Green and Gold

Part 1: Box of Knives

By Dr. Mercurious

nthony knew his girlfriend Jessica would roll her eyes and flare her nostrils at his purchase, but that was something to worry about later.  Right now he had It.  He reflexively ran a hand through his brown hair and patted the wooden box as if to assure himself it was real as he drove back to his apartment.  It was painted a forest-green with gold etchings and the edges were trimmed in gold.  There were slots in the sides and top where knives were currently resting.  The front could be opened, and a sliding neck-stock made up the bottom.  A real stage-magic prop -- The Vanishing Head Illusion -- was now in his eager little hands.

Since an early age, Anthony had loved stage magic.  His parents had taken him to a magic show for his fifth birthday; ever since, he’d been enthralled.  He routinely perused papers, magazines and later the web searching for the latest TV magic specials and shows coming to the Boston area.  He was heavily involved in trading CDs of David Copperfield, Doug Henning, Lance Burton, and Penn & Teller.  He collected posters of Harry Blackstone, and even had a Houdini poster in good condition, lovingly framed.  Unfortunately, the one thing he’d always wanted had been out of his price reach; even his lucrative job as a freelance programmer wasn’t enough to justify the several-thousand dollar price tag that a stage magic prop went for, let alone one as well-crafted as this.  Perhaps the woman hadn’t realized what she had; it would explain why he picked it up for only two hundred.

If only Jessica shared his passion, things would be perfect.  Unfortunately, when he’d finally worked up the nerve to admit that his ultimate fantasy would be to really be able to divide her, she’d flipped out.  It was an impressive fight that followed -- her accusing him of various unpleasant things concerning his attitudes towards women, Anthony trying to explain that it wasn’t like that at all while simultaneously not being able to explain his fascination -- and it had taken him a while to patch things up.  He had no idea what her current views were on his ‘kink’ as she called it, but he hadn’t pressed.

As he patted his treasure, he decided he didn’t care.  After all, if he could tolerate her high heel fetish, Jessica could let him keep the box, he reasoned.  If she decided that it had to go, well, it had been a great eight months, but maybe it was time to move on.

**************************************

Jessica twirled an auburn lock around her finger, something she always did when she was thinking, and stared at the box as it sat on Anthony’s coffee table.  He’d invited her over for a nice candlelight dinner hoping the romantic setting would ease the telling.  She was dressed in a white blouse and short black skirt.  As always, she wore a pair of high heels -- this time, her 5-inch black ones with the gold bows at the toe.

The silence stretched out; Anthony, sitting on the couch behind the coffee table, began to get nervous.

Finally, she looked at Anthony.  “Okay, I’ll admit it, it’s a pretty conversation piece.”

Anthony let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding.  “Thanks, I thought so too.”

She sighed.  “Look, when you first told me about this thing of yours, I...well, it threw me a bit.  But after I got all the yelling out of my system, I realized that it was like me and my shoes.”  She leaned forward.  “Besides, I care about you too much to lose you over a silly thing like that.”

Anthony gave her a suspicious look.  “You're sure?”

Jessica nodded.  “Yes I do. In fact, I'm willing to prove it.”

He looked confused “Okay, you've lost me.”

She gave him a knowing grin.  “You DO know how to use that thing,” gesturing at the box, “without killing someone, right?”

He shrugged.  “Sure, it's pretty simple.  Why?”

Her grin grew wider.  “Up for a little role-playing?”

Anthony gaped like a fish.  “You mean it?”

Jessica nodded.  “I’m game if you are.”

He stood up and kissed her.  “Damn straight I’m up for it.”

She returned the kiss.  “Good.”  She backed away and slowly stripped down to her panties and bra - - and high heels, of course; Anthony enjoyed every undulation.  When she was done, she gave him pointed look.  “What about you?”

He grinned at her.  “What about me?  Magicians always remain fully dressed before or during a trick; afterwards is another story.”

Jessica snorted.  “I knew there was a catch.”

Anthony ignored her with grand indifference.  “Ladies and gentlemen,” he orated to the room in general, “is it with great pleasure that I, the great Horndini, perform tonight a feat of true magic with the help of my lovely assistant!”

Jessica rolled her eyes.  “Horndini?”

“Hush, you’ll spoil the mood,” he murmured back.  He took her hand and led her back to the couch, where she sat and crossed her legs, adopting a bright smile.

