Draw your own conclusion (for Tarrakhash and Blurugirl)

[Blurugirl]

Shahlah Jacobson thought she had a perfect life. Mostly.

See more

Granted, her life hadn't started off perfectly, mostly or otherwise. Her father had become enamored with an Iranian man, and Shahlah had been the result of the romance. But the romance quickly devolved into abuse and control from her biological father, who left her mother and her when Shahlah was five,

No problem. When Shahlah was nine, Shahlah's mother would meet the man who would become Shahlah's stepfather.

See more

Shahlah loved her stepfather. But she loved all her family. Shahlh's stepfather was a commercial artist who still kept tabs with his classical roots. He was successful enough that he could run his own business out of their office. But he also taught an art history class at the local college, and drew "non-commercially", as he called it. And though Shahlah had no talent of her own, her stepfather made sure Shahlah was still introduced to his world. He had not only taught her about different artists and artistic movements throughout history, but also how to appreciate and critically analyze art as a whole.

Shahlah had a good relationship with her mother. Mostly. Well, Shahalah's felt her slightly nerdy mathlete daughter should be outgoing, and she definitely did not appreciate the mostly frumpy, form hiding clothes her eighteen year old daughter wore. But Shahlah still appreciated her mother. Well, things had become strained between Shahlah's mother and stepfather, and she knew her stepfather spent some nights on the couch in his office, but he always said that was because he was working late. And if the two were having problems, they were going to great lengths not to expose their kids to their marital strife.

And Shahlah adored her little five year old brother. Mostly.

Hunter was blonde and blue eyed (the same as everyone else in the family except Shahlah) and was just as sweet as he could be. He would sit by Shahlah on the couch, cuddle up to her, and ask her for a story if she wasn't busy. Or just sit there and be sweet and good if she was busy.

Hunter was perfect. Mostly.

Except Hunter would draw on anything if given a chance. In response to Hunter's artistic exuberance, the walls were painted with wipeable paints, Hunter was given special crayons, and anything you didn't want drawn on, was locked up and put away. Because Hunter would listen and obey about everything except drawing.

Which is where the story begins.

Shahlah's stepfather would keep his office locked, to ensure that Hunter didn't draw on any of the more expensive books he had on his shelves. In addition, all important papers were kept locked in the bottom drawer of the office.

Shahlah and her mother had keys to the office, and Shahlah went into the office one to use the family printer. While she was printing out a paper due on Monday, she noticed the bottom drawer of the desk was ajar. She was about to close the drawer when a folder in it caughter eye. It was titled "Life Drawings." Shahlah immediately knew that meant Nude Sketches. Although she was a modest young woman (overly modest, in her mother's opinion), Shahlah wasn't shocked about the idea of her father making nude sketches. That's what artists did, after all. She would have been more shocked if her father made landscape paintings. He did have curt words about that sort of thing.

Curious, Shahlah pulled out the folder and began flipping through it. She didn't recognize some of the models, of course, but assumed they were student models her father had met at the college. One of the models, though, looked familiar to Shahlah. It took the teen a few minutes to recognize who the nude woman was in those sketches. It was HER!

Shahal was more than a little shocked that her father has been imagining her nude. Well, he had not only been imagining, he had been mentally airbrushing the nude mental image of his stepdaughter. The young woman in these pictures was gorgeous! It was sort of like the optimized version of what Shahlah thought she could ever aspire to.

Probably the only thing her stepfather had not improved on, Shahlah though with a self-conscious smirk, was the size of Shahlah's breasts in the sketches. But then she couldn't really fault her father on that. After all, with the frumpy clothes she made sure she was wearing any time she stepped out of her room, he had no idea on how to guess. The breasts in the sketches looked to be about a cup smaller than Shahlah's D cup.

Still, the part of Shahlah's mind that her stepfather had trained to look at a drawing analytically thought they were good, if woefully inaccurate. So Shahlah took a couple of post its from the desk, wrote some critiques, attached it to the drawings, then returned them to the bottom drawer. This time, though, she made sure the bottom drawer was locked. Hunter definitely didn't need to get to those pictures!

