[Fiction] Talking God [Mature Fiction]

[z-Silvestru]

August 21, 2016, Sunday, 11:20 pm

Warning: This fiction contains adult themes and explicit sexual situations. Do not read if this is offensive to you or you are not of age to read them according to your jurisdiction.

Chloe didn’t sleep much anymore; indeed, she didn’t need to do so. But she found that boredom sometimes set in and force her into a slumber, and so it was the case awaiting arraignment. She fell asleep on her cot in the county jail, and she dreamed.

Perhaps it was the return to the place of her birth, or perhaps she had spent too much time thinking about the circumstances that had brought her here. But she dreamed of the corn raining on her from above, and the dust from the dried husks choking her as she was buried alive. And then the moment of rapture, when she was sure that she was dead, and God bent his face down to her.

Light… she had remembered light. But this time, she saw a face, or rather, faces. The Being bending over her didn’t have one face, but many, and just as she thought she’d decided on what he looked like it switched on her again. But the sense of oneness and perfection that flooded her from Him was unmistakable.

“Hello, Chloe,” God said, and Chloe blinked in surprise. That was a very… feminine voice. As she took another look at His face, she realized that it wasn’t just masculine features she was seeing.

“You’re… not a guy,” Chloe blurted, then blushed as she realized how foolish she sounded, talking to God this way.

“No,” He – She – laughed, a gentle chuckle. “I’m All and Nothing. I’m in Everyone and Everything, and they are in Me. How could I make woman if I was not woman, too?”

“I’m… this isn’t what I expected when I died,” Chloe muttered, rubbing her temple.

“Died?” God smiled. “You haven’t died, Chloe.”

“I haven’t?” she asked, confused. “But the corn… I suffocated. I felt that.”

“You have a new gift, My child,” God said, sounding like her mother for a moment. He/She sounded like Chloe’s father when He/She added, “Live, learn and love.” Leaning down, He/She kissed Chloe’s forehead murmured, “Death, Life and Balance all have something to teach you. Don’t spurn what any one of them has to show you.”

“What? I don’t understand.”

“You will,” God said, smiling gently. “Go home now – and remember, it will hard for you, but I will be with you.”

And then she woke up, hearing the echoes of Josh shouting her name while scraping away the corn. Sitting up in her cell, Chloe drew her knees up to her chest. “What the hell was that all about?”

“Shut up!” her single female companion yelled at her, grunting and turning over in the bunk. “I’m trying to sleep.” From her dress, it was easy to guess what she was in the jail for. With a sigh, Chloe lay down and pulled her blanket over her head. Sleep evaded her, though, leaving Sylvan all alone with her thoughts.

[z-Silvestru]

August 30, 2016

,,

The dream continued to bother her. Chloe hadn’t had it again, but it remained in her mind, confusing and irritating her. Finally, she had had enough.

,,

She had her freedom, sorta. She couldn’t really leave the rental house that she had found, but that was no problem, not in this day and age. She did have a borrowed OpNet device down set up already; it was going to be what kept her sane. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, she pulled the interface into her lap and turned on the monitor.

,,

Opening a search browser, Chloe typed in the words ‘female God’ and hit enter. Thousands of hits appeared; a bewildering amount of information was immediately available to her. The problem was that she had no idea where to begin. With a determined sigh, she clicked on the first link and started reading.

,,

Four hours later, her brain aching and filled with information, some of it contradictory and some just plain silly, Chloe took a break. It was clear to her that she could search the OpNet forever and never find quite what she was looking for. She needed something a little more concrete than personal views and rantings on a webpage. She needed some help.

,,

One of the more coherent webpages had a list of books to study, and they sounded promising. Sylvan was technically only allowed to leave the house to buy necessities and look for a job. However, the library was a place where people worked, and if she picked up some books while she was checking on employment, she was sure no one would mind. Kevin would take them back for her; she had a feeling that she was going to need her friend’s help more than ever. Shaking her head a little, Chloe wondered if he ever tired of being her knight in shining armor.

,,

Chloe put in a call to her monitoring center, letting them know she was going out for a while to look for work. When she received the approval to leave, she walked outside and hoped her wings worked. For once, the gossamer limbs extend at her will, and she finally begins to believe that someday she’ll have complete control over them. With that low hum that accompanies the fluttering of her wings, she flew off toward the library, her map in one hand, a list of books in the other.

,,

The Multnomah County Central Library was a lovely brick building on the corner of 10th Street and Yamhill Avenue. Chloe flitted down to the entrance, keenly aware of the stares she’s receiving. Some are hostile, some eager, but most just watch her with open curiosity. She reached the doors and pulled them open, ducking to get all of her wings in, though to be honest, if she snapped the tops off on the door jam, she’d at least be rid of the damned things. She decided not to actually do that in the end just because of the mess it would leave behind.

,,

A woman boldly grabbed her arms, and Chloe felt the plants around her tremble in anticipation. Chloe knew that it was just her own apprehension that made them so eager to attack the woman. “I just wanted to say,” the woman said, a huge smile on her face, “that I think you were justified in what you did, Sylvan. I was once kidnapped by a boyfriend, but I wasn’t strong enough to try to rescue myself, and I’ve always thought I was doing what was right. Now, I know I was just afraid to try. God bless you, dear – he’ll get you through this.”

,,

“Uh, ah, thank you,” Sylvan stammered, looking shocked. “I appreciate that.”

,,

With another ‘God bless,’ she was gone, disappearing around the corner of the library. As if she had started a flood, another person approached, offering her support. A third came up, but he wanted a picture with her. Another wanted an autograph, and it took Chloe six minutes to get into the library proper. Three people actually helped her hold her wings down far enough to get into the building.

,,

Shaken and touched, Chloe made her way to the main desk. A single woman sat there, staring intently into the OpNet monitor, but as Chloe got closer, she realized that the woman’s eyes were closed. Frowning, Chloe made her way hesitantly to the front of the desk. “Hello?”

,,

“Oh!” the woman cried out enthusiastically, putting a hand to her chest as she blinked up at Chloe. “Another nova. Goodness, you scared me!”

,,

Another nova? Chloe wondered, but she didn’t let that stop her. She gave the woman the best smile she could muster and said, “I just need a few things, and I think you can hel-”

,,

“Yes!” the librarian half-shouted, twitching strangely. “I mean, yes,” she said in a calmer voice, flushing harder, “I can help you.”

,,

“Are you ok?” Chloe asked, smiling a little.

,,

“I’m fine, just fine,” the woman moaned, gasping a little. A small squeak came from the desk; Chloe followed the sound with her eyes and blinked to see that the brunette was rubbing her fingers into the desk hard enough to create noise.

,,

A little unnerved, Chloe said, “Are you sure? Because you don’t seem ok.” In her peripheral vision, she can see the yellow flooding her wings as confusion rolls over her.

,,

“I’m… I’m…” the woman bit on her fist and groaned, shuddering hard. Chloe watched, uncertain what to do as the woman appeared to have a mild epileptic seizure. Finally, she dropped her fist from her mouth and just panted heavily. Face heavily flushed the woman said, “Sorry about that. I can help you now.”

“Good,” Chloe said, a bit hesitant. Her voice strengthened as she spoke up and said, “I was looking for these books, and asking about whether you have any positions open.”

And that was when the desk said, “Chloe?”

[Satyr]

Satyr had wanted to see Chloe, but not like this.

He had behaved himself so well since the Pow Wow... for two whole months he had behaved himself extraordinarily well, he had not given into temptation even once. He had spent an entire evening with Alejandra... yes, the Alejandra; knowing all along that if he had just said a few words in just the right way he could have had her riding the 'Whacky Wild Satyr Ride' all night long despite her religious and 'moral' leanings, which may or may not have landed Argus a contract with her, Satyr couldn't be sure. That was over a week ago... and after doing a good deed for Chloe and continuing to ignore his lusty nature a another whole day, he felt like rewarding himself seeing as his public sex fetish was acting up again.

