Shifting Consequences--Chapter 39: Sensual Swimming

Story by zmeydros on SoFurry

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#40 of Shifting Consequences

I love skinny dipping. I grew up on the ocean and have always enjoyed being in water. Holding my breath and swimming long distances underwater is something I practice a lot. I can go 1.66 olympic pools without coming up for air. I'm jealous of Bella's abilities, though.


Zack and co. go swimming and relax.

Shifting Consequences--Chapter 39: Sensual Swimming By Zmeydros (Lucien Quinn) zmeydros.tumblr.com zmeydros (Twitter) Malfedrosti (Mal Twitter)

The next morning, Bella and Zack team up to make breakfast while Glenn and Vale tag team on the dishes. The big pot of cream of wheat with raspberries, honey, and milk mixed in provides plenty of food for everyone, but Zack thinks it's a bit too plain. He doesn't complain, however, because he was the one that suggested it and his friends asked for seconds. Maybe he's just being a snob about his own cooking.

After Vale and Glenn get done with the dishes, Zack says, "Let's go skinny-dipping."

Vale smirks and raises an eyebrow. "Can we even call it skinny-dipping if there's no danger of getting caught?"

"Maybe not. The risk of getting caught is the funnest part." Bella says.

"Then we'll just have to chase each other." Zack pinches Bella's butt and makes her squeak.

Glenn bares his teeth and growls while holding out his claws. "Last one in the water gets eaten!"

"Run, this raccoon's gone rabid!" Zack runs toward the lake.

Vale and Bella scream and run after him like two over-the-top victims in a horror movie.

The last one to hit the water is Bella, but the moment she's in the water, she swims so gracefully that Glenn is left behind in an instant. Bella stops when she's over thirty feet away and waves at him. "Too bad the rabid raccoons don't have a swimming bonus."

"I'd need one to have any hope of catching you. I don't even have a fluke."

"I don't even think I use it right. I flex my back and my legs to swim a bit like a killer whale, but I don't think I do it much justice. It feels amazing to be in the water, though!" Bella splashes Zack who is looking at Glenn's soaked fur.

"Gah!" Zack dives under the water.

Jumps up and then falls forward and sends a huge torrent of water at Glenn. Glenn puts up his hands, but some of the water gets into his ears. He shakes his head to get the water out before putting his hands together and swinging his whole upper body to send water back at Vale. Vale laughs and then moves toward Glenn.

When Glenn splashes at him again, he comes around from the side and splashes both Glenn and Bella. Just after Bella splashes back, she moans. Zack's tongue is running up her thigh and across her-- "Oooh! Aaah!" His fingers part her pussy lips and his tongue enters her. She blushes as she looks at Glenn and Vale. She can't stop moaning. Zack's tongue is warmer than the water and it is going really deep.

While Glenn is distracted, Vale gets behind him and grinds his crotch against Glenn's ass. Glenn yelps in surprise and then murrs. Vale lets go just as he starts getting hard and dives under the water.

Glenn watches Bella twitch a bit and blushes as he notices that his erection is stirring. He feels something move near his feet and swims toward Bella. Zack pops up and licks Bella's muzzle before they share a deep kiss. While they're kissing, Vale comes out of the water and nibbles on Bella's neck which makes her moan into the kiss. Vale laughs and stops messing with her. He wraps his arms around Glenn and kisses him. At first, they just kiss along each other's muzzles, but Vale soon starts using some tongue.

The pairs kiss for a short time before Zack says, "Switch partners."

Glenn and Vale break their kiss and Glenn says, "Okay, I'll take Zack."

Vale takes a couple steps toward Bella and then licks across her beak before poking at her predatory orca teeth with his tongue. Bella grabs Vale's ass and kisses back pressing her tongue into Vale's maw.

The kiss between Zack and Glenn starts off tender, but when they both growl and start grabbing at each other's backs, Zack feels his whole body heat up. He breaks the kiss to catch his breath and then goes right back to kissing. Glenn turns his head to the side and Zack explores the angled joining of their mouths. Zack's erection presses against Glenn's thigh while Glenn's erection pokes right back. Zack grabs Glenn's erection and strokes it causing Glenn to gasp.

Before Glenn can do the same to Zack, Vale presses his erection in from the side. Bella wraps her erection around Glenn's and squeezes. They share a four-way kiss that switches partners. They grind, Vale strokes Zack's erection while thrusting his against the chests of his companions. Zack's tail toys with Vale's tail hole causing Vale to throw his head back and moan. Zack rubs Bella's clit with one hand and fondles Glenn's balls with the other.

