AnimeCon Harem Bonus Part: Fetish 101 (Patreon)

“...Uh-oh,” Brian abruptly said. He awkwardly held his skull helmet in the crook of his arm, switched his prop Komari-mart bag to his other hand, and tugged one of his bulky costume gloves off with his teeth so that he could unlock his phone.

“Uh-oh?” Kelly echoed, and with a graceful swish of gothic lolita skirts, she stepped over to take a peek over his shoulder.

“What is it?” Stephanie asked in a timid voice.

Together, they had eventually been able to squeeze into one of the convention center’s hallways, and were currently meandering along within the sluggish procession of attendees. While the previous day at AnimeCon’s venue had been busy, today it was a madhouse. Everywhere the trio went was gridlocked with anime fans and cosplayers. Even simply moving down one of these halls wasn’t much like walking—it was more like shuffling and stopping and then shuffling forward again in a slow-moving line.

Brian’s companions seemed to have formed some unspoken agreement—wherever he went, the two girls always fell into step on either side of him, sandwiching him in the middle. On his left, the pink-haired Stephanie was timidly clinging to his arm, adorably cute in her brightly-colored cosplay sundress, tall boots, long gloves and a pair of rabbit ears. She managed to appear chipper and jumpy, excited and nervous all at once, all too often sneaking glances back up towards him. On Brian’s right, the ever-seductive Kelly had gracefully linked her arm with his, in her impression of a proper lady’s behavior. Her demeanor—aloof disinterest with just a hint of mischievousness, perfectly suited the dark beauty of her gothic dress, an intricate and voluminous affair supported by the many folds and layers of her petticoat.

“Trouble, I think,” Brian managed around the glove’s finger he was holding between his teeth. He held his phone up so they could clearly read the message he’d received.

Zero-the-Hero: MAYDAY! MAYDAY! ANYBODY HERE AT ANIMECON HIT ME UP ASAP!!!!

“Friend of yours?” Kelly inquired, arching a lovely eyebrow. She presented another one of those amused, distant smiles of hers to him, one of those that seemed to complement her Calamity Queen outfit all too well.

The air of indifference she was affecting had a subtle possessive quality to it, a slight shift in her attitude that happened every time she caught herself staring at him, captivated. Though yesterday she’d been making fun of each and every one of these weeaboo convention-goers for being hopeless geeks, now she considered him in on the joke, somehow. She couldn’t pretend she didn’t look down on a lot of these AnimeCon losers, but she didn’t consider Brian one of them, anymore.

“Yeah, my buddy Mark. Him and I go way back, known each other since high school. He’s always gone to AnimeCon every year, but not really with our group. He’s always off doing his card thing here.”

“Card… thing?”

“Mana: the Mastery. It’s a really popular—”

“I’ve heard of it,” Kelly cut him off, jerking her chin back towards his phone. “There’s more people talking, now.”

Mick95: whaddup?

Zero-the-Hero: thank god

Zero-the-Hero: u at the con mike??

Mick95: nope lol

Zero-the-Hero: …..?!

Zero-the-Hero: where the fuck is everyone

Mick95: think everyone but emily bailed this year

Zero-the-Hero: wtf guys

Dropping his glove down into his upturned helmet, Brian quickly thumbed a response into the group chat, while a beautiful face peered with eager interest over his either shoulder.

Oberon: Im here at the con, what you need?

Mick95: no way brian

Mick95: thought u werent goin this year???

Oberon: Said who?

Zero-the-Hero: oh thank god

coffee-vein: wtf Brian.

coffee-vein: ...

coffee-vein: (?°?°??? ???

Zero-the-Hero: can u or chloe meet me

Zero-the-Hero: im in game room 4

coffee-vein: didn’t you say you weren’t going to the con?

Mick95: lol

“You go by Oberon?” Kelly observed, the dry tone of her voice suggesting she should have expected as much. “‘Oh, Brian?’ ...Do I even want to ask?”

“That’s so cool!” Stephanie gushed, blinking quickly. She flashed one of those bright, infectious smiles that seemed to light up her entire face, and Kelly found the way she brushed fluffy pink locks of hair away from her glasses incredibly distracting.

“Uh, yeah? ‘Oh Brian’ is—”

“It’s, ah, Oberon,” Stephanie grinned excitedly towards Kelly as she continued, “he was often depicted as the king of faeries in stories, from the middle ages all the way through the renaissance period. He—”

“Hey, there’s a li’l guy flipping a table,” Kelly interrupted quickly, rolling her eyes. “That’s cute.”

coffee-vein: wtf dude where have you even been?

coffee-vein: not cool.

Oberon: Not with Chloe, I can head over though

Becca-chan?(???)?: Wat

Becca-chan?(???)?: Nah wai!

Becca-chan?(???)?: Nah wai!

Becca-chan?(???)?: Brian.

Becca-chan?(???)?: Brian.

coffee-vein: lol mark

Mick95: uh not up on current events huh buddy

Becca-chan?(???)?: BRIAN.

Becca-chan?(???)?: You’re at the convention???

Zero-the-Hero: cool thanks man. game room 4. hurry

Becca-chan?(???)?: Nah wai!

coffee-vein: fuck off, becky.

Mick95: fuck off

Becca-chan?(???)?: Nah wai!

Zero-the-Hero: fuck off, becky

“These are your friends?” Stephanie asked, incredibly interested and even a little delighted. “They’re all very…um.”

“...Dorky?” Kelly supplied helpfully. “What’s with the weird names?”

“Uh… yeah, they’re… something,” Brian chuckled, unbuttoning one of the utility belt pouches at his waist. He swapped his phone for the folded AnimeCon schedule booklet—a map of the convention was printed out on the back. “The goofy names are from forever ago, I guess I just got used to them as the years went by. Game room four, game room four...”

In all honesty, they didn’t need the map on the back of the booklet to find it; all of the game rooms were along one of the hallways he’d toured hand-in-hand together with Stephanie just the day before, and Kelly had wandered through that area exploring after hours. However, if Mark really needed him, Brian proposed they should try to head there through the mess of people as directly as possible.

As the three squeezed their way through the masses together, Kelly took the AnimeCon schedule booklet from Brian’s hand. As discreetly as she could, she made eye contact with Stephanie, raised her eyebrows, and tilted her head meaningfully in Brian’s direction. Say something.

