“Gimme some damn pants,” you insist. “I’ve been good enough for long enough.”

“Oh have you?” Grisham shakes her head at you. “Girl, I’m tempted to keep you in nothing but your panties for a month just for talking like that.”

She’s got her hands on her hips again, her eyes slightly narrowed at you. Her jaw is set firmly and she cuts an intimidating figure. But that doesn’t scare you like it does Sarah – a fact you’re starting to feel sort of proud of. Sarah’s not afraid of death, but she is afraid of Grisham. So if you’re not afraid of Grisham, maybe you’re not afraid of anything.

“You couldn’t handle me in my panties for a month,” you say, cocky.

“What’s that supposed to mean, girl?”

“It means I don’t care if you take all my clothes off me,” you say. “I ain’t afraid of you.”

“Oh you ain’t?” She copies your speech pattern, a smile crossing her lips. “I think you’re plenty afraid,” she says. “But I think you want me to strip you down too, huh. Have you running around my apartment here naked for a while.”

She’s calling your bluff, and both of you are smiling now – though that doesn’t mean she’s not serious.

“You’re such a pain in the ass little brat,” she says with no small amount of affection. “You want the thrashing your comrade just escaped all for yourself, is that it?”

“Nope, I just want pants,” you say. “And for you to join the unit – so I can see Sarah go pale like that every day.”

“A unit with you, Terra and that chaotic super soldier?” Grisham snorts. “That’s a hell of a combination. Besides, not much point joining a unit where a third of it is half naked all the time. Wouldn’t get anything done.”

“What? Why would someone be naked all the time?”

“‘Cause someone keeps giving me attitude when I tell her to watch her mouth.”

“Ugh, I haven’t even started to give you attitude!”

“Raising your voice, talking back, that’s attitude, girl, and I warned you about that.”

She advances on you and you fall back against the bed, cursing as your sore butt meets the sheets. Grisham grabs a hold of you and her strong fingers curl in the waistband of your panties. They come down over your butt and slide down your legs in a split second, leaving you naked from the waist down. The soft mound of your sex is bared to her eyes, as are the hot rounds of your butt.

“Hey!” You protest as she stands back, your panties in her hand. You pull the blankets over your body to cover up, blushing furiously. “Give them back! I can’t believe you did that!”

“What, you think I didn’t mean what I said? Girl you keep giving me lip and you will be totally naked,” she warns you.

Even with the blankets over you, covering your nudity, you can’t help but feel vulnerable. Your underwear was just a thin scrap of fabric, but the loss of it is huge.

“Okay, I’m sorry,” you say. “Can I have my panties back, please? Someone might think something inappropriate is happening in here if I’m naked… Terra won’t like it.”

“Something tells me Terra will like it just fine,” Grisham says, arching a brow at you.

“Hey!” You protest again, this time with a more serious scowl. “I’m not some… some… sex object! I earned my position in this unit.”

“I bet you did,” Grisham says. “That doesn’t stop a cute half naked girl from being a cute half naked girl, does it? Now settle down some, before you lose the rest of it.”

“Fine,” you say, rebellious. “I don’t even care.” You reach for your own top and pull it off, throwing it at Grisham. She catches it just in time to stare at your now topless form. You weren’t wearing a bra, so there’s nothing between you and the world.You’d figured that maybe this would empowering, choosing to show your breasts. Maybe. That was the idea anyway. But now there’s a heat creeping up your body and face and between your thighs and maybe it’s a whole lot of other things as well as empowering.

Grisham lets out a laugh as you clap your hands over your breasts, but its too late. She’s seen everything.

“You know just how to make a situation worse for yourself, don’t you,” she says, twirling your panties on her index finger like a trophy.

“Shuddup,” you say, as you swiftly wrap yourself up in the blankets.

“What did you just say, girl?”

“Ugh! I give up!”

You lay down and hide your head under the pillow, protected by the blanket cocoon. Yes. This is better.