Super Friends With Benefits

"Heads up, Supes," I nudged my friend. "Yellow alert. Ten o'clock."

His head shot around, suddenly ignoring the flash of cameras around us. "Wonder Woman?"

"Yeah," my smile disappeared. I turned apologetically to the man who was lined up for a picture. "Excuse me."

The main floor of the Marriott was crowded, as it always is at Dragon Con. People milled around to see and be seen. My cosplay companion and I were killing time before a panel featuring the hobbits from The Lord of the Rings later that afternoon.

Within the throng of people, a young woman looked around helplessly. Her costume was good; she filled out the armor nicely. Next to her, a similarly young--but obviously socially awkward--man kept trying to touch her, despite her stepping away every time he moved forward.

Superman and I immediately made our way over to them.

When I was three steps away, her eyes met with mine. I smiled as comfortingly as I could, and a look of relief flooded her face.

"Tessa? You look great! I can't believe it's been so long!" I called out. Reaching for her, she instinctively returned a tentative--and relieved--hug.

"Don't worry about the creep," I whispered in her ear. "Play along."

She immediately relaxed in my arms.

"Do you remember Raul?" I pointed at Superman and spoke loud enough to be clearly heard by the guy stalking our Wonder Woman. "We were just talking about you this morning!"

"Yes, it's so good to see you again," the girl said, quickly recovering. Alex stepped in between our new friend and the stalker. He didn't move to touch her until she reached out for a friendly hug. She went along with the ruse Alex and I set up; this wasn't the first time we had rescued a young cosplayer from someone who had no concept of boundaries.

Alex said something quietly to Wonder Woman; I glared at the other guy until he skulked away, not wanting to take on my active bitch face and someone dressed as Superman who was a head taller and built like a fourth degree black belt (because he is).

"Thank you," she sighed once the guy had moved on. "I usually can handle people like that, but he was more persistent than the rest."

"You're very welcome," Superman replied, looking around to make sure the guy was gone.

"Are you here by yourself?" I asked, giving her the once-over. She was dressed as the Gal Gadot Wonder Woman from the movies. She had long jet-black hair and gorgeous light brown skin. Her armoured corset accentuated her slender waist, wide hips, meaty thighs, a firm rear end and tits!

A tingle started between my legs and my mouth began to water.

"I came with my brother," she said, looking away, kind of embarrassed. If I had to guess, I'd say she was maybe twenty. "Some of my friends bailed, so I got him to come with me because the room was already paid for. He's parked himself at a Warhammer table and I haven't seen much of him all weekend."

"Well, you can certainly hang out with us," Superman smiled gently. "I'm Alex, by the way."

"And I'm Mallory," I said. "Your costume is great!"

"Thanks, it's not as good as yours," she blushed. She was wrong, though; my costume was hastily thrown together at the last minute while hers looked like she had put a ton of effort and/or money into it. "I'm Stacey."

"It's nice to meet you." My reply was cut short by a young girl tugging at Stacey's arm.

"Excuse me, misses," she said with the unwavering confidence of a six year-old Amazon of Themyscira. "Can I get a picture with you, please?"

"Of course, Princess!" Stacey beamed. The little girl's mother already had her phone out. Stacey and I struck heroic-looking poses as the girl held up her arms like she was flexing. The flash went off a couple of times to take some pictures of three Wonder Women.

"Thank you!" the girl said before giving each of us a quick hug and then running off to get more pictures with other costumed characters.

"We're going to go grab something to eat and the hit the panel with the hobbits," Alex said. "Would you like to hang out with us?"

I could see the gears turning in her head, but also the relief in her eyes. "Yes, I'd like that."

One of the nice things about having a friend like Alex is that people get out of his way, even when he's not dressed up as Superman. Walking with firm, purposeful steps, he led us through the maze of corridors to the Peachtree Center food court, which is always abuzz with nerds in various states of cosplay during Dragon Con.

"What do you like?" I asked our new friend. I hooked my arm inside Stacey's as we followed behind Alex.

"I've had pizza for two days in a row, so anything else," Stacey replied with a frown. Her eyes widened as we stepped out into the large area that had all sorts of food options. "I didn't know this place was here."

"First year?"

"Yeah," she replied sheepishly.

"We spent most of our first year being lost or turned around," I said comfortingly. "And we tried to do too much. Do you like Chinese and sushi?"

