Date: Sat, 07 Aug 2004 14:04:54 -0700
From: RC in Sacramento <sacwriter@hotmail.com>
Subject: Munchkin Chptr 8

This is a work of fiction. It depicts the often sexual relationship between
two young girls. If this offends you or if you're not old enough to be
reading this stuff, then get out NOW. If, however, you're where you want to
be, then enjoy.

			 MUNCHKIN
			 Chapter 8
			by Sacwriter


	Joe had just rung the bell for the third time when he heard the crash of
pounding footsteps from the other side of the door. He spared a quick glance
over his shoulder to where Gia waited behind him. She flashed him a quick
smile, to which he nodded back. He thought about making some sort of joke,
but the sound of the door being opened interrupted.
	"Yeah, can I help you guys with somethin'?"
	Milo's skinny form stood framed in the doorway, wearing a New York Knicks
jersey over a pair of plaid Bermuda shorts and some high top Keds sneakers.
There was a polite, slightly puzzled frown on his face, and Joe almost
laughed when he realized that Milo didn't recognize him.
	"We're here to throw your dice and drink your beer, Adolfus. Now let us
in."
	The wide-eyed look on his friend's face made the morning at the salon worth
every minute of it.
	"JEEZ-Joe? Dude, what happened to you? You look-man 'o man, what happened
to you?"
	"You're repeating yourself, Milo."
	"Yeah, yeah. Hey, man, what'd you do to yourself, though? Now you look like
one of the cool people."
	"Hey, I thought you said WE were the for real cool people."
	"What, and you believed me?" Grinning, Milo reached up and fingered his
friends hair. Joe brushed the hand away but not very hard, since he found
that he was grinning too. Milo's reaction to the makeover had been every bit
as satisfying as he had hoped.
	"Hey, your glasses, man. You got new ones too, din't you?"
	"Yeah, Gia broke my old frames, so she bought me some new ones. You like
them?"
	"Yeah, they cool too. Who you say bought 'em?"
	"That would be me."
	The voice came from behind Joe, who hastily stepped aside. When Gia came
forward he remembered his manners and introduced her to his friend.
	"Gia, this is Milo Michaels. He's our, uh, our host for today. Milo, this
is... oh, I guess you already know who she is."
	If he had thought Milo's reaction before had been satisfying, his friend's
response now totally topped it. The other boy's mouth had fallen open, and
his eyes behind their oversized lenses seemed to bulge, giving the
appearance of a fish that finds itself lying on the uncomfortably hot
ground. His chocolate dark skin had also seemed to go several shades
lighter, in a precursor to shock.
	"Gia. Cameron. You're Gia Cameron."
	"Catches on quick, doesn't he," Joe commented, wryly.
	"You, you and Becka Jackson are, like-"
	"Sisters," Gia put in quickly. She had almost snapped the word, and
followed it now with a very meaningful look.
	Milo blinked, seemed to come back to his senses. "Um, yeah, sisters. That's
what I was gonna say. You're Becka Jackson's sister."
	Gia smiled, then reached out to take his hand. Milo took the proffered
fingers gingerly, then dropped them as quickly as good manners allowed. Then
he stood aside as she moved past him and entered the house, glancing around
curiously. Milo stared after her, as if he couldn't believe what strange
creature had wandered into his home. He shook his head, then took the
opportunity to speak with his friend.
	"Joe! Man, are these the people you say you're stayin' with while Mattie's
AWOL?"
	"Yeah, that's right."
	Milo glanced nervously over at Gia, who had moved well past them and into
the hallway, where she seemed intent on studying some of the family
portraits displayed on the walls. He took two steps closer to his friend and
lowered his voice before he spoke.
	"Dude, are you stayin' what I think you're stayin'? Under the same roof as
Becka th-uh, Becka Jackson? I mean, ain't she the girl that-"
	"Saved my ass from getting beat by Gary Harper and his apes," Joe cut him
short, shooting his friend a glare as he finished the sentence. He gave Gia
a covert glance, where she seemed to be absorbed by a vacation picture of
the Michaels family at Epcott Center. Too absorbed, maybe. Joe was almost
certain that she had taken in every word of their conversation. The thought
of having her or Becka pissed at him over something Milo had said was not
very pleasant. He decided he'd have to take the next opportunity to beat
Milo over the head with one of Mr. Michael's golf clubs.