Chuckling, Shahlah locked up her father's office, headed to her bedroom, did a few things on the compute, then called it a night. At ten o'clock on a Friday night, Shahlah was happily asleep in her own bedroom.

 

[Blurugirl]

"I would love that!" Shahlah replied, clapping her hands excitedly. She gave her stepfather a hug around his neck. "So, I know this is like a hobby, and not your job, so do we need to skip weekends or something?"

 

[Tarrakhash]

He slipped his arms around her waist and hugged her back, beaming and when she let go he stepped back,"Don't be silly...this is the most fun I've had in ages."

Laughing he shook his head,"Plus, a little bit of light in my life makes the rest seem so much more bearable. Now help me clean up and then get changed before mom arrives....although I'd love to keep you in that all night she would have questions, you know?"

 

[Blurugirl]

"Yeah," Shahlah said with a sigh. Her mother had seen her in her steampunk outfit, and didn't like it a bit. Shahlah loved her mother, but her mother did not approve of how Shahlah was living her life. She didn't approve of Shahlah's nerdy friends or her frumpy and nerdy clothes or the fact that Shahlah loved nerdy subjects. Shahlah suspected that her mother would be just as upset to see a drawing of Shahlah in a steampunk setting as she would be to see a drawing of Shahlah nude.

Shahlah blushed at the memory of those drawings where her stepfather had imagined her nude. But for some reason, it gave her a little thrill to think of her stepfather imagining her that way. She idly wondered for a moment what it would be like to pose that way for her stepfather for real.

Shahlah immediately banished that thought from her mind, and headed to her room to change out of her favorite dress for something more comfortable.

 

[Tarrakhash]

The truce that had lasted the last two weeks ended with a rather spectacular fight about Hunter's sporting and how much time he spent on it that lasted the first two days of the week, and had simmered down to a cold war by the Friday night. On the plus side Stephen had finished drawing and coloring the steampunk drawing and was very proud of it. On the negative side he had gone out drinking on Friday night because he couldn't handle seeing his wife for any more hours.

So Saturday morning rolled around and a rather tired and hungover Stephen was sitting in his office, but a lovely colored steampunk drawing was sitting on his desk waiting for Shahlah, with a glass of water and aspirin for Stephen.

 

[Blurugirl]

It had been a tense week in the household. Even Hunter had picked up on it. And he had responded by just trying to keep everyone happy.

Shahlah wasn't sure what had sparked the fight between her mother and her stepfather. She was pretty sure it had something to do with the tournament that Hunter was going to this Saturday. Normally, Hunter and her mother would be gone until two in the afternoon, but there was a tournament or seminar or something, and they weren't going to be back until nine that night. Shahlah wasn't sure, but she thought that might have been the trigger point for the running feud that had been going on between the two of them about how Hunter needed to be raised.

Shahlah's stepfather had gone out on Friday night and wasn't home when she went to sleep. Shahlah 's mother had woke her up the next morning to curtly tell her that her stepfather was asleep in his office. Shahlah watched silently as her mother stormed around, casting baleful glares at the door to her stepfather's office, as if daring him to come out.

As soon as her mother left the house, Shahlah used the French press to make a cup of coffee. Still wearing the sweatshirt and sweatpants she had slept in, she carried the cup of coffee to her stepfather's door and knocked on the door. "Dad, are you awake?"

 

[Tarrakhash]

"Yes...", was the curt answer and when she came in he was, he looked worse for wear, his normally neat and tidy clothing was a little rumpled and she was fairly certain he had gone to sleep in the same clothing he had worn last night and was still in them. The sleeper couch was also still folded out, blankets and pillows still strewn on it and him sitting in his rumpled clothing looking tired.

He smiled when she walked in, and even more broadly when he saw the coffee,"Ahhh, you are a saint my girl...bring that over here, then cast your eye on the colored results of last Saturday's work." Once he had the coffee he took a long sip and smiled broadly,"And what is our little project today, my darling? Something exotic like your steampunk outfit?"

