Ruleskirter

"Well, I'm studying History because I like it. My dad says I can't do much with the degree, though. He's a jerk, a lawyer. Mom's a banker, but I'm not into math. Stepdad's a diplomat, but I don't speak well enough for that. There are lots of other professions... I think I want to try law enforcement, after getting to know people like Boris and Jim. My degree should be fine for that, Jim says I can write reports well. I can do books too, maybe I'll be a writer. Boris is a business major, he's a bouncer right now, but he wants to be a club manager. I could do that too, maybe go full entertainment mogul if things worked out that way. Maybe Boris and I could go into business together someday. You?"

"I want to be a psychologist," Lisa answered. "My dad's an ER doctor, my mom's an interior designer. I... I've always been told I can read minds and direct behavior well. So I'm at UT studying the mind. I have a problem with a lot of psychologists, though. Ever notice how in comics or movies the psychologists are always bad guys? Hannibal Lecter, Nurse Ratchett..."

"Hugo Strange, Scarecrow, and Harley Quinn from Batman," Doug added, picking up what was on her mind. "Also Dr. Faustus from the Marvel Comics. Bunch of other similar characters. They scare me too."

"Right," Lisa was glad they agreed. "I want to be the opposite of them. A good psychologist. Batman and Spider-Man, other Heroes, they never seem to meet any good psychologists. I want to change that for my clients. I'm studying psychology and other fields that are non-traditional ways to examine the mind. I plan to use no drugs or minimal ones for extreme cases, same for hypnotism. No gaslighting, just analogies. I'll also keep malicious hidden agendas out of my therapy, charge reasonable rates..."

"Sounds great," Doug said when she trailed off. "You know, there are some good psychologists in comics. Marvel has Ashley Kafka, DC has Chase Meridian... She was in the last Batman movie, I'm not sure if she'll get popular. Sucks that the bad psychologists are more popular. There are good psychologists in detective novels too. Spenser has Susan Silverman. And sci-fi... the Regeneration Trilogy comes to mind. My stepbrother got me to read that."

I'll have to read that trilogy, Lisa had thought, noting the title. "So you get me? You get what I want to be?"

"Yeah! It's a good ambition. You'd have to be pretty organized, though. You want a graduate degree for your career, right?"

"A doctorate. I may not want it from UT. My best friend from high school, Tess Winfield, is at Columbia now, studying medicine. She says I should go Ivy League for my doctorate. My dad went to UT for undergrad, A&M for medicine, but the Ivy League universities have better psych classes. I don't know, money and connections might be a problem."

"Silvan can help you with that," Doug told her. "He's... another friend of mine, a very strange one. I'll tell you more when I can talk to you again. Class is about to start. Gotta go."

That had been four days ago. Lisa grimaced in the present, recalling the conversation. Doug had emphasized Silvan to her all week, hyped the strange entity excessively. Silvan must be some kind of Genie, Lisa thought, or at least a very skilled actor hiding behind a costume. Or maybe... the entity is exactly what the entity claims to be. Could that be possible? She had always wondered if some supernatural creatures were real. She decided to test the situation when she could.

Doug was descending from the stage now, sitting down beside her and Silvan. "Well?" he asked the strange entity.

"I still can give you no other answer," Silvan replied. "You are both clearly 'head over heels for one another', as you humans say. But... I wish to experience love, yet I do not understand it. Even after thousands of years studying it."

Lisa saw her opportunity. "Um, Silvan, Doug says you're a Faerie. I have to confess, I don't know if I believe in Faeries."

Silvan cringed, just as she expected. "You don't believe in Faeries?"

"Lisa!" Doug was glaring at her. "Don't say that! Every time someone says 'I don't believe in Faeries', a Faerie creature dies!"

"I know," Lisa growled, looking at Silvan. "I don't believe in Faeries!"

Silvan immediately fell over, gasping with a mock heart attack. Or maybe a real one. Lisa wasn't sure. Realizing she had a problem and Doug was gaping, she sighed.

"I'm joking!" she shouted, clapping her hands. "Just joking! Relax. You want me to believe in Faeries, fine, I believe in Faeries!" For emphasis, she clapped her hands.

Silvan stood up at once and shook its narrow pointy-eared head at her. "Please never do that again."

"I'm sorry," Lisa said. "I had to know."

"I hope you are satisfied." Silvan looked at her, then Doug, then at them both. "I'm only half Faerie, and my father's species has the ability to selectively turn off portions of their brains while thinking on multiple dimensions, so I am fine. But please do not do anything like that again. It still causes me serious pain." The entity shivered. "Don't worship me either, please. Just think of me as a friend, nothing more. Okay?"

