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The following story is a work of fiction. It contains adult themes and situations and should not be read by anyone under the age of eighteen. The characters depected are copyright Radical Gopher. No character in this story is under the age of eighteen.

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PINS AND NEEDLES - Part V

It was well after two in the morning when Gwen and Victor finally arrived home. The store clerk, dazed as he was by the attack, had not seen the pseudo-dragon. As for the police, they were more willing to take the word of the victim than members of the Human League about what had happened. The 'alien' that they claimed had popped out of her jacket she explained away as a pet ferret that had been sleeping until they'd disturbed it. When asked where it was, Gwen said she didn't know since it had run off during the fight. The attendant's promise to keep an eye out for it more than convinced the police.

The remainder of their ride home was done in silence. Victor perched himself on Gwen's shoulder and let the cool night air wash over him. Though awake, he wasn't in a talkative mood. Exhaustion and the events of the day made him unwilling to answer any but the most basic questions that Gwen had. He especially avoided talking about the museum.

Intellectually he knew what had happened hadn't fully been his fault, though it hardly made him feel any better. Having sex with Dr. Aryan, even though it wasn't consensual, made him feel lower than low.

For a brief moment, he thought about discussing it with Gwen. She might understand, but the young skunkette was barely more than a teen-ager. He liked her, but hesitated putting her in the middle of something that rightly should be between himself and his mate. Involving her in his 'betrayal' of Sapphire might ruin the friendship the three of them had built over the last few months. He felt sick. He didn't want to loose either the djin's love or Gwen's friendship. He decided he was just going to have to bottle the whole problem up until he could figure out what to do.

A much-relieved Sapphire greeted them at the door. The blue-furred vixen immediately scooped up Victor from Gwen's shoulder and set him down on a cushion on the coffee table. She made him stretch out his wings, even though doing so was painful. The djin shook her head slightly as she examined him. An azure glow traced itself along the membrane, dulling the soreness and binding the loose flaps of skin together again.

"Should you be doing that? I mean in your condition?" the dragon asked.

"Shhh!" she said softly. "It's okay, I won't overdo it. Now let me concentrate." She leaned forward and blew gently on the wing. Scar tissue flaked away like chaff on the wind, leaving behind a clean, smooth surface. Sapphire carefully unwrapped the bandages along his torso and examined the deep cuts there. "It's a good thing you're so small right now," she said. "Healing this kind of injury on a full-sized dragon would require a lot of manna."

Turning, she motioned to Gwen. "Place your index and middle finger here," she instructed. The skunkette did as told looking all the while at the djin.

"Now, clear your mind and tap into your manna. Don't look at me, focus on the cut. Imagine the two halves pulling themselves together and fusing. Let the energy flow into your fingertips, then gently draw them along the length of the cut."

Victor watched quietly as she did as instructed. There was an emerald glow accompanied by a slightly warm sensation. The deep gash in his side closed itself, leaving a thin trail of scar tissue behind it."

"Excellent," Sapphire said. "Now, the incantation I taught you last week. Do you remember it?" Gwen nodded. "Okay then. Chant the incantation and blow gently against the cut. Not separately... the breath of your words should be the same breath you blow along the scar."

The skunkette did as instructed and like his wings, the scar tissue seemed to change texture and float away, leaving his scales bright and clean. Even the dried blood vanished. "This is amazing," she said, looking down at her handiwork. "I can't see even a single scale out of place."

"You shouldn't, if you do it right." Sapphire smiled as she looked down on the small dragon. His eyes were closed and he was curled up on himself, sound asleep. Exhaustion had once more conquered the todd's efforts to stay awake. She glanced up at the clock on the mantle. "It's late, and there are things we need to discuss, but not until we're rested." She reached out and hugged Gwen, leaning her cheek against the dancer's neck and holding her close for several long, warm moments. "Thanks for finding Victor tonight."

The skunkette smiled. "Anytime."

The vixen picked up the cushion on which Victor slept and headed for their room. "We'll see you in the morning," she said, winking at Gwen. With that, the couple disappeared from sight.

