ON THE AIR with Kimber - a Blowgirls serial

[Harley]

(Continued from the previous page, read that first)

As the episode had been meant as an exclusive for everyone there was nothing more to be filmed - and just as well, because I couldn't wait a moment longer. I grabbed Kim by her lapels and pulled her in for a kiss that only stoked my fire and I don't know how we made our way across the floor but suddenly we were back on the couch, only now with me laying on top of her and pumping away like crazy against her thigh.
"Mmm...about time, eh, boss?" she sighed.
"Long overdue" I moaned. "Wanted to fuck you since before we got here..."
"Fuck away. Fuck me hard..."
I sure was trying to but the furniture sorta got in the way. I dunno how intense Kim and Lexi's tryouts had been since the couch was sturdy enough for them, but it wasn't for us. Or rather my shoes. As a knee slipped backwards the heel rammed the armrest and with a sudden pop the firmness was gone and we sank towards the floor as the all the air wheezed out through the hole. That only made me more desperate to finish and Kim grabbed my butt to squeeze and yank and hurry things up. The backrest hadn’t fully deflated when my yells of pleasure hit the walls but by the time Kim was done, so was the couch. We rose unsteadily and surveyed the damage.
“My bad”, I admitted.
Kim poked a fingertip through the puncture. “Doesn’t look too bad. A patch and you can blow it back up.”
“I’ll wait until it’s needed.” Then I kissed her. “Yummy, yummy Kimmy. That wasn’t all, was it? Wanna make it up to you.”
She smiled and ran the same finger down my face.
"Let’s call it an appetizer. Get that body pillow - if you haven't broken it."
I hadn't and went on that little errand, finding that Kimber had restored her look by the time I returned. She set to work on mine, touching up and straightening everything as best she could. It wasn't quite as good as what Lou had managed, but better than most of my own efforts.
"Point the camera back here", Kim said from the unadorned part of the room. "Let's improvise a bit."
Curiosity got the better of me and I did as told, joining her for whatever she'd had in mind. She held up the still-inflated dakimakura and addressed her members.
"We've had two requests to buy this already, and to prove we're impartial and to show Cheryl's got more qualifications than you can imagine I'm gonna ask her to settle the matter."
She handed me the inflatable. "Burst it."
Had she said "pop" I would have reached for a sharp object, but the choice of words made it clear she meant by lung power. As if everything else about the show, setting and subject wasn't enough. A tall order, considering what it was made to withstand, but for the occasion I was willing to give it a go. And to show her she would have to try harder than that to catch me off guard.
Without a word I pulled the plug open, clamped my teeth down on the mouthpiece and blew. There was still room for another couple of breaths, but after that it got tough. It didn’t help the nozzle was so uncooperative – my lips kept slipping and the lion’s share of my air sputtered uselessly past it. Kim stuck a hand in a pocket.
"Try one of these."
She handed me one of the portable valves made for the task and I stuck it in place, informing the audience what it did.
“They’re real practical. This should do the trick.”
It wouldn’t on its own, but I was more than happy to help. Now my exhales went where they should, but it wasn’t easy making them. I felt my cheeks puff out to their very limits as I blew as hard as I ever could. I thought the sturdy vinyl was stretching out just a bit as the willowy printed figure seemed somewhat less slender, but that could just be me hallucinating from my efforts. I was actually blowing myself lightheaded and that doesn’t happen too often. If it proved too much I could technically put it down and off it the way I’d killed the couch but it felt like backing out. Besides, I thought Kimmy might like seeing me succeed as much I as I would with her in my place.
By now I was sure my face had gone red but I’d be damned if I gave up. I shot a glance at my lover, who facing away from the camera mouthed three little words:
“Burst it, baby.”
That, along with her expression being just as admiring and adoring as I’d hoped summoned some hidden reserve. Suddenly I felt like C.J. Silvers, Dino Slayer – the conqueror of Dodo and bane of all inflatable beasts. The puny girl on the pillow would be no match for her! With a mighty puff I felt the material start to give way and made a final, tremendous blow. Accompanied by a PUMM the cylinder split apart at a seam and flew open between my hands, rapidly collapsing into a thin, disfigured sheet of plastic. I let it fall to the floor as I stood there breathing heavily while Kim broke into a slow applause.
“Amazing! Well done.”
“Do I get a raise for this?”
“No, but we won’t deduct that from your salary. Ladies and gentlemen, Cheryl Silvers. Best boss I’ve ever had.”
I took a bow and that would have to be the end. Nothing I could say would live up to my recent actions.

Kim turned off the camera and came up to kiss me.
“Fucking awesome, Chellie! That was so hot you deserve a little treat.”
“I think that should be worth a big one.”
“Just wait and see. Here’s something to rest your eyes on.”
She removed her jacket and I stopped her.
“What I already see is a heck of a lot.” I fingered her tie. “You know you wear these better than anyone I’ve ever known?”
“So glad you like it”, she sighed. “Because I wanna make it my signature look.”
Well, she had said she’d always liked them, but that might be taking things a bit far. Still, Kimmy admitting to wanting something was kind of a big deal.
I hadn’t thought up any comment when the strip commenced. The white top went first followed by the skirt and I gasped when I saw what she’d been wearing below all along. Her sheer nylons weren't pantyhose but stockings, fastened to her peekaboo panties with shiny black garters. While I'd known a bra had to be there, I’d had no idea it was so…elaborate. And sexy.
Looking like that she could be a professional lingerie model, and my jaw might have dropped just a little. She picked up the remains of the dakimakura, shook it out and held it at arm's length. The print wasn't damaged, only slightly distended, and Kim looked it over appraisingly before putting the whole thing aside.
"If they ever put me on one of those I would want it to be full-sized. With me wearing this and the hole just… About… Here."
She put two fingers on the opening in her underwear, spreading them along with what was below to emphasize the point. The sight was very inviting and I felt my tongue run across my lips.
"You'd be cool with that?"
Kim leered. "I know people get off to pics of me. What's the diff between that and actually humping one?"
"Fair point. Just never mention it to Kriss or she might commission a custom. That we can't really use."
"Wonder if they'd sell."
"Kimmily, if we ran a sex store I'd be all for it. But we don't."
"Too bad. I'd pose holding a very full balloon in my left and an empty one halfway to my lips… Something like this."
She planted her feet somewhat apart and showed what she meant with a saucy, playful grin that could as easily be an expectant inhale. Sam could probably make an interesting drawing from a photo of that, which was why I hoped the blonde wasn't getting any ideas.
"I love the idea of them having to blow me up for playtime, make them work a little for their fun."
"You would have to include a clause making them promise to inflate you by mouth."
"A disclaimer, at least."
I imagined a feller tending to a raging hard-on while blowing furiously to prepare his plastic playmate. Then a very understanding girlfriend took his place and the encouraging look she was giving him was so teasing and loving I got hot all over. As improbable as the thought was, it was just what Kim would do for me if I had the equipment. I hoped someone, somewhere had gotten to experience that and shown his appreciation accordingly.
"We'd sell some for sure", I said.
"I would so be up for it", Kim sighed. "But getting you off is plenty. C'mon, let's see what we got!"
She tugged on my hands and I followed her to the editing room, bringing the footage along for inspection. I hooked it up, started the playback and found the general picture and sound quality pretty pleasing. It should make for nice viewing even if you had no interest in our comments, but doubly so if you did. We did look neat for the camera and the inflations were smooth, effective and, dare I say, appealing. Every balloon seemed blown up to the proper size for its purpose, no more and no less, and there were enough of them to give a fair impression of the work we'd put in. The actual show looked good too and both would be even better once I'd added all the archive material. But the kicker was I actually enjoyed watching myself blowing the body pillow. It was a fair struggle but I didn't make a fool of myself and a rush of elation shot through me at seeing my screen persona emerge victorious. Wouldn't complain if anyone felt like jacking off to that - I'd be honored, even.
"You've sure earned this", Kim said, brandishing a small flash drive. "A little thank-you for all the work you've put in..."
She plugged it into the computer and brought up an edit that took me by complete surprise. The segments showed the rest of the Angels singing a line each of 'Happy Birthday", punctuated by popping the identical black balloons they were holding, the same brand Kim had used to open the episode. Only they were saying 'happy burstday' instead. It was a total flashback to what we had done every night during our final production, and during some of the balloon-o-grams we'd handled off-stage. The main difference was that these balloons were blown to the absolute limit and about to pop on their own, which would have been too risky in the previous context.
A nice idea, but what really made it seem like a conspiracy was all of them wearing the exact outfits Kim and I had sported for our shoot. That little gift from Kriss had nearly given me a heart attack the first time around, and now my other sneaky bitch had arranged a return performance. In a way this was even worse, since the girls no longer had to think about matching each other perfectly and had added personal touches here and there to enhance their respective appearances. I couldn't help thinking they would have had it easier if I'd had a thing for, say, baseball caps.
Then it struck me that those would also involve them simply putting on something they didn't normally wear and that their current look probably wasn't as loaded to anyone lacking my tastes. I had been pretty indifferent to it myself before the night Kriss inadvertently added some connotations. The sudden insight brought such relief I allowed myself a huge grin as I relaxed to take in the pretty impressive display.
First out were Betty and Mandy, one after the other, and by now it was really obvious Amanda was in the family way. Not that she'd grown fat as she'd feared, but her belly was bulging against the black top she wore under the open jacket to somewhat hide the effect. Her heart-shaped face was a bit rounder too, in a cute way that became her.
Then came single shots of Jo and Sam, singing just two words each and popping their balloons before vanishing as quickly as they'd appeared, followed by blink-and-you-miss-it shots of Nita and Carrie bursting balloons to make the line end with a triple pop before the finale which was delivered by Riko and Tessa. Those two had shared screen time, and while Ree popped her loon on the first syllable of 'burstday', Teresa waited until after the last note to put a noisy end to the song with an innocent smile that looked all kinds of wrong on her. I chuckled at the effort behind the whole thing.
"You have put some thought in. But I'm surprised the Londoners had time for this."
"You kidding? They were ecstatic! Gave them their first excuse for some real alone time. And Nita’s parents were happy to babysit.”
“Checks out, but changing just for that?”
“They said it felt appropriate to dress for the occasion even if they asked to skip the singing. Was a limit to the noise they wanted to make."
I thought the popping would have been worse, but suspected they'd just wanted to keep it as brief as possible. I knew I would have in their position.
"You cut it yourself?" I asked.
"Yeah, getting the hang of it. But I had some to work with."
Turned out all the girls had filmed themselves blowing up several balloons, popping one for every relevant point in the song - which was performed in its entirety. I know, because Kim made me sit through all the unedited versions to make sure she'd made the right calls. I had no objections whatsoever and for the first time felt completely at ease with my dress preferences. And the onscreen ladies seemed as comfortable wearing them, nonchalantly inflating balloon after balloon to the bursting point in a neat and professional way. The only thing even slightly distracting from the formal impression was their beautifully bulging cheeks, but those had always been a vital part of their performances. Samantha had a balloon accidentally pop in her face, but while she jumped a bit it was a remarkable improvement over her earlier, near-phobic reactions. Jo blew her first balloon up until it burst and didn't so much as bat an eye at the explosion. Ostensibly it was to see how far she could take them, but I knew it was really an act of sympathy. If Sam happened to break one, she didn't want to come off as better.
There were no other blow to pops, but I'm sure there would have if they'd been certain we'd use the outtakes. As the last balloon was tied off I turned to the instigator.
"And what did you promise to get them to play along?"
Kim shrugged. "I just asked nicely. Can I help they jumped at the opportunity?"
"Guess not. I'm just happy it wasn't worse."
"Oh, but that wasn't all! They agreed to a little bonus, for your eyes only."
I felt I'd gotten more than enough already. "For me?"
"Just watch."
She opened another video, and boy was I ever shocked at seeing Sam and Jo smiling knowingly at me, looking just as they had in the balloon videos. Shot in sequence, I gathered.
"Hey there, Cheryl", Sam said. "We know you're watching this time so no need to feel guilty."
"Totally sanctioned", Jo put in. "Hope you'll like this."
With that they turned to each other and began to kiss, forgetting all about me for the moment. Evidently they'd decided to show just how much in love they were. At some length. Though I had a feeling it wasn't a spur of the moment thing. Not that I cared - the display was so sensual and sexy I just about lost my breath, because if I've ever seen two people completely into each other, it's them. There was nothing but absolute desire in the exchange, and as if to prove it they ended with a final remark.
"By the way", Jo said, "We're not wearing anything below this."
"And plan to make good use of the fact", Sam added. "Feel free picturing it."
That was about what they'd said on closing night, but this time it was an actual promise. As the clip closed it was replaced by a similar greeting from Riko and Tessa and by now I knew something was up but didn't protest. It was just too hot. Apart from the standard stuff Tess took the time to lovingly and thoroughly suck Ree's tongue, something I knew from experience would turn her on beyond belief, while her beloved reciprocated by pausing to tenderly blow in her lover's ear. I'd been told that'd have the same effect.
"She's in good hands, Cherita", the latina assured me.
"The best hands", Mariko moaned. "And lips, and ohh…"
Whatever she was about to say was cut off by another demonstration of the latter and they sank out of view, ending the vid. There was more, though.
"Something not meant for general viewing", Betty told us, "but ogle all you want."
"It's my turn to be her dolly", Mandy said with a happy grin and puckered up prettily. Her wife took her face in both hands, covered her lips with her own and blew so sweetly you'd understand Amanda's eyelids going all a-flutter. Elizabeth lowered a hand to test the tumny for firmness, then looked thoughtful.
"You can take some more", she said and blew again.
Mandy looked like she was able to take a lot more and willing to risk it, but had to settle for what she got. Disregarding any viewers she grabbed Betty's head fiercely, eyes burning with passion.
"Wish you could blow me up…"
Then she went to work on her lover's lips, the self-confessed most erogenous part of Betty's body, licking and nibbling and treating her mouth to everything it could ever ask for. A delighted jaw dropped in response as her head tilted back, accompanied by gasps that showed just how nice she found it. Eventually she regained enough composure to return the kiss and it was evident things were about to get very, very explicit.
"Better turn this off", the brunette said and reached for the cam. "I think she's about to blow."
A husky "You're damned right I am" was the last that could be heard before the clip went black.
Not for long though, as Vanita and Caroline appeared looking at us from across the Atlantic.
"Thanks for the excuse to do this", Nita said. "So hard to get time alone these days."
"Not that we don't manage enough to scrape by", Carrie added, "but a planned session is grand!"
Then they wasted no more of the opportunity on words and were all over each other. You could tell how much they'd longed for it and within moments the redhead's hand had slipped beneath Vanita's jacket to cup and fondle. Their kissing was so urgent I felt a twinge of guilt for cutting in on their precious time, but it didn't seem wasted in the least. It was something they most definitely would have done anyway and sharing it with me was either just a courtesy or blatant exhibitionism. I imagined the latter. As Nita's amazingly long tongue withdrew with a final, loving lick I hoped the rest of their sojourn had been spent at least as nicely.
"That was something to be sure", I said. "So what did you tell'em? 'I'm gonna see how hard I can make Cherry wince. Wanna make it a contest?'"
"There's no evidence. And I didn't use those actual words."
"If I'd been a guy you would have. Except for leaving out 'wince'."
"Damn right I would. But I thought you'd be happy. Aren't you?" she asked with such a cute pout I'd forgiven anything.
"Happy, flattered, flustered, yes. But also incredibly frustrated..."
I slid my hand inside her jacket the way I'd seen Carrie do. "I notice you didn't do any on-screen kissing…"
"Saved it up for you. Besides, my partner had another partner."
She touched the quick dial on her phone and the answer was surprisingly quick. But not as surprising as the view of the video call.
Lexi and Kris's were both at the other end, having dressed up just like all the rest. And evidently put in a real effort in the makeup department too.
"We had a photo sesh too", Kriss explained. "How was your shoot?"
"Just fine, but why are we keeping the distance?"
"So you can watch the final installment as intended."
With that the phone was set down and the kissing commenced. Once more I looked on while my wife locked lips with another lady dear to my heart, sucking and moaning and getting so into it I was aching to join them, on either side or both.
“Hey, save some for me…”
Lex looked straight at the lens.
"You're not missing anything, Cherrie. Tomorrow I'll give you this."
Then she covered Kriss' mouth with her own and began to kiss with such feeling I got outright envious. The cradling of each other's faces in tender grips seemed so wonderful I couldn't wait to get my share, but for now all they could do was turn me on. With considerable success. I had to tell them I'd had all I could take before they broke off, wishing us a pleasant afternoon in sultry tones before hanging up. I had to lean on Kim's shoulder for support and she took the chance to stick her tongue in my ear.
"I promised you a kissing show you'd never forget", she whispered.
"Not in a hurry…" I panted. "And now what…?"
"And now, Cherry baby…I'm gonna kiss you until you come."
Her fingers ran down my cheek to copy Lexi's style and when our lips met a shudder shot through me all the way to my feet. Since my hand immediately went between my legs it took Kim less than twenty seconds to deliver on that promise, but then she said "Cheater" and made me hold her instead until she'd managed it the proper way too. If you know a better way to spend six minutes I'd sure like to hear it.