Lisa nodded, relaxing. Okay, she thought, this... entity is okay. Good. I have no problems with most religions, but I still worry sometimes. My dad's Jewish, his parents were Catholic and Jewish. My mom... well, she's Agnostic now after bad experiences with cults in the '60s. I'm Agnostic too. Doug said he was also when I asked. That's good. There are no religious barriers between us. No political barriers between us either. This... entity seems an okay powerful friend. What did Doug ask Silvan earlier?

"Do you think our relationship will last?" she asked, remembering. "Doug and I need to know."

Silvan looked at Doug, then back at her. "I told you before. There's not much I can say regarding love lasting other than 'Maybe. Maybe Not.' It's up to you, both of you." The entity paused. "I can tell you a few things. I observe Doug, because he is important to me. He has asked me to observe you also, Lisa, so I have done this. I can travel across dimensions, stop time... I have come to know you very well. You have a friend named Elena, I know her also. And I know Doug's friend Boris. I suggest you introduce Boris and Elena to each other. They would be a good match. Get them together, then see if you become closer yourselves."

Lisa blinked. She had been thinking the same thing. Boris and Elena were both Business majors. Doug had told her about Boris, she knew Elena. They both wanted to run a hotel or a resort someday. Maybe they could do that together?

Doug had met her girlfriends between classes earlier that week, Lisa recalled. Shauna and Tara Shapiro were adopted sisters, raised by a liberal minister who worked as a military chaplain. They had both been refugee children. Shauna was from Algeria and Tara from Bahrain. They had roomed together after leaving their father's home, fallen in love with each other while attending UT-Austin. They had lived next door to Lisa and Nicole Masterson, heard their lovemaking, started their own, and become Lisa and Nicole's girlfriends later. Elena Ruiz, who was the dorm Resident Assistant, had been bothered by their joining a bit. Then she decided she was fine being friends with non-straight women, just not into them sexually. So we make her our straight friend, Lisa had decided. Gotta have a few of those, right? A non-sexual friend is a useful limiter and sympathetic ear at times. Just wish we could find her a man. Elena is so introverted. But she likes tough guys and Russians. Boris fits both those boxes. Yeah, it could work!

Doug agreed when she discussed the idea with him during their dinner after the karaoke. "I'll set it up. Boris is single. He plays Hackmaster with Keith and me. We had a Game Master last summer, then Zeck switched schools once the session was over. He applied to the US Naval Academy, got in. He's a Virginian too, like your friend Chaz, a transfer student here. You say you've been a Dungeon Master, Lisa? Why don't you switch systems? Or maybe we can...?"

Lisa smiled, intrigued. "I could DM again, sure! I like to play as much as DM, though. I have a couple characters. Renata is a Dwarf Druid-Monk. Mikrog is an Orc Wizard."

"I thought Orcs couldn't be Wizards in D&D."

"He's house-ruled. His tribe got wiped out attacking a Wizard's Tower, except for him. Mikrog was raised by the Wizard, who took pity on him. He also turned out to be a magical prodigy." Lisa considered Mikrog one of the more creative ideas she'd ever had. "He wants to find a female elf lover, someone who can appreciate the aggressive passions of the Orcs."

"Huh," Doug blinked. "You know, I didn't tell you this before, but my character Frost-Fire is... a female half-elf."

"Really? Interesting!" Lisa decided to get Mikrog and Frost-Fire in the same adventuring party as soon as she could. "Tara DMs too, she prefers to DM. Elena plays D&D also. Shauna doesn't play. Elena's a Cleric. What character does Boris play?"

"A Paladin, usually. Keith's a Rogue. He's single too, but more into studying than dating. The three of us were in Jester Dorm last summer, we branched out after. Boris has an apartment alone now, Keith and I are still in the dorms. We don't like it, though. Roommates aren't always cool, we've been lucky to have good ones mostly. My first roommate was a jerk. Does your house have extra rooms?"

"One." Lisa decided not to let him move in with her for a while. They'd talked frequently that week. Their second date was going well, this Friendship club and Silvan were unique enough to hold her interest, but... "Maybe after this semester is over, Doug. If we're still together."

"Okay."

They finished their dinner and made arrangements to see a movie in a few days. Halloween was coming soon, they needed to get close quickly to plan costumes. Lisa would meet Doug at an arcade before the film, they'd play some games. Then, after the film, they'd go to Denny's or IHOP for a late night dinner.

