Vocational Awe

Ingredients list (mild spoilers):

2 cups sapphic romance

1 cup explicit lesbian sex

1 cup muscle mommy gym fetish

1/2 cup icky sticky sensory issues

1 tbsp brief attempted assault

1 pinch awkward texting

"Vocational awe describes the set of ideas, values, and assumptions librarians have about themselves and the profession that result in notions that libraries as institutions are inherently good, sacred, and therefore beyond critique."

Fobazi Ettarh, "Vocational Awe and Librarianship: The Lies We Tell Ourselves." Published in the journal In the Library with the Lead Pipe, 2018

"The women's bathroom is wrecked again," the senior librarian working the reference desk called out.

A heavy sigh escaped from Victoria as she wheeled the cart full of book returns past the desk. She left the cart in the sorting room, grabbed a bucket full of cleaning supplies, and headed to the bathroom to survey the damage.

Her body seemed to be generating an awful lot of sighs, lately. Sighs of exhaustion, sighs of frustration, sighs of wistful longing.

It had been a dream come true when Victoria Marlowe was offered a job at Downtown Central, a classical public city library. The kind of vaulted stone cathedral to knowledge built by Gilded Age robber barons to assuage their capitalist guilt, or at least whitewash their image to the press.

"Oh no, ick ick ick..." Victoria muttered to herself as she glanced around the bathroom. The garbage can was overflowing with soaking wet paper towels, spilling out and creating a soggy mass on the tiled floor. Central had one of the only free publicly accessible restrooms downtown, so a lot of unhoused people in the area would come in to use the restrooms, and sometimes take a "sink shower" while they were there.

The facilities team wouldn't be in to clean until closing time, and she couldn't just leave it like this. She pulled a hair tie out of her pocket and put her curly blonde hair up in a ponytail. Then she snapped on some nitrile gloves and made a face as she picked up the wet wads of paper.

"Hurck!" The noise welled up from deep in her diaphragm, and she had to stop herself from gagging. Texture was often a sensory issue for Victoria, sticky and wet being among her strongest yucks. Sensory needs weren't one of her primary reasons for wanting to work with dry paper books, but it was certainly an added bonus.

Her real motivations were to support the local community, to devote herself to public service. To uphold free speech and free information and maybe even democracy itself. When she started her career she had been confident and decisive, idealistic and hopeful.

But in the five years of working at Central, it felt like her biggest professional accomplishments were cleaning bathrooms, re-stocking bookshelves, and shooing pervy old men off the public computers when they tried to watch porn.

Her co-workers weren't much help either. A couple of older librarians who had one foot out the door and the other foot in the grave, who were constantly criticising her and each other. A director who was too harried and overworked to do much more than keep the lights on. A library board of trustees that didn't seem to actually like the library very much.

"Hey, excuse me," a voice from behind interrupted Victoria's miserable reverie. "Do you work here?"

"What -- hurck -- gave me away?" Victoria snarked, stooping to pick the last bit of garbage up off the floor, then turning to the sink to wash her hands.

"Well, for one you're cleaning up a mess that I assume isn't your fault, even though it's almost making you throw up. And you're dressed like the platonic ideal of a librarian, for another. I like your cardigan."

Victoria finally turned around to face the person speaking to her, and had to crane her neck up and up to make eye contact with a very tall, very large woman.

She had to be well over six feet tall, broad shouldered and muscular. Her face was pretty, dark glossy hair tied in a bun with bangs, olive skin, big brown eyes, a cute broad nose, and a dazzling smile. She was wearing denim overalls that accentuated her wide hips and intimidating bust, and a dark t-shirt that clung to her powerful arms.

"Oh! Th- thank you," Victoria stuttered. "It's um, a thrift shop find. But yes, I'm a librarian here! How can I help you?"

"I'm trying to track down some woodworking plans from an old magazine from the 1940s, Practical Mechanics," The woman said. "The Internet Archive has some scans of old issues, but the content is spotty, a lot of it is incomplete or low resolution or just broken links. So, I figured maybe I would check at the library. The lady at the front desk told me to find you, and pointed me toward the bathroom."

Victoria nodded thoughtfully, as she struggled to heft the overly full garbage bag out of the can. The big woman reached over and grabbed the bag with one large hand, pulling it out effortlessly.

"Oh, thank you! Yes, I might be able to help. We've got a lot of old periodicals downstairs in the archives." She hurried to put a fresh liner in the can.

"I'm Victoria. Marlowe," she said after an awkward pause. "If you'd like to come with me, we'll see what we can find?"

"Rosa Waitangi," the other woman said with a grin. "Lead the way, Vic!"

Victoria led Rosa down a flight of stairs into the basement of the library, past a row of bulky microfiche readers and cabinets, to the old periodicals stacks. She found the large muscular woman both intimidating and strangely magnetic, and fumbled to make small talk as they went.

"So, you're looking for old woodworking articles? Are you trying to build something?"

Rosa nodded. "I do a lot of custom fabrication for my day job. Mostly 3D printing, welding, machining, metals and plastics. I wanted to try something new, just for fun. I don't have many specialized tools for working with wood, so for now I can only make do with the basics. Those old 'crafty guys in garages' magazines have a lot of really great projects in them, stuff you can build with nothing but a hammer and a hand saw. From what I saw online, a bunch of the early issues start from first principles. Building your own mitre box and work bench from scratch, and progressing from there. All the images I found online were pixelated messes, though."

"Wow, that's amazing. I'm not very crafty... I tried to take up knitting once, but never progressed beyond the washcloth phase. Well, here we are!"

Victoria helped Rosa find a row of shelves labelled 605: Technology (Applied Sciences) Serial Publications, and then walked down the row until they found a section filled with old faded magazines.

"Here's what we have... There are cloth gloves over by the reading table, please put those on if you want to page through anything. They're kind of old and fragile. Feel free to browse, and if you find anything that you'd like copies of, we can make scans for you. Just... please don't put them back onto the shelves yourself. There's a cart at the end of the row, put anything you take out there, and we'll re-file them later. Sorry, it's a little warm and stuffy down here, not a lot of ventilation."

"Oh this is perfect, thank you Victoria!"

"Sure, no problem! Take all the time you need, nobody ever goes down here. I'll come back and check on you later."

Victoria returned to the main floor to finish re-shelving her cart of books. Something about that woman kept tickling at the back of her brain, though. She was... built like an Olympic shot putter, obviously. But more than that she seemed... Interesting. Curious. Vibrant.

After shelving the books she helped an elderly woman log into Facebook on one of the public computers, then had a brief chat with the woman about phishing scams and how it was unlikely that her grandson was stuck in the Philippines and needed an Amazon gift card in order to get home.

Then she worked the front desk for an hour or so, which mostly consisted of giving people directions to other locations downtown, and fielding the complaints of one angry gentleman with a buzz cut and reflective Pit Viper sunglasses who was concerned that drag queens were giving a strip tease performance for children at the library. (There was no such performance scheduled at Downtown Central Library).

"Attention patrons, the library will be closing in thirty minutes," the voice of Darlene -- the senior librarian -- crackled through the PA system in the ceiling.

"Oh fudge, Rosa!" Victoria muttered, realizing she hadn't checked in downstairs in a while. There was no PA speaker in the basement, so she headed downstairs. Walking down the corridor, she heard Rosa's rich voice softly humming through the stacks.

