Frenefits

Like usual, Jason woke up just a few minutes before his alarm, making him ask himself once again why he even bothered setting it. Then he reminded himself that the reason that happened at all was likely because he set the alarm and his anxiety is what caused him to wake up before it. If he stopped he wouldn’t worry about oversleeping, which is more than likely what was preventing him from oversleeping in the first place.

*Moments like these make me hate being human.*

He sluggishly raised up from his bed with a groan, still somewhat groggy from his sleep and having a strong desire to use the bathroom. He got off the bed toward the bathroom and grabbed his phone on the way there. Before it could ring in the next few minutes he turned off its alarm. With a tired grumble Jason shut the bathroom door behind him and unbuttoned his pants, sighing as he relieved himself.

Cautiously, he thumbed through his text messages with one hand. Unsurprisingly, Sunset had tried to call him and sent him a few more text messages before abruptly stopping somewhere around midnight. She sent him everything from ‘What happened?’ to ‘Pinkie just told us she won’t be going to school tomorrow and everyone’s worried, can you please tell me what’s going on?’

He admittedly felt guilty that he didn’t bother to respond to her for so long and left her anxious like that, but Diane took priority, and he didn’t want to risk being interrupted last night. Jason wanted to message her everything that happened, but he was honestly still organizing all the information in his head. Some parts of last night he understood and others he was still working out. He wasn’t even sure what parts of that information he was allowed to tell Sunset, if any of it.

As he continued scrolling through his notifications, buttoning his pants back up with his free hand, he saw that Diane had texted him about an hour after she had left. He washed his hands and walked out of the bathroom, sitting back down on his bed as he read it.

‘Leave your apartment unlocked when you leave for school. I’m going to leave a present for you, and I don’t want to have to break in to do it.’’

“That’s...a bit passive-aggressive, but ok?” Jason mumbled to himself.

He remembered Diane mentioning before that crime basically didn’t exist in this town because it was so small and everyone knew each other. After living here just a few weeks, he didn’t doubt it as everytime he watched the news it was absurdly boring and no crime was mentioned at all. He even checked the UCR out of mild curiosity and it confirmed what everything else was saying: crime here was practically non-existent.

Plus, knowing Diane, her present was going to undoubtedly be something sexual. With how pent up he still was after everything yesterday, it was making it hard for him to say no.

‘Alright, I will. I usually get home around four-ish, you should have plenty of time to set up whatever it is you want to give me.’

He sent her the text and was just going to turn off his phone before getting ready for school when a new message from her almost immediately popped up. Had she gotten any sleep at all?

‘Thanks! I promise you’re going to like it. ;)’

There was a very small voice in his head telling him to just skip school and stay home and watch TV all day while he waited for her, and as tempting as that was, his fear that he might miss something really important on the day he was absent was much louder. His immune system was naturally strong so he rarely got sick and, as of this very moment, he had a perfect attendance record. He wasn’t going to break that just because of his libido.

But then again...

After another moment he finally put his phone back into his pocket and sighed before standing up to prepare for school.

**********************************************************************************************

Nothing about him walking through the hallways to the library was any different than usual, but Jason couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.

He had this irrational fear in the back of his head that everyone in the school knew that he had turned down Pinkie and that’s why she hadn’t shown up to school that day. He was afraid that other students in the hallway would glare at him or her close friends would confront him about it. He knew that the only ones who were aware that she confessed to him were Sunset and Pinkie, and he doubted either of them would go around telling anyone.

*But that’s how fear is: Irrational and illogical, and makes me feel stupid for even having it.*

He let out a relieved sigh when he sat down at the table in the library like he always did. The only other person in there was the Librarian Cheerilee, who was hiding her head beneath her arms like she was taking a nap, a bottle of water and a smaller bottle of aspirin beside her.

If he hadn’t gotten well over eight hours of sleep last night, he would have loved to take a nap too. But, right now, even if he was tired, he probably wouldn’t be able to sleep. With a concoction of his typical anxiety, the guilt he felt with having made Pinkie cry because of how poorly he handled things, and the excitement for whatever Diane had waiting for him, it would be impossible.

Instead, he laid his head down and placed his arms on the table similar to Cheerilee, closing his eyes and focusing on organizing his thoughts. Diane gave him all the answers he needed, it was just the issue of understanding them that he struggled with. The fact that he had met a girl who could essentially read minds was life altering enough, but now he was dating a girl who was actually the second personality of another girl? It was astonishing how hectic his life had gotten in just two short weeks of moving.

