The Maiden, chapter five

[maculategiraffe]

I just posted chapter four, over that way. Read it first.






When Sean was gone, Drew slid himself out of bed and paced, naked and muscular, towards Kyle. Kyle stood up, very straight. When Drew was close enough to reach out and touch, he stopped, looked at Kyle searchingly, and finally said, "Well?"

"I didn't ask her," said Kyle.

Drew sighed, and then turned and slumped down on the bed that was still rumpled from Sean. "Why the hell not?"

"I was afraid to," said Kyle. "Everything's so-- confused right now, Drew. I don't know where I stand, I don't know-- what I dare ask. I'm sorry."

Drew nodded. "I get it. I just-- I was just-- hoping. You know."

"I know." Kyle sat down next to him. "Give me some time, okay? To get some idea of-- where I am, with her, now."

"She still likes you, right?" Drew asked.

Kyle nodded. "Yeah-- oh, yeah. She likes me. But-- I've already fucked up, too. I got all hostile with Sean, and she got pissed off at me."

Drew looked up sharply. "Did she hurt you?"

Kyle shook his head, and Drew relaxed.

"But still," said Kyle. "I need to be careful. You know?"

"Yeah, I know," said Drew, and put his hand on Kyle's back. "It's okay. Take your time. I'll be here."

Kyle smiled up at him. "So what did you think of Sean?"

"Seems like a nice kid," said Drew. "Doesn't say much. I guess he's probably still in shock-- you know, right out of the center."

"Sure," said Kyle. "Dude, did he tell you he's a maiden?"

"You're shitting me," said Drew.

Kyle laughed. "No, he told me-- and I asked her, last night, and she said it was true. So she's going to have to go through all that before she can even sleep with him."

"Ah, well, they know their business," said Drew, just as Jonas stirred out from under Nick and said, "Morning-- hey, Kyle."

"Yo," said Kyle. "Hey, Nick."

"Mmmhmm," said Nick, turning over and burying his face in the pillow.

"Wake up," said Jonas, thumping him on the back of the head. "It is the lark, the herald of the morn, no nightingale. Look, love, what envious streaks do lace the severing clouds in--"

"Where do you get this shit?" Nick demanded, muffled.

"Excuse me if I happen to be literate," said Jonas. "So, Kyle, what's the word?"

"Dickhead," said Kyle.

"Touchy," said Jonas, as Nick finally, reluctantly, sat up and rubbed at his eyes.

"Sorry, not you," said Kyle. "Me. I'm not handling my replacement all that well. Our lady is disappointed in me."

Jonas sucked in air through his teeth as Nick stumbled for the clothes cupboard. "Ouch. You okay?"

"I'm fine," said Kyle. "She didn't even raise her voice."

"You are one lucky mama's boy," said Jonas admiringly. "So what's your job now? Or are you officially a gentleman of leisure?"

"She didn't tell me to do anything," said Kyle. "You need any help in the garage?"

"I can always use a hand," said Jonas, but Nick, pulling up his jeans, said, "Oh, come on. If anybody needs help, it's me. Do you good to scrub some toilets. Give you a little perspective on life."

"I think Kyle's with me today," said Drew, and Jonas and Nick exchanged a quick glance. "Not like that. On the grounds."

"Did you ask?" Nick inquired, and Kyle said, "Not yet."

"I don't blame you, man," said Jonas, finally getting up himself and ambling over for clean clothes. "Give it time. You two can gaze longingly at each other across the hedges while you trim them. It'll be fun. I'll write tragic poetry about it."

"You do that," said Drew, and got up himself. "Let's move our asses, guys. I'm hungry."





Over breakfast, Kyle picked at his food, and smiled apologetically when he caught Drew's look of concern.

"I'm fine," he said. "Just, you know."

"I know," said Drew. "Don't worry, I'll put you to work, after breakfast. Take your mind off things."

"Kyle, you've got nothing to worry about," said Nick kindly. "She worships you."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Yeah, yeah, the most powerful magistra in three regions thinks the sun shines out of my asshole," said Jonas with exaggerated ennui. "Ain't no thing."

"It is a thing," said Kyle. "It's just not necessarily a good thing."

"How can it not be a good thing? You're sitting pretty."

"I don't know where I'm sitting," said Kyle. "That's the problem. She's acting really weird. Rita, I mean. Yesterday-- and last night-- she was incredibly nice to me, I mean, unbelievably--" He flushed slightly, remembering. "The things she said-- and did--"

"Like what?" Drew asked.

Kyle shook his head. "I don't think I should talk about it. She drew a circle. It wasn't bad," he added quickly, to the suddenly-pale faces around the table. "But-- yeah, circle. And that wasn't the half of it. Emily already doesn't like the way Rita treats me, you know. She thinks I have-- undue influence."

"Don't you?" said Nick, raising an eyebrow, and Kyle couldn't help smiling a little.

"I don't know," he said. "But if Emily ever found out what Rita did with me last night, I'm pretty sure I'd be back at the center before I could blink."

"Emily can't make Rita get rid of you," said Drew, frowning.