Rounding the corner, Victoria paused in mid-stride. Rosa had unbuttoned the top of her overalls, letting the straps and bib dangle down to her waist, and taken off the shirt underneath it. Wearing only a sports bra above the waist, her well defined back and shoulders were bare. Her right arm had a complex black tattoo on it, a geometric design that wrapped around her muscular forearm and wrist.

Rosa had earbuds in, and was singing to herself. "Can we erase our history... is it as easy as this... plausible deniability, I swear I never heard of it..."

Victoria stood silently, watching Rosa from behind, undetected, embarrassed. Maybe she could tiptoe backwards back up the hallway, then make lots of noise outside, announcing her presence, giving Rosa time to put her shirt back on?

She took a single, soundless step back... directly into the corner of the nearest shelf, knocking a heavy box of old Reader's Digest magazines to the floor, spilling issues out everywhere, making a loud crash that echoed across the concrete room. Rosa spun around, taking up what looked like a fighting stance.

"Shit, Victoria? Are you alright?" Rosa asked in surprise. She rushed over to help pick the magazines up off the floor.

"Sorry, I'm so sorry! I wasn't trying to sneak up on you or anything, I just wanted to see how you were making out -- I mean, how you were doing..." Victoria babbled, mortified. She reached for the nearest magazine, brushing her hand against Rosa's muscled arm, setting off another round of apologetic noises from the petite librarian.

"No worries," Rosa said with a chuckle. "It was just getting really hot down here, so I took a couple of layers off. I didn't break any dress code rules or anything, did I? 'No shirt, no shoes, no service?'"

Rosa's impressive breasts were obvious, even in a tight sports bra. They were also directly at Victoria's eye level, making it hard for her to avoid glancing at them. The last of the magazines back in the box, Rosa hefted it back onto the shelf with a satisfied grunt.

"No! No problem at all!" Victoria said quickly, averting her eyes. "I was just surprised... Did you um... find what you were looking for?"

"Sure did," Rosa said happily, pointing at a pile of magazines stacked neatly on the floor. "So now I need to scan these, right?"

"Right! We've got a nice book scanner upstairs. But the library is closing soon, I'm afraid. I can set these aside, if you can come back later in the week?"

"Sounds good, I'll be back tomorrow in the morning! I promise not to flash you next time," Rosa said, and gave Victoria a big hug, surrounding the smaller woman with her thick arms, pressing her breasts into Victoria's body.

"Oof!" Victoria wheezed as a breath was squeezed out of her.

Walking back to her third-floor walkup apartment, Victoria gradually began to notice that other pedestrians were smiling at her, nodding or murmuring little hellos as they passed her. After a moment of reflection, she realized that she was smiling to herself.

She usually landed somewhere on a spectrum between annoyed and numb at the end of the work day, but for some reason she felt... fine. Vaguely energized. Perhaps even happy.

"Rosa Waitangi," Victoria said out loud to herself, then quickly glanced around to make sure nobody had heard her. Strange, she had only really interacted with the woman for what, ten minutes total? But those ten minutes had left quite an impression.

When she got home, Victoria opened her laptop and looked up the lyrics she had overheard Rosa singing. She tracked it back to a band called The Beths, a catchy power pop band from New Zealand. Putting them on her playlist, she hummed along as she made herself dinner.

After cleaning up, she hopped in the shower. Closing her eyes and letting the hot water run down her body, Victoria's mind wandered back to Rosa, shirtless and muscular, shining with perspiration, her ample breasts straining at her sports bra.

Victoria savored the memory of briefly touching the other woman's arm, of feeling her firm muscles under her soft skin. Then she imagined those strong arms pushing her against the library stacks, Rosa leaning her face down to Victoria's looking into her eyes.

Victoria let her hands wander down her body, one caressing a petite breast and pinching a little pink nipple, one traveling down to her pussy, running her fingers through her intimate curls, just slightly darker than the ash blonde hair on her head.

"Ohhh," she moaned, imagining Rosa's hands grabbing and tugging her hair. Imagining Rosa's hands grasping the back of her neck. Imagining Rosa's hands wrapped around her waist. Imagining...

"Oh gosh, oh wow," Victoria gasped as an unexpected orgasm ripped through her, making her knees go weak. She put a hand on the tiled wall of her shower and breathed through it, warm water from the showerhead running down her face and into her mouth.

"What the heck was that all about?" Victoria mumbled, composing herself and turning off the water.

Victoria didn't particularly consider herself part of the LGBTQ community... She was a two on the Kinsey Scale at most, somewhere between "straight-ish," and "vaguely bisexual, in theory." She appreciated the beauty of the feminine form, and occasionally found herself attracted to specific women for one reason or another. But she had never had either a sexual or romantic experience with a woman, nor been motivated to try.

After toweling off and putting on some pajamas, Victoria took her laptop to bed and started watching the latest episode of Murderbot. A moment later she paused the show, got out of bed, and rummaged through the back of her closet.

"Ahha," she said triumphantly, returning to her bed with a tote bag. Resuming her show, she pulled out a skein of yarn and a pair of needles, and started knitting as she watched.

"Good morning, Darlene!" Victoria said brightly as she swiped her access fob at the front desk, signing in for the morning.

"Mmhmm," the older librarian said, not lifting her eyes up from a newspaper open on the desk. She tapped angrily at the article she was reading. "Did you see this? Bob Butington from the library board is threatening budget cuts for the next fiscal year. He says we aren't providing enough 'practical benefit' to the community. He's written a damn op-ed about it."

"'Practical benefit?'" Victoria repeated incredulously. "Ugh, why is Bob even on the board? The last time I talked to him, he asked me about adding some 'Flat Earth Science' books to the collection. I tried to give him the purchase suggestion form, and he called me a 'little lady' and said he'd just talk to the director."

Darlene snorted. "What a pig. His seat on the board is up for election this year, but the only people that vote in the municipal races are weirdos with an axe to grind. I'm glad I won't have to deal with him much longer."

"Oh?"

"Yes, I just turned in my Intent to Separate. I'll be retiring in three months."

"Oh. Oh! Oh gosh, congratulations!" Victoria said, her voice betraying some trepidation. "Have you... talked to Marianne about this?"

"No. Not yet... I'm waiting for the right time, so please keep this to yourself," Darlene said quietly.

Marianne was the other senior librarian at Downtown Central. She and Darlene seemed to have a complex, fraught relationship that started long before Victoria's time at the library, that she had never completely figured out. They ate lunch together in the break room nearly every day, and carpooled together religiously.

"Right, of course," Victoria answered quickly. "So... What made you take the leap? To finally retire. I mean, not 'finally!' Just... why now?"

Darlene rolled her eyes at Victoria's conversational awkwardness, but smiled gently. "The job's not what it used to be, kiddo. People used to come here to read. To conduct research. To learn something, to improve their lives, to better themselves.

"Now the library feels mostly like free babysitting for overworked parents, free video games for bored seniors, and free toilets for the unhoused. People aren't reading like they used to, and why should they when AI will do the reading and the research and the thinking for them? It's not what I went to school for, not what I devoted my life to. So I'm bowing out gracefully while I still can."

Victoria stared at the older woman, at a loss for what to say. She disliked Darlene's cynicism, but it was hard to refute her words. They mirrored her own growing disappointment at the work, to be honest.

"I believed in the library. Still do," Darlene continued. "But you have to have boundaries. You have to know when to say no. You have to know when to walk away. The library isn't a temple, and we're not priests."

Victoria struggled to find something to say in response. Fortunately, she was rescued by a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to find Rosa Waitangi standing behind her.

