“I think Gaze is probably right,” Lexi said reluctantly. “Though I have no idea what she means when she says we’re not fit to be seen.”
At that moment, the Gatekeeper poked her head out of a small room halfway down the passageway and pinned all three of them with a fierce look.
“Well? Are you coming or must I report that undesirables have infiltrated the party?” she demanded.
“We’re coming,” Lexi said hastily. “We’ll, uh, be right there.”
“Come along then!” the Gatekeeper snapped and then her hooked nose and massive pile of green curls disappeared inside the doorway again.
“I guess we’d better go,” Lexi said unhappily. “Come on, boys.”
“We’re right behind you,” Gaze murmured.
“Every step of the way,” Bound agreed.
“All right.” Lexi took a deep breath. “Let’s get this over with—whatever it is.”
The corridor was so narrow that they had to go single file and the sides brushed the broad shoulders of both Kindred. Eventually, they found themselves in the new room, which was bare except for a table with a brown wooden box on it.
The Gatekeeper was already there, rummaging busily through the box.
“Let’s see…let me see,” she was muttering to herself. “Where are they? I know I had them… Ah-ha!”
To Lexi’s uneasy surprise, she pulled a long pair of shears out of the box.
“What…what are those for?” she asked. The shears looked awfully long and sharp.
“Why, for improving your outfits, my dear. Like this!”
Moving with impressive speed, the Gatekeeper reached out and snipped the black silk ties that held Bound’s black loincloth in place.
“Hey! What the fuck?” he roared as the scrap of fabric fell to the ground, leaving his impressive shaft exposed.
Before Lexi could ask the same question, the Gatekeeper had snipped the ties to Gaze’s loincloth as well, so that the Light Twin was also exposed.
“There!” She stepped back, brandishing the shears theatrically. “Now that is what I call improvement!”
“Why did you do that?” Lexi asked, frowning at her.
“Why, because you cannot enter the party with a bodyslave whose shaft is not properly exposed and oiled!” the other woman opened her eyes wide as though she was shocked Lexi didn’t know this.
“Exposed and oiled?” Lexi had known that Yonnite Mistresses liked to display the size of their bodyslaves’ equipment, but this was the first she was hearing about any kind of oil.
“Yes, oiled!” the Gatekeeper woman exclaimed. “But don’t worry if you don’t have any shaft oil with you—I’m sure I have some right here!”
Putting the shears back, she rummaged in the brown box again until she came up with a small bottle filled with oil. She handed it to Lexi, who took it uncertainly. It was a warm golden color with crimson bubbles floating throughout it.
“What’s this?” she asked.
“Why, it’s stay-hard shaft oil, of course,” the Gatekeeper said briskly. “Put it on your bodyslaves to display their male assets—it’ll keep them nice and hard until you wash it off again at the end of the night.”
“Oh, well…” Lexi gave the two big Kindred an apologetic look. “Er, sorry guys, but it looks like you’re going to have to oil yourselves up,” she murmured.
“It’s all right, Mistress,” Gaze said stoically. “We knew this was a possibility.”
“Yeah, we did,” Bound agreed gruffly. “Here—we can take care of ourselves.” He held out a hand for the bottle of oil and Lexi started to hand it to him but the Gatekeeper exclaimed,
“Stop!” so loudly she nearly dropped the oil.
“What’s wrong now?” she demanded, turning to the other woman.
“Were you about to allow your bodyslaves to apply their own oil?” the Gatekeeper demanded. “Do you actually allow them to handle their own bodies intimately like that? How shameful and wicked!”
“What am I supposed to do, then?” Lexi asked, thoroughly exasperated.
“Why, you must put it on them yourself, of course!” the other woman told her. “A proper Mistress never allows a bodyslave to touch his own equipment!”
“She doesn’t?” Lexi frowned.
“Most certainly not!” The Gatekeeper exclaimed. “Why a bodyslave may lose a hand for such an infraction.” She cocked her head to one side and stared at Lexi. “For such a powerful, rich Mistress, you don’t seem to know much about Yonnite tradition, dearie.”
Lexi sighed—there didn’t seem to be much point in lying.
“To be honest, I inherited my title and wealth when my Great Aunt Granipants died,” she admitted. “But I’m trying to fit in.”
“Ahhh…That explains it.” The Gatekeeper nodded. “Well, I’ll help you all I can. First things first—you must get both your bodyslave’s shafts properly oiled. Well—go on,” she said, making a shooing gesture with one long, thin hand. “Hurry up—or have you changed your mind about attending the party?”
“No…I haven’t changed my mind,” Lexi said. She turned reluctantly back to the two Kindred. Goddess of Mercy, this was awkward!
“It’s all right,” Gaze murmured, before she could say a word. “We don’t mind, Mistress.”