	Before the situation could become any more uncomfortable, a voice called
out from the back of the house.
	"Hey, 'Dolfus! Bring back some Doritos while you're up, we're almost out.
And don't forget the Mountain Dew either, Spider says he's getting dry!"
	"Hey, I'm comin', alright?" Milo fired back, looking sheepishly at his two
new guests.
	Gia raised an eyebrow. "Did that guy just call you 'Doofus'?"
	Joe choked back a laugh as Milo scowled and searched for an answer that
didn't make him look even more foolish.
	"That's 'Dolfus. A-dolphus. Adolfus is my D&D character. He's like a
wizard, a fifth level conjurer of the Order of the Blood Rose."
	"Ohhh. Well, that's, umm, that's very impressive. Did you have to, like, go
to school for that? Like Harry Potter?"
	Joe was leaning against the wall and holding his hand over his mouth,
trying to keep from chuckling out loud. Gia's wide eyed innocent look was
beginning to crack too, which brought an indignant scowl from Milo. Gia
didn't care, she was still ticked off by his remarks about Becka.
	"Look, you two come to throw dice or what?" Milo's voice was irritated. "If
so then you better come meet the rest of the Kings and play your character."
	"Play my what?" Gia looked to Joe for the answer.
	"In roll playing games you create a character, and assign them their
strengths and abilities. Some guys like to change their characters around
for each game, but most have a favorite one that they play all the time.
Milo's is Adolfus the Conjurer, and mine's One Eye the Archer."
	Gia looked skeptical. "Your character is a one eyed archer?"
	"He tends to pull to the left," Milo put in, dryly. Gia snorted a laugh
while Joe barey grinned, having heard the joke before.
	"Yo, G, you ever played an RPG before?" Milo asked.
	"Nope, this will be my first time."
	"So you don't got a character yet, and you don't know enough about playin'
the game to create one, right?"
	"Milo... " Joe started to say, getting an inkling of where this might be
going.
	"I'm just sayin', if she's never developed a character before, then she
should let us do one for her. We got several old ones on file we can let her
use, don't we? Hey, if she's gonna play today she's gotta use a stock
character, that's all there is too it."
	Gia looked at Joe, who nodded reluctantly. She shrugged. "Okay, let's go
meet the Kings."
			* * *
	"The bat-demon drops from the cavern roof, screaming. It's high pitched
squeal stuns your companions, but because of your gender it does not quite
incapacitate you."
	"I pick up Viromir's sword and swing at the demon, killing it."
	"No, you miss. The demon's scream has made you dizzy and nauseous, and
besides you're a hedge witch, you don't have any martial skills. All you've
done is focused it's attention away from your companions and onto you."
	"I-I pick up a rock and throw it-"
	"Same problem, you're dizzy and you throw like a girl. The demon laughs at
you."
	Gia was scowling, her pixie face twisted in frustration. The demon wasn't
the only one laughing at her, it seemed that the D&D Kings were also getting
a kick out of her predicament. Milo and his three game playing friends sat
on the other side of the table, making no effort to hide their superior
grins or the way they kept nudging each other with their elbows. Kenny
Washburn, whose character was Viromir the Bandit, had an especially grating
habit of giggling behind his hand. Milo and Avery Swenson were also
annoying, from the way they kept gleefully pointing out all the stupid
little mistakes she made. But by far the most galling of the four was the
pudgy kid with the bad case of acne, who had spent the last two and a half
hours looking down his nose at her with a condescending smirk. In Gia's
opinion, Art Julian had absolutely no business feeling superior to anybody
else, not while he was wearing that ridiculous horned Viking helmet. The
plastic Halloween headgear was a tradition among the D&D Kings, and
signified that Artie was the current designated Dungeon Master for the game,
but Gia thought it just made him look like a dork.