Kim kept caressing my hair, licking my neck and blowing in my ear while I recuperated, and before I could ask she revealed her plans weren't finished.
"That's it for starters. Ready for the main course?"
I was eager to see what that'd entail and followed her to the Fun-geon, but once inside I put her ideas on hold by taking the inflatable copy of me from its shelf.
"Blow her up", I commanded, thrusting the limp doll into Kimmy's hands. "Blow her as hard as she gets."
She obeyed, puffing away as fast as she could while I took all of my clothes off. I put them on the just-filled mannequin and placed it on the bed.
"Now fuck her. I wanna see what you'd do to me without my reactions getting in the way."
Holy shit, was that ever encouraging. Kim went at it with such fervor I feared it would be the end of Silly Two (long story), but she held up admirably and the sight inspired me so much I had to inflate Kim's counterfeit twin in a hurry to join them. I barely looked at the doll I was grinding against - my eyes were glued on Kim unleashing her desire on her unmoving companion. I began talking dirty to her, saying all the things I imagined the voiceless effigy would have wanted to, and that spurred her into an absolute frenzy. Watching Kimmy getting her kicks while growling the filthiest things imaginable made me want to switch places with the doll, but the stiff, blown-up thigh between my legs was enough to finish me off for the moment. Kim pretended the noises were coming from her current partner and moaned encouragements while picking up the speed to cross the line herself. Her yelps and cries rang through the room and I waited for the right moment to pull her into my arms.
"Bestest fuckbuddy."
"Dearest friend."
I pushed the dolls to the floor. "Love you, Kimmilly. Sorry for hijacking your plan."
"It was in the right spirit", Kim panted. "I thought we should spend the rest of the day on the air."
As we happen to own just about every inflatable sex toy we've come across it wouldn't be too difficult, and if that wasn't enough the bed was the blow-up variety too. The only trouble would be to choose where to start, but after some R&R Kim walked over to Blowser who was standing in a corner, beginning to sag from lack of use. She knelt down to remedy that.
While she blew the dragon back into shape I relieved her of the lingerie, dressing Inflata-Kim like the original had been only moments before and posing her in the arms of Silly Two. They could keep each other company, because we had no more time for them. I joined Kimmy for a nice ride on the mythical beast before we gathered up every prop we could possibly use and brought them to the bed for preparation, inflation or reinflation. Then I donned the best strap-on I'd found so far - with dual-action for her and her pleasure - and opened the bedside drawer to pull out as big a handful of various balloons I could hold. I dropped them all over Kim's nude, prone body as she grinned and spread wide for me.
"Now…" I leered. "Let me remind you how much harder you come when you blow."

Hours must have passed but we didn't exactly keep track, and what we actually did could probably fill a small encyclopedia on wickedness. When I finally left wearing only a robe I could barely walk. Kriss gave me an amused look as I staggered into the kitchen.
"Guess you've been enjoying yourself?"
I nodded in passing.
"Good on you", she smiled. "Where's Kimmy?"
"Fast asleep in the Fun-geon", I replied after downing some orange juice. "If you think I'm a wreck you should see the other girl."
"Sounds like a happy anniversary."
"Could call it that. By the way, we're out of loons downstairs."
There was an impressed whistle. "Really? Seems I refilled only yesterday."
"What can I say? They died for a good cause."
And in the name of science. I'd found out exactly how hard I could come while blowing.
"Done for the day then?"
"Almost. I promised her I'd bring dessert."
Which I did, in the form of Kriss and Lex to spend the night with us. Lexi snuggled up in her wife's half-conscious embrace while I spooned the blonde and Krissie did the same with me, reaching across us all to complete the circuit. By way of bedtime story they whispered what they'd kept themselves busy with, wording it matter-of-factly enough to make the recounting only moderately arousing. As I drifted off into sleep I promised myself to have them show some of the episodes instead of just telling. I had a feeling a lot was lost in translation.

The next day I immediately began working on editing, which took even more time than I had suspected but shaped up to be a fitting commemorative edition. Kriss had been so wowed by the latex carnage left in our wake she'd volunteered to clean it up - another memorable event. Lex had been more impressed by the remains of the inflatable love seat, or whatever to call the black shape designed to support all kinds of interesting positions. She had figured it burst-proof but evidently it wasn't. Granted, it had held up pretty well, and the description of what we'd been doing when it went bust made her beg Kriss for a replacement. Preferably today.
Kim wanted some more sleep and I couldn't blame her, though I perked right up when Lexi walked in to give me what she'd said she would. She even showed me the pics they had taken plus a filmed encore of the live show they'd put on for me. Getting some of that myself along with some expert fingering seriously hampered my progress, but a girl's gotta have priorities. Even if the office couch withstood the following make-out session, I decided against telling Lex about the other. She'd just laugh and break the mood.
Eventually I was summoned to lunch and a freshly-restored Kim joined us wearing a sky blue t-shirt and a matching bow tie. On her it didn't look like a quirky, haphazard addition but an elegant accessory put on with some care.
"You're a bit early dressing for dinner", I noted.
"Just trying out my new signature look", she said. "Is it okay with you?"
And it actually was. My wife would probably have something to say, though - and she did.
"If she gets one I do too."
"Can't have the same”, I said.
"Wasn't thinking that. I thought I could start wearing shirts and waistcoasts - crisp, tailored ones. With the occasional tie."
Alex gasped, as that would be right up her alley. "Jackets too?"
"When I go out, for sure. This'd be for around the house. Feels so professional. Not to mention cool and, whatstheword, suave."
"Any objections?" Lexi said, daring us to protest. But we just shook our heads with big grins. Would be low-key awesome having Kriss loaf around like that. She gave Kim a sly smile.
"You turn my wife's head, I turn yours. Fair's fair. Besides, I kinda like it."
So did I, and was pretty sure Kimmy felt the same.
"Gonna get a lot of these" she said and turned to me. "But you get to nix any you don't like."
"Deal."
"So", Kriss said as she rose. "What are we waiting for?"
There was nothing for it but going out shopping for ties. And a new love seat.

The videos went up on time and the reactions weren't long in the coming. Apart from plenty of well-wishes the appreciation was sorta overwhelming. Funny what a difference a hundred balloons can make. And Kimber got some overdue recognition in a private message:
‘I knew you had to be Vikki Trixx! Saw all your shows - loved 'em ever since I was in your test audience. Remember that?’
Of course we did, and all the rest of the numbers that admirer was gushing about. Kim promised him one of the new as-yet-unprinted glossies - signed, of course - in return for keeping the particulars between the two of them, and to throw a handful of loons into the bargain. The episode had suddenly made them a hot commodity and we had several pre-orders for the new batch.
And one of the offers for the dakimakura was renewed and even raised in spite of what I'd done to it - or likely because of that. I was tempted to sell but stuck to my principles, stating it had already been thrown out. Regardless, I got some very flattering reviews of my performance and was even begged to become a permanent on-screen fixture. I promised to at least show up for special occasions.
The members got to see the birthday song, but the outtakes from that would be reserved for the second DVD which would hopefully be done by Christmas. But there were plenty of other celebrations before that.

[ChillinHaze]

I really felt the excitement in this one ^^
First for the anniversary of the show and then the very impressive make out session.

Actually, how big is their Fun-geon if it can fit a bed plus a big inflatable dragon like Blowser and several more inflatable toys and balloons?
I'm hardcore biased as ever but the little part with Blowser got me all giddy again xD

[Harley]

Episode 53

Having feted the program, there wasn't many days left to my own wife's birthday. As she brought us along to the costume shop with the promised promo material I sorta feared she was planning some kind of antics involving clothes, and I wasn't mistaken. We'll get to that in a bit.
Jess, who we by now knew the shopgirl as, had some things to relate.
"Thanks a bunch for the pass! Kyle was so happy."
Kim smiled. "I take it that's your guy?"
"Yep! He was awestruck at the work you put in backstage, he'd been sure you used pumps or compressors."
"Most people would", I said.
"Luckily he wasn't drooling at what you did or I would've had to cut him off", she laughed. "But he couldn't stop talking 'bout how impressive it was… so I had to show him I could too."
"Howd'ya do that?", Kim wondered.
"We've got this spare bed, king size. Supposed to be inflated with the pump that came with it. But I brought it out and did it myself. Valve was a bit big and it took a while but wasn't too bad."
Lex nodded knowingly. "And was he impressed?"
"Let's just say he wanted to try it out at once."
"Nice going", Kris's exclaimed. "Think you can do something with these?"
She handed over our last 50-pack from the old batch of logo loons along with some stickers and a printout stating that we bought our stuff in this shop. Jess immediately began to look for a good spot, neither too prominent or obscured. A part of the wall behind the counter was selected after rearranging the display objects and she attached the sticker and disclaimer.
"A couple of these should help grab attention", she said, and picked out a green and a blue balloon. She brought the blue to her lips and seemed surprised it didn't expand when she blew.
"It helps to stretch them", Kim said.
Jess obliged and made a neat, controlled inflation, blowing the balloon a little bigger than her head.
"That enough?"
"Yeah", I said, "we don't wanna hog all of your wall. And with that much left there's no risk it'll pop on it's own."
"Much left? How big do they get?"
"Oh, something like this!" Kris's stated and eagerly helped herself to a red one. She put her skills to good use and rapidly blew it up all the way. Jess recoiled a little when the neck stretched out, but seemed more surprised than alarmed.
"Holy… That's a big balloon!"
"They all are", Kriss smiled, holding the loon up and tilting it back and forth between her thumb and fingers. Then she let the air out and pocketed it absent-mindedly.
"Have to try that at some point."
"Maybe not at work", I suggested, impressed that my wife had refrained from blowing to pop. She has some respect for public places.
Jess nodded and blew her second balloon up as much as the first, measuring carefully to get them even. She taped them to either side of the sticker and nodded with satisfaction.
"Hope this'll help the show. Speaking of help, anything else I can do for you today?"
"Yes, there actually is", Kriss said. She turned to the rest of us. "Why don't you girls run along? I'll meet you at the restaurant."
There was nothing for it but taking our leave and setting off. While I like surprises as much as the next person, I always get nervous when Kriss has something in mind. Her lack of restrictions - both in imagination and finances - makes it hard to even start guessing. But for once I felt at ease, since she was about to have something sprung on her for a change in just a few days.

