GITJ Post 427: Sharpening the Weapons, p1

Marisela and Stephanie were touching palms, hand to hand, across the breakroom table. Some of the girls have learned recently that the effects of the Bliss could be intensified if they were in contact with each other. On this bright, crisp November Friday morning, it was obvious that Melissa and Dr. J were  together somewhere, enjoying one another’s company. Marisela and Stephanie were now savoring the benefits, enjoying the sensations of the the expansion in their busts and limbs, their minds and muscles.  

“W-wow, that was a good one,” Stephanie chuckled, almost shyly, as the final flutters of growth ebbed out of her body. She drew her hands back from her co-worker, feeling a tingle in her fingers before, tucking a strand of long blond hair behind her ear. Her swollen bicep inadvertently flexed, stretching the sleeve of her pink scrub top a bit further than it had when she put it on this morning. 

“Yeah,” Marisela agreed, her dark hair shimmering in a sunbeam filtered through the breakroom’s window as she  ran her tongue across her canines. Just a little sharp, thankfully. The fangs, she knew from experience, would fade after a couple minutes, and luckily nothing had  sprung from her shoulders this time. That’d be embarrassing. Plus, this wasn’t even her dress. She didn't really do ‘color’ in her basically all-black wardrobe, so, just for today,  she’d borrowed this luridly pink, body-hugging dress from Josie. She basically hated the thing, but still that didn't mean she wanted to ruin it with a pair of giant black raven wings busting through the back. 

These moments of Bliss, though, especially when shared, always brought the girls of FHMA closer together. Marisela hadn’t known Stephanie for too long. The blonde was a friend of Melissa’s, the two having worked together at the car dealership.So many of the new staff had migrated from there, and like so many of the others Marisela had bonded with her over the past couple months. It was strange, she realized, the affinity she felt for all these girls. Marisela knew herself, she knew she’d never been what people would call “open” or “friendly” or “nice”. She knew she had her sharp edges. And now, well…some of those edges were very sharp. Still, though, the connections she’d been making - connections they’d all been making - were now some of the most important things in her life. 

On the other side of the table, Stephanie also found it unusual how well she and this goth-nerd chick with the tattoos, the piercings and the acerbic tongue got along. While she herself had always been a generally conservative girl, pretty but actually relatively shy, Marisela was anything but. Quiet at times, yes, and darkly gorgeous, but she was edgy to a fault. And so, so smart. Where Stephanie had spent the larger part of the last several years in pursuit of fitness as a die-hard gym-bunny, Marisela spoke of her past days in the underground clubs, in art school, and on her computer. And, Stephanie knew, there were the more recent times that Marisela decidedly didn’t speak about, the hours she spent alone after dark. No one seemed to know exactly what she did, and they didn’t ask a lot of questions. So far the police, such as they were, hadn’t caught up to her. 

The two young women had been sharing tea together, taking a break from work before the big event of the day. The news team would be arriving after lunch to film the ribbon-cutting for the new wings, and then there’d be the party in the atrium later tonight. Stephanie blew on her oolong, and took a sip. 

Stephanie made an attempt to break the moment of awkward silence.“So, I like your dress,” she commented. 

“Yeah I hate it,” Marisela immediately clipped back, glancing quickly down at the sheath of spandex-or-whatever that covered her like a second skin, “Pink is most certainly not my color.”

“I dunno I think you look pretty,” Stephanie smiled, amused if anything by Marisela’s consternation. It made her look cute, in her own bat-girl-from-the-dungeon way. She watched the pale-skinned girl awkwardly pull the swooping neckline up over her chest. On most people, the dress would actually be relatively modest, long-sleeved and not too short. On someone with Marisela’s curves and new height, though, it wasn’t modest at all. 

“I think it just makes my tits look huge,” Marisela quipped back, huffing in annoyance. The new growth spurt certainly didn’t help matters. She couldn’t wait to change, when all this was over. 

Stephanie giggled, and adjusted her own bra strap through her scrubs. Her muscles were pleasantly sore after last night's monster gym session, and now her DD-cups were squashed inside too-tight confines. She knew she should have worn the new expandable bra Melissa had given her, but this one was so cute, and she wasn’t ready to give it up just yet. Tea mug back on the table between them, Stephanie reached up behind her head to tie her hair up into a messy bun. 

“Speaking of huge, though,” Marisela continued, now taking a sip of her own tea and appraising her new friend with a careful eye. The girl’s biceps were impressive, for sure, dancing and flexing as Stephanie finished with her hair. “Look at your crazy muscles.”

Stephanie chuckled, again a bit shyly, and lowered her arms. 

“Really, I mean, how long have you been working out?” Marisela asked. Despite her (now) seemingly supernatural strength and agility, Marisela had never stepped foot in a gym. Like, ever. She’d never had the patience for it, or the desire to be surrounded by meatheads leering at her chest, and vapid girls just trying to grow their instas. She did, however, have quiet admiration for the girls that were there for real. Stephanie was one of them.