	Gia watched the four D&D Kings from under beetled brows, fighting the urge
to bitch slap the pompous grins off their faces. She looked to the left and
glared at Joe too, but then felt guilty when he winced. It wasn't his fault
that Milo and his friends had turned out to be such arrogant jerks. They
were snobs. Nerd snobs, yes, but still no different in attitude than the
popular cliques in school that probably made a habit of picking on them. Gia
was beginning to think about shoving all of them into a locker herself.
	"So, what you gonna do, Ditsy? Are you gonna let the big, bad bat-demon
claw the flesh from your bones, or are you gonna use some of your magic to
fry his ass first? Not that you got all that much left," Milo taunted,
spreading his hands and grinning. Which sent his three buddies into another
fit of snorts and giggles. Gia felt her teeth grinding, and thought about
how many of them she could get before they scattered. Only two, she
concluded reluctantly. An hour ago they had propped the front and back doors
open for ventilation, giving the Dork Kings two convenient paths of escape.
	"The name is 'Bitsy'," she snapped, a dangerous spark smoldering in her
eyes. "And what's to keep me from just backing off and letting bat-boy feast
on you guys?"
	"Because, 'Bitsy', you picked up Viromir's sword and attacked the demon,"
Artie explained airily, in that condescending I'm-smart-and-you're-a-moron
tone of his. "Now it's focused on you, and won't stop until it's
disemboweled you and drunk your blood. And while it's drinking it can't
scream, which gives the rest of us time to recover and kill it.
Unfortunately too late to save the little hedge witch, though. But you still
have one other option."
	Kenny and Swenson were snickering at this, while Joe was looking decidedly
uncomfortable. Gia could only sit and fume, thinking about the way they had
set her up, right from the beginning.
	It had started out with the character Milo had picked for her. He had
handed her a very professional looking document, something like a resume
that contained all the pertinent information about Bitsy the hedge witch,
including a picture and even body measurements. It turned out that Bitsy
looked a lot like a Renaissance barmaid, one with surprisingly large and
firm breasts.
	At first Gia had thought that the character chart must have come with the
game, but eventually she figured one of the boys here had run it up on a
home computer. The chart showed Bitsy as having low intelligence, with no
fighting powers and minimal magical ability. In fact the only witchly powers
that she did have was the ability to weave spells into cloth and then wear
them as clothes. To activate the spell, Bitsy removed the piece of clothing
and threw it while speaking an incantation. Very handy, but the spell could
only be used once, leaving the garment it had been woven into nothing more
than a cloud of dust, and also leaving Bitsy one step closer to being naked.
	From the start the D&D Kings had teamed up against her, using their numbers
and their greater understanding of the game to maneuver Bitsy from one
situation to another, in which she had no choice but to use more and more of
her magic. It had stopped being a game long ago, and become some sort of
virtual striptease, with the four Kings adding ribald comments throughout.
Now her character was down to just two garments, a bodice and a petticoat.
And after that was what Avery Swenson, AKA Spider the Assassin, kept
referring to as 'the Promised Land'.
	Gia felt the back of her neck once more turning red, but forced herself to
say the words through gritted teeth.
	"I take off my bodice and throw it at the bat-demon, shouting the
incantation. It turns into a flaming net, catching the demon in it's folds
and burning it to ashes."
	Kenny provided the necessary sound effects, making a realistic death scream
and flapping his hands at the ends of his wrists like wings. Then everybody
watched expectantly as a smirking Artie leaned across the table. He spoke to
her in sugary words that Gia hoped he'd choke on.
	"So remind me, Bitsy, I seem to have lost track. Just how many garments
does the hedge witch have left?"
	"One," Gia muttered angrily. "I'm only wearing one petticoat, alright? I'm
fucking topless and my tits are hanging out. Happy now?"
	From the catcalls the four across from her let out, it was obvious that
they were more than just happy. Milo had his fingers in his mouth and was
trying to give out with a wolf whistle, while Avery was chanting 'Promised
Land!' over and over. Joe had dropped his head to the table and was covering
his face with his hands, waiting for the inevitable, while Gia's fingernails
were digging into the edge of the table as she prepared to lunge across it.