 

[Blurugirl]

"To be honest, I thought we might take today off, just let you rest," Shahlah said. She hadn't even looked at the drawing yet. Her attention and worry was also focused on her stepfather. "No offense, Dad, but you looked like death that hasn't gotten microwaved yet."

 

[Tarrakhash]

He blinked, and smiled a little,"If you want....I suppose, I kind of...well....." He shrugged,"Yeah, okay, that's fine." He ran his hands over his face,"Well, I better get showered, that will make me feel a little more human." Shaking his head he stood up, waved a hand at her before taking another sip of the coffee, clearly trying very hard not to look disappointed before heading upstairs to the main shower and bathroom. It didn't take long before she heard the shower start.

 

[Blurugirl]

Shahlah watched her stepfather leave, being absolutely clueless at his disappointment. She was, however, pretty sure that there were a lot of problems between him and her mother.

That was when she spotted the drawing of her from last week, complete with steampunk background.

It was a little heavy on the gears, she thought, but she liked it. No, she absolutely loved it. She was poring over the details, becoming completely absorbed in the world her stepfather had created, and wanting to ask what movies and books he had lifted his ideas from. So absorbed was Shahlah, that she never heard the shower turn on in the distance.

 

[Tarrakhash]

The shower was quick and effective, he came back down and made his way into the kitchen. New clothing on and a much fresher look about him, he grabbed some fruit and some OJ before walking back into his office, moving up behind her he threw an arm over her shoulders,"She turned out pretty good, right? Not as pretty as the original, but she's the adventurer Shay, I'm sure she's doing something super important and saving the day, right?"

Looking down at he sighed and moved to start clearing up the couch bed,"So, how you doing? This hasn't been the easiest week, but you seem to be holding up okay?"

 

[Blurugirl]

Shahlah nodded. "Hunter is holding up, but you know how he is. He wants to keep everyone happy. So, you and Mom..." Shahlah paused, before asking. "Is this temporary between you, or permanent?"

 

[Tarrakhash]

Stephen sighed, stopping what he was doing and sitting on the bed, patting the bed next to him,"Come here..." He waited till she sat next to him, normally he wouldn't tell her everything but he was tired, hungover and sick and tired of defending his wife. So he put his arm around her,"Listen, Shay, your Mom and I have been fighting for years we'll likely figure it out, but a couple years ago when you went into High School the real problem started. She wanted to send you to boarding school, to try and force you out of your shell, I didn't want you to be away from the family....or me, you were my first child.....even though you weren't, you know."

Shrugging he said,"And I know this sounds terribly but she kind of blames me for you not being more social and figuring stuff out. I've worked with enough kids in college to know you'll figure it out in your own time...and I managed to convince her of that a few years ago, but now she's sure I messed up and she's going to make sure she does Hunter right...and you know how stubborn she can be once she get's an idea in her head?"

He reached up and stroked her face,"Don't worry, this family is more important to me than my pride....I just..well I think she's wrong and she knows it and we just can't agree but..." He shook his head,"I'll figure it out, Shay, I'll figure it out." He certainly hoped so, he couldn't bare to be parted from Hunter and Shahlah...especially now he was building this special bond with Shahlah. Dropping his hand to her lap he patted her leg,"Any questions? Fire away, I think you're old enough to know what's going on..."

 

[Blurugirl]

Shahlah sighed. She loved her mother. She really did. But she could be so superficial. Take Hunter, for example. He was the sweetest little boy in the world, and his teachers raved about him. But in his mother's eyes, Hunter could only be successful if he were an athlete, one who she could point to on the field. And Shahlah was taking every science and math AP class in her school, and had lots of friends. But not the right friends as far as her mother was concerned. And Shahlah didn't want to parade half naked in public wearing thousand dollar shoes. Her sweatshirts and sneakers were very comfortable, thankyouverymuch.

So when her stepfather told her about her mother wanting to ship her off to boarding school, it didn't surprise her. It didn't even piss her off It just made her kind of sad, and make her wish her mother could see that Shahlah was both happy and successful just the way she was.