"Morning Vic! Is now a good time to help me with some scanning?"

"Rosa, hi! Good morning! Y-yes, now is perfect," Victoria said, a little too enthusiastically. She nodded to Darlene and then motioned for Rosa to follow her.

"You're looking cute today," Rosa said as they walked through the main floor of the library, stopping by the sorting room to retrieve the stack of magazines from yesterday, then continuing to the computer area and the scanner.

"Oh, gosh, this old thing? Thanks," Victoria said in what she hoped was a nonchalant way. In fact, she had agonized over what to wear, before settling on a polka-dotted yellow summer dress that showed off her short but shapely legs, and a green knit cardigan. She had also put on a little more makeup than usual, including a bit of subtle pink eye shadow that she hoped would accent her bright blue eyes and compensate for her less-than-noteworthy boobs and butt.

Although she hadn't fully admitted her goal to herself when she was getting ready, she was now deeply pleased that Rosa had noticed.

Rosa, for her part, was again dressed for practical comfort. But instead of leggings and a long-sleeved jacket, she wore red cargo capris that showed off her powerful calves, and a snug grey t-shirt that clung to her impressive chest and biceps.

After they had finished scanning all of the pages of Practical Mechanics that Rosa wanted, she insisted on buying Victoria lunch as thanks and by way of apology for partially undressing in the basement. Darlene wagged her eyebrows at Victoria as she watched them leave together.

Victoria suggested Arroz Aroy, a Thai-Mexican fusion cafe within walking distance. They made small talk, chatting about hobbies.

When she wasn't spending time at the gym, Rosa did custom fabrication for local manufacturing companies, making or repairing specialized parts that they couldn't get elsewhere without paying a fortune or buying in bulk. But she also designed and created elaborate costumes for the local cosplay community. She dabbled in art and music. Now she was picking up traditional carpentry.

Victoria was impressed and more than a little intimidated at the variety of Rosa's interests and hobbies. She shyly admitted that she did a little amateurish fiction writing, or at least used to. She hadn't written anything in over a year.

"Vic, I hope I'm not overstepping..." Rosa said between spoonfuls of tom kha menudo soup. "But you seem a little down in the dumps. Problems at work?"

"No... I mean, yes. Sort of, it's not a big deal..." The librarian mumbled, picking listlessly at her chicken satay taco.

"Spill it," Rosa said with an edge of command, making a little thrill buzz through Victoria's stomach. "I want to hear about it."

"It's just... just everything. I kind of felt like I was born to be a librarian, it's what I always wanted to be when I grew up. I did well in school, really well. I graduated high school early, I got my Bachelor of Communication in three years, and my Masters of Library Science in two. I found an assistant librarian job right after graduation, at a small private arts college. But my goal was always to work at a big public library. So after getting a few years of experience on my CV, I started putting out applications, and I ended up at Downtown Central!

"But... working at Central has been really hard, harder than I expected. A lot of the work is more like social work than librarianship. People come to us needing... so much, so much that we can't provide. I was trained to do literature research, collection curation, catalog management. Not addiction counseling, or resumé building, or... or emergency medical care! I've had to administer Narcan twice on library property since I started working here, Rosa!"

Victoria started sniffling, blinking back tears. Rosa reached across the table and held the librarian's small hand in her much larger one, giving a gentle squeeze. After a few shuddering breaths, Victoria continued.

"But I keep doing it, because I believe in the library. I believe in supporting a place where people can seek information and culture for free, a place to create community and civic engagement, and bring people together, and... I don't know, cultivate civilization without having to pay for something that should be a right!

"And then just today I found out our budget is in danger of being cut, because our stupid board of trustees thinks we aren't providing enough 'practical benefit,' to the community. One of my coworkers is taking early retirement, because she's sick of it all. I just... I just don't know what to do..."

"Whew," Rosa exhaled forcefully. "I'm so sorry, Vic, that's a lot. You sound kinda burned out, if I'm being honest. I know that feeling, I've been there."

"Really?" Victoria sniffed, dabbing her eyes with a napkin. "You seem so... so cool, so confident, put together."

Rosa laughed. "I wasn't always! After I graduated college, I interned at a big engineering firm back in SoCal. I did a lot of hard work that others got credit for, worked 60 hours a week for practically nothing, because I was told it would lead to a good job in the end. I stuffed down my pride, kept grinding, neglected my values, my spirit. And eventually I crashed out."

Rosa pushed some rice around on her plate for a moment, like she was turning over a compost pile of unhappy memories.

"I had a little bit of a breakdown, and quit my internship. I couch surfed for a while, lived in my car for a while... I started doing odd jobs, handyman and fixit type shit. I would beg old work friends to lend me some tools for a day, just to do a repair job and earn enough money for dinner that night..." She trailed off, shook her head, took a deep breath, and shoveled the last of her rice into her mouth.

"Those were tough times... But I was good at that kind of work, and I enjoyed it. Something different every day! Eventually I moved out here. An old childhood friend tipped me off to an old garage being sold for practically nothing. So I bought it and fixed it up, lived in it, turned it into my shop and my home. I took fabbing jobs that I found interesting. And here we are!"

"Oh wow," Victoria whispered admiringly, "That's... amazing, Rosa. You're amazing."

Rosa grinned, blushing at the compliment.

"Oh my gosh, wait," Victoria sat up excitedly, almost spilling her ginger horchata. "You've just given me an incredible idea! Will you come back to the library with me tomorrow? I mean, not with me... Will you meet me there? Please?"

"A Tool Library!" Victoria said excitedly.

It was late afternoon, Downtown Central Library conference room. Sitting around the table were Victoria Marlowe, senior librarians Darlene and Marianne, and Fred Petersen, the library director.

Rosa Waitangi was sitting on a folding chair near the door, away from the conference table. She had dressed up for the presentation, wearing black jeans (with no holes or stains) and a slightly dressy blue top that bared her broad muscular shoulders and neck.

Victoria clicked to the next slide of her deck, hastily cobbled together overnight.

"It's a pretty straightforward concept. Along with our library of books and media, we curate a library of tools! Basic home repair, automotive, yard and gardening, woodworking, whatever community members want to make use of. They check the tools out just like a book, return them when they're done. Tool libraries have gotten a lot of traction on the West Coast, but not so much here."

"It might give Bob Butington and the board something they'll like... something hands-on and without too many words," Fred mused.

"Where would we keep a bunch of tools?" Darlene asked. "This would require an incredible amount of space."

"I've thought of that! If we digitize the periodicals and the microfiche down in the basement, it would open up all of that space. I checked the access logs for that room, there's only been one visitor down there in the last two months," Victoria answered, grinning at Rosa. "We're not utilizing that space effectively, and I believe this would be a better use of our facilities."

"We don't have a requisition budget for tools," Marianne said. "I don't see how we could stand up a collection like this without asking the board for more money, and right now that's a non-starter."

"We've got an idea for how to make this work... Rosa?" Victoria gestured to the other woman, who got up and stood next to her.

"Hi, hello! I'm Rosa Waitangi, community member. Oh, and library patron!" Rosa said nervously, flashing her library card like it was an FBI badge.

"Rosa is a custom fabricator, maker, craftswoman, umm..."

"I also make cosplay costumes in my spare time!"

Marianne perked up at this detail. "Any anime characters? Especially classic ones, 90's or earlier?"