Mayhem was barely averted by the sound of a female voice coming from the
doorway.
	"Hey, do you guys know that your front door is wide open?" Becka Jackson
announced, entering a room gone quiet as a tomb.
			* * *
	"Now let me get this straight. These guys had you play a character in their
game that lost more of her clothes each time she used her magic?"
	"Yeah, that's right," Gia muttered, glaring darkly across the room at the
D&D Kings. The four boys had nervously gravitated into one corner, while Joe
and the girls were at the opposite end, coincidentally blocking any chance
of escape. Becka's unexpected arrival had turned everything upside down and
then shaken it like a baby's rattle. The once cocky Kings now had sweat was
pouring off their bodies.
	Not that Becka had done anything the least bit threatening, she had even
apologized for walking in uninvited. She explained that her Dad had dropped
her off after work, and when she saw the open doorway and heard the shouting
voices from inside she had taken it upon herself to enter, knowing no one
would have heard her knock.
	The problem now was, none of them had any idea what to expect from her. Joe
Munson was a known quantity, if not one of them then at least someone they
had gamed with. Gia Cameron was an unknown, but she was kind of small and,
better yet, they had just beaten her butt on their home territory. They
weren't intimidated by those two at all. But Becka the Beast? Now that was a
different game entirely.
	It was like some creation from one of their RPGs had suddenly sprung off
the board and strode uninvited into their world. A presence that they had
all grown up with, who they'd seen in the hallways at school, and crossed
the street to avoid when they'd seen anyplace else. The big scary kid with
the baggy clothes and tangled hair, and the angry scowl permanently etched
on her face, violence personified in one yellow haired girl. Not just
another predator, more like a force of nature, ready to go off on any
hapless victim with the bad luck to cross her path at the wrong time.
	Each of them knew a dozen different stories about the Beast. Most of them
were true.
	"Okay, but it was just a game, right? You didn't actually have to strip in
front of these guys, did you?"
	"No, of course not! As if I'd do something like that. It was just, you
know, all the things they kept saying. The jokes and the snotty comments and
stuff. It was humiliating."
	Becka snorted, finally understanding. "Little boy games", she growled,
casting the Kings a disgusted look.
	"Nasty little boy games. I feel like I've spent the last couple of hours
being poked with sticks."
	"Guys, I'm really, really sorry. I never thought they'd do something this
dumb." Becka and Gia looked at Joe, who had lowered his head in
embarrassment. Contrite but, surprisingly, not the least bit nervous. The
two girls shared one of their meaningful looks, glad to see that Joe knew he
no longer had to be afraid of Becka. This was a good sign, and it went a
long way towards taking the edge off of Gia's anger. Her scowl faded, and
she even managed to give him a little smile as she squeezed his arm.
	"I know that, Joe. I'm not mad at you. I just want to kill those four
assholes over there."
	"Well, there's shovels in the garage. We can bury the bodies in the back
yard."
	Gia barked a short, sharp laugh, then gave her new friend a real smile.
Becka was grinning, too. She nodded at Joe's freshly styled hair and his new
glasses.
	"You two've been busy today. I like it."
	Joe smiled. "Yeah. Gia said I look hot."
	He had expected Becka to laugh at his little joke, but she surprised him.
Instead she just looked at him appraisingly, then nodded. "Yeah, she's
right. You do look hot."
	Something warm curled in Joe's chest, then shivered it's way up into his
throat. He felt his ears and the back of his neck turn red, but it wasn't an
unpleasant sensation. In fact, it was nice. Very nice.
	But still, Milo was his friend.
	"So, what are you going to do about these guys? I mean, I know you really
don't want to hurt them. Um, right?"
	"Speak for yourself," muttered Gia, but without any real heat.  Time and
the presence of her sister had mellowed her out considerably, to the point
where she no longer felt the need to bite someone. And as for Becka, Gia
knew the other girl was more amused than anything else. She did, however,
have a certain glint in her eye that Gia knew well, a spark that presaged
something interesting in the D&D Kings future.
	"No bloodshed, Joe, I promise. But I do have an idea."
