by P. S. Power
She broke in, nodding seriously.
"That will be fine. I'll meet you out front." It was kind of clear that he wasn't getting a choice in the matter.
Well, unless he snuck out the back and ran off into the night. That might work.
Instead he spoke to people for a while, said his goodbyes, and met the girl, with her long dark hair, out in front. She started walking instantly, heading in the right direction like she knew the way. It was close to midnight, and he was truly exhausted from lack of sleep. Enough that it was making his thinking fuzzy, he could tell.
The girl, his aunt in a weird way that wasn't biological, though it kind of held up morally. Her brother, who she called her brother, was his father. That they didn't have another link, through the blood, was confusing, but not that important. Not if Tiera wanted him to keep away from the girl. The one next to him, who took his hand as they got to his place, a while later. Without touching the wall Taman made a door appear instantly, and shook her head.
"That was decent work, hiding the door like that. I doubt there are a hundred people in the world that could do that with this thing. We should go in." The girl was tiny, but stronger than she looked. Dareg found himself tugged into place, the door being pulled shut behind him. Lights came on, but dimly, and she smiled at him. It was just bright enough to see her do it.
"I hear that Tiera warned you away from me? Did she give a reason?"
"No? I figured that it was the aunt thing, but she didn't seem too concerned there. My best guess is that she's trying to protect me from you. You know, given your reputation as a wizard? I jump the wrong way, and end up a frog. It could be that. I haven't heard that you have a reputation for being mean, but hey, would I? I don't speak amphibian, so how would I learn about it?"
That got her to cross her eyes and smirk. It was adorable, and meant to be. The kind of thing that attractive people did to make themselves a little less pretty, and tell everyone that they didn't mean any harm.
"It isn't that. Or a worry that I'll steal you from Karina. I wouldn't do that. It's... Kind of embarrassing, really." She stepped back, and then sighed, shaking her head. "I asked a man to marry me. Guide Eastgreen? He... sent a go between to put me off. Tiera thinks that means that I'm going to throw myself at the next man I meet and marry him without pause. That isn't me. I wouldn't do things like that." She seemed to know that about herself pretty solidly.
"Oh? Well that's good to know. So what do you really want? Tiera wouldn't respond like that if she didn't see something happening that she didn't understand."
"Right." She tapped her chest, near her throat. That turned her clothing amulet off, leaving her completely nude. "I just like you. That's enough, isn't it? We can spend time together, can't we?"
The words were soft, and kind, and his clothing turned off, too. Without the wizard touching him at all, or closing her eyes. There was something happening however, that wasn't just about what was going on between his legs. That part involved her hand, as she moved closer to him, kissing hard, squeezing him and stroking to get him going.
He noticed her projecting at him then. It was a powerful thing, pushing him to like her. To want her. To...
Give her a child.
Under all of it, that thought, or feeling maybe, battered into him the hardest. It was the thing she was after, it was clear. Not love, or lust, but a baby, to call her own.
That got him to move back and shake his head, trying desperately to clear it from the fog that was being pushed on him. How he knew what she wanted from him for that purpose, he couldn't understand. Magic, clearly, but he wasn't a wizard. She was.
"Stop that!" He slapped his clothing on, and then his shield, moving away. "Stop! I don't want to have kids with you!"
She did step back, and gave him a strange look, her face going wry, rather than mean or insulted.
"Hmm. So you got that? Sloppy of me. It's part of my genetic code to want children. I should get that fixed, or at least reduced, but haven't yet. It's hard to fight against, I assure you. I really do find you attractive. I could do other things, if you're worried? Use my mouth, or hands?" She tried to move in again, but Dareg wasn't having it.
"I don't think so. You have some kind of trick in mind, to get what you want. I do what you said, and you use your hand, and end up pregnant by me anyway... Not that I understand how you'll do it, but I can see that you will. You think so anyway, it's written all over your face. Why me? That... There are a lot of men." It was true, after all.
Taman sighed, and tried to hold him, then understood that her cute body wasn't going to be enough to sell him on the deal. For one thing, if she got pregnant, they'd have to get married. That meant she would actually steal from Karina, even if she didn't know that about herself.
"I... No. It..." She stopped and shook her head. "I really want a child. It's a constant pressure on me. I know that it would be the wrong time for me, but that doesn't matter to my basic sense of self. Drives rarely care how intelligent your brain is. So, I have to act, and do it the best as I can."
Getting that he wasn't going to give in, she dressed and sighed at him.
"I hope you aren't too angry? You have wonderful genetics. Nearly perfect for me, I think. We could have amazing kids. They'd be incredible, I think. Whatever Tor did to make you, it was done well."
He shook his head, since even if it was true, he understood what she'd been doing to him since they'd met. It was probably a bit like what he normally did to everyone else. The big difference was that she was doing it on purpose. To get what she wanted from him, by tricking him using his desire for her.
"Why don't you leave? I don't think I want you here, for the time being. This is... It's a little too much for me today. I'm too tired, and I don't want to fight, but this... What you're doing isn't fair."
She looked down and seemed a bit upset, but nodded too.