That morning arrived and I woke Kriss up for some cuddles and an early birthday blowjob to make sure she'd stay in bed relaxing for a bit. Then I hurried to the dining room and found the girls already at work blowing up and hanging balloons. They were just 11-inchers, but high-quality, shiny ones. They said good morning and threw me the bag, wordlessly telling me to do my part. I joined in the puffing and asked if everything was ready.
Just a formality, really - of course it was, but on the kitchen counter for safekeeping. Two dozen loons was about enough for the occasion and Kim and Lex raced each other inflating big golden mylars in the shape of a 'H' and a 'B'. We'd tried spelling out 'Happy Birthday' at an earlier party but the results left a bit to be desired. Then we brought out the chocolate-frosted cake and the neatly wrapped box of dessert-themed pralines from some European manufacturer. I knew from experience it was a very good brand and had called dibs on at least one creme brulee and one coffee in perpetuity. I could already taste them as I went for the birthday girl.
Kriss acted surprised as we played her the customary song on our preferred instruments, then blew out the candles with a single, magnificent puff, getting kisses both as a reward, to mark the day and because any excuse for that is good enough. She laughed in anticipation at the contents of the parcel, flipping it open and inviting us to help ourselves. We had coffee (cocoa in Kriss' case) and cake before being told she had a surprise for us as well. While it was located in our quarters, it was far more wholesome than you'd think. We have an unspoken rule to consider unmarked boxes under the bed hands-off, so even if I'd seen them I would've had no idea.
"Time to show you what I got at the costume shop", she announced and produced three bags with colorful - bordering on garish - fabrics. The labels proclaimed they belonged to the Super Mario franchise, which surprised me since we aren't exactly gamers. Still, I knew the gist of the story. Kim got a pink dress labeled 'Peach' while I was handed a yellow and orange one marked 'Daisy'. Those I recognized to some extent, but was puzzled by the blue number titled 'Rosalina'. I didn't even have time to say we didn't exactly look the parts before Kriss had unveiled a trio of extremely unrealistic wigs with plastic crowns attached to them. Those would help but it was still a strange choice. Until Kriss explained.
"I thought and thought about things you haven't covered and then it struck me - video games!"
She had a point. It wasn't a bad idea at all but a dress for Kimber would have been enough. My darling idiot wife countered that too.
"I've seen how nitpicky fans can be - thought it better to include them all."
"These two I understand, but you're gonna be…Rosalina? Who is she, anyway?"
"Just some kind of space princess, I think. I'm sure you can read up on it."
That was the white elephant part. Someone would have to write something.
"Too bad they're all so pale", Kriss said, shooting a mournful glance at Lex who replied with a bemused smile.
"I'm good, believe me."
"Still. I'm so sorry there was nothing for you, love. Maybe this will compensate a bit."
She brought out a flat, expensive-looking package, evidently from a boutique, and Lexi's eyes fairly sparkled as she flipped it open. It contained a gown fit for an actual princess, light lavender and cream with simple gold embroideries. The squee can't be described so I won't try. Suffice it to say it went on at once and even I felt a twinge of envy at such a pretty dress. The wearer twirled around and at that moment you would've had a hard time picturing her in an action movie. After the sight had been properly appreciated Kriss urged the rest of us to try our outfits too and even if the fit was fine I felt slightly idiotic doing cosplay next to Alexis's new finery. But I had to admit we - for lack of a better description - sort of looked the parts. The getups were probably licensed and there is something to be said for companies caring about their trademarks.
"So whaddya say, Chel? Think you can write something around these?"
"For her, probably. Not sure how to work us in as well."
"You'll think of something", Rosalina said with absolute confidence.
Easy for her - up until this hour I hadn't even known that character existed, and I'd only seen pics of my own precursor. She should have bought a Nintendo too if she wanted me to find out more. Or maybe not. Because what she'd gotten instead was plenty.
"You're gonna love these", she said, pulling out a shipping box that seemed to have been opened only recently. Within it was what I hoped to be shop displays, since the mind boggled at what else people would do with an inflatable Mario… and Luigi. Ebay's a blessing and a curse in equal measures.
The unfolded figures appeared to be about four feet from shoes to caps, so at least neither life-sized or naked. But that was the entirety of their positive qualities, apart from a distinct likeness with the originals.
Kim laughed and clapped her hands. "Bet this will be the first time Peach has blown Mario!"
For the sake of justice I hoped not. After all the hoops he'd jumped through for her it would be the very least she could do in return. If anyone did even half of those things for someone they'd better give awesome head.
As for me, I was Luigi's designated girl. Sort of paired up for lack of alternatives - or more likely, thought up for that particular purpose. Or to quash any rumors of turtle romance. Still, it was just a part and I could settle for that. I inflated what was basically just 'green Mario', even if there were token differences these days.
"That takes care of the plumbers. Whose love interest was Rosie created as?"
"Oh, I think she's just some side character. So I got this!"
A drawer held a deflated mylar star in gold, which wasn't too bad. At least better than that dino I couldn't even name.
Ah well, it gave me something to work with. And also reminded me of the day's main attraction - what Kriss was now gleefully blowing up looked a whole lot like the letters we'd decorated with. I waited for her to finish.
"If we're done here maybe you wanna find out what we got you."
Kriss seemed to have expected nothing more than the choccies despite gifts being an annual tradition and lit up. We set the costumes aside for later - except Lex, of course - and I blindfolded the birthday girl as an excuse to bodily guide her to the living room. And give Kim a chance to bring the parcels out unseen.
The smaller packages held everyday things that are still nice to have, like mascara, bath oils and a new nightgown, but the solid rectangular one was the main attraction. I'd ordered it well ahead of time and couldn't wait to see her reaction.
It was all I could have hoped for. As Kriss unwrapped the giant beach toy her grin just kept growing bigger and seeing it was just the model she'd hankered for during summer made her let loose that wonderful girly laugh of hers.
"Need to try it out right away! To the pool!"
If you've spent any time around her that was pretty predictable, so we'd kept bikinis at hand just in case. Kriss giggled as I handed over her own without a word.
"You think of everything, don't you?"
We'd surely planned for the inevitable follow-up and brought the musical implements to the poolhouse to provide some entertainment while my wife did what had to be done. She was adamant a camera had to be present so there'd be some evidence she could share on social media. I took a pic of her brandishing the box and blowing the first few breaths in before joining my bandmates for some light accompaniment. Kriss doesn't have to be in the ensemble for me to enjoy playing with them, and seeing Kim's increasing skills on full display must have been like an extra birthday present to the lady happily tapping her feet while inflating a toy so big most people would doubt their ability to do it.
Kriss of course had no such qualms and slowly but surely the enormous, blue, silly-looking but cute sea monster kept growing into shape. It wouldn't be wrong to call her a pneumatic powerhouse and I wasn't entirely joking about renting her out as a pump. Would probably be lucrative to install her in a booth at some beach, with the sign 'POOLTOYS INFLATED - $5'. Making it ten would be greedy - air's free, after all. And if you think the idea stupid the worst part is she'd do it.
Anyway, I kept taking photos of her progress between songs and thought of how she'd certainly prefer the whole thing being filmed. But Crystal Mackenzie's a musician, not a fetish model, so things like that had to be downplayed. The episode with the mammoth had only passed under the cover of being a commercial. Still, I was sure the frozen moments of her blowing up this leviathan in her black bikini would be appreciated enough. It was after all the only type of beach toy befitting someone of her talents, and it wasn't without pride I watched her fill it up to the limit by lung power alone. I grabbed the camera for a final snap of Kriss pressurizing the creature properly and one of her posing with the final result, smiling almost as stupidly as the sea dino. Once that was done I wondered if she'd proceed the way I'd imagined.
Of course she did, attempting to launch it at once. Only problem was it was hard enough climbing onto it on the floor - from the water it proved pretty much impossible for her. We had to hold it in place while she straddled it from the poolside and then spun it around so she wouldn't crack her head on the edge when she fell off. You may notice I didn't even think 'if'.
Incredibly enough it looked like a really fun ride and Kriss seemed to have a pretty damned good time, rocking back and forth and making waves. Then the inevitable happened and I don't mean she made a splash. Remember how she had certain plans from the moment she first saw that thing? She set them in motion, starting to thrust and grind against the inflated plastic while making faces that showed it was an even better way of using it. And I actually encouraged her. Soon we were all making lewd suggestions, cheering her on as she wrapped her arms around the thick neck and got serious about the whole thing. It was an amazing sight and while it was a shame to not record it I felt it the safe thing to do. Showing her blowing up the toy was probably fine but I wasn't sure some of her fans would survive finding out what she did with it. Heck, I wasn't sure I would. I got so hot and bothered perving on Kriss fucking the huge inflatable while bobbing up and down on actual water I sorta wished we'd been at some secluded beach to make the thrill even greater. Being secretly watched while watching would be strangely exciting.
"That's it - pop against him, baby!" Lex cried.
Kim was as enthusiastic. "You blew him, he owes you!"
"Come on", I moaned. "Come, come, come, come, come!"
And she did. Throwing her head back Kriss gave such a gasping groan the whole room echoed with the noise and the entire float quivered and shook along with her. She relaxed with a satisfied smile and I was happy she'd had so much fun on her first outing with the new toy.
Then she slid off, making the least graceful landing this side of whatever. A leg sticking straight up was briefly all that could be seen of her before submerging along with the rest. I waded out to help her up - she could make the walk herself but it's the thought that counts. Clinging to me she made her way back onto dry ground.
"How do you feel?"
Kriss' face split into a mischievous grin. "Breathless."
She pretended to swoon in my arms and Lexi came over with a deflated silver air mattress to put her down on. With barely a pause she began to blow up the pillow under the dripping wet hair while Kim started on the main part far below. You can probably guess what I was supposed to do and complied without any protests.
Soon enough the bed had swelled up and risen enough to lift her off the floor and cushioned by the breath of her lovers Kriss spread her legs wide for easy access.
"Make it a double", she said.
I kept kissing and blowing into her mouth while Kim and Alex simultaneously licked her, and while only the inflated beast was watching from the water it felt delightfully wicked. Within minutes Kriss tensed up all over and popped in the manner Lex had suggested. I gathered her up in my arms as she recovered and planted a big one on her cheek.
"So how was your present?"
"A-ma-zing", she panted. "Thanks."
"Whatcha gonna call him?" Kim wondered.
Kriss looked the plump ride-on over, then came to a decision.
"Blooper."
"Blooper?"
"Tell me he doesn't look it."
She had a point. The inane expression practically screamed for a name like that and Kriss' tumble had been an actual one - more or less caused by the inflatable.
"Bit close to Blowser but not bad. Heya, Blooper - good boy!"
Alex was already towing the behemoth ashore and once landed Kim went up to hug and press her palms all around it to check the resistance.
"Mmm…you are a good boy, aren't you?"
Kriss insisted we all try him out and even if we didn't go all the way Blooper definitely felt like a nice playmate. I knew I'd sooner or later find out just how nice he could be.

After lunch Kriss picked out four shots from various stages of the inflation and posted them for her followers with the caption 'Look what I just got for my birthday! Who needs summer for fun at the beach?'
There were more congrats than anything else but no lack of pooltoy-related remarks.
'Have you tried it out?' was one and Kriss replied yes, she had. But the only further elaboration was 'I fell off! '. They'd have to guess at the rest.
After lunch all four of us shared some musical fun, with Kriss getting to call the shots and tunes. I think she might have enjoyed that even more than Blooper, but then again, it is her thing. Then she told us we had reservations at a little place I'm not allowed to speak much about - suffice it to say there are ways to go out in absolute privacy if you're willing to pay and being able to openly date as a foursome is worth every cent.
"Time to try out our new signature looks?" she asked Kim.
The younger blonde just nodded. She'd dressed pretty much the way she'd always done for the last two episodes, one of which had just been filled with shoutouts and thank-yous to fans who'd sent particularly nice well-wishes along with reading some of them out loud. We'd reused the festive backdrop for that but it had been thoroughly destroyed afterwards in a popstravaganza for members. Then there'd been a regular ep to show we weren't done with those, but I knew Kim hadn't given up on her plans.
So it wasn't without anticipation I helped Kriss pick out a tie to bring out her eyes and match my blue dress. She wore it with a dove-gray three-piece-suit and a wide-brimmed fedora - pretty gangsta. The tailored waist of the jacket made her look so cool I wished she'd keep it on all evening. Well, most of it.
Lexi was of course debuting her new gown but what Kim had put on was a bit unconventional and timeless at once. A lavender bow tie and cummerbund to go with her partner was all very well, but the white double-breasted jacket and pants were unexpected. Still, she was absolutely gorgeous in it, having brushed her hair into a peekaboo style more like Kriss' usual style than her own. (This time my wife had opted for tying it back loosely.)
"You like it? Got the idea from a namesake. Been waiting for a good time to try it."
Well, there was no way she'd gotten that off the rack lately so I guessed she'd been stacking up on the vintage pieces. She showed me a pic of the inspiration and it wasn't bad at all, but I doubted any Hollywood A-listers would get away with it these days. Would be fun to know what the fashionistas had to say about Ms. Basinger the night she wore that.
To pass the time waiting for our ride we finished the bag of party balloons, racing to blow them all to pop. Kriss won, of course, but Kim got a loon as white as her suit that put up such a fight it was a shame we didn't film it for the site. It outright refused to pop, even after she'd blown the neck to a near-unbelievable length, and before she was done her bright red lipstick was smeared all over it. The loon lost, of course, but not without giving off an incredible bang and scattering itself all over the room. The poor presenter was so taken by the struggle she had to blow an orange one to burst right away to make sure she hadn't lost her touch. As that went much smoother she gave a satisfied smile and put her makeup back in order.
The rest of the night was just dreamy and when we got back from dining and dancing the smooching and fondling took over. We'd almost made our way to the bedroom when I decided to pull a fast one. I ran my hand over Kim's hair and looked straight into her eyes.
"Kimmy - do me a favor?"
"Anything."
"Kissie didn't believe me when I said how fast you made me come with that lip service", I pouted. "Show her?"
"My pleasure."
I meant she'd do it to me again, but she went to work on the birthday girl instead. Ah well, at least I got the missing part of that kiss show. Lexi sidled up to me and blew in my ear.
"Blondie isn't the only one who can do that…"
She went on to prove her point and then things got real competitive. In the good way, where everyone wins.

