. Life is good, Aida thought to herself. Life. Is. Good. Elsebet opened the next package of the line that was potentially going to be marketed as "Shivers." The name? Honor to the inventor of spandex. The wearing apparel that Elsebet knew from Sweden as elastan. Her Portuguese investors knew it as Lycra. The investors were fashion models who had survived all the games, all the drugs, all the parties, all the attention (whether wanted or unwanted), the failed marriages, the successful ones, and ultimately, caring for themselves, turning to skin care that included ever more custom versions of what they would then commercialize for others who clamored to be following where they led.

These "potions, lotions and mixes" were created by Aida from the herbals and anciently known remedies where she worked part time. Promised that if called in to work she would be paid not less than four hours no matter how quickly she finished, she would often finish and then immerse herself in learning the fine points of what could be done with the inventory.

Joining with Elsebet in tentative, early steps, it was soon advancing far more than anyone had expected. Now their newest challenge for Elsebet and Aida to solve was clothing that could be loaded with lotion, not leaking anywhere it wasn't wanted, but providing nourishment and skin care while worn, then washable and reloadable with the formula that the Portuguese looked at for generating repeating revenue streams.

Elsebet was having too much fun prototyping iterations for the inventive geniuses who were finding and funding her. Too. Much. Fun.

Aida focused on qualities of skin care from their mix design, while Perizat added an element of flavor and aroma to their choices. Perizat began to be as comfortable with Aida as she was already with Sara. As each facet of the design challenges emerged, Perizat became more comfortable guiding Aida through the intricate mazes where solutions or deadends were to be reached.

Elsebet was increasingly fond of having Aida as a technician who quickly matured to being a collaborator on technical topics. Aida brought more to the equation than anyone might have reasonably expected. Aida advanced projects as the astute person designated to be their first-in-human research subject. When together, they shared a certain intensity that was outside of their grasp when either of them was with others. They were open minded to alternatives to mainstream medications, and, again, together, explored solutions to any ache or blemish they wanted vanquished.

Aida invited, no, more than invited, seduced, no not seduced, but somewhere between invite and seduction, a form of learning together to be teaming that worked well for each of them, brought Elsebet into the bed shared with Aida and Alexandra in almost an intimate polygamous relationship with Ashley's grandfather, but, who by that point in time had become sufficiently frail that the women bonded far more with one another than with their amore. This bonding among them had led to Elsebet recruiting Aida for part time employment outside of her position at a compounding pharmacy and its sister businesses with herbs and ingredients for concoctions from ancient medical traditions.

Aida became involved at multiple levels in Elsebet's work. Confronting the risks of whom should be the first person to try some of what they felt ready to try, Aida, contrary to everything in her past character, insisted on being their first research subject, pointing out the historical imperative that the French chemist, Bertrand, had first demonstrated a remedy for poison almost two hundred years earlier when he self-administered a dose of poison together with his proposed remedy in front of an astonished audience.

Their second subject for a first-in-human trial was Diya, a 23 year old from India. Diya was as tall and slender as Perizat. Diya sported more heavily carpeted armpits than Aida. Aida, famously analytical, had warmed to being in a situation where she was challenged technically and socially to do better than she had ever done before.

Not yet lined up for comparison directly, there was a remarkable similarity in physical appearances, being tall, lanky, athletic, among Diya, Perizat, EmmaLee and Carla.

Aida was lightest in skin tone of the four. None of the others were as dark skinned as Diya, so on those days when Elsebet's experiments had any of the four together, they enjoyed comparing what was similar in contrast to what was so obviously different between them. The common carpeting beneath their underarms for Diya and Aida led to a joking suggestion from Elsebet that they needed to add to their queue developing a lotion and a device so that hair could be functioning as if an antennae to receive and directly stimulate from signals....

Elsebet, having witnessed first hand Ashley's grandfather's keen attention given to Aida's body hair, teased that Diya would be competing for affections with Ashley's grandfather if they ever let him see her naked. Aida was unwilling to let anyone know, but, when she saw Diya her imagination would take her so far as to be aroused at thoughts of seeing more of her. Although Aida had been engaging in bi-sexual lesbian fun with Alexandra for more than a year by this point, Aida was transforming into someone influential, as a sort of managing partner for sex with Ashley's grandfather, and he was respecting unspoken boundaries of his only having sex with the consenting members of Aida's crew. However, by this point in time, he was transitioning from being a sexual partner to being an affectionate family member, and, dangerously close to experiencing the mortality that he had denied for so many decades.

When Diya and her boyfriend broke up in a bitter and physically abusive conclusion to their having been together, Diya tearfully told Elsebet she would have to quit, have to return to India. Elsebet was willing to let that happen. To everyone's surprise, not the least to Aida, herself, there was someone unwilling to just let Diya leave. Aida wanted Diya to stay. Aida, uncharacteristically for her, suddenly became entrepreneurial because she felt she had to make more from this opportunity.

"There would be money. The Portuguese who hired me wanted me to get some testimonials about using different features in the set" explained Elisebet. Hesitantly, she added "but also they wanted to have some experiments designed and then run for data collections to use in the development of their next generation products. Frankly, they are running paranoid that if they don't compete with themselves then someone else will compete to take the profitability from what they invented as a new niche in the market."

