LOVE!!! Has something deep inside me awoken?! [Part 4]

Despite how exhausted I was after arriving home, I was up and at em after only a two-hour nap. Jack’s words echoed in my head, making me giddy with excitement once again. My smiling face reflected in the mirror as I greeted myself.

“Today’s gonna be a great day!” I told myself.

“You know it!” I replied.

GRRRUMBLE.

My stomach growled loudly, annoyed by my cheerfulness. It demanded food, what with me wasting my breakfast that morning by puking it all over the cafeteria floor. A small lunch wasn’t going to cut it today.

Looking at the clock, it was still a bit early for lunch.

“Meh,” I said. “It’s lunchtime somewhere in the world.”

Passing by the living room to go to the kitchen, I half-expected to find Belliney sprawled out on the couch like usual. However, her lazy butt wasn’t there. I went and checked her bedroom, and then the kitchen, but she was nowhere to be found.

“Weird,” I said to myself. “Normally she’d be lounging about.”

Maybe she was honest about going to work at The Celestial Plane after all?

GRRRUMBLE.

“Yeah, yeah,” I sigh, rubbing my stomach.

To make up for forcing myself to gulp down that nasty coffee and losing my breakfast, I decided to treat myself and make an old favorite of mine: a bologna and cheese sandwich!

I know what you’re thinking, but I don’t care. I love the stuff. Especially when it’s a huge uncut tube and you get to slice it yourself. Nothing beats cutting yourself a nice, thick slab of bologna. Especially when you fry it with an egg and some pepper jack cheese. Them’s good eatin’!

Being in a fantastic mood, I splurge and cut myself two slices and fried them with two eggs. I also chopped up some thin onions and tossed them into the frying pan.

Add some lettuce, pickles, and a little yellow mustard, and you’ve got yourself a heck of a lunch!

The towering sandwich result looked like something out of a cartoon with how tall it was. It was leaning to the side, with the top half threatening to slide off.

“Guess I overdid it,” I said.

I sat down at the table and struggled to hold onto the thing without it falling apart.

MUNCH!

Despite it being difficult to handle, it was an absolute delight!

I went to town, shoving that sandwich in my face like I hadn’t eaten in days.

Then, in the blink of an eye, Belliney popped into existence across the kitchen table, catching me off guard. More shocking was that she wasn’t wearing her usual ancient Greek-like attire, but a black business suit, pencil skirt and all. Her hair was tied up in a bun, with two chopstick-looking things sticking out of it.

“Ah!” I said, spitting out bits of my sandwich in surprise.

Belliney flinched, letting out a quick “Eek!” as she too was surprised by my being there. Though she was quick to smile. “Daniel! Wait. Shouldn’t you be at school right now? You know it’s not good to play hooky!”

I nodded. “I barfed this morning and they let me go home.”

She jumped back. “WHAT?! ARE YOU SICK?! DO I NEED TO SUMMON A DOCTOR TO THIS REALM?!”

I shook my head.

“Thank goodness,” she said, floating over to me and giving me a tight hug. “Wait. Then how come you threw up? Did something happen?”

My face blushed as I glanced away. For a moment I debated whether I should explain to Belliney my newfound feelings, but then realized that was silly. Belliney was the only person I could confide in these sorts of feelings. Well, besides Jack, of course, but I can't go doing that now, can I?

After a few false starts, I explained everything to her. From the dream I had, to my run-in with the elderly man on the skirts of town, and my interactions with Jack at school.

As I talked, Belliney’s smile grew bigger and bigger. By the end, she could hardly contain her excitement.

In fact, she didn’t.

“AAAAAWWWW~!!!” she screamed, lifting me out of my seat and twirling me around in the air. “I knew you were in love! I knew it! And to think it’s Jack! AAHH!!! You two were always so cute together!”

She tossed me back into my seat.

“Jack’s such a nice guy! And good lookin’ too. Eh? Eh?” she smirked, elbowing me in the kidney while raising her eyebrows. “So, when are you going to ask him out?”

“Ask him out?” I asked.

Belliney nodded, going “Hm, hm!”

“Like, to go out on a date?”

“Hm, hm!”

“As a… couple?”

“Hm, hm!”

I froze at the thought of me confessing my feelings to Jack. All that happiness I had suddenly turned into fear.

Oh, God. That’s right. You gotta do that before going out with someone, huh?

“I, uh,” I sheepishly said as I shrunk into my seat. “It’s good and all just knowing that I’m his type, right? Not like I gotta–”

Belliney slammed the table. “You gotta confess! If you don’t, then he’ll never know your feelings.”