However, it was bad enough that Wakinyan had told her about his wife catching him having an orgy at the pow wow, but now she had literally walked right up while Satyr had been in the middle of... the librarian's thighs.

He wiped his chin off as best as he could and crawled out from under the desk like some rodent, indeed he felt like a rat. He thought quickly... just not as fast as he would have liked. "Ah-- Sorry, I couldna find your contact lens, Ms. Thompson." He brushed his kilt off as he spoke, failing to notice that the librarian was indeed wearing glasses. She was extremely attractive by librarian standards. She was in her mid-twenties, dark hair wearing a blue blouse with a short black skirt which she was busy adjusting as she stood to let Satyr out from under the information desk.

He looked to Chloe smiling as he thought he had the perfect cover story and noted that she was regarding him with a raised eyebrow as her wings went from yellow to a shade of red, almost a burgundy. Satyr immediately gleaned that she was annoyed about something. He looked back at the librarian and noted for the first time that she was wearing glasses as she was quickly excusing herself from the conversation to presumably go powder her nose.

"Shite, What did I to deserve this?" He thought, and as if in an answer he received a mental flash of the faces of several hundred women, the names of half of which Satyr could not remember if his very soul depended on it... and they were all laughing at him. "Oh yeah, thank ye so much."

He looked back to Chloe with an extremely apologetic smile upon his face. "Well, isn't this is a bit awkward...?"

[z-Silvestru]

I should have known, Sylvan sighed to herself, feeling her entire body go warm, just as it always did in his presence. What she doesn't see is the pink flush curling through her wings. “Figures,” she sighed, setting her papers on the counter. “And this isn’t awkward for me; I just wanted my books and to look for work. However,” she glanced at the retreating librarian’s back, “that is going to be difficult now.”

“Books? I’ll help ye,” Satyr said, reaching for the list. “I know me way around a library.”

“And your way around a librarian,” Sylvan noted, her tone tight and disapproving.

“She was having a bad day,” Satyr tried to joke before letting the joviality drop. “Would you believe that she’s been the first for me in a lon’ time?”

Chloe hesitated before stating quietly but firmly, “You haven’t given me much reason to believe that. I mean… the orgy-”

“Ach!” Satyr sighed, throwing out his hands. “Aye! I started an orgy. How long are ye going to hold it against me?” Still irritated, he snapped the list off the desk.

“You are who you are,” Sylvan said. “I shouldn’t try to change that.”

But Satyr looking at the paper. “Call Down The Moon? The Spiral Dance? Are ye researching Paganism, lass?”

“I…” Chloe bit her lip as she considered how much to tell him. “I had a vision of God during my eruption. I didn’t remember all of it until I had a dream about it. Anyway, He was… a woman, as well as a man. And I was looking into Paganism because you mentioned a female aspect of God, and a lot of the websites mentioned pagans following a female God.”

[Satyr]

Satyr felt her match his defensiveness about his lack of sex as of late; her mistrust of his word, she was very troubled by his lifestyle. Clearly if he was to successfully maintain a relationship with her it would almost never be on his terms, He would need to adapt, but she'd have to meet him part-way... and here she was: a good Christian girl, studying Paganism and the concept of the goddess... it was a good start.

Without another word he picked up her list and smiled charmingly. "Aye, my promiscuity is part of who I am, but not all to be sure, and..." His form shifted, his goat's legs and cloven hooves became more human-like legs and feet, she heard the sounds that could only be muscles and bones stretching and reforming as his so-called reverse knee lowered to become a more proper ankle and heel, his hooves became toes. His legs were still hairy, but no longer covered in fur anymore, and oddly still his horns remained. "... I can change on me own."

He looked over the shelves briefly and then focused his earthy brown eyes on her. "This way, lass." He quickly led her to the Religion section amid the looks and stares of the other patrons and employees of the library.

Once there he looked over the books and stepped a bit closer and whispered to her. "Let me digest this, ye had a vision of... the creator? During your eruption?" as he asked he pulled "Paganism" and the much larger "Book of World Religions" off a nearby shelf. Chloe shied away from him slightly as she nodded to both questions.

"This one's excellent, I require all my students to read 'World Religions' from cover to cover, it gives an uncolored picture of the the major religions and is very well researched and concise, although this appears to be an older edition." As he spoke he flipped through the pages showing her chapters on Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Paganism.

After scanning the remaining shelves in the religion section and despite that she saw very few of the books from her list, Satyr passed over several books that Chloe felt at least would make for some good reading, what else was she going to do with her time?

"Perhaps..." He looked at her with those same eyes. "you could tell me what precisely you are looking for, proof of a female god? I can do that, because if we are made in the image of an angry and vengeful male God as your Bible says we are..." He gave her a slight wink as he gestured to his horns. "... then why is it only the female of the species is capable of 'the miracle of creation'?"

[z-Silvestru]

Chloe followed Satyr, a little bewildered by the sudden turn of events. One moment, she had been ready to yell at him, or at least give him a piece of her mind. Now, he’s getting books for her, and talking to her about religion.

Still, it’s a side of him she had only vaguely glimpsed up to now, and it was strange to see it again in such detail. He was focused on something interesting that wasn’t sex, and he looked so normal. She hesitantly followed him into the stacks, watching him grab a couple of book.

“Well,” she said, watching him tap his horns, “I guess that I would say that God made roles for us. But in the dream, God said that He/She was everything and nothing, and in everyone and everything. I’ve never heard God described that way. It’s strange to even think of Him like that… I would have discounted the dream, but it felt so real.

“But women carry children because of the sin of Eve,” Chloe stated, returning to familiar ground. “She tempted Adam, and was cursed with the pangs of childbirth. And that’s why women are given a lesser role to men.” Chloe hesitated and admitted, “However, I have to admit that bothers me. It’s like Adam got crapped on, too, but Eve got punished for her own indiscretion, but his, too.”

She tilted her head, hostility and uncertainty gone as she asked, “You know what my religion thinks, so what about yours? How do they feel about Eve and Adam, and men and women?"

[Satyr]

"Th' act of childbirth is not a curse, nor should it be treated as such." his words were somewhat subdued but still passionate.

"Th' early Catholic church was a patriarchy, an therefore men couldna do wrong, and women of the time were made th' scape-goat for all of his ills." He said with a slight sarcastic tone.

"Menstration along with childbirth was turned into a curse from god, Midwifery quickly turned into Witchcraft... an elaborate story was conjured as to why woman should service man at his every whim and put into the bible."

He kneeled before her as if in an apology, but retrieved a somewhat damaged copy of 'The Celts' from a bottom shelf. He looked up to her with a raised eyebrow. "They really need ta keep better care o' their books."

He rose and added the book to the others, it wasn't a religion book, but it could add to the information she would be getting, if she read them all. "We should 'ead to the 'New Age' section as well, thats where you'll find some of the books on your list about goddess-worship."

He smiled as she asked the question about Adam and Eve. "Well, Adam passed th' buck to Eve..." He laughed. "... when his almighty God asked 'Who ate the apple of the Tree of good and evil?', Adam responded with a 'I didn't go it!" just as child would if he were caught with his hand in the cookie jar, and when he realized he wasn't getting out of it that easily he said: 'She made me do it!' So really man's first act of independence is ta lie to his partiarch an then to blame someone else." He clicked his tounge to his teeth making a disapproving noise a father might give a son. It was about now that Chloe realized how magnificent Satyr's voice was. She could lose herself just listening to him.

She was snapped back to reality by a sudden flash out of the corner of her eye. She looked to find a man with a camera invading their privacy. Satyr looked in the man's direction and simply said "Go. Away."; the photographer responded as though he'd seen death itself stareing him in the face, and quickly retreated as though his very life depended on his escape.

Satyr looked back to her. "Sorry, want me to continue?" She nodded despite wondering what happened to the man with the camera. Satyr for his part continued on as though nothing had occoured.

