Tripin’
by Dr. Mercurious
Sometimes it feels like we’ve know each other forever - - Jhenni, Vai and me. It’s entirely possible we were even friends in a previous life, considering how easily it happened.
All three of us were born in Clockwork City but it took us until high school to meet. Kinda funny, actually, considering that it’s not the largest city-state going AND it’s on an island to boot. Even funnier, when you consider we all shared the same sense of humor -- incorrigible pranksters who, much to the annoyance of our targets, loved to get as much as we liked to give. It was quite rare that someone reciprocated because our targets tended to be stuck-up, arrogant, rude and generally real jerks. Against nice people they were pranks that the target could laugh as along with everyone else.
If I was to tell you of our first meeting, it would bore you to tears. We were in 9th Grade for the first time in Clockwork High and things were abuzz -- our class had two boys in it and we were all looking forward, having heard our mothers wax eloquent on the subject, to things we could do with them. Myself in particular, since although the though of sex with another woman didn’t put me off, I was definitely far more interested in men that way. People like me were called ‘borderline hetero’ and usually moved away from Clockwork City since the female- to-male ratio was and is so high. I might have even done that upon graduation if not for Jhenni and Vai.
Anyway, we simply sat at the same table and, being the friendly outgoing sort, I started talking to them. Jhenni was a brunette with short hair and green eyes; Vai wore her raven locks past her waist and had light gray eyes. I kept my own blonde hair shoulder length and I thought my baby blues complemented their own eyes nicely.
"Hi, " I chirruped. "I’m Tarina. You guys new here?"
"No I’m from Clockwork South," Vai said. She had a low smoky voice.
"Wow," I said. That was a very wealthy area, near the President’s Palace itself.
"I’m from Eastern Middle School," volunteered Jhenni. That was equally as noteworthy, as that area was close to what it still known as ‘The Fringes’ where all the truly weird things in the city happen.
"Well, nice to meet you!" I answered, and we chatted from there. Somehow that led to us showing off each others’ joybuzzers and trading exploits, and I knew I had my friends for life.
Just as simple as that, our fates were sealed.
The next year was spent establishing our reputation - - frogs in the marching band’s lockers, decorating the Steamology lab as a magician’s study and other such pranks. I don’t know what wit saddled us with the nickname ‘the Trips’ -- supposedly we spent so much time together people thought we were triplets, heck we were even the same height -- but it stuck and we wore it well. In fact, we liked it so much that we made sure our prospective wardrobes were identical and coordinated what we were going to wear so we always matched.
That cemented our place in the Yearbook, if nothing else did.
We did everything together throughout high school and at Clockwork University; first kiss (with each other of course, 10th grade), lost our virginity (ditto, 11th grade), triple-dated (that didn’t last long, as we really only had the hots for each other) and our first heterosexual encounter.
Before we get into that, I need to give you a little background on the boy who would become our boyfriend, Kyren. A quiet boy with brown hair and hazel eyes, he had the reputation as the class brain with some justification. I had a terrible crush on him, but then again so did every other bisexual girl in school. Artus, the only other boy, attracted girls because of his ‘bad boy’ image while Kyren did because he was nice. I and my fellow Trips decided one day to flirt with him in our own unique style by having flowers pop up at him in the most inopportune places -- his desk, his locker, his textbook -- all with a note attached, of course. He never seemed to notice. Towards the end of the day we were seriously discussing how non-subtle we could be when, opening our lockers, a veritable avalanche of condoms came pouring out. A perfectly straight-faced Kyren sauntered by, said, "I hope you all like them strawberry-flavored," and then ran off at high speed.
We couldn’t have chased him if we wanted; we were too busy laughing.
#
Kyren became a standard part of our lives after that. I personally would have liked nothing better than to stake sole claim on him, but not only would I not slight Jhenni and Vai like that I’d get lynched! Kyren for the most part preferred our company although occasionally slept around to avoid problems from the other girls. Life pretty much continued that way up until our second year of college at Clockwork University. I had been taking a lot of business management courses, Vai had been busying herself with accounting, and Jherri took a number of writing courses. Our idea was to start our own company -- I would be the CEO (we all drew straws and I lost), Vai would run the accounting department and Jhenni would be in charge of Marketing. Kyren was tailor-made to be head of R & D with his knowledge of Steamology and skills at science.