Soon they are all panting and have to break the kiss. Bella can feel Glenn's shaft pulsing powerfully in the coil of hers. She strokes it feeling it get even harder. She wants to feel this thing inside her again. The sooner the better.

Zack stops teasing and backs away from the group. "Lets just swim and play in the water for a while. Then, I want us to tease each other again and again throughout the day and have a foursome just before dinner."

"You want us to get that pent up?" Vale folds down an ear.

He nods. "Yeah, I want to be so horny I can't think straight. We keep having sex the moment we get horny so it doesn't get to build that much. I want to see what happens when we are nearly insane with arousal."

"That's hot!" Vale bounces.

A big grin forms on Glenn's face. "Whoever gets blue balls first loses."

"I doubt that can happen to us in these forms. My original spell had some commands that prevented physical discomfort from getting in the way of sex. I think that's why our bodies can accommodate huge cocks so easily. I didn't think about it when I was making the spell, but I think I made it so things that aren't normally possible can happen." Bella's stares off into the distance as she thinks.

"That actually explains a lot." Zack blushes as he thinks about what it felt like when he first had sex with Glenn.

"I love it. Your spell turned out perfect." Vale smiles.

Glenn nods and gives Bella a pat on the back. "Yep! You're an awesome mage."

"Th-thanks." Bella presses her pointer fingers against each other feeling suddenly shy. Does she really deserve all these compliments?

Vale kisses her on the cheek. "You're welcome."

After Zack gives Bella a hug, they all enjoy swimming in the buff. The way the water feels around Zack's body has him smiling almost constantly. He can feel it flow over his scales, he can feel warm currents and cold currents mixing. The eddies that his friends create when they splash around or swim. For a long time, he's just hanging out with Glenn and Vale while Bella goes exploring.

Bella stays under the water most of the time enjoying the fact that she's finally able to use her form in an aquatic environment. She chokes on water a couple times trying to use her blowhole, but she gets the hang of it within twenty minutes. She finds old fishing poles, lures, boots, a hammock, and a couple sunken boats in the lake. On the other side of the lake, she tries to bring some trash to the shore, but she has to drop it when she realizes she's out of the range of her spell and the people fishing there might see her.

Her skin was made to be in the water. Well, salt water, but her sona can deal with either. When she swims really fast, she can feel the water rushing over her. It feels kind of like diving into water from the high board. The adrenaline rush she gets from doing acrobatics in the water is great! After an hour of swimming, she heads back to the camp because her muscles are burning from all her underwater sprinting.

When she gets to shore, she sees Zack, Vale, and Glenn cuddling on top of some beach towels. When she's closer, she sees that Zack is just staring at one of the oak trees near the shore. One of Glenn's arms is around him while Glenn talks to Vale.

Vale is cuddling, but his brow is furrowed in concern or concentration. "It's weird getting to know you like this. I mean, we are living together twenty-four seven and we aren't anywhere near our homes or the people we know. I'd want to introduce you to my friends and show you my stuff."

"And I wish I could introduce you to my friends, take you out on dates, and show you my house. I wish we could cuddle and watch a movie..." Glenn sighs.

"Well, I know we're pretty sexually compatible and that it's a lot easier to deal with my nymphomania in this setting. It isn't all bad." Vale shakes his head. "I'd say that we're moving fast, but we've been together every day since we met."

Propping himself up on his elbow, Zack looks at both of them. "I didn't want to butt in, but I think you two are worrying about this stuff too soon. We're on the run. We have no place to settle down. I think the best thing to do is to just take things one day at a time. Be close if you feel like it, back off if you're feeling smothered and don't take it personally if someone needs space."

Vale blinks and starts to say something, but stops himself and starts over. "Maybe I need a walk. I've been around all of you constantly. I like you guys, but I used to have a lot of time to myself and I'm feeling anxious."

"Sure, just change back and get in some clothes and you can go wherever, I can cast a spell that will lead you back home so you don't have to worry about getting lost." Bella says as she gets out of the water.

Looking at Bella, Vale says, "Can't you just make a spell that makes it so people don't notice me in furry form?"

"I could do that tomorrow, but I am still drained from yesterday. Plus, you'll get less strange and distracting reactions from the people that do see you." She kneels down next to Zack.

"Could you at least try? I really like staying in this form."

"No, we're going to have to transform to our human forms sometimes. I can cast magic, but I can't change the fact that the world isn't ready for hybridized humans."