*Dating...that’s what we are, right? We both confessed and said we have feelings for each other, and she had even said she missed me! However...I didn’t actually ask her out, do I need to do that to make it official?*

He thought back to a specific moment of their conversation, where he told her that she made him happy and kissed her, easily the most intrepid thing he’d ever done. Thinking back on it now, it was incredibly embarrassing and he could feel his cheeks getting warmer and his chest tightening. He wanted to flip his hood up and recede into his clothes like a turtle into its shell trying to hide from the world, but that would have the opposite effect and just draw more attention to himself.

Ironically, that is likely the closest he’s ever been to properly articulating his feelings into words, even if thinking back on it made him flustered.

“Rough night?”

A distinctly stern and feminine voice shook him out of his stupor, he already knew who it was before he looked up. He slowly raised his head to face Sunset, sheepishly smiling and doing his best to avoid eye contact with her.

“Um...no, pretty good night, actually. I...sorry for not getting back to you, I got really distracted with something.”

Sunset was standing to the left of him, her arms crossed with a distinct scowl on her face and tapping her foot against the floor impatiently. Her outfit was a little different to what he usually saw her in. She was wearing a pair of skinny jeans instead of a purple skirt and a yellow shirt instead of a blouse, the collar of her leather jacket popped open more than usual and showed off more of the silver buttons that lined it.

“I don’t mind that much that you didn’t tell me what was up, I just wish that you’d texted me this morning. I was…” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, the tension in her body leaving as she relaxed and let out a relieved sigh, opening her eyes again as her scowl disappeared. “Worried. I didn’t know what happened and it was really sudden. Pinkie texted the group chat after that and I barely got a wink of sleep. Honestly, the only reason I haven’t crashed is because I’ve kept myself busy, I’ll probably pass out during lunch.” She said with a nervous giggle.

Jason could see what she meant, there were dark bags under her eyes, but they would only be noticeable if anyone was close to her or really looking for them. The guilt of being one of the main reasons she lost sleep stacked on top of his guilt for Pinkie was a bit much to bear, a strong desire to apologize rose in him.

He opened his mouth to do so, but like she knew exactly what he was going to say, Sunset put her hand out in front of her, gesturing for him to stop. “Don’t say you’re sorry. I doubt you had any more control over whatever happened last night than I did in Pinkie deciding to confess to you. I can’t blame you for that, so you shouldn’t either. What matters now,”

She lowered her hand and pulled out the chair under the side of the table she was at, sitting down and bringing her hands up to her face and rubbing her eyes. She pinched the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath, opening her eyes with a more haunted look in them as she struggled to keep her eyes open. “Is Pinkie. Please, just tell me what happened. I’m pretty sure whatever it is you realized last night has something to do with her, and more than anything I want to help.”

Now that she was closer to him, he could make out more details showing how disorganized she was. There were strains of her hair sticking out making it appear more raggedy, some of her clothes weren’t entirely on properly, and by the way her eyes were half-lidded and her head kept lowering every now and again with her having to stop herself, it was a genuine struggle for her to stay awake.

Jason had to bite his lip to keep himself from attempting to apologize again.

“You see...that’s the thing,” Jason said hesitantly, glancing away from her and rubbing the back of his head. “I don’t really know how much I can tell you. I don’t want to keep anything from you, it’s just the situation is really…” He paused as he tried to find the right word. “Sensitive.”

Sunset’s eyebrows furrowed as she leered at him like she had laser eyes and was trying to shoot a hole through his brain, but at least she was a bit more awake now. “Are you serious? Something so important happened that you had to end our call and couldn’t get back to me for the rest of the night, and you can’t even tell me what it was?”

While her words sounded almost threatening, there wasn’t any actual anger behind them. It was more like she was stating a fact she hated that she had to accept, that, or she simply didn’t have the energy to get angry.

“...Yes?” He whispered, recoiling slightly.

She stared at him for a few more seconds before sighing again, bringing her hands up to the sides of her head and rubbing her temples with her eyes closed. “Celestia dammit, why do humans love making things so bucking complicated? First algebra, now this.”

He heard her whisper under her breathe, but he had to do a double take as he asked himself if he really heard that right. Celestia? Bucking? He recognized the words, but had never heard them used like that before, almost like she was swearing.

