Blair v. United States (Liminal & NudieUnicorn)

[Liminal]

space If Adam had to pick a spot to receive bad news, he could certainly think of worse than Ruby's. Was he allowed to call it that? He wasn't sure if he qualified as enough of a regular--he only knew about the nickname because Brie had told him. Unbidden, an image filled his mind of patrons gaping at him in shocked silence, someone pointing and crying "outsider!" and everyone forcing him into the center of a ceremonial circle while the bartender brandished a paddle. A snorting gigglefit overtook him, and he knew he must look very silly, walking down the street laughing at apparently nothing.

space Come on, she said it was good news. Relax. Well, if it was good for both of them, why keep him in suspense? Why make him come all the way here? What could it be that they'd need to revise their roommate agreement for? He wanted to think if Brie had to move out early, she'd at least have the courtesy to find a subletter for him. But he'd wanted to think that about Jeff, too. Not that that was the only reason he didn't want to think about Brie leaving. Really, it was only now he realized how much he'd gotten to enjoy living with her, muddy footprints notwithstanding.

space Her bouncing around in that tiny little robe and screaming loud enough to rattle the windows when she masturbates have nothing to do with that, of course. Well, was it so wrong to appreciate a friend feeling that comfortable with him? Adam knew he could stand to learn a thing or two from Brie about relaxing in his own home.

space The light spilling from the entrance to Ruby's managed to cheer him up; even if he didn't like what Brie had to say, he'd rather hear it with a beer in one hand and one of those incredible chicken sandwiches in the other. Besides which, with September underway, it was finally cool enough for his favorite leather jacket, the one he always felt like a million bucks in. As the buzz from the speakers and chatter enfolded him, he stretched up on tiptoe and scanned around to see if Brie had already gotten seats. It was then that he spotted something that made him do a double-take. Seated in one of the booths, a group of two women and two men about his age...were they...

space Adam screwed his eyes shut, waited a second, opened them again. What the crap? There was no doubt: all four of the patrons were stark naked...well, except for a beret on one of the girls. A second too late, Adam realized he was standing rooted to the spot, staring, and managed to wrench his gaze away. Headlines and sound bytes were flashing through his head--landmark Supreme Court ruling, dogged legal campaign by naturist communities, essential rights and freedoms. When the case had first made the news, he'd listened for a minute with mild interest before tuning it out. Sure, there were countries out there where public nudity had been a recognized right for years, but this was America, it wasn't part of the culture here. Even if it was legal, no one would actually act on it. Well, it seemed he'd underestimated just how many nudists there were in Gable City. He wanted to be happy for them, but at the moment, it was taking all his willpower not to rubberneck.

space There were several empty stools at the bar, so he grabbed one. Greg was working tonight, and offered a wave which Adam returned. "Hey, I'll be right there!"

space "Take your time!" Adam insisted. He used the time it took Greg to make his way over to check out the draft menu, managing to wrench his mind further from the booth full of naked people when he saw they'd started serving their fall selection. "Can I do the Oktoberfest?"

space Greg already had a glass en route to the tap. "You got it."

space Before Adam could think of a conversation to strike up, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Bracing himself for the worst, he turned...

 

[NudieUnicorn]

​

space Gabrielle threw her black high-heels in the garbage, followed soon by her stockings. It was... catharsis. For three years now she had worked as a corporate accountant, and each day of it, she'd hated the outfits and shoes she had to wear for the job in order to "maintain corporate professionalism". With the meeting she had just come from, she learned she no longer had to worry about corporate cultural clothing ever again. It was tempting to strip down right there on the street in front of her office building and throw all of her work clothes in the garbage, but the frugal accountant side of her told her that it was better not to. She might need good clothes if she were going out of the country or to visit conservative relatives or... It was really tempting to throw them away right there and then, but she resisted the urge.
space Instead, Brie focused on the positive. Leaving the public trashcan on the corner, she walked, barefoot on the clean(-ish) sidewalk, feeling the city grit and stony coolness of the cement under her feet as she walked to the lightrail platform. She just made the platform as the train came to a stop. The yellow tiles were bumpy and uniquely textured under her feet, she'd never ridden public transportation barefoot before. The floors inside of the train were a series of raised plastic lines with rounded edges - it felt like walking over those rubber shower tiles in the locker rooms of public pools. Another new sensual experience. How long would it take for all these new sensations to become commonplace, she wondered.
space Brie held her smart-bracelet up to the scanner box until it beeped, and took a seat. She sat with her attache case, a gift from her parents when she got the job at the firm. Oh wow, she'd need to tell her parents that she wasn't going to be wearing clothes anymore... well, they pretty much already knew her proclivities and would assume that she was going to take advantage of the Supreme Court decision... More importantly, she'd need to reconsider her accessories, now that she wouldn't have to worry about matching accessories like her bags and purses, jewelry, hair fasteners, etc. to her clothes. Basically, she thought as she held the soft leather case on her lap, she had designed her current work outfits around the case, would it still work without the outfit? What else could she do now?
space Brie looked up at the advertisements that lined the carriage walls up at the ceiling. She saw the commuter pass advert, and smiled. She had seen it that morning, wondered how long they had had to decide to make the stock card insert in advance of the court ruling. The advert was of an idealized image of a Gable City lightrail carriage interior, with happy, clean cut people (models) on their way to work, dressed in business formal, business casual, at least one barista and one lady, holding a disposable to-go coffee cup, wearing earbuds and nothing else, just casually on her way to work, completely naked. That would be her come Monday, Brie enthused.
space Suddenly she had a thought. She held up her smart-bracelet and projected the time on her wrist - it was still early (she often got out early on Fridays) and Adam would still be at work. She would have the apartment to herself.
space Brie touched her ear-pod. "Call Adam," she said, and it obligingly dialed Adam's number. "Hey, yeah, it's me. Hey, um... Great news! Sort of a surprise - no, it's good news! But we're going to have to talk about our roommate agreement, can - uh, no, trust me. Meet me at Ruby's right after work...? Yeah, okay, see you then... Bye." She tapped her ear-pod again, hanging up.
space It was a short ride on the loop till she reached her apartment. It was in a great part of town - Brie considered herself extremely lucky to find Adam right when he was looking for a roommate and right when she was looking for a place to live. It was one of those neighbourhoods where they had cages around the trees made of black-pained wrought iron. Some civil engineer must have thought it was a good idea at some point, she assumed, but who and how were beyond her. She stepped off the platform and down the street to the apartment. The sidewalk was cold under her feet, sandy, with glittering mica in the pale cement surface. There was some leaf-litter on the ground, but no trash, no used syringes or dog shit or hobos - which is what she had come to expect living in San Francisco. Here the streets were swept and clean (aside from some chalk art the neighbourhood kids must have done). She was well used to the feel of the sidewalk in this part of town without shoes, there was a park she liked to run barefoot through nearby.
space Buzzing herself up with her smart-bracelet, Brie took the elevator up and ran into the apartment, so excited she almost forgot to clean her feet. It had been a habit she was trying to get out of - after her barefoot hikes or runs she had a habit of tracking the outside inside, and Adam, thoughtful roommate that he was, was now keeping a container of wet-wipes and a little garbage can by the shoe-tree in the vestibule. She looked down at the shoe-tree and reveled in the fact that she would soon get to throw all the uncomfortable shoes out. Maybe she'd keep some of the sandals for those stores that would require her to wear shoes, assuming she wasn't able to find enough stores that would let her shop barefoot and naked.
space She shucked off her clothes, throwing them on the sofa (or the floor beside the sofa by accident) and left them where they fell. She ran to her room and studied herself in the full length mirror, free at last of clothing's constrictive grasp. She had her hair pulled back tight in a bun, a topknot really, wrapped around a ponytail. She unpinned and unwrapped the strands of her ponytail and shook it out, ran her fingers through it to bring it back together. She liked her ponytail down, but it looked more "corporate" to wear it up. She wore her long, dark brown hair in a high ponytail, wrapped around itself and held in place with bobby pins. She struck several poses. She loved her body, she thought her figure was almost where she wanted it. She cursed clothes for making her lax in her work-out routine, and praised the fact that this would no longer be a concern. In the mirror she cupped and caressed her breasts, admiring them with new eyes, thinking about wearing them free and exposed at work: not too large, not itty-bitty, high and perky - they tended to disappear into the suits she wore to work, finally she could show them off. Maybe Alice from advertising would notice her now... she laughed at the thought of guys complementing her on her "outfit" while (obviously) looking at her breasts, liberated from their brazier at last.
space Her skin was tanned and dark compared to how it had been in San Francisco, mostly because Jefferson had more sunlight than Northern California (though the State of Jefferson was further north? She didn't understand micro-climates, and briefly wondered if anyone did). Her Filipina grandmother had given her the ability to to tan to a lovely golden brown. She strutted in front of her mirror, flaunting her hips, proud she had no tan lines (which wasn't easy with how fast her skin tanned, one hike with shorts and her thighs would become a shade darker without sunscreen.
space Her face was V-shaped, with a shapely chin and strong cheekbones. She cupped her chin between her thumb and forefinger, winked at her reflection and gave herself the "finger-gun" salute with her other hand.
space Then she noticed her pubes... and her arm-pit hair... For her twenty-first birthday her mother had gotten her laser-hair removal sessions for her legs. Because of how mush she preferred to wear skirts and how much she hated shaving. But the rest of her...
space With a sigh, she realized there was only one thing for it. She checked the time and tromped into the bathroom. Half an eternity later (or maybe it was only a few minutes, time was funny when Brie had to do things she didn't want to) she came back out into the bedroom, seeing not a shrubbery under each arm and a thicket between her legs, but smooth shaved skin. She would probably need to keep up her shaving to look "hygienic" for work, as her boss had called it at the meeting describing the new "undress code" for those who choose not to wear clothes. She sighed... stroking the skin of her mound, slick with the lotion she had used to soothe the area and avoid razor burn. She did another full inspection, turning completely around twice. Her butt... Should she bleach her asshole? She bent over at the waist, looking at her reflection upside down from between her legs. They hadn't mentioned that at the meeting... but hers didn't look like the cute pink pucker she saw on pornstars. She'd had an ex-girlfriend and fellow nudist who swore by the process. Curious back when they were dating, she'd even helped her do it once... With a shrug she made the decision to give it a try this weekend.
space Her wrist was buzzing and there was a light chirruping in her ear. Checking the time again, she swore. She needed to meet Adam at Ruby's.
space Then a thought struck her with a panic. The effect she was going for would be ruined if she had to haul a purse to this meeting, and she didn't have a clutch purse, at least not one that she liked... Calming herself she went over the list of things she actually had to bring. Her smart-bracelet could open the door to the building and the door to the apartment, though she did have an actual key in her attache case as a backup. She had opted for the hand-chip implant for her ID, though, of course, she had her physical ID card in her wallet which she normally carried in her attache case or purse. She could pay with smart-pay using her smart-bracelet at Ruby's, and... unless she needed cash for something, she could literally just wear her ear-pod and her smart-bracelet and nothing else, take nothing else. She hadn't redone her makeup from work, but it looked... mostly fine, uh... maybe she could redo it a little, as the black lipstick was rather severe.
space This was going to guarantee Adam was going to arrive before her, but at least she would have a more natural lip colour when she did get there.
space Leaving her front door, start naked, was a treat, the air conditioning in the hallway felt like a gentle breeze as she padded barefoot over the dark grey carpet - the kind of thing landlords put in hallways they expected to have a lot of furniture dragged through. She'd never ridden the elevator naked before either, she struck poses for all the infinite versions of herself she saw in the mirrors within mirrors that were supposed to make claustrophobic people more comfortable when they took elevators. On the ground floor... she was within sight of the tinted windows to the outside... she stepped toward them, feet making soft padding noises on the linoleum...
space Stepping outside, into the brisk late afternoon air... she felt an explosion of sensation, she could feel the breeze, really feel it all over. She could feel the weak rays of the sun through the clouds, warming her a little even as the breeze chilled her and gave her goose-skin.
space She chose to stand on her first naked lightrail trip, not trusting the late day seats on her nice clean butt. She smiled serenely at the nude model in the advert above her. When she got to Ruby's (actually it was called Rooty's, but the owner, the wife of Rooty who was now unfortunately deceased, was named Ruby, so regulars called it Ruby's place, or just Ruby's) she hopped off into the even cooler, now early evening air. For a moment she shivered but quickly acclimated - being a nudist she had been camping and hiking so many times in forests and shorelines it was very hard to make her uncomfortably cold while naked. She went into Ruby's.
space Ruby wasn't open on Monday's, and, on those days, the staff kept the metal shutter down in front of the large picture window at the front and had an invitation-only mixer for nudists, Ruby and some members of her staff being nudists themselves. She wondered if those Monday mixers would continue now that they could be nude together every day of the week, legally... Turning around, she marveled at how nice it was to be naked in Ruby's with the window open to the street... Looking back at the crowd - the Friday crowd - she saw there were some other nudist. And she recognized some of them form the Monday Night Mixers!
space And there was Adam! She walked over to him, his back to her. She waved at Greg Patel, the bartender, who waved, laughed, clapped his hands and pointed at her saying "Yeah! You strut, girl! Good on you!"
space She gave Greg a runway strut as she walked past him to the other end of the bar where Adam was, a few patrons also clapped or cheered or made lewd comments - she didn't care at this point, she was too ecstatic about her new-found freedom. Standing behind her roommate, she tapped him on the shoulder and spread her arms wide. When he turned around she was standing with feet well apart, and arms fully extended at either side, hands spread with fingers splayed in the "jazz-hands!" gesture. She said, with a big smile on her face, "Surprise!"

