"Will you be asking me if I want to see your etchings next?" Dee giggled.

When Cam felt disoriented, he always sought help to regain his bearings. Deciding that approaching the woman could be beneficial, Cam's question, "Do you come here often?" instantly made Dee smile.

Dee's reply drew Cam's attention to his choice of words, which quickly and clearly revealed the embarrassment on his face. This happened to him regularly, although he never lingered on it or wallowed in self-pity.

"I don't mind looking foolish if it makes you laugh and smile. If you're lucky, good things can come from any situation," Cam told Dee philosophically.

When Cam had stopped Dee to ask for directions, he had already begun the process of making sense of the world again. Dee, however, was unaware of this, so she offered to help Cam get wherever he needed to go.

After Dee asked Cam if he knew exactly where he was headed so she could assist him, Cam felt he could be nothing more than completely honest.

"My silly episodes sometimes last a minute; at other times, they can take hours to fade. It seems I've been lucky this time, but being reminded of the kind and witty people out there has brightened my day. Thank you," Cam told Dee with a smile.

Dee listened to Cam express his gratitude, knowing he had no idea he was inadvertently responsible for something at least as deserving of thanks as what he had offered. She realised it would require her to speak in a way she rarely did, yet it felt as if the reality of the situation simply couldn't go unaddressed.

"A stranger once found the courage to tell me something they were sure I wouldn't want to hear. It always reminds me that strangers are often just friends you haven't met yet. If you make me laugh, you've made my day too, so thank you," Dee told Cam as a picture of what she was describing came to her mind.

Cam had planned to return home immediately after Dee offered to help him in his moment of need, but her words prompted him to invite her to continue their conversation over a drink instead. He told her that if she accepted, he would write his name and address on his arm so she could put him into a taxi in the unlikely event his silly brain malfunctioned twice in one night.

"It's a clever way to get a curious girl who wouldn't send you off alone back to your place; I'll give you that!" Dee said, laughing heartily with a grin.

"I'd say that thought never crossed my mind, but I know that's not true. Sometimes, I'm too honest for my own good," Cam replied.

Dee realised that many people's visions of an ideal opportunity would differ from the reality she found herself in. She also knew that the people puzzled by her enthusiasm wouldn't understand her sudden interest in Cam either.

Cam and Dee started chatting comfortably as soon as they sat down in a bar neither had visited before. The atmosphere was lively and unlike any place either of them would typically choose.

"I can't imagine shouting my best chat-up lines in places like these as I did in the distant days. It must be a nightmare," Cam said above the noise.

"You'll have to wait until we find a quieter spot later so I can tell you if they're any good," Dee replied with a smile she couldn't hide, even if she had wanted to.

Despite the loud surroundings, Cam and Dee continued their unrestrained flirtatious banter. When Dee confessed she had completely forgotten how much fun such moments could be, Cam replied that he hoped this wouldn't be the last time she felt that way during the evening. His comment caused Dee's laughter to rival the surrounding noise in the bar.

Dee's sudden announcement that she decided to host an after-pub party with a very exclusive invitation list caught Cam completely off guard. Dee had been certain this would be the case, which was exactly why Cam would be the only guest attending besides herself.

"Where else am I going to find a cheeky entertainer at such short notice on a Saturday night?" Dee asked.

"Even if I knew, I'd keep unusually quiet about it," Cam answered honestly.

Dee decided that she and Cam should walk to her home to chat further before the 'party' started. Cam mentioned that it would give them time to ensure they weren't both lunatics and to celebrate once they were confident that any eccentricity was harmless.

Knowing the road he and Dee were walking along, Cam asked Dee if he should stop at a shop for anything since he would be a guest at an impromptu party.

"You've already got everything I need, or if not, we can still have a giggle finding that out, I'm sure," Dee replied.

The time spent among the younger crowd reminded Cam and Dee that their planned escapism might have had a different agenda than if it had been organised by those they had left behind. Dee also joked that Cam's thoughts would help her decide whether he was still invited to her event.

"I can probably manage to be serious for a whole minute on a good day. It might as well be now, so I don't need to be again until tomorrow at the earliest. I quite like the idea of celebrating everything that used to be fun, but people paint it as 'vanilla' nowadays. If that makes me sound old, perhaps it's because I am," Cam explained.

"A few sprinkles on my vanilla sound lovely, although I might dip your flake in it too if I feel like it," Dee replied, delighted to discover Cam had slipped back into his cheeky manner at the earliest opportunity.

Cam and Dee spent the remainder of their walk agreeing on other possibilities for the evening; Dee had nobody else within one hundred metres of her when she whispered another suggestion, which Cam found as sweet as her idea was when she told him about it.

As soon as Dee opened the door to her flat, any doubts she had vanished in the kiss she shared with Cam. While it might not have received praise from those who considered themselves experts in such matters, it was filled with laughter, mischief, and a sense of fun, which was precisely what Dee felt the moment needed.