As she watched them go the dancer felt a thrill of anticipation and pangs of guilt wash across her. A part of her wanted desperately to feel the todd within her even as she held him and the vixen close. She wanted to cuddle with both of them, make both of them happy, but she wasn't sure if Sapphire's plan was the right answer to her conundrum. She wanted to win Victor's love, not play games with it. She sighed and quietly retreated to her own apartment. There were a lot of feelings she needed to sort through but not a lot of time for it.

* * * *

It was nearly five in the morning and Alyssa Aryan gave up trying to sleep. She sat in front of her home computer; staring at the screen, watching the events of yesterday unfold. The more she focused on the vid, the more she wanted to believe she had to have been under some kind of mind control. Her actions were so out of character; so wanton she couldn't think of another explanation. The only problem with this was she could remember the whole experience. At no point had she felt as if her actions were anything but her own choice She remembered the thrill of anticipation and the waves of ecstasy that shook her to her very core. She'd wanted it, and she'd taken it of her own volition

She jumped forward through several different sequences, wondering if Victor had something to do with what happened. Observing the todd's struggle against her unwanted advances quickly killed that notion. He'd been trying to push her off up to the moment she tripped him and he'd hit his head on the control panel. After that, she was fully in control of the situation. Still, his unexpected transformed from vulpine to draconian form kept her from being absolutely certain of this. How had he managed that? The conundrum was giving her a headache.

She stood, turned off the computer and went into the kitchen of her penthouse to make herself a cup of Earl Gray. Impulsively she added a shot of peppermint schnapps to the drink in an effort to lighten her mood. Sipping on it, Alyssa walked out onto her balcony. The orange glow of sunrise was just beginning to color the inky blackness of the night sky. She sat down next to a large planter and watched as the sun crawled over the horizon.

Alyssa had always enjoyed watching the dawn, but this morning it gave her no pleasure. The Sunday morning silence allowed a sense of guilt to creep into her spirit. There, in the glow of the morning sun, it finally occurred to her that she had raped one of her co-workers and had enjoyed it. The realization weighed heavily on her. She'd spent the whole night puzzling over Professor Peabody's transformation, not realizing until now she was using it to hide the truth from herself. She had just done to someone else what her first boyfriend had done to her. The knowledge made her feel sick. She put her head in her hands and began to weep quietly.

* * * *

Sapphire sat in the rocking chair next to their bed and watched Victor with a worried expression. He'd been tossing and turning all night, despite his obvious exhaustion. When dawn came he'd transformed back to his Zorr form, but this had not stopped his slow, restless twisting. She could feel that something deep down was bothering him, but waking him to ask what it was would only confuse and possibly aggravate the todd.

Her musing was interrupted by a soft knock on the bedroom door. "Come in," she said with a gentle wave of her hand. The door swung silently open on a cloud of blue sparkles.

"Good morning," replied Gwen. She walked into the room carrying a tray with a pot of lemon-ginger tea on it. Noticing Victor was still asleep she immediately lowered her voice. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," replied the vixen. "Not a smidge of morning sickness." She looked over at her mate as he groaned slightly and flopped over on his stomach. Rising, she motioned for the skunkette to follow her, leading her out onto the back porch. Gwen set the tray on a small table and poured each of them a cup, adding a spoonful of honey to her own in the process. They sat next to each other on the railing and sipped the tea in silence.

"Is Victor alright?" the dancer asked.

"Physically, he's fine. Our healing spells last night were very thorough," Sapphire responded, "but something's bothering him. If he weren't so tired he wouldn't be asleep at all."

"I noticed he was kind of quiet on the ride home from the convenience store last night. Any ideas?"

The vixen shook her head. "He's been flipping around like that all night. Normally, he's a very solid, quiet sleeper. He hardly ever turns over in his sleep."

"It doesn't look like he's getting much rest now." Gwen looked down at her teacup then back up at Sapphire. "I wish we could do something about that. Maybe we should wake him up... ask him about it? Or we could try a Calming Sleep spell."

"If he's having a dream and we wake him, he probably won't remember enough to tell us anything useful. As for the Calming Sleep, it will relax him, but then he won't wake up until Monday afternoon."

"So what's the alternative?"

The djin thought quietly for a moment then looked Gwen in the eyes. "Have you ever heard of Dream-walking?"

"You mean sleepwalking, don't you?"

She shook her head. "No, I mean Dream-walking. Entering someone else's dreams and watching them."

