Lucid Cove: Darkside Up Vol.1

At the tender age of 28, Miso felt like a being with the freedom to be. In the course of four years, her book took off, and she was able to find the home of her dreams. One evening before her third book signing Miso and Lysa met at a small café in a popular area in Greensboro, North Carolina. At this point, both ladies had a habit of being on the phone with others when they were supposed to be having conversations with each other. Like all relationships, this habit came with qualifying positions: so long as the conversations were important, and not too lengthy, they tolerated it. When Lysa arrived, Miso was already seated at a cozy table by the windows, a steaming cup of tea in front of her, elbow deep in a phone call. They shared a nod of acknowledgement as Lysa walked up to the counter to place an order for a medium hazelnut coffee. Once Lysa’s needs were met, she approached Miso’s table.

"Look, lose the idea that a body count lessens your worth," Miso paused as she listened to the nervous young lady on the other end of the phone, chuckling how frantic she seemed, "You are not going to be legally required to take a census. If it was that bad, just don't do it with him again. " Miso rolled her eyes at Lysa, shaking her head sullenly.

Lysa sat across from Miso patiently, calmly taking in a wide scope around the little café. She usually enjoyed watching random peoples reactions to Miso’s conversations. She found that it helped pass the time easier. She also gained a deeper appreciation for how interesting life her life is compared to others, since she got to be so exposed to Miso and her shenanigans.

"What?" Miso leaned back with a sigh, "Girl, you're sensitive right now, so I understand that, but please don't take his words to heart. Look at the situation instead! I mean, it sounds like the guy has E.D. I hate it when they try to make it seem like its because of the woman. Like, how hard is it to find a man who can keep a hard dick, right?" Miso quickly sipped at her green tea, "Oh my goodness, you told him to try a sex pill?.. Oh! No no no, that's okay; you didn't know. Its just...look, sometimes guys get nervous too— or maybe, who knows, he got turned off a bit. And Hey! That is okay, that doesn't mean the flow has to go, you just have to take it slow." A grin slid across Miso's face; she always found a way to slip in a rhyme.

Lysa watched Miso with obvious admiration; the way random people came across her, ended up reaching out to her about a personal topic like sex, and actually took each of her words to heart. It never amazed Lysa how people always want advice on how to merge bodies, but not minds and souls.

"Yea, see, because you're nervous, of course, you're going to want to rush through whatever the source of your embarrassment may be. But you wanna know what can be so sexy about going slow? Subconsciously, you plant the foundation of connection. You let the other person see that you are paying attention to what pleases them, not just their bodies. You show them that you want them present, and comfortable with everything the two of you do." Miso lightly swayed her body in her chair, "It's like, telepathically, asking for permission to his body."

Lysa wasn't trying to be nosy, but it was starting to look like Miso was getting a bit too excited with the conversation. However, she couldn't help but chuckle at herself, because that was the reason she loved Miso. Even from where she sat, she could feel how passionate Miso was about this idea behind the building blocks of intimate human connection. Even though the people want one thing, Miso finds a way to slip in another. Goodness...perhaps I should have ordered a frappe instead of coffee. Lysa began directing her attention to the attending public to distract herself from her budding arousal.

"Oh right, I forgot, you're more technical. So basically this would look like open conversation spoken in soft tones, make sure he's comfortable, ask him what he likes. But remember there are two types out there: If he doesn't have an answer he doesn't know, and he probably doesn't care— if he does know, don't hesitate to please... but make it fun. Never laugh at whatever they like or don't like, everyone is different. Just accept them, and show joy in your actions. I mean, you picked them to have sex with right? Treat it like the prize it is! Massage is a great tool, rub his chest, grip his arms and sensually make your way to cup the back of his head and massage that too. Just the edge right there though, especially if you're riding him and he doesn't mind eye contact. No lie, sometimes that one develops stalkers. How's that for start up material?" Miso grinned and grasped her drink with both hands. Despite her recent instructions, she looked so innocent.

Miso finally noticed how alert Lysa was and took a moment to look around the café. As usual, she had a few shocked or conservative folk looking at her with wide eyes; she wasn’t concerned. However, Miso knew the main thing Lysa was scanning for was kids, since that was Miso's main audience - at the moment. Taking a brief look around the room, she saw no kids, therefore she pushed on.

"Yea no problem hun. I've had to endure years of disappointing sex, and like, who wants that? Once they see you having a ball, they have a ball too. Especially if they get gummy easy. Oh! Also, don’t let these action happy guys fool you. Grinding can get plenty started too." Miso nodded vigorously, "Girl, yes. This one time I had a sugar daddy who definitely had erectile dysfunction. And you know what? He just wanted me to grind on it. He just liked feeling my wetness. Now, listen to that. Do you think I was really turned on? I had to have fun with it and turn myself on, you know. And it really became fun on occasion when he got hard and semi poked me with it. Like, whoo! We got some life going now!" Miso laughed open heartedly. "But seriously, sometimes you have to sensualize yourself and just feel what you’re doing instead of thinking about it...Yeah, yeah. Don't let someone else control your experience. That's my only point."

