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Pomni was a shy woman. Even after months of being Ragatha’s friend - and a week of dating her - she still could barely handle being hugged. As soon as she was let go, Pomni’s face would be glowing beet-red and her eyes would turn into spinning spirals. Even just looking at Ragatha sent her into a state of excited disbelief: Disbelief that her best friend in digital purgatory, the woman she fell for, really reciprocated her love. So deep into this train of thought she would go, that she would often have to ask Ragatha to repeat what she was saying upon snapping out of it. Pomni knew she would need to take things slow, lest her heart explode.
So she could feel her stomach doing somersaults when she agreed to sleep over in Ragatha’s room.
The day’s adventure was done, and nobody really had the energy to hang out after dinner when they had all been struck in the face so many times by a boxing robot. Ragatha had taken Pomni’s hand to lead her down the hallway to the bedrooms, which had prompted an exaggerated gag from Jax. As the distant sounds of him explaining to Zooble that he isn’t homophobic faded away, Ragatha slowed her stride when she noticed Pomni was silently staring into space.
“Something the matter?”
Pomni jolted. “Huh?! I mean, nuh? I mean, no, nothing’s wrong!” she insisted.
“You sure?” Ragatha prodded.
Pomni squeezed Ragatha’s hand.
“It’s just… nerves about taking a new step,” Pomni answered. “I’m not the touchiest person, and I worry that, if we’re in the same bed together, I might start to feel overloaded and…”
Pomni looked at Ragatha. She had that focused look where she’s listening really intently and her mouth gets small and flat and she just stares. The sight of that silly little face was enough to get Pomni to relax just a little.
“...I’m worried about making you feel bad,” Pomni admitted.
Ragatha smiled at Pomni, half-lidding her eye in a look of affection. Now that was a face that made Pomni’s heart pound.
“I’m okay with taking things slow,” Ragatha said. “I’ve told you as much already.”
“I just know you’re really excited for this. And, and I am too, just- it’s hard. Being here, being in this body, it still feels wrong so much of the time. And I don’t want you to blame yourself if those feelings get to me.”
“Pomni…” Ragatha stopped as they arrived at her bedroom door. “I promise you we’ll be fine. We’ll probably just be sleeping side by side with our arms touching at most.”
The couple made their way into Ragatha’s cozy little room, with its sewing desk covered in disorganized supplies and an orange, pink, red, and white scarf in-progress. Pomni made for the bed and took a seat. She tried not to visibly shudder.
‘Is this really happening?’ she thought.
Ragatha turned off the lights and sauntered over to join her girlfriend. A shame it was so dark - Pomni loved to watch the way Ragatha’s dress swayed along with her hips as she walked. She felt the bed adjust underneath her as Ragatha added her weight on the opposite side.
‘Oh god this is really happening.’
Ragatha slipped under the covers and shimmied to get comfy.
“Soooooo…” Ragatha drawled, “do you want to get in, too?”
“Huh? Uh, yeah.”
Pomni hastily grasped around in the dark for the blanket, gracelessly burying herself underneath.
After (eventually) settling in, Pomni simply stared into the darkness above. She didn’t know what to do. Does she try to sleep? Are they going to chat for a while? Will she ever get used to feeling the presence of a licorice-haired goddess next to her?
Pomni felt a cloth hand brush into and then envelope hers, and despite lacking veins, she could feel her blood run cold.
“Is this okay?” Ragatha asked.
Pomni, unable to muster words, vigorously nodded. A totally useless gesture in the dark, she realized.
“Y-Yeah,” Pomni stammered.
She took a deep breath. ‘Control yourself, girl!’
“I just need to calm down,” Pomni confessed. “I haven’t really been… intimate, with anyone, since I was nineteen. And he broke up with me because I was too distant. So laying here with you, even just holding hands like we were already doing a few minutes ago, it can feel like a lot.”
She rolled onto her side, now facing Ragatha. Her eyes had adjusted enough to the dark that she could see her girlfriend’s beautiful face.
“I really, really like you,” Pomni said with the tiniest nervous laugh. “And I want to want to be more affectionate.”
Ragatha pondered Pomni’s words. “Do you feel like you’re up to pushing yourself a little bit?” she asked. “Like we talked about, you can back out at any time. I won’t be hurt. Just tell me what you’re up for and we can give it a shot!”
“I’d… I'd like that,” Pomni sheepishly answered. “I think right now, I’m okay with us just laying here and holding each other.”