"There be some branches of pagan faith which surround stories of Adam's first wife, Lillith and her life in the lands west of Eden, but I don't subscribe to those myself. You will probably come across a few of them in those books." He looked ruefully at her and gestured at her list.

"One of my favorite pagan creation stories is this one:

"Before time was, there was The One; The One was all, and all was The One.

And the vast expanse known as the universe was The One, all wise, all pervading, all powerful, eternally changing.

And space moved. The One molded energy into twin forms, equal but opposite, fashioning the Goddess and God from The One and of The One.

The Goddess and God stretched and gave thanks to The One, but darkness surrounded them. They were alone, solitary save for The One.

So they formed energy into gases and gases into suns and planets and moons; They sprinkled the universe with whirling globes and so all was given shape by the hands of the Goddess and God.

Light arose and the sky was illuminated by a billion suns. The Goddess and God, satisfied by their works, rejoiced and loved, and were one.

From their union sprang the seeds of all life, and the human race so that we might achieve incarnation upon the Earth.

The Goddess chose the Moon as her symbol, and the God the Sun as his to remind the inhabitants of Earth of their creators.

All are born, live, die and are reborn beneath the Moon and Sun; All things come to pass thereunder, and all occurs with the blessings of The One, the Goddess and God, as has been the way of existence since before time was."

He let his words settle with her for a moment as he regarded her. "Ye see, no passing of a buck, just equality between th' sexes. Now, I'm not saying paganism is better than Christianity, okay maybe a wee bit, but on the whole paganism has a much better record of it's treatment of women in general." He chuckled "Women are e'en allowed into our highest offices. In fact in many ways a High Priestess is oft considered higher on the 'food-chain' than a High Priest."

He glanced around the library for the New Age section as they walked. "In short, Adam was a right fool. Not only was he a lousy husband, but a crap role-model for his sons. Caine was so jealous of his brother, Abel than he thought it would be prefectly fine to sacrifice him. I'll tell you that I know of no pagans that could raise their children to kill a sibling." In that moment he thought of the CoMA members in his doorway holding shotguns and momentary panic crossed his eyes.

[z-Silvestru]

I'll tell you that I know of no pagans that could raise their children to kill a sibling.

,,

Visions of her father falling with a bloody hole in his chest flashed before her eyes, but this time, he wasn’t wearing a mask. It was his kindly wrinkled face contorting with pain as he was knocked backwards to the ground. Over and over the scene played in her mind; the flash of the gun, the roar of the retort and her father falling to the ground, the blood arcing in ribbons through the air.

,,

Sylvan’s eyes closed and she pressed her hands to her face, fighting tears. The grief could still catch her at odd times like this, and she fought her tears. Satyr, the library, why she was here: all faded as she struggled with to maintain control, but her wings turned a deep purple, showing her distress clearly. A soft whimper escaped her lips as she sagged against the book shelf, shaking.

[Satyr]

Satyr dispelled the vision and without thinking he took her into his arms, holding her head to his chest, stroking her hair with one hand and her back with the other. He felt something odd, he had a woman in his arms, a woman he was very attracted to, and he had next to no interest in sex at that precise moment, but he was Satyr; that could change at anytime.

"I'm sorry, lass." He whispered to her as wondered what he could have said to set her off. He held her as she succumed to the memory and drowned in grief however briefly. Her shuddering slowed and finally stopped after a few moments. He pulled slightly back so that he could see her. "Are you alright, Chloe?" He wiped her tears and smiled at her. "Want ta talk about it, lass?"

"... my father," she mumbled into his chest. "The man I killed... my father."

"Aye, I know. It was terrible what he-" It dawned on him. "Ach, dear gods, Chloe... I'm sorry, I forgot you're in mourning." He lowered his head and stepped back from her, but keeping a hand on her arm to steady her. "I shouldna be talking about such things at a time like this."

"You didn't mean... and last night..." Chloe just shook her head and fell silent.

Satyr was a bit surprised. "What happened last night, lass?" His voice was only audible to her, he spoke so quietly. He moved closer again in case she required support.

"Revenant... he said... he wasn't sympathetic," Sylvan said, rubbing at her eyes.

Satyr nearly let out a laugh, but was able to control himself to an extent that Sylvan hadn't noticed his near outburst. "Aye, well one wouldn't expect sympathy from a creature such as that." He looked about them to make sure on one was listening. "Revenant can't possibly understand your love of your father, because to him he's just another human, a human who hates our kind, and your father despite his obvious flaws... is still your father. Ye need time to mourn him."

[z-Silvestru]

Satyr was warm, soft and comforting. For once, Satyr’s touch wasn’t lecherous, and there was no awkward sensation of being drooled over. Chloe let herself be hugged and held close. And when he drew back, it was still right. For the first time, Satyr’s presence is just another person’s; just one human connecting to another.

,,

She nodded as he finished talking. “I know it makes no sense, but he was my father. He was going to kill me,” she said, her voice thickening as she forced herself to push onward. “I think about him though, and all I can remember is when he was a good father to me. I mean, yes, I remember the bad things, too… but he was my father, and a part of me was happy to know that he was still alive. I thought of him and Mom on the farm, and some part of me was happy to think of them safe at home.”

,,

She dabbled at her eyes with the corner of her sleeve, using the only Kleenex she had available. “I don’t know why Revenant thought that it was ok to call m- to use terms like ‘baseline trash,’” Sylvan mumbled in a trembling voice. “Did he think that would magically make me feel ok about killing someone else? About killing my fa-f-father?

,,

“I mean, who… who does he think he is!” Sylvan’s voice rose as her emotions pushed from grief into anger. “Why does he think that saying those things would cheer me up? Baseline trash are ok to shoot! Don’t feel bad at all!” The wings, which had started to return to their normal green after their last deep purple, were now turning a blazing red. Even the naturally darker part of her wings flared brighter colors, making her wings seem aflame.

[Satyr]

Satyr watched fascinated as Chloe slowly became enraged; finally he interrupted her as politely as he could with hushed tones. "Chlo-Chloe, I understand your anger, but people be listening and being overheard saying that it's just fine to kill baselines will not help ye or your defense team; besides, I am right here, ye don't have ta yell." He gave her a small wink but he regretted having to stop her venting of emotion, but in this particular situation with all the media coverage it had been getting her outburst would not up her chances of winning her trial.

"Once we borrow the books ye want we can go wherever it is they have ye sequestered, and ye can yell, scream, and do as ye wish." He was deceiving her, he knew where she was staying. Jager had seen to that. His eyes conveyed an unspoken apology, as if he blamed himself for her situation. "Aye, Revenant don't deal well with familial relations or feelings; sadly that means he'd ne'er be a terribly good friend ta anyone but himself in the long run."

He looked her over noting how fey-like she now seemed with her wings, steadying herself on his arm, her cheeks puffy from the tears, her wings still red but the color was fading back to a purple shade. He breasts heaved with her slightly labored breathing now that she was calming herself. Her lips were particularly pouty; he noted a certain vulnerability about her, and it was in this moment that his overactive libido struck. He admired her not for the strength she exhibited, but for her ethereal beauty, if anything with the wings she was even more stunning than before... Satyr the Friend/Confidant vanished and was replaced with Satyr the Fiend/Man-Whore. "Hush child, don't be letting him get to ye just now."

As she looked down to the ground somewhat shamed for her public display. A charming smile crossed his lips. He used his free hand to reach out to her as the other set down the stack of books. His hand reached out to her... he wanted her. right now. more than anything. His ideas of protecting her were now a dim memory. He placed his hand on her back and she again fell into him wrapping her arms around him. He stopped dead and the tide shifted. For the first time he could choose to say no to his lust and he had the will to restrain himself.

A different smile crossed his lips, this smile was not about potentially seducing Chloe... this smile signaled a self-control that he had never experienced before. His arms encircled her while his lust, while humbled, was still there... waiting for him to drop his guard again. He whispered into her ear. "Ach, mayhaps we should continue your 'female god' education."

