After the Second Fall Pt. 02.3

"I was third, and I'm supposed to be the glue that keeps us together, but I've been gone too much, and there are holes to fill."

"You're our heart," stated Rosie firmly, leaning forward to take Rachel's face in her hands. "You're the best of us, and the only one worthy of Pip, and I love you dearly." She placed a kiss on Rachel's forehead, then sat back, tears in her eyes. "Don't ever speak poorly about yourself -- I won't stand for it."

Maggie also leaned forward, touching her forehead to Rachel's. "Rosie's absolutely right, but so are you: we've missed you."

Rachel nodded, tears forming, surprised and overwhelmed by the sudden show of emotion from her lovers. "Thank you both," she said, laughing just a little. "I was trying to explain something to Anne, but you've completely derailed my train of thought."

Anne reached over and took Rachel's hand, nodding and making a placating gesture.

Taking a deep breath, Rachel signed, 'Thank you,' to the Speaker, whose eyes shot open.

'You can sign, or you only know 'Thank you?''

Rachel wiped her eyes and grinned. 'I know a few more words. If you use a sign I do not understand, I will ask, just like I do with Sheena.'

Anne's expression fell. 'She has been teaching you?'

'Not just me.'

The Speaker's eyes streaked to Rosie, who waved, then to Maggie, who signed, 'We thought it would be good to be able to converse with you.'

Now it was Anne that started to cry, big tears running freely. The three women each scooted closer, letting her know they were there with gentle touches to her knees and shoulders. When the surge of emotions had passed, Anne, too, wiped her eyes. 'But you barely know me. It makes no sense.'

'We cannot know you unless we can communicate with you,' replied Rosie.

Anne nodded hesitantly, somewhat mollified. 'How did you learn to sign so quickly?'

'The sisters are excellent teachers,' responded Rosie, 'and we no longer talk to each other. It does not yet show because learning is new to him, but Pip works very hard, too. This is the only learning interest he has shown since we met."

'About earlier, how much of my tantrum did you understand?'

'Most of it,' signed Rosie.

Maggie smiled and nodded. 'I learned a few new signs. What does *** mean?'

Anne put her face in her hands, mortified, before eventually looking up again. 'I am so, so sorry.'

'I was only teasing,' Maggie signed, 'Sheena taught me 'butt muncher' the first week.'

Despite her wildly swinging emotions, or maybe because of them, Anne flopped herself back in the dirt, holding her stomach while she laughed silently.

Pip chose that moment to walk up, still naked and dripping, placing a foot on either side of Anne's head. "Is it still possible to have a massage?" he asked innocently.

Pip's ridiculousness set off a fresh round of laughter in Anne and she rolled over onto her side, trying to avoid the droplets hitting her face and neck, then grabbed onto Pip's ankle for support, struggling to breathe.

"What did you do to her?" Pip asked as he scooped the woman up, dirt from her clothes sticking to his still wet skin.

"Nothing compared to what I have planned," replied Maggie with a lecherous grin. "Too bad she's all dirty: we won't be able to play."

Maggie's words cut through the laughter, and Anne tried to sit up as Pip looked to where his Second was pointing. He nodded and strode quickly to the fountain as Anne signed rapidly at the girls from his arms. "She says you can't put her in the fountain," Maggie translated.

"Why not? Does it hurt the drinking water or something like that?"

Anne shook her head and signed some more. "Only children get in the fountain. Adults aren't allowed."

Pip looked down at Anne. "Aren't allowed -- that's your best argument?" he asked as he stepped into the cold water, finding it reached almost to his knees.

Maggie laughed as she translated one last attempt from the Speaker. "She says it's not dignified."

"Right," said Pip with a nod, then sat down heavily, sending a wave of water over the lip of the fountain and onto the legs of the girls, who laughed and hopped back in response. Anne, now completely soaked and sputtering, broke out of Pip's arms and jumped to her feet, glaring at him intensely. She started signing angrily at him, but he wasn't paying any attention, instead looking into her eyes. After several beats it was apparent she had lost and her scowl faded -- it was his big, dark eyes and that stupid smirk. 'Do you really want me?'

"Since the day we met."

Hearing his words, her breath hitched. 'What do we do now?'

"Well, I was being serious about the massage."