"We can go to the comic shop together sometime too," she told him, walking to her bike later. She had parked by a bus stop near the Friendship Karaoke club. "You can show me those psychologists you were talking about. We'll see if I'm into your Hackmaster system also, maybe we can adapt it into D&D easily."

"Yeah," Doug agreed. "Hey, Lisa!"

"Yes...?" She was interrupted as he grabbed her and kissed her hard on the mouth. Their near-equal heights aided this, as did their mutual attraction. Lisa was surprised, but allowed the contact. They'd talked so much that week. Phone calls, meet ups between classes, the first date and now the second one. She welcomed Doug's kiss. His tongue tapped at her lips, and she allowed its entry, sucked on it and lashed at it with her own tongue. They smiled at each other as they separated, both breathing heavily.

"Was that okay?" Doug asked her. "I had to do that. Sorry if I..."'

"It's fine," she told him, grinning at his breathless state. "You're fine. I was wondering when you'd do that."

If you hadn't kissed me on this date, she thought, I might have made the leap next date!

"See you Monday?" Doug asked. "Or, er, you want to move it to tomorrow? It's Saturday, the arcade's open. I'll find a good movie playing, we can still go after..."

Lisa cut him off. His kiss had been so passionate she had cleared a block in her mind. "Doug. Let's go to the arcade, see how things go. Then, if you like, whenever we're ready, we can go back to my house and watch a movie together there. That way, we don't need to find a theater and bother with buying a ticket and all that. Sound good?"

"Yeah, that sounds great. Your house. Does that mean..."

"It means I might want to do more kissing, yes," Lisa smirked, again guessing what he had in mind. "In private. If you're ready. But, Doug, remember, slow and steady, okay? Let me set the pace."

He was nodding. "I can do that."

They kissed again, a brief peck this time. They then separated, her for the Kawasaki and him for the bus. Both looked longingly at each other several times as they watched the other depart. Lisa found herself staring at the bus after it was driving away. Shaking her head, she got on her bike and headed home.

***

Chapter 4- The Scar.

Three Days Later.

Lisa and Doug met up at the arcade as soon as they could. They were going to meet Saturday until Doug remembered he had a paper to finish and Lisa recalled she had to study for a midterm exam. Now both issues were resolved and their good times were proceeding. She'd outscored him at air hockey and basketball. Doug scored better at Gauntlet and shooting games, though not the latter at first. Lisa was better at shooting crooks in Lethal Enforcers. Doug was better at shooting zombies in House of the Dead. "Be careful with innocents!" Lisa told her Hero during the former shooting game. "You shoot too many innocents!"

"Sorry," he laughed as they looked at the stage assessments. "You're right. Okay, I'll do better." He scored higher on the next stage, increased accuracy and no innocents shot. Lisa was relieved.

They had evenly matched each other at Street Fighter. Lisa suggested pool next- Shauna was a savant at pool and she was pretty good too- but Doug stopped her.

"These games are okay," he said, looking directly at her, "but they're not what I want to do with you tonight. They're just... a distraction."

"Right." Lisa remembered her earlier offer. "A distraction. So, you're ready to come home with me then." I've been waiting for this, she told herself. And I need to show him my scar.

"I am ready," he told her. "If you are."

"Right. There's just one thing." She took a breath. "Doug, you need to understand something about me. If there's one steady thing in my life, it's that I'm a 'Ruleskirter'. That's what my mom always called me growing up. Give me a rule, I'll dance around its spirit, but I won't break it. Not till I can. Not till I'm ready and authorities let me. Growing up, my rule was 'Don't have sex with another person. Ever.' Until I turned eighteen. Then I was given liberty by my parents."

"You've told me. You ended up dating Snake. Then those other guys your senior year."

"Yeah. I was allowed to drop my rule about not having sex when I turned eighteen. But I still have other rules in play. And there are always some rules I can't break."

"Okay..." He was frowning.

Lisa took his arm. "Can we go somewhere private? Before you come home with me."

"Sure. The alley behind this arcade... wait, when I met you, we were fighting in an alley."

"It's fine, I have no issues with alleys, just being in them with the right man!" Lisa laughed. "I lost my virginity in the alley behind a New Orleans theater. Is this club's back door alarm broken?"

"Um, I'm not sure. Let's not take the chance. We'll just walk out and around the building. We can loosen up while we talk, you can tell me more of what's on your mind."