“Uh, um,” Stephanie blustered. “Brian, your, uh, that is, I was wondering, the thing your one friend kept saying, what did it mean? Nah… nah-why?”

“Oh, Becky?” Brian chuckled, shaking his head. “Her new little catchphrase is ‘nah wai.’ Apparently, this airheaded girl says it a lot, in one of the animes Becky was all into. It’s actually the Japanese character suddenly exclaiming using the english words—‘no way,’ as a thing that’s trendy over there in Japan. I guess, just with the way they sound when they say it, it comes out as ‘nah wai.’”

Stephanie’s face broke out into a grin, and she quickly glanced down at her feet in embarrassment.

“Go ahead, try it,” Brian prompted, laughing.

“...Nah wai,” Stephanie tried in a small voice, barely audible over the murmur of the surrounding crowds.

Kelly glanced up from the booklet she was pretending to read and looked across Brian towards Stephanie to smirk.

“Huh. That’s weird,” Brian remarked, smiling at Stephanie.

“Wh-what is?” She asked, blinking.

“It’s annoying when Becky keeps doing it, ‘cause she’s like, so insistent with it. Overusing it, always kinda tryin’ to force it down your throat with repetition,” Brian explained. “But when you say it, for some reason... it’s really cute.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, really.”

“Ah, uh, w-well, thank you,” Stephanie managed, and the girl’s cheeks reddened. She shyly searched Brian’s face, as if she was half-sure he wasn’t being serious with her.

“Wait—not fair, I didn’t hear it properly,” Kelly protested, swatting Brian’s shoulder with the borrowed booklet since she couldn’t reach Stephanie.

“I-I don’t want to overdo it,” Stephanie refused, blushing.

“Excuse me, girl in the gothic lolita! Can I get your picture?” A girl sporting a Shinobi Souls scarf called, worming her way through the opposite flow of the slowly-moving crowd towards Kelly.

“...Delighted to be of service to you, Miss,” Kelly answered in a slow, chilling voice, stopping where she stood. Rather than answering with a reflexive sure, or of course, Kelly had decided today to have fun playing around at being in-character whenever the mood struck. The attendees walking behind them lurched to a halt to awkwardly give her berth as she struck her pose.

Instead of a casual smile or even a practiced pout, when that scarf-wearing girl directed her camera towards her, Kelly’s expression transformed into a look of questioning wonder. She straightened her back, her eyes went wide, her lips parted wordlessly, and she raised a finger to her chin. Her breath-taking look was actually more reflexive than planned, experience tempered through years of vanity and thousands of selfie shots. The effect was outstanding—it was an engaging look, a look that seemed to draw you in with its subtle poise and elegance, further magnified to new heights by the somber allure of her Calamity Queen outfit.

Despite the pressure of holding up everyone in the hallway, the girl in the scarf couldn’t help but pause to take one picture after another, and several of the others nearby raised their phones to snap shots as well.

“Thank you so much! I love your outfit, you look amazing!” The girl wearing the scarf managed, lowering the camera to show her beaming smile. The small bubble of space between them the crowd had given them quickly began to collapse.

“I’m undeserving of your praise,” Kelly answered expressionlessly, curtseying perfectly before turning to rejoin Brian and Stephanie.

“No, really—you’re amazing! That’s brand, right?”

“Yeah, Noblesse Oblique,” Brian chimed in quickly, noticing Kelly’s hesitation. The resuming traffic was already pushing forward and separating them from the photographer girl, but Kelly caught a last glimpse of her stunned expression before she disappeared behind an advancing group of fans.

“Nice! You’re even more popular than we are,” Brian congratulated Kelly, flashing a thumbs-up.

“Of course I am,” Kelly said, flashing him a quizzical look of disbelief that slowly morphed into her trademark stunning smile. How much did he really spend on this gothic getup? “All of you here are geeks, and I’m—well, I’m me.”

“We’re undeserving of your praise,” Brian grinned, nudging her playfully with his shoulder, and Stephanie giggled.

On route to game room four, Kelly was stopped twice more for pictures, and Stephanie was asked for hers once as well. Of course, it wasn’t until Stephanie’s picture that Kelly caught Brian discreetly slipping his helmet back on and flashing a subtle victory sign in the background of her shot. Have you been photo-bombing us?! You dickwad!

After giving Brian an exaggerated but well-deserved slap on Stephanie’s behalf—a slap that comically spun the loose skull helmet halfway around his head—Kelly realized that actually… she was honestly enjoying herself. She wasn’t just having a bit of fun, she… loved this. Being here, with these two dweebs. No, MY two dweebs. Maybe anime conventions really are my kinda thing, after all?

With a thoughtful quirk of her lip, Kelly turned her attention to the AnimeCon schedule, reading it for real this time. On one of the page spreads, the many events and panels were organized into a table based on the room they would be in and the time of day, and so at a simple glance she could see everything that was going on right now.

Game room four… hey, nothing’s going on in game room four. The little box is grayed out. Oh wait, there it is. In another half-hour, it’ll be a... ‘Mana: the Mastery regional tournament?’ Sounds like bad news. And then it goes on for the next three hours?! Kelly sincerely hoped that whatever his friend needed him for was just some quick errand before the tournament started. Let’s see, what else… AMV room? The hell is that? Aye-em-vee? Am-vuh? Amvee? Whatever. Voice-acting basics. Mechanics of mecha anime. Shinobi souls trivia face-off. Battle school anime for beginners? Hmm, Japanese sweets sounds like it might be good. Wonder if they have free samples? Oh, wait! Look at this one!

“Brian, check this out, look what panel’s just starting right now?” Kelly insisted, leaning towards him and tapping a finger in place at the listing she’d discovered.

“...Fetish 101?” He read aloud, and then shook his head with a sigh. “Weird. Normally they keep all the random kink panels as late night, after-hours kinda content.”

“Well, can we?” Kelly asked impatiently, looking at him with eager eyes.

“No way,” he laughed. “Emily and Becky went one year, and I heard it was bad. Like, they just do a rope demo and talk about safety, but all the weirdo creeper guys show up there to stare down any girls naive enough to attend. Desperate eyes and watering mouths, and all that.”

