Commission: Stop, Rewind, Regrow - Preview 2

Whoo, this was long overdue. Holidays, am I right?
Anyway, the second preview of "Stop, Rewind, Regrow", sequel to "A Night Out" and second story in the Matty×Lessien series. This is largely character exposition with a little on how the Menagerie actually works, and of course hints at the shenanigans that with ensure in this naughty tale!

"The sharp clack of her heels contrasted the dull thudding of the doctor's boots, singing out with each step that despite their similarities they were indeed very different. More so to that point was how the witchy woman catalogued her victories. Throwing the back door wide it opened into a great archive, giving credence to the woman’s claim the Menagerie was “much bigger”; whole libraries were smaller that just this one room.
It was divided into two distinct floors, each packed tightly with shelves upon shelves of palm-able glass orbs. At first glace then appeared simply full of mist. Upon closer inspection though it was ever moving, and as Lessien let her hand get close the cloudy substance inside parted to reveal a scene unfolding.
“So, what is this exactly?” the scientist asked, her curiosity piqued.
Matty grinned. “This is my collection,” she made a sweeping gesture with her arm to the grand room. “Each one is a universe of its own. Some I'm visited,” the witchy woman danced on her heels over to a tidily organized section of the room. Amidst the uniformity of the rest of the archive, this, albeit neat, section was filled with clipped together leaflets to go along with their little orb words, and labelled folders with handwriting far too clinical to be the mischievous Madam’s. “Others are just a matter of time,” she giggled as she spun on her toes between those uniform shelves, “all a matter of just finding something, someone, interesting enough. Who needs a little something that quote unquote, real life, fails to provide.”
There was a moment the dark haired doctor was awe struck, trying to fathom the idea that this single room contained thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands… it was mind boggling that she was possibly standing right at the central hub of a multiverse. “Where's mine?” she asked curiously, wondering what the consequences of holding one's own universe in their hand might be.
“Dunno,” the vixen chirped, collecting one of the chairs scattered about the room and plopping herself down; backwards of course, leaning over the back with her arms framing her breasts. “You’re one of the only people who's sought me out, and the Menagerie gets along just fine using your letters to find you. So I haven’t really bothered hunting it down.”
She made a mental note when she finished the statement, filing it away in her witchy capped head as a pressure point she could leverage later as she probed for more information. “If you tell me what it’s like beyond your lab, and a certain bar I imagine you had to pay damages to,” the redhead teased with a smirk, “maybe I could take a peek for it?”
There was an air of disappointment in Lessien’s stance, her shoulders almost imperceptibly slumping under her lab coat. “Wouldn’t be able to tell you,” she responded, looking away in thought. “Been so long since I was there it’s little more than a fleeting memory at the back of my head. Like, I know it exists, but I couldn’t tell you the colour of the sky, where I lived, my mother’s name,” she shrugged it away noncommittally, turning the attention of the conversation back to Materia. “So who cooks around here?”
You may as well have been asking her how she could fly. “No one,” the woman replied simply, “the Menagerie takes care of that kind of stuff. In here you don’t get hungry, thirsty,” she took a moment to clear her throat, “experience the after effects of those two things, tired. You’re kind of…” she tried to think of how best to explain it as she tapped her chin. “It’s like being on pause while you’re outside of your timeline. I've watched it, dust only even settles in here while the door is open.”
“That sounds,” the doctor couldn’t help the sorry look on her face, “like a prison. Eating is a fun, pleasurable experience. When you sleep you dream up new ideas and adventures to go on. I couldn’t imagine living without those things. It would just be… persisting, existing,” she mused.
Matty gave a nonchalant shrug, pushing herself up from her seat. “Call it what you want, it lets me make my fantasies reality,” she said, spinning about the room with boundless energy. “I just need to find the right person in the right world,” drawing up one of her neatly sorted worlds her golden eyes gazed into it. The mists parted, showing the image of a dark haired futa girl in the arms of a stories-tall hyper busted blonde, “and give them what they want,” the witchy woman purred, running her fingers over her treasured story.
