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TnA Tuesday: Valentine's Day Cheek-Peek
🕑 Added 2018-02-20 23:08:41 +0000 UTC A shot from Louella's Valentine's Day shoot and I like to imagine one of the promotional images for her "Lou-entine's Dinner Date' contest... and idea that spawned the story below. It took a little longer to finish than I expected...because it ended up longer than I expected.It's probably PG-13, since sexual matters and porn come up briefly. And cleavage, a bunch.
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Full-coloured nude version available to $5+ Patrons.
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Traffic had been unexpected bad that evening, despite heading out forty minutes early, Louella knew her date was already waiting. She sent another quick txt to the restaurant to let them know she was arriving.
She thanked the driver, adjusting her skirt of her little black dress as she stepped out, her auburn hair glowing under the street lights. Some cars and pedestrians slowed down as she stood on the side-walk, collecting herself. The dress was having the appropriate effect, it was tight enough to show off every considerably enhanced curve on her body. No one seemed to recognise her – just as well, she didn't want to delay too much longer. She had skipped lunch to make extra room for dinner and her stomach was threatening to make the fact known – not exactly sexy, a rumbling belly. She was really looking forward to some spring-rolls to start.
Louella adjusted her hair, tugged down her low-cut top just a little more and tilted her smartphone up, snapping a quick selfie, making sure to get the restaurant's sign in the shot: Dragon's Garden - Vegetarian & Vegan Specialty.
OMG, she typed; About to meet the lucky winner of my 'Lou-entine Dinner Date' contest. Hope they're cute! XOXO
She tapped send, and within moments she was already receiving Likes across her social media.
Of course she already know who her date was and what he looked like; but her fans loved the impression of spontaneity she had cultivated. There was no way she was going to go to dinner with anyone without a background check... and backup. She gave a quick friendly nod to her hired security, a large bear named Teague Benson who was already seated near her reserved table. He tapped his menu in acknowledgment, giving a subtle gesture towards her date.
He was a red panda, like herself, roughly her height... had she not been wearing high-heels. He was heavy-set, with lovely, thick dark hair reaching his shoulders and big brown eyes, that were wide with awe and nervousness. He was wearing tidy black jeans and a navy sweater-vest over a light blue shirt. Clutched in his tensed hands was a bouquet of orange dahlias – her favourite. She had revealed that in an interview once and several fans had not forgotten. He didn't seem to know what to do with his feet and tail, fidgeting constantly, adjusting his posture and demeanour more obviously than he likely realised.
“Booker27, it's wonderful to finally meet you in person,” Louella said as she approached him, “I'm looking forward to our wonderful evening together.”
She opened her arms to embrace him, just as he tried to hand her the flowers, his knuckles swatting the side of her left breast as he tried to adjust to return the hug, giving her an armpit full of petals. He stumbled back, apologising and blushing deeply.
“Oof.. oh! Dahlias, my favourite, how sweet of you. Sorry I seem to have crushed them a little,” said Louella, brushing a leaf off the side of her dress and taking the remaining posies from his shaking hand.
“Are you alright..?”
Booker27 gulped out another apology and nodded. Louella had met with overwhelmed fans before, but he seemed particularly flustered. “Let's try that hug again?”, she offered, giving him her warmest smile. He hugged a little too tight, but brief, stepping back quickly.
“Selfie for posterity?”
He nodded dumbly, hunching slightly as she wrapped an arm around his shoulders, snapping a few photos of the both of them. “Hmm, which one do you think is best?”
“Oh... well.. you look amazing in all of them, so, um.. this one?” He jabbed his finger awkwardly at one of the thumbnails.
Louella selected it and made sure he could see what she was typing; Here's me & Booker27, about to get busy with our mouths! (Eating!;P)
She gave his shoulder a gentle nudge with her own, leaning close, “Is this all right?”
Booker27 nodded, still blushing, eyes darting towards her cleavage and away again. He seemed uncomfortable, so Louella stepped back, and he clearly began breathing again.
She posted the selfie and tilted her head towards her table, “Ready to eat?”
“Uh-huh,”he nodded, and then followed her silently as she lead the way.