Rope demo? Kelly wondered, frowning. When I think of fetish, I picture the normal stuff—black leather and latex, dudes jacking off while they lick the boots of their dominatrix, that sort of stuff. Rope demo like, hanging from a noose, that erotic asphyxiation stuff? What if one of those pervs ends up necking himself at the convention?

“They said it wasn’t worth my time,” Brian said, noticing Kelly’s frown. “Besides, I definitely don’t want to expose Steph to that—I don’t want to make her uncomfortable.”

“Yeah, alright,” Kelly agreed reluctantly, glancing past Brian to Stephanie. I think that’s a great idea, though.

As they neared the game room, the hallway’s traffic slowed to a crawl, and they saw game room four’s door was flanked on either side by staff members standing on their chairs, calling out for everyone to show their badges. After waiting several long minutes in the deadlock of packed people, the trio finally made it through the doors… much to their dismay.

“What. Is. That,” Kelly grimaced, dropping the elegant lolita facade and covering her nose with the back of her hand. The game room was enormous, but so overstuffed with people that it seemed downright claustrophobic inside. With so many fans packed in that it was standing-room only, and they could barely see the long tables for card players. Unlike the hallways outside, the entire room positively reeked of unwashed bodies, and Stephanie almost backed right back out of the room upon entering.

“Whew, yeah, wow. Shoulda just kept my helmet on,” Brian joked, standing upon his tiptoes in attempt to catch a glimpse of Mark amidst the sea of attendees.

“Steph, is that friend you were ‘bout to room with here?” Kelly asked, keeping her nose covered. “Did she play cards?”

“N-no,” Stephanie protested, looking queasy. “But, um, Brian, I can’t. I r-really can’t.”

“Yeah, me either,” Kelly agreed, squeezing an arm past Brian to take Stephanie’s hand. “We’ll wait outside somewhere, or… something. This is bad.”

“Yeah… alright, damn. Here, quick,” Brian said, settling his helmet over his head so that he had both hands free to dig through the pouches of his utility belt. He passed Kelly her phone, her crumpled twenty-dollar-bill, and the spare keycard to their hotel room. “In case we really get separated. I’m gonna find out what Mark needs me for, then I’ll text you guys soon as I can.”

“This servant eagerly awaits your command,” Kelly bowed her head gracefully, slipping back into character. Before she withdrew, she sighed and gave Stephanie a slight, expectant shove towards Brian.

“I’m sorry, I-I, uh, it’s just, I really can’t—” She apologized timidly, letting him take her hands.

“Totally fine, it really is bad in here,” Brian said through his helmet. “Try to stick with Kelly, okay?”

“I will,” Stephanie affirmed, nodding with a bob of her costume’s rabbit ears. “An-and, um… here.” She hopped up to give him a peck on the plastic cheekbone of his skull helmet before blushing furiously and turning away to follow Kelly’s dark dress out of the room.

“Hey, wait. Girls!” Brian yelled, lifting his helmet. She turned and caught his eye just as she was squeezing her way out the door. “...Promise me you two won’t set foot inside that weird Fet panel.”

Kelly smiled at him, a wide, magnificent and gorgeous smile that positively radiated evil, and he felt himself regretting even reminding her.

“As my lord wishes,” She called back obediently, bowing. “I give you my solemn vow. We won’t disgrace our feet with even one step upon the foul floors of that place.” Her eloquent, dramatic manner of speech earned some laughter from the people still pushing past her into the room for the tournament, and Brian gave the girls a lopsided grin and a parting wave as they disappeared from sight.

“S-sorry,” Stephanie managed, as soon as her and Kelly had broken free of the mob trying to get into the Mana: the Mastery tournament and found some breathing room. “I just, I c-couldn’t, with that smell, and-and I know I’m probably ruining your plan—”

“Everything’s fine,” Kelly said in a comforting voice, raising her hand to gently caress her fingertips across Stephanie’s cheek. “Don’t you worry your pretty little head. It’s not like I could stand that awful stink, either.”

“Wh-what are we going to do, though?” Stephanie asked, apprehensive.

“What do you think?” Kelly tilted her head at the girl, like the answer was already obvious. “We’re on our way to Fetish 101.”

• • •

“Is this really okay…?” Stephanie asked timidly, hesitating outside the panel room for Fetish 101. In stark contrast to the hallway connecting the gaming rooms, the hall here was sparsely populated.

“Okay? S’way better than okay,” Kelly retorted. “It’s educational. You want—no, you need to know more about sexy stuff, right?”

“N-no, I didn’t mean that,” Stephanie fidgeted. “I mean, you promised Brian that we wouldn’t…”

“I know what I promised,” Kelly declared, flashing her wicked smile again. “C’mon, let’s see how it looks.” She tugged the pink-haired girl closer towards the entrance of the panel room, where a politely smiling brunette girl wearing an AnimeCon staff T-shirt was seated, very considerately pretending not to have overheard their every word.

“Hi,” the brunette staffer greeted cheerfully, nodding towards them and gesturing to indicate she’d already seen the badges they were wearing. “You can go on in, if you’d like.”

“Thank you,” Kelly smiled sweetly. “Is it okay if we take just a peek, though? My friend here, it’s her first time, and, well... she’s a little nervous.”

“Yeah, aren’t we all, our first time?” The staffer laughed. “Go ahead, take a look.”

Leaning out around the door frame, Kelly and Stephanie saw that the room was very dimly lit—many rows of chairs, mostly filled with people, were divided neatly by a central aisle directly in from the doors. The only active bank of lights was at the far side of the room all the seats faced, illuminating a long table where the panel’s lone host, a rather full-figured goth girl sporting dozens of tattoos, was speaking excitedly into a microphone.

“...To make sure they have experience and know what they’re doing, because a lot of the things people see and want to try out right away are so dangerous for beginners,” a young woman’s voice explained, presumably the host of the panel. “Paddling and spanking, for instance! It can be very fun, for both partners, but it’s sooo dangerous if done incorrectly! You’re have to focus your swings only on the buttocks and upper thighs, and never, ever strike as high as the lower back or kidneys! And of course, hitting harder doesn’t mean you’re hitting better!

