Sera Ch. 07

Steven

By the time I got back to my apartment, I felt no different for supposedly having Mum's adjustment removed, but I did have a smile on my face about it when I dropped down on my couch with a cold beer.

After a minute, Stanley clawed his way up, and I sat there through several more beer, paying attention to him while sorting out how I'd proceed with Ashleigh's agenda while, at the same time, proceeding with my own ongoing investigation of the whole situation.

"So, now I'm Aunt Ashleigh's agent," I remarked with a wry grin.

Stanley looked at me curiously as I replied, "I wouldn't see it like that. We're helping her to make things better for everyone."

"You always take her side."

"That's because I know she's right. I trust her."

"You'd make a great fool, but a piss-poor detective."

"Every detective relies on gut instinct."

"We both know you're about a lot more than gut instinct. Sometimes, I'm not even sure I can trust you."

"You know how fucked up that sounds?"

"I'm well aware of how fucked up that sounds. Just make sure you're on my side, or I cut you off."

"You'd be stupid to do that here... now. You couldn't quit drinking now, anyway."

"Don't be so sure of that."

"You can't bluff me."

"Then you should know that I'm not bluffing. Now I know what you are and I know that you're nothing without me."

"Like you don't benefit?"

"Seems like I got little choice."

"That's right. Cause you know that, even if you do stop drinking, I'll always be here in some measure. I'll always exert my will in little ways here and there, a lot of times without you even realizing, and I'll only get stronger in time."

"Unless I find a way to get rid of you entirely. ... Yeah... nothing to say to that, huh? You seem to forget what my purpose is here."

"I won't drive you crazy, Ashleigh said."

"That doesn't help Mum, does it? As for Ashleigh, you're the one who trusts her, not me. Not yet. In the meantime, you can have whatever opinions you want but, if you want to stay, you stay on my side or you're gone should I ever find a way."

" ... I'm always on your side. You know that. You know I love you like nobody else ever could."

"Yes. I know that."

I (we) sat in silence for a little while, getting up to take a piss and grab another beer to sit with until it too was gone, until Mum's other son had a fair sized hand, despite my threats to cut him off.

"Y'know what?" he asked.

"What?"

"We'll never keep anything from Ashleigh. I don't believe she'll be searching our head for deception, but should she ever want to find out for sure, she'd have no problem with it. Your- Our- little investigation will have to be done aboveboard where she's concerned, at least for the most part."

"See? That's what I expect from you."

"I'm so fuckin' horny."

"Mentally horny," I clarified, being without a hardon just then.

"Oh, yeah. Like Mum says."

"Fuckin' totally."

" ... Grab another beer and let's get outta here."

When I walked into the kitchen about ten minutes later, Gina stood there drinking a glass of water.

"Hi," I casually offered before sitting at the island.

"Hi."

She seemed 'off'.

"Everything alright?"

"Yeah, sure," she lied.

"Miss home?"

" ... You know... Please don't take this the wrong way, but you Burchells are... Different. Unique in this subtle way. I always saw it in Kitten, ever since I first met her, and it's been something that's drawn me every bit as much as who she is. In a sense, it is who she is, and all you Burchells share it. It's attractive, but... I probably shouldn't have told you that."

"You seem upset," I observed. (No shit)

She was about to answer, but was cut off by the entrance of Anne, the Night Chef.

"Good evening, Mr. Burchell, Ms. Green. Would either of you like anything?"

"I'd love an omelet," I answered.

"I'm fine," Gina said, politely waving Anne off with a fake smile. "Actually, I gotta go. Nice running into you," she bade.

"I'll see you around," I told her, knowing my fake smile was perfect.

As usual, the heavy door to the cave opened with a surprising ease and, when I saw Sheila sitting with her legs crossed at the bar, a smile crossed my face.

She wore a pair of tight jeans and a snug, black camisole and, when I hopped up on the stool beside her, I couldn't help but check her out as I greeted her.

"Hi."

"Hey, kid," she returned with a bright smile, but a slightly off expression.

"We drink too much," I decided as I watched the approaching bartender.

"Speaking for myself, I deserve that right."

"I try not to think about that aspect of it. Canadian, please," I added at Sheldon's questioning expression.

There was a small crowd of off duty staff again, Delores being one of them. She caught my eye and waved, offering a friendly smile. I waved back, thinking to myself of how every one of Ashleigh's staff could be under the Jedi spell.

"You sound like you haven't had a good day," Sheila said.

"I wouldn't say that, exactly. Let's just say that this family seems to have become my business and it started before Mum and I ever got here."

"Well... that's good news for me. That means I'm your business."

I smiled accordingly, thinking about how I was supposed to encourage a reconciliation between her, my mother and Kitten, but replying while checking her out again.

"Well, on this front, business looks pretty damned good."

"Haaaaa! Oh my god, never use that in a bar, kid!"

"That was good," I insisted with a proud smile, nodding at Sheldon as he set my beer on the bar in front of me.

"It was corny and it made me wanna puke. I've heard them all, y'know sweetie pie."

