Gift: Strange Studies (Part 8)

Summary: Rina Emmir develops a strange crush on one of her university classmates, Willow Connelly-Hutchins. This would be innocent enough except for a few key points: the student is a serpentine monster girl, and Rina might have developed an embarrassing fetish, often fantasizing about Willow eating her whole... and Rina is a -total- bottom, so it's not like she'd ever admit it. How can Rina even begin to approach Willow and consummate her feelings? A gift for Alex Brymm for Christmas '22.

[Story Listing]

[FIRST PART]

[PREVIOUS PART]

---

Part 8 (Dec '22 Gift)

It was strange. Rina had been spoiled by Willow throughout the week, treated to all of her oddball fantasies. For the mousy elf who had spent so long fantasizing about the kind-hearted snake woman, it was everything she had ever dreamed of, and more. And yet, at the end, she felt somewhat reserved about the whole deal, in retrospect.

It wasn't like she didn't want this. She wanted to cuddle up next to Willow, wrapped up in her coils; there was that cute dynamic of being at the mercy of a gentle giant that, with a sudden twist, could overpower you utterly. She liked being inside Willow too, boy did she like that. But Rina understood that loving relationships went both ways, and for all the joy Willow brought her, Rina felt a little... helpless to reciprocate properly. Not "helpless" in the sexy, roleplay sense, like cornered prey waiting to be eaten, but "helpless" in the depressing sense where she couldn't really do anything.

It wasn't like Willow to ask things of her in the first place. She was a happy-go-lucky girl, seemingly to a fault. Rina did want to do something nice for Willow, but apart from volunteering to keep up with chores, it seemed that Willow was pampering Rina more and more...

Until one strange day, where Willow was having a bit of a struggle in general. Willow's usually chipped attitude shifted to a more muted sense of concern. It had gone on for a few days, but it was strange when Willow stopped wrapping her tail around Rina at night. When Willow had left for the bathroom early on the weekend instead of sleeping in, Rina realized something was up; it was hard to not notice a massive snake monster leaving the room.

Rina put on her loafers and followed Willow.

"Willow? Everything okay?" Rina asked quietly, hoping to signal some support. Willow was grunted, the sound of a brush's scrubbing bristles slowing down.

"S-sorry, didn't mean to worry you..." Willow admitted from the other side of the door. "I'm, um, actually going through, well... my time of the month."

"O-omigosh," Rina covered her mouth. Poor thing. "You need tampons? I keep a box in the cabinet above the-"

"No, no, not a period, I'm, ah..." Willow stirred. "I'm molting..."

Willow's voice whispered, wracked with shame and secrecy. Rina blinked. That wasn't what she was expecting.

"Um... I didn't know that was a thing with you." Rina tilted her head. "...I-I mean, duh, you're a snake, of course it would happen, but I didn't... um... expect it."

"Happens every three months, ish..." Willow grumbled. "My skin gets all gross and flakey, and I have to wriggle out of it, and it's a whole, suffocating thing..."

Rina could hear Willow's grunting to herself. It must've been quite a struggle. Rina was at a loss... she didn't know a thing about shedding. Her mom taught her a thing or two about exfoliating her skin, but that probably wouldn't be very helpful to Willow...

...Help... this was her chance! Rina's eyes lit up, and she knocked at the door.

"Willow, Willow! Can I help? Let me help!" Rina bounced up and down. "That bathroom's really cramped to be, um, shedding..."

Willow paused. Rina waited on baited breath; the fact that Willow didn't immediately say no was encouraging, and even through the door, she could tell Willow was considering the idea.

"...It's kinda small in here, but..." Willow stirred. "I'd make a mess of your house... I'm flaking a lot here."

"It's okay! Use my bed!" Rina beamed. "I'll clean up afterwards! It's the least I can do for, um... everything."

"...Heh... you almost sound excited for this." Willow chuckled. The doorknob twisted, Willow emerging from the bathroom. Rina noticed Willow's skin immediately, it was a more dull shade of green, already flaking at spots, and her eyes seemed grey and milky.

"You look sick..." Rina murmured. "Are you okay?"

"Just some extra skin..." Willow reassured her. "It's kinda hard to see though."

"C-c'mon, take my hand," Rina offered her hand. Willow nodded and obliged—her palms felt weird and chafe-y—and guided her along, back to the bedroom. Willow had a tendency to sprawl all around the room—Rina was into it, Willow being her great big girl and all—but she was content to guide Willow's torso to the head of the bed.