Anne looked to the sky and held out her hands, mouthing something that Pip couldn't understand. 'After you," she signed.

Relishing his victory, Pip stood and scooped up the Speaker again, heading toward the building with the massage tables. Fortunately, there were several blankets stacked in a small closet, so Anne could get out of her wet clothes and cover up before she became too cold. As PETs, Rosie and especially Maggie were already quite familiar with typical massage practices, but Anne was able to show them which muscle groups were most likely to be sore after a full day in the fields. The three women took turns while Rachel looked on, content to learn vicariously.

When Pip flipped onto his back, the mood in the room changed immediately. "Maybe we can teach you a few things on this side," Maggie said, looking up at Anne, who nodded in response, her eyes fixed on Pip's pelvic region. The women were soon leaning over the area, having forgotten entirely about a therapeutic massage, so Rachel took over, rubbing his chest and arms while six hands explored his groin.

As his excitement grew, Rachel also abandoned the massage, choosing instead to place kisses on his lips and ears, along his jaw, and across his neck, slowly becoming more aggressive. When his body tensed, Rachel grabbed his ears and pulled his head off the table, kissing him fiercely while his hips bounced up and down with his climax.

Rachel released him and he looked up at her in wonder. "We love you, Pip. I love you." Pip started to sit up, but Rachel placed a hand on his chest. "Just rest and let us clean you up. We'll see you in the morning." Pip nodded and laid his head back, eyes suddenly quite heavy.

Then morning.

"Whoa, that was strange."

Like the previous day, Pip found clean clothes beside the table and dressed quickly, then jogged to the main hall through the still dark street. Inside, he found only empty tables.

Confused, he stepped back outside and realized that there were no lights on in the buildings and he groaned. There was a noise behind him and he spun, finding an elderly woman walking into the hall. "Food will be ready in about a bell," she said without turning around.

With nothing better to do, Pip followed her in. "Would you like some help?"

It turned out that Pip was not very good at cracking Eggs, even using the Effect, but slowing time was very useful when it came to using a knife. As a reward for his help, Pip was the first to eat, a full quarter bell sooner than promised, so that he was done eating before anyone else had arrived.

He was sitting, staring at the empty plate in front of him and wondering what he should do when the door opened and Anne walked in, looking even worse than Maggie had the day before. "Good morning, Anne," he said carefully, not sure how she would react.

Noticing him for the first time, Anne redirected her steps until she was standing in front of him. 'Tired. No sleep. Your girls talk too much.'

"Why are you here then? Go back to bed."

Anne shook her head. 'You are teaching me ***.'

"The kata we do?" She nodded. "We can do it tomorrow."

Shaking her head again, Anne signed, 'Other people are coming, so I must, too.' Pip took a breath to argue, but she held up her finger, then signed, 'It is important to me.'

Pip exhaled loudly, then opened his arms. "Come here then: you can at least sleep for a little while." Anne nodded and leaned her head forward onto Pip's shoulder. Pip sighed and put his arms under her, hoisting and spinning her long body so that she was cradled in his arms, resting his elbow on the table to help support her weight.

The next person to enter the hall, a villager Pip hadn't yet met, was certainly surprised to see the Speaker unconscious in the unfamiliar Adam's arms and his eyebrows raised in alarm. In response, Pip shook his head and slowly lifted a finger to his lips, trying not to disturb the sleeping woman. In actuality, he probably could have held a conversation while skipping around the hall and it wouldn't have disturbed Anne, but Pip chose a more cautious approach to the morning.

More people cycled through for their morning meal, including Mars and Emily, but his three girls were absent, hopefully sleeping comfortably somewhere. As the morning's light started to show through the window, Pip beckoned to Mars and the big Adam nodded, policing the remnants of their breakfast, then following Pip and Anne out the door.

Pip hadn't noticed earlier, but there was a definite difference in the air from the previous days, and it made the back of his neck prickle. "You feel that?"

Mars nodded. "Storm," he said, looking off in the distance over Pip's shoulder.

The front was still bells away, but it looked ominous as flashes of lightning illuminated huge banks of dark clouds.

"It will be here this afternoon," Esther said, walking up. "Our worst storms are usually in the late Summer, but every once in a while there's a big one during planting time. Looks like you guys might get a couple of days off."

"We can work this morning, though, right?" Mars asked.