“I keep calling you by your online name – you can call me Lou by the way – I can call you by something else if you'd like?”
“D-dAaahh...Darrah, could you call me Darrah, please?” He sounded oddly desperate, staring at the ground.
“Of course.” Louella smiled, twitching her tail playfully as she slid into her chair, trying to lighten the mood and put him at ease, “Hello Darrah. I hope you find something on the menu you like. The food here is suuuper good! I hope you like springrolls 'cos I'm getting some to start and there'll be enough to share. And if you don't, more for me!”
She giggled, trying to get a better read of Darrah's mood but he was hiding his face in the Entree section of his menu, even as he agreed to try the spring-rolls and asked for a lemonade.
While the waitstaff waited patiently for her date to decide what he wanted to eat Louella sipped her complimentary lemon-water. So far he'd been quite polite, she was used to anything from awkward, handsy, overly lewd or borderline worship with some other fan encounters – Darrah almost seemed to not want to be here.
Maybe he was very shy, at the very least – his online profile had been sparse, but she knew he was local, had recently moved, was working part-time at a department store, and supplemented his income by building and selling custom sci-fi and fantasy dioramas. She tried to remember comments he'd left, but none really stood out – it took a lot to stand out amidst her 100k followers. She thought about his online icon, and his profile again. As he continued to scrutinise the menu, she tapped a quick search on her phone. As an afterthought Louella took another selfie and added; Great atmosphere as always, LOL. Love this place! Everything and everyone is so cute! XO
A waiter approached as Louella lowered her phone, inquiring,“Are we ready to order?”
“Mmm, I'm not sure. Darrah, anything looking good?”
Darrah jumped a little, and coughed softly. “How... how spicy is the General Tso Tofu? I... um, nevermind are the Seitan & Garlic Fried Buckwheat Noodles any good?”
“It's excellent if you like garlic and sweet-soy sauce with a hint of honey, it's one of the most ordered dishes on the menu,”the waiter said assuredly.
“That sounds... good, could I have that please?” Darrah asked meekly, “...and could I have a fork with it?”
“Of course, and for you, Louella?”
“I think I'll shake things up and try something new tonight. Curried Wild Rice with Broccoli and a side of peanut dumplings, thanks. I'll have a fork too, please.”
“No problem, your appetisers should be out soon, if you need anything just let us know.”
An awkward silence followed as Darrah lost his menu shield. Louella leaned forward, her ample breasts resting on the table top, taking a little pressure off her back. Most fans liked when she did this, Darrah seemed to as well but quickly fixed his eyes to her right ear.
“So, Booker27, that's a reference to Daria Booker from the Books & Crooks series isn't it? You use her family crest as your icon I believe?”
“Uh, yeah! Daria is my favourite characters she's so great and brave and smar – W-wait. You... you know about Books & Crooks?” Darrah looked delighted and then dubious.
“Not really,” Louella replied honestly, “But I've heard about it and seen it around. Wasn't it adapted into a tv series recently? I think it's been getting good ratings if I recall.”
Darrah sat up straighter, placing his palms on the table. “Oh. Oh well. It was but... oh nevermind it'll be boring. You'll think it's dumb...”
“I can tell by your expression that you have a lot of opinions on the matter,”Louella linked her fingers, squeezing her breasts together, deepening her cleavage, just in case it'd help,“If I get bored I'll just let you know okay? What's your perspective on this adaptation? Is there something wrong with the actors?” She tilted her head and give him her most inquisitive expression.
“Oh, nonono, the actors are basically perfect, even the big names they managed to pull for some of the roles, the problem is the plot details that had to be dropped and the lore that was updated poorly and...”
Louella smiled and listened, switching her brain to spectator-mode, and prompting further discussion with the occasional question or request for clarification if the stream of words started to run a little dry. It was a little difficult to keep track of all the characters, and the lore was certainly deeper and more convoluted than anything she'd ever watched or read herself. Nonetheless the discussion lasted throughout dinner and by the time dessert was ordered the conversation had moved to fan theories, which was even harder to follow, but some of it was really interesting, from a philosophical point-of-view.
