Slipping off the ultra-soft, fuzzy white robe Pashmeena had given her to wear, she walked over to the large, round bed. It had tall, carved wooden bedposts which held up the delicate canopy with the hundreds of tiny, twinkling lights. It would be like sleeping under the stars, Selena thought.
She put her hand on the carved bedpost, stroking the carvings thoughtfully. If only she wasn’t sleeping here alone tonight! This was such an amazing bed—she wished she had someone to share it with!
You mean you wish Valen would come share it with you, whispered a little voice in her head.
No—stop thinking like that. He’s not interested in anything long term and you shouldn’t be either. You barely know him!
Selena squeezed the bedpost harder, trying to push away her longing for the big Kindred. As she squeezed the carved wood, she noticed that the surface of the mattress seemed to ripple, almost like waves in an ocean. She frowned, a bit apprehensive about the movement. But then she remembered the tickle grass and the cleansing blooms. Maybe the bed was like them—which wouldn’t be a bad thing, in her opinion. It might be nice to be gently massaged or stroked and if the round, pillowy mattress felt on her back the way the tickle grass felt on her feet, it would be a wonderful night’s sleep!
Gingerly, she sat on the edge of the bed, which gave just a bit, though she could feel firmness beneath the top layer, which felt squishy and almost liquid. Was this some kind of a waterbed? Was it—
Then suddenly, the bed moved. Not just a little—a lot. It grabbed Selena by her hips and ass and legs and began propelling her backwards, into the center of the large, round mattress.
“Oh! Oh my God!” Selena gasped, writhing helplessly in the grip of the apparently sentient bed. “Hey, what are you doing?”
There was no answer from the bed—though there was plenty of motion. The minute it got Selena to its center, it rose up under her legs, which had the effect of tipping her over onto her back. Then it began to grab her everywhere, rubbing and kneading like she was a stubborn piece of dough—or maybe a tough piece of meat it was determined to tenderize.
“Help! Help!” Selena shrieked, writhing in the grip of the living mattress. “Help me—it’s got me!”
The door burst open and she saw Pashmeena and her husband, Balfore, both standing there, staring with wide eyes.
“Help me!” she cried at them again. “This thing’s going crazy!”
“Oh dear! Oh, dearie-dear!” Pashmeena cried. She and Balfore rushed forward. Balfore seemed to be doing something to the bedpost while Pashmeena leaned across the writhing mattress and grabbed Selena by the leg. With surprising strength for such a little old woman, she managed to haul her to the side of the round bed.
But before Selena could roll off the side of the bed and onto the floor—it was going to be a hell of a bump, but worth it to get away from the crazy bed—the mattress suddenly went slack and stopped kneading her.
“What…what in the world?” She sat up, feeling dazed.
“My apologies, little Mistress,” Balfore said, bowing deeply. “The sleeping platform’s settings somehow got set to ‘deep massage,’ though I do not know how—they are usually locked in gentle mode.”
“I was certain I left it in gentle mode!” Pashmeena exclaimed. She, too, came over to examine the wooden bedpost. “Little Mistress, I am so sorry!”
“Is…is that where the controls are?” Selena nodded at the bedpost the two of them were staring at—which happened to be the same one she’d been squeezing right before she got into the bed.
“Why yes—they’re built into the post,” Balfore explained.
“Well, then, I…I might have accidentally switched the, uh, deep massage function on myself,” she explained, feeling embarrassed. “I didn’t know there were any controls and I had my hand there, so…” She shrugged.
“Forgive me, my lady—I should have told you about the controls.” Pashmeena sounded contrite. “Would you like to come and learn to use them now, so you can be certain nothing like this happens again?”
“I just want to be sure the bed is locked in neutral—er—that it’s not moving,” Selena said firmly.
She spent a few minutes learning the functions of the wooden buttons—which to be fair to her, were fairly well-hidden in the carvings on the bedpost. Then she made certain that the mattress was set at “gentle” and double-checked it several times before she finally sat back down on the very edge of the mattress.
“Are you sure it can’t turn on by itself?” she asked Balfore, who was waiting patiently.
“Quite sure, my lady.” He nodded gravely. “There is no possibility of the sleeping platform doing anything on its own without being directed to do it.”
“Well…all right.” Selena scooted back and felt the giving firmness under her ass again. This time, the mattress didn’t grab her. Instead, it made a rolling motion under her which actually felt really nice under her bottom and thighs. Feeling more secure, Selena scooted back some more until she was in the middle of the mattress.