Esther grinned. "You want to go plow?"

"I just like reaching goals. I was hoping to pass three acres total today, which should have been easy, but maybe not now."

"Three acres is almost --" Esther started, but Pip cut her off with a sharp shake of his head. After a pause, she finished, "-- as much as most Adams can do in a whole week. You must be working very hard." Mars shrugged modestly, but was clearly pleased.

"We should get started then," said Pip. "Are you here to learn our kata, too, Esther?"

The tall blonde nodded, then indicated over her shoulder to where almost a dozen villagers had gathered, hidden by the shadows. "Sheena plus a few others. Watching you two yesterday was... enjoyable."

"Oh, really?" he asked, to which she nodded enthusiastically. "Mars, I think we should just do the first few forms, slowly, so that everyone can follow. Since we're short on field time today, we can just jog out, which should loosen us up the rest of the way, yeah?"

"Good plan, let's get started."

As Mars pulled off his tunic, Pip nudged Anne, then did it again. It was a pinch on her hip that roused her enough for him to set her down, where she wobbled slightly before regaining her balance. After blinking the sleep from her eyes and clearing her throat loudly, she rolled her shoulders and cracked her neck, like he had done the previous day, then whipped off her tunic in one smooth motion. 'Ready.'

Pip forgot how to think for a moment and squeezed down on time to give his brain a moment to catch up; having longer to take in Anne's svelte form was just an added bonus. "Strictly speaking, it's not necessary to remove your shirt," he offered.

Anne turned and Pip raised his eyes, seeing that the other villagers had followed suit, which caused his mind to turn off again. Standing in front, her chest pushed out and a grin on her face, Esther was looking directly at Pip; her sister, Sheena, was turned in profile, her impossibly large chest evident even in the dim light. Where Anne's body lines looked like they had been drawn by a master calligrapher, the Vale sisters were built more powerfully, with broad, muscled shoulders that weren't nearly so apparent when wearing their formless tunics.

In the back where it was almost too dark to see her, Joanna was standing with her arms crossed over her chest. Fortunately -- or perhaps not -- Pip didn't recognize the others. Subjectively, several hundred beats passed as Pip got his thoughts in order; in objective time, he looked from Anne to Esther, smiled, then assumed the first position, leaving his tormentor frustrated and suspicious.

The two Adams moved slowly through their kata, pausing at each form, then taking turns to provide correction to the villagers. Pip seemed intent on helping Anne get her technique exactly right, much like Mars did for Joanna, who had overcome her concerns about modesty after the blonde Adam's first adjustment. Conversely, Pip provided only limited verbal advice to Esther, telling her, "Straighten your arm," or "Crouch more deeply," despite her obviously, intentionally flawed execution of the forms.

The quarter bell passed rapidly and Pip called the exercise to a halt, congratulating the group on a positive start. With a look to Mars, he took a step in the direction of the fields when he was pulled up short, this time by Esther, who did not look pleased. "What is the problem?" she asked tersely, more frustrated than angry.

"You said it yourself," he responded neutrally, "we only have the morning to work, so we need to get moving."

"That's not what I meant and you know it," she snapped.

Pip looked down at her, then slowly peeled her hand from his wrist. "We really do need to go, so if you want to talk, you need to keep up."

Esther glared back at him defiantly. "That won't be a problem." They locked eyes for a long moment, then Pip nodded, pivoted, and started jogging, Esther on his left and Mars on his right.

The trio had barely cleared the village boundary when Esther broke the silence. "Why not me?"

"What do you mean?" Pip responded, honestly having no idea what she was upset about.

"Why didn't you correct me, like you did Anne?"

"Because you weren't taking it seriously and she was, even though she barely slept last night."

"I barely slept last night!" she shouted, which was difficult considering the quick tempo Mars had set. After several tense beats, Pip waved goodbye to the bigger Adam, then slowed his pace to a slow lope, which Esther matched. "I barely slept, too," she repeated.

Pip coasted to a stop, looking down into the blonde's watery eyes. "Please tell me what's wrong. You've probably figured out that I'm terrible at reading people, so I really have no clue why you're mad at me. I thought we were becoming friends -- or at least friendly adversaries." Esther kicked him in the shin, then wrapped her arms around herself.