"Um, yes," she replied.

"Hey, Alex, let's go to Yami Yami!"

We got in a line which wound around a bit, but moved quickly. We made some small talk about our costumes. Her soft parts were hand-sewn out of pleather and her armour was made from Worbla. I prefer cotton duckcloth for my soft parts and Sintra for my armoured costumes.

When we got to the cafeteria-style counter, Alex handed each of us a Styrofoam take-out box. "If all you get is sushi, you pay by the piece. If you get Chinese or a combination of Chinese and sushi, you pay by the pound."

"Get whatever you want," I said, sensing that cost might be an issue for Stacey. "Our treat."

"I can't--"

"Yes, you can," Alex has a firm voice. I've never heard him raise it in anger, but he lets you know who is boss. And that was that.

After making our way down the counter to select some assembly-line sushi and Chinese food, picking up some drinks and paying for our food, we found a table which was just being vacated.

"Do you always come to Dragon Con?" Stacey asked.

"My first year was... eight years ago," Alex looked at me for confirmation.

I nodded. "Ten years for me."

"Do you do other costumes?" she asked.

"This year, we brought our Jedi, Superman and Wonder Woman, and tomorrow we're doing Reaper and Mei for the Overwatch Photoshoot," I replied. "What about you?"

"I just brought Wonder Woman this year," Stacey dug into her container of sushi and eggrolls. "I didn't want to over-pack. I saw there's a dark elf group and joined their Facebook group, so maybe I'll put that together for next year. And I saw some people doing Lore Olympus, so I might try to make Persephone, too."

My elbow dug into Alex's ribs. "We want to do Hades and Minthe!"

"Oh, my god! We so have to do that next year!"

The three of us laughed like old friends. We traded our social media identities and spent the rest of our meal joking around.

"Thank you for saving me from that creep," Stacey said as we gathered up our trash to leave. We were done eating and table spots are always at a premium in the crowded food court. Some people were already moving in to vulture our table. "And thank you for lunch."

"You're welcome, of course," Alex smiled. "We're going to head over to the Hilton for the hobbits. You can come with if you want."

"I think I might head over to the vendors," she suddenly got shy. Maybe it was because Alex was giving her that look like he wanted to eat her up. Or out.

"Good luck with that," I snorted. "The line for the vendor hall will be around two blocks on Saturday afternoon. We usually go over right when it opens on Friday or wait until Sunday afternoon. Otherwise, even if you get in, it's wall to wall people."

"Maybe I'll try the Artist's Alley," she sighed.

"That's probably a better idea," I patted her on the arm. I reached for my phone. "What's your number?"

As she rattled of her digits, I sent her my name in a text message.

"Give us a ring if you want to get dinner or hang out this weekend," I winked.

She leaned in to give me a hug. "I don't want to get in between you two."

"Maybe I want you in-between us," I giggled in her ear as she blushed. "Besides, we're not together... well, we're not a couple, are we, Superman?"

Alex gave our new friend a wry smile. "Just friends."

"With benefits," I added with a snicker.

Stacey blushed some more as deep as she could. With that, we headed off to our panel and she went her way.

****************

The hot water washing over me was contrasted by the cool tile pressing against my chest.

Alex's hands grasped my hips firmly. I stuck my backside out to meet his thrusts.

He pounded into me from behind, grunting with every stroke.

"Harder," I gasped. "Fuck... me... harder!"

The sounds of our bodies slapping together echoed off the glass of the stand-up shower.

I braced myself against the wall with one hand, while vigorously frigging myself with the other.

We may not be a couple, but we like to fuck. And we're goddamn good at it.

With our Saturday afternoon as Superman and Wonder Woman over, we returned to our room for a quick shower before dinner and the evening festivities.

My body tingled from head to toe as Alex drove himself into me. He was taller and stronger than I, and his magic penis was even better than I remembered.

It might have had something to do with a certain curvy dark-skinned demi-goddess fueling both of our fantasies.

"Fuck!" he shouted as he pulled hard on my shoulders while pressing his cock forward, mashing me up against the tile shower wall.

I may have squirted a little when the cum hit me. I felt my lover's spunk filling me up just as my pussy contracted around him.

My legs began to shake. His lips pressed against my shoulder. I could feel him pulsing inside me.