I didn't describe my mates' getups just to satisfy my own whims - it marked the point when they actually began making good on their intentions. Earlier that fall we'd discussed a pilgrim outfit for the Thanksgiving show, but that was changed to having Ms. Kimber put on her ruffle-collared shirt, the hand tied navy bow around the collar adorned with tiny white polka dots. A dark blue waistcoat made her even more prim and proper, even if the makeup was at least a little bit provocative.
One decision that didn't change was to put the inflatable turkey to the only practical use it could ever have and I suppose the folks at Puffco had intended it for something related to the holiday. Though what is beyond me. At least it served admirably as a prop for 'On the Air' and the unlicensed teacher blew it full of her breath with more dignity than the situation called for. Or should have.
With that in place she gave a little lecture on the history of the day, but it was stuff already covered by real schools here in the states. She mentioned how it has its roots in European harvest festivals, but also religious observances giving thanks to God for having survived the transatlantic voyage, for making it through a harsh winter and other acts of providence. Various places in New England and Virginia claim to have held the first Thanksgiving feast in the US, bolstering their claims by defining their version - religious observation or secular holiday - as the one that should be counted. President Kennedy tried to put all that to rest by declaring them all equally important, but the squabble naturally keeps going. October 1621 is generally held to be the true date, when a group of pilgrims celebrated their first harvest together with the Wampanoag tribe of natives who'd helped them get settled.
The version we know was decided by Lincoln to fall on the fourth Thursday in November, but Roosevelt thought holding it earlier would help the Christmas shopping season. So in 1939 he moved it a week forward, which only messed with people's schedules and plans for the holiday. Needless to say, 'Franksgiving' was only celebrated three times before being moved back to its proper place.
Serving large dinners is in keeping with celebrating bountiful harvests, and the traditional food involves stuff that could be found locally by the new settlers - turkey, green beans, cranberries, corn, potatoes, squash and pumpkins. The size of the meals means more food is eaten in the States at Thanksgiving than on any other date. Apart from the gorging and squabbling around the table there's also football on TV, 'Alice's Restaurant' on the radio and Alka-Seltzer in the cabinet. Oh, and religion of course plays a part. Your beliefs may vary.
Kim went through all that for the benefit of her non-US viewers and revealed the turkey behind her would live through the season as it had received a presidential pardon, just like the bird annually gifted to the incumbent. Then she went on to more relevant things.
"Of course, another well-known tradition is Macy's Thanksgiving parade, where carnival floats and giant balloons of famous characters make their way through the streets of New York. It's been around since 1924, which makes it the second oldest in the States - only beaten by Philadelphia’s parade which was started by another department store - Gimbel’s - in 1920. However, Macy’s is tied for age with ‘America’s Thanksgiving Parade’ in Detroit.”
Ms. Kimber adjusted her thin glasses before going on. "The first years it consisted of employees in colorful clothes, marching bands, floats and wild animals on loan from Central Park Zoo. As it was intended to open the Christmas shopping season, the climax of the show was putting Santa Claus on a throne on the store balcony. The whole thing was such an immense success it was repeated the next year and became an annual tradition, but since the beasts tended to scare children it was decided to have them replaced in 1928. The substitute turned out to be inflatable rubber creatures."
The presenter took out what looked like a floppy toy lion, only with a big balloon neck instead of a tail. She placed it between her lips and exhaled, immediately making the critter's body swell up. The thick mane and legs kept their shape as the rest kept inflating with Kim's breath, outgrowing the appendages while getting bigger and more translucent with every puff. She blew it up until it looked fit to explode, then deftly knotted it and placed the bloated shape on the desk. The aptly-named Puffimal made for a good illustration, but I'll get back to that later. For the moment the teacher went on with the lecture.
"This is a poor representation of the giant balloons used in the parade. They were filled with helium and pulled along the route before being released into the air at the end as an extra publicity stunt, with a hefty finder's fee promised to whoever returned one. Naturally, this wasn't entirely unproblematic. One year a cat balloon caught fire after flying into power lines and the practice came to an end in 1932 after a pilot tried to bring one down prematurely with a plane, nearly crashing in the process. And if you're thinking boys will be boys, I might mention it was a female aviator showing such initiative."
I actually felt a twinge of feminine pride at that. Proves there's gender equality even in suicidal stupidity.
"But even grounded the balloons stayed popular and are to this day the main feature of the event. Even if you're not a New Yorker you've probably seen them on TV - the three-hour spectacle has been broadcast nationwide since 1953. Regardless of the dimensions they are still balloons though, and balloons - no matter the size - might…"
She tossed the lion into the air and quick as a flash brought out a knitting needle, resting it point up on the desk at the estimated landing spot. As the Puffimal descended it struck the sharp implement and burst with a very final snap, draping itself from the top of the oversized pin.
"...pop."
Ms. Kimber let latex and steel topple onto the surface and began to list full-sized incidents, picking up a paper as she began.
"High winds have torn more than one unfortunate animal apart, or blown them into lampposts or other obstacles. Sometimes they can proceed with a deflated compartment but often have to be removed completely. And as helium expands with heat, it's important to not fill them too much. On occasion parts of balloons have exploded from too much sun.”
An acquaintance once told me about having seen the turkey’s tail pop for no good reason and I’d chalked it up to balloons being balloons, but finding the real cause made sense.
“Let’s go through some of the mishaps over the years.”
It wasn’t particularly interesting, but highlighted how many times things had indeed gone wrong and just how fragile the air-filled behemoths are. Stuff like
“1952 - Crocodile, puncture. 1955 - Spaceman, arm torn off” made up most of the segment, though a helium shortage in 1958 leading to the balloons instead being filled with air and hung from cranes plus the extreme weather in 1971 keeping them all grounded were standouts. As Kim reached 1983 I bit my lip, knowing what had happened then.
“Mickey Mouse - exploded during inflation.”
Imagine being part of the crew at that point. I’ve had awkward days at work, but none even approaching what that must have been like.
“1997 was a turning point in the parade’s history. So much went wrong that year new rules had to be put in place, limiting balloon sizes, having them attached to utility vehicles and adding a minimum number of handlers. A few examples of what’s known as ‘The Great Balloon Massacre’: The Pink Panther got out of control in Times Square and NYPD stabbed its tail to stabilize it - which helped a little but it still struck a lamppost and deflated. Barney the Dinosaur met a similar fate not far from the same spot and just like the panther had to be mercy-killed by knife-wielding policemen. Several other balloons got minor injuries while a bystander suffered a major one when The Cat in the Hat broke a lamppost which fell into the crowd and put a woman in a month-long coma.”
While that was pretty bad, I was surprised there hadn’t been more or worse accidents over the years. Seems the incident made them wise up to the risks:
“Since then, most mishaps have been of a technical nature, with helium loss and handlers falling over being the most common - although a few trees have been hit as well. Still, the parade is an impressive sight that’s sure to bring a lot of smiles to onlookers. In keeping with the date, let’s give some silent thanks to all the volunteers that year after year make the event possible.”

The lesson ended with Ms. Kimber promising extracurricular activities in the form of instructions on how to make a procession for home use, and I actually dreaded shooting it as we set up the members-only segment. That part had already required quite a lot of preparations. As Kim still held balloons should never be inflated "wrong side first" every single one had to be carefully conditioned - i.e. pre-stretched by being blown up to the max a few times over. The previous night we'd gathered up every single shaped one in the house and all we could find at the party store. Then we all set about filling them as carefully as possible. Even Lex, who’d always felt jinxed around special shapes, had gotten skilled enough to handle at least the giant caterpillars as they were basically just oversized knobbly ones. I worried a bit about Kriss but as I’ve said, she can show restraint when needed and actually did a better job than me. I felt a bit of a klutz when the big blue mouse-ear exploded in my face.
Naturally we had to make more than one of each since Kim’s method almost certainly came with an accidental pop guarantee, but we had a lot of fun doing it. There was just one huge elephant left though and she had to handle it herself to make sure no one else could be blamed for its premature demise. Not since Easter had I seen her blow something up so meticulously, and after five fillings the pink latex seemed to have a sporting chance at survival. There’d be a bunny this time too, but it was a different model - shorter, fatter and with thicker ears. Even I managed to blow one of those up without bursting it. Lexi, however, wasn’t as lucky and stuck to simpler shapes like the big dolls with penguins printed on them. And of course the Puffimals. The fish we had used in the show that had caused Carrie no end of grief were cheap knockoffs, but these actually had a brand name. Hadn't seen them in stores for a while but our supply came from some sort of surplus sale. The time to use them was now or never, because we frankly didn't have the heart to fool around with the cute balloon critters. I'd always thought they'd make lousy toys because chances were playtime would end in tears. A popped balloon can be bad enough - a burst animal must be ten times worse. Granted, the rubber was strong and pretty hard to inflate, but would still be no match for a sharp object as Kim had just proved on camera. The round bodies didn't need any particular inflation skills apart from lung power, so we only blew those up to check for holes. Well, except for Kriss, of course, who filled her frog so much that me, Kim and Lex found ourselves backing away to a safe distance. The pop was sudden and sharp, leaving the mostly intact but torn body dangling from the thick mouthpiece.
I glared at her. "Lemme guess - you were trying to illustrate that fable with the ox."
Kriss appeared to suddenly remember it. "Always hated that one! For a while I actually thought you could burst from bragging."
I'd never been a fan either but I'd been more traumatized by a movie where some brats blew up a bullfrog through a straw, waited for someone to take pity on it and then killed it with a slingshot. Dunno if the rest of the film was any good because I stopped watching there.
Kriss brought me back to the amusing side of exploding amphibians. "Just had to see how big they can safely get. You want them as big as possible, right?"
Kim nodded. "Gonna see if this holds up."
She inflated her tiger nearly as large as the frog had gotten, and Lex blew up an elephant as much. I had a fish and hesitated, remembering the act I just alluded to.
"I know what you're thinking, boss", Kim said. "But these are not the same. The bad ones had the mouthpiece in the, well, mouth. And weren't blue."
I conceded the point and kept blowing the thing up through the tail. It stretched out obligingly and looked deceptively strong, but I didn't go beyond what the others had done. Kim and Lex filled up a lion apiece while Kriss checked a replacement frog for weak spots and that was pretty much it for the preps.

