Charity Squares P5: An Understanding
“I mean, I like how you did your homework, knowing that Electra is a star, and that my last name IS Loudon.”
“Well,” he said, “I really am hoping to get to know you. I’ve been kinda fixated on you since the first time I saw you on your show.” His hand moved about a millimeter up.
And that doesn’t mean he was hesitant. A millimeter’s a little bit more significant to a sylph than to a human.
“And I’m trying to remain very calm, here, so Conrad doesn’t suddenly storm out of whatever place he’s in to come back and defend me.”
“You…. You believe in that ‘witch’s familiar’ superstition?” he asked. He sounded incredulous.
“You’ve never had an owner, I take it,” I replied. “Just belonged to brokers and trainers and the network?”
“They had a subplot in the first season, that I’m a Federation citizen, but my ‘sylph magic’ considered the Captain of the Inflict to be my owner, but they never did much with it.”
“That’s probably because your writers don’t own sylphs,” I said. I took a deep, centering breath. “Now, if that hand moves any further up my leg, I’m going to get upset, and I don’t care whose evening it ruins. Including everyone that’s naked on the window sill when my owner turns on the lights.”
Skippy removed his hand, though he didn’t move away. My eyes were adapting and I could see him, kinda, still leaning towards me.
“I don’t want to force anything, but this IS a golden opportunity for all of us. And your owner will never know.” I could barely see him wave his arm, indicating the rest of the sylphs. “No one here’s going to tell on you. Sylphs keep secrets better than anyone, especially from the giants.”
“But I’m not looking for an opportunity,” I told him. “Skippy, I am glad to know you. I liked playing volleyball with you. I LOVED working out dinner and dessert with you. And the whole Charity Squares thing was a BLAST!
“But Conrad and I just rededicated ourselves to each other. Don’t take it personally, but don’t misunderstand me, either. I’m not going to sleep with ANY sylph.”
“I can’t believe you’ve never wanted to do it with someone at your own scale,” Skippy said. “And I’m not one to take no for an answer.”
I was about to scream. If he wouldn’t take ‘no’ would he take ‘get the fuck awayfrom me?’
I mean, I’m almost sure he meant ‘I am persistent when I want something’ but it also sounded like ‘I WILL force something, if necessary.’
Just then, a voice spoke from about three inches behind us. “How about ‘fuck me?’ Will you take that as an answer?” We hadn’t heard Delli walking up to us.
“I, um…” Skippy fumbled for an answer. “We, uh… We were…”
“Go for it,” I told him. “I won’t take it personally.”
“I thought you…,” he finally said to Delli. “I thought you and that hair guy…?”
“We are, but we also have an understanding,” she said.
“I, um… Well, if you really want to?” he asked, hopefully. As usual, Delli had been nude any time there wasn’t an operational camera nearby. He knew exactly how hot she was.
She took his hand and led him off into the room somewhere. In the darkness, she disappeared in an instant. I could follow him for a bit longer.
When they were out of sight, I got up and moved towards where I though Cher had been making out with Delli.
“Here,” Cher said softly as I approached. I found him on the sill and a big weight dropped off my shoulders. I had almost expected him to be laying in wait wherever Delli had taken Skippy.
It would be just like the two of them to defend my honor by tying Skippy into knots.
But Cher was still looking at the sky, leaning on one of the cushions from our talking pit.
He pat the side of the cushion and I sat down next to him. Until I leaned against him, I hadn’t realized just how chilly it was next to the windows. The glass was cold and cooled air flowed down the face of the window.
Cher was warm and cozy, though. I leaned into him, shamelessly sucking up his body heat.
He allowed me and we sat comfortably for a moment or two.
“What exactly is your and Delli’s understanding?” I finally asked him, very softly.
“Oh, just that she’s going to wait until the most appropriate moment to tell Skippy that she used to be a man,” he said.
“Hmmm. He may wish you’d just tied him in a knot.”
“That’s plan B…”
Amelia shouted, “Cover your eyes!” about then. “They’re on the stairs!” No one asked how she knew. We just accepted that she did.
There was scrambling here and there for clothing. And, somewhere not too far away, the sound of someone… Well, someone very upset.
Conrad would love this story, but Skippy was right about one thing. I couldn’t bring myself to tell on him. In some ways, it really was us against the giants.
Conrad wouldn’t DO anything to a sylph he didn’t own. Hell, Conrad would never do anything to a sylph he DID own, either.
But he might tell someone, and the story might eventually reach an owner or a handler who would punish Skippy. And like all stories, it would grow in the telling.
I didn’t want him punished. The retching sound was more than enough for me.
“Why is it so dark in here?” Nolan’s voice boomed. I had just enough time to cover my eyes before the lights came on.
“We were watching the stars!” Kerri screamed. We all blinked our way back to the land of illumination. Giants turned off a few of the individual lamps, speeding the recovery.
“Oh, yeah,” Samantha said. “We saw those as we came back from the chocolate store.” She stepped over to the window, looking up at the sky. All the giants looked up at the sky. No one looked down to see Nemesis helping Supersylph pull her shirt down over her boobs.
“Chocolate?” I asked, once everyone looked to be recovered.
“Gourmet chocolate,” Conrad said, swinging a paper sack with an ornate design.
He sat by the coffee table and started laying out an assortment…
I made a point of offering a piece of a particularly tasty caramel to Skippy when he finally joined us at the candy.
It wasn’t a peace offering as much as ‘I won’t hold anything against you.’
He nodded ruefully and accepted the sweet.
-----
We drove Sam and Amelia, and Nolan and Kerri to the small Hailey airport in the morning.
Conrad told his father’s stories about flying into this airport, taking a prop plane in and out of the resort. “And at one point, he noticed cows in a pasture on the side of the mountain.”
“Seems like cows would be normal for Idaho,” Nolan said.
“Yeah, but at that point, the cows were higher than the plane, and they weren’t even on final approach.” There were oohs and ahs and laughter at that, but Samantha moaned.
“That’s right, this is a very claustrophobic flight,” she complained.
“Buck up,” Amelia said. “At least it’s a jet.”
“Which means the mountains will be coming right at us even faster!” Sam snapped.
As Conrad pulled into a parking place, and killed the engine, I had a suggestion.
“You know…” I said. “Since we’re driving back to Boise, anyone interested in flying out of OUR airport instead of this one could ride with us.”
“Oooh! Oooh!” Samantha interested, raising her hand.
“They’d have to pay the fare,” Conrad mused.
“Which is?” Amelia asked.
“We sing on the road,” he explained. “Everyone has to pick a song, and everyone has to sing at least one of the parts.”
“I pick Rock And Roll Part Two,” Nolan said instantly.
“That’s an instrumental, isn’t it?” Cher asked.
“Oh, he’s well aware,” Kerri said.
“Sorry,” Conrad said. “That’s just the rule in this car. Radio reception sucks so we sing.”
“We could maybe allow good friends to opt out,” I suggested.
“If they opt out,” Conrad said, “they can’t complain if someone picks The Time Warp four times.”
“I’LL complain if you do that again!” Delli cried.
“Okay, okay. So who’s interested?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” Amelia muttered. “Is that gourmet chocolate place on the way to Boise from here?”
“Not unless we go home through Canada,” Conrad said.
“Are we in a hurry?” Delli asked.
The humans looked at each other for a moment, then down at their sylphs. Shrugs made the rounds of the Tantive IV-C.
“Backtracking, it is,” Conrad said. Humans went inside to make alternative travel arrangements.
Sylphs started to organize a song list. And I just love to see people working together…
-----
Index
143. Charity Squares P4: Groping In The Dark
107. Blank