When Cam saw Dee's sofa, he told her it looked just right for a kiss and a cuddle. Dee shared this view, and she wasted no time proving Cam's assessment was spot on.

"No need to rush onto anything else just yet; these are perfect," Denise whispered before remembering she and Cam still had their coats on, which she thought might knock the edge off some of what she had in mind. Cam wasn't planning to move on to other pleasures, but he was happy to hear Denise was ready to guide him in the right direction as required.

"One layer down, two to go," Dee giggled as she hung the removed coats on the back of the door and returned her attention to the hugs and kisses she had been enjoying earlier.

After sharing a long, laughter-filled kiss, Dee felt that knowing a bit more about Cam might come across as more conventional than much of what had occurred so far. Cam explained that he made the most of life and stubbornly refused to burden himself with things he couldn't change.

"There are enough people taking life and themselves too seriously to make up for people like me who refuse to do either," Cam said defiantly.

Dee smiled at Cam's answer and told him she, too, had discovered that worrying rarely solved anything. She admitted she had found this out the hard way, however, and had vowed not to make this mistake again.

"Once upon a time, I had plenty of money but lost it all due to things beyond my control. I almost let that destroy me, but I chose to focus on other aspects of life instead. It helped me feel good about myself in no time. Sometimes, it felt like people wanted me to give in, but it was that very fact that made me determined not to. Living for today might tick the cliché box, but it serves me well, as I hope to demonstrate," Dee said with an exaggerated wink.

***

Dee had planned to spend time getting to know more about Cam and sharing details of her backstory. It was a reasonable idea, but she found herself distracted by images in her mind of how she envisioned the evening unfolding instead. Dee decided to express her thoughts, as she felt it was in line with the spirit of honesty that had quickly developed. "I think it's time we got naked," Dee said as she began to remove the rest of her clothes and encouraged Cam to do the same.

Once Cam and Dee were undressed, Dee decided to give a brief explanation of what was important to her and what she hoped it would look like when they were pictures in her head.

"I can only have a really special time if I'm laughing at what's happening, as well as being turned on by it. You also need to look for my detonator switch, but I've got a feeling you'll find it with those kisses," Dee explained as she took her sleep mask from her pillow and placed it over Cam's eyes.

"Making it too easy isn't my way!" Dee shouted excitedly, explaining to Cam that she was fitting her own eye mask on as she was many things, but cruel wasn't one of them.

"I know my way around the flat too, so when I jump off the bed and tell you that you have to find me and bring me back here to search for my secret button, I've still got a slight advantage," Dee said, walking a few steps away.

"I can already picture the conversation I'll have with the hospital receptionist about my injury when I walk in with my broken foot," Cam said, realising that making Dee giggle was likely the fastest and simplest way to find her.

"That's cheating!" Dee said as she worked out Cam's plan immediately.

As Dee laughed, she briefly thought about what others she had shared erotic fun with had brought to the party. It wasn't that any of it had been unwelcome; rather, a sense of fun was what she knew she needed at that moment. In this respect, she felt she was in the best company possible.

With a barrage of his best innuendo, Cam found locating Dee relatively straightforward, with only an upturned bedside table as a casualty of his efforts.

"Just don't ask me to promise to come quietly," Dee pleaded as Cam ushered Dee back to the bed.

"No chance. How else would I know if I've struck oil?" Cam replied, Dee, explaining through giggles that she felt sure he'd realise he had managed to once it was time for her to thank him.

Though it felt odd to have the fabric of two eye masks brushing against each other as their lips met, it kept the laughter going throughout the kiss that Cam and Dee shared. Dee appreciated the added benefit of a massage, noting that it made her decision not to tie Cam's arms and legs to the bed seem wise after all.

If Cam's kisses had occurred without the addition of the eyemasks and playful banter, they would have still been enough to ignite Dee's excitement on their own. Coupled with the enjoyment of their surroundings, they exceeded Dee's most optimistic hopes.

"You're getting warm, and you're not the only one," Dee said with a sigh as she felt Cam's kisses suck on her nipples.

Dee smiled and giggled through Cam's sweetly intense lip work, which only stopped when she told Cam that she needed his attention to continue on its journey.

"You're needed elsewhere," Dee whispered with laughter as she saw visions of what she hoped to follow firm up the plans she had been making in her head.

As Cam's touch and kisses descended, Dee explained all about the 'elves of erotica' who were 'stoking the furnaces.' Cam needed a moment to compose himself after hearing Dee's description, but neither of them would have wanted it any other way.

Dee felt her dreamy, escapist excitement gathering momentum with every kiss Cam eased onto her body. The combination of his breath between her legs and his touch on her thighs was intense, and she felt the need for her vision to become reality could wait no longer.