“And now...The Box!” he intoned, picking it up.  He slid the knives out and opened the front door.  “Nothing special about it, yet behold its power!”  He slid the stock out and placed it over Jessica’s head.

“You’re sure you know how to work this?” Jessica asked, a nervous flicker in her eyes.

“Sure I’m sure,” Anthony replied.  “Now HUSH,” he admonished, closing the door and sliding the stock into place.  Quickly feeling for the lever on the side of the box that would drop the mirror into place, he found it almost at once.

“The first blade,” he announced, picking up the knife and shoving into the top of the box.  Jessica gave a little jerk but remained silent.  “And now for the other two,” he continued, feeling himself harden.  He slid them home, and with a flourish opened the front of the box, revealing that her head was ‘missing’.  “Ta-daa!” Anthony proclaimed, bowing in front of the ghost applause.  Jessica was running a hand alongside the box, almost caressing it.

Curious, Anthony bent down to take a look; it actually did look like her head was missing.  A wave of sympathy enveloped him as he thought of how claustrophobic the box must feel.  “Jess, you don’t have to go any further with this if you don’t want too; I’ll take it off.”

Jessica didn’t answer, continuing to caress the side of the box.  Anthony grinned.  “Thanks hon, you’re a trooper.”  He peered closer; it was a very realistic illusion.  He’d swear that he could see the shadow of the vertical dagger cast against the rear interior of the box.  “Wow, I wish you could see this, this is real neat...how much space do you have in there, by the way?”

Jessica still didn’t answer, nor did she stop caressing.  Anthony frowned; she was either really getting into this, or something was wrong.  He tried to pull the top dagger out of the box but it wouldn’t come; he stood up and wrenched at it, but it held fast.  Alarmed, he quickly slid the stock out and lifted the box away from her shoulders.

“No way,” he breathed, as his brain registered what his eyes were seeing.  Jessica’s head had indeed disappeared! There was a little nub of a neck and nothing -- no blood, no scar, nothing.  The top of the nub was covered in skin, almost like she had been born that way.

“Jessica?” Anthony whispered.  Jessica’s hand, without the box, moved to the nub and began to caress it lightly.  The first touch caused the hand to jerk away but it found its way back almost immediately.  Anthony had to admit to himself; it looked very sexy.  His erection grew and his hands tightened around the box.

Maybe I’d better put this somewhere, he thought.  He didn’t want to think about what would happen if it got broken.  He went to his washroom and opened up the dryer.  This oughta do, he thought, placing it in.  When he got back, Jessica's body had stood up and unhooked its bra; it was now working on its panties.

“Jessica, can you hear me?” Anthony tried, louder this time.  Her beautiful body stopped what it was doing and turned to face him -- if anything without a face could be said to do such a thing.

“How do you feel?” he blurted out.  “Wait, you can’t answer, sorry -- you can’t even hear me, can you?”

Jessica’s body walked towards him slowly; without her face to look at Anthony found himself noticing the way her hips rolled, the perkiness of her breasts -- how absolutely sexy being headless made her.  He could do nothing but stare as it made its sure-footed way, despite its lack of sensory apparatus, over to Anthony and put its arms around him.  It began to rub very gently against his body.  His erection was getting painful in its intensity and he really didn’t know what to do next.  On the one had she had agreed to play along with his fantasy, probably even to the point of making love wearing the box; on the other, it was improbable in the extreme that she thought his fantasy could be reality.

She really seemed to be getting off on it, or at least her body was.  Anthony could tell by the spot spreading on her panties that she was very wet; it was that fact that decided it for him.  “Alright,” he asked her headless body, “what next?”

One of the body’s hands reached down and grabbed one of his, bringing it up to the neck stump.  He began to massage it firmly, bringing his other hand up.  Jessica’s body went wild when he increased the pressure, leaping up and wrapping its legs around him.  The sudden weight brought him to the floor.

“Oof!” he complained, smiling up at Jessica’s gorgeous body.  “Liked that, did you?”  Her body straightened up to push its panties down to its knees, then leaned back down into him for more stump-rubbing.  Usually, Jessica liked it when he played with her feet or breasts; her body definitely had its own priorities.

