Calling on a Friend

After driving for a couple of minutes, Lily broke the silence: "So, I've got to ask. Of all people, why call me? I mean, I'm happy to help of course. But doesn't Suzie live just a couple of blocks from here? Besides, I thought the two of you were pretty close. Wouldn't you trust her more in a situation like this?" Nina was holding a metal link between her fingers, studying it intently and slowly turning it around. By now, she must've been intimately aware of each one of the links making up the chains she carried around, but it did give her an excuse to avoid eye contact with Lily. After a moment's thought, she replied, "well, you know how Suzie is. She can be kind of judgmental. I would never hear the end of it. Besides, I thought, well, since you..." Nina hesitated for a moment, her examination of the chain link turned into nervous fiddling. She weighed her chances of jumping out of the car without dying to run away. That was, if her current predicament didn't prevent her from doing so. Lily glanced at her with an encouraging smile, "it's okay, go on." Nina continued, "well, once at a party, you confessed to being into this kind of stuff. I thought you would understand better than Suzie. I was hoping, maybe, you'd even have a key for all this at your place." Lily could hear rattling from under the blanket covering Nina's legs as she tried to move around. Lily couldn't help but let out a chuckle. "You mean that time we played truth or dare at Dave's? That must've been six years ago! Look, all I've got at home is a pair of those fluffy handcuffs. This stuff looks really secure", she said glancing at her passenger. She noticed that Nina's face had turned red. Her mind seemed to be hosting a fierce battle between shame and desperation. Regardless of which would win, the outcome would involve crying, that much was clear to Lily at this point.

About an hour earlier, Lily had been woken in the middle of the night by the ringing of her phone. It was Nina. There was a fire in one of the apartments of her complex. She assured Lily that she was fine, but apparently the fire had gotten pretty bad, so they had to evacuate the whole building as a precaution. Nina seemed to be whispering, making her somewhat difficult to understand among all the commotion in the background. For a moment, Lily wondered why, but decided that questions like that would have to wait until later. She rushed out of the house, started her car, and drove off. About half an hour's drive later, she arrived in a street that was unusually crowded for the middle of the night. People stood around the apartment complex where Nina lived, looking either in horror or fascination at the thick column of smoke bellowing out from the charred window sills. Lily couldn't remember which apartment was Nina's from down on the street, so she had no idea if the fire had managed to spread there. Police officers were trying to keep back the crowd of onlookers to give space to the firefighters and paramedics. It all looked very serious, Lily thought.

Lily got out of her car and started looking for Nina among the people. As she approached the crowd, she heard a hushed voice call out to her. "Lily, over here!" She turned around to see where the voice was coming from. In an alley to her right, a dark silhouette awkwardly gestured for her to come closer while making strange rattling sounds. Against her better judgment, Lily cautiously approached the figure. As she got closer, she could make out some familiar features. Despite being a bit ruffled, Nina's jet black bangs just touching her full eyebrows and accentuating her large, doey eyes where instantly recognizable to Lily. Nina was wearing a scruffy, brown bathrobe that was clearly a few sizes too big for her. The sleeves were empty and hanging useslessly besides her. Instead, she wore it like a cloak over her shoulders, holding the lapels with her hands all the way up to her cheeks, so as to cover everything from her neck down. Besides her head, the only part of Nina peeking out from the robe, where a pair of flip flops on her otherwise bare feet. Clearly, she was having a rough night. Seeing her alive and well, Lily felt overcome by relief. "Nina, are you okay?" she asked as she pulled in her friend for a hug.

Although not particularly large, next to tiny Nina, Lily is quite a muscular and formidable woman. Nina was not prepared for Lily to grab her so suddenly. She lost her balance and fell over with a sharp yelp and more rattling sounds. Lily was quick to catch her. "I got you!" she exclaimed as she held Nina tightly in her arms. The robe felt soft, if a bit crusty. Underneath the fabric she could feel something strangely solid poking her bosom. "I'm alright, thanks." Nina's voice sounded muffled as her face was buried in Lily's jacket. Without using her hands, she tried to get back on her feet. She failed and Lily had to help her. Again, she heard the jingling sound. It came from underneath Nina's bathrobe.