"Fine!" Vale growls and then covers his muzzle.

Bella makes a fist with one hand and points at herself with the other. "I'm not a fucking magic dispenser! Don't growl at me because I just need to rest!"

Looking at the ground, Vale says, "Sorry, I'll change back. At least I never have to be female again."

"Are you two okay?" Glenn asks.

"I just feel a bit trapped." Vale stands up. "I'll feel better after a walk and some sex later today."

Glenn tries not to worry about Vale, but he can't shake the feeling that he did something wrong and that he should talk to Vale to resolve it. "Is there anything I can do to help? I could walk with you part of the way."

"No." Vale's face is getting flatter. "I just need space."

"You'd tell me if something I'm doing is bothering you, right?" Glenn asks.

Vale glares in frustration and then walks away as he continues to transform.

"Well, fuck." Glenn sits up and looks at the ground.

Zack sits up and puts an arm over Glenn's back. "Don't worry about it. When someone's overwhelmed or needs to be alone, asking questions can make them more grumpy. When I worry about whether I'm making someone mad, it usually just makes them more mad."

After a long sigh, Glenn says, "Yeah, I wish I didn't have a crush on him. It's hard to get to know someone when you're pining after them so hard."

"Yeah, and we're all naked, well endowed, sexy as hell and fucking like rabbits." Bella adds.

Zack and Glenn laugh.

"This is nothing like the normal way people get to know each other. No wonder it's difficult." Zack says.

As Glenn listens to Zack, he frowns. "I'm not sure I can use all that as an excuse. I tend to want commitment and trust far sooner than most people are willing to give them."

"That's not an uncommon problem." Bella scooches closer to Glenn. "Some of my friends in high school would talk about schemes to get their boyfriends or girlfriends to commit to them."

"I don't want to be the type that schemes and asks for commitment before the other person is ready, but I'm doing a terrible job at it. I've known Vale for barely a couple days." Glenn shakes his head.

Zack moves his tail behind Glenn so that he can stroke Bella's thigh with it. "How about you stop feeding your crush by trying to get alone time with Vale and talking about your relationship with him? Just for a few days. Let Vale come to you if he wants to. Bella and I don't need to pair up the way we have--"

Bella leans forward to look at Zack. "We don't?"

"Look, I'm developing feelings for you and I want to see where that goes, but I think we should include Glenn and Vale a bit more. You and I are doing okay, but--"

"It's fine, I guess I'm feeling a bit the way Glenn is. I obsessed over you before you became a sexy dragon." Bella says with a shrug.

Zack puts his hand under Bella's chin and gently turns her head so he can look in her eyes. "If I had thought you were in my league before I started going out with your friend, I may have ended up obsessing about you."

She looks away after he removes his hand. "Thanks. It means a lot."

"No problem, hot stuff." Zack smirks.

Bella giggles.

"There's definitely a spark between you two. I'm a bit jealous." Glenn crosses his arms.

"There's a spark between you and Vale as well." Bella pokes Glenn in the side. "So, don't snuff it out by worrying yourself sick. I've been there and it isn't fun."

Glenn's frown softens. "I shouldn't be brooding, I'm fucking gorgeous! And I have great friends." He wraps his arms around both of them.

"Yes you do," Bella says.

Zack nuzzles Glenn's neck and then nips at it getting a murr from Glenn.

Glenn nips at Zack's snout. "Trying to tease me more? What are you going to do if I get so horny I shove my whole thing in you in one go?"

A blush reddens Zack's green cheeks. "Oooh, it won't be a problem if I'm wet enough."

Bella feels her cock head poke out of her slit. "Mmm! Now I'm imagining you two and--" She strokes the end of her prick and chitters. "It's hot."

Glenn doesn't seem to notice Bella's comment as he stares across the lake. He looks at Zack and says, "Do you like getting penetrated in your vagina more? It seems you use it more than your ass."

Zack pokes at Bella's cock with his tail while he thinks. "It feels great to have someone in my ass, but when my sex gets all wet and throbby, I want to satisfy it first."

Bella moans and wraps her prick around the end of Zack's tail.

"I never thought about that. Sometimes I really want someone inside me, but my ass doesn't do much in the way of getting aroused. My cock demands most of my attention no matter what's turning me on." Glenn rubs the head of his member as it emerges from his sheath.

"I like using my penis more than anything else. It's still so new to feel myself cum inside people. Magic I cast on myself never transformed me this completely. Having a working prick that can produce so much cum is totally new to me." Bella's length fights with Zack's tail as she feels her whole body heat up. She's almost at full mast.

