Alkalians

by Caleb S. Bugai

  Matt sits on the couch in the living room of the apartment while in the kitchen Lyn gets them drinks. His green vest absent to expose his black shirt, he speaks up, “I get that this victory over Cain is big and everything, Lyn, but to have drinks at your apartment, just the two of us? Isn’t that kind of selfish? What about the others?”

  “Oh, we can have a more complete celebration with them later, Matt. After all, the most of them are your opponents in the finals two days from now, it would be bad luck for you all to drink together before it!” Strolling out of the kitchen with two glasses, Lyn smiles at him. “Plus, I was thinking you and I could begin discussing how to set up the new role of the boss students in our community.”

  “Heh, again, just the two of us? I’m not a boss student myself, remember, and then the others, Cynthia, Buster…”

  “True, but none of this would have happened without you, Matt. Therefore, you have a special say in how it will work, from now on.” She sits down next to Matt, close enough he moves a little to the side, and offers him one of the glasses. “Here you go, my treat.”

  “Ah, thanks, Lyn.” He accepts the glass, sniffing at the icy blue liquid. “Um, what kind of drink is this?”

  “Flajiduer,” Lyn replies with a smirk before taking a sip. “A special from Tirez. It relieves stress while producing a chilling sensation.”

  Matt nods, looks at the drink again, and takes a sip, immediately shuddering as it goes down his throat. “Whoa, chilling, indeed! Aren’t you guys cold enough, up there?” They both chuckle before each takes another sip, where Matt notices the strange way Lyn looks at him. “Um, shouldn’t we have toasted, first?”

  “Oh, right, of course! Let’s try that again.” She raises her glass. “To the end of Cain’s regime!”

  “And to a better community for us all,” Matt adds, tapping her glass with his before they each have long gulps. He shudders again, feeling flushed a moment, and sees Lyn blushing as well. He chuckles more nervously before asking, “So, where do we start?”

  “Well, let’s see,” Lyn begins, setting her glass down on the coffee table and moving again close to Matt. “Seeing as you’re a freshman yourself, we’ll start there. There should be some kind of welcome program to help the freshmen fit in smoothly with the rest of the community, more thorough and effective than that silly speech Professor Kaystone gives each year.”

  “Alright, that makes sense.” Matt shuffles away again, having caught a sweet smell coming from Lyn in their close contact. He figures she’s wearing some kind of perfume. “How would we, er, you do that?”

  “I, I think, we should have special evenings for them, at the casino. Easier winnings, bigger payouts, in the gambling hall. Freshmen-only tournaments in the pit arena. And, maybe, some freshmen exclusive parties in the dance hall.”

  “Uh huh. I guess that could work. And, how about with the actual studying?”

  Lyn brushes some strands of hair from her sweaty forehead, smirking and again shuffling close to Matt, nearly leaning on his shoulder. “We’d just do what I’ve been doing. Offer to help them personally with their homework, their studying, in the study halls and such.” She looks to Matt’s pale expression, her pale eyes twinkling. “How are you feeling, Matt?”

  Matt hesitates on a response, clearing his throat. “Fine, I guess. You weren’t kidding with the drink, though, I really feel cold.”

  “Oh yes, that’s normal. Would you like to warm up?”

  A different kind of chill comes over Matt as he looks Lyn in the eye, the scent of her, not some perfume, deep in his nostrils. “And how would we do that?”

  “Like this.” With no other warning but softly petting his cheek, Lyn closes in with her lips, and Matt dissolves into returning the kiss. Thoughts about the student community, the boss students’ new priorities, the freshmen, everything except them in the moment is forgotten as the kiss deepens in intensity, their hands searching and clinging at each other. Their bodies, their passion, the very air around them seems to warm up, and the next thing Matt is aware of they are embraced, each of them topless, their senses tingling from their chests pressed together and their nails clawing at their bare backs.

  When they at last take a break from their kissing, their eyes opening to let Lyn stare deeply into his dazed ones, she asks, “Liking this, so far?”

  “I, I, I think so, but, I…”

  “Don’t worry about it, Matt.” She kisses him again before softly, but sternly, pushing him back to lay on the couch face-up. Straddling him, her chest bare above him, she caresses herself while saying, “Don’t worry about anything, now.” Her hands leaving her chest, visibly rising and falling with her breathing, she leans forward, lowering her breasts to Matt.