"I think I remember reading about the Aborigines of Australia, how they use to do something similar. But I don't know if it's true or a myth."

"Careful what you say about myths," Sapphire smiled knowingly. "They have a tendency of coming back and biting you on the ass."

Gwen chuckled. "So says the Genie of the Lamp." She took a small sip of tea. "So... what do you have in mind?"

"Simply this... You use your magic to dream walk into Victor's mind and watch what's going on while I tag along with you."

"Sounds complicated," the skunkette replied. "Would it be dangerous?"

The vixen smiled reassuringly. "Not at all," she said. "I'll remain outside his dreams in the real world and monitor you with a spell which allows me to see and feel what you do. I'll be your anchor, so to speak. That way you can dream walk in perfect safety."

Gwen thought about it for several minutes, finishing her tea in the process. "Can you do this without any harm to your kits?"

Sapphire smiled, warmed by the young woman's concern. "That's why you'll be doing the dream walking. It will be your spell and your magic, not mine, so the kits will be perfectly safe."

"Alright... What should I look for once I'm in his dream?"

"You don't need to look for anything," the djin replied. "That's what I'm there for. All you need to do is watch what's happening and follow my instructions."

"Okay," the skunkette said. "How do I cast a dream walking spell?"

The vixen gave her a mischievous smile. "Well... first we need to go inside and strip naked."

"WHAT? You're joking... right?"

Sapphire shook her head slightly. "Uh-uh. In order to dream walk you've got to lay next to and physically embrace the dreamer. Wearing clothes gets to be more than a little uncomfortable."

"Won't that wake him up?" Gwen asked.

"Not if you use a Touch of Sleep," the djin replied. "Reach into your manna source, whisper the word 'sleep,' then touch him on the forehead. The spell's good for about a minute. It should give us plenty of time to sandwich him between us."

"Us?"

"Yes... We spoon together, you in front, me in back. That way he won't toss and turn while you're dream walking."

"How long does this kind of thing take?"

"Hard to say," Sapphire answered. "Could be a minute, or an hour..."

"...Or a day?" the skunkette cut in."

"I hope not," the vixen said. "Victor's curse will kick in at moonrise. We don't want to be doing any magic on him when he transforms. It's always a bad thing to mix enchantments. The problem is, once in his dreams neither of us will have much of a time sense."

"Okay, then we set the alarm clock as a back-up to you're mind link."

Sapphire smiled. "You're learning."

It took the two women only a few minutes to prepare. Once they had undressed the skunkette dashed momentarily into the bathroom long enough to dab some vapor rub on her nose pad. Lying next to Victor would be enough of a distraction for her spell casting. She didn't want to add the effects of his musk to the equation.

The vixen looked at Gwen. "Ready?"

She nodded in response, and then reached down into her soul, drawing out a small portion of her manna. "Sleep," she whispered. She looked down at Victor, lying on the bed before and impulsively kissed him on the forehead, activating the Touch of Sleep spell with her lips and not her fingertips. She looked up at Sapphire and saw the vixen smiling warmly.

"Sorry... I just..."

"Don't apologize," the vixen said. "I know how you feel. That's just the kind of artistic touch every good mage needs. Now... Into bed with you. Hurry!"

The two females slid into the bed. Gwen drew the todd to her and hooked one leg over his. His eyes fluttered slightly, but he did not wake up. Her hands danced across his head, fingers carefully positioning themselves as she'd been taught. His head rested against his and she could feel his soft, warm breath gently ruffling the fur on the back of her neck.

Sapphire slithered in behind Victor, the small rounded line of her belly fitting snuggly into the hollow of his back. Her hands enfolded both Gwen and her mate, sneaking down to stroke the base of the skunkette's tail before firmly planting themselves along her temples.

"Do it," she whispered.

Gwen invoked the words, reaching once more into her store of manna. A soft green glow effused the three figures. She felt the vixen's fingers grow warm even as the world faded from view. A soft, velvet mist wrapped itself around her and she felt as if she were drifting, high above the clouds. Soft golden lights, like a magical city glided by far below.

Looking around she tried to orient herself. "How do I find Victor," she breathed, her voice as soft and gentle as the mist surrounding her.

"Listen for him... reach out and feel for him," whispered Sapphire's voice.

