ΔV Pt. 05

But Dale was more than just amazingly good in bed. And beautiful. And tragic, with his Lethe induced amnesia. Every time after they made love, though, the two would lay in sweaty sheets or on warm soft grass or in the back seat of a scrapped car that still had intact upholstery thanks to some obscenely over-designed 21^st century automobile technician and they would cuddle. And talk.

Tell me about your boss...

Tel me about your work...

Tell me about this Mr. Chaps -- should I be jealous?

There was tickling. And nibbling. And giggling.

And through it all, Annie started to realize something. Dale was sharp. Like, smart sharp, not mean sharp. He would listen to her complaining about her day job and would notice insights that she hadn't thought of: "It seems like you're doing most of the work while this Finch takes most of the money. After all, if he was paying you the amount you actually worked, he'd be making a loss, no?" He chuckled, softly, his finger tweaking through her hair. "Seems unfair."

"Doesn't it strike you as odd?" he had said another time, his fingers working slow smooth circles along her shoulders, his thumbs rolling her muscles under her skin. The feeling was divine -- and Annie was wallowing in the pleasure of it. "You live in this free society, but you have to literally do anything your boss asks you to do. A bit of a contradiction -- to have so much so liberty, save for the moment you begin to sell your labor."

Annie had gurgled out a laugh at that point and mumbled something about how he should run a political podcast with that kind of talk.

So, Dale had started a podcast.

Which did have the side effect of allowing Annie to listen to him on the ride home, as well as when she was in his arms. It was a bit more pleasant than listening to Dan Chaps. For one thing, Dale's little talkshow, which he had called the Dalenomic Power Hour, often proposed solutions rather than just railing against what was going on. Now, the solutions tended to be rather extreme -- but he spoke convincingly and laid out a concrete set of plans. "Automation, at the end of the day, is the solution to most of the problems we're facing. Capitalism, that old bogeman, has been somewhat controlled by the American system -- but it still drives many decisions in government and private life. It is as if we, as a species, have been given the shock required to put capitalism on a leash...but like an abused spouse, we're still hoping that we can redeem him. Well, we can't. Capitalism is still killing people, even in the 22^nd century. It is killing people who have needs, needs that could be met with a more moral, more fair, more ethical distribution and acquisition of resources." There was a faint smacking sound as Dale slapped his desk. "And that acquisition? Automation!"

Annie rolled off the highway and up to the Enclave. As she zipped through the gateway, she saw her aunt, Gloria, doing some yard work. She held a buzzer at the end of a stick and was using it to slice down weeds and suck them out of the ground in the same smooth movement. But as she saw Annie, she scowled at her and waved her over. Annie kicked on her brakes and skidded to a stop, grinning at Gloria. "Sup, Gloria," she said.

"Don't sup Gloria me," Gloria said, shaking her head. "Do you have to be so frigging smug about it?"

"Smug about whaaat?" Annie asked, in a sing song.

Gloria shook her head. "To think, my own flesh and blood would betray me like this and then rub it into my face." She scowled, slightly. "Please, tell me, that he's at least smaller than average and has to make up with his tongue."

Annie's cheeks flushed. "Okay, firstly, Auntie, gross." She said, quietly. "Secondly, you were the one who was pushing me to date Dale when he frigging arrived. And thirdly, he's huuuuuuge."

Gloria groaned, then scowled down at the half-weeded garden. "At least he's also a commie..." She muttered.

"You voted communist for the last election!" Annie said.

"Yeah, to piss my sister off," Gloria shot back. "Not because I thought they'd actually win. And they didn't, I'll have you know." She smiled, cheerfully.

Annie shook her head. Then, smirking. "Do you know where Dale is?"

Gloria glared at her.

"I ask for entirely innocent, ten inch long reasons," Annie said.

Gloria spluttered. "If you're going to lie to your aunt just to...I..." She shook her head. "At least use a real number, Annie."