  Under another circumstance, if this had been his first time, Matt would have been powerless to resist, to deny what was coming. But because it isn’t, because he had enough experience already, one part of him observes how Lyn’s breasts are slightly bigger than Rose’s, yet smaller than Amelia’s, and another part is waving the red flag. He isn’t supposed to give into this if he doesn’t really want it.

  Just before contact between his face and Lyn’s breasts, Matt snaps out of it and pushes her back, his hands pressing spots Amelia had shown him to “turn off” a female partner. “No, wait, Lyn. I’m sorry, but, we can’t do this. We shouldn’t do this.”

  Shock and confusion on her face, Lyn is briefly speechless as Matt slips out from under her and sits up. “But, why? You don’t want this, Matt? You don’t want me?”

  “Not like this, no. This is, uh, too soon.” Palming his forehead, his eyes clear and sober, he looks back to Lyn, focused on her veiled eyes instead of her bare breasts. “I’m sorry, Lyn, but I don’t have strong enough feelings for you, to do this. It would be wrong of us to do so, without an honest commitment from us both.”

  “…You, you mean, you don’t like me?”

  “No!” Matt assures her, gripping her shoulder firmly. “I like you, Lyn, without a doubt, but just as a friend. And I want us to still be friends. But, if we did this, without clear intentions, it could be bad for us, for our relationship. Do you understand?”

  Lyn pauses, her own head clearing at his words, before she nods. “Yeah. Yeah, I get it. We’re just not ready for this yet.” Before Matt can try to explain otherwise, she shyly smiles back at him. “I’m sorry, Matt. I didn’t mean to force you into it, if you weren’t ready for it.”

  “Ah, it’s alright, Lyn. We all make mistakes.” Clearing his throat, an awkward moment passes between the two before Matt says while putting his shirt back on, “I should get back to my cabin for the night.”

  “Oh, okay.” Lyn reaches for and puts on her vest, buttoning it closed over her breasts. “I guess we’ll have to discuss the new boss student priorities later.”

  “Uh, hehe, yeah.” Matt stands and goes to the door, grabbing and putting on his green vest. “Well, have a good night, Lyn!” He flashes her a smile before turning and opening the door.

  “You too,” Lyn replies after him before the door closed. She then sits back, sighing and palming her forehead as she wonders what just happened. If she and Matt have something between them, as she believes they do, how could he have rejected her advances? He could have at least enjoyed her breasts, they wouldn’t have had to go all the way, but that would have been nice, too. She shakes her head and decides to worry about it later before standing to put away the glasses. Perhaps they weren’t ready for it yet, but later they could try again.

  ***

  The next day, besides being the eve of the Royale Project finale, goes by normally for most of the student community, including Matt. In the middle of something that has become routine to him, steam rises around him as he eases himself into a hot bath, sighing with relief as the water comes up to his shoulders. Joining him in the bath across from him is Amelia, submerging herself until the top of her breasts are just above the water. Looking at her with a dreamy smile as she shrugs, briefly press
ing her chest up for a more revealing view, he asks, “How did I do this time? I think this is the first time I actually made you scream.”

  “Ah, Matt, you sure did. This was the best time between us, and I haven’t been moved like that in a long time.” She opens her eyes, smiling back at him. “You’re a pretty quick learner, at this.”

  “Heh, thanks. I’m glad to hear it.” Pleased as he feels Amelia’s legs reaching through the bath to stroke his, he leans back and closes his eyes with another sigh. “How many times have we done it, now?”

  “Oh, I think this was the fifth. There was the first time, after Cynthia showed up to join our cause, then there was the second time, after Lyn ran off to deal with Irene. So we’ve done it three more times since, in the bath here after our second time, last night when you came to my cabin, and now today. It was a good thing you didn’t happen to hit my sweet spot last night, or we may have woken up my cabin mates.”