Lily could not longer ignore the sound. "What's going on?", she asked as she looked over Nina. Nina's eyes briefly crossed Lily's before she cast them down, where she she kept them sternly fixed on Lily's shoes. "I, look, I've this...", frustrated that at the words escaping her, "listen, it's probably easier to just show you." Lily was now more curious than ever. "Let's just get this over with", Nina said, defeated, as she reluctantly lowered the robe that was covering half her face by now. Slowly, she revealed her neck around which sat a polished metal band with an O-ring attached to the front. Lily looked on in speechless fascination. From the O-ring hung a sturdy chain, softly resting against Nina's sternum. As she lowered her hands further, the robe revealed more of the chain hanging between her bare breasts. Although Lily could barely see a suggestion of the sides of Nina's modest breasts, she could infer that Nina might be completely nude under there. By now, Nina's face had turned redder than the firetrucks around the corner. For a moment, she hesitated before finally letting go of the lapels completely. The fabric swung outwards like curtains revealing a vertical section of Nina's slender figure. Lily's eyes could now follow the chain hanging from the collar going down all the way to her shins. Halfway and down at the bottom, two chain links where changed out for more O-rings, allowing the chain to branch off sideways towards shackles around Nina's wrists and ankles. Despite her limbs being quite slender, the irons fit her very snugly, as if made just for her. Lily's jaw dropped at the revelation.

Nina quickly tried to get a hold of the robe hanging from her shoulders again. She had trouble pulling it around her as the chain between her hands allowed for no more than twenty centimeters of movement. Lily tried and failed to think of something to say while she helped Nina cover up. She tried again, "you, err... what have you gotten yourself into?"

"Could we first just get out of here?", Nina stared out onto the street, still trying to avoid eye contact. With some help, she pulled the lapels up to her red ears. "Sure! Wait here, I'll get the car", Lily exclaimed. She was relieved to finally have a task that she knew how to handle. Without thinking, she dashed out onto the street to get to her car, barely dodging a passing cyclist. By the time the sound of his cursing had faded into the distance, she was already in her car, starting the engine.

Lily was an experienced and confident driver, albeit not a very graceful one. The bumper scratched the pavement as she hastily parked the car in front of the alley. At the same time, one of the ambulances was leaving, sirens blaring, to the other end of the street. Everyone in the crowd was enraptured by its flashing lights, completely distracting them from Lily's driving. Perfect timing, Lily thought. She positioned the car with the door to the passenger's seat right in front of the passage. That way, Nina could get in unseen. She left the engine running, got out, and ran around the front of the car towards Nina. She quickly realized that she may have parked the car a bit too close to the opening. However she didn't want to keep Nina waiting any longer, so instead of moving the car out of the way, she clumsily clambered on top of the hood.

By the time she managed to squeeze out from between the windshield and the wall, Nina had already hobbled over to the car by herself and opened the door. As she lifted her foot to step into the car, the strained ankle chain bounced off of the outer sill panel, causing a painful shock in her ankle. She lost her balance and as she fell, she bumped her elbow against the car's door. By this time, Lily had finally caught up with her and managed to catch her just before she hit the ground. For Nina, this was the final straw. As Lily held her, she started crying, "this is so stupid. I am so stupid! I'm sorry I made you come over here."

"Oh honey, it's fine. It'll be okay", Lily stroked her back trying to comfort her, she felt Nina's chain press against her shoulder.

As Nina calmed down and the initial shock subsided, Lily began to notice the cold October wind. "God, Nina, you must be freezing! Let me help you get in." Lily lifted Nina off the ground and placed her in the seat. Before Nina could respond, Lily had grabbed a felted blanket of the back seat and tucked Nina in. "Now this might be a bit awkward for you, but I have to put your seatbelt on. And with all these chains, I'm afraid I have to wrap it around your arms", Lily explained. Her eyes still red from the tears, Nina tried to crack a smile, "why not, tie me up even more." Lily laughed as she reached around Nina to close the belt. She was now tightly wrapped in a blanket, held together by the safety belt. Her arms were propped up against her chest, creating some slack in the chain between the collar and her wrists, which was loosely hanging against the palm of her left hand. At least she did not have to hold on to the robe all the time now, Lily thought as she admired her own handiwork.