Zack blushes as he feels Bella's erection pulse and squirt pre onto his tail. "Mmmnnhh! I really want something inside me now... I'm going to have to agree with Bella, using the part I didn't have before is still new and exciting. I love that moment just before someone cums inside me when they grunt or growl and start thrusting uncontrollably." Zack's erection looks like Bella's this time and he's doing his best to ignore the two inches that's dangling out of his sheath. If they don't change the subject, he's going to start begging for someone to fuck him.

"I don't mind pussies, especially when they're attached to muscly bodies. I just don't want them most of the time. Last night with Vale was really good. Pussies can take a lot of pounding. At first, I was afraid to fuck Vale as hard as he asked me to, but once I was sure I wasn't hurting him, it was really fun!" Glenn "Wow, I'm really hard! I think we need to calm things down or this teasing is not going to be teasing anymore. I need to think of something else..."

"Vale is a nymphomaniac, right? I wonder if it might make more sense for you to show him you are okay with how much he needs sex over the next week or so and then worry about relationship stuff after that? He probably feels self-conscious about needing so much and has trouble thinking about anything serious because most people don't want to deal with his extreme need for sex." Zack gets a pulls on the towel to get a fold out of it while he speaks.

"Can you guys help me? I'm honestly not sure I have enough stamina to satisfy him. Also, he seems to like a lot of variation." Glenn shakes his head. "I guess that means that I won't be able to be in a monogamous relationship with him."

"You seem to be pretty non-monogamous in the sex department so far. Do you want to start having sex with only him or something?" Zack asks.

"Well, no, I guess I don't. I like scales and rubbery skin like Bella's and prehensile cocks and all that other stuff. There's so many sensations, body types, and other stuff we might encounter in the future. Haha! I guess my thinking about monogamy comes from my aunt and some of the older people in my family. Vale should be able to experience that too. I'm not sure why I'm overthinking things." Glenn sighs.

"Because you really like him and you're looking for something you feel you've been missing. A loving connection. The problem is that you're trying to force it. And if there's one thing I know about love, it's that it can't be forced." Zack strokes the fur on Glenn's side.

After a few moments of silence, Glenn relaxes and lets the sensation of Zack's petting calm him.

Bella thrusts her hips and rubs her cock against Zack's tail. "I hope Vale gets back soon. I want a pony ride."

"Oh? So after all my teasing with my tail you'd rather have Vale?"

"Ha! Nice rhyme..." Bella looks in Zack's eyes. "I was thinking you could suck me off while Glenn gives you a pounding."

Zack's cheeks blush as his pussy twitches. "Mmm, that sounds like a nice start."

Glenn strokes his erection. "I wonder what you'd look like as a male herm like Vale."

"He'd look really sexy because he looks sexy no matter the gender." Bella grabs one of Zack's breasts.

Zack arches his back. "AAAH! My nipples are pulsing and my clit and my cock and... I think it's time for Vale to be back."

"I thought we were going to wait until after dinner or something." Glenn rubs his thumb on the head of his prick and shivers. "Not that I want to wait that long."

"Hmm, I'm actually a bit hungry. We could make food while we wait." Zack looks at each of them.

Bella nods. "I'm starting to get hungry."

"Me too." Glenn gets up. "How about we make some meatballs and have meatball subs for lunch?"

"That sounds great!" Zack smiles.

"As long as we don't put tons of tomato sauce on them." Bella gets up and offers her hand to Zack.

Zack takes her hand and lets her pull him up.

After a brief pause, Glenn says, "I need to pick up some groceries and ice for the cooler, so lunch will have to be delayed a bit longer. You guys have any requests as far as simple things we could make?"

"Various vegetables for making some soup. If we made a large batch and put it in the cooler, we wouldn't have to cook quite as much for a while." Zack says.

Bella ticks off ingredients on her fingers. "I'd like some fish or shrimp and olive oil and garlic and noodles and lemon pepper."

"Ooh, you want to make some seafood pasta?" Glenn grins. "I've only ever had it at expensive restaurants."

"It's like one of the only things I know how to make and I'm probably going to let Zack do most of it. I'm not much of a cook." She reaches for Zack's hand and gives it a squeeze.

"You're probably not that bad. Do you like to cook?" Zack turns his head to look at her.

"I like doing dishes more, actually. I hate all the things that can go wrong with cooking. I find it really frustrating."

Glenn nods. "Yeah, I can sympathize. I think how happy I get when I make somethin' that tastes good balances out the frustration."