space​

 

[Liminal]

space Seeing Greg applauding and calling out to whoever was behind him, Adam had half a second to be surprised and a little displeased. He didn't know Greg that well, but he wouldn't have figured him for the type to be catcalling customers. Before his brain had time to come up with the possibility that maybe it was a joke between friends, he felt the tap summoning his attention.

space He registered Brie's face first. "Oh, hey! Were you..." He was pretty sure he'd been about to ask whether she'd already been here when he'd arrived, but whatever words to that effect were on their way, they died on his lips. Brie was...he did another double take. Nope, no change. Before his eyes, and those of everyone else in the restaurant, Brie was standing there with nothing on but her bracelet and earpiece.

space "Uh..." Adam's mouth worked soundlessly. He had the overwhelming feeling he was expected to say something, but just what refused to come to him. Hadn't he had this dream before? The one where he was in some situation that felt completely bizarre to him, but everyone else seemed to think it was perfectly normal, and he was the only one who didn't know how to act? There had to be some obvious explanation for this that he just wasn't seeing, like when he'd freak out looking for his phone without realizing it was in his hand until someone pointed it out to him.

space It wasn't as if Adam was shocked by the sight of a naked woman; he wasn't that hopeless, at least. He'd even seen Brie pretty much naked before, just the one time, when she'd breezed into the living room with her robe open. Even with her impeccable timing, choosing the one day his parents had stopped by to visit, he couldn't have put that image out of his mind if he'd wanted to. She shaved. Somehow, that fact made it to his frontal lobe. Was he staring? No, thank God--his eyes had darted down for a second, but now they were once more on her face. As soon as he realized that, he couldn't stop them from moving back down again, not even to leer, just to confirm one more time that he wasn't imagining what he'd seen. Once more, the shapes of her body filled his vision, her slender shoulders, her breasts--every bit as incredible as he'd remembered, a strange relief to know he hadn't distorted them in his mind--her skin sun-kissed from head to toe, no lines...that last bit seemed significant somehow, but he couldn't put it together.

space Fuck. Eyes up.

space Really, though, he wasn't in the habit of getting tongue-tied around a naked woman. But...well, for fuck's sake, look where they were! This just wasn't making any kind of sense.

space Finally, the gears in his head ground back into motion enough to make his mouth sort of work. "Okay, is this a prank?"

 

[NudieUnicorn]

space Brie burst out laughing at the suggesting and lowered her hands to her hips. "No! You goof!" she poked Adam in the shoulder and walked around him to the adjacent bar stool, her smile beaming. "This is what I needed to talk to you about. I'm a nudist set free by the big decision." She caught Greg's attention with a wave of her hand. "I get a wick, Greg...? The blue towels by the register, yeah, thanks." As she spoke she held her other hand on the vacant bar stool but did not sit. When Greg found the folded blue cloths by the register, and held one out to her, she leaned over the bar and the stool to grab it, so that she was practically laying her upper body down on the bar counter's surface. She then stood up, spread the blue unfolded cloth on the seat and sat on it.
space "There," Brie sighed, swiveling to look at Adam.
space Greg never worked the Monday Mixers and, probably, Brie thought, didn't know what those little blue towels were for until now. "Oh!" Brie had another thought while Greg was near; "Could I get a Heineken, please? Thanks."
space With her right arm, she leaned on the bar counter, making a half-reclined pose and grinning at Adam. After a moment, she gestured to her body with her other hand. "What do you think? I mean, you must have known I don't like clothes and shoes. At least now I'm hoping there wouldn't be such awkwardness when I'm wearing skimpy outfits around the apartment or when you have company, because I won't be wearing any of those anymore - or anything else!" she laughed, more to herself and her own inner giddiness at being able to say that. More too herself than to Adam, her eyes drifting off to look at nothing for a minute, she said: "I'm never going to wear clothes again." She paused, drinking in the gravity of that, her face fading to serene contemplation...
space Then she remembered she was in the middle of talking to someone and her eyes snapped back to Adam. "Oh, right, so..." She got her serious face on. "I know this is sudden, and I totally understand if you're, you know, not cool with it, but I just thought, given that this is a big change in the living situation, that I let you know when I stand, and ask you if you are... uh, you know, okay with my new lifestyle? That you're okay living with a nudist? I understand if you need to set- oh thanks, Greg, cheers," she interrupted herself as Greg brought their drinks. She picked up her Heineken and held it up to Adam. "Cheers!" she took a brief swig.
space She looked down at the green bottle, a little grin on her face. "My first beer as a liberated nudist..." she smiled a grin so large she hugged herself with her free arm and made a little squeak of glee, kicking her bare feet against the lower rung of the bar-stool. "Sorry, I'm just really excited. Okay, so, I know this is out of the blue for you, and if you want to set some new ground rules, you're name is on the lease, and I totally get it..."
She crossed her legs and sat up in a serious posture, with her serious by friendly "business face" on.
space The only thing that gave away she was nervous was how her fingers, other than her thumb and forefinger, were drubbing quietly against the green glass of her Heineken. "So... what do you think, honestly, I want to know how you really feel," her expression became almost apologetic in anticipation of bad news from her roommate...