Some fifteen minutes later, as they were driving on the highway, Lily was thinking of a way to comfort Nina who was still upset and trying to come to terms with her situation. "So, where actually are the keys?" She asked, hesitantly. "At home", Nina sounded hopeless, "in the commotion, they slipped under the bed, I couldn't reach the and the fire fighters kept yelling that we had to get out. Oh Lily, what if they were caught in the fire?" she was starting to panic. "From what I could see, the fire fighters had the situation pretty much under control. It didn't look like the fire had spread to your apartment", Lily lied. She didn't actually know what state Nina's apartment was is right then, let alone by the end of the night, but she thought it was better not to speculate right now. "Even then, if those keys are as heavy duty as those chains, I'm sure they can handle a little fire." Nina looked at Lily, "but I still can't enter my home until the whole building has been inspected. That could take days! What am I supposed to do? I want to get out of these!" Nina was clearly very upset. Understandable, Lily thought. At this point there was nothing she wouldn't say to take away some of her friend's worries. "Here's what we're gonna do", she said, "right now, I'm not able to get you out of these chains, I don't have the tools at home. So tonight, you'll stay at my place and we'll do our best to keep you warm and comfortable. First thing tomorrow, I'll go to your home and I'll see what I can do about those keys." Wiping the tears from her eyes, Nina considered this proposition, "what if they don't let you in?"

"Then, I'll go to the hardware store to buy some bolt cutters. I promise you, tomorrow morning, you'll be out of those chains, no matter what. Until then, let me take care of you." Lily's plan seemed to reassure Nina somewhat, or maybe it was just the confident way with which she told it, but at least Nina was able to relax a little as they drove on.

The whole drive took at least thirty minutes. Lily parked the car as close to the entrance as she could without risking her car getting towed in the morning. She got out, freed Nina from the seatbelt and carried her out of the car. Nina was afraid that people might see them in the parking lot or by the elevator, so Lily carried her all the way inside and up the stairs. Nina felt like a damsel in distress, being carried to safety by a brave knight. On the second floor, Lily carried Nina over the doorstep to her apartment. As They passed the threshold, Nina felt the warm air of Lily's apartment wash over her. Lily placed her friend down on the couch. "I'll get us something to drink. You want a beer?", she was panting heavily between each word. Nina looked up at her, "I suppose we could both use something stronger." Lily smiled and nodded, too out of breath to say another word.

After some rumbling in the kitchen, Lily returned with two differently sized glasses and a bottle of vodka. Nina had made herself somewhat comfortable on the couch and she seemed a lot more relaxed than an hour earlier. Without her trying to hide her restraints, a sliver of steel on the back of her neck caught the warm light of the ceiling lamp, reflecting it at Lily. She sat down next to Nina and poured them both a drink. Without thinking, Lily pushed one of the glasses on the coffee table over to Nina, who was still holding the robe's lapels to cover herself. She looked at Lily, waving her one free hand. Lily realized her mistake, "of course, sorry", with an apologetic smile, she handed Nina the glass directly. "Thanks, it's okay. I still have to get used to not being able to move so much", she took a sip. "Cheers", Lily said, taking a large swig herself.

Lily was dying to find out the story of her chained up visitor, but tried to keep the conversation light, for now. "So what's up with this outfit of yours?", she said, holding up one of the empty bathrobe sleeves. Nina laughed, "what, don't you think it looks good on me?"

"Well, looking past the grime, the smell of cigarettes, and the fact that it's twice your size, it's quite stylish, I suppose", she quipped.

"Believe it or not, but it actually came with accessories", Nina jingled the loose chain under her wrists up and down. "What do you mean?", Lily asked curiously. Nina let out a big sigh, "well, that's a pretty long story."

"I have all night, and you're not going anywhere either, it seems", Lily said, jokingly.

"Well alright then", she said, as she turned to Lily and began telling.