“Will you at least tell me whatever you can? I’m not going to be able to relax unless I get some answers.” Sunset said as she begrudgingly opened her eyes again, slapping both of her cheeks to wake herself up. “I know you must have a good reason for not telling me, so I can’t be mad.”

“I…” He thought back to what Diane told him, that if Pinkie were to learn the truth, she might disappear. “I’ll tell you what I can, but you have to promise me that it can’t go back to Pinkie. It just...can’t.”

Sunset’s eyes widened in concern at the sudden desperation in Jason’s voice. “I hadn’t intended to anyway...but sure, that’s no problem.”

Her words were reassuring, he turned back towards the table, finding it easier to organize his thoughts and speak if he wasn’t facing her. “After we talked, I...came to a revelation about something, but I needed to leave right then and make sure I was right. I can’t tell you the circumstances, but it ended up with me bringing Diane back to my apartment and we talked. After that, she left and I passed out.”

“So Diane is involved with Pinkie?”

“...Yes.” He murmured.

“I knew it.” He heard Sunset whisper. “Jason...do you trust her? I told you about...what happened between us, she might just be using you to-”

“She’s not!” Jason suddenly shouted, a flash of anger at what she was about to say.

Sunset flinched, her mouth agape out of surprise at the usually meek man yelling at her. Jason realized his outburst and immediately looked towards Cheerilee, who was still passed out and hadn’t seemed to notice. He hid his face the best he could, an immense wave of embarrassment coming over him.

“She’s not.” He said in a hushed tone. “You just...met her when she was going through something, I promise she isn’t like that at all. She…” He closed his eyes as he pictured Diane breaking down and crying into his shoulder, her act falling apart and showing him how bad she felt for everything she’d done in Pinkie’s body. “Still beats herself up about some of the things she did to this day. I...can’t stand to hear anyone badmouth her, not when she’s already hurting that badly herself.”

“I’m sorry, I-I didn’t know.” Her eyes were downcast in a doleful expression, her voice surprisingly soft-spoken and filled with shame. “If I had known you had gotten so close to her I wouldn’t have...nevermind. I’m sorry, really.”

“It’s...ok, really, I can’t exactly blame you for it. With a first impression like that, I don’t think I’d have a good opinion of someone either.”

“Can I…” she glanced back up at him, shifting around uncomfortably in the chair. “Assume she’s the reason you can’t tell me what happened exactly?”

Jason remained silent, interlocking his hands as he twiddled his thumbs, needing to do something with his hands.

“Figured.” Sunset said with another sigh, having done so more in the past couple of minutes than anyone else he’d ever talked to. “Do you think you could get her to give you permission to tell me? Pinkie is...really important to me, and I want to be able to help her when she needs it.”

“Maybe...I’m not sure, we’ve never talked about you, I don’t know how she feels.” Jason seriously doubted he could, with how hard she tried to keep it hidden and him having to figure it out and confront her, there was almost no chance she’d be ok with other people knowing.

At the same time, he was very aware that he was way over his head with everything. His life had been so unexciting before, he had no idea how to handle all this or what to do to help Pinkie. Of course, he was grateful to have a girlfriend, a hot one who couldn’t get pregnant and genuinely liked him at that. Regardless, Pinkie was suffering because of the whole situation, and he really wanted to help her.

“I can try, I would really appreciate your help. But you have to understand, this isn’t my secret to share. If I can’t convince her to let me tell you, there’s not a lot I can do.”

He turned to face Sunset again, and her face blank. She was clearly intently thinking about something. She closed her eyes and remained silent for an entire minute, her breathing slowing down. He had actually begun to worry she had fallen asleep, and was about to try to wake her up when her eyes snapped open, more life in them before like she’d found the resolve to do something.

“I-”

As soon as her lips parted, The Pillar Men Theme began blasting from her jacket pocket, causing both of them to jump slightly. He’d recognize that theme from anywhere, it was all over the internet when it came out and still occasionally showed up today.

“Sorry, I gotta take this.” Sunset said with a sheepish smile and a small blush on her cheeks, reaching into her jacket pocket and pulling out her phone. She fumbled with it in her hands like it was the first time she’d ever used it.

“Hello? I’m…” She glanced at Jason nervously. “In the bathroom right now, I had Taco Bell and my stomach is really upset with me at the moment. Why do you-” He could just vaguely hear a girl's voice from the other side of the phone, but he couldn’t quite discern who it belonged to.