"Oh yeah, actually! A few years ago I did a Majokko Megu-chan costume for a really lovely woman, really classic 1970's 'magical girl,' stuff, pre-Sailor Moon."

Marianne looked delighted, but Darlene ahem'ed at her significantly.

"Maybe I can show you some pictures later," Rosa said with a wink.

"Anyway, Rosa is my umm... subject matter expert on this project," Victoria continued.

"Right! I have a lot of contacts in the local crafting and manufacturing communities. I think I could squeeze a lot of them for support, either in money or in donated tools. Hell, I've got a bunch of extra equipment in my own shop that I'd be happy to donate to the cause."

Victoria nodded. "Rosa and I have brainstormed about this. If we cleared out the entire basement, we would even have room for a makerspace! If we got some grant money we could get things like 3d printers and laser cutters, and people could build some really interesting projects here at the library. We could enlist volunteers from the local maker community to run workshops and repair labs, and..."

"Alright, alright, let's not get ahead of ourselves," Director Petersen interrupted her. "I'm not opposed to this idea, but let's start simple. If we do this, we would need to move quickly. After Bob Butington's little op-ed stunt in the paper, the Board of Trustees will be breathing down our necks. Can we have something that I can present to them in, say, two weeks?"

"Quadrant 1, Urgent and Important! We could do it," Rosa said enthusiastically.

"Are you 7-Habits trained, Ms. Waitangi?" Now she had Director Petersen's attention.

"Sure. I'm a Six Sigma black belt too! Evidence of a misspent youth," Rosa said with a shrug.

"Alright, I like it," Petersen said. "Victoria, develop a list of tools that we would need to launch a basic tool library, along with a list of 'would-be-nice' items for future acquisitions. Ms. Waitangi, if you would like to work with Ms. Marlowe to help her develop that list, that would be extremely welcome."

He turned to the two senior librarians on the other side of the table, who were whispering to each other intensely.

"Marianne, you're already experienced with the donation process we have for things like rare books. I'd like you to review the forms and see if it can be modified to accept tool donations. Darlene, let's come up with a timeline for digitizing the periodicals archive and clearing out space downstairs. Good work Victoria, I think you might be on to something."

Victoria waited until everyone but Rosa had left the conference room, then let out a squeal of joy, jumping up and down, flapping her arms excitedly. "I can't believe he went for it... I think your business jargon might have gotten us over the finish line, Rosa! Oh my gosh, I'm so excited!" Impulsively, she reached for Rosa and gave her a hug, wrapping her arms around the other woman's waist.

Rosa laughed and returned the hug, enveloping the little librarian, pressing her breasts into the side of Victoria's face. "Pretty fucking impressive, Vic! I think this will be a really great project, and I can't wait to work with you on it."

Victoria's heart nearly burst from her chest, welling up with excitement, pride, a hint of fear at an intimidating project, an excess of pleasure at Rosa's praise.

"Alright Vic, first thing Monday we can sit down and start sketching out a list of starter tools. I'm going to celebrate by hitting the gym."

"Okay, great! Have fun, Rosa!"

"You wouldn't want to come with me, would you?" Rosa asked, looking Victoria up and down and giving her a shy smile.

"R-really? Go to the gym with you? Y-yeah! I'd love to!" Victoria said, still wanting to spend more time with her new friend-slash-crush.

"Cool. You've... gone to the gym before, right?"

"Yeah, of course! ... I mean, I passed gym class in high school..."

They took Rosa's old beat-up Subaru, stopping first at Victoria's apartment so she could change. She didn't really own any proper gym clothes, but she put on a pair of old sweatpants and a t-shirt. She didn't own a sports bra either, so she decided to risk it and go without.

Then they drove to the edge of town to Rosa's place. It was an old mechanic's garage, which Rosa had converted into a combination home and workshop. Half of the garage was taken up with her fabrication equipment and tools, the other half was her living space. The walls were all exposed brick and beams, the floors all stained concrete. But she had made it cozy and warm with the generous application of colorful rugs, comfortable furniture, and Japanese paper dividing screens.

"Oh wow, your place is so cool," Victoria breathed, a little in awe of Rosa's lifestyle. Rosa went behind a screen to change clothes in her bedroom area, while Victoria wandered around the workshop space. She marvelled at the tools and the projects in various states of completion.

A tiny, intricate brass piece currently chucked to a lathe, some sort of valve or adapter. It almost looked like a piece of jewelry the way it gleamed, but it no doubt served some important industrial purpose.

A complex geared object taking shape within the transparent cube of a big, humming 3d printer. A display screen on the printer showed twelve more hours remaining on the print.

A gorgeous costume, half-finished on a dressmaker's mannequin, made of sparkling green scales like a mermaid warrior queen's royal gown.

"Okay, ready!" Rosa came back out, dressed in a pair of tight workout shorts and a tank top.

"You... you make all of these things?" Victoria asked, her eyes wide.

Rosa shrugged. "Yeah, I usually need two or three projects going at once, or I get bored... Anyway, should we get going?"

Rosa and Victoria drove out to a strip mall on the edge of town. The last storefront at the edge of the low building was Body Movin'. The twenty-something kid running the front desk was busy with his phone, and the only other patrons were a trio of older women using treadmills in one corner. Rosa checked in and vouched for Victoria as a guest.

"Do I just sit at one of these machines and start going? I um... I don't really know what to do," Victoria admitted.

"I kinda figured," Rosa said with a laugh. "I'm not really a personal trainer or anything, but do you want me to walk you through some things? Some of these workouts can be dangerous if you don't know what you're doing though, so I expect total compliance!" She grinned mischievously at Victoria.

"Y- yes Rosa!" Victoria said, completely flustered.

Rosa took her by the hand and led her to the warmup mats, starting her on some simple cardio moves. She put her hands on Victoria's hips, adjusting her form as she did a set of squats, then touched her back and thighs while showing her how to do bird dogs.

"This is just to get your blood flowing and your heart rate up," Rosa explained. Victoria nodded, but her heart was already racing from Rosa's touch, and blood was most certainly flowing to targeted areas of her body.

After the warmup, Rosa started with dumbbell presses, taking a heavy weight in each hand, laying flat on a bench and pushing the weights up into the air. Victoria watched, entranced as the other woman's arms flexed and strained at the weight, veins popping in her forearms and triceps, a sheen of perspiration forming on her olive skin.

"Alright, your turn," Rosa said with a grin, handing Victoria a much smaller set of weights. She lay back on the same bench and tried to emulate Rosa's movements, as Rosa gave her instructions and advice.

"Almost. Elbows out, like this," Rosa said as she grasped Victoria's arms and adjusted their angle.

Victoria struggled against the weight, trying to finish a set of twelve.

"Good girl," Rosa said encouragingly, leaning over Victoria and gently supporting her elbows as she finished her final repetition. "Now take a thirty second breather, and go for ten more."

Victoria whimpered, gasping for breath. She already felt exhausted, but she wanted desperately to impress Rosa, and the mixed endorphin rush of Rosa's praise and touching and the physical exertion was giving her a bit of a high. She finished her second set, and then a third set of eight, gratefully letting Rosa take the weights from her before her trembling arms gave out.

"Great job Vic," Rosa said encouragingly. "Now, leg presses!"

"Oh fudge," Victoria moaned.

"This is my favorite exercise," Rosa said as she kept adding weights to a sled-like contraption suspended ominously over an inclined seat. "Really gets the heart beating hard, it feels like running a marathon in three minutes. Are you sure you're up for this, Victoria?"