​

 

[Liminal]

space With each word Brie said, Adam's brain regained more function, and it slowly sunk in that no, this wasn't a dream, or a prank, and no one was about to leap out and point at him and yell "gotcha!" Well, really, he supposed it wasn't too late for that, but if Brie was willing to go this far just to punk him, and he fell for it, she'd earned that fair and square.

space Even so, what she was saying was...a lot to take in, to say the least. She's a nudist. Adam started by repeating that to himself, trying to absorb it. Brie was sitting there next to him, totally naked, in front of all these people, and that wasn't something that bothered her. It was easy to tell how true that was--he couldn't remember the last time she'd looked this happy. Fuck, what kind of bizarro reality had he fallen into, where suddenly his neighborhood was apparently full of people who couldn't wait for the chance to strip? At the same time, though...well, he had to admit, it made a certain amount of sense. If he'd had to pick a type of person as most likely to be a naturist, Brie would pretty much be it.

space A little too late, he realized she'd stopped talking, and was expecting him to say something. How do I really feel about this? Shit, about what? Her being naked right now? Even that still barely felt real, much less the idea of her being that way at home, all the time...it was too much to even begin to process just then. The only thing he could do was just focus on the moment. "Uh...well, shit," he began, eloquent as usual. "I mean, this is...a lot, obviously."

space Deep breath. Focus. She's just naked. No big deal. He'd been staring down at the bar, into his beer, but now he managed to bring his eyes up to meet Brie's. He was a little surprised to realize he felt no urge to gawk at her body--probably that would come later, when it actually started to sink in that she was really naked in front of him. Fuck, she really sounded serious, she wanted to do this all the time! "I guess...I mean, I'm not that surprised," he admitted, a chuckle rising unbidden--this whole situation was so nuts, he couldn't help but laugh. "It seems on-brand, for you." Breathe. "So, like...you're saying you've been a naturist this whole time? Why'd you never tell me before?" Now that he was starting to absorb the truth, he was remembering all the days Brie had spent in the apartment in that little robe--had she been uncomfortable all that time, having to cover up? "I would've been fine if you'd wanted to be naked at home," Adam found himself saying, right before he realized how that probably sounded. "Uh, wait, I mean, not--not like that!" he blurted, face burning. "Shit, that sounded creepy, I don't...I mean, like, if that's how you're comfortable..." And now came the urge to stare, fucking perfect. He took a long pull of his beer to wrench his gaze away.

space That line of thought was a trap, so he forced his brain onto a different track, once again staring down at the bar. "Okay, just...just lemme get this right. You're saying you want to be naked in the apartment from now on? All the time?" Adam tried to picture it. Sitting across the table from Brie at breakfast, and she was naked. On the couch in the living room, watching TV, and she was naked. Her coming out of the shower, just walking out into the hallway, not bothering to put on a towel.... Well, first of all, he was glad to be sitting at an angle where she couldn't see his crotch. Yet at the same time, something about the images made his stomach twist. Could he really be okay with that? Would he always be embarrassed, distracted? How long could he go without looking at her the wrong way, and she'd be upset and hurt, and he would've fucked things up?

space But...well, seeing her sitting there now, shining with joy, so obviously over the moon about being free to express herself this way now...fuck, what kind of an asshole would he be if he complained about that?

space One last deep breath. "I mean...yeah, sure, that's fine. Whatever you wanna do." There, now he'd really done it.

 

[NudieUnicorn]

space Brie deflated from her "serious business posture" to an exaggerated look of relief, the back of her hand dragging over her forehead as if wiping away imaginary sweat. "Oh, thank goodness!"
space She uncrossed her legs and picked up her beer, taking a long pull from the green bottle, swiveling her bar-stool to face Adam again as she did so. While drinking, she held up a finger and said "Mm!" to get Adam's attention. When the beer came away from her lips, she said, as she put down the bottle. "Just a warning, I am going to hug you now. So, you know: incoming."
space Accordingly, Brie hopped off the bar-stool onto her bare feet, took a step toward Adam and wrapped her arms around him, pressing her chin into his shoulder and hugging him hard. "Thank you thank you thank you! You have no idea how much this means to me!"
space She hopped back, bouncy on her feet and sat back up her bar-stool after readjusting the little blue cloth to make sure it was centred. She turned to face the bar and her beer. "So, you know, Rosy's a nudist, and so is Greg's boyfriend, oh! And the best part! So is my boss! That's what I've just come from - see, my boss held a big meeting, and she walked in stark naked - well, she was wearing jewelry and high-heels, but I think when they make you upper management whatever type of brain surgery they have to make them think like corporate drones also makes them love uncomfortable shoes, but, whatever - um... sorry if I'm rambling. So!" she took another pull of her beer. "This meeting: she's naked, and we're all confused and she explains that because of the new ruling, and Jefferson's laws on the matter, our company - which, thank goodness is a European based company and has had mixed textile-nudist work-spaces in France and England for years now - is going to accommodate nude lifestyle choices. And we went through the whole 'undress code' as to what is and is not acceptable and all that, and I got so excited I called you right after work."
space She turned her eyes to the side. She'd seen him ogling her a minute ago, not knowing where to point his eyes. She smothered another laugh with beer and then turned back to face him. "Okay, so..." She swiveled back to face him. "Alright, I know it's weird to see..." she waved her hand over her body. "Like, everything, but I guarantee it'll just become normal real fast. In a week, you'll realize, this is just what I look like, what I've always looked like underneath my clothes. Here, look at my body, I mean it, eyes on me for the next few minutes, alright?" She pointed to her torso, moving her hand between her knees and her neck. "Once you see everything it'll no longer be weird, okay?" Her body language emphasized this point as she casually moved her knees apart and leaned her head on her hand, elbow on the bar.
space "And yes, I've always been a nudist - my parents used to have a hell of a time getting me to keep my clothes on as a kid. And I've never told you because..." she shrugged. "It sort of never came up, and I didn't tell you initially because... I mean, we always put our best more socially acceptable self forward during interviews for jobs and apartments, you know?"

 

[Liminal]

Adam had gone for another swig of his Marzen to cover his awkward trailing off; as a result, even if he'd thought to protest the hug, his mouth was still full. "Wh--okay!" he spluttered as Brie came off her stool, unable to resist a grin in spite of everything. "Sure, this is fine!" Before he could really think about it, she had her arms around him, and he reflexively found himself returning the gesture. His hands ended up on her back, between her shoulder blades. While she gushed her gratitude, he felt her bare skin against his palms and fingertips. Soft, came unbidden into his head. When was the last time he'd hugged a naked woman while he was fully dressed? Had he ever? It was probably lucky he was too busy thinking about not moving his hands to be turned on.

"Hey, it's no big deal," he lied, trying to make himself believe it. "I'm glad you're so happy. I didn't think you hated clothes that much..."

Brie let go, finally (too soon?), and was already off telling him about all the other nudists she'd apparently known all this time. Shit, he really had underestimated how many people here were into that stuff! When she dropped the bomb about her boss and her office, Adam's eyes went full tennis ball. The whole thing sounded totally nuts...but at the same time, the more Brie talked, the easier Adam found it to relax. Sure, she was sitting there naked, but she was still clearly the same Brie he'd gotten to know and love since last year. Same infectious enthusiasm, same slightly-juvenile-but-charming contempt for The Man.

Of course, as soon as she so firmly instructed him to look at her body, all that acclimation went right back out the window--all the more so as she shifted her posture with the clear intent of exposing herself to him. Flushing scarlet, Adam instinctively pulled his gaze over to the bottles behind the bar before getting a hold of himself. Really, what was he, twelve? She'd just told him to look, there was literally no more affirmative consent. And she did raise a good point--the more he looked, the faster it would become normal. "Well, if you insist," he said with a slightly forced chuckle, taking another swig to fortify his nerves before swiveling in his stool to face her and fixing his eyes on her chest with exaggerated scrutiny, brows furrowed and squinting. He managed to keep that up for about three seconds before the giggles came. "Sorry," he recovered. "Sorry, you're right, I should--okay..."

Maybe it was the alcohol setting in, but this time, it was easier to look. All he had to do, he quickly found, was give free reign to the natural impulse, to let his eyes wander as they wanted to. Of course, it didn't make this all feel any less surreal. He had to hope that would come later. "Yeah, that sounds like baby Brie," he heard himself saying, impressed at how well he was playing it cool while making no effort to be subtle about taking in her body, those breasts he'd spent so much time picturing since the last glimpse, the newly smooth vision between her legs that so drew his attention for the change. "And I guess I'm not surprised if you were worried about bringing it up, I just...I dunno, I hate to think you've been miserable all this time, having to be dressed at home."

The full implications of everything Brie had said were finally starting to set in. "So, like...you really don't think you'll ever be wearing clothes again?" he marveled, meeting her eyes again. "Like, you seriously want to go naked all the time, everywhere?" If she was really serious...he could hardly even picture it. The thought of his own coworkers seeing him naked, his friends...