Shahlah did have some questions, but was too afraid to ask. So she just said, "No, I know you and Mom will figure it out." She put her hand over his hand on her leg and smiled back at him.

 

[Tarrakhash]

Giving her leg a squeeze he leaned forward and kissed her cheek,"Thank you for your support. I think in would have given up weeks ago if it wasn't for you and our little drawing sessions....as strangely as they started out."

He looked a little guilty at the drawer where there were still naked pictures of his imaginings locked up and then back at her,"Let me get like an hour or so to nap and drink some water and I'm sure I'll be fine to draw something else....I was kind of looking forward to what you were planning on wearing today..."

 

[Blurugirl]

"Ok, that'll give me time to get dressed up," Shahlah said with a laugh and wink as she stood up. "I'll see you in an hour Dad."

 

[Tarrakhash]

Some water, some medication and a 45 minute nap and Stephen didn't feel every year of his 52 years. In fact he was looking through the various pictures he had drawn over the last few sessions with Shahlah and had even left his office door open this time.

He knew that it would just be the two of them for a few more hours and there was a part of him that secretly wished it could always be the two of them. He loved Hunter to the ends of the earth but Hunter came with his mother and the problems she bought.

In a perfect world just him and Shay would be wonderful, they just connected better when her mother wasn't around.

 

[Blurugirl]

Shahlah was not the fashion expert that her mother was, but she was a geek. A geek who was overly modest and an eye for detail and who his historic readings of Ancient Greece and Rome were highly influenced by movies and graphic novels, but still a geek. So when she had decided to do a costume for one of her drawings with her stepfather, she researched wikipedia on one hand, and the Percy Jackson wiki on the other;

So she decided to be a Greek something. She wasn't sure what, but a Greek something.

She toyed with being a leather clad warrioress, but that's not who she ever did for online and real time gaming. Then she came across a costume online that caught her eye. At first, it was a little too much for her, but after some thought, she decided to go for it. After all, it wasn't really that revealing, and it was only her stepfather, and anyway he had imagined her naked.

See more

Just the thought of that fact woud make Shahlah blush.

But when she got the costume, she was presented with a problem. She couldn't wear it. Well, she could wear it, but then what to about underwear. Anything she wore would be visible. But she could not wear underwear, because the dress was semi-translucent, and even if you couldn't see stuff through the dress, you'd be able to see the shape of same stuff. Especially if it got cold.

So she did some research and got panties and bras that matched her skin tone. And she got the strapless, backless, stick on kind of bra, and tested it, to make sure it wouldn't come off. And then she trimmed herself down there, which she did anyway, for her swimsuit, even though the only people who ever saw her in her swimsuit were other women at the pool at the all women's gym. And she noticed when she looked at herself hard in the mirror, she could just see the shape of her adhesive cups and the outline of her panties. But otherwise it looked authentic. Authentic in that it was a movie/history mash sort of thing, with emphasis on the movie half.

So Shahlah got her hair right, the dress right, the wraps right and, satisfied, went downstairs and knocked on the door to her father's office.

 

[Tarrakhash]

The door was open, but she knocked anyway, Stephen smiled at her excellent manners and then turned to look and for the first time he didn't at all regret imagining her naked she was...amazing and he felt his pale skin color as he blushed his eyes sliding up and down and for a long moment he did nothing but stare like he was nothing more than a stupid 21 year old again.

Eventually he shook his head and gave a half snort,"Well....let's just say I'm rather sad that my younger self didn't meet you at a comic con or something. You look ravishing, Shay..."

He blinked, maybe ravishing was a poor choice of words, he stepped forward deciding to just go with it walking around her examining the costume and reaching out to touch parts that caught his eye, he ran a finger over the collar and smiled,"Whew...that's a nice touch." He looked at the arm bands, looking particularly at the contrast in color between her skin and the band and he knelt down and ran his hand along her calves admiring the wrapping and the shoe,"You really outdid yourself...."