"I know. I pressed you. Guide... He told me no, because he isn't ready for children. I don't need a husband though. Not living on Harmony. Even in Soam no one will mock me for it. It's a drive. No worse than your own to have sex. No one will malign you for that, so why should I be seen as wrong for wanting children?"
He shook his head.
"You shouldn't. It is pretty normal, but... I just turned fourteen. I'm looking to get married to someone else, and, you know, we're related, I guess. I know that I can't see it that way, and that the blood lines don't have an issue that way, but... If I want to get kicked out of this new family, you having my child would probably get that to happen faster than nearly anything else I could do."
She made a face, but didn't tell him that he was wrong. Instead she held him and shook her head.
"They won't. They all want you to be happy. No one knows what to do in order to make that happen, so they flounder and wait for you to make the first move. So, if I'm not going to be harvesting your seed, I guess I should leave? Unless you want to change your mind? I could use my mouth." There it was again, in her body language. She was sincere, but it was also clearly a trick somehow.
"No? I... You should go. I'm not blaming you, but... Find someone else? Marry them, then have kids?"
It couldn't be that hard for her to manage, after all. She was small, but incredible looking, and clearly smart, with the exception of this one desire of hers, which she seemed to know was out of control, but couldn't help.
Sure, he got the basic idea. He really did want to have sex with most women, most of the time. That was normal though, and not a thing he didn't have control over. As he was showing at the moment, he noticed. He liked sex, and pleasure, like most did. Not enough to let it ruin his life, but he could understand that it might be hard for her to resist, if her own needs were stronger than that.
Which was what was happening with Taman. It was a shame too, since he could easily see her becoming his favorite person in the world, other than that. Even without sex being involved.
"So, go now? Please?" The big thing now would be to let her
get away without feeling embarrassed, which would be hard. "We can talk later."
She smiled, clearly seeing the same things that he was, if filtered through her own world view.
"We can. I know this will make things hard between us. We don't have to let it, if you don't want?" She touched his chest and then shook her head. "I'll see if I can get Timon to help me change this. Otherwise I'm going to end up with eleven children, and living in a forest. Not that I have anything against forests." She smiled, and then left, the door vanishing as soon as she was out through it, though that wasn't needed.
Dareg nodded though, wondering if they'd be able to move past the events that hadn't happened there.
Probably not, but he could try to do his part.
Then, exhaustion taking him, he changed to comfortable clothing and fell asleep. Worried, but not enough to stop him from letting the world go dark.
Chapter sixteen
It felt odd now, getting up in the pod house that Taman had made. The magical construction looked the same, but it felt like he should give it back to her, and not benefit from her efforts, since he was rejecting her like he was.
That part, a thing that he woke up with, was a bit surprising to Dareg. He felt really bad about not having taken her up on her offer. Her plan, or trick. Here he was benefiting from what she'd done, and he hadn't done anything to help her at all. It was a raw feeling, but the truth was that he wasn't ready to be a father. Not at fourteen. Not once you added in the fact that he'd never really had one.
At least he never had before. The door of his pod house appeared on its own, and opened a crack, which had Dare standing on his feet suddenly, before he really knew what was going on. Tam had suggested that only a few hundred people could have done that kind of thing, which had been a compliment, he understood. A way for the girl to soften him to her cause. It didn't mean that she was wrong however.
That meant it was probably her doing it now. That, or a handful of other people that were around the the spaceport.
A male voice called out to him. One that he didn't recognize at first, his head still filled with the fog of sleep.
"Dareg? It's me. Tor? I didn't know if you'd be able to get up on you own-" He stopped talking, looking a little surprised when the door was yanked open suddenly.
The tall man was actually a little too big to comfortably climb into the pod house. By nearly a foot and a half, from the look of his. There was no one else behind him, and his face turned from shock, which was just about the sudden door movement and that Dare was awake already, into a friendly smile.
"I'm awake. Walk with me." He sounded grumpy, but softened it with a smile, and went to the Tam-unit. She was, he decided, still his friend. Maybe even the best one that he'd ever had. She even smiled when they got close enough to her for her to understand who was there.
"Hey! It's like a family reunion. What can I get you this morning? A nice protein drink?"
Dareg nodded, and Tor made a face.
"Ugh. I hate those things. I get the use, before running and practicing. I always used to just skip out on eating myself. Then, I wasn't really in a heavy growth period when I was in training either, so you probably need the calories."
He took the large cup that came out and drank the chalky, funny tasting material inside. It was a bit thicker today, which made it better. Like it had more fat in it, he thought.
When he was done, he looked over at the man with him, and then tossed his drinking glass back in the hopper on the side of the unit.
"I need to go and brush my teeth, then start running. Can you squeeze into the house here? I want to get your take on something."
"Sure! I'm sure I can help with any projects you have. If not, I can find someone who can. Or give advice? I'm horrible at it, but I hear that the real point of that kind of thing is to actually let people have ideas to reject, so they understand what they were going to do all along." It sounded like he was being clever, and in truth, the man was probably right.