We stay connected under the shower while our orgasms subsided. The water washed away the sweat from our exertions.

When our heart rates came down, Alex stepped back, his semi-hard cock flopping out of me. We washed each other under the water.

My hands lingered on his toned and muscular body. He groped me playfully. We could have gone another round if we'd really wanted.

We kissed tenderly. They were the kisses of good friends; more than lust, just short of true love.

I turned off the water. He handed me a towel.

We had seen a lot of each other naked since randomly meeting in the badge pick up line eight years before (when they still had the blue registration cards). Our connection was nearly instantaneous.

As a couple, we just never worked out.

But that never stopped us from meeting up a couple of times a year at conventions, other events, or when one of us needs a date for wedding. Our hook-ups were often put on hold if one of us was seeing someone exclusively; on occasion, we had a threesome or foursome.

But as much as we both might want to pursue a more meaningful relationship, neither of us were willing to leave the places where we were established.

It had worked for us over the past eight years.

I saw on my phone that I had missed some calls and texts while we were having shower sex.

"Stacey wants to know what we're doing for dinner." I scrolled through the messages.

It was almost six.

"Where do you want to go?" Alex asked, rummaging through the hotel room's small armoire for the evening's costumes.

"You're paying, so you tell me."

"How about Ray's?" he set our matching Jedi robes on one of the double beds. "They might have a little bit of a wait, though."

"Everyone will have a little bit of a wait right now," I snorted.

I tapped out a quick message to Stacey, asking if she wanted to meet us over on Peachtree Street.

Alex was about to start dressing when I sauntered over to him. I dropped my towel on the floor and pressed my naked body against him.

"Feeling sexy tonight?" I purred. His cock seemed to jump against my leg.

"Maybe," he replied coyly. Alex is half a head taller than me, and I'm not short. He outweighs me by about a hundred pounds and it's all muscle. He is usually the dominant force in our sex life.

But sometimes...

I spun him around and pushed him down on the bed. He submissively bent over, sticking his cute bubble butt out for me.

My foot nudged his legs apart. As he steadied himself, I grasped his rapidly-hardening cock from behind and began stroking him.

"Sexy Lexy," I nibbled on his earlobe and ran my fingernails up and down his back. He shuddered.

"Do it," he grunted between clenched teeth.

"Do what?" I asked. A couple of years ago, after a drunken mix-up and some crossed signals, we had a conversation about consent and came to agreement about the conditions and parameters about our relationship.

"Fuck me. In. The. Ass." He spoke deliberately to let me know he would do whatever I wanted up to our previously established boundaries.

I smacked him once on the backside for good measure, then went over to my suitcase. I lubed up the buttplug and his rear hole.

"Deep breath," I pushed it tentatively at first. He clenched initially, but eventually relaxed.

When it was nestled inside him, I gave his cock a couple of pulls just for good measure.

"Do you want to fuck her?"

"Yes," he said instantly. I smiled to myself.

"I have something else for you," I whispered to him.

Alex's eyes widened when he saw the red thigh-highs and garter belt, but he quickly broke into a mischievous smile.

"Be a good little bitch for me tonight, and I'll let you fuck her and me," I grinned wickedly. Patting him once more on the butt, I went to get dressed. I put on a thong and push-up bra, but forbade him from putting on any other underwear.

Then it was in to costume for both of us. We dressed each other in the familiar choreography of partners who have spent a lot of time cosplaying together.

Socks. Undershirt. Pants. Boots. Inner tunic. Outer tunic. Tabbards. Obi. Belt.

On the inside of my costume is a hidden pocket for my ID, credit card and a little bit of cash. We have pouches on our belts for phones and stuff like that. We each hang a lightsaber hilt on our belt and carry another one with a polycarbonate blade for pictures.

My phone buzzed. "She's in for dinner."

"Is she for you or for us?" Alex asked casually. Over the years, we have picked up a third or another couple on occasion, and hooked up with other people while at Dragon Con, although for the most part, the annual convention in Atlanta is a time just for us.

Our relationship has boundaries which are flexible, with three sacrosanct rules: 1) no jealousy, 2) no lying, and 3) safe, consensual sex only.

"That's up to her," I said with a wink. Alex smiled knowingly before surprising me with a quick kiss before putting his head in his phone to check his messages.