She was transfixed for a moment, savouring the delightful victory she held in her palm. She could vividly remember each tantalizing second, spinning her free hand about to make the image jump back in the universe's timeline and relive the best parts with a grin. “Take a look!” the redhead chirped, casually tossing the orb to the scientist.
Lessien scrambled to catch it, but Matty’s toss was expertly aimed. It landed perfectly in the canyon of the busty woman’s cleavage, nestling in as the impact rippled through her breasts, bouncing them enticingly. “Cute,” she huffed, not wanting to imagine what might happen if the universe had fallen; smashed into an infinite number of little bits.
As the doctor looked the scene over, admiring her counterpart's dirty work, the witchy woman slipped away; it was time to pick her poison. She had the advantage of knowing much of what the dark haired woman was interested in ahead of time, so it was just a game of finding the right item to entice her for a little fun. Skulking about the deeper parts of her back room the redhead perused through her unused treasures.
The collections back here were personal in nature, things the disguised vulpine wanted to save for extra special customers. Ones she could have a little personal fun with, and what was Lessien if not a perfect fit for that description? “What to try?” she mused to herself, running her red painted nails over the assortment of goodies.
She paused on a belt, an eye catching figure eight pattern on the buckle. “This one would do nicely,” Matty mused to herself, taking it up and looking in over with a fine eye. Just was the doctor was into, so the pitch shouldn’t be particularly difficult. She also wasn’t sure if she could get away with more just yet, which made it an excellent place to start.
A grin on her scarlet lips she carried it back out to where Lessien was still looking over the universe she had been offered. “So, what do you think?” the redhead purred, curiously.
A mix of emotions seemed to swirl behind the doctor’s weak smile, like keeping the façade was just a little more difficult now. "And it was going so well," she sighed, handing the orb back as she leaned back and intertwined her fingers to rest her head against. "I mean I guess it's a little hypocritical for me to say, considering what I do, but even the longer term stuff I try to leave my targets satisfied with the results.
"Like, I know the whole ‘be careful what you wish for' shtick is your thing. What I don't understand is why you always have to leave them in this final state. I won't deny the results are a sight to behold, but…” she paused, trying to find the right way to express it, “imagine if you could push the clock back to the half way mark, to that moment just before they took advantage of the situation and took it too far. Give them a second chance, see if they learned from the experience and stop, or if they really do deserve it by trying to manipulate the result. Maybe it's not the same poetic justice, but wouldn’t it be more fun to see them happy?"
There was a visible tick in Materia as she listened. Her knuckles were white she was gripping the orb so tightly, and her face was on the cusp of a dozen different emotions. She could put on a face too though, her scarlet lipped smile returning once more. “That’s not how life works,” she explained with an overly cheery voice. “You only get one chance, the Menagerie can’t push you back on your own timeline,” behind the veneer of pleasantry was a sour note of experience. The witchy woman had no desire to keep on the topic however.
Blinking away any semblance of whatever she was hiding she flashed her golden eyes at the scientist. “I was going through some things, thought you might enjoy this,” she offered innocently, presenting her the stylized belt. “It would do wonders for your figure, and look quite excellent on you.”
The coyness in her expression was obvious. Were she not disguised Lessien could already imagine those foxy tails swishing about with unabashed mischief. The dark haired woman wasn’t one to turn down a good time though. She hummed aloud in thought, taking the belt in her hands and looking it over.
Meticulous bee that she was Matty turned on her heels, click clacking her way over to return her story to its place on the shelf. As she was putting it away however she was greeted to an unexpected surprise.
It was a subtle click, the buckle locking in Lessien’s fingers after having wrapped the article around the stretching redhead’s waist. “I dunno, I think it looks much better on you,” she purred over the disguised vulpine's shoulder, her plump breasts squeezed right up against the girl’s back, and wearing a Cheshire grin that would make even the witch herself envious." - Stop, Rewind, Regrow by Madam Materia