It wasn’t long before nature called Lysa’s name, so she left the table to make her way to the bathroom. It wasn’t her first time listening in on conversations like this with Miso. However, for the first time in a long time, Lysa was starting to wonder what a man's touch would feel like against her skin. Despite her first time, she wondered, if handled properly, would she be open to it? These thoughts flowed in as easily as her fluid flowed out; Lysa definitely knew she had a preference. Thing about having preferences is that nothing is concrete, and sometimes curiosity does sneak up on you. Especially when the question, “did you give it your all?” comes into play.

Before leaving the bathroom Lysa took a few moments to admire herself in the mirror. The summer sun had given her skin a creamy cocoa bean hue, and she loved it. When it came to the Latin community some glorified the lighter tones, but Lysa never had a problem being in love with her darker skin. Today she wore her raven colored hair up in a messy bun. Though her hair was thick and wavy, the baby hairs clung to her face and neck, seemingly too fragile to stay in place with the other strands. Her hazel colored, almond shaped eyes made her look exotic and exhilarating; her lightly freckled cheeks added to the effect. She was the girly girl type, thick enough to be curvy, and stood at 5'5 even. Lysa never questioned her ability to gain the interest of a man; she questioned her ability to maintain her interest in one. Clearing her throat, she collected her thoughts and returned to the table.

Lysa was pleased to see Miso was enjoying her tea peacefully with the Bluetooth device sitting on the table atop her phone. Another condition between the two: when you’re done on the phone, you’re done - complete removal is required.

“Thank you for joining us today Dr. Ukno.” Lysa joked as she took her seat.

“Oh yes, of course, you know I love being here.” Miso responded with a theatrical air.

“So what was that one about?” Sometimes it was entertaining to get the background stories on some of these people Miso advised.

“Okay! So! This particular girl shared an intimate moment with a guy and it was her first time in a long time. You know how guys can be? All insensitive without trying to be. Well L’s...this guy told her that there was no way that a born again virgin would be that ‘loose’!” Miso looked at Lysa pointedly. “You know I hate when guys do that. She said the guy could barely keep a stiffy on top of that. Like, I understand that he might have lost the mood, but I also know that the bedroom isn’t free from self projection either. So I just gave her some tips on how she could get him to calm down and feel comfortable with her instead of him making her feel insecure about the genitals of her temple, you know.” Miso cupped air with her hands as she looked at Lysa intensely.

“Yeah, it sounded like the guy was a bit insensitive. Especially when I first walked up. You already know my stance: a man who takes the time to care is rare. When I think of hetero sex I literally just envision a detached rhythmic humping. Like a programmed robot, you know? They just keep going until the program is off.” Lysa shrugged, though she silently fought to silence the questions echoing in the back of her mind. She just wasn’t ready to go there yet.

Lysa took a look around the quaint café one more time; thankfully it was filled with adults; even though the closest ones seemed to be disturbed.. Leave it to Miso to have such a lovely conversation in a café at 3:33pm near the most populated Junior High school in town. She was an esteemed young adult and children's book author for crying out loud. If the conversation got any heavier, they would have to move to the car for this.

"Look L's, you gotta stop being so paranoid. There are no children here; I already checked!" Miso knowingly exclaimed. She knew how Lysa was always concerned that someone would taint her name, especially since so many kids love her now.

"Well come on then, let's go back to your house and pack for our trip next week. Aren't you excited? I'm already packed!" Lysa exclaimed hurriedly. She knew Miso probably didn’t even start her packing, and the last thing she wanted to do was rush Miso at the last minute. Nothing good ever came from rushing Miso to do anything.

Miso gathered her things, and allowed herself to be pushed out because she assumed Lysa was uncomfortable; she never liked when Lysa got paranoid about who was listening to their conversations.

Stepping out into the gentle Carolina heat was always a sweet experience for Miso. The soft breeze was fresh and earthy; it was one of the things that allowed Miso to fall in love with the area. Their winters were never harsh, and the area was so open Miso felt like she finally found the sense of space she desired from her environment. It was only 3 years ago when she officially relocated, but before that she was almost a nomad. Constantly traveling, always on some type of adventure. It helped her find inspiration for the books America's youth loved so much.

"You know, I always liked that about you; you always have everything prepared in advance. Hell, that's why I asked you to be my agent. And look how far we've come! I'd say I made the perfect call." Miso said, beaming at Lysa from ear to ear.

As they walked towards Miso's car, Lysa shot Miso a bright smile of her own. "It seems like a lifetime ago since you asked." Lysa recalled, causally swinging her arm around Miso's neck before planting a kiss on her cheek.

Reflexively, Miso wrapped her arm around Lysa's waist as they fell into step together. Miso tilted her head back to brush her lips against Lysa's ear, and whispered, "You know now that we're alone, I can be more explicit, right?" Ending her comment with a seductive chuckle.

"That — I could count on" Lysa retorted. "Come on, let's get this show on the road!" Miso gave Lysa's waist a light squeeze before letting her go so she could unlock her car doors.

"Hey — Hey." Miso raised her eyebrows and tilted her head forward, casting a knowing look Lysa's way. "We can give em a show." Topping it off with her million dollar smile.

Lysa laughed, "Get in your car!"

As Miso walked over to her car, she yelled over her shoulder, “Just make sure you pay attention, cause this’ll be the last time I show you how to get there.”

And just like that, they were off.