I went back into the bathroom to fix up my hair into a swarzy braid. I swatted Alex's hands away when he came by and tried to sneak a handful of my backside or boobs.

A few minutes later, we walked the short distance from our hotel to Peachtree Street. Stacey was standing out of the way on the sidewalk, typing something out on her phone. She had an art tube slung over her shoulder.

"Hey, Wonder Woman!" I called out as we approached. Her face lit up, and my heart skipped a beat. "Get anything good?"

"A couple of posters," she replied. "There's a poké place up past the Westin if you want to get something fast."

"How about Ray's?" Alex asked. "It's right here."

Stacey's brow creased, I'm sure at the thought of the prices.

"We're buying," I said.

"I can't... I mean that's very nice of you, but--"

"But nothing," Alex said in a way that wasn't dismissive or patronizing. "We both work full time and have good jobs. We can afford it. You owe us nothing in return, and this gives us a chance to pay some favours forward that we got when we were younger."

She still didn't look comfortable with taking charity from strangers. I slipped my arm into hers once again, as if we fit together perfectly. "I'll tell you what, you let us buy dinner, and we'll split drinks later."

"Okay," she said tentatively.

Alex went into Ray's to try and get us a table as Stacey and I stood outside to people watch. I dared to inch closer to her, to see if she was receptive to my signals.

She didn't pull away from me.

"So you and Alex..." Stacey started tentatively. "You're really not..."

"No," I snorted softly. "He lives in Orlando. I'm in Ohio for at least another year, and then I could get sent to Germany or Japan or anywhere else for two years before my service obligation is up. Our lives are never going in the same direction."

"Do you wish it was?" she asked quietly.

"Sometimes," I replied wistfully. "Maybe in a couple of years after I get the Air Force to pay off my student loans, but he's got a successful business and doesn't want to uproot himself just for me. What about you? What's your story?"

"I work at my dad's car dealership and I'm in school."

"What are you studying?" I asked.

Alex interrupted her answer. "Hey, they've got a table for us."

"That was fast," I gave him a quizzical look.

He only winked at me. I followed him and the hostess through the restaurant to a table in the back. She didn't stand a chance against his charms.

It was right next to the kitchen, but it beat waiting an hour for a table. I sat down next to Stacey with Alex across from us.

The server came by to get our drink orders, and Alex ordered some appetizers for the three of us to split. "Get whatever you want."

"Are you sure?" Stacy seemed a little nervous.

"Yes," he said kindly. "Don't look at the prices. This is our treat. We both remember what it was like to be young and live paycheck to paycheck. And we also know how expensive Dragon Con has become in the past few years."

"Yeah, I remember when you could stay at the Marriott for two hundred dollars a night," I rolled my eyes. "Now it's only two hundred if you split the room four ways."

"Are you staying at the Marriott?" she asked.

"Well, not the Marriott; we're at the AC Marriott around the corner, which costs much less," I replied. "I booked it last year as soon as the rooms came open. What about you?"

"We're at the Hyatt over by the Aquarium," she grimaced. "It's kind of a hike."

"I hope you're not walking there by yourself," Alex looked concerned.

"No, I've been using Lyft," Stacey sighed. Even that short distance by rideshare was probably close to ten bucks each way (including tip), and using the scooters that littered the sidewalks was probably not the safest idea for people not used to the Atlanta traffic patterns.

The server came and took our order. We made more small talk. I reached out to touch her arm and put my hand on her leg a couple of times just to see how she would react. She never pulled away and I even caught her sneaking a couple of sideways glances at me when she didn't think I was looking.

My partner in crime smiled mischievously at me and winked.

Stacey started the evening shy and quiet, but loosened up as the meal went on. A couple of drinks in each of us probably helped. We continued our talk from lunch and got to know her better.

She was a month past her twenty-first birthday and going into her last year of a health care administration degree at Tennessee State.

When the bill came, she tried to give Alex some money.

"Not a chance," he chided her. "We told you; this is our treat tonight. You can buy the first round of drinks over at the Marriott."

"Does he always do this?" she asked, exasperated.

"Check-grab? Yes. But not around me," I snickered. "He knows I'll stab him. Alex and I have a deal: each year for the past... what? Five years? One of us pays for the hotel and the other pays for food and drinks, and this is his year to be the meal ticket. It evens out in the wash."