The event that would change our lives forever happened in our sophomore year... Halloween week in fact. Halloween is a big holiday in Clockwork City; everyone goes all out on decorations, whole streets get turned into ‘haunted neighborhoods’ with a surprise in every doorway, the whole bit. Clockwork University was doubly lucky, as a traveling sideshow had set up on campus. They had jugglers, acrobats, fire-eaters, and even a magician -- I don't know how many girls he guillotined but I got used to talking to people whose heads weren’t attached to their shoulders. Me and the other Trips were having a hard time getting in the party mood because Kyren was away on family business. It was on this particular day -- a Tuesday -- when we were in a students’ lounge commenting on this.
"But why didn’t he tell us his family originally came from Masque Macabre, Tarina?" Vai wanted to know. Today we wore matching light blue blouses and tight white pants.
I snorted. "Would you want to admit to coming from there?" Even back then it had a reputation for being one of the darker city-states, almost equal to Hyrenoisburg.
"Tarina’s got a point, Vai," Jhenni agreed, sipping on some blue turnip juice (Don’t ask. You don’t want to know.). She turned to me. "Still, he could have told us. I mean, he’s our steady boyfriend."
I was hesitant to concede the point. "Maybe, but..." Suddenly a clattering noise interrupted me from the hall outside. We all looked at each other and immediately rushed out to see what the commotion was about. That’s when we saw the dwarf.
The traveling sideshow had, of course, a freakshow attached to it. It probably didn’t do much business here since wierd-looking people were more common -- we have a number of gifted transformer-magicians, some of whom will work their spells for very little or nothing. I have never liked freakshows because it feels too much like teasing for no good reason. Vai and Jhenni I knew also didn’t like them for the same reason. The ‘freaks’ for the most part kept to themselves and were never seen outside of the carnival...except for one. No one knew his name but he was a dwarf, probably around our age. He dressed in a three-piece business suit at all times, juggled, and rode a unicycle. He’d toss flowers to pretty girls and he wheeled past with a merry twinkle in his eye, and I have to say I though he was cute. At least he was a performer instead of relying on his appearance to earn money like his fellows.
What we saw as we came out into the hallway was the poor man laying on the floor groaning with his clubs scattered all over and a group of other girls walking away. Laughing rudely. I recognized the head cheerleader in the group, a creature whose personality was the exact opposite of her sweet-looking self.
It didn’t take me long to figure out what happened, and from the growling noise I was hearing from Vai and Jhenni’s direction, my fellow Trips were very ready to do something about it immediately. As for myself, I caught the whiff of her perfume and my prank gears started turning. "Not yet," I murmured. "I’ve got the perfect thing. But first things first; get this poor man an icepack, would you Vai?"
In short order we had him in the student lounge, his head resting comfortably on Jhenni’s lap while Vai fussed over him. Trouper he was, he even managed a smile. "Ladies, if I’d know I was going to get this treatment I’d have thrown myself down a flight of stairs!"
He didn’t fool me for a second; I could see the hurt in his eyes. "You may have heard of us. We’re the Trips and we mean to teach that bitch a lesson. Wanna help?"
His eyes narrowed. "Oh yes." He licked his lips. "You can count me in."
For the next two days Martin -- the dwarf’s name -- was seen hobbling about on crutches with a cast. He’d see girls part of the group that knocked him down and either sneer or hobble away like a scared rabbit. I knew the head cheerleader, you see, and I knew she wouldn’t pass up a chance to make him even more miserable.