Now the deflated shapes were all placed in a black velvet pouch so we could do closeups of Ms. Kimber fishing them out - would help editing to have a restart point for each in case they blew up in the bad way.
Having moved in front of the neutral backdrop the teacher welcomed the class and started to talk about distinct rubber shapes.
“Now, the balloons they put on display are far too large for this room but I’m going to show a few interesting varieties for home use.”
She produced a green specimen and stretched it for the camera to mask the preinflation as much as possible.
“This is supposed to be a mouse. You may have seen the model - for example, they’ve been popular at Disneyland.”
Ms. Kimber inhaled and began to blow it up. It swelled out, expanded, grew an ear and popped. Auspicious beginnings indeed. If we were to keep that shot I would have to bleep it - wouldn’t do to show her use such an expression. Still, the second attempt went much better and the blue loon took shape as it should. She tied it off, held it up at different angles and placed it on the table behind her. Then she went for the next one. It was very similar but rounder with less pronounced ears, although for compensation had a printed rodent face.
“I tend to think of these as hamsters”, Kimber said and inflated it without incident. The orange rubber contrasted nicely with the first balloon and she took out something in pink.
“Here’s a cat” she said and blew, the fourth puff using up nine lives in one go with a sudden bang. As she cleaned it away for a retake I suggested a change.
“You may have heard about ‘Cat Ballou’ - here’s a cat balloon.”
That one survived to the end, the only downside being the whiskered print not showing too well against the red background. The small ears were pointed, or as near that as inflated latex can get. Not even sure they’re supposed to fill up, but Kriss had been very thorough about forcing air into them.
Kim went on to the bunny Mk II and I got a flashback to the last time she’d tried her hand and mouth at that. Even if this was technically a less demanding shape and size she still blew two rabbits to bits along the way and had to start over. But the third time was the charm and she set the purple loon aside with the demeanor of someone succeeding at their first go.
Next came a giant duck and as we’d only ordered those in yellow a single closeup would do. Not that it was needed as the first attempt was enough. I pretended it had been the one I had prepared, just to feel a little pride at my skills.
Then it was time for the pink elephant - the last of its species. While Ms. Kimber blew in long, measured, steady puffs and the shape filled out nicely it didn't last all the way. Just when you could finally tell what it was supposed to be the balloon popped without warning. The inflatress must have expected it and had a line ready.
"Seeing pink elephants is a sign of drunkenness anyway."
Without waiting for a closeup she took out the Puffimal version and blew into its trunk until it took on dangerous proportions - approaching the max volume of rubber frogs. Then she tied the appendage off and it was here yours truly nearly ruined the take by snorting. It was just what I imagined a jungle queen might do in some silly cartoon and watching the latex pachyderm have its snout replaced by a thick knot sealed the deal. I managed to keep it in, though.
Kim inflated another lion, a tiger, a frog and a fish in quick succession and placed them with the rest. A penguin print came next, but she'd saved the best for last. An oversized green caterpillar emerged from the pouch along with her hand and watching her fill it up was a sight to behold. Her powerful breaths made it go from limp and flat to stiff and thick, and its shape made the transformation even more remarkable. If a balloon can be described as getting truly blown up, this was the perfect example. Ms. Kimber puffed away with such skill and force it didn't take her long at all to finish the last of her animal companions, and by the time she leaned the tied-off loon against the wall the collection looked complete. But I knew she wasn't quite done.
"The last balloon in the parade is traditionally Santa Claus, so let's end our little version with him as well."
She took out a big red doll-shape and without wasting any time started to blow him full of air. She didn't waste any breath either and before long you could see a pretty elaborate white print of Saint Nick stretch out and grow in front of her. As a Christmas ornament it was definitely on the bulky side, but made for a pretty impressive seasonal prop. He got bigger and bigger as Kim kept going and before long the trained eye could notice the neck starting to swell. Ms. Kimber, however, proceeded to blow with the absolute confidence of someone completely certain her balloon is able to take much, much more.
I do sympathize with anyone wishing to make Santa look more jolly by blowing him fatter, but as I'd discovered the hard way years before, most balloons aren't molded for that. And just like back then, Kimmy's rubber man literally went to pieces from her efforts. There was a loud bang and the balloon was no longer anywhere in sight. She blinked a couple of times at the emptiness.
"I guess the holidays may be a little late this year. Father Christmas definitely is."
She tucked away the mouthpiece left between her fingers and went on to an extra bonus.
"Now, there are shapes that have been deemed unsuitable for the parade and I happen to have a few that don't quite fit into this one either."
To demonstrate, she blew up an arch, a squiggle and an omniloon, tying the previous two to the anchor points of the latter. It was a weird collection, but an interesting showcase of lesser-known balloon types.
"Then there are outright novelties."
Even before she began on the boob balloon you could clearly see what it would turn into, but Kim blew it up as off-handedly as if it had been a regular heart. The peach tint and the big nipples went uncommented upon as she reached for what would be the very last entry.
Seeing the prim and proper teacher inflate an enormous latex penis by mouth was even lewder than with the vinyl one from a previous lesson, as this one was actually expanding, extending and growing bigger in her grip. She took it from her lips.
"It's important to know when to stop. If you blow these for too long they will explode in your mouth."
Disregarding her own advice she blew in two more big puffs, tied the balloon off and added it to the motley crew of rubber shapes. I imagined a line of showgirls carrying them through the streets and thought it wouldn't feel entirely out of place here in Vegas, only somewhat underfunded. Especially if it got out they hadn't even been provided with pumps. Kim was thinking along the same lines:
"There! For parade planners on a budget. I might add that these can't be reused year after year, but shouldn't be too expensive to replace. A Macy's balloon can cost up to a hundred thousand dollars to construct, and filling them all up with helium adds over half a million to the bill."
Quite a bit could be saved by having the volunteers blow them up as well, but I suppose they wouldn't float as impressively then.
"I hope you've learned a bit about what it takes to make those giant figures so festive. It's an impressive sight, even when viewed through a camera."
She could be referring to either the original event or the miniature recreation she'd just performed and be equally correct. But no matter which, the lesson had come to an end and she dismissed the class before walking over to me, putting her hands over my shoulders.
"I want to right now…"
So did I. I kissed her and led her to the very inviting mattress, guiding her onto her back and getting on top. While she might have appeared like a strict miss, once below me she acted more like a shy schoolgirl and we made oh so sweet love without removing a single garment. Giving and taking like absolute equals, there was nothing but utter delight all around us and Kim held on to me with total love and devotion as I did my utmost to make us both pass the point of no return, and once we sailed right over that she lay back with an adorable smile, leisurely adjusting her already immaculate bow tie.
"Oh Cherry, I love dressing like this…”
“I love that you love it. Because it’s such a wonderful look for you.”
“And you make me feel so sexy in it. Want everyone to see that.”
We agreed she’d have plenty of chances in the future, as long as she mixed it up a bit. And kept wearing appropriate costumes when needed.

The animal balloon drew quite a bit of commentaries, including several queries about where to buy them. But one sentiment stood out, if only for the capital letters:
"PLEASE POP THEM!!"
Kimber replied that they were meant to last at least throughout Thanksgiving, but hinted she wasn’t averse to disposing of them later on. Which was done by way of the aforementioned knitting needle though not without sympathy for the doomed critters.
Another asked if Kim thought she'd be able to blow up an actual Macy's balloon and she said no, of course not. If it had been Kriss the answer might have been different.
At any rate, that rounded off November and as we headed into the final month of the year I hoped Kim would enjoy her birthday present as much as Kriss did hers. I had a hunch she would.

[ChillinHaze]

Being European I can only imagine how fun the Macy's Parade must be, especially for a looner ^^

Also, it would be a dream come true to get an amazing toy like Blooper for my birthday. Seemes like Chriss was having so much fun she couldn't help getting naughty with her new toy and having your lover(s) encouraging you the whole time is such a gratifying and empowering thing.
Gosh, no wonder she was so pleased and blissed that she slipped off in the end.

[Harley]

EPISODE 54

The year was officially drawing to a close with the coming of its final month. As Kim had definitely settled on a trademark accessory she put a black one on for the birthday video, along with leggings in the same color and a red blazer. I got distinct ringmaster vibes from that and realized we hadn't said anything about circuses yet. Or clowns, for that matter. She inflated green and white balloons for a seasonal look and made sure to mention herself along with other celebs born in December.
Not to be outdone, Kriss wore a white shirt and red tie for her clip, with Lex in a black cocktail dress hinting at the New Year's festivities while matching the balloons and her partner's vest. I have no idea how they managed to give 'Happy Birtday' a Christmassy sound with just two trumpets, but the feeling was there.
We recorded a regular show with Kim in regular clothes, but then it was about time to do something for her own day. This time we filmed it ahead of time and the presenter dressed up for the occasion in a blue satin blouse with short, puffy sleeves and a matching bow around her neck. She mentioned that she didn't want to blow her own trumpet and explained that the one she produced belonged to her wife before sounding a small fanfare to announce it was her birthday. Then she went on to rattle off some trivia tidbits on the subject I'd swiped off the net and since it'll take less time for you to google some than for me to repeat them I'll leave it at that. Kim did however finish with a local touch - mentioning that the world's biggest birthday cake was baked in Vegas for the city's centenary in 2005, weighing 130 000 pounds and measuring 102 by 52 feet, making the 20 inch height seem paltry. We'd placed a much more modest version on the desk and Kimber blew out the candles after making a wish - that people would click those ever-present buttons below the vid.
Naturally there were party balloons in the studio, but only members got to see the preparation and disposal of those. Which was justified, since there was a load of them. We all pitched in to help blow up two massive bouquets of metallic 11-inchers flanking the birthday girl - plus a third one we didn’t film since one of Kim’s wishes for the day was a post-shooting fuck on top of it. So it went onto of the studio bed, and so did the presenter right after finishing a saxophone number for her subscribers. It was the most popular birthday song in Sweden (and the Netherlands, as it turned out) which sounded cheerful enough but Kim's evident eagerness wasn't in anticipation of presents. Without so much as a word she pulled her skirt up and while Kriss guided the strap-on she'd donned into place me and Lex got ready for our turns. There were quite a few pops at the start but as the surviving loons rose to the sides and enveloped the pair only the occasional smaller bang accompanied the big one. I went second and managed to screw Kim's grin even wider in record time, and as she popped herself not long after that I had to make room for her wife. Lexi's treatment of the blonde was so intense and inspiring me and Kriss had to sneak off for a private session on the nearest suitable surface. Which was the hallway floor.
In other words, business as usual.

Kim was far more casual on her actual birthday, and while there were both loons and cake for the non-public celebration they paled in comparison to the heavy, compact box I'd sent for at the same time as the sea monster. Within was a heavy-duty inflatable lion and while it lacked certain parts it had definitely been designed for humping. The cover picture didn't do the contents justice, the magnificent mane and playful pose notwithstanding. Even without holes and protrusions there was enough body to rub against for the desired effect. Just as well the valve was on its rump and out of the way for most positions.
I've seldom seen Kim inflate something in such a rush. She huffed and puffed and blew with all her might to bring her new plaything into a usable state and as soon as she finished she threw herself on top of the prone beast, cozying up to the king of the animals with almost audible purrs. I don't think she remembered we were watching - or at the very least didn't care. Her jeans came off like on their own accord and then she was boinking away, giving the lion a thorough shagging and shuddering all over as she came not two minutes after stripping. She slid off and turned around with the most lascivious grin.
"You have to try it!"
No one protested - at least not until Kim pulled the plug and began to squeeze the air out of the critter. Lex opened her mouth although her wife was quicker on the draw.
"But you'll have to inflate him yourselves - Pawtrick's particular about that."
She seemed kind of disappointed I didn't react to the name and wiggled a deflating appendage at us. "I'm sure he's got a few paw tricks up his sleeve..."
"I got it the first time. Hand him over."
I received the not-quite-empty plastic animal and brought the big valve to my mouth. As I began to blow into it I felt Kriss' arms encircling and starting to undress me. Her voice was low and husky in my ear.
"That's it, Chellie, give Pawtrick a nice, big blow job…"
I did my best, filling the tan hide with all the breath I could muster, feeling it grow and swell from my efforts. The scent of fresh vinyl was strong in my nostrils as I kept inhaling and exhaling while Kriss did her best to turn me on, which she managed masterfully. I was throbbing with desire long before I'd finished inflating the damn thing and gasped for the air I would have to keep blowing in if I wanted relief from the pressure threatening to burst me from the inside out. I blew the lion almost as tense and only then did Kriss release my nipples to let me mimic Kim's earlier movements. Almost at once I knew why she'd insisted we try. It was a very pleasant ride, just bouncy enough to remind me what I was boinking while warm, pulsing pleasure radiated from the point of impact. I hugged Pawtrick tight as I kept pumping against his inflated body, the sensation increasing until I could take no more and gave in to a wonderful climax that had me rocking from side to side between the thick hind legs. I stayed on top for so long that Kim had to remind me there was a line by opening the valve again and I slowly sank down as the material went limp from my weight. I picked myself up along with the sadly deflated toy and passed it on for my wife to remedy the lack of pressure.
She wasted no time doing so, blowing furiously over and over again and eventually forcing so much air inside it I was worried it'd split apart. I'd long since given up on predicting how much Kriss will attempt to inflate any given object, adopting the pragmatic view of 'if it bursts, it bursts'. But it would be bad form popping Kimmy's present.
However, she did stop in time and as if reading my thoughts turned to me.
"I just want a nice, tight ride."
It was tight all right. I've never seen an overweight lion but at that moment 'overblown' got ticked off the list. Kriss clambered onto it and began thrusting away, losing herself completely in lust. Her movements were wild and desperate, as if she was in a real hurry to get off, and if she wasn't she went about it the wrong way. I'd know that yell anywhere but this time it wasn't a signal of being done but rather getting started for real. Her moans drowned out the creaking of the taut pvc, blown firm enough to provide only minimal give to her pumping, gyrating hips. A leg went up to hook around Pawtrick's and the new position must have been great for her as a whine rose while her efforts redoubled. A shrill groan intensified into a shriek as Kriss rolled onto the floor, pulling her playmate along and going for thirds by taking one of his paws in a firm grip and rubbing it against her privates with single-minded focus. I love watching her masturbate and was aching to jump in and help with my own hand and mouth, but Kim had beaten me to it and was busy rewarding Kriss for picking up on the pet's name. I could only look and finger myself while once more wondering what brass fans would think if they knew how scandalously wanton Crystal Mackenzie is in private. Her passion isn't limited to music - or at all - and I sometimes think she loves sex even more than Kim. Me and Lex are the restrained ones, and yet we take every single opportunity to fuck. I resolved to wear a strap-on for the entire next day and bend Krissie over every piece of furniture I could find. After all, it had been months.
When the blondes had finished they picked up the lion and as the valve came open the air started to violently rush out from the incredible pressure. They still placed the inflatable between them and squeezed it flat while hugging and kissing with genuine love and affection. I could totally see them inflating it together as well and wouldn't take any bets against it happening in the near future.