“Oh gawd, you guys, I could go on about just the topic spanking alone for hours,” the host let out a wistful sigh. “I love getting a good spanking. But, again, it’s another one of those things that can be dangerous for beginners! For one, I’m going to say that if you’re just starting out, you absolutely need to use your hands! And not a paddle or a flog. Yeah, that’s right ladies and gentleman, I’m sayin’ you’ve gotta be hands-on.” There was only a slight murmur of response from the crowd.

“When you’re using your hands you’re always going to have more control on where and how hard your strikes are landing! Another thing to consider, is that your hand is going to be more delicate and sensitive than that meaty tissue of your partner’s buttocks and upper thighs—that’s gonna be your feedback, and that’s sooo important! Your hand is going to start seriously hurting well before they will, which’ll best limit both how hard you’re spanking, and how long you’re spanking for!”

The silhouette of a hand rose in the audience.

“Yes, you, sweet thing there in the cute hoodie, did you have a question?”

“I really don’t understand the spanking thing, at all,” A girl’s voice admitted, barely audible across the room. “Doesn’t it hurt?”

“Oh, gawd, like I said, I could go on forever about why I love it, and there’s so many factors! Yes, it can hurt, but it’s so much more than that!” The host explained gleefully.

“It does hurt, yeah. Sorta. It does and it doesn’t? It can hurt, but in a really good way. Seems like just the kind of lessons Stephanie really needs, Kelly decided with a smirk, and she stepped out from her peeking position to stand clearly visible in the open doorway.

“Oh, hi!” the host called towards them eagerly, her bassy voice booming through the room’s speakers. “Come on in, don’t be shy! I love your dress!” It seemed like most of the audience turned to look at them standing in the doorway, although their faces and expressions couldn’t be made out.

“We would love to join you,” Kelly called, raising her tone in a skilled public speaking voice that surprised Stephanie. She was projecting her voice so that everyone in the large room could easily hear her, yet it sounded almost the same as her normal manner of speech. “But... we made a promise—what were my words again, Stephanie?”

“Ah, uh…!” Startled at suddenly being put on the spot, Stephanie froze up, paling even further, and stared fearfully at the entire room full of people now looking expectantly at them.

“Yes, that was it; I so solemnly vowed that we wouldn’t set even one foot on the floor within this room,” Kelly declared.

“Aw, why would you do that?” the hostess pouted playfully. “We don’t bite—much.” A handful of obligatory chuckles sounded throughout the room.

“This is the panel room for fetish, though, right?” Kelly asked, a mischievous undercurrent building in her tone. “Steph… my shoes, please.” After an astonished second, Stephanie obediently dropped down to a knee and began unbuckling Kelly’s glossy black mary janes for her.

“Yes, that’s right. This is Fetish 101,” the tattooed girl across the room responded proudly into her microphone. It seemed like she was having more fun being able to exchange banter with an unexpected guest. Maybe her audience hasn’t been very enthusiastic?

“Might there be any... foot fetishists in attendance today?” With Stephanie’s help, Kelly stepped out of her shoe and extended her foot in the air, wiggling and curling the toes within her lace stocking theatrically. There was a murmur in the seated crowd, and she was able to distinctly make out at least one oh, hell yeah, followed by scattered laughter.

“Ooh, there we go! Foot fetishists? Anyone?” The host cooed encouragingly, pointing out raised hands in the audience as she saw them. “There we have one, two, three… show of hands, people, do we have anyone who appreciates some sexy feet with us here? Four, five... c’mon now, don’t be shy!”

“You see,” Kelly continued on in her raised voice, effortlessly sensual and charismatic, “we only promised that we wouldn’t dirty our feet on the floor, here… I wonder if any of you would be willing to... help us inside?” The occupants of the Fetish 101 panel reacted more loudly to this, and she immediately saw several of them standing up and shimmying past those still seated to make their way towards the center aisle.

The first to approach, a college-aged guy with a shaved head, stubbled face and a leery grin, dashed right up to them with his open hands held outstretched, palms up. Though he was likely just offering to carry one of them inside to a seat, Stephanie ducked slightly behind Kelly with a frightened squeak. Oh no, friend. Not THAT kind of help…

Kelly froze him in place with a mere gesture, simply by pointing her finger, and then the stunned guy watched as she jerked her fingertip down to point to the ground at her feet, as though she were training a dog. There was a flash of surprise on his grinning face and a moment’s hesitation—and the man fell to the floor as though he’d been forcibly struck down.

Then Kelly entered the room, her stocking-clad foot stepping up squarely onto the guy’s back… not once touching the carpeted floor inside.

“Oh my God,” they heard the stunned panel’s hostess exclaim throughout the speakers.

“Well?” Kelly turned to face Stephanie and the bewildered staffer beside her at the door. With a pout, she twisted her foot on the guy’s back. “Aren’t you coming inside as well, little one?”

“Hnnnng,” the man beneath her foot let out a noise, but it was difficult to discern whether it was from pleasure or pain.

In a scramble, two of the others who’d stood and made their way to the aisle clambered onto the ground as well, forming a human path, and the Fetish 101 room filled with lively hollers of laughter and encouragement. Others were already rising out of their seats.

“Come along now, Steph,” Kelly instructed, taking another graceful step, this time first caressing the guy’s cheek with the edge of her foot before pressing it down near his shoulder, mercilessly pinning him. “Do be kind enough to take off your boots, though. You have to remember... these things were people once.”

Stephanie watched on with a mixture of fascination and horror as her friend continued deeper into the room, transferring her weight slowly from one all-too-willing victim to the next so that she wouldn’t wobble. With trembling hands, Stephanie fumbled across the hem of her dress to the zipper of her thigh-high boot.

“Th-this… this can’t be happening…”

“Uh, here,” the brunette staffer posted at the door offered with a grin, and the girl crouched beside Stephanie to help her out of her boots.

“Ah, sorry, th-th-thank you,” Stephanie stammered out, casting another frightened look after Kelly, who’d already made her way several steps further… without technically breaking her promise to Brian.

Taking a deep breath, Stephanie felt the cool air on her legs, now bare the whole way up to the short hem of her pink and red gijinka dress… and gingerly took her first step following after Kelly. Stepping onto another human being. For Stephanie, this was a first.

“Oh-God-yessss!” The guy hissed gleefully, and with a yelp Stephanie hopped past him, landing with both feet on the next fellow and knocking the wind out of him.