  “Hah, yeah. That would have been embarrassing.” Opening his eyes, Matt ponders what he feels like doing next. The first time they had this bath together, they had simply relaxed before washing themselves, and the second time, as Amelia recalled, the hot water and steam had hypnotized them into having intercourse again. This third time, though, Matt feels he has to talk to Amelia about something. “Do you know where I was, before I stopped by your cabin last night?”

  “No, you never said why you came over. Was it more than just having a need for me, again?”

  “Ah, yeah, I’m afraid so. I, I had to clear my head, cleanse my body, of what happened earlier. Lyn made a move on me, at her cabin.”

  Sitting up with more concerned attention, Amelia asks, “She did, huh? What did you do?”

  “Well, fortunately, I knew enough of what to expect to know I shouldn’t do it with her, and I pushed her off. But, she, she didn’t see why I had refused her. I tried to explain otherwise, but, I now believe she has a huge infatuation for me.”

  “Ah. That could be a problem. When Lyn gets set on something, it’s difficult to turn her elsewhere.” Reaching across and out of the bath, Amelia retrieves a sponge and soaps it up before turning her back to Matt. “Could you scrub me down?”

  “Of course.” Floating through the water to close the few feet between them, he takes the sponge and begins washing down Amelia’s back, parting her long hair as he spreads soap across her smooth skin. Trying to think of something else to say, he looks around the luxurious bathroom, their bath in the center of it by the wall opposite the door, a wide sink behind him, and a spacious shower stall beyond Amelia. “So, why is there a bathroom like this right next to the study hall?”

  Amelia chuckles, her body tingling with pleasure as Matt brought the sponge underwater and past her waist. “Because college studies can be tough work, Matt. Some students who use this study hall may pull all-nighters, and then take baths or showers in here before beginning another day of classes.”

  “Wow, really? Have you had to do an all-nighter, like that?”

  “Hmm, a few times, I think. I wasn’t alone, though, some more of Lyn’s associates were with me, before we shared bathing in here.”

  “Uh huh. What was that like, bathing with them?”

  Turning to him sharply enough to startle him, Amelia dares Matt, “What was that?”

  “Gah, uh, nothing! I’m sorry.” Nodding at his correction, Amelia relaxes while he continues to wash her, the sponge sliding over her shoulders and chest. Spending a little more time on her chest, Matt frowns before looking up to her face. “What should I do, if Lyn makes a move on me, again?”

  “Just tell her the truth, as kindly as possible.” She looks down to him. “Are you sure you don’t have any desire for her?”

  “Um, yeah, I’m sure.”

  Amelia smirks. “You can be honest with me, Matt, I won’t mind who you love more. Do you really have any affectionate desires for Lyn?”

  “…No. No, I do not desire her.”

  “Oh? And why is that? She is kind and compassionate, and her figure is decent. And if she wants you so much, who’s to stop you?”

  Matt doesn’t respond at first, a strange look coming over him, before the sponge bobs to the bath’s surface out of his grasp. “Who I’m looking at, now.”

  Blushing when he embraces her, pressing himself against her with rising desire, Amelia gasps as she looks into Matt’s eyes, seeing something beyond lust in them. “Ah, Matt…” She strokes his cheek, admiring his feelings for her, before her lips meet his in a deep kiss. The kiss and the embrace become more passionate as they move back to the edge of the bath, sinking deeper into it as Matt sinks himself deep into her and moans from them both are muffled by their locked lips.

  As they are well into their sixth time of intercourse, the heat of the bath and their passion binding their bodies together, the steamy atmosphere is pierced when the door to the bathroom flies open, and Matt and Amelia whirl to see Lyn standing in the doorway. Their flushed expressions pale with shock, but not as greatly as Lyn’s with her right eye twitching and the rest of her body trembling as something threatens to explode out of her. Judging by the fire rising in Lyn’s teary eyes, Matt has a good idea what it is, and as she lowers her darkening expression he tries to say, “Please, Lyn, this isn’t, let me explain…”

  “Get out, Matt.”

  “Wha-what?”

  “Get. Out. Now.”

  The tone in Lyn’s voice, so quiet but full of rage about to boil over, causes Matt to hesitate, but Amelia assures him, “It’s okay, Matt, go on.” She adds with a whisper as they separate under the water with urgency, “Get to your cabin as fast as you can, and don’t look back. You’ll be safe there, whatever happens.” Not sure whether that scared him more than Lyn at the moment or not, he nods, climbs out of the bath, and grabs a towel on his way out of the room, pass a still trembling Lyn with her back to him and her breath fuming.