[z-Silvestru]

“Yes, I’d like to continue our discussion on God,” Chloe said, her head still on his shoulder. The fear that had been left by his words weakened her legs; having something to hold onto was helping her stay on her feet. God, if I’ve ruined my defense… if I made it impossible for Ulysses to help me… The thought was too painful; Chloe wasn’t sure she could survive years in a concrete prison.

,,

It felt really good to have someone hold her and comfort her. Tension eased from her body, leaving her tired and washed out. The colors started to fade from her wings; with their usual bizarre popping-cracking noise, they dissolved, spilling to the floor. A few floated down to tangle in her hair, while Satyr found his encircling arms liberally peppered with the colorful scales as well. “Great,” Chloe muttered without moving away from the hug. “Just perfect.”

,,

It took several moments to locate one of the staff, who reassured them that the cleaning staff would take care of any messes. “I don’t think she realized the extent of the mess,” Chloe fretted, allowing herself to focus on the lesser stress of an angry library staff than, well, anything else going on in her life right now.

,,

“Donna worry about it,” Satyr said, giving her a wink. “Think on how the janitor gets first pick of your lovely… wing bits.”

,,

“I think they’re called scales,” Chloe chuckled a bit. “At least, that’s what they’re called on butterflies. And who am I to go against years of… um, whatever the proper name for butterfly studies is.” She turned a little somber as she glanced at the books in Satyr’s arms. “You told me the creation myth,” she said, looking up at her taller tutor. “You mentioned that women often have higher rank than the men. How does that work?”

,,

“I dinna understand,” Satyr confessed after a moment. “Perhaps ye should tell me how you think it works, and we can go from there.”

,,

“Well,” Chloe said, “God charged men to be the leaders of the church. In fact, Paul said, ‘Let the women keep silent in the churches, it is not permitted that they speak.’ It states pretty clearly that women are to keep silent in church meeting; they would be shamed by even asking a question. And in 1 Timothy 2:11-14, there are two reasons for women to submit to man. First, man was formed before woman. Whatever your opinion on Adam, Eve was made for him, to be his companion and helpmate. And they shouldn’t be leaders in the church because when Eve tried to instruct Adam, she led him into sin in the Garden. So how can women successfully lead men? Don’t the men get upset that they were put down?”

[Satyr]

Satyr almost scoffed at her statement. "Do women not?" He looked at her with seriousness. "I would have to say it be a sign of pettiness on the part of the authors, Why throughout the entire book do women continually get treated like garbage? Is God almighty that big an chauvinist? I think not. Several years ago the idea was put forth that many of the apostles were jealous of Jesus' allowance of a woman into their 'boy's club'. Mary, who is looked upon as a harlot or prostitute in the bible, but despite this is looked upon by some scholars as being nearly as important to the story as Christ himself. It's a known fact that Jesus... thought very highly of her, it is widely believed that she and Jesus..." He searched for the correct word after disregarding several more crude choices. "... consummated a marriage of sorts and possibly had children."

He looked thoughtful as they finally made it to the New Age section. "Not to get all 'Davinci Code' on you, but why would the apostles blatantly ignore what she might have to say about the man on whose ideals they were basing a religion, surely she would have some insight into Christ that they lacked. Surely he confided his secret hopes and fears to her, as any man would the woman he had chosen to spend his life with. It is important to remember that the Bible was not written by God himself, it was written by men who each had an agenda of their own. Aye, there is a great message of hope there, but there's also all the garbage about men being superior to all the other animals, and keeping women subservient, and all the other shite people fight wars over."

The fact that he was leaning toward blasphemy by some standards wasn't lost on him, given that he also was sporting somewhat demonic-looking horns seemed to punctuate the point. "Women are every bit the equal of men..." He looked at her with those eyes again, eye that spoke of infinite understanding. "Chloe, you are very bit my equal. I put it forth to you that the writers of the bible were sexist bastards." He said with a wink. "I mean, donna we suffer enough without carryin' around the guilt o' sins that we personally have never committed?" He smiled. "If Jesus be the son of God, why canna Mary or Eve be the daughter of the Goddess?" He looked upon Chloe, not as a woman, not as a nova, but as a goddess in physical form. "Seperate and equal, Darkness and Light, Male and Female. One does not hold sway over the other, it is a partnership. They love eachother and work together throughout it all."

[z-Silvestru]

Chloe was leaning slightly away from him by the time he was done talking to her, a look of distaste on her face. Finally, she said, “That’s all well and good to say, but the Bible doesn’t talk about any of this stuff with Mary and Jesus. I mean, all you really have is a fictional book written over a decade ago that hasn’t stood up to any kind of scholarly investigation. At least things in the Bible hold up to scrutiny.

“I know that you don’t hold the Bible in any real regard, but I understand it to be the literal word of God,” Chloe stated. “That doesn’t mean that I don’t sometimes make mistakes, or wonder about things. Doubts are good, because they reaffirm your faith in God when you find the answers that point you back to Him. That means that the writers of the Bible were not ‘sexist bastards’ but divinely inspired from God, so I guess you consider God to be a sexist bastard.”

Her voice was a little tense, but she remained polite as she said, “Your interpretation of the Bible is interesting, but if God put women below men, he did it for a good reason. We have to have faith that he has his reasons. I mean, women are weaker than men, and more prone to make decisions based on emotion. Woman is to man as man is to the Church – a helpmate and a follower. You can have love and still not be ‘equal’.

“I know that all of this must seem terrible, to you,” Chloe said with a smile full of understanding and even a little pity. “But really, it’s not so bad – I would still work with my husband and love him just as much if I were his equal. Someone has to lead – I mean, what if we disagree and neither will budge? Someone has to be able to step forward and say, ‘This is the way we’re doing this.’ Otherwise, nothing gets decided. Yes, I rail against it sometimes… but it is God’s plan.”

She shook her head. “To be honest, if it hadn’t been for this dream, I wouldn’t be here now.”

[Satyr]

Satyr listened intently, he knew he might be able to persuade her otherwise, if he felt it would do more than cause her to resent him in the long term. "Ach, neither my ideals or my faith are based upon that piece of fiction, and the question of Mary does not stem from it." He said referring to The Davinci Code. "Never mind, lass. Let's talk about your dream then, shall we?"

He kept a respectful distance of her as he could read clearly that she wasn't buying what he was selling at the moment. ""I do not consider the divine to be sexist, it's the chroniclers I have a problem with, Aye, you call your God "him"..." He mentioned almost as an aside as he pulled 'The Spiral Dance' down from it's shelf. "... You believe this was a vision sent to you from your God, yet you continue to assign the divine a gender when quite clearly you at least subconsciously seem to understand that it is beyond gender." His smile was somewhat disarming. "In Judaism, Islam, and Sikhism they understand as you seem to that God is genderless, but use the male gender usually to speak of and to the divine."

He grew a wry smile. "The Catholic Church understands the concept of the three-fold diety or Trinity. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirt, or the Maid, the Mother, and the Crone it's all interconnected." He watched as understanding crossed her eyes. "While the Father and Son are obviously male, some branches see the Holy Spirit as female." An idea dawned on him.

"Since we are created in the image of the creator we should see ourselves in our image of the divine. I see the creator as female simply because I believe only a mother can really create life." His smile broadened and his idea became clearer. "That is why the authors of your good book refer to the divine as male, because they saw themselves when they looked to it for guidance." He paused briefly to consider where his thoughts were going. "I apologize for calling the apostles 'sexist bastards' earlier..." He said with a smirk. "... they simply see themselves in God's image." He admired her, hoping his compromise would stir some change in her.

He pulled 'Drawing down the Moon' from the shelf and added it to the stack. "Unless there be any other books on your list, why dinnae ya tell me of your vision."

[z-Silvestru]

“It was, um, more of a dream,” Chloe said, “I mean, the part where I was asleep. I guess, under the corn, that part was more vision-like. Though, it could have been a dream, too. Do you dream while unconscious?”

“I donne know,” Satyr said cordially enough with a casual shrug. “Why donne ye tell me regardless?”