Whatever she had just said clearly shocked Sunset, she suddenly jumped up out of the chair, her eyes slightly bug eyed with a panicked look on her face. “What? No! Rainbow, we can’t! She explicitly asked us not to come over and that she wanted to be alone, visiting her might just make her more upset! You-”

More talking came from the other side, then a clicking noise as she ended the call. For the umpteenth time, Sunset sighed as she slipped her phone back into her pocket, bringing her other hand to the side of her head and rubbing it vigorously.

“That girl...no wonder she’s a pegasus, I’ve never met anyone as impulsive and spontaneous as her.” Jason raised his eyebrows at the word ‘Pegasus’, but like before, decided not to comment on it. “I’m really sorry Jason, I have to go deal with this before it gets out of hand. I’ll see you tomorrow, and hopefully I will get more answers.”

She turned around and walked a few steps, then unexpectedly stopped, glancing back at him over her shoulder. “Jason, please don’t blame yourself for any of this, it’s not your fault.”

He lowered his head and made a muffled grunting noise, shifting around in his chair to where he was facing the table again. “It’s easy to tell me that, you’ll find it’s a lot harder to convince me it’s true.” He said solemnly, directly quoting Diane. Now that he was more aware of Diane’s situation, he knew just how much meaning and weight those words carried when she said them to him.

Sunset had a sad expression on her face as she opened her mouth to respond, closing it and shaking her head back and forth, walking out and leaving Jason by himself. He lowered his head onto the table under his arms, his hood covering his head and closing his eyes, somehow left with more things to think about than before.

Again.

**********************************************************************************************

Jason was in the library during lunchtime like usual, though this time he hadn’t actually eaten anything. He wasn’t sure if it was because he had so much on his mind, but he just didn’t feel hungry at all.

He was sitting in his usual spot on the second floor between the bookshelves, leaning against it while sitting on the ground. His hood was up and his mind was in a very different place. Ever since his talk with Sunset earlier in the day, he had been trying to think of the right words to use so he could convince Diane to let him tell Sunset her situation. He knew he needed to use the right words and wait until she was in a good mood. One of the major problems was waiting for the right time.

He didn’t want to do it today, at risk that doing so would make her upset and ruin the plans they had. At the same time, he hated making Sunset wait, especially with how much he wanted her help in repairing his relationship with Pinkie.

*How do the people in drama shows do it?*

He felt the distinct vibration from his phone telling him he was getting a text message. He half expected it to be Sunset, telling him that she had successfully prevented Rainbow and the others from visiting Pinkie after school.

In a pleasant surprise, it was actually Diane.

‘Are you alone right now?’

One of the things he didn’t like about texting was being unable to tell the tone behind messages, he couldn’t make out whether she was just being a tease or if it was urgent.

‘Yeah, why?’

He waited in anticipation as he saw the three bubbles showing that she was typing something. After a few more seconds he heard the ding and saw that she had sent him an image. As soon as it loaded his eyes widened and he felt the familiar tingling sensation and warmth or arousal through his body. He was very glad that nobody came up to the second floor during lunch.

He had been so distracted with thinking of how to ask Diane for permission that he had completely forgotten that she had promised to send him pictures of her in one of Pinkie’s cosplays. It was just as sexual as she suggested it would be.

The picture showed Diane wearing a very tight bodysuit that left very little to the imagination. Even though he had seen her completely naked before, that didn’t make it any less arousing. The bodysuit was bright red with small, white lines around the stomach and chest areas. Gold bands were around her wrist and purple gloves on her hands. There was some kind of attachment on the back of it that might have been a helmet of some kind, but he couldn’t exactly tell.

She was also wearing some kind of headband with two small, sharp red horns poking out of it, and her teeth were much sharper than usual as she was giving him a toothy grin. She was taking the picture with her left hand, her right hovering beside her face and giving him the peace sign while she was flashing him that seductive wink of hers.

‘Like?’

Suffice to say, Jason was left completely speechless and stupefied. Thinking back on the hint she gave him, he felt stupid for not guessing it was Zero Two, it seemed so obvious now!

Luckily, he didn’t need to speak to type.

‘Yeah...I do, a lot. You look really good in that, I can see what you meant when you said you could pull it off but Pinkie couldn’t.’

She responded near instantly, a small heart coming off his message as she liked it.

