by Robin Roseau
"You're not ready?"
"Oh, I'm more than ready. But there will be no renegotiating the rules, and I will punish you if you do not follow them."
"I don't think so."
And two seconds later, my visor turned blank.
"Oh, that's not funny!"
"Am I clear, Sapphire? We will not have this conversation with Jasmine unless you are emotionally and intellectually ready."
"Turn it back on or let me take it off."
It brightened slowly.
"Am I clear?" she asked.
"You're clear. But you will not be punishing me, and the moment you try is the moment you also guarantee I will be coming home in five months. Now, am I clear?"
She paused. "If you obey the rules, and I obey the rules, then we need never have this conversation again. Perhaps we can argue after we see what the rules are to be."
"Fine," I said. "How did you blank the visor so quickly?"
"My eyes are like your visor. They are not real eyes."
"A woman at the testing center had eyes like that."
"It is very common. You will be able to change your eyes. I will offer it as a gift on our one-year anniversary."
"I hope not a Saturn-year!"
She laughed.
"I want to talk to Jasmine, but will she let me see the possible rules and think about them if I feel I need time?"
"Yes. Where would you like to go for dinner?"
"Somewhere easy. Is there a cafeteria with food we can both eat? Or you can take me to town. Really, whatever is easy, and I don't want to change clothes."
"There is a restaurant here. The food is good, and they have a wide selection."
"Do I need to be shackled and blinded?"
"No, but there are rules until we leave. You will follow them. Unless you are with me, you are confined to these quarters. The door will only open for you if you are wearing your visor, and unless I do it for you, you can only remove the visor in the bedroom or bathroom with the door closed. You could leave while wearing the visor, but I will know, and I will be very upset."
"I won't."
"You won't have an opportunity, anyway, because you're not leaving my side."
"I'm not at your side right now. I'm in your lap."
"You are feeling playful."
"You seem to like it. I wasn't sure earlier if you'd actually let me kick you."
She growl-laughed. "My friends were most amused and sent me messages to that effect. They couldn't believe I let you do that. There is a phrase in Temier, which they individually used."
"Is there an equivalent phrase in English?"
"I believe there is."
I giggled. "Well, you are."
"Perhaps I am."
* * * *
It felt strange to walk around the facility while able to see. But it was nice, too.
Dinner was simple and easy. Bronze and I ordered separately, but when I offered, she tried a little of everything from my plate. She said she could eat it, but it wasn't her preference.
I took one look at her raw steak and declined. But she ate it with knife and fork, so it didn't bother me too much.
"Bronze?"
"Yes, my mate?"
"Not yet. Do you really want me to call you Bronze?"
"You may call me either of the names you know for me. Bronze is the name you gave me, so it is special to me."
"I knew you first as Moirai."
"Yes, but you knew me then as Temier. I will enjoy either name from your lips."
And so, from that moment forward, she remained Bronze to me, most of the time. But I would intentionally call her Moirai from time to time, too, in acknowledgement of our history, and of what she had done for me.
Jasmine met us in Bronze's room. She congratulated Bronze and hugged me, asking how I was doing.
"Overwhelmed, but okay. You should know, she told me."
"Told you what?"
"That she is Moirai."
"Ah. I knew she would. I didn't know when. She was afraid of your wrath."
"I am so frightening?"
"Yes," they said together.
"Then is that the last of the secrets either of you are keeping from me?"
"There are things you don't know, and there are secrets from all humans."
I turned to Bronze. "Are there secrets you keep specifically from me?"
"No, my mate."
"Stop that."
"You'll get used to it."
"We'll see." I turned back to Jasmine. "She told me you would review the possible rules with me, and if I need time to absorb them, you will give me this time."
"Yes." She gestured, and we all headed for chairs.
Bronze pulled me onto the sofa with her, but I told her I was moving apart if we got to the point of actual negotiating. She agreed reluctantly.
"All right. The basic rules are simple. While you are not property, you in effect belong to her. She may set any arbitrary rules she wants when it comes to where you go, whom you see, and any duties or chores you may have."
I turned to Bronze. "And do you expect this to be a permanent nature of our relationship? Be very, very careful if you intend to say 'yes'."
"Um."
"I'm serious."
"Some of that we will negotiate," Bronze explained. "But I live on the station, most of the time, and that is where we will live together. For the rest, we'll see."
"Uh huh. Try to treat me like property and you know what will happen."
"Sapphire, no."
"An ass kicking like you can't believe. I will kick your ass up one side and down the other. Am I clear?"
She smiled. "You're quite clear."
"Good. And I'll pout. But more importantly, I won't let you touch me, and if you make me mad enough, I'll leave. Maybe you can prevent me leaving physically, but good luck with emotionally. Am I clear."
"Quite clear," she said again.
"Good." I smiled sweetly. "I agree to the basic nature of this rule for now."