Sylvan took a deep breath. “Before the dream, I just remembered light and a presence – a good and wonderful presence. It warmed me and made me happy. Then I was being cut out of the vines as Josh and my family dug me out of the corn pile.

“But in the cell, I saw more,” Chloe said, running her thumb over the edge of a shelf. As some tape comes off the shelf, threatening the adhesion of the yellowing, hand-written paper tag, she clarified, “Well, I heard more. There was still the light, but now there were faces, all sorts of faces, male and female. But I knew it was still God – it still had that presence, that perfect love.”

She closed her eyes, remembering that bizarre, confusing dream. “God told me that I wasn’t dead. That I had a great, new gift. And that I had a lot to learn from life and death and living a balanced life. And that He, um… He/She would be with me.

“Does that help you at all?” Chloe asked, rubbing her forehead. “So you see, I’m looking for a female God more from a Christian view-point, rather than a Catholic or pagan one.”

[Satyr]

"As I said: we seek to see ourselves in the divine. To assign a gender arbitrarily as the Church tends to do limits our perception of the divine." He set the books in an open space on a nearby shelf and brushed some of Chloe's scales off of them. "If ye choose ta see a lass there... " A rather perverted smile crossed his lips briefly. "... then be my guest, I would be the last to stop ye."

He rearranged the books to that 'Paganism' was on top. "Just do me a favor; read up on what paganism really is as opposed to what you've been told most of your life." He spoke in a voice that could sell shampoo to Caestus Pax. "Pagans are not Satanists, and Witchcraft is not a burning offense."

[z-Silvestru]

Chloe looked uncertainly at the books on the shelf, then at the almost-normal young man arranging them for her. She wanted to say no, to run away screaming from his suggestion, but she doesn’t. Her few hours of research into the religion had confirmed that it was the antithesis of all that she had been taught: reincarnation, polytheism, female divinity, feminism and more. All the websites had agreed that there was no real moral code, just a kind of “Do whatever you wanted, so long as you didn’t hurt anyone.” It was very shaky ground as far as Chloe was concerned.

,,

And yet, it had a sort of elegance to it; a strange quality of “this is all mankind needs – to stop hurting one another.” In a weird way, it was as simple as that: just treat your fellow man well. It wasn’t that far off of what Jesus taught, too.

,,

It was that observation that allowed Sylvan to pick up her books and head for the librarian’s desk. “I should go check these out, unless you had some more for me,” she said, looking back to Satyr. “And I should see if they have any job openings for me here. It’d be nice to make some money instead of having to accept from others.”

,,

For a moment, she was quiet; then Chloe said, “I really was sorry to hear about your bar. Do the police think you were targeted because of me?” Another thought crossed her mind, causing her to frown. She wasn’t sure she should ask this, but her curiosity finally overwhelms her. “What are you doing in Portland, Oregon, anyway? Well, besides hiding under desks.” The last is a poor attempt at humor, but it’s clear that Sylvan is trying not to be accusatory about it again.

[Satyr]

"These should more than keep ye busy for a few weeks." He said as he turned to lead her to the checkout desk. He quickly decided that he would not be a good character reference for her application, despite this he offered, "If ye need a reference on your resume just ask."

He hears her question and takes a few moments to collect his thoughts before responding. "Ach no, It was just a... British cell of religious fanatics... similar to CoMA." He lied. It was odd he was so good a lying to beautiful lasses when it involved getting into bed with them, but Helen Keller could have seen through this most recent falsehood. Not that he would have attempted getting into bed with Helen Keller.

He swore under his breath in Scots. "Chac." As he realized that it was not one of his better bull-shit stories.

[z-Silvestru]

“Wow, I didn’t know that Britain had that problem too,” Chloe said, frowning a little. Her voice is full of sympathy as she put a hand on his arm. “I’m sorry that you saw violence like that,” Chloe said softly, her voice shaking a little. “I wouldn’t wish that on anyone, especially not a friend.”

If she had caught his lie, she wasn’t dwelling on it. Instead, she murmured softly, “If there is anything that I can do to help – yeah, I know, I can’t help myself. But if I could help, make something better, just be a shoulder to cry on, I’m here, ok?”

Satisfied that she’s provided support for her friend, she helped him carry books to the front desk. It took almost a half an hour for her to get her library card, check out her books, and learn that there were no positions open. Part of the problem was that the librarian continued to shamelessly flirt with Satyr, slowing everything down. Chloe did learn that the library had a shut-in program, so at least she could continue to get books. Finally, she and Satyr walked out the front doors, turning toward her house together.

“So do the police or Scotland Yard or whomever have any leads, yet?” she asked him as they walked quietly along. “Speaking of, what are you doing here, in Portland? Shouldn’t you be rebuilding your bar?”

[Satyr]

"Ahh... Yea, ye'd be surprised." He said in reference to the shared problem in the UK and US of nova hate groups. Satyr was a bit surprised that she had not seen through his not so elaborate deception. "Aye, I believe it may have been a splinter group of CoMA, other than the fact that I be a nova, and look like the Devil himself, what more excuse do they need?" He hated himself for lying to her.

The man's voice rang in his head. "... responsible for the disappearance of our boy, Joshua!" Satyr visibly shuddered, fear aparent in his eyes.

He listened to her offer her help which in it's own way made feel ashamed for being so damned selfish. In her current situation it would only hurt her to know what had actually happened that night at his bar. He waited until they left the library to respond. "I am truly blessed to call you friend, Chloe." His word were unusually sincere. "I am sorry about the librarian." He looked at Chloe as she walked, admiring her form as only he could. He wanted to say more on the subject, but the words were lost to him.

"The reason I'm not back home in Alba is that I needed to take care of a few things here. A friend of ours asked that I stick around for the time being, you have more friends than you know. I'm staying at the same hotel I stayed at during the Pow Wow. Besides, I canna be here if I'm back home." There was a twinkle in his eye. "This is a very un-Scottish thing ta say, but some things are more important than a pub."

[z-Silvestru]

Chloe stopped on the sidewalk and turned to look at him. “A friend… of ours?” she asked as Satyr turned to look at her. A flush of anger crossed her face as she demanded, “Who?”

“I canna say,” he answered, looking a bit sheepish and a lot resolute.

“You ‘canna’ say. You ‘canna’ tell me about my own life,” Chloe snapped, walking away with a toss of her hair. “You know, you ‘coulda’ go home and ‘coulda’ take care of your bar. You ‘coulda’ do that ‘insteada’ hanging around here and messing with me.” She spun on him, her brown eyes snapping angrily. “It’s my life! You should tell me!

“Do you think you’re protecting me?” she asked violating his space and thrusting her face forward. “Do you think that you’re helping me by keeping me in the dark? How can I help myself if people,” she hesitates before finding the right word, “fuck with my ability to help myself? Yes, I’ve needed help, but now, I’m not being given a choice in it!”

[Satyr]

Satyr allowed her to fully vent her steam, when she was finished she was so very close... he could touch her, all he had to do was... Stop. He could sense that the stresses of everything she had endured in recent weeks was having it's way with her emotions.

He spoke clearly and quietly so that only she could hear, "Chloe, I am here because I want ta be here, because I care about ye probably moreso than I should, lass." She tried to argue but he stopped it with a finger to her lips. "If ye were thinking clearly an not overly stressed about th' charges that are filed against ye, you'd understand that I'm here to distract anyone might mean to cause ye harm... I look like th' Devil himself, remember?"

He realized he could smell her she was so close, he could almost taste her... "I hae never done anything but offer ta help, offer ta be your..." The word was lost to him, so instead he caressed the side of her face and tucked a lock of her hair behind an ear. He could feel her passion boiling under the surface.

"Chloe..." It was getting hard for him to concentrate, there was a time not so long ago that a beautiful woman would have gotten into his face using the word 'fuck', it would have been an request, not an argument.