"So, in our building, there lives this elderly lady, or... well, 'lived', I should say. A lovely lady, but very lonely. I made her dinner. Every Tuesday. Except, when I went to visit her a couple of days ago, I only found her two sons. They told me she passed away a couple days earlier." "Oh, I'm so sorry", Lily interjected. "Yeah, it was so sad. I mean, she was very old and at least it happened peacefully, in her sleep. The doctor had told them it was a heart attack", Nina reflected. "They had been working there all day cleaning out the house. It turned out, her storage space was filled floor to ceiling with boxes of her old clothes. They said I was free to take as many of them as I wanted. Everything left behind would be donated to the nearest thrift store or thrown away anyway. So I brought a couple of boxes back home with me.

"I didn't touch them for a couple of days, but yesterday I just felt curious. So I started opening them. There were actually some pretty nice clothes in some of them. But one of the boxes felt a lot heavier than the rest. When I opened it, I found this fine piece lying at the top", she gestured with her chin to the bathrobe, "but as it turned out, it was just there to cover up the real treasure below!" Nina was not an experienced storyteller, but she felt this was a good moment to include a dramatic pause. It worked, as by this point, Lily was hanging on her lips. "As soon as I took out the robe, it became clear why the box was so heavy. The whole thing was filled to the brim with all sorts of restraints. Handcuffs, shackles, leather belts, even some sort of steel underwear." That last item in particular made Lily sit upright. "Really?", she asked, inquisitively. "Yeah, and all kinds of chains and locks. And of course..."

"And of course, your accessories", Lily finished her sentence and pushed on, "and then you just tried them on?" Nina replied, defensively, "I mean, wouldn't you? You know, just out of academic curiosity." Lily was not quite satisfied with her answer, "and it this 'academic curiosity' that made you take off all of your clothes before locking yourself up?", she asked with a sly grin. "Well, no... of course... I...", Nina was stammering and her face turned red again.

At this point, Lily's face was marked by a wide grin, "come on, admit it. You're kinda into this!" Blushing, Nina cast her eyes down, "well, yeah, maybe the thought of it did excite me a little bit." Then, in a more serious tone, "but that wore off pretty quick when I heard a fire alarm and I had to grab the nearest piece of clothing and get out of the building without being seen by everyone and then realizing I would be stuck in these chains until at least tomorrow morning!" She ended her sentence practically shouting. She had finished her drink and, combined with the lack of sleep, she got swept away by her emotions. Lily wiped the smile off her face. "Yeah, that really sucks", she said, compassionately. In a more cheery tone, she added "maybe you'll feel better if you freshen yourself up. Take a nice, hot shower. I can lend you some fresh clothes and you can sleep in my bed tonight. I'll take the couch." Lily was already walking over to her bedroom to execute her plan. Nina called after her, "I appreciate that, Lily, but I can't really put on a shirt or pants like this, can I?" Lily turned around, "oh yeah, I forgot." She added, "but at least I can give you a clean bathrobe. It might be even closer to your size as well."

Nina followed Lily to the bedroom. She discovered that, by lifting the chain with her hands, the shackles on her ankles weren't digging into her heels so much, making it a lot easier for her to move around. As she walked through the door, Lily had already moved into the adjacent bathroom. The bedroom featured a double bed against the far wall. The plain blue sheets were hanging off the side of the mattress and one of the pillows lay on the floor altogether. In the corner of the room stood a rickety folding chair, covered in laundry. Lily came out of the bathroom, "I got you some fresh towels and a bathrobe in there. You go take a shower and I'll make the bed for you." She looked at Nina who was still struggling to cover herself with her bound hands. She looked so helpless, Lily felt compelled to hold her, keep her safe. Nina met her gaze and she started tearing up, "thanks so much, Lily, for taking such good care of me and everything." Lily walked up to her to give her a hug. Jokingly, she said "well, with you in chains and everything, you are technically my prisoner. And as your jailer, it is my duty to keep you fed and cared for." Nina smiled and wiped her tears away, "and how long will my sentence be, then?" Lily stood up straight, pulled her shoulders back and put her hands behind her back. She looked haughtily down on Nina. "That all depends on whether you show good behavior, young lady", she said in a mockingly strict tone. She smiled and winked as she walked past Nina out into the living room.