  Matt had finished hastily drying off and gotten half his clothes on when the door to the bathroom slams closed and Lyn’s anger at last erupts, focused on Amelia trapped within. “You filthy bitch, how dare you do this to me, behind my back!? You knew, you damned well knew how I felt for Matt, and you stole him, seduced him for yourself! You, I left you with him, I trusted you with him, and you betrayed me. You were my closest acquaintance, my friend, and you BETRAYED me!!”

  Amelia tries to speak up in her defense, but Lyn cuts her off, near screeching, “I should have known, spirits burn it all, I should have known, with your disgusting adulterous ways, I should have known you’d make a move on Matt, luring him into your web and having your damned way with him! And I suppose he doesn’t care about you sleeping with others, does he, as long as he’s getting a taste of your ass, too! I’ve overlooked your horrid habit, I’ve let it slide because of your kindness and loyalty, but now, I regret ever being near you, you black-hearted bitch, and I hope the Fire Spirit burns you in hell!!”

  Not sticking around to hear more of Lyn’s rage, Matt rushes out of the study and down the hall, running for it. If that was how she was treating Amelia, he did not want to find out what she’d do to him. He soon gets out of the college building, but doesn’t slow down as he shifts into his battle morph to rocket across the fields on air balance, reminded by Amelia’s warning to not look back. As the cabins come into view, he discovers why when a wolf’s howl, full of fury, claws at him from behind, and he makes a final burst through the cabin plots.

  ***

  “Ugh, I don’t wanna study,” moans Sean stretched out on the couch. Nearby is Rose, sitting at a desk working on her own homework in their cabin’s living room, and she seems to ignore him as he complains, “I don’t get it, we’re the finalists of the Royale Project, why do we still have to do our schoolwork? Shouldn’t we, you know, be resting up for the big day, tomorrow?”

  “I don’t know, Sean, but we did get the past few days to rest.” Not looking up from her deciphering some notes, Rose says, “And besides, our course grades are more impo
rtant than some fight.”

  “Some fight? This ain’t just any old fight, Rose, this is the championship! This is the chance at eternal glory in the college’s, no, in our whole country’s history, and instead of getting prepped for it we’re supposed to worry about papers and exams! I’m telling ya, this is an extreme injustice, and I really think the school should…” A sudden, heavy thud into the side of the cabin jolts him and Rose, and he exclaims, “What the hell was that? Who’d be throwing people against cabins out there!?”

  He gets his answer when the door clicks unlocked and Matt shoves it open, panting as he swings it closed. Immediately on their feet in worry, Sean and Rose flank him with his head against the door, and Rose asks, “Matt, what’s wrong? What’s going on?”

  “I, I may be in trouble, guys, I’m sorry.”

  “Trouble?” Sean asks skeptically. “What kind of trouble would send you ducking in here, like…” Something else, with a vicious snarl, smashes against the door outside, making all three freshmen jump back. “Earth Spirit crush us, what was that?” When a blood-curdling howl penetrates the door, his and Rose’s expressions pale when they slowly turn to him. “Matt. What, did you, do!?”

  Matt sighs, pacing in distress and shame, and replies, “I, I don’t know, it just, it just all happened so fast! We weren’t ready for her, she, she didn’t understand, and now…”

  “Whoa, Matt, slow down,” Rose says, trying to be calm despite the Wolf growling outside their door. “Does this involve Lyn, and Amelia?”

  “Amelia?” Sean asks. “What would Amelia have to, to…” He looks back to Matt, even more aghast than before. “You didn’t. You cheated on Lyn, with Amelia!?”

  “No, no, see, you don’t understand, either!” Matt groans and tries to explain. “I was just taking lessons with Amelia, she, she was educating me in it, but, but we got out of hand, and, I think Lyn believes we have something going, but I don’t, with her. With Lyn, I mean! But with Amelia, I, I don’t know, it’s progressed so far, and, and Lyn, she just burst in on us.”