"Next," said Jasmine. "You will allow her to woo you. As you can see, she feels as if you are mated, and you will give her every opportunity to convince you of the same. Basically she feels you simply need to catch up to her. You will allow her physical affection and will be physically affectionate in return. You will open your heart and mind and give her every opportunity to fill it. You will do everything in your power to accept her as your mate."
"That's too far," I said. "For a human, that has implications. I'm sorry, but I'm not sleeping with her."
"You've slept with me before," Bronze said.
"Sorry. That's a euphemism for sex. That's too far. That's what it means to do everything to accept you as my mate, but I'm not ready for that. If we have sex now, it means I'm just here for the sex, and that's not the basis for a permanent relationship with a human."
"It's not what we mean," Jasmine said. "But you need to be open and receptive. You need to give her a chance to convince you."
I nodded. "All right."
"She is allowed to touch and to hold you. She is allowed to caress your bare skin. She is allowed to require you to bare skin for her, and only your erogenous zones are excluded from her demands."
She let me think about that.
"In public, she may treat you as she would a mate, and she is allowed to introduce you as her mating candidate. Everyone will know what that means."
"I don't know if I can agree to that. I don't know how she might treat a mate in public. There are many human men who treat their mates in a fashion I would not accept, and I won't accept similar behavior from Bronze."
"If I know you dislike a particular treatment, I won't engage in it," Bronze replied. "Whether the rules allow me to or not. It will anger you and harden your heart."
I thought about it and nodded.
"The nature of the rules are progressive," Jasmine continued. "For the first month, you do not have to allow her to undress you."
"Now wait a minute."
"But during month two, if she wishes to undress you, she may."
"You said she could touch bare skin, and now you're saying she can undress me."
"After the first month," Jasmine said. "Of course, we haven't discussed handicap systems, and you have points to spend."
"I see."
"She may not demand sex, and you are not obligated to allow her to touch that most sensitive of areas until the final month."
"Now wait a minute! If she's touching me there, that's sex."
"I would never force you, Sapphire," she said gently.
"During the final month, she is allowed to touch and stroke you in any fashion she likes, but she may not enter you without your permission."
I was beginning to get worked up, but I kept my mouth shut.
"The rules that apply in one direction apply in the other, after a fashion. During the first month, you may ask her to remain clothed in your presence. From the second month forward, she may undress if she chooses. She may invite you to undress her, but she cannot demand it until the fourth month."
I sighed and shook my head.
"During the third month, she may require you to bathe together, and she is allowed to wash you and ask you to wash her. Prior to that, she may invite such actions, but you are not required to accept them."
"Who came up with these rules? These rules stink."
"I did. Before I accepted this position, there were no restrictions on how the mate candidates could be treated."
I shook my head again.
"She is obligated to provide you with a space that is just yours. She may enter only on invitation, but you should not hide from her in this room. If she calls you, you must come. If you do not, then she may enter. Generally, this is your own bedroom with basic furniture and storage, but that is not always possible, so we are less specific."
I nodded.
"Beginning with the third month, you will no longer sleep in your room. You will share her bed. She may invite you sooner, but it is your choice."
I sighed but said nothing.
"There are other details. Those are the high points. I will send them to your visor now."
She did, and I looked through them.
"Now, she has obligations. She must see to your needs. There are basic needs such as food, clothing, shelter, and security. But she must also see to your emotional and intellectual needs. And you are required to be honest about her with them. You cannot expect someone from a completely different world to instinctively know your requirements."
"I am not shy about speaking up."
"No, you're not. She is responsible for all your expenses. If she chooses to let you travel without her, she will provide you with necessary funds. In other words, she might let you go shopping, for instance. But she may not."
"Right."
"She must spend this time devoted to you, but she must also be clear what to expect long term. She has taken a leave of absence from her work, and you can expect intense attention. You understand when she returns to work, you will have to share her with her professional commitments."
"I will never let my career interfere with our lives together," Bronze said.
"She is obligated to share her needs and desires," Jasmine said. "You are obligated to listen and to do your best to fill them, at least when reasonable. Also, there are things she may not do. She may not beat you. However, she may punish you for transgressions."
"I see." I didn't care for that rule. "And if she makes transgressions, am I allowed to punish her?"
"You are allowed to neglect her. That will be more punishment than she can stand."
"This sounds rather one-sided."
"You should have won today's challenge if you wanted a different nature of relationship."
"Funny."
They gave me time after that. I spent a few minutes reading all the rules. I edged away from Bronze as I did so, feeling somewhat vulnerable and annoyed. Finally I said, "Am I allowed to negotiate these terms?"
"Only during the next phase, where the rules are adjusted by the points spent."
"I see. I can't say I like all these rules, but I will do my best to follow them." I looked back and forth between them. "It is not my nature to take a submissive role in my relationships." I pointed my finger at Bronze. "Is that clear?"