"Walk with me?" he asked. Esther nodded tentatively and they set off again, although it was more of a stroll -- almost an amble, really -- than an actual walking pace.

When it became apparent that Pip was content to walk in silence, Esther began working up her courage. It was almost five hundred beats before she was ready, saying simply, "I was hoping we could be something more than friends."

Pip moved his head up and down. "It occurred to me that might be the case."

"Then why did you make me say it?"

He shrugged, then kicked a stone off the dirt road. "It was just since we started walking."

"You really didn't know?"

"Not at all. I thought you just liked giving me a hard time."

Esther chuckled sadly to herself. "But you and Anne are a thing, right? Along with all those girls from the Complex."

"Oh, that sounds awful when you say it out loud," Pip groaned, "but yeah, I guess it's accurate, except that Anne and I are still figuring things out."

Silence settled over the pair again as Esther once again built up her resolve. "Is there room for one more?"

"Come on, Esther, be realistic," Pip exclaimed with frustration, causing the woman to shrink back some. "I can't figure out why one woman wants to spend time with me, let alone four or five. Seriously. My entire world revolves around killing people, and it hasn't left me with a particularly pleasant outlook on life.

"If that wasn't enough, there's always the threat of death hanging over my head. When the matches start up in the Fall, I'll probably fight three times in a month, and each of my opponents is going to be just as determined to kill me as I am them, and even better, there's an excellent chance that all of them will be significantly bigger and stronger than me.

"Then add in the fact that I don't understand people, or politics, or how the world works. I can barely read, can't write, and my only hobby outside of fighting is Chess. I am quite possibly the least well rounded person you or anyone in the village will ever meet. So tell me, why is it that everyone wants a piece of me?"

Rather than answering the question, Esther said gently, "I don't think I've ever heard you angry before."

Pip sighed and forced his body to relax. "It doesn't happen very often, but it's always inside, waiting for an opportunity to get out. Just another reason to stay clear of me."

"My father was like that, but he didn't have so many redeeming qualities." Pip gave her an dubious look, which she summarily dismissed with wave. "You cherry picked things you don't like about yourself, which we can all do, and I would bet you that my list is longer than yours. I'm not going to tell you about all of your wonderful qualities, because you already know.

"What I will say is that I enjoy our interactions, especially our back and forth; and I like that you make me feel small when I stand next to you, like I'm safe from everything bad in the world." Esther smiled up at him, poking him in the ribs, "You're pretty easy on the eyes, too."

"Look who's talking," he responded easily. "When I saw you this morning, my heart stopped."

"Whatever. You barely spared me a glance."

Thinking back, Pip realized it would have appeared that way to her. "Esther, I would really like to be your friend, but I can't be more, not now."

"But later?"

Pip shook his head and shrugged. "All I know is that I I could really use a friend. The girls are amazing, and they take wonderful care of me, but it's almost like they're too close. My mentor, John, was killed earlier this year, and it opened up this hole. Now, I don't have anybody that I can just talk to freely with, and make fun of, and relax around. Somehow, without even realizing it, you took over that role."

"I would be happy to be your friend, Pip," Esther answered as a tear rolled down her cheek.

"I don't like making my friends sad," he said, taking her hand in his. "Do you think learning a secret would make you feel better?"

"It depends," she said, her mouth starting to turn up. "Is it important?"

"Yes," Pip responded seriously. "It's probably the single most important secret in the city, and maybe much further."

Esther stopped and looked into his eyes, checking for signs of a joke. "I'm not sure I want to know, then."

"Too bad," Pip said as he started moving again, "it's part of being my friend." Reluctantly, Esther nodded.

"Do you believe that I really plowed six acres in two days?"

"Yes, I think so, but I also know it shouldn't be possible."

Nodding, Pip told her about John, his first training victory, and the Effect; about the Arena matches, and meeting the girls; about the revolt in the Complex and the deaths of his friends. Through it all, Esther listened intently, silently, holding his hand and squeezing it reassuringly during the difficult accounts. When he finally finished, he looked down at her with a smile. "Thank you for listening."

Speechless at what she had heard, Esther held up her hands and nodded.

"It's a lot to take in isn't it?"

"Yes: a lot, a lot. I would say it's all horseshit, but I can see you're serious, and there has to be some explanation for the amazing things you can do."