Victoria nodded mutely. Wide-eyed, she watched Rosa lay back in the seat, set her feet against the footplate, and press against it with her thick legs, breathing hard as the impossibly heavy-looking stack of weights slid along its track. She couldn't help but imagine her body trapped between those muscular thighs.

With each press Rosa let out a little grunt of effort, which Victoria found both physically impressive and undeniably sexual. She had to resist the intrusive urge to reach over and touch her friend's muscular thighs, to feel them pump and flex.

Finally Rosa finished, hefted herself up from the seat and began removing weights from the press until the load was down to about half of Victoria's bodyweight. "Your turn!"

The workout continued for a few more exercises, Rosa taking the lead at each station, Victoria watching in something like erotic awe, then trying her best to keep up. It seemed like at every turn Rosa was touching her, instructing her, encouraging her.

By the end of it, Victoria was absolute putty in Rosa's hands, and not just because her body was utterly spent.

"Alright, that's the last set for tonight. You did amazing Vic, I'm really proud of you!"

"Th- hurck -- thank you Rosa... I think... I think I'm going to throw up."

Rosa laughed and handed her a water bottle. "Just breathe, and drink some more water. I promise you'll feel better in a few minutes. Well, this has been a lot of fun Vic. Let's get you home!"

She drove Victoria back to her apartment, then leaned over and looked out the passenger window at the building. "Hmm, which floor did you live on, again?"

"The third," Victoria mumbled miserably. "It's fine, I... I'll just... take my time!"

She got out of the car, took one wobbly step, and dropped the the ground like her bones had turned to jelly.

"Oh shit, Vic!" Rosa said, jumping out of her car and rushing around to help Victoria up. "Oookay, you are completely gassed. You know what? I got you this far, I might as well include doorstep delivery. Let's get you upstairs!"

Rosa bent down, put one arm behind Victoria's wobbly knees and another behind her back, and swept her up off the ground. Victoria screamed in surprise, but then broke into a giggling fit as her friend carried her through the lobby door and up the stairs.

"Oh gosh, I feel like a princess or something," she said. She could feel Rosa's heat radiating into her, could smell her sweat and feel the dampness of her body through her workout clothes. In any other circumstances the assault on her senses would have been intolerable. But in that moment, it felt deeply erotic.

"What does that make me?" Rosa asked, grinning. "The knight in shining armor?"

"Maybe. Or maybe you're the dragon," Victoria said, surprised at her own flirtatiousness. Rosa's cheeks turned red, but she didn't return the banter.

Once they made it to the apartment, Rosa gently set Victoria down on her couch. "You know what, I'm going to run you a warm bath. You need to lay down and let your muscles rest."

She went and filled the tub, then came back and helped Victoria get to the bathroom. "Well, this has been a lot of fun Vic. I'm going to head home. See you next week at the library, and we'll get started on things?"

Victoria nodded. Building up her courage, Victoria stood up on her tip toes and craned her neck up, planting a shy little kiss on Rosa's cheek. "Thank you, Rosa. For everything."

Rosa's face took on a dreamy expression, then she nodded curtly, stepped out of the bathroom, and closed the door behind her.

Victoria began to undress, and realized that her arms weren't cooperating.

"Um... Rosa... Fudge. C-could you help me with something?" She called out, mortified.

Footsteps pattered down the hallway, and the bathroom door creaked open slowly, Rosa peeking through the crack in the door. "You okay in there?"

"I um... I can't lift my arms to take my shirt off. It's like my muscles don't want to work."

Rosa burst out laughing, making Victoria turn bright red. "Oh Vic, I'm so sorry, please don't be embarrassed! Can I... help you take your clothes off?"

The little librarian nodded silently, eyes wide as saucers. Rosa gently lifted Victoria's arms up over her head, holding both wrists in one hand while using the other hand to lift up Victoria's shirt, sliding it over her head and then off of her arms. Rosa's fingertips touched Victoria's soft naked skin as she went, grazing the side of one petite breast, making her shiver.

"Do you need help with your pants too?" Rosa asked. Victoria nodded.

Rosa hooked her fingers into Victoria's sweatpants and slid them off of her, followed by her underwear. Victoria sat, fully exposed, on the lid of the toilet, maintaining eye contact with Rosa, trapped like a deer in the headlights of a big sexy truck.

"You're really beautiful, Victoria," Rosa said softly, her eyes wandering across the other woman's body for just a moment. Victoria could practically feel Rosa's gaze lingering on her milky white skin, tiny pink nipples crinkled with excitement and embarrassment, soft blonde curls surrounding her private parts.

"Get in the bathtub," Rosa finally instructed, her voice low and husky. Victoria nodded quickly, and slid into the warm water.

Rosa kneeled down on the bath mat next to the tub, surveyed Victoria's array of bathing implements, and selected a loofa and some body wash. She reached over and took one of Victoria's arms in one hand, and gently scrubbed it with the other hand.

Victoria practically melted into a puddle as the larger woman gently manhandled her limbs and body, pushing her forward to wash her back, pushing her backward in order to access her chest. Rosa's hands moved down to Victoria's legs, running her strong fingers along the underside of Victoria's calves and thighs, gently kneading her sore muscles, making her whimper in pleasure and pain.

"Ohhhh fuuudddgge," Victoria moaned as Rosa's fingers squeezed her inner thigh. "That hurts so good, Rosa..."

Victoria couldn't entirely believe that any of this was happening, it was so out of her usual experience that it felt almost like a dream. She desperately wanted Rosa to make a more amorous advance, to kiss her, to make love to her, to teach her how to make love to another woman. Her mouth very nearly formed the words to ask for more.

But her shyness got the better of her, and she said nothing. And besides, she was in no condition to do anything physical right now, she could barely even stay awake. Rosa, for her part, seemed in no hurry to take anything to another level right now.

"Alright, get out of there before you fall asleep and drown," Rosa said with a grin.

"Mmhmm," Victoria mumbled. Rosa helped her up, toweled her off and led her to her bedroom. The last thing Victoria remembered before drifting off was Rosa tucking her into bed and kissing her forehead.

Saturday, 9:35am

OMG Rosa, I just woke up,

I am SO SORRY about last night!

9:50am

don't sweat it vic, i'm the

one who should apologize,

i pushed you way too hard.

i should've gone easier on you!

9:52am

How are you feeling today?

9:53am

I feel fine today...

A little stiff, but not bad at all.

10:10am

yeah... go take two ibuprofen,

right now. drink lots and lots of water.

you're going to feel pretty good

for most of today, but by tonight or

tomorrow you're going to want to die

10:12am

Really??

10:15am

Yep, it's called delayed-onset muscle

soreness. DOMS. pretty common

when you first start working out.

just take it easy over the weekend.

10:32am

So... you Dommed me last night? ????

10:33am

I don't know why I just said that...

10:38am

????????

10:45am

Thank you for everything

Rosa, you were so kind to me

yesterday. I'm so embarrassed...

11:02am

you have nothing to be embarrassed

about, vic. i loved taking you to the gym,

and i don't regret what happened after.

i hope you don't either.

11:04am

No, I don't regret it at all!!

I just... I'm not usually like this.

You're so cool, and I really like hanging

out with you, and you probably think

I'm just a weird pathetic nerd...

11:07am

i don't think that at all. i think you're

wonderful, i love your brain and your

passion. cute tits, too ????

11:08am

jk ????

11:35am

Oh, why thank you... ???? they can't

hold a candle to yours, though!