 

[NudieUnicorn]

space "I mean, ideally, that's the dream... I mean, theoretically, we could have a freak blizzard here on the west coast... but..." she put a finger to her chin in thought. "I mean, I have been to nudist ski resorts before, and it wasn't so bad. Here..." she flipped on her smart bracelet, and it projected a phone interface along the underside of her lower arm, and she flipped through her photo library until she found what she was looking for. "Here, look at this, this was me and Grace and Danial last year in Colorado..." she tilted her arm to show him the photo projected onto her arm. The image was of her, stark naked and barefoot standing in the snow, and her friends, Grace and Danial (Greg's boyfriend), who were at least wearing shoes (snow boots), in the snow in a winter wonderland, holding mugs of something hot in front of a snowman they, presumably, had made.
space She turned her arm back to look at it herself. "So... I mean, yeah? Ideally I'd like to never wear clothes again. I mean it's... so much work. I mean, have you ever been doing laundry, folding clothes, and just thought 'If only I didn't have to wear this nonsense, I could be doing something else right now.'? I mean, I do all the time... 'did' all the time," she corrected herself.
space Brie snapped her fingers at Adam, smiling. "Hey! Don't look away, eyes here, remember?" she pointed the pointer finger of each hand at one of her nipples each. "I'm serious about this, I want you to keep eyes on me. Looking wherever, but I know your natural inclination will be crotch or breasts, so-"
space A crude comment came hurling across the room from one of the tables that was basically "Yeah baby!" Brie turned up her eyes as if say "really?" at the verbal ejaculation from across the room.
space After a moment she continued at Adam. "But really, just, wherever you find your eyes drawn for however long it takes - I mean, the sides of my neck or the backs of my knees, they're all parts of my body, just like my breasts and crotch... and," she said in a quieter voice, more to herself "to be honest are all on my list of erogenous zones," this last bit was in a joking voice, but she shrugged with a "it's true" expression on her face.
space "Anyway, but yeah, I'm thinking of giving away or donating my clothes or, you know, throwing them in the garbage, whatever, so long as they're gone. In fact I've already thrown out those stupid black pumps, now that I won't need to wear them to work anymore... sorry..." she spread her hands apart, apologetically. "Am I being too much? I mean... I know I can be...? At times?"

 

[Liminal]

Leaning over to get a look at Brie's screen, Adam boggled at the sight of her, Grace, and Danial naked in the snow. "Holy shit! And that was okay? How were you not freezing?" Once or twice, in a fit of playful daring, he'd tried walking around the apartment naked himself while Brie wasn't around; the worst thing he'd discovered was that even in just the cool of the AC, he tended to get unpleasantly chilly. Then again, there was a certain enjoyment to the cool air on his bare skin that wasn't the same when he was dressed and still cold...maybe that was it?

Though it still didn't feel normal, when Brie called him out for not ogling her enough, Adam found himself laughing this time instead of blushing and stuttering. "I'm looking, I'm looking!" He was, though still only in between glances up at her face to show he was listening. "Although, I mean, if this is gonna be all the time, it's not like there's any rush." When Brie mentioned her erogenous zones, though, Adam did feel his face getting hot again. Nudism wasn't a sexual practice, he knew that, but he should've considered that Brie would still be every bit as candid about her sexuality naked as clothed. That...would take some getting used to. Adam found himself looking more at the spots she'd mentioned, at other places he'd had girlfriends like it when he kissed them there--Brie's earlobes, the subtle protrusions of her hip bones...he wondered what her back looked like bare, he hadn't seen her from behind yet...

Ah, there was his body catching up to things. He shifted in his stool, with the subtlety of a lifetime of practice.

Seeing Brie worry made his heart sink and his dick calm down again. "Hey, Brie, relax!" he urged, hand reflexively twitching to find her shoulder before he thought better of it. "You're fine! Really, I'm glad you're happy. Just, y'know, maybe hang onto a couple outfits for now," he added with a chuckle. "In case of emergency." Lifting his glass, he offered a toast. "Here--to freedom."

For a second, he tried to remember why they'd come here, before realizing this was the news Brie had wanted to share. Well, it certainly wasn't nothing, but hey, at least he wasn't out another roommate. "You hungry? I'm starving." Part of him suspected he'd wake up next morning and all of this would be a dream. But either way, if the worst he had to deal with was sitting next to a gorgeous naked woman at dinner, he could handle it, no problem.

 

[NudieUnicorn]

space Brie laughed at Adam's disbelief at her ski trip photos. "It's really not that hard. One thing a lot of textiles- sorry, a lot of non-nudists forget is that there are tons of animals who make it through winter without clothes. And, think about it, humans and proto-humans had to survive for millions and millions of years in Africa and Europe before the invention of clothing, and then thousands of year more before the invention of shoes. Those humans in Europe had to have survived winter, yeah? It's kind of like, how sometimes even other nudists baulk at how I don't wear shoes, and I'm like - the bare human foot carried carried humans across the African savanna for millions of years, and in some cultures still does - I can walk across pavement no problem. It's not like I'm plowing a muddie field I'm..." She stopped herself. "Sorry, lecture mode deactivated." She laughed at herself and took another pull on her beer.
space "My body regulates temperature differently than yours, I've spent enough time naked while camping to have my body remember how to regulate its temperature. People who wear clothes habitually are frequently too hot or too cold and need to work hard to balance things with clothes and heating and cooling their houses, so your internal thermostat is all 'if my own heat is going to stay right next to the skin anyway, why should I bother to do any work internally'? Snow is... bracing! So long as you know what to look out for - numbness and the like, and have a nice warm ski-lodge to run back into with a hot-tub!" she laughed again.
space "Yeah, you're probably right, I should slow down and take a breath - but I am going to get rid of most of the clothes I- Oh! Maybe I should invite all my friends over and have a gifting party! They can go through my clothes and shoes and take whatever they like, and I can donate most of the rest?"
space She waved down Greg for some menus. "Yeah, I'm hungry too. You want to eat bar-food here or try somewhere else?"

 

[Liminal]

space "Uh-huh," Adam deadpanned, the corners of his lips twitching as Brie insisted snow was no problem for an experienced naturist. He wasn't really sure he bought it--at the very least, he'd have been willing to bet there was some placebo involved. But hey, who was he to cast doubt? "A gift party sounds like a great idea, though," he agreed, not hiding that smile. "I mean, assuming not all your friends are naturists."

space "You cool with eating here?" he said as he reached for a food menu, despite already knowing what he probably wanted. "I want one of those sandwiches." Catching Greg's eye, he waved him over again. Was that a smirk he spotted on Greg's face, seeing the two of them? That honestly made Adam feel a little slighted. He'd thought of Brie as a friend, and now it seemed like he was the only person in her life who hadn't known this about her. He pushed that down. She'd had good reason for not telling him.

space I'm living with a naturist. It still didn't feel real, more like something out of a bad Literotica story. How long before it began to seem normal? Would it ever? Questions for future Adam to worry about. For now, all he had to do was eat, and be supportive. That was what a good friend would do.

​

space Adam hadn't bothered setting an alarm for himself on weekends in years. He couldn't remember the last time he'd slept past nine-thirty even with nothing to get up for. A roll over and a glance at the red numbers confirmed even that was still a good twenty minutes off. God, when had he gotten so old?

space Half-consciously, he ran through his usual morning diagnostics. A little bit of headache from last night, nothing too bad--he just hadn't been able to resist that second beer. The usual sluggishness, caffeine would take that away. Oh, and that feeling like he was remembering some bizarre dream but forgetting the details; something to do with Brie being naked...

space Oh, no, wait--that had really happened.

space Immediately, he felt synapses burn into action, the way it usually took a good ten minutes of concentrated willpower to achieve. His imagination went wild with images of what he might find when he left his bedroom. Would she already be at the table, coffee in hand, wearing that adorable sleepy look, legs casually spread in her chair? Or in the kitchen, reaching up into one of the tall cabinets for a cereal bowl, back turned?

space Well, at least one part of him was awake. Come on, get a grip. You're gonna have to get used to it. Just go out there and act normal. Do not be creepy.

space He gave his boner the time it needed to calm down before grabbing his glasses off the nightstand and throwing off the covers. As his feet found the blue-and-white-patterned rug under his bed, the fibers just a little scratchy on his soles, just enough to help wake him up the rest of the way, he caught a sidelong glimpse of himself in his full-length. All of a sudden, he found himself laughing. Here he was, making such a thing of his roommate wanting to be naked at home, when he himself had slept naked nearly every night for years! What did that make him, even?

space It wasn't like he didn't see the appeal. How liberating must it be, to be able to just go out there as you were, feel the air, the sun, not a care for who looked at you or how? The images in his head were replaced by ones of him walking out into the apartment right then, not stopping to put anything on first...of course, it was just a fantasy. He wasn't like Brie. People like him didn't do things like that. Didn't get to.

space Normally, he wouldn't be above giving his reflection a once-over, but today, he made himself not look. That felt like a dangerous path, just then. No, it was straight to his dresser, throwing on the blue plaid pajama pants and the first t-shirt on top of the stack, green with white stripes.

space It had taken him a while after Brie had moved in to stop being embarrassed to be seen with bedhead and stubble, but he'd done it. He stifled a yawn as he opened the door, carefully so as not to squeak the hinges, in case she wasn't up yet. Just focus on breakfast. Everything's totally normal, nothing weird happening at all, no sir...