Shaking his head he said,"You'll have to stand for this one...I have to capture all the details." Moving her to the spot he wanted he pushed her hips, tilting them to a jaunty angle, putting her hand on it and rolling her shoulders back somewhat to emphasize her bust, walking around her again he lifted the cord dangling down her back his fingers grazing her rear slightly,"This looks important...like if I pull it the whole thing comes apart." He gave it a light tug just to tease her and then moved to his stool,"Let me know when your legs get tired."

As usual he drew rapidly, excitedly almost feverishly and as accurately as possible. There was a brief moment when he thought of adding in the shape details her carefully selected under wear had blocked but that was not his deal and it was dark by the time he sighed and spun the picture around,"I'll never capture how gorgeous you look but it's as good as my skills will allow."

 

[Blurugirl]

Shahlah's face was literally glowing red at all the attention she was getting from her stepfather, both verbal and physical. She had noticed that he gotten very touchy with her since their drawing sessions had begun. Not that she was complaining. She understood it was part of the creative process. Still, it was a bit discomfiting. But also a bit flattering and thrilling, she admitted to herself.

And when she felt her stepfather's fingers lightly brush against her backside, she felt sure her knees would give out.

She did laugh, somewhat embarrassed, when he tugged on the cord, and slapped his hand playfully. "That's just decorative. Trust me, nothing is coming off accidentally."

When her stepfather finished, she gasped then clapped excitedly at the finished product. "I think I look gorgeous in these pictures because of your skills." She paused before adding, "Speaking of Comic Con, maybe we can do a superheroine costume? Like Captain Marvel or Wonder Woman. My generation's Wonder Woman, not yours," she added. Truth be told, Shahlah hadn't been a big Captain Marvel fan until all the trolls came out of the woodwork and started giving it negative reviews even before it came out in theaters. Then she became an adamant MCU Captain Marvel fan. "Of course, I wouldn't want you to to fill obliged to do the background like you did with Steampunk Shahlah," she teased.

 

[Tarrakhash]

Laughing at her slightly he smiled,"No, you wouldn't be my Shay if you hadn't thought of everything and had it secured properly..." Still would have been amusing if it had slid off....in an improper embarrassing kind of way.

He snorted,"You look gorgeous in these pictures because you are gorgeous and for no other reason. I'm just an old, slow camera capturing the beauty I see " His smile grew at her suggestion and he nodded,"You are already a wonder so Wonder Woman would be excellent....I'll say I prefer your generations Wonder Woman anyway."

Laughing he waved a hand at her,"I am obliged to do nothing but what my art, and my heart, tells me to do...." He gave her a wink,"This one I think looks better in pencil...Wonder Woman...well that might need to be color!"

 

[Blurugirl]

"I can get a Wonder Woman costume for next weekend," Shahlah said thoughtfully. "You remember my friend Sarai Cohen, don't you?"

See more

Sarai Cohen had been over at the house several times, and Shahlah considered the other girl her best friend. Although Sarai's coloring was almost the exact opposite of Shahlah's, the two couldn't be more alike. They seemed to take turns at winning the top math and science awards at their school, both were very modest and withdrawn, except within their own crowd, and both had the same nerdy tastes. Shahlah's mother disliked Sarai for a number of reasons, though she kept her dislike from her daughter. One of the reasons Shahlah's mother disliked Sarai was she felt that Sarai reinforced Shahlah's personality type, which Shahlah's mother was desperately trying to break. Another reason Shahlah's mother disliked Sarai was that Sarai was like Shahlah. She didn't realize what a great beauty she was, but Shahlah's mother did. And Shahlah's mother believed that no one should be around her daughter who could potentially take the spotlight from her daughter.

"Well, Sarai's working at her uncle's game store, you know the big semi-warehouse on Kennedy?" Shahlah said. "Anyway. they've got costumes and such. I can call her and go there next Wednesday. Do you think I could show her the steam;punk picture?" Shahlah said. "That's the only one I would show her. Or talk about," Shahlah added emphatically.

 

[Tarrakhash]

He nodded, because of course if her mom didn't like her he did...for all the same reasons he smiled at her request,"Yes of course...they are yours. I keep them because....others wouldn't understand as much." Meaning her mother wouldn't, "But yeah, as long as you're comfortable showing that to her go right ahead."