While my wife had her fun Alex had rushed off to retrieve one of her mementos from the theater - a leopard print bikini with matching loincloth which was really a torn miniskirt. She looked ready to give Tarzan a run for his money and blew up the lion with such speed and ferocity I thought she was going for the kill. But once she'd plugged it up she started grappling with the puffy predator, wrestling it into submission and pushing its face towards the ground. Then she began humping it from behind in a display of total dominance, rubbing herself against the base of the tail and looking like she was having a grand old time. Which she probably did. It was really erotic and both blondes were just about drooling at the sight, whistling and cheering Lexi on.
But the spectacle was spoiled for me because I couldn't stop thinking about some prop master bringing one of Pawtrick's brothers in for a scene where Tarzan rescues his mate from a bloodthirsty beast. I pictured the hero launching himself from the foliage and plunging a knife into the plastic body. I could hear the pop and the hiss and the laughter from the crew, see the leading man stalk off in a huff and Jane taking pity on the lion and blowing it back up. Or failing and ordering her stunt double to do it. That'd be an interesting day on the set, and a canny cameraman could probably make a buck or two off the unused footage.
I shook my head and came to my senses just in time for the grand finale, Lex throwing her head back with a feral howl as she gripped the blow-up tight for a fierce, final grind. Fade to black and roll credits.
Having kissed her beloved thoroughly Kim reached out and opened the valve once more, making Pawtrick sink into a well-earned rest.
"Sorry, but the lion sleeps tonight."
"Not the loins, though!" Kriss said and pressed her own against Kim's hip.
"They'd better not", the birthday girl nodded.
I watched the oversized pool toy deflate with some sympathy. On the one hand, he would only be blown up by gorgeous women - but on the other, he would be expected to deliver each and every time. I'd tell him no pressure except there'd be quite a lot of it.

We took a break for lunch before bringing out more surprises for our youngest family member. There was no doubt Kimmy had fans and that quite a few of them had remembered her day. For the last week or so our postal box had been piling up with deliveries which I’d secreted away and screened, with mounting astonishment at the amount and contents. While there were several nice cards and cash envelopes, the majority was made up of actual gifts. We were no strangers to the occasional package, but this was a minor deluge. And most of them factory-sealed. Kimber would probably have to make a separate thank-you video - though without showing any of the presents. It would be unfair to those who’d sent stuff that wasn’t suitable for general viewing. I'd quietly disposed of the two dildos and the (admittedly expensive) vibrator - we were well stocked with those anyway. The same went for the inflatables and balloons that weren’t in the original packaging since there was no way of telling where they had been, but there was still a substantial amount of fun stuff Kim could blow up and put in the studio.
And some that she couldn’t. Two different viewers had sent her identical replacements for Barbie - cheap bachelor party quality inflatable dolls. As Kim had zero interest in those Lex surprised us all by opening one of the boxes and tossing the other to Kriss.
"Let's race."
Needless to say she didn't need to ask twice. Her opponent tore the cardboard open in record time and shook the contents out, looking to Lex to see where the mouthpiece was located. Once she'd found the vinyl valve in the middle of the doll's back she popped it open and glanced up for the go-ahead. I counted them in and without a moment lost there was a whooshing noise from both directions as the plastic began to fill up with air.
Those things can't hold much at all, and soon their legs were spread at V-shaped angles while the sagging heads rose with every breath blown in. It would be wrong to call them puffs - these were great gusts delivered with galestorm force, and it was only a matter of time before the flimsy joints would tear apart from the pressure.
With a rather disappointing pop Lexi's doll split open at the crotch and with the very next breath Kriss' inflatable lady followed suit, instantly losing its shape and collapsing into a pink formless heap. She turned to the winner - not with disappointment, but pride.
"Wow, that was fast!"
Lex shrugged. "I suppose these are good for a quick bang."
If nothing else, it was a household first as blow-to-pop races went. We'd done beach balls and swim rings, but never fuckdolls. If those could be called that, lacking the necessary openings. Then again, so did Pawtrick.
One gift got used as intended, though. We'd never gotten around to buying one of those ourselves, mostly because of fearing injuries. But I'd always know we would have to try one sooner or later, and as the wrapping came off it was clear that time had come.
I've always been fond of space hoppers, and have to admit I've considered alternative uses for the ones with pointy grips. But this one had been designed by someone who'd considered the twin handles an afterthought and had added two appendages for which there could be no alternate usage. Kim looked at the deflated sphere with a mix of anticipation and glee.
"Can I try it at once?"
"Be my guest" I said, wondering if I should locate an adapter. The fuchsia material only had a round hole accompanied by a white stopper, but Kimmy deftly covered it with her lips and started to blow.
The wrinkled ball began to unfold, growing smoother with each deep breath. Soon you could see the phallic pegs sticking out from the center along with the handles, and as Kim kept inflating her newest toy they rose to the occasion. It was clear some lube would come in handy, so I swiftly fetched a bottle and returned just as the blonde was struggling to add some final pressure. She blew hard enough to turn her bulging cheeks a reddish hue, then plugged the hole with the tip of her tongue while moving the stopper into place. A minimum of air escaped with a sharp hiss as she put it in and then she held the whole thing at arm's length for a complete inspection.
"Mmm. This looks fun."
She took the bigger dildo in her mouth and sucked it thoroughly before moving on to give the smaller nub the same treatment. All of a sudden I couldn't wait to see them in action, risks be damned. I handed her the flask without a word and she responded by taking all her clothes off and rubbing the appendages with a generous helping of glide. Then she straddled the ball and gently lowered herself onto it, making sure everything went where it was supposed to. A small gasp told everyone watching she'd hit the bullseyes and without a sign of hurry Kim grabbed the sturdy grips and gave a trial bounce.
This time there was nothing small about the gasp and by degrees both the airtime and noises increased until she set off on a lap around the room. We had to jump out of the way as she seemed to have forgotten we were even there. Thinking quickly, Kriss opened the door and on her next pass Kim went through it, the sounds of her pleasure growing fainter as she vanished down the hallway. But no less intense - rather the opposite. We followed her to see where the ride would take her and as she reached the wall she turned around to hop towards us, throwing her head back and moaning loudly on every bounce. As she approached it was clear she was just about ready to pop and when it happened she launched herself into Lexi's arms, the taut ball still held in place by clenching muscles. She yelped and shuddered and came while her lover held her tight, the first signs of the throes subsiding being the plaything dropping to the floor. Kriss waited all but five seconds before speaking.
"I'm so up for that", she exclaimed, unbuttoning her pants.
I wiped both shafts with a Kleenex and lubed them before helping guide her into place. With a lecherous grunt she set off and if the sight hadn't been so sexy it would have looked ludicrous. Instead it was a major turn-on, and Lex was already undressing in anticipation of her turn - which came shortly after Kriss did. I felt like an old-time gas station attendant, cleaning and preparing vehicles for the riders, but after Lexi had finished with an extra-hard landing that almost burst the ball I finally got to go myself.
It was glorious. Bouncing along while being fucked both ways in that manner was hot enough, but having Kim's breath help push the rubbery rods deep inside me brought it to another dimension. I came so hard and fast I had to keep on for an encore, and the second orgasm was so disorienting I tumbled right off and onto the floor. I didn't mind one bit. My only regret was not buying a ball like this earlier. They really should be packed with an adapter instead of a pump, because no sane woman would mind having to huff and puff a bit for such a fun time. Society has grown lazy.

We got dressed and put the rest of the presents away for later use. But Kim had gotten digital gifts as well - not only online shopping vouchers but our author friend had written a sequel to the Galactic Heroine story. It was another outrageously pulpy but sweet tale that not only resolved the storyline but made our suggestion canon by turning Kimber and Nixy into an official couple at the end. Though I would hesitate to ask Sam for another cover, since she too had sent a present in the form of an updated show intro, making the animated portrait even better-looking and adding Kim's new signature accessory. The recipient was beyond pleased with that and I was sure her viewers would appreciate it as much. Then only one thing remained to hand out.
"Saving your birthday blowjobs up for the night?"
Kim smiled back at me. "Yeah. But I have one last wish - I don't just want to get'em, I wanna give as well."
Well, as much as I love licking her pussy that offer was too good to pass up on, so the night ended with sixty-nine times three. Though not as a math exercise.

While that was all fun and games, video games turned out to be somewhat more of a chore - at least script wise. The costumes made sure I could give Mario & company some extra focus, but also meant I had to look to that franchise for something, anything, connected to our thing. I did some searching and it appeared those digital boardgames had contained plenty of balloon popping games, but they seemed to just be target practice or pump affairs. Then I hit the jackpot and called Kriss in.
"I can see us do this but you'll have to build it."
"Oh, I will, I will! But what will Lex be?"
I agreed we couldn't leave her out, but all the other characters were unthinkable. So Krissie joined in the search and I don't know which phrases she used but her triumphant laugh was unmistakable.
"Lookie here!"
What she'd found turned out to be pretty unofficial but sometimes fan art can be a good thing. I leave it to you to look up 'Bowsette' for yourselves - a female version of Mario's archnemesis. I had to admit it would do, if we could get the gear.
Whatever Ebay was that time is not for me to decide, but Kriss managed to find a cosplay version that hopefully would fit Lexi's frame. And being able to splurge on express delivery, she did. The inevitable if small wait was ok though - she needed to make a pneumatic prop anyway.
I didn't worry too much about the pictures showing fairer skin. After all, who could say what color such a character should be? In a pinch we could call her 'Blowsette' - a totally different girl.
I also lost track of Kriss for the better part of a day, but by the end of it she was eager to show me what she'd put together. I can only call the result a 'contraption' but it sure was impressive and I'll save the description for when we actually put it to use. I rewarded her with enough kisses to make up for the missing hours.
"My brilliant, talented darling."
"It wasn't too hard once I figured it out."
"You're still amazing. We need some alone time, like right away."
Once in the bedroom I removed her top and began to work on her breasts. I sucked and blew the tips as hard as they could get and Kriss sighed with delight.
"I wish I had bigger ones. Wish you could blow them up 'til I had a bod like Jessica Rabbit."
"Let's try something."
I went to the closet for an oversized tee that had seen better days and threw it over her head. With a pair of nail scissors I cut two holes just big enough to put her nipples through and left them sticking out while I raided the nightstand for some pink balloons. I stuck them under the vandalized shirt and pulled the necks out through the openings.
"You mean like this?"
With that I inflated the first loon until the fabric was thoroughly stretched. It could get bigger, but then there'd be no room for its twin. I tied it off and began blowing up the other fake boob - it took some measuring, deflations and retries to make them the same size, but in the end Kriss had a bust measurement that defied belief. While I couldn't make her waist thinner, it felt small in relation. She admired herself in the mirror.
"Wowie. Eat your heart out, Dolly."
"Thought you wanted to be Jessica?"
"Both look great on stage. Though I might prefer crooning to country. Now, if Jessie had played the trumpet as well she'd won hands down."
"Bet you she'd be amazing at it."
Kriss raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
"Of course. Toons can do anything the script calls for."
“That’s true”, she agreed.
“Look as sexy as she wants to.” I leaned close to whisper. "And she can blow the 'bone and tuba like a pro."
If Kriss noticed I’d started talking about her as well she didn’t let on, but went along.
“And her lover. And I haven’t blown you today…yet.”
“A promise is a promise”, I said and slid my panties off. Then I once more got proof Kriss intended to keep hers and it was at least as good as all the other times. She rose with a naughty smile.
“Have to wonder what a toon blowjob would be like.”
“Literal”, I said. “Inflating the guy through his cock…and very deliberately going on until he pops.”
Kriss was amused. “Guess premature ejaculation would be flying off and whiz around the room!”
I didn’t rule it out and chuckled at the thought of Mickey and Minnie in that situation. Or Bugs being turned into a bunny balloon by his girlfriend, whatshername. But before things would get too silly I physically reminded my wife of the present and soon we were up to more natural intimacies. Fucking a fake-boobed Kriss was more fun than it had any right to be and turned into a giggling, joyous affair that left us both spent and satisfied.
It was a bit hard to cuddle her properly though so I reached out for a pin and primly popped her chest balloons before wrapping my arms around her still impressively voluminous body. She returned the embrace and pondered the sudden disappearance of her bust.
"Wonder what would happen if someone did that to Jessie?"
"She'd just stick her thumb in her mouth and blow to refill them. Standard procedure."
"Such a cool skill to have. Imagine bringing out the big brass, saying 'I think I need some more power for this' and do just that. Talk about wowing the audience."
I simply shook my head at the inanity. "Would be practical to deflate 'em while sleeping though."
Kriss laughed. "Some morning routine! Take shower, brush teeth, inflate boobs."
I had a vision of Kriss preparing to wow her audience, overdoing it and bursting in the dressing room. Or worse, on stage. A collapsing heap of clothes would be a sad end to a career, not to mention the stupidest reason ever to cancel a show.
So I shut her up with a kiss. "Enough about cartoons. Why the sudden preoccupation with Mrs. Rabbit?"
"Dunno, think it was the name of the girl in the shop and all the costumes."
I briefly pictured dressing up Kim like that but we'd never cross uncanny valley. Just as well.
“Not that it matters. I’ll love you no matter what you come up with or why.”
“That’s good”, she sighed, “because I have a few ideas for later on.”
She showed me at bedtime and made me love her even more. After all, ‘restrained’ is just a matter of comparison.

