Rubberwerks 2 - Part 8

"You're not fucking with me?"

"Not currently."

She hugged him fast and hard, her body pressing into him so hard Tatum thought she might break him for a moment.

"I love you, you know?" she said through happy tears.

"Likewise, Jen. I didn't get a ring yet or anything-"

She placed a finger against his lips to silence him.

"Shut up. You'll ruin it. Just kiss me."

He did.

There were hundreds of others making their new homes their own that night. Some ate and drank until sleep took them, so some made declarations of love, some talked about the future. A myriad of lives and ambitions and visions of the future. When night stretched into early morning, few remained awake. And not even those few understood nothing about what stirred, hungry for them.

"Are you feeling any better?"

Sharon stroked Janice's thick hair. She had laid unnaturally still beside her during the night, her breath steady and even. It took Sharon a long time to sleep. It was as if she slept with a stranger. Janice, even in sleep, was a ball of manic energy. She wriggled and squirmed and yanked sheets away from Sharon as she slept. Her penchant for waking with all the covers while Sharon had none was a running joke between them. It was as if she hadn't moved at all while she slept. Once, Sharon woke and saw that Janice's eyes were open, her fae pointed up at the ceiling. She watched Janice lie like that for a long minute before asking if everything was alright.

"Of course. Never better, babe. Just thinking."

Even now, with the morning light filling their spacious bedroom, there was something unsettling about the way Janice rested, corpse-like, in bed.

"Do you feel like work? I can handle the shop if you need a day of rest."

"I'm fine," she smiled. "You are wonderful. We have a lot to do today."

She slid away from Sharon's touch and stood. She didn't dress before bed the night before. Sharon found her naked in bed, a welcome surprise if she hadn't been ill. She was short, with thick thighs and a bounteous chest. Her round face and quick smile made her beautiful and Sharon ached with her love for Janice.

Sharon left for the shower, leaving a kiss on Janice's shoulder as she passed.

Janice rested her fingers on the spot where the kiss lingered. When she pulled her hand away, Janice regarded her fingertips. Like magic, the tips turned a glossy black, swirling with a liquid motion as her flesh turned slick and dark. She was eager to show Sharon her true nature now, to give her the same gift she was given, but now was not the time. The Mind decided she should wait. It was difficult to think that soon she would no longer need the mask of Janice and would be free to exist as drone. Her body longed for it. Shedding the uniqueness of this body for the oneness of their kind would be welcome. Even as this thought came, Mind told her she would be unique in purpose, but that purpose would serve all. She shuddered with desire.

She dressed in clothes Janice wore in another life. Decoration that felt unnecessary, but would keep up her ruse until she could reveal herself in her perfected state.

"Ready?" Sharon said, brushing a hand over her short hair, still damp.

"Yes. I can't wait."

Sharon kissed her, and Janice leaned into the kiss. The hunger for Sharon was genuine, the desire to fill her lover's mouth with delicious rubber restrained for now. Just as Janice was dissolved into the whole, so would Sharon be. And they would exist together in their perfected state forever.