So, on Friday in the wee hours of the morning, she and her crew cornered him in a secluded section of campus and, amid his protests, began to hold him down and take of his cast. She had a feather with her, so it was pretty obvious what she meant to do Immediately an alchemical potion we’d bought called "Essense of Rotten Skunk Juice" sprayed everywhere. Martin, who’d been wearing a protective amulet, was immune...but the cheerleader and her cronies weren’t. They smelled so bad they wound up missing Halloween weekend entirely -- when all the best parties were being held, of course.
Martin was still laughing when he came back to our apartment and told us. "Oh it was a sight to behold," he gasped. "The expressions on their faces were priceless!"
"Your superb acting was what pulled it off," I complimented. "Maybe she’ll think twice about doing that sort of thing again."
He nodded and held out his hand. "Tarina...you girls....you all helped me get back my dignity and that’s the first anyone’s ever done that for me. I’d like to return the favor."
"Huh?" Jhenni said."
"What do you mean?" echoed Vai.
"It’s not necessary," I protested.
He cut me off. "Nonsense. I’m a carny, and we always pay a good deed in turn." He leaned in closer. "You know Flora, the old fortune teller? She’s my mother."
"Really?" I said.
He nodded. "Those joke fortunes she’s telling? That’s the tip of the iceberg. She’s for real, ladies. Normally she charges a lot for revealing the real future but I can get her to do it for free...if you’re all willing."
I think it took us all of three seconds to come to a decision. "Absolutely!" We all said in unison.
Well, wouldn’t you have?
#
The interior of Flora’s tent was as gaudy as its outside with sequins in odd places and garish colors galore. Usually the woman herself was dressed every inch the gypsy hag complete with wart. For us, she wore simple clothing and an easy smile; her hair was pulled back in a bun, and the wart seemed not to be around.
She gave us all a kiss on the cheek as we came in and directed us to her table whereupon perched a crystal ball. "Sit, young ones! My son told me what you did on his behalf, and you can add my thanks as well. You’ve done that cheerleader a great service by the way."
Jhenni and Vai snorted. I said, "oh?"
Flora nodded. "Oh yes. This event will give birth to actions that cause her to reevaluate herself. In three years’ time, she’ll be even more disgusted with herself that you three are at the moment."
It didn’t occur to me to doubt her word; something told me that this woman was for real. Jhenni and Vai were gaping, a mixture of shock and disbelief. I felt like doing a little gaping myself, but the Trips had a reputation to uphold. "We Trips have always been willing to help out the community," trying to sound as stuck-up as I could manage.
1 Flora grinned at me, getting the joke. "Why don’t the three of you link hands while I read what the future holds for your little group? It’ll make it a bit easier." We nodded. I felt Vai’s right hand in my left and Jhenni’s left cup my right. I squeezed their hands back and we smiled at each other.
I couldn’t describe what Flora did because there was nothing to it. No flash, no smoke, no unquiet spirits, just a thickening of the air and a pressure that was felt rather than heard. Flora kept her eyes closed the whole time, so I couldn’t see what was going on that way.
When she opened the up again, they were full of tears.
"Omigod," Vai managed. Jhenni’s mouth worked soundlessly, but nothing came out. I felt my stomach knot inside.
"I’m sorry," Flora whimpered, "but this is the last year your friendship will endure."
Gasps from my fellow Trips. The knot threatened to explode in fear but I quelled it. I had to. "What happens?" I kept my voice level. "Tell us, maybe we can avoid it!"
Flora shook her head. "If it was one thing...but it’s not." She managed to catch all of us with a single glance. "One will die, one will fall in love and leave the city to protect this love, and one will....will...I’m sorry," she said brokenly. "I can’t reveal that. Some fates are too dire ever to be said out loud."
Jhenn and Vai wailed like hurt sirens and clung to me. I wanted nothing more than to embrace them in my arms, but now was not the time. I didn’t believe that any fate was certain, and accepting this woman as the genuine article didn’t change a thing for me. "Is there anyway we can avoid this?" I pressed.
"Yes," she sighed. "I can intercede for you...but the Fates will demand a price. And you must all pay it."
"Yes," Vai sobbed.
"Anything," Jhenni agreed through tears.