Dareg went inside and Tor, humbly enough, just sat in the middle of the floor, making himself fit. Looking around the large, rather thin, man nodded. He was good looking, but only a bit more than say Timon, or, Dare could allow, himself. Ten percent, or so.
He spoke, just making conversation as Dare went into the little room that had running water, and started brushing his teeth.
"Tam did a good job on this. Did you know that it will stop all kinds of radiation except light? That's important in Soam. Still, the people there are faring better than we'd thought they would after the attacks there off the coast. Nuclear weapons... It was insane of the Ancients to do that to us. The ones that tried to kill us. It wasn't all of them, you know that, right? Some of them fought to protect us. Most of the ones that tried died doing it." He sounded a bit hesitant, saying that. Like the very idea might be rejected out of hand.
"When they went to stall the others in Afrak, attacking them while the death plague was released? So that they couldn't hide away in their underground shelters? Timon made that, right?" He knew it, from his lessons at school, but it hadn't occurred to him before that that he'd actually met people that he'd read about, and heard stories of.
That got him to smirk, while he used his blue handled brush to try and keep his breath from smelling like a cow field.
Tor, in the other room, sounded warmer when he spoke.
"That's right. I didn't know that anyone would have told you that. Did Tim go over it with you?"
That got Dare to blink, and then spit the cinnamon flavored paste from his mouth.
"Nope. It was Rosemarie, the schoolmarm back home. We had that lesson twice a year, every year. It's part of what the King demands everyone know. I'm pretty certain that most people have that one down. Didn't you know that?" That made him wonder how secret Tor thought everything really was.
Then, all of the immortals really did seem to like their hidden knowledge. No one had been announcing that aliens were coming, or claiming that there was a nebulous new enemy in the world.
Tor made a sound that seemed pleased, rather than upset at things being known.
"That's a lot better than I thought then! So, what did you want to talk to me about? I hope it isn't that you plan to throw me over as your father, just because of what some Austrans said. I was thinking about that, and we can just go and do a live DNA test there, showing everyone that you're mine, if they won't shut up about it. I know they were being insulting, but it also fits their group mindset. Timon wasn't wrong about the idea that a lot of them will probably start claiming that we're related in order to get gold from us, if they think they can. It won't work, but to their way of thinking they nearly have to take a shot at it."
That got Dare to nod.
"Let's do that? They pissed me off to no end, but if that will help, I'll go and let them prod me or whatever it takes. That wasn't it." He stopped, and then just went on, knowing that he had no good way to soften the blow, if it was going to be one.
Still, he stalled, putting his morning gear away, making a point of shaving first, even though it wasn't really needed yet. He wasn't certain he was doing it right, but his beard wasn't going to come in fully for several years, from what he'd seen with other people. It would just be a boys wispy chin beard, which looked stupid, if he grew one now.
Like black worms coming from his face. No one liked that, so he tried to keep it from happening.
"Taman... Last night she tried to get me to have sex with her. She followed me back here for that." The words felt a little thick, since he wasn't certain that he'd be believed.
The wizard, who he was facing now, looked away, making the side of the pod house go transparent.
"Tried? You didn't do it?"
"Nope. Don't get me wrong here. We aren't really related, and she's very pretty. It wasn't that kind of thing. I wasn't rejecting her because of that kind of situation. Just... She was using a kind of mind control, and trying to make me give her a baby. I got my shield on, which h
elped, but... It was close. She... She said it was part of her pattern? Wanting to have a child that much?"
Tor puffed his cheeks, and nodded.
"You resisted her though? That's not bad. I'd prefer you didn't have sex with your family, if it's all the same. I'll go talk to her about it. It won't happen again."
Dareg shook his head.
"Taman said she'd see about getting Timon to change her. Maybe it would be best just to set that up? If she doesn't have control over that part of her being, then she might need the help getting things going. Even if she knows that it's the right thing to do. That was all. As for the rest..." He shrugged and then grinned. "I'm totally doing it with Tiera if I can. Maybe your mother. They're both incredible, in case you haven't noticed? Alyssa too. After all, that wake up thing she gave me is amazing. That's the noble way, isn't it? Have all the sex you can with anyone that's halfway willing? As long as you aren't too related?" He was teasing, since going into a fight with Tor wasn't a brilliant plan.
Luckily the man just snorted at him.
"I see. So that's how it's going to be? Getting back at me for not being there earlier, by ruining all my family relationships? I guess I can't blame you. I really messed up. I should have known. I should have felt you out there and come gotten you. You and Merilee."
There was real sorrow there, it was clear. Like the man thought that any of what he'd just said could have ever happened. That he would have been able to tell that Dareg was out there in the world from the Moon.
"Not really. Things were the way they had to be, more or less. Now we go on. So, no, I won't sleep with all my relations that aren't blood tied to me to get back at you."
Tor relaxed a bit then, and smiled.
Until Dare went on.
"No, I'll do it because they're pretty. Naturally." He managed to keep a straight face for a while, then shook his head. After all, he'd already kind of given up on the idea that most of them even wanted to do that kind of thing with him. There really had been an initial draw, and that had gone both ways. Dareg kind of figured that it had to do with his own pheromone power than anything else however.