“S-sorry,” Stephanie cried, planting her small feet, which were adorned with only a cute pair of ankle socks, on each following person as quickly as she could manage. “Sorry, sorry!” To her dismay, several of them down the line were laying face-up, and she didn’t have the layers of petticoat and bloomers Kelly did to obstruct their view.

Weebs sure are susceptible to mob mentality, Kelly decided as she surveyed the growing walkway of ready volunteers. The first several bodies had been strewn about haphazardly like a path of carnage, but beyond that the aisle of panel-goers laying down to become her living carpet had a queer semblance of order to it. Several dozen men and at least one young woman had laid themselves down in a neat row extending all the way past the chairs and towards the hostess’s table.

I’d thought I’d have a little fun, maybe make a little scene, and get me and Steph to a couple of the chairs... but if they want to take us right up to center stage, well, who am I to stop them? Kelly took care to take small, even steps to ensure she gave everyone equal attention, and squeezed her toes, kneaded with the ball of her foot, or gently rubbed the body beneath her with her every stride. The volume and excitement within the room was rising, most of the attendees had risen out of their seats to get a better look, and the lights from different cell-phones and cameras were shining across the now irregular aisle floor as the panel’s hostess chattered excitedly over it all.

“Okay… wow. Just wow. This is how you make an entrance, hah ha ha—aaa! This is Fetish 101, everyone! Whoooo! Can somebody get her a microphone? Kevin? Get that gal a microphone,” View of their hostess became clearer as Kelly crossed the room—she was a plus-sized woman in her late twenties, showing off intricate sleeve tattoos, as well as skeletal hands tattooed upon the swell of exposed cleavage above her corset. She had teased-out black hair and, in Kelly’s opinion, wore a little bit too much makeup.

As the girls finished picking their way across the room, a steampunk cosplayer shook off his stovepipe hat and clambered down onto his hands and knees, forming human stairs up to the panel’s booth. A mustached nerd on one side of Kelly acted out the part of a gentleman and steadied her hands, while a mousy-looking girl in a cat-eared hat kept pace with them, training her phone steadily on the spectacle.

Grandly ascending to stand atop the panel’s table, a scrawny guy wearing a staff T-shirt passed a microphone up to Kelly. Simply listening through the cacophony of noises in the room and swiping her fingernail across the grille of the mic told her that it was already live—only amateurs did tap-checks, and Kelly had dated a musician.

The table within the panel room was wide and sturdy, with more than enough room for both of them to stand on one side without obstructing the host. In the middle of the table was an assortment of rope, leashes, handcuffs, restraints, and other not-so-innocent toys on display.

“Hello, yes!” the host seated right there was speaking again, the chubby girl using a bombastic, energetic voice, as though emulating a radio host. “I’m Chrissy-Cat and this is Fetish 101! And who might you be?”

Before replying, Kelly carefully lowered the microphone and leaned down to help Stephanie up onto the table, cupping her hand near the pink-haired girl’s ear so that she could privately confer with her for a moment.

“You’re book-smart, right, Steph?” Kelly asked in a whisper, holding her face close beside Stephanie’s to ensure she could still be heard. “I’m gonna pass you the mic in a bit, think up some... famous quote or something, somethin’ bout walking proud or standing above others, that can relate to our situation coming in here, okay? Don’t get nervous or panic, or anything, because I’m right here. All you need is a good quote to use. ‘Kay?”

Stephanie nodded her head in a quick jerk, looking shell-shocked.

“Hello, Chrissy,” Kelly finally purred into the microphone, and she heard cries of approval from the audience. Her voice was soft and husky, spoken at a languidly-measured pace that made one hang on every word.

“Please, allow me to introduce myself. I’m Kelly. Kelly Killy,” she breathed in her slow, sexy voice. Who’d’ve thought I’d ever have another chance to use my stage name? “Someone very dear to me had us swear not to set a foot in here—I have many of you to thank—those who’ve laid down their very bodies to protect my promise. Can we have a small round of applause for their... sacrifice?” The resulting cheers and applause roared throughout the panel room once again—she was no stranger to hyping up a crowd—although this time the Ravaged Cassettes weren’t about to perform.

“And this is my pet—Miss Stephanie. A few words, lover?” Kelly held out the microphone carefully, letting the head hover just inches before the pink-haired girls lips.

“B-being a poor people, and, having only your dreams,” Stephanie called into the offered mic, her voice ringing out clear and rather adorable, “you’ve spread your dreams out beneath our feet! And so, we do tread carefully, because… we’re treading on your dreams!” Her only stutter hadn’t been very noticeable, surprisingly, and Kelly was impressed as well with her choice of words. The seated audience broke out into cheers and clapping.

“Exactly so—well spoken, my darling,” Kelly agreed, rewarding Stephanie with a loving pat on the head. Where’d she pull the quote from? That was pretty decent.

“Well, thank you both so much for stopping by!” Chrissy said, looking genuinely pleased. “You’ve come to the right place. I kept trying to get my friends up here to help host the panel with me, because panels work sooo much better as a cross-talk, but they all wimped out on me at the last minute! Yeah, even you, Kevin!” The staffer who’d passed Kelly a microphone was already slinking away back to the front row of seats, waving her off embarrassedly.

“Well, we’re very pleased to be here, thank you.” Seizing the opportunity, Kelly turned upon the tabletop with a graceful sweep of her Calamity Queen dress to regard the crowd of convention attendees, who were still settling back into their seats. She maintained the frigid gravitas of an untouchable being, with her hauntingly beautiful face and a smile colder than the dark reaches of space. By contrast, the endearingly cute Stephanie clinging to her side was frozen stiff with fright. “Now that we’re here, though… well, I heard there would be rope?”

“Ah, yes,” Chrissy jumped back in, gesturing with a legal pad of scribbled planning, “We were just getting through the safety talk, and our questions, and then Amanda and Bill here agreed to do our shibari demonstration.”

“Shibari...” Kelly echoed thoughtfully, sounding the word out. “Sounds delicious.” She’d meant to imply she’d mistaken the word for a kind of Japanese food, but from the audience’s enthusiastic response, the joke worked just as well as euphemism.

“Amanda? Bill?” Chrissy prompted.