"Anything that doesn’t cause our friendship to disintegrate by paying it," I shot back. I had to be strong! "The Trips don’t buy useless goods."
Flora looked at me with respect. "You keep a level head on your shoulders for one so young, Tarina," she murmured. "If this fate is avoided, it will not be done so by accomplishing itself another way. I will make it impossible for fate to end your perfect friendship. On that, you have my oath."
"What do we have to do?" I asked, arms still around my friend’s shoulders.
"Go home together," she urged. "Stay in each other’s company -- and ONLY in each other’s company. It will be over by Monday.
I nodded my thanks. Given the situation, there really wasn’t much more to be done.
#
Back at our apartment, we stripped. Initially, I think we were going to have a three-way but none of us were in the mood for it. Flora had shaken our lives something fierce, and it was going to take more than a quickie for things to come together. However, we didn’t seem to want to get dressed again for some reason.
We were lounging on the couch when I first noticed it. I had my left arm around Jhenni and my right arm around Vai and their respective arms were around me. For some reason it felt right and comforting to be touching each other like that. I remember that the radio show "Questers Of the Lost Temple" was on and we were listening to it avidly. I happened to glance down at our nude bodies and saw something very peculiar -- our legs were growing together! My own I had spread apart, my right against Vai’s left and my left against Jhenni’s right. The space between was clearly no more, and the contours showing them as once-separate were smoothing out as the legs pushed into each other.
And here I thought I was getting turned on and ready to take Jhenni and Vai to bed. The feeling of becoming part of them was pleasurable. I gently tried to move my hands away from their shoulders and wasn’t surprised that they seemed to be stuck. I should have panicked, but for some reason I didn’t. No scratch that; I know why I didn’t. When I told Flora I’d pay the price I meant it, and on the whole this wasn’t a bad price to pay. If we were conjoining, we’d always be together.
I thought about informing my fellow Trips about this development, but an imp of mischief whispered in my ear and I decided to wait and see how long it took them to notice. I was amused when "Questers Of the Lost Temple" finished an hour later, followed by "Samantha of the Skies" and "The Jade Tigress." All in all, over three hours before they commented. By that time there was no way our legs could be mistaken as just being pressed against one another tightly. My hands had completely melted into my fellow Trips and I was sure their hands that touched me had done the same.
"MMmmm," Jhenni purred. "I feel so turned on."
"Oh yeah," Vai agreed. "Usually listening to the radio doesn’t put me in the mood but..." Finally she looked down. "Girls. Look!"
Jhenni followed suit. "Eeek!"
I burst out laughing. "We’re a little late for second thoughts, girls. This has been going on for the past three hours."
Jhenni and Vai began to stammer. I decided to head off hysterics. "Now, we did say we’d pay any price, right?"
"Yes," Vai agreed.
"I suppose," Jhenni said.
"So this really isn’t a bad price to pay, is it?"
They thought about that for a moment, then broke out into grins. "You know, you’re right," Vai said. Jhenni just nodded.
"Well then I say we just sit back and enjoy," I purred. "Although you two will have to do all the playing. My arms haven’t finished melting into you and I don’t think I’ll be able to use our arms until we finish conjoining."
"What if you don’t?" Jhenni piped up.
I frowned at her. "What do you mean?"
"Some conjoinments don’t share conrol of everything with each other," she pressed. "And we’re going to be a three-way. What would you control?"
"The legs?" I suggested. I tried to keep my tone light yet Jhenni’s observations had unsettled me.
"I hope so," Jhenni said.
#
Somehow me managed to get to sleep that night despite all of us being turned on at an increasing level. We woke at seven in the morning to find things had been progressing while we slept.
Our legs had melded into two clumsy columns, flowing into a set of very broad hips. Our torsos had melted together and our breasts were as well. Basically we looked like a bad drawing of a very broad woman with three heads. We all sensed that the conjoinment was not over yet though. Oddly enough, our pussies hadn’t merged into each other yet.
It was getting harder to think coherently. I was very turned on despite the fact that it looked like Jhenni’s worst fear was correct. Jhenni and Vai could control the leg-column on their own side as well as the arm. I could feel what they did but couldn’t control it.