"I'll try more cooking if you guys are willing to watch to make sure I don't screw something up."

"Sure." Zack squeezes her hand.

"No problem... I'm going to transform, get dressed, and then head out to the store. You two can stay here and clean up or get things ready for making a meal." Glenn starts walking toward the tent.

"Thanks Glenn." Zack calls after him.

Glenn looks back at them. "Thanks for talking about important stuff and giving good advice."

"You're welcome, anytime." Zack says.

Glenn disappears into the tent.

Zack turns to Bella. "There isn't that much to clean up. I suppose we could set up the camp stove and get the pots out."

"I don't know, one of us might have to bend over--the temptation might be too much."

Zack laughs.

"I've changed my mind." She gives Zack's ass a slap. "Bend over!"

Zack squeaks at the sudden slap to his back end. "Why?"

"Because I said so." She slaps his ass again.

He blushes and bends over lifting his tail out of the way. If she fucks him now, it won't be him who broke the rules.

Bella kneels behind him and licks across his pussy.

He shivers as heat radiates from his sex to the rest of his body. She presses her beak against his clit rubs slowly for a few seconds before licking across his slit again. He feels his pussy pulse and engorge as he feels even more wet. Glenn hasn't left yet, so he's trying to stifle his moans and is having some success.

His legs go weak when she pushes her tongue inside him and his breath squeaks out while his body tries to gasp and moan at the same time. When she presses more of her tongue inside, his cheeks burn and he feels dizzy.

Bella grins to herself and keeps going. She's going to get him to the edge and then stop. Then, he might feel as teased as she does right now. She's waited her entire life to have sex in full anthro form. It's going to take a lot of fucking before she's ready to slow down. Especially when her libido is enhanced and her body has so much stamina. She can feel his hot tunnel squeeze and quiver around her tongue.

He grabs onto his knees to keep himself from falling over. She is going full bore, barely giving him time to breathe. His breasts feel so tender and tingly. Is she going to let him cum? Oh! She better let him cum when he's feeling this hot, this wet.

She moans right into Zack's cunny. This is starting to backfire. Her erection is coming out and her pussy is starting to twitch. When Zack squeezes her tongue, she chitters despite herself.

Bella's sonar sends a shockwave of pleasure deep into his sex and he nearly cums on the spot. If he had been just a little closer to orgasm, he would have gone off. So close! Oh no! She's pulling away.

His quivering cooch tries to keep her tongue inside, but she manages to pull it out. She licks his juices off of her beak as she stands up. A grin grows on her face as she looks down at his quivering body. He's staying bent over as if he's begging her to shove her flexible phallus into him. She moves her hips closer and rubs her cock all over his pussy lips and clit making him gasp and shiver even more. She grunts as she pushes the head of her member inside him. He's so slick and hot and ready for her. When she's half way in, she grabs his hips and pulls him all the way onto her cock.

He can't stifle his moan this time and cries out, "OH BELLAAAAAH!" He grabs his prehensile length with his left hand and starts working it while grinding on Bella. He'll cum in no time like this!

Glenn comes out of the tent all dressed and human only to see Bella and Zack. "You two are very naughty."

Bella says, "I'm the only naughty one here," and winks at Glenn as she pulls out. She can hardly bring herself to do it, but just imagining how impossibly worked up Zack will be until he finally gets off gives her more than enough motivation. She has to hold his waist as she pulls out to stop him from backing up to keep her inside him.

Zack groans as he feels himself become empty again. He clenches down on her shaft making her moan as she pulls out. When she's all the way out, he stands up and resists a powerful urge to start fingering himself.

After watching them decouple, Glenn has an obvious bulge in his pants. "Maybe I shouldn't leave you two alone?"

Bella laughs. "The worst thing that can happen is that we fuck a couple times. It's not like we'll run out of libido for tonight or anything."

"True. I guess I'll go now. I'm betting on you two getting it on while I'm gone," Glenn grins. "but I'm hoping you save it for later so I can see you both out-of-your-minds horny."

"Now that I know she's just going to tease me, I'm going to be more careful when I bend over." Zack pokes Bella's left breast.

"You were just following orders like a good dragon should." Bella gives his ass as smack making him squeak.

Glenn chuckles. "You two are adorable, well, in a very adult way."

"I think that's going to be our tagline: Adorable, in an adult way." Zack says.

Bella and Glenn laugh.

Glenn walks over to the car and gets in. He waves before backing onto the road.