 

[NudieUnicorn]

space In the kitchen, Brie was squeezing oranges. More than that, she was pressing them with her bright orange ceramic orange-squeezer. She was squeezing oranges, unstrained, unagitated (nice and pulpy) into a small measuring cup with a pour-spout. What's more, she was squeezing oranges completely and truly naked - not naked like she had been yesterday at Rosy's, but completely unadorned by anything, including makeup. Her hair was down and wild, barely being held behind her by her shoulders, the cool morning relaxing her, the cool tile floor radiating this coolness up from her bare feet to the rest of her body.
space "Good morning, roomie!" she said, turning her beaming smile toward Adam, spilling a dribble of orange juice on the counter in the process. "Whoops!" She set the squeezer down and reached for the paper towel roll mounted to the wall above the sink. She stood on the toes of one foot, the other, unbidden, popping up as she stretched to reach the device. She tore off a sheet and cleaned the counter before it became sticky. The realized when she set the squeezer down that it was still leaking the last remnants of juice, and had to repeat this action to clean up the secondary mess. Finally, though, this was taken care of she put the last of the orange husks down the garbage disposal, releasing the smell of fresh orange oil into the kitchen.
space "And you have no idea what a good morning it is, too!" she took a big, happy sigh of air, stretching her arms out and yawning. "Mmm... you've no idea how relaxing it is knowing, when I woke up, I didn't have to put clothes on now, or later, or tomorrow - I think this will be my first day completely naked all day in... well..." she considered. "Since my last vacation, so five months ago, at least. Even then, I think there were a few days where I had to wear bikini bottoms and sandals to go clubbing." Looking around for where she had put it, she found her breakfast bar and picked it up from on top of it's foil wrapper - an "eggs and bacon" bar, made with real bacon and artificial eggs. She chomped on a bite and put the bar back on the wrapper, which she was using instead of a plate.
space "Oh! I'm making mimosas, you want one?" She opened the cabinets above the counter and extracted two Champaign flutes, set them down on the counter. Then she went over to the fridge for the bottle of Champaign she had chilling. "I put this in the fridge last night." She pulled out the bottle of Brut and held it between her thighs as she peeled the foil off of it. "I'm going to try to make myself sound classier than I actually am and say this is to celebrate, but really it's just because I feel so good I want an excuse to day drink," she snickered at her own expense. She wrestled with the cork of the bottle between her legs, yanking with both hands... grunting and clenching her thighs...
space POP!
space The cork went flying across the room, hitting the wall above the garbage can and falling on top of the closed lid. "YES!" Brie said, lifting both arms in the air in triumph, momentarily unaware that the bottle jammed up between her legs, being held at her crotch, basically, was sudsing out a frothy white surge. "Oh shit!" She grabbed the now wet bottle by the neck and moved it over the sink, splashing in the gush of Champaign that was now covering her lower legs and feet. The gush soon diminished, only about a single glass-worth of the bubbly being wasted. She set the bottle down in the sink as she reached for the paper towels again to wipe herself down, back turned toward Adam. "But that was pretty neat, right? It would have been perfect if the garbage can was open, I might have even lied and said I had done that on purpose!"

 

[Liminal]

space For all Adam's mental preparation on his way to the door, when he saw Brie standing there, he found himself rooted in place. This is really happening. The realization rang through his head; there was no longer any pretending it was a dream, or a fantasy, or a trick of some sort. Right there, in his home, his own kitchen, stood one of the most beautiful women he'd met in his adult life, completely naked, clearly not the least bit bothered at being seen, and she fully meant to stay that way.

space It was lucky, really, that she realized her mistake with the juicer when she did. Her sudden leap into motion reaching for the paper towels broke Adam out of his daze. Perhaps it was the juxtaposition of Brie being naked while doing something so pedestrian as cleaning the counter, but it seemed to provide the key his brain needed to get back to the place it had reached by the end of last night--not ignorant of her nakedness, he wasn't sure he'd ever get there, but able to function normally while noticing it. He found himself laughing as she struggled to handle the juicer without making more of a mess.

space "Wow, congrats," he said, truthfully, as he headed for the cabinet where they kept the coffee. "Where'd you go on vacation that let you be naked everywhere, though?" He knew there were naturist resorts for that purpose, but somehow Brie didn't strike him as the sort of person who'd consider a manicured resort environment all that liberating to be naked in. At the same time, his mind was filled with the image of her dancing under club lights, in some tiny little g-string bikini bottom that left her ass totally bare...why did that seem just as sexy as her being naked? Shit, he had to calm down--these pajama pants were loose, and he hadn't put on any underwear.

space He was filling the kettle for his French press when Brie mentioned mimosas. "Oh, uh...yeah, sure," he agreed, surprised. "If you're opening the bottle." When he saw how she was going about that, his eyes went wide with sudden terror. "Uh, here, maybe I should--"

space POP!

space Adam's head nearly went through the ceiling. Regaining his feet, he leaned against the counter for a good thirty seconds, gulping down air while his heart slowed. As the adrenaline receded, it brought a fit of giggles. "Fuck, I hate those things..." He didn't even notice how much champagne Brie had lost, not that he would've cared. "And it only counts if you call it first," he added with a grin at the back of Brie's head. That inevitably led to him taking his first good look at her ass. Fuck, she really did have an incredible body...down, boy! Golf! Hospitals!

space "Are you gonna want coffee too?" He let her handle the mimosas while he put the electric kettle on to boil, knowing he'd need the caffeine himself, at least. "And how about food, are scrambled eggs good?"

 

[NudieUnicorn]

space "Yes please," Brie said from the floor, wiping up the spilled Champaign from a crouching position on the floor, as well as wiping at her own legs and feet with the paper towels, standing to gather more, and back down to the floor to do more wiping up. "On the coffee, that is, there is always room for coffee!" she laughed as she tossed the last ball of dirty, soggy paper towel into the garbage, padding back across to the kitchen to her Champaign flutes and breakfast bar. "No on the eggs, thanks," she took another bite of the bar.
space Brie was something of an advocate for "meal replacements", but never stuck to any of them like a true adherent to the process. In reality, she like the idea of not having too cook, and just peeling off the wrapper and eating, without the guilt of feeling like she was doing something unhealthy. A true adherent to any given meal replacement line would say "but you have to use it exclusively, otherwise the health effects won't work out right!" but Brie usually waved off the notion, claiming convenience won out over being at "peak nutritional efficiency" as was the buzz word for such healthy meal replacement cults (as she called them).
space "Mm, so..." she said through chewing. "Was that a yes on the mimosa or a no?" Brie poured orange juice into the flute until it was filled about two-fifths of the way up, then topped it with Champaign, pouring slowly so it wouldn't fizz up.
space She sipped it, then looked over her shoulder at Adam, raising her glass and looking him up and down, "How are you doing over there? Getting used to the view?" She cocked her hip to the side, standing with her weight all on one foot, then switched feet, cocking her other hip to the side, which had the effect of moving her butt back and forth, as a means of drawing attention to it. "Remember, I'm not offended if you look, it's just natural that your eyes will be curious for a while. She gave her hip (or the side of her butt more accurately) a little pat and a rub. "So, yes on the mimosa?" she sipped hers again.

 

[Liminal]

space "Huh?" Adam had intentionally made himself preoccupied measuring out the coffee grounds. "Oh, yeah, I'll have one, thanks!" He turned around to reach for the kettle again just in time to be faced with Brie's ass again as she filled the flutes. For about a second, he felt proud--the sight hadn't stunned him like before. Then she turned her head and caught his eye, and he was right back to square one, pinned like a fly in a display case and blushing scarlet.

space It was even worse than last night, because then, her being naked had still felt so surreal that it hadn't reached the part of his brain that controlled his sex drive. That wasn't the case now, and as she cocked her hips and presented herself, he was certain she'd notice what was happening in the front of his pajama pants.

space This time, though, he managed to pull up quickly. "Uh...right, right, I remember," he said with a forced chuckle, trying to play it cool while quickly turning away to grab the eggs out of the fridge. "Sorry, yeah, I know I'll get used to it eventually, just...it's still a lot." Shit, had she seen him getting hard? Sure, telling him it was okay to look was one thing, he could understand that, but nudism wasn't supposed to be sexual, if she thought he was ogling her...but then, that little display just now hadn't exactly been chaste...Adam found himself more jealous of Brie's sexual openness than usual. If he'd been her, he would've just admitted what was going through his head, and they could've talked about it. The rational part of him knew that whatever the rules of naturism said, Brie would understand if he wanted to clear the air. This was the woman who'd suggested they agree on a masturbation schedule so her screaming wouldn't bother him. But...well, the rules were different for her. She could do stuff like that.

space He wasn't totally sure where the next words out of his mouth came from, as he lit up the stove. "Y'know, I don't know if I said this last night, but...I think it's really cool that you're doing this." Shit, what was that? If he wanted to take the conversation somewhere safer, this didn't seem like the way to go about it. But, well, fuck it, he'd already started. "Like, being willing to just...be who you are, like this. Or...well, I dunno, did you get into naturism to, like, make a statement, or is it just more comfortable?"