We had managed to get to our kitchen for some breakfast. We were all very hungry and very horny but could only really satisfy the previous urge. Jhenni and Vai through verbal coordination managed to cook up some eggs and bacon and dove in.
"Good bacon, Vai," Jhenni complimented. I could feel her teeth crunch it up, taste its salt on my tongue even though none had passed my lips.
"I think we need to practice more on the eggs," she said mournfully, gesturing with a fork at what was supposed to be over easy eggs but turned out at scrambled.
"Once you two get your coordination down, I’m sure you’ll do fine," I assured them.
"Oh, without a doubt," Vai grinned, shoveling in a clump of egg.
"The dynamic duo," Jhenni chirped around another mouthful of bacon.
"Together forever," Vai answered back.
There was a pause while I digested that fact. Our body would be run by them and I’d just be a passenger...even in their way, since their field of vision would be restricted by my position in the center. I knew I had agreed to any price, but I did state a stipulation and this certainly seemed to me to cross the line. Living my life as the perpetual fifth wheel had no attraction for me whatsoever.
"Hey there, Tarina," Jhenni said to me.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Vai asked.
I forced a smile despite my misery. "Just thinking what we’re going to do for clothes," I said, keeping my tone lightly.
"No you’re not," Vai disagreed. "I can tell you’re fighting back tears."
"But I can’t contribute anything to what we’re becoming," I sobbed, no longer able to hold it in. "I’m just an overgrown wart with an attitude, useless..."
"Don’t you DARE say that," Jhenni snapped.
"Yeah," answered Vai. "Or we’ll wash your mouth out with soap."
"But..." I tried again.
"Who was it that came up with the prank on the high school football team?" Vai interrupted.
"Well...."
Jhenni didn’t give me a chance. "And who was it that came up with the plan to prank the principle of said school? Who comes up with most of our ideas, let alone plans them out?"
"It’s a group effort girls, I...."
"And who was it," Vai whispered, "who came up with the perfect revenge on that stuck-up cheerleader?"
"I was so scared when Flora told us that prediction," Jhenni cut in, "that I never would have thought of trying to get out of it. I would have just ran off."
"So would I," Vai agreed.
"I was just trying to..." I tried again.
My fellow Trips weren’t having any of my interruptions. "Just trying to think ahead and avoid disaster, like you always do," Vai cut in.
"We wouldn’t be who we are if not for you," Jhenni said gently.
They brought their hands up to wipe my eyes.
"We’re the Trips," they said in unison. "A team, remember?."
A smile finally cracked on my lips. "How could I forget?" I couldn’t keep self-pity up against these odds.
#
This wasn’t to say that I immediately accepted my fate. I spent a few times crying my eyes out during that wonderful, terrible three-day period. I don’t know what I would have done if it hadn’t been Vai and Jhenni I was conjoining to. I guess, deep down, because I tended to make most of the decisions, some part of me viewed them as my flunkies. Their actions to keep my spirits up during that time cured me of that notion forever, and now I’m ashamed I ever thought it.
The conjoinment continued with delicious slowness, increasing the erotic glow inside us. Our legs took half a day to turn from stumps into long, sexy ones. How can I describe the feeling of a misshapen, wax-like limb becoming something of beauty? Our torso took the other half-day, narrowing out as uour breasts finished melting into a pair fit to please. My own rack had been about softball sized and I was the smallest; Vai had ones ths size of grapefruits and Jhenni had been very blessed with a lovely pair the size of volleyballs. Our NEW shared breasts could have each held a basketball inside with plenty of room left for a can of tennis balls.
"God, Tarina, we’re HUGE!" Jenni crowed, tweaking one of our nipples. It was then we discovered how sensitive they were.
"Perfect for playing with," I grinned.
We finally came when our pussies decided they were going to merge. I felt it as it started happening; I think I would have felt it if I was dead. Up until that point our three pussies had lain side by side by side and we thought that we were going to have three. Then, they began to migrate towards each other. Somehow we all knew with was the last stage.