	Becka had been looking around the room of the Michael's home where the roll
playing game had been held. It was a typical family space found in most
California style ranch houses, wide and airy, with a sliding glass door that
let into the backyard. A comfortable couch and two chairs sat in the middle
of the room, facing the entertainment center that held a stereo, a 36" TV
with tape deck and CD player, and a Play Station with two control pads that
had more buttons than the space shuttle. It was easy to see who spent the
most time in here.
	The other half of the room was taken up by a wooden card table with a green
felt top, and chip trays carved into the edge. It was obvious that the table
had been designed for something more than just board games. Along the back
wall were shelves holding a variety of items, mostly books, CDs, and game
cartridges. And also three decks of cards and a rack of colored chips.
	"Hey," she called out, and four heads whipped around nervously. "Do you
guys play poker?"
			* * *
	"I'm not sure about this. Why can't we just finish the game we were already
playing?" Avery Swenson was whining, which, as far as Gia was concerned, was
a lot better than his giggling. It was Becka who answered his question.
	"Because we only have about an hour and a half before we have to leave.
Which is just enough time for a good game of cards, but not enough to slay a
dragon and steal a golden necklace."
	"It was a troll and a magic ring," Kenny Washburn muttered sullenly.
Apparently Viromir was the kind of barbarian warrior who sulked a lot.
	"Whatever. Besides, poker is a lot more exciting than any kid's board
game."
	They were all sitting at the table with the battle lines already drawn, the
D&D Kings on one side and the girls and Joe on the other. Becka was removing
the chips from the circular carrier they were stored in, separating them by
color and making neat little stacks in front of her. Gia had taken one of
the decks of cards out of it's well worn box and was carefully counting them
out to make sure the deck was full. When she had counted to her satisfaction
she gave them a couple of quick fast shuffles. She was careful not to show
any of the fancy shuffles, riffles, fans or glides that she knew. No use
letting the sheep know they were about to be sheared.
	Artie was sniffing disdainfully at Becka's last comment. "And what is there
about a card game that can possible be more exciting than a magical quest?"
	"Well the stakes, of course."
	The table went silent as the Kings thought about Becka's words, and their
implications. They exchanged looks, then Artie asked the question they had
all formed.
	"You mean, like, play for money? Real money?"
	"What other kind is there? Yeah, I mean play for money. That's what makes
the game interesting."
	'We- we've never played for money before," Kenny put in nervously. It was
true, in all the years the four of them had been meeting to play everything
from Monopoly and Chess to Video games and Lazer Tag, they had never once
laid a bet on the outcome. The thought of doing so now, and for real money,
was totally alien. But also, yeah, interesting.
	"So, what's the matter? Are you guys afraid of a little competition with a
couple of girls?" Gia taunted, playfully. But Milo was shaking his head.
	"What, you gonna say somethin' bad 'bout our mommas next? Don't try that
crap on us, man, we ain't in diapers anymore. Besides, playin' for money
'gainst you ain't fair. Ever'body knows you rich."
	Joe looked puzzled at that. Sure, he had seen the Cameron's house and knew
they were well off, but he wouldn't actually call them rich.
	But Becka only shrugged, not disputing the statement. "Okay, but there's
got to be some sort of stakes. We're not going to play just for points."
	Avery giggled, then suggested slyly, "Hey, we could always play strip
poker."
	The other four boys turned disgusted looks on him, but then whipped their
heads around in shock as Gia answered. "Okay, that sounds fair enough."
			* * *
	There was a stunned silence that stretched out for a full five seconds, to
be broken explosively when Art Julian leaped to his feet and slammed his
hand down palm first on top of the table.
	"An offer has been made and duly accepted. A deal is cast! So mote it be!"
	"SO MOTE IT BE!" roared the rest of the Kings, and then broke out into a
resounding cheer. Joe was shaking his head in disbelief, while the Cameron
sisters were staring at the group of boys who were now laughing and high
fiving each other. Gia looked over at Becka, who could only shrug and shake
her head in bewilderment. It was clear that they had decided to put this
down as another strange geek custom, like that idiotic Viking helmet. Or
maybe it was just some sort of guy thing.