Aida and Diya were animated in their excitement to be part of a business launched from adversity that was combining with the opportunities that Elsebet had left fallow. "Imagine," said Aida thoughtfully, "combining Perizat into this idea?"

"Perizat" responded Diya, questioning with her eyes more so than with her voice, with total loss as to any connection, any direction to be asking?

"The next door neighbor who needs a career change in a hurry," explained Elsebet. Only four people had been told so far, until Diya and Aida were at this moment brought into the secret, that "Perizat has been under pressure to have her catering business, employing teenage girls as temporary workers, become a front for providing drugs and sex trafficking." The four? The bad guy who was going to make her do it, the victim herself, her neighbor Elsebet, and Elsebet's housemate, a policewoman in whom Perizat had felt compelled to share this secret.

"What else are we missing?" Asked Aida, earnestly. Aida wanted to get into the business that would keep this team (of herself, Elsebet and Diya) able to earn money.

"Actually," mused Elsebet, " Perizat with her chemistry related background is a fantastic addition! No, not an addition. Not. An. Addition. Perizat could be a secret second site; a red team competing with us as a blue team. If we did try to take on more, to make this a business with customer relations and all that entails, certainly an early add of someone with the skills of Alexandra...."

"Ohhhh," squealed a now delighted Aida.

"A statistician would help, too. Any nominations? Someone with a unique set of skills for where a lot of these ideas have overlapping problems, someone who can do prototyping but also quality assurance before delivery to the customer, and be hands on for presentations to clients, too. That is not going to be found in one person." Pondered Elsebet, without having an answer.

"I know just who can provide that, Lulina, slaving away as a seamstress without the opportunity to use her textile engineering experiences!" Answered Diya, now fully into the brainstorming challenge. Turning to be face-to-face closer to Elsebet, Diya asked "What else, with what other skills or tools or whatever?"

"Wait," begged Elsebet. "Tell me more about Lulina. Hold nothing back." Hold. Nothing. Back.

"Lulina. Where to begin? She has lost everything but came from a family that was wealthy. They grew fibers on their many properties, they had their own textile mills. Her family sent her to study wherever in the world their business needed her to have know-how or contacts. She returned only to lose everyone, everything, only to have her own life and that to live only in misery here."

"Why," asked an incredulous harmony of voices from both Elsebet and Aida.

"Why?" Answered Diya with a question repeated back to those who had asked. "War took everyone in her family but her, war took everything that might have been. She had been back long enough to become the key contact for a contract to deliver samples of proposed materials for the next generation of combat uniforms. It did not take long for the men with whom such business would depend to exploit her most horribly. Although she was on the winning side in the war that was based on ethnic differences, religious differences and wealth inequalities, most were pretexts for brutal takings. Being of the right ethnicity? No, that did not save her family, nor her. In part, they were all the more targeted with horrible abuses by her own people."

"She was not killed. Saved? No. Alive maybe because she was not directly associated with her family wealth? She was just another girl to be raped and taken to the comfort houses for the soldiers. The idea was that these were where women of all ages but especially younger girls would be used to arouse and only partly to satisfy the lust of the troops, so that the troops would remain lusting, be in a frenzy, to impregnate by rape any of the fertile girls from the other side in the war."

"After that initial horror," sighed Diya in telling an exhaustive recounting of the transformation from peacetime provisioning of uniforms to wartime provisioning of sexual comforts, "it became worse. What she called the ;anal presentations.' She would be one of the women put on display, their naked asses offered to the audiences. They would be coerced under threatened worse punishments, into performances exaggeratingly fingering their own asses while the purposefully attending troops were masturbating, hollering in delight at the shows. Later they would be locked into position, on all fours, on platforms so that their asses were available for sex by passersby. Each of the women were lined up, ordered from smallest to largest by size of their breasts. Lulina has breasts flatter than almost any woman's breasts you are likely to ever see. Her nipples are protruding as far as two digits of a finger. Her extraordinary nipples but small breasts made her the first to be sampled, to have her nipples handled, to be pinched, prodded, slapped and often insulted before taken by the next candidate. As you know, so many men are interested only in large breasts. For that reason, the men would often bring as captives curvaceous women. Also, many of the women who had previously nursed children would be brought as captives to be providing these so-called comfort services for the troops at their stations. Large breasts were prized. All the women were mistreated terribly, but, the larger the breasts, the more prized the women. Lulina's elongated nipples protruding from a flatter chest were especially mistreated as if a freakish new toy. Slapped. Pinched. Pulled. Even having heavy, dangerous or living objects tied to hang from them. All while others took turns penetrating her ass. The commander had ordered that none of the women of their ethnicity were to have pussy or mouth penetration. All of them were sinking lower into depression, each dreaded what he had in mind for later."

Elsebet was worrying out loud. "Don't you think such horrible experiences would be a reason for her NOT to join us? Won't we be constantly reminding her of the worst from her past?"

Bk. 07 - Hide or Not?

Chapter 2: Katie with Ashley [Mostly flashback]

Growing up with neighbors that welcomed her so warmly and casually that she was as much at home in their homes as her own, there were times when Ashley was in their homes without her grandfather along. As a general rule, however, when she was helping Perizat at catering, Ashley's grandfather was another set of hands available as -- and often -- needed. When Ashley was attending a mini-camp with other neighborhood kids at Elsebet's maker faire workshops, having her grandfather along was more as a set of eyes for the safety of the kids than for any help he might have provided.