149: Theological Matters

on February 1, 2008 in 05: The Weekend Shift

In Which Mackenzie Holds Back

Amaranth went to the desk and picked up her glasses, putting them on.

“Now, then,” she said, turning and giving me the over-the-rim look that made me feel about three very excited inches tall. “What have you eaten today?”

“Um… a lemon gumdrop?” I said. I’d been all set to go get a snack with Ian, but that had fallen by the wayside after we bumped into Steff.

Amaranth clucked and shook her head.

“Well, you missed breakfast,” she said. “And that will figure into your punishment tonight, but there’s still time for lunch. We’ll go pay a visit to the food court, and after that I think… yes… maybe the library.”

I nodded, feeling grateful. Lazy weekend hours at the library were becoming a comforting ritual. I hadn’t had many lazy hours this particular weekend, of course.

“Oh… come here, baby,” Amaranth purred, draping an arm over me and pulling me into her chest. She stroked the back of my head. “I know it’s been rough, but it hasn’t been all bad, right?”

“No,” I agreed. “Last night was… pretty good.”

My cheeks ran hot. “Pretty good.” It was an utter understatement, but nothing else I could have said would have done it justice. Being taken by Ian, having him cut loose… and the way I’d somehow seemed to “go away” in the middle of it. It had been amazing.

Of course, I’d been so upset at the time from my confusion over the climax that I hadn’t really been able to fully appreciate the experience, to bask in it… but in hindsight, it had been just plain incredible.

It hadn’t been the only part of the weekend I’d enjoyed, either. As serious as the situation with Steff was, as intense as Viktor might have been, I couldn’t deny the way the treatment I’d received in their room had made me feel… either in terms of my comfort with it, or the touches of arousal.

“There was… um… something else… that was pretty good, too,” I said.

“Hmm?”

I couldn’t figure out how to phrase it… should I focus on what Viktor had done, or how I’d felt? The longer I stood there thinking about it, the more determined my mouth seemed to be to freeze shut. Finally, I decided to just say what was the highlight moment and count on Amaranth’s amazing instincts to pick up all the underlying stuff.

“Viktor put me in a box,” I mumbled.

What was that, baby?” Amaranth asked, her voice shaped by the sultriest of sultry smiles.

I tried to force the words out, but ended up burying my mouth against the side of her breast as I did.

“I can’t understand when you talk with your mouth full,” she teased. She grabbed me by the hair and yanked my head back. I let out a little moan. She gave a stern look. “Let’s try that one more time, baby… say it… very… clearly.”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

“Viktor put me in a box,” I said, and then collapsed back against her warmth.

“Did he?” Amaranth said thoughtfully. “Well, I don’t have to ask how you felt about that, do I?”

“No, ma’am,” I murmured into her.

“We don’t have Viktor’s resources, but we might have to see what we can do about getting you a cozy little toy box of your own,” Amaranth said. “Would you like that, baby?”

I nodded my head, incidentally nuzzling my face against her chest. She pulled me off of her by the hair again.

“I asked if you would like that,” she said.

“Yes, ma’am,” I said.

“Good,” she cooed. “I want you to get as comfortable with boxes as possible.”

She giggled and I blushed.

“You know, I’m keeping you no matter what Mother Khaele says,” she said. The defiant look on her face turned almost immediately into a twinge of panic. “Unless she says I can’t. Because, you know… goddess.”

“It’s okay,” I said, feeling a sudden heaviness stealing away the warmth that had suffused me.

I’d had years to get used to the idea that the gods of good didn’t approve of me, but I’d never experienced it so personally. Even having my tongue burned when I’d tried to pray to Khersis had been little more than a side effect.

“She hasn’t said no yet,” Amaranth said. “She said we’ll talk about it again.”

“When?” I asked.

Amaranth curled her lower lip back, biting it so hard I thought she’d chew through it. She looked off to the side.

“Amaranth?” I prompted. “Please tell me what she said.”

“When she’s made up her mind,” she said.

“So she really might tell you no,” I said.

“But she might say yes,” Amaranth said. “I mean, it would be really horribly hypocritical of her to forbid me to see an intelligent being after she made such a big deal over the whole ‘horse fucking’ issue.” She blanched. “Not that I believe it actually would be hypocritical if she did, but I would hope she could see how it would seem that way to an observer in the mortal world.”

“Why are you so hung up on horses, exactly?” I asked. I knew Amaranth had “sacrificed” articles about various animals’ relative intelligence levels to try to get around a divine prohibition on sex with lower creatures… fortunately to no avail.

Horses, though, were the first one she’d set her sights on that I knew of, and the one she kept coming back to.

“They are beautiful, noble, feeling creatures,” Amaranth said. “I look into their eyes and I see a unique mind staring back at me. I have to believe that when my divine creator made me to share pleasure with the world, she didn’t mean to exclude such magnificent and obviously intelligent beasts.”

“Even when your divine creator tells you that she did mean to exclude them?”

“I think it’s possible that some part of her kind of didn’t mean to a little, in the back of her mind,” Amaranth said. “I gave her a copy of an article from the Journal of Subtle Arts Studies about hidden intentions, and how people often have many subconscious reasons for their actions that they’re not consciously aware of.”

“Don’t you think she’d know if she gave horses intelligence?” I asked. “Or any other animal, for that matter?”

“She could have made one intelligent and then forgot about it,” Amaranth said. “She did make an awful lot of them, after all.”

“But… goddess,” I reminded her.

“Well, maybe she outdid herself without realizing it,” Amaranth said. “There could be a veritable masterwork animal species out there, enjoying all the benefits of true intelligence except for nymphly companionship. Maybe not horses necessarily… but, who knows?”

“Amaranth, do you really think trying to rationalize around your goddess’s commands is the best way to convince her you’re not overly proud?” I asked.

