"This is the place?" The woman clutches her partner's hand as they both look at the blank wall with a door in it. The only other sign of life is neon bulbs in the shape of the word 'Hotel.' The 'H' is what gets her attention and differs it from all other hotel signs. It has two cross bars each near the top and bottom of the letter and bending toward the center before returning to the level they started on. It almost looks like the 'H' is wearing a corset.

He nods before speaking, "This is the address we were given when we made the reservations." He takes a step forward, but she stays still tugging him back.

"I was expecting more." She gazes at the featureless wall as if she could summon color or decorations or something.

"Well, you remember our trip to the capsule hotel, last year. It wasn't much different than this."

"But you'd think they'd advertise more or try to get people's attention."

"We heard about it in our country. How much more popularity do they need?" He moves to massage her shoulders.

She melts into his ministrations. "I guess I'm just tired from all of our sightseeing today. I suppose we should go in and get some sleep."

"That's sounds like a good idea, dear." He bends down to kiss her. She stretches up on her tip toes and their lips just meet. They hug for a little boost. Then as she returns the few inches, his arm slides up her back as she turns to face the door. "Ready?"

"mmmhmm," she says as they head forward side by side, an arm wrapped around each other's waist.

Inside, the decorations match the outside. Sure, there is a counter to their left with a young lady sitting there watching them. To their right, is a wall with little boxes like thermostats displaying numbers. They line the wall interspersed with vertical cracks, all the way down and around a corner. Beyond said counter the room opens up wider than the entrance they are in. At a glance that is all they see.

The woman behind the counter pops up and greets them, "Welcome to the Vac Hotel or as most people call it, the Vacotel." She whispers to them, even though there is no one to overhear them, "People tend to drop the 'H' and frankly, I like the ring of it." She pauses and then remembers where she's at, "What can I do for you?"

"Hi," he begins, "We are Eric and Sally Berg and--"

Her excitement gets the better of her, and she interrupts her husband, "And we have reservations for the Honeymoon suite."

The receptionist looks down and punches a few buttons. "Ah. Here you are. Perfect. Are you checking in?" They both nod. "Good. I'm sure you know and are prepared for all this, but I must check. Are either of you claustrophobic?"

Sally jumps in, "Oh no way. You should have seen us in the capsule hotel last year. We weren't even fazed."

She smiles at their answer, "Well, this will be a little different than that, but I'm sure you will be fine." She leads them away from the door, around the corner, to where they saw the room widen before. This area is just as featureless as the rest of the hotel, no furniture, lots of thermostats or whatever they are, and the vertical cracks in the wall as the only decorations. Well, there are a few paintings hanging on the wall, but nothing catches the eye. That is, until their guide stops before a picture of a couple embracing each other in a deep kiss.

She touches the wall and a large chuck of it, from floor to ceiling, slides away toward them. Out of instinct, they step to the side. Inside the piece that came out, there is a cross-section of boards and insulation, after that there are some empty eight foot by eight foot frames with their black material hanging from a rack, and beyond that, inside the new rectangular hole, is a light and not much more.

As they try to comprehend what they are seeing and how that relates to the images and words on the website, the frames start lowering toward them, one on each side of the opening. "Why don't you get ready to sleep. Change clothes or whatever. When you are done, your room should be ready for you."

Not seeing any rooms to change in, Eric asks, "Do we change in here?"

"If you want. But if you worry about privacy, there are some bathrooms over there." She waves her hand at the only two doors in the place. "However, if you aren't shy, none of the guests here," she waves her arm gesturing at the walls, "are going to see you, and I have to seal you up at the end, so I'll be seeing you regardless. So, dress in what you like or," she says as she wiggles her eyebrows, "don't."

The couple slides to the side and opens their suitcases. Sally pulls out her pajamas that look like thin sweats. "What do you think," she asks with a smirk.

He smiles back, "I suppose that will work, but since this is our anniversary, I was hoping for something ... more."

"You mean this?" She lifts up a silky red teddy that leaves little to the imagination. Even before he responds, she is slipping out of her clothes and wiggling into the sexy negligee.

Eric, also, switches into something sexy. Then after stuffing their dirty clothes back into their suitcases, they head back to the attendant.

"Perfect," she says, "First, I need you to place these on yourself. The red one goes in the vicinity of your heart, then place the black one in the same spot on the other side to monitor your breathing." Eric raises an eyebrow, so the attendant continues, "These are purely for your own safety. They hook up wirelessly to the devices on the wall and then to our computer. We just want to make sure that your heart or breathing don't stop. If they do, we'll be able to get you out and get you help."

Once they have the stickers in place, she checks the thermostat for four numbers then continues, "Now, slide into these frames between the two sheets. Go in on your backs and line your mouth up with the hole. Then reach out to the red spots with your hands. Once you are past the edge, I'll seal you in. Then the fun begins."