At that, a young couple from the first row stood up. The thin college-aged guy—presumably Bill, wore glasses and had a mop of dirty blond hair and short beard of the same color, while Amanda was a giddy-looking dark-haired girl in her twenties. Her large, round brown eyes were adorned with exaggerated winged eyeliner drawn on in a too-large feline flick. There was a hearty round of applause and some jeers at the sight of them. Still, not bad, for a geek couple, I suppose.

“I’m not a fan of Bills, myself” Kelly commented thoughtlessly into her microphone, “Always struggling to pay them off, and yet they just keep coming! How about you, Amanda, how do you like... being Billed?”

Amanda hid her face into Bill’s shoulder in laughter and embarrassment, and the Fetish 101 crowd went wild again. It really wasn’t THAT funny, Kelly thought to herself as she arched an eyebrow at the panel’s audience. It’s just some weak wordplay, that I’m sure everyone named Bill has suffered through dozens of times before already. You guys are all just a little too eager to be pleased?

“Alright everyone,” Chrissy announced, “Bill’s going to start the demo in a sec—we couldn’t get the projector this year, the damned cosmetics panel is using it—but if anyone wants the step-by-step on what he’s doing, there’s a website I have printed out on my pamphlets here!” Setting down her microphone with a thump that echoed throughout the speakers, Chrissy helped pass a large plastic bag of hemp rope from beside them on the table to Bill.

The geek couple took position below them, in front of the table, and Amanda helpfully held her arms out while Bill began measuring out lengths of the corded rope to use.

“It looks like our friends here may take a few moments,” Kelly pointed out, “and by chance, just before we intruded, Miss Stephanie and I may have overheard you articulating the finer points of… spanking.” A chilling, sinister smile spread softly across her features, and she drew back a step on the table, letting her hands slip down Stephanie’s sides.

“I don’t suppose, while they’re preparing, that any of you would be interested in a live demonstration of that... would you?”

“That’s an awesome idea!” Chrissy crowed. She stood from her chair behind the panel-room’s table and bounced over to the side where Kelly and Stephanie stood. For a full minute, she had Kelly and Stephanie lean down towards her in a huddle of whispers, while their audience became an indistinct hush of murmurs and talk themselves.

* * *

I remember what you said to Brian, Kelly... Stephanie thought in dismay, a weak smile plastered across her features, but, isn’t this in so many ways so much worse?!

“Okay! We have now securely bound our lovely little victim’s wrists to each other,” Chrissy-Cat announced into the microphone, while Kelly took a dramatic step away from Stephanie, flourishing her hands towards their furiously blushing volunteer with a theatrical sweep.

“Using the most basic kind of restraint in bondage, the quintessential method and using common material available to everyone!” Chrissy continued. “Would anyone within the audience care to guess what it is that we’ve used?”

“Handcuffs?” A shout sounded from the back.

“Raise your hands up a little higher so they can all see, Miss Stephanie,” Kelly instructed.

“A hair tie?” A girl’s voice sounded on one side of the room.

“A hair-tie!” Another voice called in agreement.

“Nothing? Air?”

“Rubber bands?”

“Ooh, so close,” Chrissy-Cat sighed into the mic, shaking her head. “What we’ve used to restrain our lovely pet here is… a promise.”

A few groans were audible from the crowd, and those visible in the nearby front rows didn’t look impressed.

“So—imaginary invisible handcuffs,” one of the voices who’d called out earlier sounded again.

“Not true, not true!” Kelly drawled in her slow, irresistible voice. “Look, watch this.” For a moment she tucked the microphone under her arm and took hold of Stephanie’s arms, trying to pull them apart. Remembering what she’d been told, Stephanie didn’t let them budge apart at all, even after Kelly exerted a little bit of force.

“You see? The promise isn’t invisible, or imaginary, you can clearly see it, can’t you? She promised not to separate her hands; so her hands are bound, and cannot move,” Chrissy explained.

“It’s just pretending, though,” a guy in the front row scoffed. “That’s not like, real bondage.”

“Au contraire, mister skeptic,” Chrissy-Cat disagreed, shaking her head. “A promise is not pretend; it’s a pledge, an oath, an understanding between partners! A threat, an offering, an agreement and an exchange all in one, all of the basic tenets of communication from one thinking being to another.”

“Is a wedding ring like a shackle that physically prevents spouses from, you know, cheating and philandering? Hah—well obviously, not at all! A wedding band is a promise, it symbolizes a vow between partners. It’s the promise that’s important, the ring is just a band of metal! Likewise, in bondage play between lovers, each bond can be a visible, mmm, tangible representation of a promise that they share. If one were to engage in restraining their lover without any deeper understanding of why, without looking into the meaning of what they’re doing… well then it’s not real bondage at all, it’s just dangerous and stupid! Questions?”

“Okay, what does their promise mean here?”

“Well naturally, that’s not for me to say,” Chrissy covered her lips with her hand coquettishly. “A promise between them is between that them, it’s like, you know—a personal thing. Miss Kelly, do you want to field a question?”

“Yes, you, the charming young lady with the headband,” Kelly pointed out another of the raised hands.

“Uh, okay, you said that in bondage the restraints actually represented some form of a promise, so why didn’t you actually use something to bind her hands? Something to symbolize the promise?”

“An excellent question, young Miss,” Kelly nodded in approval and raised Stephanie’s hands up for everyone to see again. “For us… right now, a promise alone is enough. But in fact, it was important for me to show all of you an invisible bond, because it brings us to our next point.”

“Our next point?” Chrissy glanced up to her in surprise, but didn’t stop her from continuing. Another evil smile began to spread across Kelly’s gorgeous face.

Chrissy, you’re as bad as Brian, trying to push your psychobabble ideas that all of this is some complicated mind-game bullshit. You geeks think you know mind-games? Well then, allow me to show you my PHD in improvised bullshitting.

“Tell me, everyone—what do you see here?” Kelly lowered Stephanie’s hands and tenderly brushed aside tufts of pink hair to expose the lovely lines of friend’s pale throat.

“Nothing?”

“The girl of my dreams?” Some scattered laughter followed that one.

“Invisible promises?” Another guessed.

“An invisible collar!”

“That’s right, a collar,” Kelly answered in her unhurried, almost hypnotic voice. “In fact many collars, my thing’s poor little neck is buried beneath collars and chains. Leather pet collars, pulled all too tight—choker belts, digging deep into her skin—heavy iron slave collars, with their thick locks weighing down upon her.”