 

[NudieUnicorn]

space "Thank you!" She poured Adam a mimosa. "Um, statement is a little much. It's more like just being allowed to be who I am." She handed Adam the mimosa, her eyes very clearly looking at the tenting in his pajama pants as she did so, but she did not mention this.
space She pulled out a chair at the kitchen table and sat down, leaning back on the chair with one arm bent back along the top of the chair, her legs crossed, sipping her mimosa. "I mean... it's sort of like, you know, imagine if you were forced to wear a disguise that hid your face and hands your whole life and were never allowed to be seen without them? It would be smothering, dehumanizing. We see ourselves as we are, clothes are essentially disguises, hiding who we are. We don't identify as the image that clothes present to the world, we identify ourselves as who we are without artificial additives, I guess. Natural humans. Is this making any sense?"
space She sipped her mimosa again, her eyes drifting down to Adam's pants again and the tenting going on there. "Am I making you... uncomfortable? I mean... okay, addressing the elephant in the room - some naturists are really offended by people getting erections when looking at them, and others aren't, I'm not. I know you don't have any control over it, and I won't be offended if you, like, readjust your pants to move it to a more comfortable position, because that looks... weird, and I'm guessing uncomfortable?" She was pointing toward Adam's groin. "Also, if that's a result of me shaking my ass at you, I deeply apologize. I was just messing around, you know?"
space Realizing that Adam might be made uncomfortable by her looking at his pants, Brie took a sip of her mimosa, just coincidentally closing her eyes as she savored the Champaign and orange juice. "You know, Danial is always getting erections when he sees hot guys, I've always admired him for his nonchalance when he does that, because he totally does not let it bother him, and, by extension, only the most prudish naturists ever even comment on it. So, you know, just so you know, erect human penises, don't bother me in the least. Do what you need to do, adjust the pants, ditch the pants, whatever you're comfortable with." More mimosa drinking as cover...
space "Also, again, if I'm being too much, please feel free to call me out on it, and I will apologize no question, you know?"

 

[Liminal]

space There was still a part of Adam, as Brie dropped all pretense and addressed the proverbial elephant, that was more embarrassed than ever. And not just embarrassed, but ashamed--he'd wanted so badly to be a friend to Brie, to support her in doing this, to let her feel comfortable, and his body had gone and betrayed him. But now, for the first time, that became the lesser part. The greater part just felt relieved that it was finally out there in the open. And even though, on principle, it still seemed wrong for him to be responding the way he was, at least she didn't seem upset.

space He let out a sigh over the heating skillet, silent for a long moment while he composed his thoughts, forced himself to relax. With the practiced subtlety of twenty-six years, he tugged on the waistband of his pajama bottoms to shift his boner into a more comfortable and discreet upward-pointing position. "No, you're fine," he said at length, his voice a little quiet. "I'm sorry. I really don't want to...you're not doing anything. You're just naked. I just need to get used to it."

space He turned to face Brie as much as he could without ignoring the eggs, managing a bit of a smile. "I know it's not supposed to be sexual. And, like, I do think it's dumb how we've made nudity always linked to sex, I think it's good that naturism gets away from that. I just...I mean, it's part of the adjustment." He was blushing again, and having a hard time looking Brie in the eye, but he wasn't getting tongue-tied any longer. That felt good. He was surprised to find a chuckle and a grin rising up. "I can't promise I won't get hard if you keep shaking your ass at me like that, though." That was okay to admit, right? She'd clearly meant that to look sexy, even if just in a teasing way. Didn't mean much if it got to him a little. "And if I'm ever uncomfortable, I promise I'll let you know. But I don't want you to feel like you have to filter yourself. That's the whole point of this, right? Whatever makes you feel comfortable, I want you to be able to do it here. I can handle it."

space A subject change seemed in order. "So you mentioned your office was gonna have rules about being naked," he said as he shut off the burner and dished up his eggs. "What's that gonna be? Like, how does something like that work?"

 

[NudieUnicorn]

space "Well, first of all, I'm not going to filter myself," Brie laughed. "I mean, that's pretty much clear. However, about the stressing over making nudity non-sexual... that's sort of a... a very twentieth century concern, as far as I'm concerned," she sighed and scratched her head. "Okay, story time - so, imagine a world before the internet, before porn, people never saw naked people except during sex, and even then sometimes not. People were so repressed that it was literally the expectation that if someone were to see a member of the opposite sex, that there would be rape happening and there would be nothing anyone could do - today, we see naked people all the time, or people in skimpy clothing, or whatever. But back in those days, nudists had centuries of repression to work through in order to be taken seriously and convince people that nudity didn't have to mean sex. But in doing so, they sort of went a little crazy themselves and got really offended by things like unintentional boners and the like... my generation, and I think the previous one too, have sort of started to move more toward sex positivity again. Like, we are sexual creatures, and yes, nudity is natural and doesn't always have to do with sex, but sexuality happens whether you are clothed or not - you see, Adam, a pretty girl, and she could be fully dressed, and I'm guessing you'll still get a boner sometimes, am I right?"
space Brie took another sip. "Also, in general, I'm a sex positive person, so if a nudist guy gets a boner when he sees me walking into the room, I'm going to take it as a complement. I'm not going to make him feel self conscious about it, but if I know him and that he's not sensitive about it, I might tease him about it a little - I mean to me, nudity is honesty, and your body is just being honest that it likes what it's seeing and responding the way it knows how. So... I mean, what I'm trying to say is, there is good sexuality and toxic sexuality - toxic sexual responses are like catcalls, and whistling at strangers or touching inappropriately or like... jacking off when you see a naked person in public, you know? Making lewd comments about people's body parts or saying how they'd like to do certain things to people, you know it when you hear it. So, what I'm trying to get to is that it's okay if you get a boner, I'm not offended. So, um, yeah. Sorry, this is a big topic and I can ramble a bit. Point is, your body's natural responses don't make me feel uncomfortable, please don't let it make you feel uncomfortable."
space When Adam changed the subject, Brie nodded. "Mm, yeah, the undress code. So, my company, and most corporations, have a dress code that goes into things like hair styles and makeup and hygiene and so forth. Huge documents - and, well, I mean, so I guess you noticed I've shaved my pubes. Mostly that's just because I didn't want to have to worry about the 'approved body hair styles' that are now in meticulously described documents. Shaved is the easiest way of going about it. Also, there are certain types of jewelry that I can wear, ha! Specifically this document calls out butt plugs as inappropriate jewelry, can I you believe that?"

 

[Liminal]

space The subject change maneuver failed; no great surprise, it had been pretty transparent. In order to shield himself a little while he still could, Adam took his time pressing and pouring the coffee, fixing Brie's cup the way she liked it, while she ran over her abridged history of sexuality in naturism. He had a feeling there was a little exaggeration to how she characterized the before times; most of what he knew about the study of history suggested the prudishness of even the most conservative eras tended to get overblown. But still, her point made sense.

space "No, you're not rambling," he hastened to reassure Brie as he finally joined her at the table, handing over her coffee. "I get it, I think. It makes sense." It did, in abstract. Adam liked to think he had a positive view of sexuality--but that was the thing. There was just such a difference, in the annoying part of his mind, between sexuality as a general thing, and his sexuality. Sure, Brie could talk about how an erection was natural and not even dependent on her being naked, but that was an erection, not his erection. He'd never been able to figure out, the few times he'd been bold enough to bring up the subject with his therapist, where that voice in his head telling him he was always right on the edge of being a creepy perv came from. His parents were the obvious answer, but they'd never even come close enough to talking about sex with him beyond the basic "this is where babies come from" level to actually instill that sort of self-image. Anyway, every time he thought about it too much, it made his head hurt.

space "I know you're right," he heard himself saying in between bites of eggs; they'd come out a little overdone this time. "I guess I just have some hangups about my sexuality, specifically. Like, sure, you don't mind when a guy gets hard when you walk in the room, but I'm not one of those guys. Sometimes I sorta feel like..." The words died on his lips. "Ah, nevermind," he played it off, forcing a smile. "Thanks, though. I probably will stop getting hard after I've seen you naked more." As soon as he said it, it felt like a lie. Sure, if it had been another girl, maybe he would've gotten over it, but with Brie...well. He'd jump off that bridge when he came to it.

space He almost spit out his coffee when she mentioned butt plugs. As he caught his breath, though, he found himself cracking up. "Wait, seriously? They specifically say that? Oh man, you know whoever wrote that had someone in mind..." Of course, the image of Brie walking into work with the sparkly base of a jeweled plug between her cheeks came to mind; luckily, the table hid the results this time. "What, are you disappointed?" he said with a grin, surprised he felt up to the teasing. Maybe it wouldn't be as hard as he thought, getting used to this. He had to admit, he already felt liberated, knowing he didn't have to run and hide every time he got hard.

 

[NudieUnicorn]