"I ammmm," Annie whispered, her cheeks turning beat red -- she had no idea she had it in her to push her aunt this far. Gloria spluttered like a malfunctioning weed whacker, then thrust it at the blacksmith shop. Annie peddled over there. She wondered if Dale was going to fuck her over the anvil again. She hoped so. God, that had been hot. And not just because the blacksmith shop didn't have AC...she skidded up beside the smithy, then slipped off her bike. She swung her helmet off and tugged the hood of her biking suit down, freeing her hair. She knew, intellectually, that the suit kept her head cooler than a breeze could -- but in her brain, breeze meant cool, while head covering meant stifling.

Annie grinned, impishly, then took hold of the door and swung it inwards juuust a bit and peeked inside.

Dale stood before the anvil. He held a hammer in his hand -- but the hammer...was on fire.

Annie gaped.

The fire was not like any fire she had ever seen before. It was purple and it flickered and writhed like a living thing, not like the chaotic madness of fire she normally saw. It wreathed the blunt head of the blacksmith hammer, and when Dale lifted the hammer over his head, the flames coalesced into a bulbous, almost skull-like shape. Dale brought it slamming down and it struck what he was making with a spray of sparks and a whistling scream that blew through the air. Something about the sound struck Dale as odd and he lifted his head -- and saw her. His grin was ...playful.

"Get in," he said, his eyes sparkling. "I've been trying to find the right time to tell you."

"W-What the fuck?" Annie whispered, slipping into the room. "The, what, I, what!?"

Dale spun the hammer in his hand. The flames flickered out and left it looking normal again -- but as the flames faded, she saw his eyes glowed for a moment, as if they had gained their own inner fire. His grin was cocky. "Annie," he said, quietly. "I have to confess to you...I lied. When I said I did not remember my name, nor where I was. I lied about my origin, and when you took me in to your medical center, I...used my special talents to fabricate a narrative to explain my situation so your government would not look too closely." He stepped closer, setting the hammer down on the anvil as he did so. "But I did not, and never would, lie...about what I feel about you."

His hand cupped her cheek. His eyes were so fiercely attentive. They had the same intense look to them that he had moments before he came inside of her, the same look that he had when he would whisper in her ear. When he would groan the words...I love you.

Annie trembled all over. Part of her wanted to skip explaining and go straight to him slamming her on that anvil. Instead, she licked her lips and whispered. "I know."

Dale nodded. "My name is Dalethraxius. I was born in your year 1619 in a world one step removed from yours." He lifted his chin, his eyes still meeting hers. "There, I sought to overturn an unjust order. I sought to bring justice to those who had been long abused by their so called betters. I sought to make a better world. As a reward for my efforts, I was struck down by an alliance of those who were on top and banished..." His finger caught her chin and then stroked her cheek. His voice was husky. "And until your people opened the portal back to my world...I was trapped. Neither dead nor alive. Never sleeping nor waking." He leaned close. "And the very first person I met brought me in, without a thought for the danger, without a single request for money, or..."

He chuckled.

"I-I just did what anyone would do!" Annie squeaked. She felt, quite suddenly, like she was underdressed for this kind of thing. "A-And...I..." She blinked. "I...I mean, t-the Janus Wormhole opened. A-And they say that there's another world there, but...but..."

Dale smiled at her, wryly. He lifted his hand and it became wreathed in purple flames. Her eyes widened. The flames had come from nowhere -- and when he held his hand out, near her, she felt that they were cool. Tentatively, she touched it with one finger, jerking her hand back. But it was cool to the touch as well. "Take my hand," he whispered.

She took it.

Flames wreathed her hand and felt like the caress of a lover. Then the flames swept outwards, surrounding her and him. When they receded and she could see once more, they were standing in what she recognized as the foothills. They could see the distant pyramid of San Francisco past the bay, which gleamed and glittered. She could even see the Golden Gate -- preserved by seawalls and scaffoldings. It was a beautiful view -- but the fact that they were there instead of inside of the smithy that left Annie trying to gape like a fish. Dale stepped up to stand between her and the view, grinning at her as he spread his arms.

"Cool, huh?" he asked, quietly.