Her emphasis made him breath a sigh he hadn't known he was holding in. Those nude pictures could still get him in a lot of trouble but he couldn't find it in his heart to throw them away.

Chuckling he said,"Didn't you make her go to like four or five steampunk things just to use that dress, with the shawl?" He had been thinking about that dress and finally put together where he had seen it,"You need some money for the costumes?"

 

[Blurugirl]

"Well, I'm just going to borrow it," Shahlah said. Which is what Sarai's uncle, who owned the store, would say. Unlike Shahlah's mother, Sarai's uncle thoroughly approved of Sarai's friendship with Shahlah. To that end, Sarai's uncle allowed the two to take costumes rent free, with the caveat that they returned the costumes clean and undamaged. The fact that both girls steered clear of the more "slutty" costumes was a big bonus.

"So I'll just take the picture out on Wednesday, and sneak it back in when Mom's not here. I've got incredible ninja skills, you know," Shahlah said, making comical karate style motions. "She'll never see me sneaking by."

 

[Tarrakhash]

Stepehen nodded, and then chuckled at the karate motions,"Oh boy...I see a ninja turtle costume in the offing. Not sure you could convince me to draw that..." He waved at her to go and then stopped reaching out to grab the top part of her arm,"Thank you, Shay, I know you don't think so but I appreciate and enjoy these sessions they keep me sane!"

And he had another week before he could enjoy more sanity.

 

[Blurugirl]

"So what have you got for me?" Sarai asked.

Shahlah had asked her friend Sarai on Monday if she could come by the store to get a costume for the weekend. When Sarai asked what the costume was for, and could she come, Shahlah just smiled and said, "You'll see."

So of course Sarai bugged Shahlah every day until Wednesday and Shahlah refused to answer her. Not that anyone at school noticed the exchange. Sarai and Shahlah were just two nerdy girls who their peers thought might be cute if they tried. And of course, the way Sarai and Sasha kept to themselves, and the oversized clothes they wore, kept their peers clueless about how hot the two young women were.

So finally, about an hour after the end of school on Wednesday, Shahlah brought in a covered folder.

"Check this out," Shahlah said, revealing the colored Steampunk drawing her stepfather had done.

"THIS...IS...AWESOME!" Sarai said. She was almost drooling over the picture. "And your stepfather did this?"

"Yeah, Dad teaches along with his regular job, and doing stuff like this keeps his skills up." Shahlah didn't even consider telling Sarai about the incident which had prompted the drawing sessions in the first place.

"I would love to have your Dad draw me in my steampunk outfit. Hey, do you think he would?" Sarai asked. "Wait a minute, is that why you need a costume for? He's going to draw you as a superhero? Who is going to draw you as?"

"He's leaning toward Wonder Woman. Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman," Shahlah added. "I don't know, though. I'm still considering MCU Captain Marvel."

"I would so love to get my picture drawn by your dad in costume! Do you think he would draw me?" Sarai asked. "Hey, that would be an idea. You could dress as Wonder Woman, I'd be Captain Marvel."

"No crossovers," Shahlah said in a mock serious tone. Shahlah thought about her friend's request. On one hand, she would really like to do this with her best friend. On the other hand, she knew her stepfather was kind of skittish about the drawings. And considering his drawings of her imagined nudity, she understood why he was like that. But still...

Maybe this would be something they could do if both girls just showed up in costume. Fait accompli.

"Well, I think Dad wants to keep this just between him and me," Shahlah said. When she saw Saria's crestfallen face, she added, "But if we keep this just among ourselves, I bet he'd love to do it. We just have to keep all the finished drawings in his office."

"Excellent!" Sarai enthused.

"Let me give him a call," Shahlah continued.

"Hey Dad, do you think it would be okay for Sarai to come over Friday night?" Shahlahh asked on the phone. "She'll be gone on Saturday morning." Shahlah hoped her Dad understood that she was telling him that they were still going to be doing their drawing session as scheduled. She just hoped he wouldn't be too upset when she sprung Sarai on him at the last minute.