“Oh, I dunno,” Stephanie replied, “Like, years.” Stephanie did know, actually. She knew exactly how many years she’d been lifting. It had been five years and three weeks to the day since she started lifting as heavy as she could, to get as strong as she could. It all harkened back to that October night, her sophomore year at Southern State, and the night in Kurt’s car, with his friends. 

If only Kurt could see me now.

Marisela, technically, should not have known any of this; Stephanie was careful to never tell anyone, not wanting to be seen as a victim - even though the trauma had followed her to this day. Marisela, though, had ways of finding things out. She had seen the police report, and Stephanie’s abbreviated files at the University. It was important to Marisela to know with whom she was working.

“So, how’s it been going? Recently?” Marisela asked, knowing the answer already, “You know, with all the…lifting?” 

Stephanie chuckled again hugging her arms together as she swayed back and forth.

Dang she’s adorable, thought Marisela.

“At the gym? Ah, I can’t do what I want anymore,” she answered, before idly picking up her mug and tracing her finger along its lip. “It’s all gotten…too small.”

“Sounds like you might have to find yourself a new gym,” Marisela proposed, sipping her own tea. “There’s that one down the road that everyone’s talking about…”

Stephanie nodded, but didn’t offer any more. Many of the girls, she knew, were gaining powers. But no one talked about it too much.

“It’s okay, it's not that hard to guess,” Marisela offered gently, “I may have heard a little.”

Stephanie paused, unsure of how much she should say. The changes that were happening in her had been unsettling at first. It had all been a bit much, the changes, the urges. They scared her, but they also thrilled her. It was not something she normally talked about much. She looked at Marisela, though - into her bright, piercing blue eyes - and immediately knew that she was dealing with a kindred spirit. It was clear - as everyone knew, even if it was never discussed - that Marisela was dealing with her own private demons.

Stephanie set down her tea, took a breath, and let the words come out.

“I mean, all this time I’ve put in at the gym to build my body, year, and, like, yeah…I got in shape. But I never really got super strong. And then it’s like: boom, just overnight,” she began, “Gains. Like, gains upon gains upon gains. But, like, not just stronger. When I want to, I can get, like….bigger. Like big. Big big big.”

Marisela nodded, making mental notes, subconsciously running her tongue over her eye teeth again. She stayed quiet, eager for Stephanie to continue.

“I’ve been experimenting with it at home,” Stephanie explained, “...what I can do.” The blond fidgeted, hesitating. “It’s pretty fucking scary.”

Marisela nodded again, adopting a gentle tone, “Some of us girls are getting these abilities, these new…powers. You know that. Even he - Dr J -…he’s starting to know it.”

“Yeah,” Stephanie agreed.

“And you know this is all coming from Melissa, right?”

“Yeah,” she nodded, agreeing again.

“So, some of  the girls are getting these abilities to support Melissa, get her new followers, expand the…whatever you want to call it.”

“The Hive?”

“Yeah I guess,” Marisela conceded - though she didn’t love the term. “But then there’s girls like us,” she continued, “You, me, Amelia. Maybe even Brittni and Bobbi. We’re a little different.” 

Stephanie paused, thinking for a moment before she looked at Marisela. In her, despite the dark makeup, the piercings, and the pale skin, she saw herself. Like a mirror image shadowed, reflected in her eyes.

 “So…what are we?” Stephanie asked, her voice having dropped, not knowing if she was ready for the answer..

“We’re weapons,” Marisela answered, immediately.

“W-weapons?” 

“Yes, weapons, whatever. We’re getting strong, dangerous, and we’re going to be asked to do things we haven’t done before, to protect ourselves. To protect Melissa, and to protect him.”

As disturbing as what Marisela was saying sounded, Stephanie wasn’t surprised. Not really anyway. She’d been afraid of it, the urges, the ones she felt when she let herself grow late at night. The thoughts, the fantasies she had, she knew they weren’t natural. But she knew that what Marisela said made sense. “I’ve never hurt anyone in my life…I don’t know if I could do it.”

”I can change that,” Marisela offered, her eyes gleaming as she put her hand delicately on Stephanie's shoulder. A dark thrill ran through both of them.

“Wh-what do you mean?” Stephaine asked, in an innocent tone betrayed by an imbalanced smile slowly creeping across her face.

Marisela took Stephanie by the hand and looked into the blonde young woman’s eyes. ”You and me, Saturday night. We’re going out, for a little practice session.”

Stephanie’s smile widened, her eyes flashed. “Okay,” she agreed.

Marisela’s own eyes glittered in response. “Well then,” she spoke, “it’s a date.”

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thnks to RiF, editor. And, that's not my AI work in the image; found anonymous on the web. Would be happy to credit if anyone knows.