Vol.4 Ch.6 – The Price Of A Name VI
Chapter 6: The Price Of A Name VI
Elaine should have refused this. She knew she should have. There was no reason she wouldn't have simply been able to teach Mariana that stupid acid spell. It would have taken forever but at least that method wouldn't have involved someone rooting around inside her memories. It wasn't as if she was embarrassed by any of the things she'd done in her life, some sloppy drunken make-out sessions and stupid youth pranks notwithstanding, but that wasn't the problem here.
No, the problem was the thing metaphorically swinging between her legs but actually tucked securely into a pair of boxer briefs. She'd thought she'd gotten over her embarrassment of having it, mostly because her girlfriends were so accommodating, but the idea of that information existing outside of her group irked her in a way she couldn't quite pin down.
She had no reason to believe that Mariana was a shameless gossip who would spread the knowledge around but the girl did seem oblivious enough that it might simply slip out. And then what?
Well, half the staff at Project Divinity knew about it already and Hayworth wouldn't exactly be able to kick her out for it. But that still left the others. She had only just managed to convince herself that she wasn't a freak but that would change if everyone but her girls treated her like one.
At the same time, none of this was Mariana's fault, precisely. The girl didn't know just what she was asking and why it was messing with Elaine so badly. It also didn't help that, even without Aurora pointing it out, Mariana seemed lonely. Crushingly so.
Of course there were introverts and extroverts out there and clearly Mariana was an introvert but that didn't mean she didn't like human contact. And being deprived of it for too long was clearly starting to take its toll on the girl.
Elaine resolved to be nice to her and to not let the girl's idiosyncrasies get to her. Maybe that would help with making sure the girl wouldn't tattle, too.
**
To onlookers it often appeared that Mariana sleepwalked through life and from an outside perspective that was certainly true, though it didn't feel like it for her.
Objectively speaking, after Elaine and Aurora had left her room Mariana had, in order, sat on her bed for over an hour, showered for a good half hour and then spent another half hour staring into her wardrobe before finally putting on the outfit she'd chosen to wait for Elaine in. But that description didn't say anything about what she'd actually been doing in that time.
When she'd sat on her bed she hadn't been daydreaming. Rather, she had been meditating, doing her best to compartmentalize all the memories she'd experienced in Aurora's mind, filing them away and separating them from her own lived experience. She had seen some horrid things fighting the Outsiders, especially in Ohio, but nothing like what Aurora had experienced and she couldn't afford to weigh her mind down with those memories and emotions. She hadn't excised them from her mind, precisely, but she had separated herself from them to the point where they no longer felt like open sores on her mind.
When she'd showered it had been as much about getting cleaned up as it had been a continuation of her meditation, washing off the haze of pain and misery being inside Aurora had inflicted on her. Nobody should live like that, least of all a sweet girl like Aurora. And Mariana would be keenly watching the two of them, to make sure Elaine was helping her get over it.
Staring into her wardrobe, however, had been about something else. No, she wasn't looking for a portal to Narnia, even if that's what her parents used to say whenever she spent too long staring into the one she'd had back home. No, she was simply considering what to wear. She wanted to choose an outfit that wasn't as formal as her uniform, comfortable enough to help Elaine relax in her presence without looking sloppy, something that looked good without seeming like she was coming on to Elaine too strong and something she wouldn't mind wearing for a couple hours.
Most women, Mariana felt, would have emptied out their wardrobes and tried on stuff until they hit the right outfit. Mariana wasn't like that. It's not that she was lazy but she didn't see the point in expending the effort. She knew what she looked like in those outfits. She didn't need to try them on.
Eventually, however, she had hit on an outfit. A pair of sweatpants and a knitted sweater that could be unbuttoned to show a somewhat scandalous amount of cleavage if she didn't wear a shirt underneath, which she wasn't. She would start out with only the top button undone but maybe she'd grow a little bolder later.
By the time she had put on the outfit Elaine had messaged her and, while replying, she'd taken a quick trip to the vending machine outside for a few soft drinks. And so she sat there, waiting for Elaine to arrive, nursing something fizzy.
**
Elaine felt like she was doing something she shouldn't. It was protocol that both the Shard Bearers and the Awakeners had to wear their uniforms outside of their rooms and Elaine wasn't.
Ever since the Siege of Ohio things had loosened up around the compound and the Lieutenant General didn't seem too focused on upholding the dress code anymore but still, she felt weird wearing the outfit. But after seeing Aurora and Mariana lying on that bed for an extended period of time Elaine knew she wouldn't want to be wearing her uniform for that.
And while she wasn't exactly wearing her best outfit, what she was wearing looked enough like something she might wear on a date that the few Shard Bearers she passed gave her sly looks. Apparently Awakeners paying their Shard Bearers conjugal visits was a common enough occurrence that everyone at the compound knew what it looked like. Except that wasn't what was happening. There would be nothing conjugal about this visit.
Of course, the moment she'd thought that Rachel's comment about having Mariana inside her surfaced in her mind.
She shook herself out of it. It wouldn't do to think raunchy thoughts. Then again, Mariana would probably see enough of her raunchy thoughts while inside her mind...
No, screw this, Elaine thought, enough fretting.
**
“Elaine,” Mariana said as she opened the door. She did her best to smile but wasn't quite sure how good a job she was doing. The way Elaine smiled back at her let her know she hadn't done too terribly.
Elaine's outfit looked amazing on her. The tall brunette wore a pair of tight black jeans, a purple blouse and a black vest over it. The outfit was tight enough to draw attention to her six-pack and her amazing chest and Mariana certainly approved. Elaine was a very attractive woman already but in an outfit like this she looked incredible.