She was still mere inches away from his face. "... you hae a choice..." He stopped in mid-sentence and took her into his arms and began to passionately kiss her just as he had done all those months ago on the ferris wheel.

[z-Silvestru]

As always, she lost herself in him, in his experienced fingers and talented lips. The books clattered and flopped to the ground, sliding between their bodies, forgotten. Her fingers settle on his waist, balling the hem of his shirt into her fists and pulling his hips forward. His lips spark a fire of longing deep inside of her, a desperate wish to be held and to feel wanted again. He moans as his fingers find her uncovered back, skimming her exposed skin.

,,

She doesn’t stop him; she doesn’t want him to stop. She just wanted to be held and kissed forever, to feel these tingles down her spine for all of time. In his arms, she could forget all of her pain – Warren’s hurtful words, the pain of her father’s loss and the stress of the trial. He promised pleasure and forgetfulness; his body promised to make it all fade away, for just a time, just a little while-

,,

What promises did those arms make to the librarian?

,,

Chloe jerked back, dismayed. “No,” she said, even as her voice cracked and her tears started. “You just had that mouth on another woman!” She scrubbed her arm across her lips. “Why can’t you understand that faithfulness exists for a reason?” Her tears came hard, and confused and helpless, she sagged back against him, pressing her forehead into his chest. “And why do we always come back to sex? Is it really so hard for us to just be friends?”

[Satyr]

"Ach, I'm sorry lass." He seemed sincere as he rubbed her back while she leaned against him. "Ye evoke feelings in me that few others do."

He held her there for awhile and then finally said, "It's nae only about sex." He could scarcely believe what he heard coming out of his own mouth as a look of surprise crossed his face briefly. "I want to be here for ye when you need it'cause I'm genuinely tired of seeing ye... hurt."

He held her shoulders and put some distance between the two of them so that he could see her. "I honestly want ta halp and be your friend, it's jus' that... sex is one of the few ways I know to soothe problems. I mean, I am th' poster child for fookin' me way into a problem and then fookin' me way out." He said with a laugh trying to levity to the conversation

[z-Silvestru]

Chloe rubbed at watery eyes, rewarding Satyr with a really weak chuckle. “You need some new paradigms, Ben,” she told him, her pseudo-stern visage not really working very well. “There are ways of handling things other than fo- sex… of course, you don’t remember that, do you?” Chloe frowned, looking troubled as she softly said, “You literally don’t remember doing things any other way. So, you don’t have any other ways of dealing with stress or personal issues.”

Something in her composure relaxed as she smiled sadly. “I’ve been unfair to you then,” she sighed. “I hope you can forgive me, and understand that it was just a lack of understanding on my part. I just didn’t think about your amnesia and what that would mean for you. I mean, you clearly have social skills, but they’re geared toward one type of social encounter. You need to learn other ways of dealing with things than sex.”

And here was the hard part for her: “Despite the fact that I’m still a little angry that you won’t tell me who sent you to watch me, I’m willing to help you with this, if you want. Just… you know, teach you new ways to approach stressful social situations.” She finished with a warm smile that brought a glow to her face. “What do you say? Want some lessons from the newbie?”

[Satyr]

Satyr was in shock, no one had ever gleaned that he had no memory prior to his eruption, and why should they he offered so many distractions from serious conversation... usually.

"Ye wan' me to forgive ye??" He was surprised to say the least. "Look, I can make the effort ta learn ta be a better novae... with your help." He squatted down and scooped up the fallen books. He slowly rose again taking in the vision that was Sylvan as he eventually looked her in the eyes again.

He smiled at her and gave a wink. "If ye are willing to allow me the honour of looking after ye, I promise not ta... attack you witout permission again." He reached out to her but then stopped short. "Ye know how I feel, moreso than anyone else."

[z-Silvestru]

Satyr was looking at her, a little smile on his face. There was nothing small about the expression in his eyes as he looked at her. To change the topic and move the conversation to something safer, Chloe said, “I don’t want you to be a better nova, necessary. I mean, I’ve only been a nova for a couple of months, and some of those were bad months where I hated what I was. No, I’m talking about learning how to deal socially with things other than by f- er, sleeping with them.”

“Aye – I mean, yes,” Sylvan said with a little laugh. “I know how you feel about me. I’m still not sure why you like me so much. I mean, yeah, I’m pretty, but you seem to awfully fixated on me. I mean, I know you think I’m this Maiden person, and I’m not sure I am. I mean, I sound like it… I’m babbling. Sorry.”

But a thought occurs to her; like a festering wound, it gnaws at her, even as she tells herself that she should leave it alone. After, does she really want to know? But that burning desire to know overwhelmed her, and she heard herself ask, “Be- Satyr… do you love me?”

[Satyr]

It was as though he took a physical blow to his stomach as she asked her question. "Dae I l-love ye... ?" He choked on the word as it was uttered from his lips.

He found himself taken very aback by Chloe's direct question, he found himself thinking back to all of their conversations, everytime he had attempted to seduce her and everytime she had rejected his advances. Chloe was the only one who he had never truly used his charms upon in an attempt to lay with her.

He took a step away from her backing away from not only Chloe herself, but also from the question. He leaned his back against the wall of the library for support as he looked into her questioning almost pleading eyes and for probably the first time he could remember he was speechless.

"Are you okay?" Chloe's question came too soon for him to consider his response.

He stammered as realization dawned on his face. "Ay- Aye Chloe, of course I love ye, How couldna I?" He recovered as best as he could. "Ye have a lovely soul, ye are kind-hearted, intelligent, and simply breath-takingly beautiful ta behold." He gave a warm smile as he admired her form as only he could while he spoke.

Despite having said this he did not reapproach her, he kept his distance. "That is why I ha'e restrained myself with you, since th' day we met." There was a soulful look to his eyes as he looked into hers.

[z-Silvestru]

Well, I asked, Chloe said, a little surprised by his answer. She had known that Satyr felt strongly about her, but she had always assumed it was all lust. But was he telling her the truth? She looked deeply into his eyes, studying his dark brown orbs. Sincerity shown clearly in his eyes; sincerity and warmth, along with a dawning realization shone clearly back at her. He had not realized his feelings until she had forced him to face them. Or was he confusing love and lust?

I asked him about love, she told herself. If he truly believes he loves me, who am I to tell him he doesn’t? If it’s what he believes, then it’s what he believes. A part of her was strangely warmed by his sentiment; it was always nice when an attractive man who you desired – and despite her best efforts, Chloe did lust after the erotic satyr – claimed to love you. And a part of her was very unsure about what to feel or say.

“I… thank you, Satyr,” she said, “for being honest with me.” She took a step closer. “I can’t return those feelings – not because of who and what you are, though that matters, a great deal – but because I can’t let myself think about that right now. You’re someone I do care about, or else I wouldn’t be trying to figure you out, I’d be trying to leave instead of talking to you.” She sighed morosely, but her expression was resolute when she said, “I have to finish this trial – I can’t let anything else happen in my life until that happens, and I can’t allow myself to move forward until I know that I’m free.”

[Satyr]

Satyr was a bit disenheartened by Chloe's response, but he did his best to obfuscate his disappointment. "Ach, I understand ye ha'e been though a great deal since I've known ye. Aye, we both have." His thoughts returned briefly to the night the bar burned and the pain of the watching everything he had built being incinerated... he quickly dispelled the ghosts of the past.

"Once ye are cleared of th' charges, I will endeavor to still be about..." He smiled and added, "... looking after ye as much as you allow me to do so a' course." He offered her the books he had picked up off the ground. He knew for a fact that she was intrigued by him, and did indeed hunger for his touch, how could she not? The fact that she continued to deny herself the pleasures he offered only aroused and frustrated him all the more.

Satyr closed the distance between them and met Chloe half way, "Chloe, just promise me that once things are settled with ye..." He thought it odd that Chloe should smell like thistle. "... ye might seriously consider the possibility of... spending some time with me." He was clearly slowly losing with his libido again. "Perhaps, I could walk you home."

