Samantha found herself really enjoying the evening so far. Meeting new friends and just being ‘normal’ for a bit.. it was everything she wanted. She often wondered how people would react to her slightly different body as a centaur. She had imagined a lot of different fears and was mentally prepared for the worse but… for the most part everyone was actually very nice to her. Her over protective parents and brother were worried over nothing!
Relaxed now and being well- just like everyone else as she trotted on her four legs, the group of friends talked about the movie and of course saying how ‘impossible’ various aspects of the plot were- Which perhaps from a centaur might seem pretty odd. Still it was hard for her to contain that excitement as she talked while trotting to the other girls- with the exception of Jasmine, who seemed a bit mopey for some reason. Lucy and Mary were more fun to her and as much as she liked Jasmine, she just wanted to continue having fun in this new exciting world.
The group walked across the mall now past various shops. It wasn’t too busy with a few late customers and diners. Mary held Lucy’s head as her body walked ever close by with her hands resting on her sides.
Samantha reached out a hand to take Lucy’s hand feeling its curious warmth the young centauress grinning a bit as it was rare to hold her new friends hands given they tended to always be busy holding her head.
Lucy’s head glanced slightly though held firm in Mary’s arms. It was a bit jarring as her own hands and body were subtly able to queue her perspective but in someone else’s body it felt so much more… restrained. Still her body seem to like and share in the sensations of the young centaur’s hands being held. “Oh that feels weird.” She laughed. “Thanks though that does make me feel a lot better.” Her arms did need the rest so… she didn’t mind being held like this. In fact part of her found it quite… interesting?
“I thought it might.” The young centaur grinned. “You know you two really do look cute together like that.” She giggled.
“We do?” Mary glanced down to Lucy with a light laugh herself. She was holding a rather precious person after all. “Well- I don’t know what to say to that! I think Lucy is just cute the way she is.”
James was looking at the time in concern as he wondered what to do with his little sister. “We probably should be heading back home to be honest, mom didn’t want us staying out late.” The elder centaur didn’t want their parents to get upset and he did promise to look after Lucy.
Lucy pouted at that. “Oh come on bro! We’re having lots of fun. We can just go to a restaurant and eat for a bit can’t we?”
“Well-” James looked a bit unsure but it was rather nice seeing his little sister so happy. “I suppose… I’ll let mom know.” he quickly texted her on the phone with a little furl of his tail showing some agitation on the young stallion.
Harry felt his hands get sweaty.. very sweaty. It was like he was that young kid again who made a terrible mistake- doing something without thinking.. only it was worse this time. Last time he played it off as just having fun, kids being kids… and there was ‘some’ truth to that- but- he didn’t have that excuse this time. He was older, he should have known better. He didn’t realize what kind of a… a feeling it was holding a… a dullahan like that. Of course he was a growing teenager with an awareness of attraction… perhaps that was even healthy to have, However he was also very confused and perhaps even a little upset over finding… something so ‘alien’ to be…
kinda… sexy?
Harry tried to avoid those horrible thoughts. The kinds of things, he realized what holding a Dullahan’s head was like. To utterly ‘possess’ the being of someone in their entirety and treat them in any manner one might wish. The dark fantasy played out in his mind though not that he would ‘hurt’ her. It was just that he wanted to… keep her? Yet even that seemed like it was too far. He denied it of course in his mind- that wasn’t him! He was trying to make things… better between himself and Jasmine. However now he suddenly had these thoughts and he wondered… what if… jasmine was one hundred percent right about him? That this showed he was a creep- after all he had always fantasized about her body without her head getting in the way of things, wanting to ‘have’ her in that way. Somehow when he had to deal with her head, his thoughts just drifted into treating her head like he would that body… not really thinking at all. Guiding it even towards what just ‘felt’ right. Of course if her body objected it would have simply pushed him aside-
… but her head… it couldn’t do anything. It- She- She was at the mercy of whatever- of
WHOEVER was interacting with her…
It was messed up. Harry knew that… it was so very messed up. He got angry that Jasmine was just ‘made’ that way because it ‘made’ him feel horrible about himself. He glanced to Dean as they walked down the mall, as he glanced quietly to Jasmine.
The girl wasn’t saying anything… to anyone. Harry should save said something but he didn’t want to make the situation worse. He made a mistake… another mistake but part of him revelled in how ‘nice’ it was to hold her... Why did that even feel… the way it did? “I didn’t want to hurt her,” he repeated to himself. He needed to ask someone else on their experiences but- the only other person who has held Jasmine’s head besides… Jasmine herself was Dean. He sighed as he quickly walked over to him.“Dean?” Harry asked quietly.
“Yeah?” He glanced back. “You okay?”
“I’m- yeah I’m fine. Can I ask you a question?”
Dean sighed. “I didn’t see what happened if that’s what you’re asking. I was watching the movie.”