"Not technically," said Kyle. "But if it comes down to it-- oh, anyway, it's no good talking about it. Let's eat-- and then we can get to work. I need to get my hands dirty."




It did settle Kyle down to get to work with a rake, although once Drew had told him what to do, he went off somewhere else, leaving Kyle to his own thoughts. He certainly had enough of them crowding in on him to keep him occupied. There was Rita's strange behavior, yesterday, and last night-- now that he was alone, he let his thoughts dwell on it, deeply and deliciously, remembering things he didn't even dare think about in front of the other men in case something showed on his face, and which it would probably be safer for him to have surgically removed from his memory before he saw Emily again. The image of Rita, his protectrix, the magistra herself, wrapping her lips around his penis, the sensation of her tongue lapping at him, the blind panic as semen shot into her mouth, choking her, and the slow realization that she wasn't even angry about that-- oh, holy Gaia.

Actually, he probably shouldn't be invoking holy Gaia, even mentally, over this. There was a strong possibility she would smite him.

He would have thought it would be hard to think about anything but Rita and what she'd done with him-- yesterday, and last night, and even this morning-- but other thoughts pushed in on him, blurring the memory. Drew, for one. Drew had been so patient. Kyle hadn't even been aware of how Drew felt about him, until Jonas had kindly taken him aside and clued him in, three months before. And after that, when he'd told Drew he was very flattered but of course they couldn't do anything because Kyle was in the middle of trying to father a child, Drew hadn't pointed out that Kyle was actually more towards the end of trying to father a child; he'd just nodded, and smiled a little, and left it. And two weeks ago, when Rita had kissed Kyle on the cheek and headed off to the center to pick a new potential father, Drew had let Kyle cry on his shoulder, and hadn't said a single word, or made a single move. Kyle had had to kiss him first, and it had been Drew who, in the middle of a kiss in which even Kyle could feel the famished hunger, pulled away and pointed out that Kyle should probably get permission from Rita before... anything.

Which was true. But still.

Kyle had thought there would be at least some sort of negative relief when his replacement actually showed up, but everything was more confused and complicated than ever. For one thing, he found himself hating Sean, which was not only completely unfair but really inconvenient. He couldn't help it, though; he found himself having all the ugly, violent thoughts that were supposed to be typical of men in sexual competition over a woman. There was nothing wrong with Sean, except that he was supplanting Kyle as the man who got to try to father Rita's child, and that seemed to be enough to make Kyle want to kill him.

It wasn't a nice thing to learn about yourself. It wasn't a nice thing to have your highly civilized protectrix learn about you, either.

But then, she hadn't punished him; she'd-- and now he was back to what she'd done instead, the several things she'd done instead, and said. And it didn't look like his life was going to get less complicated anytime soon.

Sean's was getting pretty complicated too, of course, but Kyle still couldn't bring himself to feel any sympathy for Sean. Fuck him, the wide-eyed little maiden. Rita could take care of Sean just fine without Kyle's help.

"Kyle?" called a girl's voice, and Kyle looked up, startled, to see Carol raising a hand at him from the front steps. He hurried, rake still in hand, to stand before her, head bowed.

"Aunt Rita wants you," she said. "In her office."

Kyle just barely managed to stop himself from rolling his eyes. Gaia had a fantastic sense of humor.

"Come on," said Carol, and grabbed Kyle's hand with her small, callused, firm one; Kyle barely had time to lean his rake against a bush before she dragged him back inside and towards Rita's office. "Did you know Sean is a maiden?"

Kyle nodded, even though she wasn't looking at him.

"So we have to make all the preparations," said Carol. "Aunt Rita said I could help."

Kyle grimaced. Carol was thirteen, but she'd had menarche when she was nine, and apparently Rita felt that four years of training was enough to allow her to assist in important rituals. And Kyle wasn't exactly in any position to advise her otherwise. Oh well; maybe she'd kill Sean by accident, knock wood.

"Whoa," said Carol, and turned around. "What was that? You got all-- bristly."

Kyle ducked his head. "I'm sorry."

She frowned at him, but turned around and kept pulling.

"Stop it," she said irritably, without stopping again herself. "Your energy is all-- it's making me nervous."

"I'm sorry," said Kyle again, wishing he dared pull his hand out of hers, which was starting to heat up. "Please--"

She let go of his hand herself, and he rubbed furtively at his slightly scorched-feeling palm.

"Sorry," she said, still sounding annoyed. "I'm really not supposed to touch men unnecessarily anyway, but I'm usually fine-- and anyway, the first girls to get the power were my age, so I don't know why Aunt Rita is so strict about this stuff."

Maybe because the first girls to get the power accidentally killed a bunch of men, Kyle thought, and she glared at him over her shoulder again, though she didn't stop walking.

"Stop it," she said again.

Kyle tried to think about tranquil things. Lakes. Ducks. Beer.

"Men," said Carol, with elaborate despair, as she finally knocked at the door of her aunt's office.

Comments

four and five

[eileenlufkin]

Characters! Backstory! Yearning! Who needs things to happen?

Re: four and five

[maculategiraffe]

I'm glad to hear you feel that way. ;)