"I..." Annie shook her head slightly. She sagged, then thumped down on a nearby rock. The grass around her blew in the breeze. She breathed in the smell of salt. She heard the quiet caws of the gulls. No matter what humanity had done, they hadn't managed to rub out the gulls. It was strange that the first thing she wanted to ask was what the world that Dale had come from -- had it had something like the human's bloody and tragic 20^th and 21^st centuries? Or had it been fucked up in a different way? Dale watched her thinking. And...she could see that he was giving her time.

Letting her process.

Annie smiled. "That's part of why I love you, you know?" She whispered, then gestured. Dale stepped closer, then leaned down. His mouth met hers and there was another one of those smoldering kisses that she loved so. His tongue swept into her mouth and his hands cupped her back, drawing her close, pulling her up and off the boulder. She let herself sprawl against his body, her mouth and his locking tighter together. His hand dipped down to cup her ass, squeezing her. Annie drew back, panting softly.

"Got any magic tricks for...sex?" she mumbled, giggling almost hysterically. Magic. Wow.

Dale snapped his fingers.

Annie squeaked as purple flames began to spread across her clothes, flowing outwards from dozens of pinprick tiny spots. The flames swept outwards, but they didn't turn her clothing to ash. They just made her clothing vanish. And when it was gone, she was completely naked, her skin tingling with the touch of the...the magic. Annie wanted to faint with the excitement of it all. Her nipples were hard. Hard enough to cut glass. Dale crooned, cupping one of her breasts, then leaned forward. He kissed her nipple gently, sucking first on one, then the other. His other hand reached down and squeezed her ass again -- and the feeling of his skin against her skin sent tingles through her body that made her knees go weak.

"Nnnh..." She moaned, her eyes fluttering half shut.

Dale laid her upon grass. It had seemed brown and scratchy -- but when she laid on it, it felt soft and perfect. Dale broke the kiss on her breast, licking his way up her neck as Annie let herself moan openly, her thighs spreading wantonly on the grass as she mumbled. "Did you use magic to k-keep bugs away and make sure the grass was soft?"

"Mmmhmm," Dale murmured, kissing and nibbling her neck. He knew just where to go. Just where to touch her. Her body trembled as his delicate, dexterous fingers pressed to her sex. He found her clit and rubbed her gently. Then pleasure pulsed through her. It was as if he was sending energies directly into her -- and each pulse reverberated through her like the tolling of a gong. Her eyes fluttered shut and she arched her back as if she was an animal in heat.

"Dalllle!" She groaned.

"Have I mentioned how much I love the fact you just use my name?" he murmured, licking her nipple as his finger slipped into her cunt. She clung to him, her juices slipping past his finger with a noise so slick and wet that she heard it over her hammering heart. "No lord this, lord that..." He kissed her neck, then her mouth -- sliding a second finger into her. He finger-fucked her faster and faster, playing her body like she was a flute, and she made such wonderful music for him, breaking the kiss so that she could moan out his name in more and more desperate ways.

His fingers slid from her sex and he lifted her ass by sliding one hand underneath her, then pressed his mouth to her sex. He drank her juices as she squirted into his mouth, her voice cutting out as the pleasure hit a peak that she hadn't known was possible.

When her spine went slack, and she sprawled on the ground -- Dale crawled atop her. His cock pressed to her sex, his clothing gone in the same magical style that he had used on her. His member slipped and skidded against her sex as he leaned in, his forehead pressing to her forehead. He grinned down at her, then began to slide into her. She felt...so full. So complete with his member inside of her. She didn't close her eyes. She didn't dare. She simply looked into his eyes and trembled.

"W-Why...why are you here?" she whispered.

"Hmm?" He murmured, then started to thrust into her. The slap of his balls against her ass made her arch her back again, her sex tightening on his member.

"Y-You have...ah...a goal beyond...mmm...fucking me, right?" Annie moaned, her body trembling. "I mean, ah, fuck, yes, I'm flattered, ah, yes!" She closed her eyes, tightly.

Dale's grin was playful.

Wry.

"Why...to take over the world."

TO BE CONTINUED