Jukebox

(Crossposted from https://jukeboxemcsa.wordpress.com/2023/06/29/early-bird-sneak-peek-are-you-gonna-be-my-girl/)

Hi all! It’s time for another Early Bird Sneak Peek, where I share a glimpse at the story my lucky Early Bird patrons will be enjoying next Saturday thanks to their pledges at my Patreon page! Of course, if you’re not an Early Bird patron, you’ll still get a story next week–“Zodiac”, teased previously, has already been submitted to the EMCSA. But the Early Bird patrons will be getting “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” (MC FD MF FF RB)!

Long-time readers know that Girls(tm) are made to take care of their humans. But as Terri discovers when she tries to make her Girl help her out with her crush on shy, sensitive Xavier, some humans need more care than others. (Trigger warning: This story contains discussions of self-harm.)

Here's a taste:

"Hello, young man," she says, stepping out of the deeper shadows and into the attenuated golden light of late afternoon. "Do you know who I am?" A flicker of irritation crosses Xavier's face, despite his exhaustion, and her eyes blaze into swirling, pulsing life as she turns her full attention on him. He wonders if they can all do that. He can't seem to bring himself to care, though. Even if he didn't feel the weight of hypnosis settling onto his blank and muzzy brain, he's more than happy to leave the Girls--and the world--to their own devices.

Even so, he feels a tugging compulsion to answer. "You're her," he says at last, his voice soft and sleepy. "Terri's Girl." He wonders if she knows he hasn't had any of the thermos's contents yet, or if she's confusing his drowsiness with drugged indifference. She probably does. There have to be sensors for that kind of thing. Just the fact that she found him speaks to a degree of acuity to both her mind and her senses that probably tells her exactly what he had for breakfast this morning, if she didn't already know just from watching him. He wonders if he should tell Terri that her Girl is spying on them, but it hardly seems to matter anymore.

"Yes," she says, coming closer to him and bringing her hypnotic gaze ever more fully to bear on his heavy-lidded eyes. "I'm Terri's Girl. She's been very worried about you lately. She thinks you need a friend." A familiar anger bubbles up inside him, but it can't gain purchase with the weight of sleep pressing down on his mind. He can see it, appreciate it, but a sheet of glass seems to separate him from actually feeling it. It's actually kind of nice, even though intellectually he knows that it's a violation of his emotional freedoms by its very nature.

Hope you enjoy it!