That works, Lisa thought, recognizing patterns he was pointing out to her. She followed Doug's suggestion. "You know why I'm nervous about psychology?"

"You told me. Those famous psych jerks like Scarecrow and Hannibal Lecter."

"Not just them. My mother... before she had me, she grew up in the 1960s. She was part of this group that condemned psychology. They also restricted Mom's sexual activity, and she... hated it. She was a hippie before she joined them, you see. And Mom's bisexual like me, polyamorous too. But she had to leave her commune after some men forced themselves on her. My dad was the doctor who treated her after... she wound up at the hospital after... what happened to her. She gave my dad her baby to raise. He's my big brother Ray, Samuel Rayburn Coleman. My mom didn't date my dad steady for a while, she just ran away and left Ray, my brother, with Dad and his first wife."

"You haven't told me any of this."

"I know. Dad's first wife died in 1970, bad childbirth. Dad couldn't save her. Mom came back into his life a year later. Between then and when she first knew Dad... Mom got involved with several cult groups. One of them restricted her sexuality, like I said. Their teachings worked for her, until one year the founder suddenly changed his tune and said he 'never meant to restrict the private lives of individuals' and all 'sex restriction policies were canceled'." Lisa made air quotes with her hands while she spoke. "So it was okay for Mom to be a hippie again. Until these fanatics shamed her, not wanting to go with the founder's new policy, and..."

"Your mom broke with the group and became an Agnostic," Doug jumped in when he saw her pause. "I get it. And she got back with your dad, whose first wife was dead. Okay. So..." He shrugged. "This is why I like Silvan. Silvan refuses to accept any worship. Silvan wants people's respect, but no worship. Silvan just wants to help people, and the main thing Silvan does is let people be who they are."

"I like that too." Lisa grimaced, not wanting to think of the strange entity. "But Doug, seriously... I don't know if I believe in Faerie Alien Hybrids." She bit her lip, realizing they were outside in the alley. "I'm... a practical person. Okay?"

"I get it. That works for me."

"Good. Let's keep things mutually respectful between us as much as we can, okay? Now listen to me. The reason why I restrict my sex life is because of what happened to Mom, and... something else too. Mostly what happened to Mom. She's a person who wants to enjoy sex, always. I'm the same. We're both very self-determined, that's the main thing here."

"I get that. I like that about you. I'm the same way."

"I know." She beamed at him, then kept speaking. "After Mom became an Agnostic, and before she gave birth to me... Mom and Dad worked out a gradient for sexual activity. I follow that gradient's rules. They include- 'No kissing till I master mixed martial arts'. 'No sex with another person till I turn eighteen'. And... 'No women till I find the right first one'."

By now, Doug could recognize her recall patterns and deeper rules. "And 'No husband till you find the right man'," he said, remembering another rule she'd told him. "So is there a d-deeper r-rule than... t-that one?"

Lisa nodded, looked around them, then lifted her shirt, revealing a jagged scar on her stomach. "You see this scar? I know it's small, but..."

"I can see it." Doug was staring.

"Hey!" Lisa dropped her shirt. "Eyes up here." He looked at her eyes and she relaxed. "I don't usually show men that scar. I distract them from it, until they've already banged me and by then they don't care. But with you..."

"You want to show me."

"Yes! I got the scar when I was thirteen. Skiing vacation, icy slope, I... slipped... I hit a tree and a branch stabbed me in the uterus. My dad saved my life, but..." Lisa bit her lip. She could not say the next thing she had to say.

Doug stepped in. "You can't get pregnant."

"Yeah." Lisa was relieved by his deduction. "Once men find out, they... I'm easy for them. But I don't want to be... easy. I'm quality, worth the challenge. Being easy with temporary hookups is no big deal for me. But long term... I want to marry a man, and commit to one. But men don't usually like it when I remind them I can't have a baby."

"I..." Doug paused, then spoke again. "There are other ways to have children. You told me Shauna and Tara are adopted. Your dad adopted your brother. And he's a doctor, he has to know about surrogates. My grandfather's a doctor, he told me about surrogates. I... your dad never told you about surrogates?"

"No," Lisa replied. She grimaced. "Maybe he did, and I forgot. I can research what you're talking about more later." Her heart was settled now. Would Doug help her build a family? That would be... great! She dropped her mental impairment, then smiled. "I knew about adoption already. I just need the right father first. Mom had to find Dad. Shauna and Tara are similar... their dad's an absentee. Great guy, but always overseas with the military. Their mom raised them. Their family is liberal... no sex restrictions. Except secular ones. It's similar to mine."