“God, you don’t know how much I’ve fantasized about this,” Anthony whispered as he slid into her.  Then he was beyond rational thought and his world was caressing and kissing her stump.  Habit made him move his hands down to the breasts a few times, but always Jessica’s body would push them back up to its neck-stump.  He settled for nuzzling its breasts while massaging the stump at the same time.  When he finally came, it was a shattering climax; the room even swam a bit.  For a while he lay panting, arms embracing his partner, her legs still wrapped around him.

“I hope it was as good for you,” he panted.  From the way a hand began stroking his chest, Anthony guessed the answer was yes.  He took the hand and kissed it.  “I’d love to lie with you like this forever, but I think it’s time to restore you.”

Jessica’s body straightened up and clamped its legs around him, trapping Anthony underneath; it didn’t seem to care for that idea.

“Look,” he panted as it squeezed.  “I think you look sexier without a head, but you can’t stay like that.” 

SQUEEZE.

“Well, think of how people will react,” he insisted.  I can’t believe I’m having an argument with someone who doesn’t have a mouth, he thought.  Worse, I’m following it.

This time the squeeze was a little hesitant.

“Plus, I know you seem to be able to breathe, but you certainly can’t eat or drink without a mouth.”

Jessica’s body gave him a softer squeeze this time.

“Look, why don’t I restore you so we can have a detailed conversation.  I promise to make you headless again.”  It was an easy promise to make; he hoped to make love to her like this as often as possible.

Jessica’s body seemed to think about this for a bit and then rolled off Anthony.  He picked himself up off the floor.  “Why don’t you go sit on the couch; I’ll be right back,” he said.  It did so, crossing its legs and folding its arms; he could tell it wasn’t happy by the way its foot kept bouncing.  He retrieved the box from its hiding place quickly before the body decided to leave or something.

As he held it, an idea occurred to him.  He couldn’t wait to see if it worked!

**************************************

“So, what was it like?” Anthony asked Jessica.

“Except for the fact that it felt very erotic, I couldn’t describe it,” she said.  “The best I can do is say that I actually couldn’t hear or see; more like, sense what was going on around me.  Caressing my neck-stump felt as good as having my pussy massaged.”  She smiled. “You could try it, you know.”

Anthony frowned.  “I’m tempted, just to experience it, but magic tricks tend not to be done on men.  I’d rather find out a little more about this box before experimenting too much.”

She tried to scowl at him, but he could tell her heart wasn’t in it.  ”You mean, beyond what you’ve already done?”

He leaned against the back of the couch and grinned.  “Sorry, but I just couldn’t resist.  I can restore you if you want.”

She shook her head.  “No, I’m fine.  It feels sexy, being like this.  Tingly, even.”

Jessica was adapting to her body’s new configuration quite well.  Anthony had decided to put the box on her headless body with the door facing her back and then take the knives out, just to see what would happen.  The result was that Jessica’s head now faced in the opposite direction; she could sit on the couch and look at him directly even though he was behind it.

“You’re sure you couldn’t make my head reappear in the box?  While it was off my neck?”

“I tried,” Anthony said.  “The knives wouldn’t come out, although I didn’t use my full strength; I didn’t want to break the box.  No telling what would’ve happened.”

“Yeah,” she said in a wistful tone.

Anthony guessed from her statement what she was thinking and figured he’d better derail that train of thought.  “Like, for example, whatever magic was keeping you alive without your head goes away.”

Jessica blinked a few times and her eyes grew wide.  “Oh.  I didn’t think of that.”

He ruffled her hair.  “That’s what I’m here for, to do the heavy thinking.”  She glared at him.  He grinned and kissed her on the nose.  “Seriously, did it feel that good?”

“Better,” she sighed.  “In fact, whenever there isn’t a good reason for it, I’d like to arrange things so if my head isn’t missing, it’s facing backwards like this.”

“I think I can handle that,” Anthony said after considering the problem for a full second.  “I just hope I can find the other pieces to the set.”

“You mean that magical prop?” Jessica looked interested.  “How do you know there’s more?”

“I don’t,” he said.  “But it’s likely.  I’d love to saw you in half, or just cut your head off without it disappearing.”

“Sounds yummy,” she purred, leaning back to kiss him.  “In the meantime, I feel like giving some head.  Interested?”

He smirked.  “Don’t you mean headless?”

Fortunately for Andrew, Jessica found it hard to tickle him into submission with her head facing the other direction.

END OF PART ONE