Sally tries to do what she's told, but she can't seem to get her head past the rubber for long before she pulls it back out. "What's the matter," the attendant asks, "I thought you weren't claustrophobic."

"I'm not. I'm nervous about this thing falling or breaking or that I won't be able to breath."

She heads over to Eric as she talks to Sally, "This rubber and frame are rated for the weight of 3 to 4 people plus. It has to be for as big as they are. One person, like you, will not even put a strain on it." A motor starts up. "As far as breathing goes, that's the only thing you will be able to do. When we take out the air, the material will form around your body, but it won't crush you. You'll be able to wiggle. So, you'll be able to get your chest to rise and fall. And you already know about the hole to breath through. Does that help?" Sally nods but without enthusiasm.

The one motor stops and another starts up. Rising up from the floor is Eric looking like he is frozen in carbonite, features prominent but indistinct. His body is akimbo. "When you decide to go through with this, you'll be face to face, chest to chest, hand to hand with him."

Fire fills Sally's eyes. As directed, she uses her elbows, sliding, anything to get into position. After checking the mouth hole is good, she lays flat and the rubbery sheet drapes on her. Following the directions given her, she swings her arms out from her sides.  |Click. Click!| Sally's heart skips a beat for a moment. Her hands get a little adjustment and then she hears it.

Air hisses out. As described by their helper, with less and less gas between them, the sheets come toward each other and encapsulate her body. Like a full body hug, the material is touching all of her flesh and the teddy is pushed down on her in protest. None of it hurts, but as mentioned she can't move other than breathing.

Then she feels the weightlessness as the mechanical arm begins lifting her up. Then the sensation is more strange. The weight of her own body is pushing her against her flexible shell. For a moment it feels like she's swinging, but then she realizes that it could be her mind playing tricks on her. She knows she is being lifted up because that is where the frames came from and her husband was going back up there when she got in.

/I feel something./ She doesn't know what but something is pressing against her breasts. Then more substance is added to her torso. /What is it?/ Then she imagines when she is lifted up into his arms for a hug and the sensation is right. /I'm chest to chest with him./

|Click! Click!| Sally's hands move forward and stop involuntarily. Then she feels his fingers touching hers. She smiles as big as she can, which is very small. /This is good. I like this./ Her closed eyes, rhythmic breathing, and the warmth of their bodies touching makes sleep easy.

Consciousness returns slowly. Her skin cooling and the sounds of air refilling her bed rouse her. Then she realizes that the sensation on her back and butt is the ground. Sally wiggles her fingers and finds they move more than last night.

It's not long before she is out of the vacbed and next to her husband. Even though they touching all night long, they snuggle as they stand there. A different attendant is nearby. He is fiddling with the latex. They assume he is adjusting, cleaning, and resetting the beds. "I assume you'd like to clean up after last night. Each bathroom is equipped with a shower, if you'd like."

They take him up on the offer. With both of them in one restroom, it is rather crowded but they don't mind. The hot water cleans off the sweat and then it washes off their excitement. The shower takes much longer than usual. They dry off and redress talking about the experience.

Then they head toward the entrance. Behind the counter, the man that released them greets them again, "So, how was your stay?"

Eric looks to his wife who passes the look back. "It was amazing."

Sally continues a little bashful, "It was better than the capsule hotel. I'll remember this for a long time."

"But?" The clerk asks.

The husband and wife exchange a look again. Eric takes the lead, "Don't get me wrong. We got what we paid for."

"And we'll happily recommend this place to others," Sally nods her agreement.

"But," he asks again.

"Wellll, it was too impersonal. We were touching buttttt," he struggles for words.

"It wasn't like the hugging and snuggling that we do in bed each night."

"So, to be clear," the man behind the counter asks, "If you were able to touch each other more, it would be better?" The couple nods their agreement. "Well, that simply must be fixed. And it just so happens that I think we have just the thing. That is, if you are willing to spend another night here."

Silent conversation passes between Eric and Sally. He looks to her with excitement and a question. She answers with excitement. They both turn to the man. "Don't worry about the cost. We have a customer satisfaction guarantee. If you stay another night, it will be on us."

Sally looks to Eric, "I think we can stay another day, there were so many things we didn't see yesterday."

He answers her, "Right. And our plans are pretty flexible. I'll call and shorten our stay at the next hotel."

As one, they turn back to the counter, "Okay. We'll do it."

"Very well. We'll see you later today. Feel free to leave your luggage here," the man says as they depart hand in hand.

Twelve hours later, they return and the lady from the previous night is there waiting for them. "Hello, Mister and Missus Berg. The manager told me all about you. Are you ready to check in for the night?"

"Oh, yeah."

"We look forward to this more 'us' version of sleep."