“...and that's why it would be impossible for the Shadow-crone to be her mother OR her never-born-in-her-continuity older sister. It would have to be the personification of the lost piece of her own past-soul, finally ready to heal and forgive herself for becoming as abusive as her own grandmother had been to her towards her niece even though she didn't realise it at the time. Oh... I'm almost out of ice cream.”
Darrah's face dropped as he swirled syrup into the melting dessert. Louella gave herself a small shake, switching the rest of her brain back on, and giving him a broad, mischievous smile,“We could always get seconds, if you're not ready for the night to end yet.”
In the back of her mind Louella took note to add an extra hour of exercise to her routine over the next two days.
Darrah's expression was suddenly pained and Louella hid her bewilderment under a mask of invested concern. “Oh Darrah, what's wrong? Is something disagreeing with you?”
“No, I...I'm just... I'm fine,”he sniffed and tried to compose himself but his voice was shaky, “This was the best night of my life, I never thought I would ever get to meet you in person... but... I was annoying and talking about nothing the entire time.”
“I'm sorry you found yourself annoying,”Louella said, barreling on with a carefree grin before Darrah could react to that comment,“Personally, I thought you were very lively and insightful about a topic you clearly enjoy. I like seeing and hearing... knowing... that people are enjoying themselves... I wouldn't do what I do with an unlocked comment section if I didn't.”
She felt no need to share the fact that she had 5 wonderful moderators helping her by clearing out inflammatory commenters and trolls.
“No... I'm sorry. I... had a speech? Sort of. I had something I wanted to say and I practiced it all week and now I don't know if I can say it the way I practiced it... and... and... You were so nice and let me talk about things you're not interested in...”
Louella stifled a fretful sigh and took a long drink to consider what to say next. It wasn't completely untrue, within a week she would likely forget most of what she'd learned about the Daria Booker series, and the chances of her encountering Darrah again in any significant way were narrow. She could only do her best, he was clearly a hurdle to himself and if he had an bad memories of the evening it'd be what he put there himself. She ran out of water, and coughed lightly, carefully dabbing her lips dry with a fresh serviette. She'd been given speeches and poems before, of varying talents, perhaps she could coax Darrah into saying what he wanted to say and figure out a way to help end the evening on a high-note for him.
A quick glance around showed most other patrons were too engrossed in their meals or phones to be paying any attention to them, though Teague's watchful gaze was unwavering... if a little bored. Darrah had not noticed their paid audience all night... Louella thanked her implants and his love of Daria Booker on this fact. It tended to upset folks to find they were being surveilled.
“Darrah, I would love to hear what you wanted to say to me. If you practiced it all week, it must be important,”Louella said gently, not wanting to sound too forceful. “Will you regret it if you don't?”
Darrah fidgeted with his spoon pensively, eyes slightly wet.
Louella tried to guess his intent. Love and lust confessions were common. The occasional wedding proposal was always an interesting predicament. She started to mentally prepare herself with several possible tender, amiable rejections. Most of her fans didn't believe that she was demisexual – her career gave many the impression she was more libidinous than she actually was. Some took resentful exception to the fact and insisted she just needed a good dicking – the logic didn't follow because she'd had plenty of phalli – even a handful of organic ones – in her during various shoots and if it hadn't been for her ability to act like she was having a good time she wouldn't have a career. It was strange, she mused, how a performance of a sexual nature done convincingly for a photo or film shoot was somehow a lie and a betrayal but crying, punching or laughing on cue with conviction was worth Oscar nominations.
Finally, Darrah lifted his head, determined, but still nervous. His ears were shaking so much Louella was worried they might fall off.
“...I... I haven't been a fan of your's for very long. Sorry. A few years ago I was looking for Daria Booker cosplayers and some photos of you came up because of your steam-punk corsets and hair. Even though you don't look anything like her, you still reminded me of her a little. I always imagined her confident smile looking so much like your's – before that loss of confidence through books 5 and 7 – but even your gothic photosets reminded me of her during that time; determined, focused, a beautiful light shining through an impossible darkness, seemingly unaware of her own power. I looked up more photos of you, followed you on all your free sites, and I started to admire you. You really talk to your fans, and you really believe in so many causes. As soon as I got a raise I signed up to your site, to see more of your work, to see what else you said and did. To see more of your smiles and joy. You're so open and honest with your feelings and you're so candid about behind-the-scene stuff. And if you hadn't shared the stories about some of your friends, Patra, and Tery... and promoted so many help-lines, I might not be here today.”