11:36am

I mean, I imagine.

11:37am

Not that I'm trying to imagine them!!

12:05am

????

Sunday, 10:30am

Oww you were right, every muscle in

my body hurts... I could barely walk

from my bed to my couch ????

10:55am

yeah, that can happen! lots more water,

do some gentle stretching, walk

around a little if you can, it will help.

rest up, see you tomorrow!

Monday morning, Victoria arrived at the library with a smile on her face and a skip in her step, albeit a stiff, sore skip.

Her body was barely able to move for most of the weekend, but her mind was occupied with thoughts of Rosa Waitangi. Her body, her face, her eyes. The smell of her sweat. Her hands and fingers. Victoria spent a lot of time questioning herself, unsure of what her relationship with Rosa was, or was turning into. Their brief, tentative, flirty text messages didn't help the situation any. She did a lot of anxious knitting.

Her stomach was all butterflies as she waited for Rosa to arrive. She hovered nervously around the front desk like an anxious hummingbird, until Darlene shooed her away.

"Will you find something to do, already?" the older librarian said with exasperation. "I can page you on the PA when your girlfriend arrives."

"Um, she's not my girlfr--"

"Well hey there, little lady!" A booming voice interrupted. "Just the one I wanted to see!"

The huge man sauntered up to the front desk, his cowboy boots clicking on the stone floor. He was enormous in every dimension, tall, wide, and fat, wearing a tailored grey suit that probably fit him well fifteen years ago. He stood uncomfortably close to Victoria, looking down on her, obviously trying to use their size differential to his advantage.

"T-trustee Butington, good morning," Victoria said. She glanced over at Darlene, who nodded encouragingly, not going anywhere.

"I heard about your little tool library project from Fred, and I like it! Folks need to get their faces out of books and screens, and put something useful in their hands!"

"Um, w- well, I don't think those are mutually exclusive, people should be able to learn how to--"

"I've got one bone to pick with it, though. Handing out expensive tools and equipment all willy-nilly for free, never knowing when they'll come back? Smells like Socialism to me."

"Um. Well, that's how public libraries operate, we don't charge people for most of our--"

"No ma'am, no Socialists in my town! What we need to do is, we set up some paid membership tiers at the library. Not a lot, mind you! Twenty, thirty bucks a month. Gets a subscriber access to the tool library, access to the computers, the works. I've been telling Fred, we should be running this place like a self-sustaining business, not a charity."

"Libraries aren't a charity, they're a... a Public Good! Communities benefit from--"

"Don't sweat it little lady, I'm gonna go chat with Fred and get this all hashed out. You're on the right track, keep up the good work and you'll be running this place some day," Bob winked at Victoria and walked past her to Director Petersen's office before she could respond.

"I don't... you don't... darn it!" Victoria fumed, hands clenching in anger. "Bob is so... fricking stupid!"

"Woah there Vic, strong language!" Rosa's rich voice made Victoria jump several inches into the air. Darlene suppressed a laugh, and turned to focus on her newspaper.

"Oh, hi Rosa," Victoria said, trying and failing to play it cool. "Are you ready to get started?"

The rest of the week was a furious blur of activity and stress.

Rosa helped Victoria put together a preliminary inventory for the tool library, and started contacting her friends in the maker community and her clients among the local manufacturing companies seeking donations.

Victoria enjoyed working with her, and they collaborated well. But every time she tried to suggest that they spend time together outside of the project, Rosa would have an excuse involving work or errands.

Darlene and Marianne were constantly sniping at each other, bickering about library tasks that should have been routine. Victoria suspected that Marianne had finally learned about Darlene's impending retirement, and was not taking it well.

The concerned citizen in the Pit Viper sunglasses from the previous week came back, demanding to talk to the library director about drag queen story time again, and Victoria again had to try and explain that there was no such program at Downtown Central.

Director Petersen was quietly supportive of the project, but he kept checking in on Victoria asking for updates, clearly anxious about having something soon to show to the Board

Any one of these problems would normally have made Victoria fold like a wet napkin. All of them happening at once, though... It was like her anxiety had ascended to a different plane of existence and she had transformed into a coiled spring, absorbing and storing an increasing amount of energy. By Thursday evening, she was wound so tightly she was practically vibrating. Something had to give.

Alone at home, buzzing with tension and frustration and desire, listening too loudly to angsty music, she had a bit of an epiphany. Too much of her life had been conducted on auto-pilot. Enter your desired destination into the map, be patient, it would get you there eventually. Work hard, follow the rules, and the universe would reward you.

But the universe didn't play favorites, and the only people profiting from auto-pilot were the car company CEOs. Every good thing that had happened since meeting Rosa had happened because Victoria made a choice and took a risk.

If she wanted more, she was going to have to ask for it.

Victoria came to work dressed for battle, wearing the cutest librarian-chic outfit she could pull together from her closet. A pleated wool skirt that stopped just above her knees, flashing her pale calves and just a hint of thigh. A creamy silk blouse under a yellow cardigan, with a small pearl necklace and matching earrings. Brown leather shoes with just a bit of heel.

"My, you're looking pretty today," Darlene said as Victoria clocked in. "Rosa's already in the break room, waiting for you."

"Thank you, Darlene. Um... You should tell Marianne how you feel about her, before you lose your chance." Victoria walked past, heels clicking, leaving the senior librarian with her mouth hanging open.

She walked into the break room and found Rosa sitting at the little table, drinking a cup of bad break room coffee and scribbling on a notepad. Marianne was there as well, doing a crossword puzzle. "Hi, Rosa. Could we talk? Somewhere in private?"

"Umm yeah, sure," Rosa nodded, and followed Victoria to a quiet corner of the library stacks. Victoria turned to face the much larger woman, planted her feet firmly on the linoleum and squared her shoulders. Surrounded by books and shelves, drawing strength from her natural environment, Victoria looked Rosa in the eyes and began to speak.

"Rosa... I like you. A lot. I liked you from the moment I met you. Your whole um... presence, the way you live your life, the way you don't give a fudge about what other people think of you... You inspired me. And I think the Like might be turning into Love."

Rosa opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, her face flushing bright red. But before she could say anything, Victoria kept going.

"Before I met you, I didn't really know if I liked women in that way. But now I know. You've been amazing to work with on this project, but I feel like you've been avoiding doing anything else or talking about anything else with me since last Friday. If you don't feel that way about me it's fine, I can handle it! But I need to know. I need you to tell me."

Victoria stopped to catch her breath. Her heart was beating like she had just leg pressed a Volkswagen. The two women stared into each other's eyes, deep rich brown to pale soft blue.

Letting actions speak louder than words, Rosa put her powerful hands around Victoria's narrow waist, pulling her in close, and leaning down to kiss her on the mouth. Softly, hesitantly at first, but with more passion as Victoria responded. Soon they were making out furiously in the stacks, tongues intertwined hungrily.

Rosa was the first to break contact, gasping for breath. Victoria lay her head on Rosa's chest, sighing happily. Eventually, Rosa spoke.

"Wow, that was... You're a fucking good kisser! Victoria, I'm sorry for how I've been behaving. The truth is, I've been feeling things for you too. But I'm scared of hurting you. I'm... I don't really live a monogamous lifestyle. I've never really settled down with one person for long, and you seem like the kind of person who wants to settle down. I don't want to break your heart."

Victoria looked up at Rosa. "Shouldn't I get to decide what kind of person I am?"

Rosa was utterly speechless.

