Knights and Dreamers

 

Chapter 6

To say I’m not looking forward to using Terry is an understatement. The blasted machine always had been an unpleasant thing to experience. Sure, it measured things that we’d had measured multiple times before, but somehow Terry was so much worse.

“Is there really no other way we can test this?” Juliet asks on my behalf. For all the comfort sharing a body with Juliet brings, I do miss being able to speak for myself.

The Archmage is busy setting the aforementioned device up and only turns to look at Juliet when she clears her throat. “Pardon?” he asks, his gaze already drifting back to his work.

“You just really want to use Terry again, don’t you?” my partner asks accusingly. Our boss has at least the good sense to look semi-apologetic in response. 

“Whaaat? Noooo! Not at all!” he replies, trying to cover up his own excitement. “It’s just the best tool for the job.” He stands up and dusts off his robe before gesturing into the testing chambers. “I’ve reconfigured it to take input from just one side of the device since you can’t be separated at this time,” he explains while we reluctantly move into the tube. 

He doesn’t even warn us before he pulls a switch and I feel suddenly rooted in Juliet’s body. Maybe rooted is the wrong word, but for the life of me I can’t think of one. I reach up to look at my hand and it takes an inordinate amount of time to realize I just moved Juliet’s hand. 

“What’s going on?” I can hear my partner’s voice from the back of my mind. “I can’t move. What’s happening?”

“I think Terry put me in control,” I whisper, hoping the Archmage can’t hear me. I do not want to have him try and experiment with that.

“Can we undo it?” she asks as the machine starts to wind down.

“I’m not sure but I-” I’m interrupted as the Archmage throws open the test chamber’s door. 

“Did something happen? You must tell me!” he demands, his eyes wild with excitement. “I detected an interesting shift in energy when Terry turned on. 

“Nope, nothing happened,” I lie using Juliet’s voice. It feels odd to hear her when I talk, and I’m sure our boss has noticed. Judging by the way his eyes light up, he’s noticed.

Bugger.

“Remarkable! Is that you Gordon?” he asks, pulling a scroll and quill from nowhere. “If so, could you describe what it feels like to be in control of another’s body?”

I grumble at him, and it’s all too much like a sound I’ve heard Juliet make. I mean, it’s absolutely a sound she makes, and I find myself flushing a bit. She’s cute when she grumbles, sue me.

“Two things,” I state, waving my hand to draw the Archmage’s attention away from his notes. “One, I’d rather not be called Gordon anymore. As for what, I’m still working on it. Just call me G for now.” I can feel Juliet’s approval radiate through me, and it emboldens me to press forward. “Second, we’re still trying to figure things out for ourselves. So could you maybe give us a little space?... Sir.” I want to be curt with him, but my long standing deference towards authority figures makes it hard to abandon all decorum. 

For a moment, I worry that I pushed too hard, but the Archmage just lets out a snorting laugh before slapping his thigh. “Well darn G, seems all you needed to grow a spine was to borrow Juliet’s for a test drive,” he teases, making me furrow Juliet’s brow in annoyance. “Sorry, sorry. Bad joke. But seriously, take the time you need. I know I can get a bit…”

“Overbearing? Pushy? Invasive?” I offer Juliet’s suggestions. 

“Overly excited,” he corrects gently. Juliet scoffs internally while I bite back a giggle. “Still, I want to take good care of my Dreamers, so take all the time you need, alright?” 

“Yessir,” I salute, then quickly make our way out of the lab and down to our quarters. Once our door is closed, I slump onto our bed and let out a sigh of relief. 

I lay still for several long, silent minutes, as I pointedly avoid looking at Juliet’s body. I can hear her giggling in the back of my mind as I keep my hands and legs spread out so I don’t accidently touch anything.

“G, sweetheart, you know you can -” she starts but I quickly interrupt her.

“Sorry, I just don’t feel entirely comfortable. It’s your body Juliet, I’m just an intruder.” I close my eyes and take several deep breaths. “I just need to figure out how to give you control back,” I insist.

“Or, you could take a moment to get comfortable. Who knows how long it’ll take, or even if it’ll be possible to get you a new body.” It feels like she’s laying a gentle hand on my shoulder as a feeling of acceptance washes over me. “So get comfortable. Because for the foreseeable future, this is your body too.”

“But, it’d be inappropriate if I -”

“Don’t give me that crap,” she pushes my worries aside. “Honestly, I think I always knew you were a woman on some level. Our relationship has hardly been your standard lesbian woman and straight man sort of thing.” 

She’s not wrong. Things didn’t stop at her deciding to enjoy some casual nudity in the privacy of our quarters…

****

“Come on Gordon,” Juliet pleaded. “My back is killing me and who else am I going to ask?” She grinned eagerly as she playfully shoved on my shoulder. “I’ll return the favor,” she offered. 

I let out a sigh and finally let my shoulders fall. “Fine,” I relented at last. “But only because we’re going on rotation tomorrow.” My excuse was weak and we both knew it. It wasn’t incorrect though. We’d been assigned to a senior pair of Dreamers to fight alongside their Knight.

While sparring and practice drills could help a little, the most expedient way for a Squire to grow into a Knight was combat against the monsters from the Underland. Since the young machines wouldn’t be able to defeat a monster by themself, they get their experience much like their namesakes would. 