Darrah paused and wiped his eyes. His sleeve absorbed the welled up tears and he sniffed again. Louella wasn't sure what to say, but she gave an encouraging nod, hoping she didn't look too confused.
Darrah cleared his throat and continued.
“I've seen the way you deal with trolls and haters too. You're so brave and strong, just like Daria – you... you don't put up with bullies. You believe in what you do.”
There was another pause as their waiter refilled their drinks, she gave him a subtle 'everything is fine' gesture and he scurried away.
After a few embarrassed moments, Darrah managed to speak again.
“You inspired me to find and save myself. I've... I've been seeing a therapist for the last 3 months and then I won this Date raffle – it felt like destiny. I thought, this is my chance, a chance so few people have, to tell their heroes directly, how much they mean to them. And I wanted you to be the first to know me as Darrah. And...and after this amazing evening, I'm going to tell my family the doctor made a mistake – they have a daughter. And, even if... if it goes... bad... I know you'd support me, and the friends I've made through knowing you will support me. Whatever happens, I KNOW there are people out there who care and can help.”
'OH. EHM. GEE,' Louella couldn't help thinking. Louella's own tears threatened to ruin her mascara; she was somewhat overwhelmed to be on the receiving end of a stranger's coming-out. Across the way she could see that Teague had almost dropped his coffee. Darrah didn't notice.
So there they were, a pair of curvy, crying red pandas, in the corner of Louella's favourite restaurant. She took a deep breath and smiled brightly, trying to find words to respond.
“I'm so happy for you, you... you go girl! I'm super honoured to be the first to know. Thank you so much. Do... you want to selfie this moment?”
“Uh huh, oh, uhm, yeah... yes please,” Darrah sniffed and nodded and smiled wide for the first time all evening, getting to her feet to join Louella beside the table, no longer tense as Louella wrapped her arm around her shoulders for the shot.
SPECIAL NIGHT OUT A SUPER SUCCESS EVERYBODY! HAD MANY FEELS! <3 TO <3 XOXO; Louella typed, checked for approval from Darrah, then published the photo.
Louella gave Darrah a proper hug once the file was sent, and she returned the embrace – still a little too tight but less abrupt, though a touch of shyness returned. “Thank you, so much, for this evening. I'll remember it forever.”
“Or until the cloud somehow loses all my files,” Louella joked. Darrah chuckled quietly, “I think a Shadow-crone could steal my mind and I'd still remember tonight.”
After another hug and some light small-talk, the date was clearly coming to a close. Louella gave Darrah a friendly kiss on the cheek and bid her good night, and good luck with her phone-call tomorrow. Darrah gave her a brave smile, nodding wordlessly. Before she left, she leaned up to Louella's ear and whispered “Do you think that bear that was across from us might like huskier women? I think he was watching us all night.”
Louella almost snorted a laugh, but shrugged impartially – she knew Teague well enough to know his tastes – in particular, his husband, a slim slip of a tiger and their boyfriend, a sleek otter. “You could ask,” she whispered back coyly.
“Oh,” Darrah blushed deeply and shook her head,“I think I used up all my bravery tonight, I need to save some for tomorrow.”
“Mmhm, yeah. There's plenty of other bears in the woods anyway. One brave act at a time. Take care Darrah.”
“Thank you Lou, you too. Good night.”
Louella watched Darrah climb into her waiting ride. She had not imagined the date to go this way. She felt humbled. Somehow, her fans always managed to surprise her. She wondered how her next date-contest would go – she'd need to select a winner for Picnic Day's Picnic Date. Her phone reminded her she needed to go to a costume fitting in the morning. She ordered some sweet sesame buns to-go, bid Teague and the restaurant employees good-night thanking them liberally for their exceptional service, and headed home; emotionally exhausted, but unexpectedly satisfied.
She sincerely hoped Darrah would be alright.
Comments
Seth T
She is so gorgeous. Love how you do fashion. Love this story; I got the feels.