Kelly indicated each imaginary one with her fingers, and the audience grew quiet in anticipation.

“...I did not put these here,” Kelly gave a cute pout for her captive audience. “These are her fears, her self-doubt, and her worries, invisible until one learns to look closely enough. Why, when I met this little beauty, she was struggling to even speak around the mouthpiece of a gag bit—a gag some might recognize as anxiety.”

Stephanie couldn’t help but turn and blink her blue eyes in surprise at Kelly.

“You see, I wanted to show you all that bondage play isn’t just a shallow game of simple leather straps…” Kelly’s purring voice, her carefully enunciated every word drew the crowd within the panel room into another hushed silence as she drew closer to Stephanie’s exposed neck. “Bondage really is a connection between lovers, one that explores deeper than spoken words can ever reach. Each bond I place on her is a kind of promise we’ll share... and all of these other, useless ones around her neck? Well, I learn how to take them off. One. By. One.”

Kelly lowered the microphone and planted a slow and savory trail of kisses up Stephanie’s neck, her lips gently smacking and her tongue flashing out as though determined to pick each and every imagined lock.

Stephanie shivered, giving them a tremulous undulation that arched her back in surprise. The girl’s slender hands, still squeezed together at the wrists by nothing but a promise, stretched outwards and her fingertips danced.

What’s happening to me, Stephanie wondered in a daze, afraid she was going to fall off the table. Simply being on an impromptu stage in front of all of these people had, in her mind, surpassed notions like scary and exhilarating. If not for Kelly’s brazenly public affection for her, she would have been able to clam up and gone numb to a lot of this. As it was, Stephanie felt like her little heart was beating faster than she’d ever felt it before. Will people think that I’m, well… that kind of girl? That Kelly and I are… lovers?

...Are we?

“Shall we move on? Chair, please,” Kelly beckoned carelessly towards the first row, and within seconds a guy hopped up and passed her up the very seat he’d been sitting in. Setting the folding chair carefully in the center of the table they were standing on, Kelly arranged her skirts and sat down with the graceful poise of a dark princess .

“Perfect, thank you. Stephanie?”

“Y-yes?” Stephanie stammered out, unsure of exactly what was happening but painfully aware that every set of eyes in the room was upon her. There’s no way this is happening. This is impossible. Completely impossible. She can’t just—

“Weren’t you ever spanked as a child?” Kelly asked, smirking up at her from the chair. “C’mon now, over my knee.”

She... can’t be serious, Stephanie thought with a nervous smile. Any second now she’s going to say she was just joking. Any second now. She’s just kidding around for the audience. It’s a joke. I should just—

“Stephanie, now,” Kelly commanded, a stern note of disapproval sounding in her voice, as she tapped her knee impatiently.

Before she even realized what she was doing, Stephanie’s mind went blank and she was clambering obediently over the other girl’s lap. The attendees filling the panel room roared, whooping, hollering, and cheering, and Stephanie felt her cheeks burning red in absolute humiliation. Every one of them was making that ruckus for her.

What am I thinking?! Stephanie felt cool air on her bottom as the hem of her pink-and-red dress rode up, but her hand fumbling to fix it was neatly slapped away by Kelly. A moment later, the skirt of her sundress was flipped up, exposing her shapely behind to the room full of people. Her panties clung to every perfect curve like a second skin.

I don’t like this. I don’t like this I don’t like this, Stephanie found herself repeating in her head, and though she opened her mouth to say it, the words were stuck in her throat, paralyzed with terror. The frantic, frightened energy that had been nervously nibbling at her earlier swallowed her up, and she made a small noise.

“Steph?” Kelly asked. “...Steph?”

“I-c-can’t,” Stephanie quailed out in a harsh whisper, slapping both hands over her face. “I can’t. I can’t. I can’t do this. I c-can’t.”

“Steph, you’re already doing this, and you’re doing great!” Kelly whispered back softly, fingers patiently combing through Stephanie’s bright pink tresses of hair. “You’re doing such a good job, that’s my girl. You hear all of those people? They’re that noisy because you’re so lovely, and the idea that they’ll get to see you spanked is that exciting.”

No, no no no I can’t. I can’t I can’t I can’t.

“Hey, d’you remember last night, when you asked Brian if you were pretty? Do you remember what he said to you?”

I asked him if I was pretty. What did he say then? Stephanie’s mind went blank, and she couldn’t recall his words. She stared down at the tabletop, the upper half of her body leaning down off of Kelly’s lap, trying to focus, trying to gather her thoughts—but she couldn’t. The cacophony of voices sounding throughout the panel room, the bizarre and uncomfortable position she was in, this mortifying scene seemed to be whirling around in her mind, completely out of her control. This isn’t happening. This isn’t happening. This isn’t—

“Do you remember? Your hair was all pink, and you asked him if you were pretty now, and he said... he said—‘Steph, you’re beautiful.’”

The sense of being overwhelmed by everything all at once fell out of focus and drifted away at Kelly’s words, dispelled like smoke in a refreshing breeze. Steph, you’re beautiful. Of course, that was it. He did say that. He put his face right into my private parts, and licked me some thousand times, and made me go crazy. When he was done, he wasn’t even disgusted or annoyed or impatient at all. And then he smiled, and told me I’m beautiful. He thinks I’m beautiful.

“Steph?”

“Sorry,” Steph breathed out slowly. “I remember. I’m okay now. Thank you. Sorry.” She looked up at the audience of Fetish 101 laughing and cheering for the first time and gave them all a meek, helpless smile. That was… I was having a panic attack? And it’s over already?

The situation was still awfully embarrassing—humiliating, even, but... that was it. I can do this?

“Now, let’s begin,” Kelly decided, once again speaking into the microphone, and there was raucous applause. “For your convenience, my little lovely here will be counting out each strike as I grace her blushing behind with attention… everyone please listen closely.”

The first smack stunned Stephanie, that clap of Kelly’s palm sounding out across the smooth curve of her bottom instantly sparking an explosion of chaotic cheers and victory cries from within the panel room. She flinched up in surprise at the sheer tumult of the audience rather than the strike itself, and it wasn’t until several unsteady breaths later that she remembered what she’d been instructed to do.