The PA system in the ceiling crackled to life, breaking the silence. "All library staff, Code Atticus. Library staff, Code Atticus," Darlene's voice announced with an anxious undertone.

"What the fuck is a Code Atticus?" Rosa asked.

"Difficult patron at the front desk in need of deescalation," Victoria said. "I need to go!"

By the time Victoria and Rosa had made it back to the front of the library, an unruly crowd had formed. Bob Butington was there, along with Pit Viper, and a couple of angry-looking people that Victoria didn't recognize.

Darlene and Marianne were huddled behind the reference desk along with Director Petersen, trying to figure out what was going on. There was also a reporter from one of the local news stations, currently pointing their camera and microphone at Bob.

"I'm here at the request of these concerned constituents," Bob said expansively, gesturing at the surly crowd. "Word is that Downtown Central Library is hosting sexually explicit drag shows, and we're here to get to the bottom of it."

Director Petersen raised his hands placatingly. "I can assure you, Trustee Butington and everyone else, there are no such performances scheduled at..."

"Hey, that's the little bitch that keeps lying to me!" Pit Viper interrupted loudly, pointing an accusing finger at Victoria, making her squeak in alarm. "I know she's got drag queens in here, brainwashing our kids! Bob told us all about 'em!"

"You don't know what you're talking about," Victoria shot back, shocked at her own forcefulness. "There's so many layers of what you're wrong about, I can't even..."

SPLAT! Before Victoria could finish her sentence, the angry man threw a styrofoam fountain cup at her, drenching her in sticky, cold Real Sugar Coca-Cola.

"What the fuck! Why don't you pick on someone your own size, asshole," Rosa yelled, stepping in front of Victoria, shielding the smaller woman with her body.

"Look, there's one of them drag queens now!" Pit Viper bellowed, lunging toward Rosa and taking a wild, clumsy swing with his fist.

Rosa grabbed his wrist and pivoted to one side, redirecting the man's momentum, causing him to lose his balance. Stepping around him, she twisted his arm behind his back firmly, making him howl in pain.

The next few minutes were complete chaos. Marianne grabbed Victoria by the arm and pulled her out of danger and into the break room. A loud commotion could be heard on the other side of the door, lots of raised voices and scuffling feet. Victoria tried desperately not to throw up or to have a panic attack. Her breathing was rapid and irregular, hyperventilating.

"Square breathing, dear," Marianne said as she dabbed at her with a paper towel, cleaning off her face and neck. Victoria nodded frantically, eyes squeezed shut.

"Inhale for four... Hold for four... Exhale for four... Hold for four," The older woman intoned in a soothing voice. Eventually Victoria's breathing slowed, and she started to calm down.

Director Petersen came into the break room, Rosa following close behind him.

"Things are starting to calm down out there," he said, putting a hand on Victoria's wet sticky shoulder. "A couple of cops came and took away that... gentleman, it was a pretty clear assault on both you and Rosa, and the reporter got it all on camera. You should go home, take the rest of the day off. The police will probably want a statement from you later, but it can wait. I recommend going out the side door and avoiding the crowd, we'll take care of things here."

"Are you alright, Vic?" Rosa asked, clearly upset and emotionally elevated.

"Yes, I'm -- hurck -- I'm alright... Thank you Fred, thank you Marianne... It's been quite a week!"

Victoria snuck out of the break room and left the library via an unmarked side entrance, Rosa following closely, protectively.

"So. Continuing our conversation from before..." Rosa mumbled. "The truth is, I fell for you on Day Two, when we were chatting in the cafe. Your passion, and empathy, and intelligence... And then when you shared your idea for the tool library, and asked me to partner with you? I was smitten."

Victoria blushed deeply, but said nothing. She was focussing on walking, taking two steps for each of Rosa's longer strides, trying not to think about the sticky residue covering her skin and clothes.

"And then the night after the gym, when I carried you up the stairs, and helped you undress and bathe? I went home and absolutely ravaged myself until the batteries in all of my toys were dead."

Victoria stumbled and nearly tripped, instinctively grabbing Rosa's hand to keep from falling. Rosa grinned and squeezed her hand tightly.

"I could just eat you up, Vic. And you were right. It's not my place to decide what is or isn't right for you."

Victoria smiled, practically glowing with embarrassment and desire. "W- well then... is it lunchtime, yet?"

Back at Victoria's apartment, Rosa sat on the couch while Victoria went to the bathroom to clean herself up. Stripping off her wet sticky clothing and leaving them in the bathtub, she ran a hot shower and rinsed herself off, then went to her bedroom to change.

She considered asking Rosa to go home and let her decompress alone, but... in for a penny, in for a pound. She opened the top drawer of her dresser and dug her hands deep into the back.

"Vic, are you alright in there? Need any help?" Rosa's voice echoed down the short hallway.

"Yes, I'm fine! Do you um... Want to come back here?"

Victoria was standing next to her twin-sized bed. She had taken off her sticky wet clothes and put on something else. Rosa froze in the doorway, seemingly entranced.

Victoria was wearing a silky sage green two-piece, tiny shorts and a little top with thin straps criss-crossing her shoulders, leaving her soft, milky white stomach and legs bare. She watched Rosa's reaction like a blacksmith watching an iron bar heating in a forge.

"Too much? Sorry, it's too much. I bought these in college when I liked a boy... I never actually wore them for another person though, I was too nervous. I'm... not very experienced, especially with another woman..." Victoria mumbled, wringing her hands.

"It's not too much," Rosa said, licking her lips. "And you've got nothing to prove. Let's just enjoy ourselves and see where it goes."

"Sit down on the bed?" Victoria suggested.

Rosa nodded, and did as she was told.

"Do you want to take off some of your clothes?" Victoria asked, growing more confident.

Rosa nodded and peeled off her leggings, baring her thick, well-defined legs and her tight black boyshorts. She lifted her shirt up over her head and pulled off her sports bra, freeing her full, heavy breasts. Victoria stared at Rosa's dark brown areolae, framing a pair of soft, shy, inverted nipples, so different from her own small breasts and tiny pink nipples.

Victoria climbed on top of Rosa, resting her bottom on Rosa's thighs, wrapping her arms around Rosa's strong neck.

"Hold still," she whispered, leaning into the crook of Rosa's neck, breathing deeply, relishing the scent of her skin and hair. Victoria's nose brushed Rosa's ear, drawing an unexpectedly girlish giggle out of the big woman. Victoria, emboldened, nibbled at her earlobe and kissed her neck.

"Oh fuck, Victoria..." Rosa moaned. "Are you sure you've never done this before?"

"No, but I've been thinking about it a lot, lately," Victoria said with a grin, and pushed at Rosa's shoulders, making her fall back onto her little bed. She straddled one of Rosa's muscular legs, and leaned forward to kiss her on the mouth, picking up where they had left off in the library.

Rosa ran her fingers up Victoria's sides and under her silky green top, first pinching her nipples gently, then palming her tiny breasts, squeezing them lovingly. Victoria moaned into Rosa's mouth, and reached for some handfuls of Rosa's tits, her fingers sinking into the generous flesh.

Victoria's simmering lust bubbled over as they made out and groped at each other's bodies, and soon she was humping against Rosa's thigh, desperate for stimulation.

Rosa sat up and grabbed Victoria's narrow hips, picking her up and setting her down on the bed next to her. Adjusting her position, she looked into Victoria's eyes and ran her fingers from the librarian's sternum, across her bellybutton, and down her tummy.