“Then that’s what we’ll do.”
Ragatha, resting on one arm, used the other to lift the blanket like a bird spreading her wing, inviting Pomni beneath.
“Come on, cutie.”
Pomni giggled and scooched forward. As Ragatha lowered the blanket over them, the two shifted about awkwardly until their arms were around each other. Once secure, Ragatha pulled Pomni in close, bringing their bodies into full, electrifying contact. Pomni, nestling her head under Ragatha’s chin, was glad that her model lacked any ears, because she would probably be shooting steam out of them by now. They held each other in stillness and quietude, with the sole exception of their steady breathing. It was soothing enough that, over time, Pomni was able to relax her shoulders, unclench her jaw, and truly melt into Ragatha’s arms.
Some time after that, she felt Ragatha begin to rustle around a bit.
“You good?” Pomni asked.
“Oh yeah,” Ragatha answered with a small grunt as she kept adjusting. “I just wanted my head under yours, is all.”
Ragatha settled into the same position as before, but now her face was pressed up against Pomni’s neck. She was just getting fully cozy when she felt Pomni shiver.
“Hm?” Ragatha peeped.
Pomni kept quiet. Must have been nothing.
Ragatha, returning to her tranquility, let out a contented sigh - and then felt Pomni shiver again.
“Pomni?” She hoped she wasn’t getting annoying for asking what was wrong so many times in one night. “Are you cold or something?”
“...Ragatha,” Pomni was slow to reply. “Can I ask for something that might sound a little… weird?”
Ragatha raised an eyebrow. “Um, sure, what is it?”
Pomni cleared her throat. “Could you, uh. If you’re okay with it could. Could you maybe breathe on my neck a bit more?”
“Oh?” Ragatha leaned into Pomni. “Like this?”
Ragatha exhaled audibly, sending the most gentle stream of warm air into contact with Pomni's sensitive skin. While lightning emanated through her nerves, Pomni’s mind was occupied with excitement over how close she felt to Ragatha in the moment; both figuratively and literally. She could feel the vibration of the words loosed from her girlfriend’s lips, and was so very keenly aware of how near they were to her flesh.
“Do you like that?” Ragatha teased, before exhaling again. “Do you want me to keep going?”
“It’s nice,” Pomni said (an understatement, really), “but I want… more.”
“More?” Ragatha echoed. “What does ‘more’ mean here?”
“Your lips,” Pomni begged, “and your tongue, and your teeth…”
“Heh.” Ragatha lowered her voice and said: “Coming right up, sweetie.” She gave Pomni a quick kiss on the lips, then traveled downward to get to it.
Starting with slow, gentle kisses, Ragatha worked her way up and down Pomni’s neck. As she went on Ragatha slightly increased the amount of pressure she applied with each peck; starting with a soft brushing of skin on skin, and escalating to smooches that made Pomni gasp and giggle and probably would leave a big bruise if she was in a real body.
Those giggles were traded for a shrill “Eep!” when Ragatha switched from using her lips to her teeth, first biting just hard enough to leave a slight indentation in Pomni’s skin, then opting for smaller nips and nibbles in quick succession. Pomni started to laugh.
“Ragatha,” she said between breaths, “I like this, but I think I’m - Ahah! Too ticklish for how fast you’re going!”
“Sorry,” Ragatha said, backing off. “Let me make it better for you…”
Making sure she fulfilled every part of Pomni’s request, Ragatha pressed her tongue flat against the base of Pomni’s neck. She slowly dragged it upward, taking in the taste and smell of Pomni’s skin, feeling proud of herself when Pomni tilted her head up to afford Ragatha more space to work with. And while she made strokes down and up and side to side, Ragatha felt something she wasn't expecting: Pomni’s gloved hands feverishly groping at her chest.
“Oh!” Ragatha stopped what she was doing to exclaim.
“Ah, sorry!” Pomni said, panicking.
“No, no, please, if that’s something you want to do…” Ragatha cut herself off to shift into a more sultry tone, “...You can do anything you want to me.”
‘Holy shit holy shit hold it together hold it together-’ Pomni thought.
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“I’ll tell you if there’s something I’m not comfortable with.”
Ragatha sat up, with her legs straddling Pomni’s hips. She gently placed both hands on her girlfriend’s stomach, and slowly pushed them north until she was caressing Pomni’s chest. With both tender care and lecherous fervor, she rubbed Pomni with her palms, taking precaution not to venture off to her ever-ticklish sides, nor her neck which had already hit the limits of stimulus for the moment.