spaceBrie leaned back in her chair and laughed, a full throaty laugh that made her squint and bear her teeth. She leaned forward and pressed her hand to her nose to avoid the snort she knew was coming - it didn't help. When all that was left of the outburst was a chortle, she grinned and shrugged playfully before hiding a further giggle behind taking a sip of her mimosa. Smacking her lips, she turned a conspiratorial gaze toward Adam. "Not really disappointed, but... okay. So, I don't think it was targeted at anyone specifically, but the issue is that there's something of a controversy in the naturist zeitgeist about whether butt-plugs are always sex toys or whether they can be innocent jewelry as well. Legally, some cities, San Francisco specifically, has had a tricky relationship with the distinction. Used to be, they were considered lewd, but then back in, like 2015, 2020, something like that, butt plugs were only lewd if you put them in while in public. It was fine to wear them out of the house, so long as it didn't enter or exit your ass while in public view, because that constituted 'sexual penetration' and... well," she waved away what was turning into another long "story time". "Long story short... I tried wearing one to a clothing optional street fair like, three years ago, and it wasn't as fun as I thought it would be.
spaceShe shrugged. "I mean, at first, you think - oh, this is gonna be sooooo sexy! But really, no one even saw it. It's like, those glittery jewel butt plugs are pretty, and sexy, but who sees a person's anus?" She stood up and put her glass down on the table, facing Adam. She put her hand up at her eye level. "Assume someone is the same height as me, right? That means they're eyes are like two to two and half feet above my pelvis or something, right? And I'm short, so, most are like closer to three feet." She turned around so her butt was in view. "Now, you see how my butt cheeks stick out, and I don't even have a very large butt, but even with me, my anus is hidden from this angle. And so would the butt plug. I'd have to be going up a ladder or something for it to be showing, or I would have to bend over at the waist or something, and then someone would have to be actively looking at my butthole in order to see it!" She sat down again and stifled another giggle. "It turned out to be a sexy little secret but ultimately more trouble than it was worth. Honestly I'd rather get like, labia piercings or something." She rubbed her hand over her shaved pubic area. "In fact, I still might, but I'd want to get, like studs along my outer labia here," she drew a line along either side of the cleft of her vulva, her inner lips and clitoral hood hidden by the split, puffy area of skin. "Because you can't really see my hood or clit when I'm just standing around. But the undress code is like - 'No'. I could only get, like, I'd want at least six - if I were to get any. And it calls out no more than one ring. And for some reason belly button piercings are completely out of the question, can you believe that?"
spaceAs she spoke, Brie had finished her mimosa and was on her coffee now. "Ooooh... yeah..." she said in regard to the caffeine infusion. "Mmm..." she smacked her lips again as she tried to talk but had to wait for the coffee of her second sip to go down her throat. "Anyway," she leaned against the kitchen counter, having left her empty glass on the kitchen table. "I'm not gonna get any piercings, I'm just going to get, like, this really cute belly chain made up of large, skinny little, you know like, wire thin rings? Interlinked across my tummy and hips? And... I think like a string of pearls, not, like a choker, but nothing hanging over my breasts or anything. And... um..." she took another sip of coffee... "Like, maybe a little rouge on my nipples and vulva? I don't know, I'll have to play with it a little bit, see what looks nice - definitely wearing a lighter shade of lipstick since I won't have all that black to match. Oh!" a thought occurred to her. "I might even go a little more coppery? Complement my skin better... then I could do gold jewelry instead..."
spaceShe shook off the quiet contemplation after a few moment. "Sorry, anyway... what were we talking about? Uh... Or, I guess, what were you planning on doing today?"
spaceShe made an effort to stop herself from going off on another tangent and let Adam get a word in by sipping her coffee and making eye contact. She had a habit of going on long, passionate rambles when she got excited. This was great in a group full of extroverts, but tended to drown out people who were... less enthusiastic conversationalists. She wanted to be polite and not talk at people, rather than with them.

 

[Liminal]

space Adam nodded along with Brie's discussion on butt plugs. It was funny; a moment ago, it had been such an effort to talk about sex, but now that they were doing it in a way that no longer involved him personally, it was as easy as anything. There was probably something he should take from that. He found himself listening and imagining while Brie considered the possibility of labia piercings, thinking about how those would look--somehow, with his thoughts purely on the idea of that one fashion choice, he found he could look at her vulva while she traced the lines of where she'd want the studs without blushing or feeling embarrassed about it. It wasn't ogling, now, just paying attention to what she was saying. Of course, it probably helped that just the idea of any kind of genital piercings always took Adam's mind right off sex; that was not a look that turned him on. A little selfishly, he found himself glad Brie planned on following her dress code...

space So absorbed he was in envisioning all the jewelry she was talking about--the complete picture much more appealing to his own taste than any piercings would be, not that what he thought should matter--that it took him a second to register Brie's rather abrupt subject change. "Huh? Oh, were we talking about something else?" He'd been pretty sure butt plugs, and by reasonable extension other jewelry, had been the subject of the whole conversation, not a digression. "I didn't really have any plans," he answered with a shrug. "Gotta do laundry, maybe pick up groceries. I was thinking tonight of doing some of those frozen barramundi fillets and maybe spinach, and those garlic fingerling potatoes--that sound good to you?" A trip to the store wasn't totally essential that day--the only thing he'd need to pick up was the spinach--but he always ended up feeling gross if he went a whole weekend day without leaving the house.

space "I think the gold would look better on you," he heard himself saying, once again to his own surprise. "Do you have to wear jewelry, with the dress code? Like, would you be allowed to work just like this, now you've shaved? If someone wanted to be naked naked, I dunno, are there naturists who think even jewelry's too much?"

 

[NudieUnicorn]

space"I mean, yeah, I could be naked naked, there's nothing saying I have to wear jewelry I just... I don't know, I would feel awkward," she shrugged. "It's like, when I'm at work, that's not me, that's not Brie, that's 'Gabriella Horsburgh, Assistant Director of Special Division Finance Accounting', it's like a character I play, I don't even talk to the same way when I'm 'in work mode', I honestly say things like-"
spaceShe straightened her spine and raised her chin while simultaneously moving her head back so she had to look down slightly to look forward, her expression a cool mask of forced friendliness, her voice more breathy and more midwestern, rather than nor'western: "'Brian, circling back, in order to keep tempo on ameliorating our slippage problem with the 772s, let's consolidate our foci and work to synergize our process distribution'" she dropped her still posture and expression: "and blah blah blah. You know?"
space"So, I mean, clothes are a pain, yes,I don't like them, so I am totally stoked that I won't have to wear them to work anymore, and Gabriella Horsburgh now can be a nudist executive, so that's great for me me, but junior executive me wouldn't function as well if I didn't wear makeup and jewelry and things because they help me 'metabroadcast', if you're hip to that. I mean... my accounting degree did not prepare me for corporate work - I had to take an online course just to learn how to understand how people in corporate American talked!" she laughed before taking another sip of coffee.
space"Mm!" she swallowed her coffee. "'Circling back'," she said in her "corporate voice" before giving a little chortle. "A) I totally agree with you, the gold would look way better, but B) that is totally not barramundi you've got in the freezer, I saw the price tag that is way too low, it has to be Nile carp or something, you know most fish on the market today are intentionally mislabeled like that."

 

[Liminal]

space Brie's corporate act almost made Adam spit out his coffee again. "God, do people at your company really talk like that?" he scoffed, once he'd recovered. "How do you survive?" Sometimes, he felt like he was living in a bubble when it came to his job; somehow, he'd managed to fall into some kind of unicorn office where everybody was miraculously sane. Maybe there was just some kind of reaction that happened when a company got bigger than sixty people, where the universe started enforcing a minimum asshole quota.

space "I get it, though," he admitted. "I mean, even if I don't have to go out for a whole day, if I spent it all in my pajamas I'd go insane. If I were gonna start going naked, I'd probably have to pick, like, a belt or something and make it my 'work outfit.'"

space He rolled his eyes and grinned at the thing about the fish. "Whatever. Nile carp with spinach and fingerling potatoes, then. Just do me a favor and make sure everything you want's on the list before I go, okay?" Finishing his eggs, he made to start loading his dishes into the washer. As he stood up, he realized he was still semi-hard, though not enough for it to be visible through his pants. Interesting--he'd managed to get his mind entirely off the subject of Brie's nudity, and all without any alcohol this time. Of course, as soon as he thought about it again, he felt the blood heading back down. Dammit. Before he could kick himself too much, he managed to seize Brie's earlier words and hold them in his mind. It's fine. Just act natural. Without anything showing on his face, he popped open the dishwasher door, and just like that, his crotch was hidden from view again. No big deal.

space So, that was one successful breakfast. Next up, the entire rest of the weekend...

 

[NudieUnicorn]