‘Thanks babe, I knew you’d like it. ;)’

He sharply gasped at being called ‘babe’, he could practically hear Diane calling him that in her silky smooth voice. His fingers shook slightly as he struggled to type, an uncontrollable smirk coming onto his face as he was filled with a sense of joy that only Diane had ever given him.

‘So, unrelated but related question, how do you feel about BDSM?’

He had to think a bit to remember what that meant, having been a long time since he’d last heard it used. He was well aware of what fetishes were common, BDSM and choking being some of the most. He was never really aroused by either, but didn’t kink shame either.

He never liked the idea of choking because he knew he’d be too afraid of hurting the other person, though he’d never been choked himself, he doubted he would like it either. BDSM was something he was conflicted on. He...sort of understood why people were into being tied up and blindfolded, the feeling of being able to just completely give yourself to someone you trust did sound nice.

At the same time, he didn’t like losing control like that, of being unable to move or even see. The idea was scary to him, and he also didn’t think he’d ever find anyone to trust or that trusted him enough to do that. But now that he had, he was reminded of something he’d overheard a jock say when he was talking to his friends about fetishes; ‘If a girl is hot enough and I trust her, I’d be willing to try just about anything’.

‘I’ve never tried it, but I think I understand it well enough. Does this have anything to do with my ‘present’?’

She took a bit longer to respond than usual, he wasn’t sure why.

‘Mayhaps. I would send you more, but I have to go. I’ll see you in a few hours. (‘3’).”

He was fairly sure that the emoticon at the end was meant to be a kissy face, but he had to tilt his phone to make sure.

And just like that, Diane was gone and he was alone again. He didn’t mind, however. His smile faltered a bit, but didn’t quite leave. Her texting him was exactly the reassurance he needed, reminding him just how lucky he was. He would be able to get through all this and help her, how could he not with a girl like Diane at his side?

While he was still excited to get home, he was also now a little afraid of whatever the present was, though he couldn’t quite explain why.

**********************************************************************************************

It had been awhile since he speed walked anywhere, not counting last night. His apartment was close to the school, so he didn’t need to drive there. He would actually forget sometimes that he had a car, until he came back home and saw it sitting there. Depending on where he got a job, it might not be used for quite a while.

He had a mini-heart attack when his door easily opened before remembering that he had left it unlocked for Diane. He shut and locked it behind him, more out of habit than anything.

He was welcomed by...a trail of candy wrappers? It kind of reminded him of those scenes in movies where the man or woman leaves a path of flowers leading to the bed to try to be romantic, but there were no candles, and it was candy wrappers instead.

He couldn’t stop himself from chuckling at the absurdity of it.

*That’s just like her.*

He followed the trail of wrappers up to his bedroom still wearing his backpack and having taken off his shoes at the door. His bedroom door was slightly ajar, though the inside lights were still off. The door creaked open as he walked in, the room inside deathly silent. He flicked the light switch. One look into the now lit up room had Jason’s backpack, and his mouth, dropping to the floor.

He wasn’t exactly sure what he was expecting. A colorful box like a christmas present? A letter with his name on it? A puppy?

Not Diane herself.

Diane was laying on his bed, her hands tied together with rope above her head which was laying against the pillow. Her legs were spread apart, with similar rope tying her ankles to the posts of the bed keeping her in that position. She was wearing a thin, red blindfold that only covered her eyes, the rest of her face remained untouched.

*How...did she even do that to herself? In the dark?*

Her clothes, or lack of it, left him just as befuddled. There was no shirt to speak of, or even a bra. Instead, a thin piece of white cloth was tied around her chest, straining to hold back her breasts and just barely covering her nipples. A black thong was covering her genitals, but by the way they were squeezing because of how tight they were, he was probably seeing more of her than if she were naked.

The only thing else she was wearing were a pair of pink socks that went well above her knees, showing off her thighs and arousing him in ways he didn’t think possible. In seconds he was completely erect, almost to the point of pain. His throat became ludicrously dry. He could feel sweat running down his face after just a few seconds of staring and found himself completely unable to turn away or even blink.

“Jason? Is that you?” Diane said with honeyed words, the tone of her voice sending shivers down his spine.

“Yeah...where’s my present?” Jason’s voice was hoarse and strained as he found it more and more difficult to concentrate enough to even speak by the second.

“Don’t you get it? I’m your present, all tied up and ready to be unwrapped.” Despite the fact that she couldn’t move and literally had her hands tied, the confidence and seduction in her voice still made Jason feel like she was the one in control.

Jason gulped.