The skunkette closed her eyes. Where? She turned, slowly pirouetting in the dark sky. Where? She felt herself take in a breath of air. Where? She reached out... trying to stretch herself beyond herself. Where? Where?

"Here," answered a tiny voice.

She turned and followed it, feeling the todd's aura strengthen as she grew nearer to him. The mist began clearing. Gwen found herself sitting on the steps of the museum where Victor worked. Vague mannequin-like figures wandered in and out of the building. Rising to her feet she followed one of them, up the steps and in through the metal and brass doors.

The building was more than two hundred years old. It had grown up with the city, expanding, adding new wings as the need for space required. Post-civil war architecture blended with Victorian and art deco styles. Mid-twentieth century steel and glass battled for attention with modern spun-carbon designs, each complimenting the displays that filled the halls.

"This is... weird," the skunkette thought to herself.

"What is?" came Sapphire's voice.

"For a dream, everything is so... orderly, so neat. I thought I would be looking at chaos. That's all I ever remember from my dreams."

A soft laughter filled the halls. "You remember chaos because you only remember bits and pieces of what you dream. Dreams always have a logic behind them, though we often don't understand what that logic is."

Gwen began wandering through the different galleries, trying to follow her feelings as she searched for the todd. The deeper she went into the museum, the more haphazard, the more disorganized things became. She wondered if these could represent more recent experiences that hadn't quite been sorted through.

At one point she wandered into a very strangely decorated gallery. Objects here were scattered randomly about, as if the displays had been set up as they had arrived. Ancient lamps, tapestries and mismatched collections filled the room. Many of them were of Medieval or Middle Eastern design. A tapestry hung along one side of the room, On it were sewn the images of a gigantic lion and a pure white unicorn. Walking past it Gwen could see the eyes of both creatures follow her, impotent hatred burning within them. Piles of research books were scattered around here and there adding a distinctive scholarly atmosphere to the room.

At the center of this confusion sat a single, twenty-foot-high, blue, crystal, statue of Sapphire. She was posed much like Botticelli's famous painting, The Birth of Venus, though in this case, 'Venus' was slightly pregnant. The expression on her face was both wise and coquettish. The skunkette thought it caught both aspects of the djin's personality rather well. Gwen looked down at the foot of the statue and stopped in surprise. There, curled around Sapphire's feet was a gold statue of herself, naked save for a loincloth. The image was entwined around the vixen's legs, embracing and bonding with her. One gold hand reached up as if supporting the djin at the knees. Another held a book of magic. Was this how Victor saw her?

"You said something about logic earlier," the dancer commented. "What do you make of all this... this clutter?"

"Try changing your perspective?"

"My what?"

"Your perspective," the vixen's voice whispered. "Look at everything from above."

"How?"

Sapphire chuckled warmly. "Silly skunk," she teased. "This is a dream, remember? Just fly."

Gwen took a short breath, focused, and found herself drifting upward into the gallery's rotunda. Looking down she saw that the objects below her were actually organized into curved rows that seemed to double back on themselves and intersect in the oddest way. It still looked like clutter until she squinted slightly. Suddenly, the image fell into place. By staring straight down she could see the displays all lined up to form the image of a rose, with the statue of Sapphire in its center.

"I always knew that deep down in his subconscious Victor was a poet," the vixen observed. "From clutter and chaos... beauty and order."

"I think that statue speaks volumes about what he feels towards you," Gwen said.

"And you."

"Only as your student and friend," the skunkette replied.

"You shouldn't minimize either your feelings or his," Sapphire whispered in the back of her mind. "Look at the way the two statues seem to merge. He may not realize it consciously, but here in his dreams he can't think of me without you, or you without me. We're both a part of his love. We just need to make him understand it."

"Speaking of Victor, where is he? This is his dream after all."

"Try focusing again."

Gwen did as instructed. She felt something pull at her, almost like it had last night when she'd gone in search of him. "That way," she thought. She floated out of the gallery and towards the staff elevators. Looking at the indicator it read Sub 7.

The skunkette chuckled. "This is the first dream I ever heard about with sub-basements."

Her laughter was cut short by a shout of fear that echoed up the elevator shaft.

"VICTOR?"

To be continued...