BotC: Home front - Eve of Seduction

When Monique said she would tidy, she TIDIED!! By the time Monique faded, Danny was exhausted. He felt like he should be drenched in sweat, but while there were a few spots of marinara sauce on his mom's apron, he felt fresh. Half afraid, he looked in the bathroom mirror but while his hair and makeup were immaculate and as they had been since his look in what he thought of as the Penny mirror and he still sported the gold chain necklace with now three pearls, there was no Monique usurpation this time. The house was spotless, the dinner was all prepared, the table set - just as his mom did it when she had her girlfriends over for tea and bridge he noted - and Monique's voice whispered in his mind that the chicken parmesan was due out of the oven in half an hour, approximately ten minutes after Valerie was due to arrive.

Danny went to his room to change out of his baseball clothes; he reached for his clean (almost) jeans and original Saturday Night Live cast T-shirt. *Val deserves better.* whispered monique in his mind - minor blinkswitch: he was putting on a nice polo shirt, pastel mint green, and a pair of matching Dockers along with tan canvas deck shoes that he knew he hadn't had that morning; he knew he certainly hadn't had a pastel mint polo shirt ... nor the pastel blue, pink, and yellow ones that had been hanging with it. He did note that despite the changes in his hair length and style and makeup, nothing more than hair and makeup, what Pearl had done, had been done to feminize him. It was a good thing at the time that he didn't know that Dockers didn't normally come in pastel mint green ... well, at least not Dockers for Him.

Val did. Other than his much longer hair, it was the first thing she noticed. *I wonder if he realizes he's wearing Dockers for Her.* She thought and also wondered where he had gotten them and the matching top - she didn't even think the word "shirt". The outfit did look good on him, she realized; the mint green matched well with his red hair. Only the lack of a feminine figure indicated that this was her boyfriend and not her girlfriend. What she said was, "Danny?"

Danny nodded.

"Danny, I love your outfit; the color suits your new look!"

Danny blushed as he looked at Val. It suddenly seemed as if there was a split screen in his mind. Val was a stunning 5' 6" blonde, nicely proportioned, and would have looked beautiful in a gunny sack, but tonight she had dressed to the nines and in one part of the Danique mind screen a critique was occurring as her image scrolled from top to bottom, *Fabulous hair and her makeup is immaculate! I wonder how she blends her eye shadow? And the dress is adorable, 'Sweet 16', I'll have to ask where she bought it. Killer SHOES!* The other part? Well, Danny was not your typical sexist teen male. In fact the girls all liked him because he was not overly macho while still being masculine. So only 75% of the time spent scanning the image was spent focusing on the chest area - which was admittedly impressive - and the overall impression registered as only two words, *WOW!* and *HOT!* What came out in words was first, in Danny's normal voice, "WOW!", accompanied by a look that was a mixture of lust, awe, and incipient love. This was followed by, "You look fabulous! You have GOT to tell me where you got those SHOES!" in Monique's voice, but, after a pause, "so I can tell my sister" in an embarrassed Danny's voice.

To add to her confusion, while all this was being said, she was being Monique hugged and air kiss kissed. The hug extended and gradually became a very Danny hug followed by a not so air kiss. Val was surprised that she was not repulsed by the taste of lipstick on her boyfriend's lips, and in fact found it quite pleasant as the taste of their lipsticks blended. *What the hell is happening to Danny?*, she wondered. *Hell, what is happening to me? I'm enjoying being kissed by a boy who looks like a beautiful girl from the neck up, yet made two fantastic plays in the ball game this afternoon, one who wants to know where I bought my 'high heeled Girl Shoes' - thinking Of the song by the Chenille Sisters - but whose kiss is making me feel all tingly as it usually does. Am I going to end up a lesbian if I stick this out?* At which point she pulled back away from the embrace and said in frustration, "Danny. Monique. Whoever. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!!

Danny put up his hands in a warding gesture. "Please, Val, let's eat first, and then I'll tell and show you all I know. I set out wine glasses and there is a corkscrew on the table; would you open and pour? I know I'll love being surprised by what you brought."

Val surrendered. "All right, Danny, it's your show " ... And, under her breath, "... yours and Monique's."

Danny shyly glanced down and then looked at her through his long mascaraed eyelashes. "Thank you." he said in a small shy voice as he turned toward the kitchen.

*My god,* thought Val as she watched him (?) enter the kitchen, taking down and putting on the pink apron as if 'she' did it every day. *He was flirting with me to get his own way, but like a girl; Monique was flirting with me, but I bet Danny never even realized it.* She did as asked and opened and poured the wine. *This should be a most interesting evening!*

As she finished pouring the wine, an upscale white zinfadel, she heard Danny's voice from the kitchen. "Make yourself comfortable dear, I'll serve in about five minutes. The lettuce needs to breath a bit and the breadsticks need another few minutes."