"Here we go girls," I panted. Our shoulders, when our torsos fully merged, had become a normal width, crowding our heads very close together; I found I didn’t mind it. It felt warm, protected. I’d never be lonely again this way. Vai and Jhenni were way past anything external. Vai brought her hand to one of our breasts to tweak and play while Jhenni thrust her hands between our legs to caress our pussies as they became one. I could literally feel the walls of flesh melt away as that part of our hips became almost fluid. For any of you out there who have ever ground your pussy against someone else’s, try to picture that feeling squared. What we were experiencing was that feeling CUBED. I think there was a little sadness that there were some ways we cold never pleasure each other again, but the fact that we had access to each other’s sweet bodies because we were each others’ sweet body more than made up for it. I’m afraid I can’t tell you the exact moment the merging happened, as I passed out before it was done. I think we all did, although Vai and Jhenni still won’t admit it to me.
It’s been thirty years since then, and we’ve become successful businesswomen -- the wealthiest in all of Clockwork City, and in fact renowned worldwide. I’ve never regretted my decision since we’ve conjoined. We’re still not sure know whose fate was whose, but it doesn’t matter. Jhenni and Vai were right; we’re a team, then and now. It doesn’t matter that we share a body. There was some awkwardness at first from other people, but we got over it quickly. Being in Clockwork City helped, as seeing people who look strange is par for the course. There were a few people who took our new state as a sign of weakness and decided they were going to ‘pay us back’ for ‘picking’ on them, but we showed them in short order that the Trips were no one you could mess with. The one dark spot in the horizon was actually Kyren. For one thing be came back from Masque Macabre... different. Physically his hair had turned white, but emotionally, it was like he aged a hundred years. There was an gravity to him, like he’d experienced something so terrible there it weighed his soul down. He didn’t react to our new appearance at all; in fact, it was like he expected it. It certainly didn’t stop his marriage proposal. We accepted of course, for the notoriety if nothing else -- males in Clockwork City tend not to marry. We tried for the first two years of our marriage to get him to tell us many times what happened there and why he must go back once a year. Finally one day he looked at us and with the most terrifying expression I’ve ever seen said, "some fates are too terrible ever to be spoken aloud." He was looking right at me when he said it, which left me no doubt as to which one of us the third fate, the one worse than death, applied to. I haven’t had the courage to ask him since and try to keep Jhenni and Vai from doing so as well.
We’e gotten pregnant twice since then. Our first children were identical girls, born the same way we are -- three heads on one body. Unlike us, each one of them controls it...and at first they didn’t get along with each other. Wendy -- the right one -- is quiet and almost shy while Phoebee -- the left one -- is wild and untamed. The middle one, Inez, tends to play peacemaker a lot, something that irritates the other two. When they reached sixteen we sat them down and told them our story in the hopes it would help them get along. It worked...sort of. They’re now freelance explorers, scouring the world for a cure for our ‘condition.’ We just sigh and hope it keeps them out of trouble.
Our second birth was equally as distinctive -- three boys! Maternal triplets who aren’t conjoined, they’re about two years younger than their sisters. Clark is a big beefy male who weighs more than most small automobiles and is possessed of tremendous strength -- he’s ripped a solid steel door off of his hinges. Wally is small, wiry and very fast -- and when I say ‘very fast’ I mean it. He hasn’t taken the coach home from school in five years because he can run quicker than it can at full steam. It’s our third son, Bruce, that has us worried. He’s a brooding child, very quiet and can almost disappear in the background. He’s easily the smartest of the three and most of his teachers have confessed that he makes even them feel stupid. Yet there’s a darkness to him, like the room chills just by him entering it. Maybe Its the way he seems to look at everyone except his brothers like a potential enemy. I don’t know what dark forces are seeking our Bruce out, but they’re going to be disappointed. We’re the Trips -- Tarina, Jhenni and Vai. No one -- be he sorcerer, god, or demon -- gets the better of us.