“No- well- uh- that’s okay. I just wanted to ask... you’ve held… Jasmine’s head a bit right? Today?” He was nervous talking about it, his heart was going faster.
Dean shrugged. “Well- a bit today yeah. Her arms were getting tired that’s all. It was hard to watch the movie for her so I just wanted to help her out.” Harry looked a bit defensive. “I had her permission and everything it wasn’t weird.”
“I- I didn’t mean anything about it it’s just..” He felt horrible. Of course it made sense to him. Jasmine gave permission to be held.. but not to be kissed- he didn’t even know what came over him. He wasn’t even sure if he really was going to kiss her- but- maybe he was but maybe he was just looking at her closely too? “When you held her.. did you uh- feel anything weird?”
“Weird? What do you mean?”
“Well- anything. What did you feel?”
Dean gave it some quiet thought. It wasn’t really something he wanted to admit but… maybe he could. “… a bit scared… to be honest.”
Harry held his breath. Finally an emotion that he could relate to. “Why was it scary to you?”
The young teen gave a look back. “Why do you think? We’re holding her.. everything. Her mind- it’s… it’s kind of scary. It’s like holding a baby you know?”
Harry laughed at that. “Heh, I never held a baby. Come on, really? It’s not like that to me at all.” Jasmine was Jasmine, with her head or her body.
“It’s no joke- you worry about dropping them and well-” He shuddered. “I guess you have to have been there.”
Harry however gulped at the implication. It again played on the idea… Jasmine’s head without her body was so helpless. It made the guilt flow ever harder in his mind. “Why does she have to have such a freakin’ weird body.” Maybe things would have been better if she was normal. Harry didn’t like how divided their friendships had become.
“… I think I am a creep. You were right.”
Dean glanced back as they walked looking around. “Well… you were nice to Samantha. She likes you.”
“The kid can’t tell I’m a bad person.” Harry thought glancing to the young centaur. She was cute and sure he would help her out but… age aside he wasn’t sure how it would work with a centaur anyway. Inhuman bodies were odd.
“...You’re not a bad person okay?” Dean sighed not to sure he should say it. Harry was doing some serious reflecting and it was probably a good thing. “… I sometimes wonder if Jasmine would like me more too. You take risks with her and… I envy that a bit. I’m her friend but.. that’s all I can be you know? Maybe you can’t be friends with her any more but… at least you tried.”
“Damn. You make it sound so final.” Harry groaned.
“You risked her friendship for something more. You know that’s how it works. Otherwise I might have…” He gulped. Well- no he was just a chicken.
“It’s not so absolute! I can still be friends with her even after this.”
“… I hope so. At least you know she’s not interested.”
He had to talk to Jasmine.
The group had found a small ice-cream parlour to finish up their evening. Jasmine could still feel Harry’s look- and was surprised when she felt his hand tap her shoulder. She turned around, her head clasped on her front. “.. yeah?”
“Hey. Look…” Harry hated looking down at her like this. It felt weird and just seem to emphasize all the more how strange her body was with its ghostly lights. “I wanted to say I…” Did he not mean it? Well- no he wanted to kiss her. Did he regret it? Not exactly… “… I didn’t want to upset you,” he said with sincerity. “I never thought what it was like to hold your head like that. It was… it was nice.”
“You’re just like when we were kids.” Jasmine found her eyes narrowing. She didn’t actually ‘remember’ those events and perhaps it was a good thing. Harry blanched slightly at this.
“… I- I’m trying not to be. I just couldn’t help it. You looked kinda… pretty. I mean- I never really thought much about it before.”
Jasmine furrowed her brow slightly. How could he even find her head attractive? Also why the heck was her body seeming to ‘like’ being called attractive by some guy! She wasn’t even into this. The fact of the matter was that Harry -forced- a kiss by taking advantage of her situation as a Dullahan. That was in every reality she could think of wrong! Did her body give her some kind of ‘sign’ that it would be okay?
Harry bit his lip. “Look- I don’t get it much either okay? I’m not all that smart. I don’t know how to act sometimes and I just treat you and your body as one thing. I thought that I was supposed to. It won’t happen again. You can absolutely trust me as much as you trust your body.”
Jasmine sighed. She guessed it could be confusing if she was basicly like two people.. and if her body was giving some queue to him perhaps by the way it was dressed or some other subconscious feeling- wait no! Why is he trying to imply that this was her fault somehow! She trusted him! “… let’s just get the ice-cream and forget about it.”
Harry nodded. He guessed he would never understand these weird Demi-humans. “Yeah, sure.”
Though Jasmine did wonder… how much can she trust a body that was just a copy of her cousins?
Afterwards the group said their goodbyes. Jasmine was able to reconcile somewhat with Harry. She guessed she could give him another chance.. he was apologetic. Maybe it was a little weird to let him hold her head like that…
“I hope we can do this again,” Said Samantha. “I want to go out even more.”