Val just shook her head as she heard the words that would have sounded at home coming from her mother's mouth just before meal time. She used the time to do a quick tour of the house. She had been to Danny's house before when he had been left home alone, and the house she was viewing was totally at odds with what she remembered from those times - a typical testosterone imbued scene of domestic carnage. This was her grandmother's house, for gods sake. That grand lady's house, like this one, was immaculate; there was a place for everything and everything was in it's place, and there was very definitely a woman's touch present. Danny's mother didn't keep house this well, she thought as she returned to the table, noting the nicely arranged fresh flowers in a crystal vase forming a centerpiece. She shook her head as Danny, beaming as only a proud housewife and hostess could, served the salad.

The conversation during the meal was a strange mixture. Val and Danny excitedly discussed the play in the afternoon's ball game, while she and ... she assumed ... Monique discussed the new fall fashions that were beginning to appear in the stores. Finally the last of the food was consumed, and they both sat back with their glasses filled with the last of the wine. It was time for business. Val girded her mental loins and started. "Danny, do you realize how bizarre - not necessarily bad, just bizarre - how DIFFERENT this evening has been? Who ARE you and what have you done with my adorable slob of a boyfriend?"

"You didn't like the food?" Danny asked with a crushed look on his face. "Was the chicken overdone? I know I ..."

"STOP!" yelled Val, then noticing the stricken look on her boyfriend's exquisitely feminine face, she took pity on him (?) and in a softer voice said, "No, honey, everything was fine, excellent, Martha Stewart couldn't have done a better job. My GRANDMOTHER couldn't have done a better job, and she makes Martha look like a short order cook in a greasy spoon diner. That's the point!" She leaned forward across the table grabbing his hand. "Think DANNY," she emphasized HIS name. Remember the last time I ate here when your folks were gone?"

Danny nodded.

"What did we eat and how did you fix it?"

He considered. "Brat's, kraut, fries, and you had beer. I cooked on the grill ... on the patio."

"Where did we eat it?"

"Trays, in front of the TV." There was a look of dawning comprehension on his face.

"What did you do before my arrival?"

"Penny's girlie magazines were on the couch, and I tossed them behind it. I straightened up the day's newspaper and threw out an empty pretzel bag that was on the Lazy Boy. I picked up the damp towels in the bathroom, pitched them into the bathtub, pulled the shower curtain closed, and swabbed some Old Spice in my pits. (He was sounding more and more like the old danny, thought Val.) Then I started the grill, washed my hands, closed the doors to my room and Penny's and my folk's rooms, and watched the tube till you arrived!"

"Did you clean, tidy, those rooms before closing the doors?"

"Uh, no, it was because they were messy that I closed the doors. I, uh, don't think I even considered cleaning them, just that you might be pissed if you saw them messy." Danny confessed, clearly a bit embarrassed.

Guy embarrassed, not girl 'the chicken was a little overdone' embarrassed noted Val thankfully. "That's my Danny! Now think about this afternoon." There was an urgency in her voice. "Had you ever set a table like this before? Cooked a meal like this before? Worn an apron before and tied the strings in a perfect bow in the back?"

Danny shook his head no.

"But I bet you've seen them done, either by your mother, or by other women" - she emphasized 'women' - "perhaps on TV!"

The dam burst. "OHMYGAWD, I've been acting like a girl!" he exclaimed.

"No, Danny," Val looked him in the eyes. (those big long lashed innocent looking lusciously feminine eyes that one could get lost in!) She shook herself and continued. "Not a girl. A woman. A woman preparing a special meal and evening for the person she loves. Preparing an experience that will say 'Here's what you can expect if you claim and keep me!' I looked in your bedroom, Danny; the bed was made! That in itself was amazing, but I bet you those satin sheets hadn't been on it yesterday. Penny's?" She didn't wait for a response. "Crimmeny, you have scented candles set out and there's a Ravel CD in the player! If this conversation we are having now hadn't occurred, you would be seducing me right now, wouldn't you, AS A WOMAN WOULD! Those are Dockers for Her you've got on Danny; what are you wearing underneath? I bet it's not boxers or tighty whities. I bet it's Vickie's Secret's best. Right? The kind of undies a WOMAN wants her lover to see, right, MONIQUE!?"

But Monique was gone. Danny just sat there with a stunned look on his face, and val knew she'd guessed right. It was still a perfectly made up face under a woman's hairstyle, but Monique had fled (But not for good, Val thought, and was startled to realize she was glad of that.) Danny was home. He began to sob.

Val got up and came around the table. She hugged her boyfriend from behind. "Hush, sweetie." She put her finger to his lips to stop the sobbing. "Danny ... Monique ... don't. Call me crazy, but whatever you were trying to do has worked. Call me insane, but I find this all incredibly attractive. I suspected I loved you before today; I know I love you now! This has been a fantastic evening so far, and I know it's going to get even better, so much better than the wham, bam, and not even thank you ma'am that followed the beer and brats that last time. Come on, my boy," she pulled him up, "work your feminine wiles on me. Explanations can wait. I've never ... slept ... on satin sheets.

Danny ... and Monique ... smiled.

To be continued (If, and this is a big if, there is a sex scene, you're gonna have to wait till next episode for it :-)