[Harley]

EPISODE 55

Then came the day to unveil Kriss' little invention - or reimagining, take your pick. We put it in front of the french windows for a little backdrop and removed the furniture to make room for the balloons Kriss had bought as decorations. They were colorful 24-inchers with big white dots, but we agreed they should only be inflated enough to still be round. For once I didn't worry about any popping while we blew them up - they could easily hold that much (or that little) air. So we puffed away until we had half a dozen or so and arranged them along with some smaller, plain loons as far from the centerpiece as possible.
By now you're probably wondering what the heck I'm talking about so I might as well describe what Kim and Alex saw when we called them in. A metallic funnel stood on the floor, suspended by four legs of bent pipes. From the bottom a length of green hose ran along the floor, terminating in what I'd been told was a repurposed mic stand. It had been covered with a thicker pipe, though, and spray painted grey like all the rest apart from some orange details - the funnel cup, feet and connectors. The bent top of the standing pipe terminated in a plastic tuba mouthpiece colored red for effect. In short, it was basically a more advanced version of what we'd used to assist with inflating Dodo.
"Okay", Alex said. "What the heck is that?"
Kriss merely smiled and went up to the stand. Grasping the pipe with both hands she began to blow into it, and almost instantly yet another 24-incher sprang to attention and rose up from the funnel - a red one with a starburst print. She gave it a few more puffs and as she removed her mouth the loon stayed like she left it.
"Try it."
Lex went up and blew the balloon a little bigger, then made room for Kim. When my turn came the brown beauty smiled.
"Oh, I get it. A new take on an old game."
"Yes and no", I said. "It's straight from one of the Mario Parties, can't recall the number though."
Lexi nodded. "Have fun then."
"Oh no", Kriss stated. "You're joining us."
With that she brought out the brand-new delivery for our lover to try out, and even if she hesitated donning the shell and horns she complied. Even the wearer had to admit the result was pretty cool.
I'd explained the costume while she was putting it on and Lex seemed far from displeased with getting a part to play - and taking place in the inevitable contest. As I'd already finished the script and Kim had finished studying it we decided to film the whole thing as soon as possible. I won't bore you with how we got into character except for mentioning that years of dabbling in stage makeup paid off. Our features did look somewhat comically exaggerated as we entered the studio.
First we had to inflate the protagonists for the camera and Kim couldn't resist punning on "The Super Airio Brothers". While me and her worked on the boys Kriss blew up the star and Lex filled a couple of twelve-inchers bearing generic mushroom prints. We arranged everything on the wall behind the desk and then everyone but Kim got out of frame. She made a passable princess, at least as far as anyone had a right to expect. Her eyes were as big as white liner would allow and the contours and lashes further emphasized that. They were far from anime-level, though. She pulled the long white gloves tighter into place as I turned on the cam.
"Today we'll be talking about video games, and while I'm sure most of you have a couple on your phones they weren't always as easy to access. In fact, the very first ones from the 1950’s were limited to a single machine to showcase what a computer can do and simulated simple games like tic-tac-toe. The first distributed game was ‘Spacewar!’ a very simple dogfight between ships. It was created by MIT students in 1962 who shared the program code with others users of the same computer setup – which only numbered a few dozen nationwide, but it was still a first. Progress was slow as there was so little hardware available and what few engineers there were had little time or interest in entertainment programs. With the development of better computers and programming languages, there were more opportunities for doing fun stuff with them. If you consider maths and vectors fun, that is, since the graphics still left a bit to desire. In 1971 an improved version of Spacewar, called ‘Computer Space’ was released in arcade halls. Previously pinball machines had been vastly improved by electronic components, but they were still mostly mechanical. This game had the players control a digital object, but enough people thought it a fad to make it only moderately successful. The following year however saw the release of ‘Pong’ – a two-player tennis game with little more than two simple paddles and a ball – which was a massive hit. The same autumn – 1972 – brought the first commercial home video game console, the Magnavox Odyssey. Its games were about as simplistic, but it set the ball rolling and several clones reached the market. The most innovative was the Fairchild Channel F – for ‘fun’ – which used separate game cartridges and computer-controlled opponents. It was still a bit of a failure and the dominant console became the Atari VCS – also called the 2600 – from 1977. About that time arcade video games exploded in popularity and in 1978 the brand-new ‘Space Invaders’ actually created a coin shortage in Japan.”
Hard to believe the novelty factor of such simple games had people shell out so much cash, but then again, this was the age of the Pet Rock. And to be fair, there hadn’t been anything like that before.
“1978 to 1982”, Kim went on, “is considered the golden age of arcade games and gave rise to icons like Pac-Man and Donkey Kong. It also introduced simple narratives which made the experience even more appealing. Personal computers with keyboards could run text-only adventure games that focused on playing through an actual story by typing commands – the forerunners being ‘Colossal Cave’ and ‘Zork’. But consoles were big business and other companies wanted a piece of the market – Atari’s biggest competitors apart from the improved ‘Odyssey 2’ were Coleco’s ‘Colecovision’ and Mattel’s ‘Intellivision’, all trying to sell simplified versions of arcade games along with their own. In fact, so many low-quality games were produced that they flooded the market and contributed to the video game crash of 1983, which all but wiped out the United States production of home consoles. There were many factors, but one shining example was Atari’s hyped adaption of the movie ‘E.T.’ which failed to meet even the lowest expectations in both quality and sales.”
If we’d found any type of E.T. balloon Kim would have burst one here. Alas, it’s not exactly a merch-heavy film these days.
“Many thought this was the end of gaming systems, especially since PC’s could to the same job, but Japan hadn’t been as affected and in 1985 the Nintendo Entertainment System was introduced in America. You might know it as the NES, and it kickstarted the revival of console gaming. It also brought us these guys” – she indicated the decorations – “the Super Mario Bros. If you’ve wondering why I’m dressed like this I’m the damsel in distress from that game series – Princess Peach. Or ‘Toadstool’, as the translation called her for some reason. Another Nintendo long-runner from that era is ‘The Legend of Zelda’. That’s the name of the princess, not the hero. He’s called Link.”
Kim described how recognizable protagonists became a big selling point for all kinds of video games, from arcades to home computers, and that the NES excelled at that.
“Their main competitor was SEGA with their Master System - but they failed to come up with a memorable character of their own. That changed with the next generation of consoles when ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ was released for the SEGA Genesis. He might have fallen out of popularity in later years but rivalled Mario back then.”
Know what? If you have the slightest interest in games you probably know enough for me to skip the rest of the script. It was about here that Kimber started improvising around what she remembered anyway and mostly boiled down to how distribution went from cartridges, floppy disks and cassette tapes to CD-ROM’s, DVD’s and digital downloads along with the progress and names of the most popular consoles and computers. She covered how hand-drawn visuals were gradually replaced with 3D graphics as computing power increased. Also that the interest in arcades dwindled in the 1990’s as home gaming caught up with and surpassed the coin-op machines and the rise of online play with the advent of internet. MMORPG’s and mobile gaming were touched on in passing, mostly mentioning when they first appeared and milestones like World of Warcraft, Farmville and Angry Birds.
“And while hit movies used to have games based on them, nowadays popular games may be adapted for the big screen. Cosplaying as virtual characters is common as well, proven by how easy it was to get hold of this getup. For an even further step, why not subscribe and watch me play a real-life version of a video game emulating a traditional board game?”
Bit of a stretch since we’d skip the dice-and-board bit, but still a neat hook. Kim finished off and I wondered what actual gamers would think. I’m not one and might have completely misjudged the relevant parts, not to mention I got completely lost a bit into the new millennium.
All in all I felt I could have done better and would have consulted Mandy on the script if she hadn't been on standby for delivery, or what to call it. Any day now there'd be another little girl down in Texas, if the gender reveal video was accurate. Some months earlier the expectant mother had been filmed inflated a big black balloon until it exploded in a shower of sparkles to show she'd simultaneously been blowing up a pink one inside it. The extra effort hadn't been noticeable on account of the blonde puffing as exaggeratedly as ever, her gaze wide in happy anticipation. She joyfully held the uncovered loon up and there was more than a little pride in her open-mouthed grin.
Alex added a comment to her well-wishes. "Lucky the other didn't go first or it could have been a bad omen."
That got her another clip in reply, titled 'Take One'. This time there was a dampened pop halfway through that made the bigger balloon jump violently, the blue eyes behind it opening even more in surprise accompanied by a frightened yelp off-camera. Betty must have been pretty strung up over the whole thing to react that hard. I sure hoped it wouldn't prove prophetic.

That aside, our own vid should at least be serviceable. This occasion was a notable exception to the sex-after-every-episode rule, as we weren't finished shooting and any shenanigans would have flushed the dress-up efforts down the drain. We relocated to where the gaming rig was waiting and set up the cam for those conditions. Technically we should have rehearsed but as there was an element of randomness it would have been pointless. Though Kriss-as-Rosalina did blow the attached balloon to burst and told us all to fall on our asses when it popped, just to check the reaction times. They were okay-ish and if we did it with some more force there could be something usable left on film.
Kim was asked to do the honors and inflate a replacement balloon to a suitable starting point - there was no way we'd fill them from empty each time as it would be an elimination game and take forever that way. She did so without any fuss and got to go first as a reward.
The taping began and we formed a line, each of us strutting up and putting between one and five powerful puffs into the mouthpiece. Kim began with a modest three and I followed suit. It kinda brought me back to the theater where we'd sometimes played a similar game of 'puff, puff, pass', and in a less spontaneous setting like this it was even more of a thrill. I was sort of leery of a pop although relished the thought of hurtling myself to the floor even less. But since I couldn't be flung out of frame by the force it was the closest to the original we could get. It wasn't without relief I went back to rejoin the queue.
Kriss naturally raised the stakes through five breaths while Lex dialed it back a bit with four, and then we all got a bit more cautious. Not by much, only a breath less each, but then it was like a shared realization set in - it might take too long that way and on the third round we all went with five blows, or at least I think we would have. I was on my fourth when the balloon exploded and was so surprised I didn't need much acting for my fall.
Then I discovered the loser's penance would be preparing the next balloon for the others and puffed away by my lonesome while my opponents admonished me to hurry up. I vowed vengeance as I finished my inflation duties and stood back to watch round two.
Unsurprisingly, Kriss blew herself out of the contest by both using the maximum allowed breaths and making them as hard as she could. It was somewhat satisfying watching her launching herself backwards and hitting the floor hard enough to warrant a butt rub from me. I would have lifted her skirt to kiss and blow it all better if she hadn't been so uppity about my loss.
Then only Peach and Bowsette remained for the finals and set about it with complete focus, playing strategically and giving the balloon such a neck I got the jitters just watching it. Blowing in a single but magnificent breath each they alternated turns until the tension was almost too much, both for the people in the room and the overinflated rubber. Eventually there was an almighty bang and the balloon vanished as Lex took a tremendous spill, her judo training allowing for a backwards plunge that sent her straight out of sight.
Kim giggled and clapped her hands with girlish glee, making small jumps in place while going "Yaay!" Just as well I didn't win, since I hadn't given victory poses a second thought. I wondered if Kriss had.
We checked the footage and found it would make a pretty funny clip, even if it robbed the viewers of seeing Peach blow to pop. Them's the breaks. But Kimmy very obligingly played a solo round on general principle which looked like a DVD extra to me. The end of the year would be a good opportunity to put together another one.
There was the matter of disposing of the decorations. The princesses would probably never pop the player characters... but Bowsette might. So for once Alex was put on the cleanup job, squeezing the regular balloons to pieces between her strong hands, stomping on the star and tearing Mario and Luigi from the wall while taunting the hapless pair. Biting the valves open she proceeded to blow ferociously into them until both brothers had been burst by her mighty breath. I had a feeling someone would pop just from watching that.
She struck a haughty victory pose to fade out on before Kim glomped her, smooching away in an indecorous fashion. So much for picking sides.