“Mariana,” Elaine said, her voice soft, not nearly as angry as it had been earlier.
“Mare, please,” Mare said. “Mariana is too formal.”
“Mare, then,” Elaine said and Mare did her best not to shiver. Hearing her nickname from Elaine's lips was more thrilling that she'd thought it would be.
She paused for a moment, trying to get herself back under control. It wouldn't do for her to show her interest too overtly.
“Would you like to get started right away?” she asked.
“Again,” Elaine said, “promise you'll tell nobody what you see in there.”
“I promise,” Mare said, though it made her wonder. What was Elaine trying so hard to hide? She didn't think a person like her would be hiding any skeletons in their closet but maybe there was something Elaine was embarrassed about.
“Alright,” Elaine said. “Should I just... lie down?”
“Yes please,” Mare said. “Make yourself comfortable.”
Elaine gave her a small nod, then laid down on the bed.
Mare climbed onto the bed after her, reached for the power inside her and...
**
Elaine took a deep breath, steeling herself.
“I think I might like girls,” she said.
She was sixteen and on a weekend camping trip with her dad. It might have been the worst possible situation for a coming-out. If he reacted badly she might find herself forced to spend hours in a car with someone deeply upset and disappointed or, worse still, she might find herself stranded miles and miles away from civilization. But she hadn't thought about that. She had chosen this moment so that, if he started yelling, there would be nobody around to hear.
She didn't think he would yell. Her dad had always been an open and accepting person. But she had still read and heard all the horror stories, of parents who were totally fine with gay people, so long as they weren't their own children.
And so, with the two of them sitting on a little hill and looking out into the wilderness she had admitted the thing that had been percolating in the back of her mind for a while now. And she was bracing herself for what was coming next.
But her dad didn't yell. He didn't look at her like she'd grown a third arm, either. He reached into the cooler bag behind them, pulled out a second bottle of beer and opened it, then held it out to Elaine and said: “Welcome to the club.”
God I love my dad.
**
“I can't believe we're stranded in absolute bumfuck nowhere and the only women around are dykes,” one of the other soldiers complained loudly.
It was her first trip to Afghanistan and it frankly consisted of doing a whole lot of nothing. The locals, except for the ones they were ostensibly training as a peacekeeping force, wanted nothing to do with them and so the soldiers were all sitting around with no one but each other for company. It was grating. She hadn't signed up for this shit, hadn't signed up for verbal abuse just because there were no hookers around for these fuckers to blow off some steam. A couple of them she wouldn't even have minded a roll in the hay with but the attitude drove her away.
One of the very few other women around was bisexual, same as Elaine, and had felt the exact same way, resulting in them hooking up a couple times. And now said other woman, a toned blonde named Jess, had rejected the loudmouth. He hadn't liked that. And he was ranting.
He was a dog, all bark and no bite, or at least that's how Elaine had pegged him. But apparently the liquid courage had gotten to his head and she was starting to think he wouldn't leave it at just words.
Elaine would be only too happy to drop the fucker but she wasn't going to risk a disciplinary action for him so she would wait for him to make the first move. And until then she was happy sitting at the bar, sipping the swill they were serving here. God, it was vile.
Fuck, should probably be grateful we get booze here at all, she thought. Not like the locals drink any.
Eventually she felt a bony hand grabbing hold of her collar.
“Look at me when I'm talking to you!” he practically screamed in her ear.
“You wanna take that hand away, son,” she said, keeping her voice low and dangerous. It was harder than expected. After all, with the way his voice had cracked she just wanted to laugh at him but that would have just set him off.
“I'm not your son, dyke,” he said, yanking on her collar.
She contemplated the glass full of disgusting swill. For a moment she considered slamming the glass into his face but then decided against it. Not only were glass shards nasty shit but even the disgusting swill was better than no booze at all. And so she left the glass where it was and just slugged him with her balled fist.
He sailed through the air and slammed into a table.
“You'll be calling me daddy anyway,” she said as she stood up. Judging by the way the other soldiers were eyeing her she knew she'd have several heads to crack before she could go back to her swill.
**
The feeling of Ophelia sucking the blood out of her finger was still fresh in her mind, the maddening pleasure of it still reverberating throughout her body, when the little vampire minx slid down between her legs and...
Oh god, she was going to do it, wasn't she?
She was.
Ophelia opened wide and took Elaine's cock in her mouth, sucking it in. Elaine almost lost it then and there. She hadn't expected it to feel this amazing. Of course she'd thought it would feel good – guys wouldn't be so obsessed with blowjobs if they didn't feel great – but nothing could have prepared her for the coiling wet heat of Ophelia's mouth, sticky and slippery and tight.
And not only did it feel good enough to make Elaine lose her mind, the sight of Ophelia with her mouth full of cock, gazing up at her adoringly, was more than she could take.
**
Mare was gasping and she was sure her physical body was squirming with phantom sensation. Elaine had a cock? Was that what she'd been trying so hard to hide? But why? She should be running around bragging about that thing.
She was suddenly acutely jealous of Elaine's lovers. Not only did they have this gorgeous hunk of a girlfriend to show off, she was also hung as a horse. The best of all worlds. Not to mention that she was apparently a certified badass.
Mare might not have found the memory of the acid spell yet but she had found something even more important. Absolute and irrefutable proof that Elaine was everything she could possibly hope for, in a partner, in an Awakener, in a person.
And even more, judging by the amount of radiant memories she was surrounded by, there was a veritable smorgasbord of fun memories for her to peruse. After all, since she was already in here anyway...
“So, you done snooping yet?”