"Yes, Sapphire. It is clear."
Jasmine smiled. "Then let us discuss the next phase. Bronze may spend points that either allow her to accelerate the progression in some way or increase the amount of intimacy involved. There is a group of enhancements that modify your required behavior. However, she may not reduce her obligations. She must see to your needs as we have discussed."
"All right."
"Your points may be spent to adjust how she must treat you or what privileges she must offer, but you cannot reduce the amount of intimacy already discussed."
"She controls my privileges?" I turned back to her. "I have any privilege I want."
"No, you do not," Jasmine said. "You do not have the privilege to leave her side or the quarters she assigns you unless she offers permission, for instance."
"I see."
"If we have not already discussed it, and you do not buy the privilege with points, then she is not obligated to grant it. She has not, for instance, granted permission to communicate with your parents. And unless she grants permission, you will be unable to communicate with anyone but her from the moment you leave this facility."
I turned back to look at Bronze. "Going to comment?"
But it was Jasmine that answered. "My advice to the challengers is always the same. Privileges should be earned, and the privilege of communications very, very tightly controlled. I have advised Bronze to grant no communication privileges at all."
I snapped my head back. "Why?"
"That should be obvious."
"So I'm dependent on her for my emotional needs."
"Yes."
"She risks making me very angry."
"She does. She may decide not to take my advice. However, we do have a great deal of mutual respect. She will consider my advice carefully."
"I see." I stood up, and no one stopped me when I walked across the room to stare out the window.
"Some humans," Jasmine said, "point out that any agreement they make to us is done only under coercion, and thus they feel no moral obligation to keep these agreements. Some remind us of the things you have said to us, that we are the ones with the moral shortcomings. Some use this time to rail at us, to shout, to scream. What will you do, Sapphire Fletcher?"
"I will ask whether my challenger believes she permanently controls my choice of privileges, or if this is a temporary arrangement."
"I will follow Jasmine's advice," Bronze said. "However, you will probably find it exceedingly easy to manipulate most privileges from me, Sapphire. Please give this some time to develop."
I turned around to face them. "Then I will give my challenger her chance," I said. "I will follow these rules." I turned around. "But my challenger has made certain promises to me. She has promised to show me particular wonders. And she has promised me certain things as to how I will be treated. She has promised me that, if I accept her, I will have a fulfilling life, and she states she understand what that requires."
"A career," Bronze said. "Yes. I keep my promises, Sapphire. But remember what I said earlier. I will not allow my career to interfere with our relationship. Will you make the same promise to me?"
I sighed. "You know, I'm too young for the responsibility of a family. Part of the reason, although only a portion, that I was still single was because I wanted to be free to focus on my career."
"A great many humans would kill for the sort of career you will eventually have," Bronze replied. "You will be quite satisfied, Sapphire. I believe I can promise that as well."
I considered carefully before nodding. "Fine. Then I promise if you keep the promises you have made, I will not allow my career focus to interfere with our relationship."
I crossed the room again, standing, looking at both of them. "My employer deserves a personal letter from me apologizing for the abrupt manner of my departure. Do I have permission to craft one with the expectation it will be delivered?"
Bronze inclined her head.
"My parents and friends do not deserve to wonder what has become of me. I wish to record a video message to my family and a second one to certain friends."
Bronze inclined her head again.
"Thank you. Will I be allowed, from time to time, to craft additional video messages for my family?"
"Yes. Not often, until we are fully mated."
"Thank you. We have not spent our points from our challenges. Is it your desire to do so now?"
"Only if you are ready."
"I might ask one brief delay."
"How brief?"
"Only long enough for the three of us to obtain and share a little ice cream."
Bronze smiled. "I like ice cream. Jasmine, do you care for ice cream?"
"I adore ice cream," she said. "Should we have it delivered, or was the suggestion to seek it elsewhere?"
Both of them turned to me.
"You're leaving this to me?" Bronze nodded. "Then if it is no trouble, here. We're comfortable here, are we not?"
"We are."
* * * *
I reviewed the choices available to me, and I also reviewed the choices available to Bronze. I wondered how she would use her points. I was about to find out. I took a seat, far from either of them.
"I am ready."
"Before we begin," Bronze said. "I have a question for my mating candidate."
"All right."
"The rules say that initially I may not touch your erogenous zones unless you grant permission. The rules do not absolutely specify what those are. My understanding may not correspond to yours."
"Anything that would be covered by a two piece swimsuit, and we're not talking a thong."
"You make no distinction between the various regions and sub-regions."
"No."
"So a pat on your bottom would anger you as deeply as a pat somewhere far more intimate."
I stared at her. "I do not recognize your point."
"Would you be willing to define some regions as erogenous zones, and some as semi-erogenous zones?"
"You aren't allowed to force me to get naked for you, and you aren't allowed to touch certain places."