"Then if you'll follow me this way, I'll show you." Again, she takes them around the corner to where the room opens up. This time, she stops near a horizontal crack near their shoulders, well his shoulders but her forehead. Opening, is like before, with a section of wall sliding out. This section is wider than the one from the night before, and aside from the insulation and the thermostat device to display their heart rates and breathing, it is a hollow chamber with a light like the other.

She turns to them, "I'll get this ready while you get ready. Use the restrooms, if you like ... or don't." She waggles her eye brows. Sally and Eric open their suitcases while watching the attendant work. She slides out a purple latex cube, places a block on a furniture dolly, and then the cube on top of that. In the top of the wiggly structure there are two holes.

Sally grabs her teddy from the night before and heads over. Upon putting her hand in the hole, she twists her arm and it emerges from the other hole. Looking in, she sees nothing but the white PVC pipes and the evident purple latex surrounding it all. She returns to her suitcase and returns the lingerie and adds her dirty clothes from the day.

Eric seeing her at their new bed is a step ahead of her and is walking back toward the cube in the buff. After attaching the sensors, he stretches one hole wide and lowers himself in. "I like what you are thinking," comments their attendant. "Be sure to sit on the platform I placed under you. When I suck out the air, it will keep you above the ground."

His wife joins him a moment later. As she descends into the other hole she feels his hands on her waist. "Here. Let me help lower you into place. Wrap your legs around me as you sit on my legs."

She nods, and he brings her down a little at a time. Once she is to her neck, she feels it. "Oh!" Her eyes shoot open. "Oh," she repeats, I didn't realize you were so excited already."

He smirks at her and covers what's happening, "With you, everything is more exciting." She leans over to kiss him since their faces are so close.

After more wiggling and feet pressing out against the purple, elastic material, things settle and they look like they did before to the one outside. "Ready," she asks.

"Ready," they answer.

"Okay, get comfortable because you won't be moving for hours."

"If you say so," he says to the attendant while winking at his wife.

"Just. Go," Sally urges a little breathless and beginning to blush.

The machine turns on. Over the din, the captor smiles and says, "As you wish."

Like before, the material touches and clings. Then as more air gets sucked away, the elastic material stretches and tries to get between them. Their hug keeps it away. As a bonus Eric feels her arms flex on his back. He imagines she feels the same as he does it back.

Then he experiences something he hadn't the night before. The latex tightens and lifts him off the wood block under him. Soon, he can see her shoulders and his upper arms as the purple becomes a second skin. With nowhere else to check, it drags the air out between them drawing them closer together.

"Comfy," she asks them. They nod. "Don't do anything I would do... Or do." They respond with a deep kiss. "Good night, you two love birds." She pushes their cube showing their intertwined bodies pressed together into the space behind the open door and closes them into the wall. She checks the 'thermostat' to see the elevated breathing and heartbeats. Then she heads to her post at the counter.

Groggy, Sally tries to stretch her stiff muscles. Instead, not much happens besides a hug and a little wiggle on his lap. This starts to wake up his little head as it squirms its way up against her again. Not able to move much, she focuses on what she can, which is her neck. It is surrounded by a donut pillow, relieving the stress of sleeping at a sharp angle.

Eric stirs and moves his away to look at her. His eyes clear and focus as she feels him also try to stretch but hugs her tighter instead. "Morning, Honey," he murmurs, not quiet awake.

"Good morning," Sally replies then follows it up with a kiss on the closest available flesh which is half lip, half cheek.

The dim bulb illuminating their closet cave is dwarfed by the outside light flooding into their alcove as the door opens. "Good morning. I hope you had a good sleep," the voice of the man from the previous day announces his arrival before either of them see him. "Your rising heart rates and breathing indicate you are awake. Would you like me to let you out, or would you like to spend another hour in there?"

Eric looks up to their benefactor, "What time is it?"

"Just after eight," he answers and waits for their answer. Eric looks down to his wife who pleads with her face. She wants to stay.

He can't decide. "Our train is at 10:15," he recalls from memory.

"You could spend extra time in the shower, if you like," suggests the shift manager. "I hear hot water helps loosen stiff muscles."

The couple smirk at each other. "Okay. Release us."

When the air is returned and the elastic material is peeled off their sweaty bodies, they disappear into the bathroom. Just shy of an hour later, they return to the front counter dressed but disheveled. Sally runs a hand through her hair trying to tame the stray locks while tugging at her clothes to get them back into place. Eric swipes at the lipstick marks all over his face.

The clerk raises an eyebrow. "I take it you both enjoyed your stay?"

"Oh yes," he begins before Sally adds it.

Excited, "We'll be back. We'll definitely be back."

"I'm glad to hear that. I hope to see you again soon."

They nods and head for the door. "Count on it."

Getting their legs under them, they try to walk side by side while pressing in closer to each other. This sets the other off balance and walking like a drunken sailor with their wobbling suitcases trailing behind, trying to catch up to their swaying owners.

He watches them go. "I'm always happy to see a satisfied customer."