Kriss cleared her throat. "While we're at it... How about playing the Super Mario theme in character? It's catchy and would give my fans something to look at too."
It would actually be a nice way to get some additional value out of the costumes, so she got a full trio of takers. But Kim outright refused to play the sax. She thought it would be much funnier for such a traditionally dainty character as Peach to play the sousaphone, and maybe she also wanted to show she can manage at least a few notes. That meant taking my spot, but since I can handle the trumpet decently it was no big deal. Lex volunteered for the trombone which was fine by Kriss who'd make the melody part saxy. So we got ready for yet another setup, although it took very little rehearsing since me and Kim were given pretty simple tasks. I basically just had to back up certain sections for emphasis while Kimmy kept time in the right key and it worked out decently - we felt finished after the fourth take.
Then we got our well-earned dues and did the stuff fanfiction fantasies are made of. I dunno if one should read much into the rumors of the pink princess fooling around with Bowser, but seeing her ravished by Bowsette without a single protest did nothing to disprove them. Her only response was to motorboat Lexi violently enough to lose her crown and if it hadn't already been Game Over for the inflatable Mario he might have popped out of sheer jealousy. I was tempted to join in but decided enjoying the show was better. Especially since Rosalina was sort of in the way, being under my skirt and all.
All that and we hadn't even undressed. Kim was a bit scuffed up from what might be described as a heavy bout of button-mashing, though there's probably some kind of penalty for calling it that, but otherwise none the worse for wear. She retrieved the fallen circlet and managed to put it back on. Kriss smiled deviously at her.
"How about a viewer request?"
Kim didn't miss a beat. "Tip first."
My wife slipped her a fifty and produced a big, pink balloon from who knows where.
"Blow this up for me."
The blonde seemed suitably impressed by the pink 30-incher and handed the bill back.
"This one's on the house."
She inhaled with a big smile on her face and let her breath fill up the pouch, but it wasn't enough to make it expand. Yet. Another huge blow remedied that and soon the loon was steadily growing bigger. The shrill, girly gasps preceding every exhale was so in character I sort of regretted not taping it for the viewers. Then again, there were reasons. And Kim did have a very exclusive audience as she worked like crazy to fulfill the wish. By now it looked like she was inflating a soft, oversized marshmallow beyond any reasonable size and for some reason the sight was immensely satisfying. It was one of the more amusing bits of cosplay we'd managed so far and I knew I'd remember it for quite some time.
I stood with my arms wrapped around Kriss from behind as we watched her huff and puff, and when the blower was almost completely obscured I leaned closer to whisper.
"That loon's a complete waste if you don't bend her over it."
"You read my mind."
"Pssh. You've been dying to pay it forward."
When the balloon looked like it was about to grow a neck Kriss cut in.
"That's enough."
Amazingly, Kim didn't protest but stopped blowing with a high-pitched "Whew!", wiping her brow with the back of a gloved hand before deftly tying the big sphere off. Kriss was already buckling a huge strap-on around her waist and stepped in to position the princess for the next level.
What followed was sure to never be included in any Mario Party. The object was to pop Peach's balloon under her and it wasn't as much the game as the method. The rubbery globe had enough give to be supremely bouncy and no matter how hard Kriss humped away the only result was increasingly loud moans from the recipient. Astoundingly, the lifted gowns weren't in the way at all and the cartoony outfits added an extra dimension to the brazen lewdness on display. And since Kim came before the balloon burst Kriss had to turn the controls over to the next in line, and if I'd tried to be Player Two Lexi would probably have elbowed me away. She made an amazing effort but was, simply put, too good at that game and the only explosion she brought about was sort of metaphorical. Kim slowly collapsed, still kept aloft by her own captured breath although the latex membrane bulged mightily to the sides. I wondered if it would count if the balloon went boom between attempts and whether a replacement would be called for if not. The rules were a bit unclear.
Lex was frustrated not only by the outcome and as soon as she'd handed me the implement began to get herself off from the sidelines. Kriss went over to assist while I got ready and the sounds from their direction had me more than eager to score a win and get a little something for myself.
I might have had an unfair advantage, having recently subjected Kriss to the exact same treatment, but it proved moot as it only took a dozen thrusts or so to end my turn. Then Kriss returned for a rematch, and the ferocity of the fuck was so intense Kim lost her balance and dropped her full weight onto the inflated latex, pulling Kriss along and finishing the game with a literal bang. If she wasn't so adept at breaking falls it might have led to some injuries, but as it was she just whined "Continue!" and my wife obliged with such enthusiasm you'd think she expected to hit some kind of jackpot. Which she soon did, from a certain point of view.
Kim rose and made a half-hearted attempt at straightening her dress.
"That was something", she said. "Pity we aren't filming."
"No", I told her, "because we don't do porn."
"Really?"
"You know what I mean."
"Princess porn!" Kriss exclaimed, pushed me onto the bed and had her way with me. Coincidentally, I would 't have it any other way. Her voice was low and husky against my ear as she went about it.
"Next time it's your turn to blow the balloon, Chelle..."
I only managed a groan. "Can't wait."
If Kriss planned on paying me back for how I'd treated her during the task I hoped it would be a sixty-incher. But those thoughts were swept away by what she was doing right then, which was awesome in its own right. I didn't let her pull out even when it should have been time for that, instead slipping my fingers under the harness to make sure she didn't leave unsatisfied.
I got up just in time to witness Lex getting the finishing blow - or rather, stroke - from her lover and as soon as the blonde was back on her feet she gave Kriss an almighty smooch.
"A winner is you", Kim said. "Though you're all eligible for the grand prize."
Lexi looked surprised, like she'd already received it. "What kinda reward are we talking?"
"Better than Mario's", Kim promised. "He only ever gets cake - but you get to eat Peach."

The contest actually came out nicely on video and that extra was much more appreciated than the regular show, even if the latter for obvious reasons got more responses. There was the nitpicking we'd come to expect, but none too scathing albeit severely technical at times.
One commenter was adamant that "Bowsette isn't black" while another thought she looked even better in color. To each their own. Someone else wanted to know where to buy a machine like ours and yet another sent a ranked list of his top Mario games. My favorite was the guy who thought it a shame Daisy had been eliminated so soon which made me feel somewhat vindicated.
Yet another not entirely unexpected opinion was that it would have been even better if we'd taken turns blowing into each other's mouths and the loser would be the first one to burst. A sub-comment stated it'd be enough to watch Peach blow up Daisy, not necessarily to pop.
I don't think I'd agree to the first even with extra lives, though I would let Kim inflate me to an unflattering size if it was possible. It isn't - we've tried enough to be sure of that - but that line reactualized the issue and we made few more pleasant attempts on general principle. And that night me and Kriss spent so long blowkissing we had to fuck each other good night all over again. I love a good internet discussion.

Over on Kriss' side of the web there was plenty praise for the music video and I think Kimber's Corner might have gained quite a few new visitors from the attached link. In one respect Kim had made the right call and that was a fella wrote he'd always dreamed of seeing Peach play the sousaphone. There are narrower interests than mine.
Speaking of that, Kim came to me with an outright demand.
"I've no excuse to wear tails this December so I want you to write a Zatanna episode."
Since we wouldn't cover the Nobel ceremony again and this year's anniversary would be tailored to Lexi's tastes - along with other plans for New Years - she did have a point and if she needed an excuse it would have to be made up. Well, we were due another Superheroine Sunday anyway so I set about it. While Kim owned a suitable suit, fishnets and a spiffy vintage top hat she had to shop around for a yellow waistcoat, which took her all of an hour. Alex provided a black wig from her collection that approximated the original's style so once more most of the work fell on me. Thankfully there weren't too many mental knots to work through this time.
When the hostess showed up in the studio her magnificent gams were resplendent in the elegant stockings and it was a crying shame they'd be hidden by the desk. The members' vid might compensate for that a bit. The waistcoat she'd picked was tight enough to act as a corset, making sure the stiff shirt front looked completely filled by her bust and the open tailcoat hung down accordingly over it. The only thing spoiling the immaculate impression was the undone tie, which she fingered with a coy glance at me.
"Can't seem to get this right today. Help a girl out?"
We both knew it was a complete act and we both enjoyed the teasing about as much. I made a show of completing her look in a thorough and meticulous fashion just to play along, although I would have done the same if it had been my job from the start.
I was pleased with the overall result - Kim had pulled her hair back into a tight ponytail vanishing into the jacket and covered the rest with the wig, which fit snugly into the classy top hat. It looked fine from the front - heck, from all angles until you looked too closely. And there'd be no chance of that through the camera lens. I, however, got pretty damn near while putting her in the mood for shooting and still found no reason to complain. Neither did Kim, for that matter, and was looking absolutely brilliant as she addressed the viewers.
"Welcome to another Superheroine Sunday, and today we'll be taking a look at one of the more enchanting ladies in comics - Zatanna. She's a legacy character, introduced as the daughter of John Zatara who was created in the 1930's as a rather blatant copy of Mandrake the Magician. But while Mandrake relied on hypnosis, John's powers were more supernatural. He could do almost anything as long as he spoke what he wanted backwards, a trait inherited by Zatanna who first appeared in late 1964. She was introduced with the pretext of searching for her missing father, who by then had been gone from the comic pages for quite some time."
I have to admit it's not the worst way to bring new blood in - at least it didn't need a full page to summarize.
"Up to that point she'd been working as a stage magician, explaining her attire of choice. But while she'd been relying on good old trickery and illusionism for that, she discovered she had the same powers as her father and so the stage was set for a new generation of mystical adventures."
Kim went through some publication history points which were about as boring as they sound before getting back to the basics.
"Her basically limitless abilities proved a bit of a problem for the writers, who at one point tried restricting them to manipulating the four elements - earth, wind, fire and, of course, air, but that didn't stick. Instead she often found herself bound and gagged or otherwise incapable of speaking, which made her popular with a certain group of readers."
And how. I can imagine some writers taking pleasure in thinking up new ways to incorporate that in the stories.
"Even if Zatanna did find her father - and eventually her mother Sindella, who turned out to be from a race of extra-magic humans - they, like so many others, were killed off in the mid-eighties, leaving their daughter the only magic user of that kind in the roster. She also went through a number of costume changes more in line with the outlandish garb of other heroines of the time. To this day her clothes tend to vary quite a bit, but she's mostly associated with variations of the traditional outfit. I think it's just about perfect", Kim said, preening a bit. "Don't you agree?"
I most certainly did, but then again, that's me.
Kimber went on to describe what kind of enemies Z usually fought, typically one-shot mystical or sorcerous or outright demonic threats, and as such she was one of the very few characters crossing between the regular DC fare and their darker imprint Vertigo throughout the 1990's.
"In the early 2000's her backstory was expanded to having been childhood friends with Bruce Wayne, the Batman we all know and love, and that he'd gotten his knowledge of escapism from her father. It's been implied she knows his secret identity, although that varies between stories. They are however close friends and she's been hinted to have a small crush on him. She has a more explicit romantic interest in John Constantine, the somewhat magic-skilled supernatural investigator from the very dark comic 'Hellblazer'. He too sometimes crosses over into less adult stories, but is not a typical DC hero."
Well, that's an understatement. Can't personally understand the appeal of smoking four packs a day and seemingly have only a nodding acquaintance with laundromats and personal hygiene. Once again, to each their own but I couldn't help feeling she could do better.
"Zatanna's working relation with Batman took a hit in 2004 when she - by popular vote from her fellow heroes - used her powers to more or less lobotomize a villain who'd crossed over into rape. Bruce thought that was going far too far, but this is a man who believes keeping a mass-murdering psychopath alive is more important than protecting or avenging his victims. They've since made up, but it's always interesting with the moral dilemmas of superpowers - something that's often ignored."
Which only proves further that Batman's a wuss. Except Michael Keaton. I liked that version.
"Speaking of her powers, they were also updated to not needing to be spoken backwards, it's now something she just keeps doing as a tribute to her dad. For a while there was a middle ground where writing them backwards would work too, which I think was a great option. Maybe the editors thought it gave too many opportunities for drawing physical restraints."
Wouldn't surprise me. Kim went on to mention that Zatanna got a solo series in 2010, written by Paul Dini who apart from being a master scripter and co-creator of Harley Quinn is married to real-life illusionist Misty Lee. Might not be a coincidence.
"In later years she's mainly been a part of Justice League Dark, mystically inclined heroes fighting threats that call for less physical talents. I think it’s nice with someone who not only uses her tricks to save the world on a regular basis, but also for putting on a killer show whenever she wants. Because Zatanna has always been a performer, and that I can really sympathize with.”

A few closing remarks followed and we got ready for shooting the subscriber vid, which called for some simple camera trickery. Kim inflated a purple 11-incher to capacity and held it pointing upwards in her outstretched fist. Then she released the air in a steady stream so that the rubber globe would shrink and droop over her fingers as it emptied itself, but on the first go it ended up hanging over the wrong side of her fingers and out of sight. She blew it back up and repeated the process, this time ending with wiggling her fingers at it while ordering it to "inflate". Run in reverse it would emulate Zatanna's spellcasting, but while a fun experiment it was somewhat lacking in the thrill department. So we did another take to tack on, where she started with the full balloon still in her grasp before turning to the camera with a frown.
"Would you believe some say using magic is cheating? Don’t worry, I can do something amazing all by myself."
She let the air out once more and brought the limp latex to her lips, this time blowing it up by mouth until it exploded in her face. She faced the audience with a grin and a flourish.
"And presto, the balloon's disappeared!"
Nothing more could be said, really, so we ended it there. Then Kim came over to put her hands over my shoulders and her hat on my head before kissing me so nicely there was no doubt there’d be no delays of the usual. She flicked the tip of her tongue across my cheek and blew into my ear.
"I’ve saved the best tricks for you. Real magic happens in bed, remember?"
It hadn't been too long since she'd given me that little demonstration and I'd been willing to agree, even before Alex made the same point the following night. Wands had been involved, but not the kind you buy from stage suppliers. This time she used nothing but twister balloons, both for some light bondage and more inventive applications. I eventually got to turn the tables.
"Magicians are supposed to be great escape artists, right?"
Either Kim wasn't or I trussed her up too well, but she didn't resist even when I gagged her to stay true to the source material.
"And now, for the grand finale - watch as I make my entire hand disappear."
I don't think she could have seen much from the angle her head ended up at, but I doubt she found any faults with the performance. After all, I've practiced a helluva lot too.

It was the least criticized comic showcase so far, which might be attributed to a smaller fanbase or a straightforward history. Either way it felt good not being taken to task. The most obvious complaint was that Kim hadn't vanished a larger loon, but that was par for the course. Oh, and that the yellow vest should go with a blue jacket and hat, but I blame that on 1960’s color printing. If they couldn’t even make the Hulk consistently grey they’d probably have huge problems with details on a black outfit.
While we’re still on the subject of magic and omens, it might please you to hear Mandy’s daughter entered the world just fine, even if she held back a bit to arrive on Friday the Thirteenth. Not even Betty was taken in by that old superstition and seemed happier than ever. And Amanda herself was the embodiment of contentment in the first pictures.
It was looking up to be a merry Christmas all over, although I had a sneaking suspicion we’d be expected to deliver something suitable for the season.
Ah well, we’d done it before and could again.

[ChillinHaze]

I'm quite a bit of a gamer and I'm pretty interested in the history of gaming. So, I found myself nodding along to a lot of points you ticked off here. ^^

And really great idea to go for the Mario Party topic! Mario Party actually had quite a lot of mini games involving balloons and inflatables.
Although, Nintendo might find it less funny you included Bowsette in the rank of princesses :P