As Glenn leaves, she gets behind Zack and grabs his ass cheeks. Then she fondles the base of his tail. "I can't get enough of these scales and your big meaty tail."

He shakes his booty before turning around and pressing his breasts against hers. Pulling her into an embrace, he says, "I can't get enough of your bouncy skin and gorgeous black and whiteness."

She wraps her arms around him and gives him a nice wet kiss before letting him go and taking a step back. "Let's get the stove and stuff set up."

"Sure!"

They work on setting up the stove and getting dinner stuff ready. They even get out plates, a roll of paper towel, and some utensils. All of that only takes about fifteen minutes and they are eventually just sitting side by side on a blanket they laid out staring at the lake. They put their arms around each other, their hands roam each other's bodies trying to ignore their most sensitive parts and they both relax. About five minutes later, they hear someone say their names. Zack turns around to see Vale? He hasn't seen Vale in his male human body all that much or the body he started in for that matter and looking up at him like this makes him even less familiar.

Vale chuckles. "Did you guys forget what I looked like while I was gone?"

"Umm, no, whatever your name is, we didn't forget you." Zack shakes his head in an overdramatic fashion.

Vale and Bella laugh.

"I'd transform, but then I'd probably have to have sex right away. I'm horny from this morning, I'm horny because of the way my boxers were rubbing on my cock, and I feel really turned on by the way one of the campers I talked to was looking at me." Vale sits next to Zack.

"Oh, did he lick his lips a lot or something?" Zack asks.

"Heh, no, he kept looking at my bulge. He works for a small software firm in Milwaukee and I think he might have a thing for buff guys."

Bella says, "You two probably had a lot to talk about, then."

"Well yeah, we talked about troubleshooting javascript exceptions."

Zack bumps shoulders with Vale. "I thought you were on a walk to get away from people."

Vale shrugs. "I can't ignore someone wearing a 'Code is Poetry' t-shirt no matter how bad my mood is."

Zack raises an eyebrow. "Is that a thing?"

"Is what a thing?"

"Code is Poetry."

"Oh, yes, it's on the bottom of all the Wordpress.org pages and has become a popular thing to put on t-shirts."

Bella smiles. "I like that saying a lot. I've never programmed, but one of my girlfriends wrote silly little Python programs and it did look a bit like poetry."

"Yeah, I wouldn't mind getting that on a t-shirt." Zack says.

Vale leans forward so he can see Bella. "What sort of programs did she write?"

"She had one that could rearrange sentences based on the length of each word in them; one that asked you your age and then told you what phase the moon was in on the day you were born; and one that took the first letters of your first, middle and last name and then recommended a David Bowie song that had those letters in it. There were more, but those are the ones I remember."

"Wow, she must have really liked David Bowie," Zack says.

"Yeah, she told me she'd seen the movie Labyrinth over thirty times. It's good, but I'm not sure it's that good." Bella shakes her head.

"That reminds me of one of my boyfriends. I can't count how many times I went over to his house only to catch him watching yet another episode of Fraggle Rock." Vale laughs. "I don't even know how he got into it. It's not like it was on TV when he was a kid."

Zack says, "Maybe his parents had the episodes on DVD or something?"

Vale nods. "Probably. I wish my parents had shown it to me when I was a kid. It seemed like a pretty good show."

"I never liked it, but that might be because I had nightmares about puppets coming to life and biting off my toes when I was a kid." Bella shivers.

Vale and Zack laugh.

Zack is the first to speak. "I don't mean to laugh at you, but that's a pretty specific fear. Why your toes?"

"I think it's my dad's fault. When he was teaching me to count, he used this old puppet of The Count from Sesame Street. He was really good at doing the voice, but for some reason, he thought it was a good idea to have The Count bite each of my fingers and toes as he counted them. Something about The Count's purple face and creepy fangs got to me." Bella grimaces as she thinks about it.

"I'm glad my dad didn't do anything like that. I love puppets." Vale smiles. "I used to do puppet shows with my friends."

Zack chuckles despite himself. "Sorry, I'm just imagining Bella's dad counting her toes completely oblivious to her look of absolute terror."

Bella elbows Zack in the side.

He covers his mouth and keeps giggling.

Vale laughs at their antics, but stops when he hears the car pull up and turns to look behind them. "There's Glenn! I was just about to ask where he was."

"He went to get stuff for meatball subs." Zack says as he stands up.

"Ooh, that sounds delicious." Vale gets up.

Zack pulls Bella up by her armpits causing her to giggle. Then they walk over and help Glenn with the groceries.