While Nina was taking a shower, Lily was waiting on the couch, nursing her second drink of the night. After a while, she heard the shower turn off. Another couple of minutes later, she heard a hesitant call from the bathroom, "Lily, could you give me a hand please?" Lily walked up to the bathroom door and slowly opened it. Nina was standing in the middle of the bathroom, still naked, with her back to the door. Lily looked in astonishment at the delicate curvature of her hips. Nina was covering her chest with a towel and looked over her shoulder at Lily, "I can't reach back there, could you help me out, please?" Lily gathered all her bravery and approached the beautiful, nude woman standing in her bathroom. Lily grabbed a fresh towel from a cupboard, swung it over her shoulder and tried to walk towards Nina as nonchalantly as possible while suppressing the butterflies in her stomach. "First things first", she said, moving her hand under Nina's thick, long hair and gently laying it over one shoulder. Doing so revealed the heavy steel collar sitting snugly around Nina's long and slender neck. Lily's heart was pounding in her throat. She had never had any particularly strong feelings for Nina, but seeing her tonight, being so vulnerable, stirred something in Lily. She dried off Nina's back, calmly moving from her shoulders downwards, but when she was finished with her lower back, she suddenly stopped.

"Are you okay with me touching your...", Lily hesitated to continue, hoping Nina would understand what she meant. Nina did, she giggled somewhat nervously, "well, I asked your help, didn't I? I hope you don't mind?"

"Not at all!", Lily replied, hastily. She continued moving down, very lightly rubbing of the water droplets glistening on Nina's round bottom. Nina responded to her touch by slightly pushing back, extending her backside into Lily's hands, as to encourage her to go on. Lily felt the blood rushing to her ears. As an unspoken acknowledgment, she cupped her hands around Nina's firm cheeks. Although still separated by the thick towel, Lily could feel the warmth radiating of Nina's body. Before letting go, she couldn't help but give them a very gentle squeeze. Nina responded with the softest squeal. Lily swore that she could hear a hint of moaning in there.

Once Lily was done with her calves, she helped Nina with the hair dryer and draped the clean, white bathrobe over her shoulders, handing her the lapels. Nina was cloaked, just like before, but she looked a lot cleaner and put together than before, Lily thought. As Nina stepped back out into the bedroom, it was like she entered a completely different room from the one she passed through before. The bed was made with sheets showcasing a pastel yellow and pink floral pattern. Two large pillows were set neatly against the headboard, surrounded by a myriad smaller pillows of various colors and shapes. The laundry chair had been emptied and stood folded up against the wall in the back of the room. In its place, a space heater beamed its warmth on Nina's face as she walked over to the bed. Looking out to her left into the living room, she could see that Lily had used the old sheets to make the couch into a makeshift bed. It wasn't until now that she noticed that Lily had already changed. She now wore a t-shirt with the logo of a band Nina had never heard of. Combined with Lily's full bust, the shirt ran short and barely covered her midriff, showing a part of her muscular abdomen and underlined by some plain grey underwear. Her sturdy and not too recently shaven legs completed the image of some kind of Amazon warrior in Nina's mind. The only thing breaking this illusion were the fluffy slippers with a tiger print.

As Nina lowered to sit down on the bed, her bathrobe was caught between the mattress and her lower legs. Her grip onto the lapels of the bathrobe had become a bit more relaxed and she was not prepared for the sudden jerk. The robe slipped from her hands and got pulled over her shoulders, revealing her bare chest to Lily who was staring at her with wide eyes. Reflexively, Nina's hands tried to cover her breasts as she turned her upper body away, she let out a frustrated sigh. Lily felt bad for her. "You know what? Let's even out the playing field!" Nina was speechless as she watched how Lily pulled the shirt over her head, letting two large breasts slip out one by one. She held her arms wide to present her naked torso to Nina with a big grin. Nina laughed and felt her embarrassment fade away. "Oh, fuck it", she exclaimed while lowering her hands to reveal her own, far smaller breasts. She rolled backward onto the bed, leaving the robe behind altogether. Nina pulled up her legs and laid down across the bed on her side. Her weight rested on her left elbow and her right upper arm laid on her ribcage as her forearms were still forced close together by her restraints. She was a bit self conscious, laying there naked and in full display, but at least, now she wasn't alone in that regard.

