[Content Warning: Contains sexual and other mature themes]60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7JZicquMFU
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmfknuuho6r
I’m Buying for the first time today. It doesn’t hurt, or so I’m told.
You shouldn’t blame me. I held out for nearly twenty years. But eventually even an interesting life becomes routine. Evidently it hasn’t been interesting enough.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGovj7U8IU5
I can’t help being nervous on the walk over. I’d Sold before, but I have no idea what to expect from Buying.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx2Tb6ikaCL
The prospective Seller waits for me at the coffee shop near the waterfront. She’s wearing a suave, form-fitting blue dress that compliments her gold earrings and necklace. She greets me with a smile full of perfect, glistening teeth set into a perfect face when I approach. If she’s had plastic surgery then it’s too good to discern.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrhPM1zatGg
“Good morning darling,” she says, giving a small, fluid wave of her fingers as I sit down. “You must be…”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTvTHciGkY9
“Aaron,” I offer.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0eGFpcdQtc
“Aaron,” she repeats, still smiling. “Of course! Pleasure to meet you, Aaron.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQylDWld0O6
We shake hands. She doesn’t give me her name. She doesn’t have to.
She asks, “Have you done this before, Aaron?”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTRLsCfaTxE
I shake my head and take a nervous breath. “First time. As a Buyer, at least.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpoX3vM3MfY
“Your first time Buying! And at twenty years old? You must be quite the intrepid soul!”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOcRlnqgdJN
I shrug. “I was popular in high school. My parents had a big house—plenty of room for parties.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡokeSFl5IHh
“And you clearly work out.” She runs her eyes over my frame. It’s not as muscular as it used to be. The compliment was probably insubstantial but a rush of endorphins drowns my judgement regardless. It’s been so long since someone last looked at me like that.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnXp8DCugmI
“Thanks,” I say, smiling.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1TexxNHkmS
She lifts her coffee to her lips while looking suggestively at me over the rim. “Before I go into it at length, would you care to tell me what it is you’re interested in? You’re not a Pain Seeker, are you?”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOlv9cUodsF
I wave my hand dismissively. “Hardly. I’ve never understood how anyone could be into that, physically or mentally.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCOAy1MjpYl
She takes a sip of her drink. “That’s good. You won’t find much of that with me. What is it you’re looking for then?”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmSgz1uDPIf
“I’m looking for… something else,” I say, flushing. “My life isn’t bad, but I’ve started to feel... thinner, somehow. I haven’t felt that before.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaglNsAFkN8
“Aah. The beginning of the Wane.” She chuckles. “Your adolescent Stockpile has reached its peak. That’s common, I’m afraid.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzYK0frkhnZ
“What’s it like? Does it get worse?”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ42RP33HS5l
She laughs a little louder. “I’m not sure.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq0ESyYM05x
I furrow my brow at her. She winks at me. “Shall I go over my contract now?”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE3NeBqvqwq
I nod and lean forward, giving her my full attention with a barely repressed shiver of excitement. She smiles and takes one last sip of her coffee before beginning. “I was born to a real estate magnate and CEO. From an early age I was given the finest education at the most exclusive schools that the northeast division has to offer.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkCUVXph27u
From childhood to adulthood my Visibility Portfolio included the study of seven languages, a collection of sports ranging from soccer to skiing, and travel to no less than thirty-seven countries. I boast a wide array of accomplishments ranging from winning the Arklyn New Author award, creating a line of perfumes and colognes, and winning the Downslide Skiing Championship of ’21. I also possess an expansive history of both male and female sexual partners if that’s something you’re looking for.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAYpffwuS7g
My fingers tighten reflexively and I gulp. “Oh, yes.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCUjlM2dCAk
She raises her eyebrows. “Surely someone like you isn’t wanting for that, darling.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKCWrXokcUP
Another rush of endorphins. “Outside of school? You would be surprised.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡirKr9Uzq0O
“Mm. Well don’t worry. We’ll set you up.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQKyI05VpWn