Seeing only enthusiastic hunger in Victoria's eyes, her hand continued its inexorable path between Victoria's legs and into her shorts, caressing the little woman's pubic mound with her broad palm, applying gentle pressure and friction. She carefully traced her middle finger along Victoria's slit before slowly entering her tunnel.

"Oh wow," Victoria whispered, thrusting her hips into Rosa's hand. Rosa placed her thumb on the little nub of Victoria's clitoris, and began stroking both inside and out. She never broke eye contact with Victoria, her expression intense and focussed, as she worked Victoria closer and closer to a climax.

Victoria grabbed onto Rosa's muscular arm and clung to it for dear life as she came on her friend's hand. Gasping for breath as the muscles of her pussy contracted and gripped at Rosa's fingers, her hot liquid arousal squirted into Rosa's palm, soaking her green silk shorts. Victoria collapsed back onto the bed, twitching with the aftershocks of her first sapphic orgasm.

"That looked like a lot of fun," Rosa said with a smile, gently removing her hand from Victoria's tunnel, then impulsively licking her fingers, tasting her lover's arousal.

"Oh fudge, that was amazing," Victoria said eventually. "C- Can I try and return the favor?"

"I would like that very much, Vic," Rosa said, her voice deep and hungry. She lay back on the bed again and lifted her hips off the mattress, slipping off her boyshorts and dropping them in a sodden pile on the floor.

Victoria kneeled between Rosa's legs and gazed at her lover's private parts. Rosa's pussy was sprinkled with tightly coiled black curls, wetly matted with arousal. Her vulva was a dusky brown, puffy with need, exposing the soft pink petals within.

Inexperienced but enthusiastic, Victoria leaned forward and dove into unexplored territory. She kissed and nibbled at the soft skin of Rosa's inner thighs, making the other woman shudder and moan.

Rosa's large clitorus pulsed with need, a bright pink pearl begging for attention. Victoria needed no instruction on this point, and did what came naturally. She traced around Rosa's clit with her tongue before wrapping her lips around it, applying a little bit of suction while her tongue lapped at it enthusiastically.

"Ohh fuuuck," Rosa moaned desperately, looking down at Victoria's eager face, framed by her pale blonde curls, buried in Rosa's pussy.

"Please don't stop," Rosa panted. "You're so good..."

Encouraged by the feedback, Victoria redoubled her oral efforts while her hands caressed Rosa's powerful thighs, relishing the muscles she had been longing to touch.

"I'm... gonna... cum," Rosa muttered, her legs suddenly tightening around Victoria's head, pussy grinding against Victoria's mouth, making her see stars.

After what seemed like a crushing eternity to Victoria, Rosa's orgasm subsided and her muscles relaxed. Victoria sat up gasping for breath.

"Oh shit, I'm sorry Victoria... are you alright?" Rosa said in alarm. "Did I hurt you?"

"No, no!" Victoria answered quickly. "I mean, I couldn't breathe very well for a second... but what a heavenly way to die!"

Luxuriating in their shared afterglow, both women lay in the snug little bed. Rosa on her back while Victoria lay partially on top of her, nestled under one of her strong arms, half-dozing, treasuring the warmth and scent of her new lover.

"I think we're going to need to use my bed next time, Vic... my ankles are hanging over the edge of this tiny thing," Rosa said, making Victoria giggle.

Rosa's phone vibrated a notification from her pants pocket, puddled on the floor. Then another notification, then two more.

"You should get that, it sounds important," Victoria mumbled, her face pressed against Rosa's soft breast. "But also don't move, I'm comfy."

"Sending some mixed signals there Vic," Rosa grumbled. She wrapped her arm more tightly around the other woman, then twisted her body to the side, taking Victoria along for the ride, making her squeal. Fishing her phone out of the clothes on the floor, she settled back down to her original position.

"Huh, like four different people have sent me the same link. Oh shit... Oh fuck! Vic, you need to look at this." She stuck the phone in Victoria's face, making her squint at the sudden brightness.

Playing on the phone was a video clip just posted from a local news station, the one that had a reporter present at the debacle at the library. The clip showed Pit Viper throwing his drink at Victoria, then taking a swing at Rosa. It looped the moment in slow motion a couple of times, then cut to the reporter asking pointed questions of Library Trustee Bob Butington.

"Trustee Butington, you encouraged today's accused assailant to visit the library with you. Did you know that he planned to assault two women when you invited him?"

"Wha- Well no, of course not!" Bob sputtered, sweaty and red. "We're just here asking questions, that's all!"

"Right, the assailant was making claims of a debunked conspiracy theory regarding drag queens at Downtown Central Library. Did you believe those claims?"

"Well now, let's get one thing straight," Bob growled at the reporter, pointing a finger off-camera. "I invited you here to get footage of inappropriate behavior by library staff, not to attack me."

"Respectfully sir, the only people who were attacked here were a librarian and a bystander..."

Coda: Four Months Later

"Hey babe! Ready to go get some lunch? I'm craving sushi," Rosa said, approaching the reference desk at Downtown Central Library.

Victoria looked up from her computer and smiled. "Sure, we can do sushi! I just need to finish this paragraph, one second."

Victoria was putting the final touches to a list of projects to present to the Library Board for next fiscal year. Expanding the surprisingly popular tool library to include a makerspace. Coordinating with local non-profits to provide addiction counseling and housing and job search assistance through the library. A preliminary bid for installing public shower facilities alongside the public bathrooms.

The viral video from the Downtown Central Library Incident activated a huge number of voters that usually sat out the mid-mid-term municipal elections. In the end the community voted out Bob Butington, replacing him with a woman with close ties to some of the advocacy groups that Victoria was now partnering with.

The weather was turning chilly, giving Rosa an excuse to wear the scarf Victoria had knit for her. It was an amateurish attempt, a few dropped stitches created some small holes in the weave here and there. It was mostly crimson but with about nine inches of a slightly different shade of vermillion where Victoria had run out of the other yarn. It had become one of Rosa's most treasured possessions.

As Rosa and Victoria were heading out, Darlene passed them and went inside. Victoria and the other library staff had given her a retirement party and seen her off two weeks ago, but she had still been coming in to have lunch with Marianne. Victoria suspected they were dating, but hadn't been able to prove it yet.

"Oh wait, do you think we could do poke bowls to go, instead of sushi? I need to be back to the library before one, we're interviewing candidates for the new Accessibility Coordinator position."

"That's fine, I just want some fish and rice, poke bowls will be fine. I think one of those job candidates is a friend of mine, by the way..."

"No no no you can't tell me that! It would be a conflict of interest if I know which one is your friend..."

"Okay, okay, I'll keep it to myself," Rosa said with a grin, holding Victoria's hand as they walked. "Still want to work out tonight?"

"Definitely. I have a feeling I'll need it after sitting in interviews all afternoon. I'm finally starting to see some gains!" Victoria flexed her thin arms, which may have become slightly more toned than they used to be, if seen in the right light by a charitable observer.

"Hell yeah you are," Rosa said, giving her girlfriend's bicep a squeeze. "I think it's time to start you on pull-ups!"

"Oh fudge..."

A note from the author: Thank you for reading! I really appreciate any ratings, comments, or feedback that you might care to give, it helps me improve my writing and motivates me to keep going! My endless gratitude and thanks go out to THBGato, EmilyMiller, Actingup, Nynah, and SinclairGroupLLP, who each provided wonderful assistance and feedback at different stages of this story! ????P