I slid down into my seat until my head barely poke out from beneath the table. “That’s a bit much. I mean, isn’t that taking things too fast? I only found out I’m his type a few hours ago. I’d seem desperate if I went out and confessed so soon. Besides, ‘Lune’ only met him just yesterday, and…”

Belliney looked at me, confused by what I had said. “Huh? Lune?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re not going to confess as Daniel?”

“WHAT?!”

I jumped out of my seat. Well, more like I jumped straight into the underside of the table, what with how much I was slouching in my seat. This caused me to fall back into my chair, smacking the edge into my shoulder. The chair flipped over on top of me as I landed on the floor.

My shoulder stung like no other, but I ignored it.

“NO WAY!!!” I yelled. “I can’t confess as Daniel!!!”

“But why not?” Belliney asked.

“Because! It’d be awkward! I mean, he’s not gay!”

“He could be bi.”

I shook my head. “Absolutely no way!”

“How do you know?”

“I just know! Besides, he said ‘Lune’s’ his type. Not ‘Daniel’.”

“But you said ‘Lune’ and Jack only met her yesterday,” she said. “How would he know ‘Lune’ is his type.”

“Because…” I trailed off as I thought about it. “Because unlike ‘Daniel’, ‘Lune’ is brave, strong, and… cute.”

“D’aw,” Belliney said, floating back over to me and patting my head. “But ‘Daniel’ is also brave, strong, and cute to boot! Sure, you may have two forms, but that’s superficial. Deep down, you’re you. And I’m willing to bet Jack would feel the same about you, regardless if you’re ‘Daniel’ or ‘Lune’.”

I couldn’t say that she was wrong. But at the same time, things only work out that well in lame romantic comedies. Real life is way more complicated for things to work out so well.

“I don’t want to risk my friendship! What if I confess as ‘Daniel’ and he’s all ‘I’m straight, dude.’ It’ll be super embarrassing! Worse, you can’t just move on with a friendship after doing something like that. It’ll always be in the back of our minds, making things awkward whenever we’d get together. Eventually, it’ll get too weird being around one another, and then our friendship will disintegrate! I don’t want that!”

“I think the bond between you and Jack is much stronger than you give it credit for,” Belliney said.

“...Whatever! My mind’s made up!”

I crossed my arms, signaling it was a done deal.

Belliney sighed. “Well, if you’re worried that much, then I won’t push it. Just know that I’m always on your side!” she cheered, giving me a thumbs up.

I smiled. “Thanks, Belliney.”

“Now, onto the next order of business!” Belliney snapped her fingers, swapping out her business attire for her usual robe. “You’re going to confess your feelings as Lune, right?”

“I mean… Yeah? But I don’t know when there will be a good opportunity to–”

“Tonight!” she stated.

“T-tonight?” I asked, repeating her.

“You gotta strike while the iron’s hot!” she shouted. “Jack said ‘Lune’ is his type already, right? Then pounce on that! The longer you wait, the bigger the chance someone else is gonna appear and take his heart away.”

The image of Jack embracing a faceless figure flashed in my mind. Just the thought of Jack seeing someone else made me feel utterly depressed.

“See!” Belliney said. “You can’t stand the thought! So you gotta do it tonight!”

I nodded. “Yeah. You’re right!”

“You know it! So, with that!”

Belliney summoned a large, full-body mirror. Its shimmering gold frame had an ornate design, fitted with multi-colored glistening gemstones. A magnificent work of art.

She propped it against the table with little care to the fact it started sliding downward before coming to a stop when it bumped into a chair leg.

“We’re gonna need to find something cute for you to wear!” she cheered.

I raised an eyebrow. “What’s wrong with what I got?”

Belliney just about collapsed out of exasperation. “All your clothes are for ‘Daniel’! You’ve got nothing to wear as ‘Lune’!”

I looked into the mirror. Before me stood Daniel, wearing a tattered hoodie that was a size too large, and bleached jeans that had seen better days. I looked like I dove into a thrift store and picked out the first things I saw and went “This is fine!”

That’s exactly how I went about picking clothes, but yeah. They were far from “cute”.

I changed into Lune, armor and all, and studied myself.

“...Yeah,” I said, disappointed.

Sure, the armor was fine and all, but it looked like I was ready to engage in battle. Well, that’s how everyone saw me usually as Lune, so maybe it wouldn’t be–

“No, no, no!” Belliney jeered, shooting down my idea. “You’re just being lazy at that point! If you want to impress him and get him to like you, you gotta put in the work.”

“I guess, but I don’t know much about fashion,” I said.

