This elevator is taking forever.

Elsie fidgeted in place as she descended through the thirteen floors between her apartment and the park. Her breathing came in short gasps as her hips gyrated slowly inside her trench coat. Both of her suits held her private areas in the most sensual grasp, squeezing and sliding against her with every minute twitch or turn. With nothing else to focus on, her mind was flooded with the all-encompassing caress of her layered latex, and it was all she could do to keep her hands from herself as the elevator continued its slow descent.

Daylight poured into the cabin as the twin-doors split on the ground floor. The lobby was thankfully empty as Elsie stepped out and toward the establishment’s main door. Her breathing was loud, and the whistling of the gasmask’s vents pierced the silence of the lifts’ landing. She rolled her neck - the unbroken sheet of latex that was now her skin tugged across her back and torso to accommodate the stretch. It wasn’t exactly a white dress, but as she stepped out of the building and into the rain, she felt like an otherworldly, rubbery angel.

She is alone… they cannot touch her.

Elsie raised her umbrella and released the catch by the handle. Its runner climbed the tube and the umbrella seemed to deploy in slow motion. She craned her neck, looking up at the building towering above her through the clear canopy of her handheld shelter. The light autumn rain chattered noisily against its waterproof surface and mottled the view. She drew another noisy breath of musky rubber. The park was ahead of her, but the road crossing was to her right.

She had no idea if it was cold out. She had to assume it was, but the trench coat she wore did a good job of trapping her body’s heat… and she was definitely running hotter than usual today. The tightness of the latex around her hips and thighs forced her walk into a seductive sashay. And despite the layers of clothing that covered her, Elsie felt naked – rubber had a peculiar way of reminding you of your nakedness within its grasp. She could feel neither the weight of the trench coat nor the cuff of her boots; all she could feel was the uninterrupted one-ness of her catsuit hidden underneath the noise.

Elsie approached the crosswalk and jammed the button with her thumb. The puddle that had gathered on it clung to her latex glove and chilled her finger. So it is cold. A passing car flung still water onto her coat but she felt only the thud of the initial splash. As the rain slid off of her waterproof skin, she wondered what the driver must have thought. There was no way he didn’t see her, but somehow the anonymity afforded to her by the gasmask filled her with a courage she didn’t know she had.

The crosswalk turned green.

Onward, then. A car pulled up to the stop line as she crossed the street, but Elsie paid it no heed. What would they do, judge her? Who was ‘her’? In this moment… she was nobody. Just as the car’s driver had no identity past its make and model, she had no identity past her rubbery exterior. The girl within was merely a driver, tucked safely away from the outside world in a vehicle that sheathed her so wonderfully. Like a lock on a car door, the padlock clasped firmly between her legs made sure of that; she couldn’t reveal her face even if she wanted to. The small device that roused feelings of fear and dread before now brought her security and comfort.

Elsie let the umbrella down as she jaunted into the park. The rain trickled down across her suit as though it were crawling down her own skin. Each individual droplet felt like a little pinprick of touch. Stripped of its icky wetness, it melted away into a meaningless nothing. Like a white noise, the rain tickled her in a light fuzzy blanket, a constant reminder of the latex that held her tightly. It washed away whatever insecurity she’d harbored before, and it was strangely here, in her physically constricted state, that she felt truly liberated.

As she strolled along the familiar pathways of the municipal park, the sights felt different. Through the lens of her gasmask the world felt distant, like she was experiencing a different reality through a screen strapped tightly to her face and body. The red and orange autumn leaves rustled beautifully in the wind, glistening in the rain as her skin did in the light. Even her sense of smell was obscured by the thick scent of rubber mingled with sweat that filled each breath.

Her steps brought her around a bend and soon enough, the fountain edged into view beyond an artificial corner formed of a line of trees. Sat at its lip, amongst the bright autumn flowers quivering in the rain, was a figure wrapped in a black rubber mackintosh.

Kay.

She wore the coat with a deep blue scarf, and dark culottes peeked out from beneath its lapels. As Elsie approached her, she removed her sunglasses and smiled.

“You’re late,”

Kay brought up her watch for Elsie to see, but she could not make out the narrow arms of its analog face through the lens of the mask. She instead nuzzled her rubber snout against her partner’s neck, merely happy to finally be together with her.

Kay chuckled,

“and you’re all wet! Why didn’t you use the umbrella I gave you?”

“e e e h f - f h e l l - n e h f c e !”

It felt nice. It wasn't hard to talk in the gasmask, but the layers of rubber made her voice sound small, muffled and far away. Kay patted the back of Elsie’s head. Her touch brought with it a warmth that made her realize how cold she had been until now. She writhed within her rubbery skin in an attempt to spread that warmth through her body.

“Hahaha, I can’t understand a word. Well, since you’ve finally decided to show up,”

Kay took the umbrella from Elsie and reached into the crotch of its canopy. At the very end of the tube in the top of the umbrella, there dangled a tiny glint of metal that she had failed to see before. Kay yanked it free of its twine with a sharp tug, and brought a small key down into her view. Elsie’s eyes widened as she realized what it was, and she stared helplessly as Kay nonchalantly dropped the key into her purse and returned it safely into her bag.

She could have sworn her suits shrank two sizes in that moment.

Kay turned. With one hand, she pulled a small film camera out of her bag. With her other, she held her elbow out and beckoned to her girlfriend.

“Wanna walk around the park a little longer?”

Elsie beamed inside the mask – unlike her standalone gasmask, this one didn’t come dislodged when she flexed her face. Before the sensations carried her away, she skipped forward and wrapped her own rubbery arms around Kay’s.

“l e f p h g h o !”

“Hahahaha, I still can’t understand you.”