[z-Silvestru]

“You can walk me home, and you can come visit me, you know,” Chloe said with a smile. “I may be under house arrest, but I can still have company. Lou Anne has come over several times.” As Satyr settled her books in his arms, she gave into her temptation just a little. Her hand slipped into his crooked elbow, her fingers gliding over his skin to settle on his firm muscles. The feel of his skin under her hands made her hands tingle with a slow-burning fire and she realized, Oh, this is a very bad idea. Soulful brown eyes, still glowing with astonishment, meet her own, and some small part of her brain told her again, What a terrible idea.

,,

She dropped her eyes and tugged on his arm. “Come on. I gotta get home before my keepers come looking for me.” It was safe for a while, walking quietly along with him, so long as she kept her head down and let only her fingers caress him. Instead, she focused her eyes on her books, nestled in his arms, and tried not to feel jealous of the paper and ink.

,,

They walked in silence, and it was only broken at the walk to Sylvan’s front door, when she turned to him and asked, “Why? There are more beautiful women, who have kinder souls, who are more intelligent… why me? How can I do this to you of all people?” And the fear in her voice was multiplied in her eyes – she truly feared the answer he would give her.

[Satyr]

"Ye sure are fulla difficult questions today aren't ye?" He said with a wry smile. "I truly dinnae know, but were I ta guess, I'd say that there be much... unspoken between ye and I." He stepped back from Chloe once again, this time to take in her presence.

"Tis partilly because we both express our quantum in... earthy ways..." He said as a tulip garden pushed it's way to the surface of her lawn with a the merest gesture from Satyr. "... partly because when we first met I could see the look in yer eyes, you wanted to say 'Yes', yet ye still had the strength o' will to say 'no', an make no mistake, I respect ye greatly for that, I wouldna want a lass who couldna say 'no' ta me."

"I guess tis possible that I have these feelings simply because I see a lass of remarkable strength in ye, I see a lass who could teach me as much as I would wish to teach her." His eyes were searching hers. "Even if the 'Maiden' doesna truly exist, I see enough of what I would want her ta be in ye, Chloe." His eyes dropped to the newly formed garden shocked again by his own words.

[z-Silvestru]

He’s a lech, a man who cares for nothing other than his own body’s pleasure. So why… why do I keep trying to entertain him? Why do I allow myself to be put in positions where if my mind were to wander… wander to thoughts of illicit passion of what his body could make mine feel… What was I thinking? Oh, yeah… why do I put myself in positions where he might be able to seduce me? She knew that she couldn’t invite him into the house, that it would lead to things and places that it shouldn’t, and she wouldn’t be strong enough to stop herself.

“I think I understand what you’re saying,” Chloe admitted, her voice shaking a little. She could feel that she was finally starting to lose the fight against his advances – those sweet words had done what his knowing grins and quick hands had been unable to do alone. It would be wrong to give in. So wrong… what about after? What about when I’m in jail? What about then? And that finally gave her the strength she had been losing – the image of her locked away, dying by degrees while he forlornly waited for her return. Or would he wait?

It didn’t matter either way. She couldn’t do that to him or herself. She would have a hard enough time dealing with imprisonment; to leave a new relationship behind while she rotted away would likely destroy her heart and soul. Not for the first time, Chloe felt a spark of resentment and hatred toward her family for what they had done to her, for the tragedy that they had set into motion. She quickly smothered the negative emotions and smiled at Satyr.

“Thank you for being honest,” she said with a smile. “I think you’ve been more honest with me today than you have been with me before. And I appreciate it, really I do. In fact, I’d invite you in, but I’m afraid that I don’t have any furniture to sit on. But you will come back to visit when I have something to sit on, won’t you?”

[Satyr]

He had heard her attempt to turn him away, he chose in this instance to be persistant. "I need no furniture to enjoy the pleasure of yer company, Chloe." He gave an wry smirk. "If ye recall yer average chair is no friend o' mine." He looked deeply into her eyes. "I do understand why ye hold me at arm's length." He said as he politely invaded her personal space just by the slightest bit.

"Ye dinnae want ta have the guilt of someone awaiting your release should ye be incarcerated, the very idea of inprisionment is anathema to ye." Satyr was still losing his battle with himself. "Ye should know that I want ta be with wherever ye might be, in prison or even this... Oregon." He said with a laugh as he gestured around the neiborhood.

He raised his hand and touched the naked flesh of her cheek. "I am sorry if me words seem too passionate..." He hand traced down her neck down over her collar bone teasing a visit to her breast, but his deft fingers suddenly veered north over her shoulder and down her naked back as he took her into his arms, not embracing her but rubing her back. "... but they be s-sincere." The words seemed alien coming out of his mouth.

He continued tracing his fingertips up and down her back, feeling the tensed muscles under her exquisite golden skin, he lifted her chin and looked deeply into her eyes, "The truth of the matter is, I like who I am when I am with ye, Chloe."

[z-Silvestru]

She was so tired of resisting him, so tired of fighting off his advances. A hundred reasons why she shouldn’t give in ran through her head, chased closely by justifications of why she should. But she shoved all those reasons away; when she stood on her tiptoe and brushed her lips over his, it was because she wanted to kiss him.

He leaned down, starting to deepen the kiss; he frowned in confusion when she sank back onto her heels and slipped away from him. “Not that much,” she said, pulling out her house keys. “And not in my front yard.” There is an aura of uncertainty and hesitation, but she didn’t stop as she opened the door and glanced over her shoulder to see if he was following.

Chloe wasn’t really sure what she was asking him for, or what she wanted him to do. All she knew is that she wanted him to come inside her house, and she wanted to stop this twisting in her gut, the twisting that had been feeling every since their conversation had turned to such personal things. And part of her knew what would stop this twisting.

It was just like her time with Revenant; her head is awhirl with a hundred sensations, but primary in them is the memory of what Satyr has done to her in the past. She knew that they shouldn’t do any of the thoughts raging in her head; she also knew that she was tired of being alone, tired of her body buzzing with anticipation. Maybe, maybe if she did give in, it would take away that tension between them.

All of them were justifications. And Chloe knew that truly, deep inside, she simply wanted him. Her door swung open, and she entered the house, and did not shut it behind her. For the first time, she left things between them open, and left their future up to him.

[Satyr]

He predictably and very quickly followed her inside the house. He closed the door silently behind him, glancing back only briefly only to lock it. he did want privacy after all. He turned back to her as she looked at him and gestured to an OpNet device a few feet away. "Set the books over there." Her voice shook only slightly. He set the books down and looked back to her. She was looking at the floor rather nervously, her arms folded, but with an uncertain look in her eyes, sunlight flooded in from the southern window and embraced her form, she wore a simple jeans and backless shirt, but to Satyr she looked like a vision out of a Renaissance painting. She glanced back to him and he returned a nervous smile.

There was a moment of awkward silence as they both considered what could happen here. Chloe cleared her throat and in response Satyr closed the distance between them in less time than it took to tell. He stopped just short of her, his scent was carried on the air, she found herself inhaling deeply of the intoxicating scent. He reached out with his hand to her and as he did she looked up into his eyes, what she saw there gave her pause. There was of course lust, but along with it was a surprising amount nervousness and excitement, with those was also something in the way he cocked his head at her that spoke of much admiration, Satyr obviously had butterflies in his stomach.

Chloe giggled only slightly upon noting that he was as nervous as she was. It was a disarming giggle, she dropped her guard before him and took his hand in hers, smiling at him. He leaned in toward her bringing his other hand to the base of her neck, brushing the clasp of her shirt, pulling her gently to him, she slipped her hands around his waist and licked her lips as he glided his lips to hers.

He had wanted this since the first time he had seen her. Chloe was everything he thought he ever wanted in a mate. She had resisted him twice before, and no one previously had ever really resisted him. Something about that and the fact that she was very much a Dryad, or a Druidess, he couldn't put it into words, but he had felt a calling to her ever since the Pow Wow, and now he had her in his arms.