“O-one?” Hearing her own meek voice reverberating clearly through the room’s speakers, Stephanie blinked her eyes open to discover Kelly’s microphone poised right in front of her face, patiently waiting for her count. Staring blankly now at the mic, she could feel next spank coming, could sense it in the subtle shifting of Kelly’s knee which she found herself draped over, in the hush that fell over the jubilant noise of the crowd. They’re all watching me.

“Me, I get really excited when I’m about to be spanked,” Chrissy began speaking into her microphone to add her commentary. “That’s the best part of it for me, the anticipation right before each hit. When you’re sittin’ there with your bottom exposed, just waiting in anticipation, knowing that it’s going to land—but not knowing exactly when.

Then the second spank sang out, much more loudly than it actually felt because of the way Kelly had cupped her hand. Able to focus on the sensation now, Stephanie was surprised at how little it hurt—barely at all, it was rather a strange but not entirely unpleasant sting; a feeling of being touched in an intimate place unused to contact, coupled with a fleshy jiggle of movement.

“Two,” Stephanie counted out in her sweet voice.

“Your muscles tense up in anticipation for the blow, and then, it happens!” Stephanie heard Chrissy exclaim in an excited voice. “There’s that quick little delicious sharp feeling to the slap that really gets you going, gets your blood flowing, you know? You can get aroused so fast when you’re getting spanked. Your eyes go wide, your mouth opens in surprise, you can feel the flesh of your butt move with the impact and all of that tension you built up relaxes all at once… only to start all over again as you start to get ready for the next blow…”

When the next spank followed, Stephanie began to feel warmth blooming across her buttocks, and she felt her glasses slip partway down her face. Stephanie was smiling now, a strained but giddy smile of mixed exasperation and good humor at the sheer absurdity of the situation she was finding herself in. This... really isn’t so bad. I just can’t believe it’s happening! And to me!

“Three—ahh!” Stephanie gave out a startled yelp as Kelly followed up her third with another immediate open-handed slap across her left cheek, and then another across her right.

“Four, five,” she continued in a breathy voice, and then quickly adding “...s-six,” as the clap resounded out through the panel room again. At some point the convention-goers had begun counting along with her, and she dared a peek over towards the seats. Dozens, what felt like hundreds of faces were all turned her way, all of them caught up in the thrill of watching this adorable pink-haired girl bent over the dark beauty’s lap in an erotic display of punishment and pleasure.

“And we’re not even touching on all the psychological aspects!” the panel’s hostess laughed. “The stuff you can’t see just by watching! Reading into all that can just go on forever. For some people, it’s just that naughty feeling, that they’re doing something, as grown adults, that is outside the ‘norm’. You’re also enacting roles between yourself and your partner—one person is in full control of the activity, while the other is surrendering their control—so you could say that spanking is the very essence of BDSM!

“The aspects of restraining and disciplining a partner, the exploration of the dominant and submissive relationship, and the method of communicating with your lover by the means of physically imposing and expressing both pain and humiliation… all of the BDSM fundamentals are right there at your fingertips, so to speak!”

“Alright, everyone,” Kelly raised her own microphone back up, effortlessly drawing them all back in with her magnetic voice. “I won’t show any of you, because it would be terribly improper, but her cute little bottom is turning the most lovely shade of red—and even more importantly, my palm is starting to sting!”

Laughter and cheers sounded back out at Kelly’s cute pout, along with rising applause, but Kelly wasn’t finished.

“...So, we’ll just have one last spank, we’ll get a really good one, and then we’ll be finished.”

The response was even more enthusiastic, and with a quiver of anticipation Stephanie listened as the raucous noise of their captive audience hurriedly dwindled down to a hushed silence. She found the sudden drop in volume just like the swash of saltwater after a crested wave on the beach, that roil of foam that quickly recedes into sudden backwash just before the next—

The final spank slapped down hard, hard enough to hurt. Hard enough to rock her entire body forward, even, but already Stephanie would agree with Chrissy’s statement that she’d overheard earlier—it was somehow more satisfying than painful. Blushing fiercely, she quickly discovered that Kelly’s hand lingered after the strike, gently stroking back and forth across her supple buttocks to help alleviate the sting. That feels—that feels—

“Se—ven,” she managed.

It felt amazing. Better than she could have imagined, and it was all she could do to keep from whimpering as the hand withdrew and she felt the fabric of her skirt being flipped back down to cover her tender tush. Everyone was still cheering and applauding, she distantly realized, and there were some whistling or crying for an encore as well.

All of that for us, Stephanie realized as Kelly carefully took her hand and guided her back up onto her shaky feet. The table upon which they stood didn’t seem nearly as sturdy as it had before. Our stage. For once in my life, I was the one up here, I felt like more than the wallflower in the background.

Of course, she was also so embarrassed that she could die—she wanted to hide her face, but her hands in their long gloves were firmly clamped behind her. Why do I feel so raw? She only spanked... seven times, Stephanie wondered, before realizing she had no way to gauge how many spankings might be considered typical.

“Goodness, look at you,” Kelly chided playfully in her gothic lolita persona voice, helping fix her glasses that had come askew. Someone from the front row of seats had come up to pass them her rabbit-eared headband—When did that come off? and Stephanie squeaked out a thank-you as she fidgeted and smoothed her dress against her thighs awkwardly.

“Wow! That was just awesome,” The panel host, Chrissy-Cat boomed into her microphone with a beaming smile. “I know you guys haven’t even stopped yet but can we have one more round of applause for Kelly and Stephanie?! WHOOOO!”

Everyone eagerly obliged, filling the room with an uncomfortably loud racket, and Stephanie didn’t dare to look up at them, her weak smile frozen in place as she struggled simply to not faint and fall off the table.

“Thank you… thank you. We’re undeserving of your praise. However, it looks like our fair Amanda is ready to be billed, and so it’s time we take our leave.,” Kelly answered out graciously, gesturing towards the couple waiting below their impromptu stage, each holding sections of rope.

“Besides, if our Master finds out where we’ve been, then both of our bottoms will wind up red, won’t they?” Kelly finished, flashing Stephanie a grin as she passed her microphone down to Bill.

“N-nah wai,” Stephanie blustered with a meek smile.