Looking on, Lily had to blink several times to fully process the sight before her eyes. The O-ring of Nina's collar was now hanging slightly off-center. The chain springing from it rested on her body, subtly meandering like a river, running over her collarbone, down over her right breast where it made a turn around her erect nipple, going underneath her right elbow from where it continued across her belly, before finally disappearing between her thighs. Lily caught herself staring at Nina without saying a word, she blurted out, "they look pretty heavy." Nina ignored her remark as she was dreamily staring out the window into the darkness. She let out a sigh, "I'm pretty sure I'm not going to close an eye tonight." Her eyes turned to the small television standing in the corner of the room, "why don't we get another drink, maybe we can watch a movie or something." Lily agreed and swiftly returned with their glasses and the half-empty bottle.

Nina had turned around and was trying to make some room for the two of them between the pillows. Bending over on her knees while on a soft mattress and using both hands to lift a pillow was too much to ask of gravity and she fell facedown in the soft pile. Lily sniggered as she put the glasses and vodka on the nightstand to help Nina get back up. She positioned the pillows so the two of them could lean against them. Nina tried figuring out how the remote worked while Lily poured her a drink and handed it to her. Nina found some kind of detective movie from the seventies that was only a few minutes into its runtime and the two settled down next to each other, shoulder to shoulder. Lily had trouble paying attention to the movie as her thoughts were focused on the beautiful naked girl lying chained up next to her. She could see that her own nipples had become erect and she wondered if Nina noticed as well.

After about ten minutes, the movie was interrupted by a commercial break. Neither of them were interested in travel insurance or a new car, so Nina turned down the volume a bit. For a moment, they stared at the moving images on the screen, when Nina suddenly proclaimed, "they are actually."

"Sorry?", Lily was very confused.

"The chains. You asked if they're heavy. And they are." Nina looked down at her own predicament. "These shackles are pressing on my skin and the weight is pulling down on me, all the time. Especially this collar", she said as she fruitlessly tugged at the chain hanging from her neck. She turned her head to Lily, "here, feel it." Lily wasn't sure what to do, but Nina grabbed her hand and pressed in against the collar. Lily felt a bit flustered as she held her hand against the collar and in extension Nina's throat. "It feels so warm", she observed. "It really wasn't at first", Nina grinned as she pointed her chin up to present her neck for Lily to inspect. Lily gave the collar a good look. It was made of nearly half a centimeter thick machined steel. Behind the O-ring, she could see the seams of a mechanism, presumably the lock, she thought. The whole thing was beautifully crafted and fit perfectly around Nina's neck. Nina's breathing had become slow and heavy. Lily carefully lifted up the collar to test its weight and Nina's whole body appeared to follow along with her movement. A sudden impulse came over Lily. She let her hand slide down, slowly wrapped her fingers around the chain and gave it a light tug. Nina tried suppress a gasp. Lily could almost hear her heart beating as she looked into Nina's eyes.

The next few seconds of silence might as well have lasted centuries. Without breaking eye contact, Nina spoke softly, "you know, I think you were right." Lily raised her eyebrows. "I might actually be kind of into this." Lily smiled mischievously. She tugged the chain again, this time harder, and pulled it towards her, Nina gasped audibly and complied with this unspoken command. With their faces right up to each other, Lily whispered, "I'm glad it was me you called." While still firmly holding the chain in one hand, she placed the other on the back of Nina's head and embraced her for a kiss, which Nina enthusiastically reciprocated as they slowly descended in the pile of pillows. With the manacles seriously limiting Nina's options for hand placement, she decided to go for the easiest choice and lowered them on Lily's bosom. Lily reacted with a subdued moan and Nina softly stroked and massaged her large breasts. They made out and fondled each others breasts for nearly half an hour. Despite their mutual excitement for each other, the two were slightly tipsy and deadly tired. Their movements slowed down as they gradually fell asleep, kept warm by each others embrace and the space heater softly whirring besides the bed. As Nina's consciousness was gently slipping away, she felt safe and happy in Lily's arms. Tomorrow, Lily would get her out of her chains and she would be finally be free again. She felt relieved at this prospect, but to her surprise, she couldn't help but feel an inkling of disappointment as well.