Slowly the kiss deepened. He ran his fingers down her naked back, she gave in to the kiss and allowed him to caress her, she was still nervous, but her excitement was quickly overshadowing that. He could feel her arousal, her passionate nature had been long neglected. She ran her fingertips along his belt and under his shirt teasing his hips, he tensed up as she did and he pulled her close up against him, biting her lip. She could now feel his arousal beneath his kilt.

[z-Silvestru]

Chloe whimpered as she felt Satyr pressing against her; due to their height difference, it was hitting her too high to add directly to her stimulation, but that didn’t stop her from enjoying it. Satyr had her lip, so she used what she had left; her tongue flicked over his upper lip. Realizing that she had stepped up the kiss, he released her lower lip before kissing her again, his tongue dancing into her mouth.

What am I doing?

What I’ve wanted to do since July. That’s what I’m doing. She answered the kiss by drawing her tongue across the roof of his mouth, drawing a shudder from him. I guessed he liked that.

His fingertips grazed the top of her jeans before playing over her bare back again. The sensation was strange and new, completely unlike what she had felt before. Her knees actually gave out; Satyr barely caught her. “Ah…” he lifted his head and tried again as he let her get on her feet. “Ah think ah I can feel where ye wings come out.”

“What?” Chloe gasped, wrapping her arms around him and holding herself up.

“Oh ye back… I can feel a line… or seam,” he said, mercilessly running his fingers up and down the seam. It felt like a scar, a thicker line of flesh under his finger. Chloe moaned and writhed against him, almost pushing him backwards. “Right there.”

“Oh, please,” Chloe gasped, “please stop… too much…”

Satyr stopped with a small smile, letting her recover. “Better?” he asked softly, tilting her head back. “Now, was that ‘stop’ a total stop, or just a temporary stop?”

“Temporary,” Chloe breathed, standing up on tiptoe so that she could kiss his nose lightly. After that, with her knees still aching from the sensations he had put them through, she had no hesitation in taking his hand and drawing him deeper into the house.

The bedroom was misnamed; there was no bed here, just a mattress on the floor. But the bedding was clean, and the mismatched blankets were solid and warm. Chloe sat down first, bending her knees deeply to drop onto her bum. Satyr was beside her in an instant, gently guiding her down to the bed. Side by side, they rearranged themselves so that they were on the same level. Chloe’s face was gentle as she stroked his hair; then the soft moment was gone as something hotter, more daring flashed through her eyes. She kissed him, and he could feel that she was doing something but until she lifted her head from his, he couldn’t see that she was undoing the straps on her shirt. Now, though, it fell open for him, revealing flesh he had seen only in his imagination before tonight.

[Satyr]

Satyr was clearly very pleased with what he saw as he admired her skin, he caressed Chloe's face and kissed her again rolling her onto her back. His hands trembled only slightly as he slid them across her golden flesh. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled at his shirt. He quickly responded pulling the shirt over his head, and tossed it off to the side. He was muscular yet slim at the same time. A Celtic pentacle knot-work was visible on his right arm just below the shoulder. No physical scars remained from his recent confrontation with CoMA.

He lay back down upon her, their legs entwined. Pressing his skin against hers. "Ye feel delightful." he whispered into her ear. Chloe shuddered given the cold air upon her skin and his hot breath on her neck. “The feeling’s mutual.” She smiled as she traced the pattern of his tattoo with a look of wonderment in her eyes, Satyr smiled at her as she did so simply watching her with a look that spoke simultaneously of contentment and nervousness. Chloe noted his attention and looked back to him and matched his look. “Do ye like it?” He was surprised how this small gesture of Chloe touching his tattoo made his heart beat all the faster.

“It’s beautiful.” She purred into his ear before kissing the pink shell-like edge of that ear. He found suddenly that he wanted more than anything to show Chloe a level of pleasure that he had only hinted at back in July; hell, that he had hinted at with every action he took; he showed it by kissing her jaw then her neck, he gently bit down taking nip of her flesh and then kissed it again. Meanwhile his fingers traced from her breasts down to tease at going beneath her pants, Chloe moaned and held him closely, locking his leg up against her pelvis which shifted, rubbing up against his leg. He could feel the building heat of her body in that fevered movement. He rose up on his arms and began kissing her shoulders and neck, slowly working his way down. Chloe took the opportunity to run her fingers down his chest, feeling the muscles tense under her touch.

Continuing to play his fingers across her sensitive skin, he licked a swollen nipple and then smiled at Chloe and made eye contact as he began to suckle the nipple, flicking it with his tongue. He snaked his arm under the small of her back, causing Chloe to arch her back further and with his free hand grasped her other breast, toying with her nipple between his fingers, She let out a small whimper of enjoyment, running her hands wildly over his shoulders and back. "More..." she hissed, her face flushing.

Chloe was unlike any other before her, her reactions were fairly the same but something was different, since the very beginning Satyr had not only wanted her, but he wanted her to want him, more than anything, he wanted her to be the Maiden, did her being with him here and now like this make it so?

[z-Silvestru]

She’s already drowning in sensations; they’ve just started, and already the pleasure was beyond compare. What she was feeling was everything his body and his reputation had promised it would be. Thoughts of his reputation almost stopped her, but if he was playing her false, this was a good way to find out. She could survive being a notch on his belt, but she wasn’t sure she would survive a shattered heart. Practicality seemed the wrong way to go about this, but she clung to it as a shield.

Chloe brought his nails to bear on him, lightly marking his skin. Satyr grinned appreciatively as her fingernails created a new sensation on his body. “Do ye use them durin’ ye climax?” he whispered before attacking her other breast with his tongue.

“That would be giving away the surprise,” Chloe murmured, twisting slightly so that she could nibble playfully on his shoulder.

“Aye, that it would,” Satyr answered, kissing the underside of her breast. Sylvan gasped as this usually neglected skin was finally lavished with attention. For a long moment, there was silence in the room as they sampled each other’s skin with probing tongues and gentle lips.

Chloe was the first to stop; this slow buildup was driving her crazy in tiny increments. “Let me up,” she said, pushing at one of his arms; with a quickly hidden frown, Satyr did as she asked. Her top was still on, bunched around her waist; with her back to him, she drew it up over her head with a couple of unnecessary wiggles of her butt. When she glanced back at him, the concern on his face was replaced with lazy anticipation, mixed with hot desire – desire for her.

Flashing him a sultry smirk, Chloe rolled her hips a little bit as she grabbed the button of her jeans. Popping that open was silent, but in the quiet room, the grumble of the zipper being pulled open was loud. Chloe even heard Satyr’s breath catch as the waist of her jeans relaxed around her hips. She hooked her thumbs in the tops of her jeans and began to wiggle out of them, leaving her underwear behind.

The jeans were left on the floor, and Chloe turned around, teasing her fingers under the lacy top of the lingerie. Satyr’s expression somehow became even more intense as she slowly began to strip the last piece away, again giving more wiggles than was needed for the operation. Once they cleared her knees, they fell to the floor, and she straightened up, smiling.

Chloe moved back to the bed with a smile, stretching out next to Satyr. He immediately took her in his arms, his hands starting to run over her revealed body with awe in his eyes. And as much as Chloe enjoyed his attentions, she wanted to give her own as well. “I think one of us is overdressed, now,” she purred, running her fingers over a plaid-covered hip.

“Aye, I am,” Satyr said, his fingers moving to the silver maple leaf; Chloe stopped him and undid the pin herself. Her fingers undid his sporran’s strap and set it aside; she was surprised that her fingers were shaking when she undid the leather strap to the right side of his kilt. She drew the upper apron back, revealing a line of flesh on his hip. She glanced at him; his eyes were lit with anticipation.

With a tight swallow, Chloe undid the buckle that held the under apron; with a slow, anticipatitory movement, she open the kilt completely, revealing the full image of his body to her.

“Oh.” Her voice was flat as slight discomfort slipped over her face. “Look at that. You’re not circumcised.”