“I’m not!” she protested, stamping her foot on the tile floor. “I’m just concerned about a poor overlooked, undersexed…”

I gave her a hard look. It took everything I had to do it.

“Ohhh… maybe you do have a point,” she said. “I should focus on one thing at a time. For now, I’ll work on showing her that I am responsible, that we are good for each other… and then when that’s done I’ll start focusing on my animal rights work again.”

“So, um… lunch?” I said, thinking it was as good a time to get out of the conversation.

“Right,” she said. She circled around behind me, wrapping me up in her arms. “There’s just one thing I need to do first.”

“What’s that?” I asked, swallowing as her fingers brushed my breasts.

“Before we eat,” she said, sliding down my back, reaching around to undo my belt and my pants and then pull my jeans and panties down, “I just want to grab a quick bite or two.”

I tensed up when I realized what she was doing. She bit hard, harder than she’d ever bitten me before and I jumped and yelped, unclenching. Once I’d relaxed, she put her lips against my ass cheek and sucked lightly, then bit down slowly, firmly. I whimpered, and she released, then dragged her lips across to the other side… and repeated.

I moaned.

She came back up slowly, her breasts pressing up against my exposed skin and then the back of my shirt. She touched her lips to the back of my ear.

“I still want to tongue you,” she whispered.

I shivered. I didn’t think I’d ever be ready to take that off my blacklist, but the thought was still somehow… somehow…

Amaranth pulled my pants back up and redid them. I didn’t help, I just stood there and let her. She gave me a smile after snapping my jeans that told me I’d done exactly right. I did my best to remain passive when she reached out with both hands and started playing with my small breasts through my shirt and bra.

“Such a fun toy,” she said. “I’ll have to ask Twoey if we can borrow some of her things to play dress-up with sometime.” She giggled. “Public nudity’s a no-no for you, but… when we go to the union, I want you to imagine you’re in your underwear.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I said, my cheeks burning.

“Now, come along, baby,” she said, heading for the door.

Sooni’s door opened at the same time that we stepped out. She had such a look of delighted surprise on her face that I knew she must have opened hers in response to mine. She had her braids twisted in a ridiculous sort of double pretzel that only distracted attention from her better features like her face and skin and breasts and tail and ears.

I wished she could see how ridiculous she looked.

“Oh, Miss Mackenzie, I did not know you were on the skirmish team,” she said.

“What?” I said, wondering what fresh delusion I was going to have to entertain.

“Mack’s not on the skirmish team,” Amaranth said.

“Really?” Sooni said, in obviously feigned surprise. “I do not understand why everybody in the fitness center was saying you lost us the match, then.” She shrugged. “I must have misunderstood, I’m sure.”

“It sounds like it,” Amaranth said, smiling. “Have a good day, Sooni.”

“I will,” she said, smiling solicitously. She gave a little bow before she backed into her room and closed the door.

“See, she’s not so bad,” Amaranth said, heading down the hall.

“She’s being snide,” I said, falling in step to her side and a little behind.

“You don’t know that,” Amaranth said. “Remember, she wanted to spend time with you.”

I didn’t argue. I had other things on my mind. Were people blaming me for a skirmish loss? Rocky had said that Belinda led their squad… I could probably assume that Hissy had been sidelined, which would mean that squad was down two fighters. Worse, non-human fighters were generally considered to be the heavy hitters… even I knew that.

The loss of two of them–including a half-ogre squad captain–would make a great scapegoat for a loss. If their absence could be pinned on an unpopular student from the freak dorm that was apparently only good for sex and producing skirmish players, that was even better.

“What are you thinking about?” Amaranth asked, and I realized I’d become lost in thought and stopped walking.

“What Sooni said,” I said. “If people really are blaming me for the loss…”

“She said she misunderstood,” Amaranth said.

“Don’t you see what she was doing?” I said. “She knew I wasn’t on the skirmish team, she was just using that as an excuse to tell me a nasty rumor while pretending to be nice. It’s something she does, when she’s not going nuts over a…”

“Say one more word and you’re going back to apologize to her face,” Amaranth said with something approaching fierceness.

“Yes, ma’am,” I said, lowering my head. I wasn’t wrong, but I had agreed to keep my feelings about Sooni to myself.

“I had hoped watching your shows together would help you two get along,” she said. She sighed. “I suppose it couldn’t… well, no.” She chewed on her lip. “I did say I wouldn’t order you again. I’ll stick to that.”

“Thank you,” I said. I added, feeling once again like the words were far too lame for the sentiment, “I’m proud of you.”

Amaranth lit up like a candle, and she started heading down the hall again with her head held high. I’d have to remember that, if her divine mother had told her to watch her pride… compliments went straight to her head.

Still, she was beautiful to watch when she walked like that, a million miles tall and her hair shining like the sun, her hips swaying as she strode towards the door to the stairwell… where she turned and saw me, still standing in the middle of the hall.

“Baby, if you keep on stopping like that you’re not going to have to imagine going to lunch in your underwear.”

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5 Responses to “149: Theological Matters”

  1. pedestrian says:

    ohhkaaayy……

    Anyone else just got creeped out by the comparison between the self-centered juvenile behavior of Amaranth and Sooni?

    Current score: 0
  2. Maesenko says:

    Anybody else think that Amaranth needs to actually listen to Mackenzie more and not interrupt her, especially when Amaranth doesn’t want Mackenzie to interrupt people?

    Current score: 11
  3. MackSffrs says:

    “…animal rights work…”
    PETA ads never looked so wrong.

    Current score: 9
  4. Arkeus says:

    It’s really heartwrenching the way they love each other so much but are currently really not good for each others, what with Mack being a enabler for Amy, and Amy not seeing what Mack is struggling with.

    Current score: 3