Meanwhile, Pomni tasked her own hands with exploring Ragatha’s legs, starting from the ankles and slowly creeping up her dress (Pomni wouldn’t admit it, but she had wondered for a long time what was going on up there). It felt nearly like Pomni was running her hands over a plush blanket, but with twitches of ticklishness and pleasure betraying the life underneath.
“Heheh, Pomni,” Ragatha giggled, “that tickles a bit - Ooh!” she yelped as Pomni suddenly squeezed her butt.
“It’s a shame I can’t slip my hands underneath, but either way…” Pomni cooed as she brought her hands around Ragatha’s hips, settling with one stop her thigh while the other ventured down to her groin, “...I do like what I feel.”
Despite Pomni only rubbing the blank space where her genitals would be, Ragatha still shivered and melted at the touch. Physically, nothing special was happening down there - of course they would be denied such pleasures in the Circus, where their clothes are attached to their bodies. But the memories of the same experience in the past were enough to play tricks on the mind. It wasn’t the same, it never could be the same, but years of being trapped in a digital hellscape meant a lot of pent-up sexual energy that flooded Ragatha’s brain with rapture.
“Oh, Pomni,” she moaned, “can I…?” She placed a hand on Pomni's thigh.
“Please,” Pomni affirmed. “Let’s just-”
Pomni began shifting to lay on her side, prompting Ragatha to dismount her and do the same. As soon as they were positioned, Pomni scooched in closer to Ragatha, bringing them face-to-face, and chest-to-chest. They began to pleasure each other’s… nothingness, starting slow and eventually syncing up their rhythms, and while they worked desperately to eke out what satisfaction they could with their simulated bodies, they found themselves just close enough to make eye contact in the darkened room.
With their hips moving in tandem with one another’s hands, and their hot, heavy breathing going back and forth, Pomni and Ragatha found so much love in their mutual gaze that for those fleeting moments both of them felt more alive than they ever had been since misfortune had brought them to the Circus. Pomni pressed forward to close the distance between them and to lock their lips together. They shared in a long, deep kiss for who knows how long; followed by another, and another, and another… Pomni gently pushed her tongue through her lips and into Ragatha’s, to a warm - and wet - reception. Their tongues pressed together and swirled in unison. They sucked and nibbled at each other’s lips and pulled away for only the briefest breaks before returning to their ravishment.
Even with Ragatha’s felt-textured lips and Pomni’s rubbery face, these kisses were the closest thing they had to what they could experience in real life. Thus did they eventually abandon the fingering as they grew frustrated with the limitations of not being capable of orgasm (though, as a cherry on top of the cruelty cake, they very much were able to experience cramped wrists).
Pomni rolled on top of Ragatha while they caressed each other’s faces and tried new angles after every breath. Pomni tousled and pulled Ragatha’s hair, while Ragatha carefully clamped her teeth down on Pomni’s lower lip and pulled it just a little bit before letting it snap back. Ragatha nuzzled her nose against the spot where Pomni lacked one, making them both giggle. Restrictions be damned, they were having fun with these bodies.
And on and on they went, kissing and laughing and holding each other, until, begrudgingly, Pomni asked to stop. As much as part of her wanted to go on forever, it was getting overstimulating. She settled on her side, resting her head on Ragatha’s breast, and let out a sigh as she mentally prepared for repose.
“God, I can’t wait to do the real thing with you someday,” Pomni said, darting her eyes up to meet Ragatha’s. “If we ever get out of here, I mean.”
Ragatha let out an exhausted laugh. “You know, I really wasn’t expecting you to go… all in, like that.” She petted Pomni’s head between the bell-baring parts of her cap. “Or that you would get all coy with me. I liked it.”
Pomni chuckled. “I was just trying something out.” She reached up to give Ragatha one final, chaste kiss for the evening. “And I can try it again next time.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Ragatha said. “Good night, Pompom.”
As Ragatha closed her eyes, Pomni nestled her chin into Ragatha’s body, pressing her face as deep into her chest as could be comfortable.
“Good night, Ragamuffin,” Pomni said.
‘Should I have said “I love you?”’ Pomni thought. ‘Nah, still too soon,’ she decided. ‘We’ve got all the time in the world together.’