Rina shifted to lower Willow's body, allowing her head to rest in her lap. Willow's head of nesting snake hair didn't seem to care. They seemed more muted and lifeless than usual.

"So you're just getting rid of your old skin? Sounds kinda like you have your own built-in spa day..." Rina joked quietly, fawning over Willow's rough skin.

"I'unno. It's the part of the year I like the least. Like hatching out a cocoon." Willow grumbled.

"W-well, maybe I can help... coax it along. Does it hurt if I pull like this...?"

Rina pulled at the flakey film of dead skin on Willow's cheek. It stretched, resisted, and then warped in her grip. Willow winced slightly.

"Doesn't hurt, just feels... weird." Willow clarified. "Keep going."

"I think I almost got it... there!"

A muted tearing sound coincided with the release of Willow's dead skin, revealing the familiar, vibrantly-shaded scales underneath. Rina squealed in delight.

"Omigosh, it's like night and day!" Rina grinned excitedly. "I really wanna see the new you!~"

"...It does feel nice when it all comes off..." Willow admittedly quietly. Rina beamed and worked her fingers, helping Willow with the trickiest part; that mess of hair snakes made the act of peeling it all off a pain in the neck. So many snakes... at least Willow's brothers were cooperating.

Rina worked with her fingers to massage Willow's marbelly scales with gentle touches, loosening dead skin and peeling it back. Flakes scattered around the bed, but the majority hung back over Willow's shoulders, like a vaguely translucent hoodie. Rina looked into Willow's pretty, black and orange eyes, no longer milky from a layer of dead scales.

"How're you feeling?" Rina asked, massaging Willow's shoulders to loosing more of Willow's excess flesh.

"Good..." Willow smiled. "This is going quicker than I expected. You got some magic hands, Rina~"

Rina chuckled. She was glad Willow was in higher spirits. The worst part of it had past, and now Willow could perhaps emerge from her cocoon...

Rina took Willow's hands. "Okay, pull back! I got it!"

Willow nodded and grunted, her skin resisting in a sticky way. As the skin tore, Rina watched Willow's arms shift backwards under a semi-transluscent layer of dead skin. Willow, her arms pressed at her sides, began to stir and writhe.

Rina, getting up on her feet, hurried down the length of Willow's tail, tugging at the layer of flexible, dead skin; it had a coarse, unkempt quality to it. Rina's initial thought was that of a used condom, but she kept it to herself—didn't want Willow to go back to being self-conscious again.

Rina grasped the end of Willow's tail, pulling back and holding it in place. Willow pumped muscles in her body that lined all along her powerful body, pushing herself forward, wrinkles of dead skin folding back as she inched out more and more, and Rina stepped further and further back. Over the course of five minutes, they struggled until...

"Hah!" Rina tugged one last time, wrestling Willow's shed snakeskin away from her! It was so much, it was practically a blanket unto itself! She instinctively began to fold it up... before looking up to gawk ('respectfully') at Willow's gorgeous, nude form.

Willow reared up, her arms lowering to her frontal slit. She chuckled nervously.

"Thank you, Rina... shedding is such a chore." Willow smiled, though it was a little stilted. "And every time it happens I end up a little bigger than before." She raised an arm to cover her chest, the tip of her tail wagging anxiously.

"Oh Willow..." Rina plopped the shed snake skin to some corner, taking the initiative as she approached Willow from the side...

...And with a light shove, coaxed her to the best. Willow's eyes widened, her irises growing as she looked at the sultry look in Rina's eyes.

"That entire ordeal must've been terribly stressful..." Rina, kneeling down to take Willow by the chin. "You were so good... but we have to do something about all this pent up stress, you know?~"

Willow remembered that face. Rina was rather into the roleplay side of their cuddling exchanges. But that was usually a night thing, not first thing in the morning. Willow was at a loss, but... easygoing to a fault, she went with it.

"What're you gonna do to me?" Willow smiled back.

"I'm gonna pamper you, silly!~" Rina beamed. "Help you settle into those new scales a bit better with a massage... we'll make it a full spa day~"

"...Spa day..." Willow repeated Rina's words with a wispy, distant voice. "I've never had a spa day. It sounds... really fun, hehe."

"It's exactly what you need!" Rina beamed; she placed her hands on Willow's shoulders, lowering her to the bed. "Now lay down, rest! I'll be right back!~"

Willow blinked as Rina scurried away, out of the bedroom. Willow smiled warmly, leaning back against the plushie bed sheets. The flakes of dead snakeskin didn't seem all that important now.

The tip of Willow's tail wagged excitedly. She wondered excitedly as to what Rina had in mind...!