I need to take a moment before asking the next question. She waits expectantly, allowing her humored mask to slip ever so gently in time with the seriousness of the moment. Finally, I ask, “How much?”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAnW12RtQoZ
“Sixteen fragments,” she says crisply.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoEwgCJUyiX
My eyes widen. “Sixteen?”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJkot0CF0nE
“With my discount,” she adds, taking another sip of her drink. “And that’s only because I’m on holiday.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGHWyHkMd8l
I shake my head, staring down at the tablecloth in shock. “Sixteen,” I repeat.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdHn2Uf9VZj
“Its your first time, Aaron,” she says, adopting a smirk. “You won’t have another first this good, trust me.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNw22lA6siQ
“Sixteen is enough to Frag me,” I say, turning my shock back on her.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLKMjDxjT4z
She levels her index finger and thumb at me. “Only a little bit. It’s nowhere close to turning you into a Split.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcJ1NTk42H1
I sit back and close my eyes. “Sixteen…”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIKAYUoGRoN
“Shall we call the deal off? I unfortunately don’t have the time to negotiate. I have another Buyer in twenty minutes and a Mass Sale online to prepare for.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBeYtEeyRRh
I gulp, opening my eyes. “No... I’m good. Let’s do it.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPq4FhFhJ10
She gives me that perfect smile of hers. “So lovely to hear it. May I?”
My arm trembles as I reach out to her. She notices and places a comforting hand on my forearm. “It doesn’t hurt, darling. Take a deep breath and relax. Hardly any time will pass for me, but for you?” She chuckles. “Let’s just say that I envy your getting to experience it all for the first time.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlLtiL05ehG
She digs her nails into my palm and I’m gone.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSs6N1fU3X7
I’m getting a showpony for a birthday and riding it around a field full of more flowers than I’ve ever seen. I’m dashing down the slopes of a mountain, panting with exertion at the ice flakes cutting into my bare skin, only to lift my fists in exultation as I cross the finish line first. I’m standing atop a podium with my freshly-published novel in hand, beaming at mother and father while a judge gives me an award. I’m spending a romantic, candlelit dinner with a local boy in a small town in Spain, flirting with him in his language until things quickly devolve into sex. A similar thing happens in Japan with a gorgeous woman wearing glasses.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlYcI9Ithmm
I am everything she is, and nothing of myself. I am everything that I’ve never been and didn’t know I wanted to be, and it is so beautiful that my body has undoubtedly started crying where I left it.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtvOEt5DNkd
But then I feel the Drain.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ybVf0rv8G
One by one, sixteen fragments of myself are pulled from me and rush into her. She was right—it doesn’t hurt. And it is so, so easy.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg6ROTjk32n
When the last piece disappears the connection between us is severed. She sits back with a beaming smile and flushed cheeks, sighing almost lasciviously as she basks in the fresh energy that I’ve supplied her with.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ46Fb7yK1n9
“My God,” I whisper. I can feel them—all the new memories I’ve never actually experienced but remember. I still feel like her.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4naZToVnxA
She cracks her eyes open at me after a while. “Satisfied?”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3vLjwMAsj4
I breathe a long sigh. “Very.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIaC0hH3Odo
“I’m legally obligated to tell you that you’re not allowed to Buy for a week as you’ll Frag quicker. If too much of yourself is replaced too quickly and you become a Split then the authorities will want to know which personalities they’re dealing with, so make sure to add this transaction to your records. Contact me if you’d like a receipt later.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd8i9lYSrTI
I nod slowly. “I will.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhYMZCIvKP7
“Will there be anything else?”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9LjKM2xkVt
I shake my head and stand up, giving her a smile much like the ones she’s given me. “Absolutely not. You’ve been wonderful, darling.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP8lPyn1U28
She smiles back and gives that twiddling finger-wave at me again. “Plug in for one of my Mass Sales if you’d like another taste sometime.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfwKvBRcRIy
I give her the same wave in return before walking away, leaving with a little less of myself and a little more of someone else than when I had arrived.
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