Belliney nodded. “Very true. But lucky for you, I’m an expert when it comes to fashion! I’ve got multiple millennia of years of experience! You just leave it to me!”

“Okay,” I said. “What do you think would be best?”

“Hmm. Let’s get a good look to see what we’ve got to work with,” she said.

My magical girl outfit poofed out of existence, leaving me in just my cotton bra and panties.

“H-hey!” I yelled, covering myself with my hands. “You could’ve warned me first!”

“Sorry,” she replied, before walking around me, studying my body. “You’ve got a petite form, with not much going on the front or in the trunk.”

Her comments annoyed me, but I held myself back from saying anything.

“But it’s fine! You’re still young and got room to grow!”

“Shut up,” I said.

She winked. “How about we start with something a bit loud. Something that’ll knock Jack off his feet when you approach him.”

Poof!

In the mirror before me, I saw myself wearing some sort of Egyptian-like bikini made entirely from gold. A thin red fabric draped over my hips and butt, yet did nothing for covering the front. Gold amulets covered my wrists, while large hooped earrings dangled from my ears. Wrapped around my neck was a choker in the shape of a snake.

Needless to say, I was entirely baffled by the outfit.

“The heck is this?!” I screamed, blushing in embarrassment from all the skin I was showing.

“What’s wrong?” Belliney asked.

“What’s wrong? WHAT’S WRONG?! I look like I’m heading to an adult-oriented Egyptian-themed party!”

Belliney tilted her head. “You don’t like it? This style was really popular back in the day. I knew a few girls who managed to steal a husband with a similar outfit.”

“How long ago do you mean when you say ‘back in the day’?”

“Hrmm. Only about five thousand years ago.”

Rejected.

“Aw! I think it looks really good on you!”

“I can’t go out looking like this! It was tough enough to get used to my magical girl outfit, but this is too much! I might as well be wearing a bikini!”

Poof!

Belliney sent away the Egyptian garb.

…Only to put me inside a literal, white bikini.

“Hmm. Yeah, I don’t think this works,” she said.

“I was being facetious!”

A giggle escaped Belliney. “I know. I just couldn’t resist the little tease! Okie dokie! How about we go in a different direction and try something a bit more conservative? Shall we?

Poof!

The next outfit she had me wear was… Uh… Honestly, I can’t even explain it. It was like the aurora borealis. And I don’t mean like the fabric was all wavy and flowy and such. It was an outfit straight up made of light! I could even put my hand through it!

At least it covered me more than the last outfit. It also followed me wherever I moved, strangely.

“Um, Belliney?”

“Hm?” she replied.

“What’s this?”

“Something that’s all the rage right now in (incomprehensible noises).”

I cleaned out my ear with a finger. “Come again?”

Belliney repeated the otherworldly garble of words that gave me existential dread when spoken.

“I… see…” I said, hoping she’d never say it again in fear of my mind breaking in a Lovecraftian fashion.

“No good?” Belliney asked, taking note of my puzzled look.

“I mean, it’s neat and all, but I don’t think humanity is ready to witness such a thing.”

“Good point. Maybe after a couple more jumps in evolution. In that case, let’s try something more traditional!”

Poof!

Wrapped around my torso, hanging off my left shoulder, was an ancient greek-looking robe. It appeared identical to the one Belliney always wore. In fact, my entire outfit practically was identical to hers! Accessories and all!

“How’s this?” Belliney asked, placing a hand on my shoulder. “Now this looks cute on you. And hey! Now we look like sisters!”

I spun around to yell at Belliney to stop messing with me, but the way the fabric of the robe brushed against my skin caused me to pause. More specifically, where it brushed.

Even more specifically, the fact there was nothing there to prevent it from brushing where it brushed.

“A-a-a-” I stammered, turning bright red as I looked at myself in the mirror, gripping the sides of the robe.

Belliney dropped her smile. “What’s wrong?”

“AM I GOING COMMANDO UNDER THIS THING?!” I squeaked.

“Of course,” she nodded as if this was the most obvious thing in the world. “That’s how you wear this style.”

“That’s how…?!”

Suddenly, I gave pause. I looked up and down at Belliney, wearing the same robe as always.

The same robe as always.

As always…

“...ARE YOU WEARING ANY UNDERWEAR RIGHT NOW?!” I shouted, pointing at her hips.

There was silence between us as Belliney simply stared at me without any sort of expression.

Then, she giggled with a small blush. “Never do!”

I spent the next half hour disciplining Belliney as she whined. From that day on,she was forced to wear underwear anytime she left the house, lest she get arrested for indecent exposure.