spaceThe remainder of the weekend passed in a blur of dreamlike exuberance for Brie. Even lounging in the living room naked was a joy, reading or watching shows, she'd catch herself sighing and reveling in the fact that she didn't have to worry about clothing at all. That she could just exist as she was without piling on unnecessary fabric nonsense, and no one would get offended - or at least not so as she would have to worry about. The weekend had been a lot of firsts for her - Friday was her first time legally nude in public, her first time going out for drinks nude, Saturday was her first full day spent nude since college, and the first day spent nude while going out shopping. Her first nude shopping trip was amazing, the cool and slightly sticky floor of the stores very much a reminder against her bare feet that she was naked with every step she took.
spaceAll this enjoyment and sensual stimulation also got her excited in another way, one she would be hesitant to tell a lot of her nudist friends about. With her blood pumping heart racing, enjoyment at life in general, part of her was getting extra horny. The issue was, when she was at the apartment, Adam and she had very explicit rules about masturbating at the apartment.
spaceThe issue was that Brie was a screamer. She had never mastered the art of quiet masturbation and Adam always could tell when she was doing it because, though the walls between apartments were sound-proofed, the interior walls between her room and the rest of the apartment, were not, and screaming as loud as she did when grinding one out, Adam had once claimed she would shake cups off the edge of the table. Brie believed strongly that that was an exaggeration. So, they had come to the very adult decision that anything that would make loud noise, be it music or Brie masturbating, would be done only between certain hours of the day.
spaceSunday, after she got home from "outfit shopping" as she called it, she proceeded to lock herself in her room and masturbate for the remainder of that window of time, only coming out to rehydrate until eight-o'clock when that window closed. "It's this... upwelling of freedom," she tried to explain to Adam, shrugging with a smile in spite of herself. "It's just... got my blood pounding, you know?" She actually blushed a little with that, she hoped he wouldn't notice.
spaceFinally, on Monday, she had her first nude day at work. She went with the black and silver outfit - black lipstick with light olive foundation and dark eye-shadow, no plush on her nipples or privates (yet), a simple, tasteful thin silver belly-chain or interlocking hoops with matching skinny hoop earrings. She walked on her toes, imitating wearing high-heels as she did so - it was as if she were wearing invisible heels - her legs were strong enough to keep this up all day, she found. And comfortably.
spaceThe first day, she got a lot of people staring when she thought she wasn't looking and a lot of people who just looked regardless. She pretended not to notice for the most part, but...
spaceAfter work, her coworkers invited her out for drinks to celebrate this new found freedom - and Brie noticed that all of her female coworkers who had taken advantage of the undress code (save her boss and her boss's executive assistant) were at least invited, and all but two actually came out with them. It seemed several of their coworkers found the idea of partying with naked women from work somewhat exciting, and Brie, a bit excited herself, didn't want to disagree.
spaceAnd it was fun! The lounge they went to was at the top floor of a hotel their company used for corporate events and... she noticed a few of her coworkers "subtly" slip out to "get a room" as the evening wore on.
spaceShe and her new friend Brittany had several knowing, smirking laughs together when they noticed such things, sitting at the bar together.
space"I had no idea you were a nudist!" Brie said to Britt before finishing off her latest beer.
space"Same!" Brittany agreed. "I thought you were a textile for sure - they way you dress! Or, 'dressed'!" she laughed at her own observation.
space"Very past tense."
space"Oh my god! Why haven't we done this earlier? You're an amazing person away from the office!"
space"So you're saying I'm a bitch at the office?"
space"I mean... yes. Yes you are- but hey! That's alright, we're all different at work, especially with the sort of people you have to put up with, don't get me wrong - I couldn't do it. Project finance is way too cutthroat."
space"Maybe I should transfer to account receivable with you."
space"You would be board off your ass," Britt countered. "Two more?" This last question was directed toward the bartender.
space"Oh, no, I've got to be going I... oh shit." Brittany looked at her watch. It was six thirty. With public transportation she would be getting home with barely enough time to... "I've got to go."
space"Probably a good idea - actually just the check please?"
space"Me too!" Brie interjected, but Britt waved her off. "I've got these."
space"You sure? No, let me-"
space"I got this!" Britt said more insistently. "If you want to contribute though, let me kiss you good night?"
space"W- I...? Okay..."
space"Great." Britt put her finger down on the pay pad and tapped in a nice tip, drew up her purse and stood up. She was a lovely, curvy woman with a wide but fit body, her tummy tight and wide with love handles framing a smooth, curved ramp of an abdomen, leading down to a neatly trimmed pubis. She had mocha skin and a light curly fuzz of hair on her scalp. She wore black heels, which Brie had teased her away - "you're so much more dressed than me" and the like, and Brittany had teased Brie for being so naked as to not wear heels to work.
spaceBritt kissed Brie on the cheek. "See you tomorrow? Maybe we could do lunch or something?"
space"Uh... yeah... sure." Damnit, Brie, polysyllabic! Make polysyllabic words happen! "I'll... see you then." Close enough. She smiled as she said this, and watched Brittany and her amazing dump-truck bottom walk toward the elevator. Britt looked over her shoulder and grinned at catching Brie looking and Brie turned around on her bar stool, ramrod straight spine with embarrassment, and looked at herself in the mirror over the backbar. When she was certain her blushing was under control, she stepped off her barstool, grabbed a handful of cocktail napkins, wiped off the stool she was sitting on (it had gotten a bit moist) and left herself.

spaceWhen she got back to the apartment it was 7:30. She went straight to her room, forgetting to wipe off her feet at the door. She closed the door with gusto, probably slamming it, she wasn't sure. She was burning with desire at this point, and yanked her laptop open, grabbing her mouse with one hand and rubbing her clit with the other already. She had her drive of porn plugged in to the port on her laptop already and was attempting to start some random video up when... her computer began a forced update. "Fuck!"
spaceShe tried to cancel it but... nothing. "Forty-five minutes! What is this the dark ages! Ugh!"
spaceSitting on the edge of her bed, she struggles with the clasp of the belly-chain but gave up after a minute. She was too tipsy, too horney and too frustrated to do more with her hands than fondle and play with herself at the moment. She wanted to cum.
spaceMaking a decision, she sighed, pulled the tiny terabyte drive out of her computer and went to find Adam.
space"Hey, Adam?" she was standing with a hand over her crotch, just barely able to stop herself from masturbating right there in front of him. She was still walking and standing on her toes as if she were at work. "My computer is doing a stupid update and it's, like, 7:35... would you mind if I masturbated in the living room? I really like to flick it to porn and... I mean, you know?" Shit. Not really thinking this through, are you, Brie, she scolded herself internally. "I mean, honestly," she said, unable to stop her mouth, unable to stop her middle finger from stroking herself between her legs, if she was being truly honest with herself. "You can hear my masturbating anywhere in the apartment, I really don't care if you can see me too - I promise I'll put a towel down on the couch... please?" She was practically hopping from one foot to the other now, her fingers trying to hide their movements with the movements of her body.

 

[Liminal]

space Adam wouldn't claim he'd gotten used to Brie being naked over the weekend. But he felt comfortable saying he'd made...progress.

space He still thought about it every time he saw her. After that breakfast on Saturday morning, there hadn't been a time when it had made him freeze up or stutter--that was good, that was a definite improvement. But still, each time she walked into a room he was in, and he looked up from what he was doing and saw her, the thought very much went through his head, she's naked. He'd worried the urge to stare that he'd felt a little Friday evening would return, but it never did, another relief--but still, even without staring, it was nigh impossible not to look. To glance her way, coming back from an errand or in between pages of his book or when he got up from his game to use the bathroom, any time his eyes weren't otherwise occupied, and just appreciate, for a moment, the picture she presented. The soft lines of muscle definition beneath her skin. The lack of tan lines. The color of her nipples.

space He practiced letting go of the guilt and just doing it, allowing himself to look, the way she'd told him to. That he felt his own body respond every time came as no surprise to him. That, too, he focused on just accepting, remembering Brie's assurance that she didn't mind if he got hard because of her. In his head, he'd repeat to himself, it's okay. She doesn't care. Just relax.

space And he would be able to relax, then, for a minute. He'd go back to whatever he was doing, and find himself thinking, for a minute, man, I'm living with a gorgeous woman who likes to walk around naked, how awesome is this? and not feeling bad about that at all. But then, Saturday night, he'd fallen into bed, naked himself as usual, and realized he was only just then letting go of tension he'd been carrying around all day without even realizing it.

space He couldn't understand it. He'd been doing so well, or thought he had. Why was this so hard for him? Clearly Brie wasn't struggling to adjust in the least, so relaxed in her nudity, not even thinking about his eyes on her or what her presence was doing to him...why couldn't he be as at ease with it as she was? He'd slept fitfully that night, and all day Sunday, though he'd still felt his eyes straying to Brie's body whenever they wandered, each time, the sight brought a dull, tight ache in his chest along with the shifting in his pants.

space Hearing Brie masturbating had become as close to normal by then as he expected it ever would, but that Sunday afternoon, the first time he was treated to her habitual cries of release since her transition to full-time nudity, brought a new dimension to the experience. For the first few months after they'd set up their arrangement, he'd worn headphones with the volume at max every time she'd gone at it, but eventually he'd given that up as unsustainable. Since then, he had, of course, imagined more times than he could count what was going on behind that door, and those images had provided material for a significant chunk of his own jerk-off fantasies (though he'd never gone so far as to actually get off while listening to her--that felt like too much). But now, hearing her through the thin walls, he had a whole new level of detail to picture how she'd look, chest heaving, legs shaking, lips parted around whatever toy she was using... That night, taking care of himself before bed as he so often did, he came harder than he could remember doing in months, the shocks leaving him limp on the mattress as they receded, floating. The ache in his chest didn't start for a good few minutes after that, but it did come back eventually.

space He was hardly present at work Monday, though luckily, it was an easy day, just more research and content drafting for the course on workplace conflict he was already ahead of schedule on by almost a week. More than once, his thoughts strayed to Brie at her own office, naked except for the belly chain he'd seen her in over coffee. He narrowly resisted excusing himself to the restroom to try and crank one out unnoticed, even while that same sick feeling refused to go away.

space Thank God Brie wasn't home when he returned. Cheese tortellini out of a package with pesto and a side of buttered peas made for an easy dinner--he wasn't feeling up to anything more involved. Needing something, anything, to distract him from what was quickly coming to dominate his thoughts a lot more than he'd have liked, he fired up his Switch NEXT and opened Castle Deathsgate, the roguelite-RPG that had so captivated him for the past few weeks. Settled in on the couch, he soon found himself in a groove, his cares melting away as he sidestepped the spears of skeletal soldiers and carefully budgeted his lantern oil for the route to the area boss.

space He hardly noticed Brie returning, not even glancing away from his current battle as she blew through the living room and nearly slammed her bedroom door. Faintly, he registered her cries of frustration--was she a little drunk?

space He heard her come back into the room, and say his name. "Huh?" Hitting pause, he glanced up and, for the first time since Saturday morning, found himself struck speechless.

space Did she just... No. No way. There was no way she'd just said what he thought she'd said, or at least not that she meant it...he found himself laughing, sure she was kidding, but then he saw her expression, and the fact that she was already rubbing herself right there in front of him, and the essential part of his brain realized it wasn't a joke.

space He wasn't sure how long he just sat there, jaw hanging open--probably something like five seconds. Maybe if she hadn't caught him so preoccupied, he would've been able to think things through a little more. But for whatever reason, the processing power just wasn't coming together. "Uh...sure? I...yeah, that--that's fine..." He was hardly aware that his mouth was even working, much less what the sounds it was producing signified.