“I’m sure it will be fun,” Harry nodded. Samantha seem to want to give him a hug. For a moment he seemed unsure but allowed it. The centaur surprisingly strong almost lifting him off the ground! “Wow- strong arms there.” He was surprised and perhaps in that one motion had..a brief idea of what being a Dullahan could be like.
Dean yawned a bit. “I gotta go now anyway. Thanks for the fun!”
Jasmine felt her body stoop a little as she too was feeling the evening wear on. She could walk with Jennifer of course back home.
Harry quietly waited for the bus… it was a short trip home for him and he didn’t mind being on his own.
He thought a bit about the day… of Jasmine whom he made a bit of a mess of but- not too bad a mess. Certainly he wasn’t the first guy to try to kiss a girl who didn’t want it and well- it didn’t ‘actually’ happen so… yeah, he could just accept that and move on. “It probably wouldn’t even work with a demi-human anyway.” Everybody knew it was a.. difficult relationship. Even beyond the mocking and teasing to being attracted to something that technically wasn’t human.. there were fundamental issues at hand with an inter-species relationship. Though that mostly applied to romantic stuff- he didn’t consider that friendship was also difficult.
The fact that the young centauress kept on looking at him unnerved him a bit. It was nice that the kid liked him and in a way it was evidence that he wasn’t that bad a guy. Though what did a kid know about him? She was just a naive girl who saw very little. A girl that was part horse anyway and was far better off in the countryside. “I wonder where that bus is,” He thought as he kicked a stone on the side walk.
It was.. probably for the best that demi-humans stuck with their own anyway. Jasmine just messed up his head because of her weirdness and well- even if Samantha had been a fully grown up centauress he didn’t think it was possible for any kind of relationship anyway just on the… physics. Well- he could ride her in the forest or something- ‘Argh again with the stupid thoughts!’
Yeah demi-humans were just trouble. He should stick to normal… normal humans.
Someone approached the bus stop and was looking at his watch. He appeared to have some kind of cane on him which caught Harry’s attention. It was strange after all given the man didn’t seem to need it at all. He was tapping it on the ground muttering something. “Hm, cold night.”
Harry looked at him. He had a rather striking black beard and mustache. His eyes were strange though as one appeared to be blue, and the other green. He knew there was a name for that but couldn’t remember what it was now. “Uh… are you okay?” He asked.
“Oh, perfectly fine boy. How are you?” The stranger gave a little smile.
“I’m… fine.”
“Oh? I think I saw you with those.. oh what’s it- Demi humans?”
Harry kept a neutral look. He wasn’t sure if the man was going to tease him about it or make fun of him. He wasn’t really in the mood and didn’t want to get into an argument with someone he never met before. He tried to smile back. “Heh. Yeah… Demi-humans. Why do we live in a world with them?” He wondered out loud.
“Haha! That’s a … very intriguing question. Don’t you like them?”
“Well- of course I do!” Damn it. Was this guy trying to trick him into saying something ‘anti-demi-human?’? “I just… don’t really get them, that’s all.” He paused for a bit feeling a bit… well sad about that. He had a good day but… could he have really understood Jasmine’s unique … circumstances? Her reality is so different from his own that he just didn’t understand those little things. As a result she will end up hating him again. He just has to mess up once. On the other hand, he could just… be distant and leave them. It saddened him but maybe they just really couldn’t be friends after all. There were other friends he could make. The world was a big place! He didn’t have to feel so bummed out about it. Tomorrow… yeah.. “I just… I find them too… weird.” Harry responded eventually. He wasn’t even sure why he was talking about this anyway. “Bus seems to be late.” he said trying to change the subject.
The man glanced at the empty road and patted his cane down on the side. “What’s to understand? They are human as you… just with a few extra quirks.”
“Yeah, but Jasmine can be in two places at once. We poor humans just don’t deal with that stuff.” That was right wasn’t it? Jasmine wasn’t human… he couldn’t possibly see things from her view, but she couldn’t see things from his view either. It didn’t make her any ‘better’. “They have their weird lives, I have mine. That’s just the way it is.”
“Hm… Well, perhaps you would like to know your friends better?”
“Sure I would; but it’s not possible. I’m just human.” He groaned a little. “What I do wish is that this night could have gone different. I wish I could have been different…” If he could just… relive today. Just make things right. Just one day! He didn’t want Jasmine to fall in love with him but… he just wanted her now to not hate him so much and perhaps… that will help him hate himself less.
“Nothing wrong with being human boy,” The man chuckled. “I’m afraid that being human- and a young man at that, does mean living with the consequences of our choices.”
Harry looked up softly at that. “Well… nothing good for me came today. I’m just going to go home and… think about things.”
“Things.. or people?”
Harry held his breath. “...People.”
“Well, seems you are on the right track. Ah, the bus is here now… have a good day.”