Our assigned Dreamers were a pair of women named Lacy and Nadine, and their knight was named Zephyr. They were nearing the end of their term and we would be able to learn a lot from them. 

“Command to Gordon, come in Gordon,” Juliet teased as she waved a hand in front of my face. I blinked and turned to look at her. My face immediately felt like it was on fire. Juliet had fully removed her top and was facing me while getting my attention. “You know, it’s good that you don’t zone out like that in combat, or we’d be in big trouble,” she said with a giggle. “Now get to work,” she orders.

After handing me a jar of lotion, she turned around and gave me access to her back. Before I could hesitate, I tapped into whatever resolve I was able to call on in training and scooped out a small amount of the floral smelling cream then gently spread it across Juliet’s back. 

Her skin was so soft and I felt like I was defiling her beautiful flesh by merely touching it. She seemed to be enjoying my touch though, so I tried to hold in my own worries and started kneading into her shoulders and back. 

I checked in frequently and encouraged her to give me directions so that I could do a good job. I was determined not to let the opportunity go to waste, even if I felt like I wasn’t worthy. 

Thoughts like that were  unfortunately common for me. The closer we got, the harder it was to handle the fact that Juliet was the perfect woman for me. Or at least she would be if I could be the perfect woman for her. But at the time, the idea seemed so foreign to me. How was I supposed to know that I was just extremely bad at meditation and that if I wasn’t, I’d already be a woman. Gods, I was so dense. 

To make matters worse, I also tended to feel like I was ruining Juliet’s love life, no matter how often she told me she was fine being single. A big part of why I was even willing to give my partner a massage despite my insecurities, was I felt like I owed it to her for essentially ruining any chance for her to get a girlfriend.

When I was done, Juliet let out a relaxed moan that forced me to quickly turn away so she couldn’t see my unfortunate stiffening. I was too slow though, as she let out a knowing giggle before reaching around and taking the jar of lotion from me.

“Don’t sweat it Gordon, I know I’m hot and frankly, I tend to take it as a compliment anyways.” I was pretty sure I was going to die. There was no way it could get worse. I was wrong of course. “Now take off your shirt so I can return that favor.” Her words were not a request, nor a suggestion, they were an instruction. She did this a lot, especially for my benefit. I appreciated it in all honesty, as I often struggled to make decisions for myself and it was often easier to just let Juliet take the lead. 

I shrugged off my shirt and held it to my chest. I’d had a bit of a late puberty and had begun to grow chest hair. When Juliet ran her hands along my back, I realized I had back hair too; the thought of that sent a shiver down my spine. 

“Not a fan of the hair?” Juliet asked, her voice soft. I shook my head and immediately felt her get off the bed. 

“Where are you going?” I asked, worried that I’d upset her somehow. I should’ve known better as she just looked over her shoulder and winked at me before heading into the bathroom.

After a few moments, she returned with a small runed pot, some paper strips, and a small wooden stick. She set them down on the nightstand and pulled it closer to me.

“I’m going to help get rid of those unwanted hairs. How does that sound?” Her offer filled me with so much giddy excitement, I thought I was going to float away. “I’ll take the slightly crazed giggling as a yes.” 

I’d never been waxed before. In fact, I hadn’t known anyone but Juliet who’d done it and she always did it in the bathroom alone. She was also tough as nails and took it like a champ. So I was woefully underprepared for the feeling of hair being torn from my flesh. She didn’t stop at my chest and back and offered to do my legs, armpits and face as well. Even after crying like a baby since the first pull, I eagerly accepted.

When she was done, she used a different lotion and applied it everywhere she waxed. The cool cream soothed my sore skin while she gently massaged my shoulders. I hummed softly as she worked, trying extra hard to not let out the moans that threatened to bubble up. 

Finally she finished, and I felt lesser for the lack of her touch. I wanted to do that again, but I had to remind myself this was a one time thing, or so I thought.

We’d take turns giving each other massages after each mission we went on and before every planned excursion. Gods, we were so gay for each other. 

****

“Oh,” Juliet’s voice is quiet and somber as it rings in my mind.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, sitting up quickly. 

“I just realized something…” she trails off and I can practically feel her pouting. 

“What’s that?” 

She lets out a sigh and we shake our head. “We won’t be able to give each other massages.”

I can’t help myself and I burst out laughing. Soon she joins in too and I quickly realize that laughing together is one of the most wonderful sensations. It feels like the joyous vibrations resonate through our whole body not just two fold, but amplified exponentially. 

Our giggle fit is interrupted by a knock at the door. After a moment’s hesitation, the knock is repeated. I let out a sigh and get up to see who it is.

Opening the door reveals Lucian and Edgar standing outside with a complex mix of emotions on their faces. “Can we come in to talk?” Lucian asks. I nod and step aside to let them into the room.

“Thank you,” Edgar says with a small smile. The two of them find seats and look up at us. “Look, Juliet, we just wanted to apologize for earlier.”

“Apology accepted, though it’s Gordon right now, though uh, I’m going to go by G for now. I realized I’m a woman,” I explain to our friends.

They both look shocked, but before I can explain further, the alarm starts to sound again. That shouldn’t be happening. There’s never been a second monster so soon after another.

End Chapter 6