	"Can I see you girls in private for a moment?" Joe was asking through
gritted teeth. Underneath the table he had a firm grip on Gia's arm, and was
quietly pulling her up out of her seat as he rose. Becka arched an eye at
this, but got up from the table and moved to follow him out of the room
anyway. The Kings, however, set up an immediate protest, like children who
were seeing a promised treat being taken away. They quieted down when Gia
called reassurance over her shoulder.
	"Don't worry, boys. We're just going to freshen up. After all, you want us
to look our best, don't y-whoa!" The last part was cut off as Joe gave her
arm a final jerk and pulled her through the doorway.
			* * *
	"What the hell do you two think you're doing? Strip poker, for God's sake,
and with those guys. Are you crazy?!"
	Joe couldn't believe how angry he was with them. He wanted to grab them
both by the neck and shake them until their teeth rattled like dice in a
cup. He wanted to shout and scream, and talk some sense into them like they
were little kids caught playing with matches, but he was so agitated he
couldn't find the words. Instead he ended up standing there like a fool and
spluttering half formed curses, that left the girls more amused than
anything else.
	"Aww, that is just so sweet. He's worried about us," Gia grinned, as she
reached out and pinched Joe's cheek, which did absolutely nothing to improve
his mood. With a curse he jerked his face away from her hand, and then
continued the motion until he had turned his back on the two sisters. There
he crossed his arms and pulled in on himself, fuming when he heard them
giggling behind his back.
	What was wrong with them? Damn it, Gia especially, after the humiliating
things that had happened to her earlier today. This time it was going to be
the real thing, and what's more she had dragged Becka into it, too. What,
did they actually think they were going to win? Those four nerds in the
other room may have been social losers, but he had played with them often in
the past, and knew that they were some serious gamers. Real sharks. The
girls didn't stand a chance.
	And Christ, what would happen when their family found out? He groaned at
the thought. Bad, really bad.
	Joe felt a hand on his shoulder gently turning him around, knew from the
size that it must be Becka's.
	"Hey, Joe, c'mon. Don't worry about us, we know what we're doing. Look, you
don't know it but poker is, like, our game. We have a family game every
Thursday, and it gets pretty damned cutthroat, too. I'm telling you, we can
take your friends easy."
	"Becka's right, Joe. They may be the Kings of roll playing games, buy this
is poker. Our Dad learned how to play back when he was in the Army, from
some really serious players, and he taught all of us. Like Becka said, this
is our game, now. Heck, I doubt those dweebs even know how to play, we'll
probably have to teach them."
	Joe snorted, and answered wryly, "Don't be too damned sure of that." The
girls looked at him inquiringly, so he heaved a sigh and explained.
	"I taught them. We've been playing pretty regularly for a couple of years
now, and we're also pretty damned cutthroat."
	The girls looked at him uncertainly, glanced at each other, some of their
confidence seeming to fade. Becka finally started, "Okay, Joe, no offense,
but are you really that good yourself? I mean, we learned from our Dad, an-"
	"And I learned from my Aunt Mattie, who was also in the Army. For nineteen
years, and in eight different countries. So believe me, I know how to play,
too. And no offense either, but your Dad was in for, what, six years? Most
of that at one base in Germany, playing the same handful of people.
	"And even if you are better players than Milo and the guys, you have to
remember that there's four of them. They're gonna work against you like a
team, just like they did to Gia today. Did you forget what that was like?
I'm telling you, if you go in there thinking this is going to be easy,
you're in for a big, bad surprise."
	The girls turned to each other now, and Joe was gratified to see the worry
finally residing in their eyes. And it was strange, too, because although
they never exchanged a word, it was like they were having a spirited
conversation. A variety of expressions flitted briefly across their faces,
there and gone in an instant, along with raised eyebrows and a nod or two.
It was like watching TV with the sound turned off. Finally Becka ended the
silent dialogue with a minute shrug, and turned back to Joe with a sigh.
	"Okay, I guess you're right. This probably won't be easy. But we're not
going to back down either, so we'll go with plan B."
	"Plan B?" he asked, puzzled.
	"We cheat."

(continued)