"One of us needs to flip so I can give you a taste of how I'm feeling, and I can get a taste of how you are, too," Dee whispered with a tone of urgency in her voice.

"I guess if we both flip, that won't work in the way you've suggested, so I'll volunteer," Cam said, instantly prompting Dee to approve.

Regardless of what her plans might have been beforehand, Dee's suggestion of sharing felt like the only right approach for something that had already exceeded her expectations so remarkably.

"Problem-solving should always be this much fun; I'd even sign up for team-building weekends if it were!" Dee said with a giggle as she and Cam worked out the practicalities of turning what she had in mind into a reality.

Once they had somewhat awkwardly made themselves comfortable, Cam eased his touch inside Dee's body and slipped the tip of his tongue alongside with a giggle.

"Find and activate my detonator switch, you charmingly daft man," Dee said as she felt him gently move his tongue inside her eager body.

Dee knew putting her own plans on hold was the most likely way to bring the moment she sought. With this in mind, she just blew gently on Cam's cock, allowing her to enjoy the joy he was stirring with his own efforts. Dee had no issues with a wriggle or two to guide Cam, saving her words to join the sounds she made to express how much she was at the mercy of her escalating arousal.

"That's rather nice," Dee whispered with a giggle and a large slice of understatement.

Dee found the time she could spend simply losing herself in erotic anticipation to be a pleasure she had forgotten existed. Cam was focused on every movement he made and saw every nudge in the right direction as the encouragement it was intended to be.

"Kisses?" Cam whispered once he felt it was time to offer Dee another step on their journey.

"Absolutely, yes! My vanilla's doing great, but your flake needs a nibble too," Dee answered, feeling that bringing her own work to the party would need to begin very soon.

As soon as Dee felt Cam's lips pursing slowly and gently inside her body, her head swam with the energy of intensified arousal. The giggles and laughter lingered, but hers was sparked solely by Cam's actions, and she sensed that he, too, needed a source of joy to keep him smiling and laughing in the same way.

Although Dee wasn't surprised Cam's efforts found him visibly aroused, the sensation of his pulsating cock as she held it added to her own joy. Cam's next kiss held on inside her body, sending a gasp from her mouth and the signal for a flake to get the nibble that she had planned.

Dee sensed a rapid escalation in her arousal as she slipped Cam's cock between her lips. Cam's own lips backed off briefly to allow Dee's excitement to build once more, returning with even greater intensity to sounds of pleasure that echoed around the room.

Dee's careful management saw both she and Cam racing towards climax as her body shook, and she felt Cam's cock twitch between her focused lips. Limbs flailed, bodies glistened, and erotic noise rang out until Dee screamed and Cam bellowed and groaned as they exploded into release together.

Dee's joy at the beauty of her climax was multiplied many times over by feeling the physical expression of Cam's inside her mouth and his bodily and vocal reactions to it. Incomprehensible sounds replaced words as two bodies buckled under the intensity of the wildness within. It was a genuine expression of joy that neither Cam nor Dee had anticipated, but they were determined to share it joyfully, and they did.

Cam's continued efforts upon Dee's squirming body ensured wave after wave of intense energy spun around it. Dee's similarly diligent work ensured Cam's climax sent repeated rhythms crashing through his body, too. It was loud, chaotic, adrenaline-fueled excitement, and neither of those experiencing it had any thoughts other than extending it as long as their minds and bodies would allow.

Dee's mind was in a level of erotic disarray she had not expected to revisit. Yet, despite her confusion, she was aware that she had done so. Cam also recognised he was treading new ground regarding the height of his arousal, which kept his efforts to bring similar feelings to Dee unbroken and as driven as they had been before.

Cam and Dee hadn't discussed their combined efforts to extract everything possible from their shared experiences, but that wasn't necessary. Their mutual goal simply reflected their desire to celebrate an unexpected triumph, regardless of how others might have perceived or judged it. What they were experiencing was something they felt few would understand the significance or joy of, but they weren't concerned about that at all.

Dee's body continued to respond to the energy within it after Cam eased away and repositioned himself to wrap his arms around her. It wasn't planned or discussed; it just happened, which made it mean more to Dee than it would have if it had occurred any other way.

Dee enjoyed the remainder of her climax and climb-down from it in Cam's arms. The sound of giggles returned, and the smiles remained; the time for words, however, took an age to arrive.

Once Dee felt able to speak, she told Cam if his expectations had been exceeded as much as hers had been, it would be the only confirmation she needed to complete what she felt she would look at as the perfect, imperfect experience. Cam gave Dee the confirmation she had sought, but only on condition she wrote down the phrase 'perfect, imperfect experience.'

Dee did what Cam had asked her to, and they never forgot what they had shared. This was despite Cam's etchings remaining forever unseen.