"I'll try harder next time."

"I should expect. You'll never get into my panties like that."

"Sheila!"

"Oh, fuck off. Ya know ya want me."

"Who wouldn't?"

"See, that was good. It was honest and complimentary. Just because I'm a slut doesn't mean I don't appreciate a little romance."

"Don't talk about yourself like that."

"We've had this conversation. Anyway, just go and ask Kitten, she'll tell you. She'll tell you to stay away from me, too."

"She already has."

She looked up from her drink, a clear fluid that I guessed contained no small amount of vodka.

"Personally, I think she's crazy," I amended, taking a long gulp of my beer.

"You may be right about that. You may also be interested to know that she's warned me off of you, too. Told me she'd tell your mother if she found out we were hanging around with each other. Apparently, she saw us last night."

"Oh, fuck. What'd you tell her?"

Not much. Nothing that would add up to anything your mother could throw in our faces. ... Worried?"

"Well, yeah. I don't know why. It's not as though I'm going to stop hanging out with you, and I know she'll catch us sooner or later, so why worry?"

"You know why."

I sighed, "Whatever," thinking of how my friendship with Sheila would complicate what I was supposed to accomplish with Kitten.

"You're brave, that's for sure."

"Stupid," I corrected.

"Maybe that, too. Personally, I just fucking hate being told what to do, especially by Kitten. God, she reminds me of my mother and you know that's not a good thing."

"Do I ever. How'd you stand being in the same house with that?"

"I don't know. I suppose it's like people say about what you accept as normal behaviour from your family, based on what you grew up learning to expect."

"You had to know that wasn't normal at some point."

"Well, yeah, it's just that at that point, you've already acclimatized and found your place. It becomes your personal normal, no matter how strange or unbearable it is."

"Seems hard to imagine, based on what Mum told me."

"Yeah, well there's some stuff that not even your mum knows about. Things that evil bitch did to me that I couldn't tell her."

"She told me Marie hated you most of all."

"She wasn't lying. It was never a good thing for me to be alone with Mum. Ever. You know, she's the only person I've ever hated in my entire life? Sometimes I think that the level of my hatred for her didn't leave an ounce of it for anyone else."

"I don't blame you. And did I ever almost shit myself when I saw her face."

"I'll bet. I'll bet she felt the same way when she saw yours."

"She thought I was Ashleigh's son at first, until... she smelled that I was Mums."

" ... Huh?"

"She could tell which of her daughters gave birth to me by my smell, once I got close enough."

" ... Seriously?"

"Yeah, it creeped the hell outta me too, but it only got worse from there. I ended up running out of the place full tilt."

"I believe it. I still can't get over the pattern of likeness in the family. Like I said, Kathleen's resemblance to Mum was just one of those things a person grows up with and accepts, but with you and Dad, me and Kitten..."

She looked at me strangely, with an almost vulnerable expression before sipping at her drink.

"It's more than that," I informed, "it's the irregularity of the pattern. I don't resemble my father in any way, nor do I look anything like Mum. I don't share any personality traits with either one, despite how you say I'm just like her. On the other hand, Ashleigh and I share both appearances and personality traits very closely."

"You are just like your mother," she maintained with a teasing grin, "whether it be by personality traits, or learned behaviour. As for you and Ashleigh, obviously I've noticed the physical similarities, but what personality traits do you mean?"

I shook my head, saying, "She really could be my mother. In a family where things made sense, she would be."

"Like Kitten and I."

"Exactly, but even that's... I mean Kitten with Marie's whole demeanor and everything."

"Fuckin' totally. And then there's the sex drive," she added with a horny, playful smile.

"And then there's the sex drive," I agreed with a sigh, but also a smile.

Sheila laughed a bit, raised her glass and, still with that smile she toasted, "Here's to our sex drives."

I couldn't help but laugh a little too as I toasted with my beer. There was just something about Sheila that was so much fun. In a way, she was like Mum when she was in a good mood, but this was her usual personality. The cool aunt.

Presently, the cool aunt was leaning forward and coming in for a kiss. I leaned forward and met her halfway and we lingered, both of us grinning as our tongues started to play. Her forearm came to a rest behind my head and across my shoulders as her other hand braced on my thigh.

"I'm really fuckin' horny," she whispered.

"So am I," I quietly admitted with the same grin I'd been wearing, my cock starting to twitch menacingly.

"Well... what are we gonna do about it, sweetie pie?"

"I don't know."

"That's okay. Sheila has a few dirty ideas. (Giggle!)"

Kitten

"And you just left her?" Auntie Kathleen asked.

In hesitation, I looked back up to her face, the predicament I'd created for Gina poking at senses weighted with guilt.

"Yeah. Maybe I shouldn't have, but the idea of it..."

"Leaving her to her own devices..."

"Yes, exactly. You understand?"

Auntie gave me one of those smiles from the other end of her couch and replied, "Yes, I know what you mean. Getting off on a physical level is one thing, but there's also the psychological sexuality that has to be satisfied."

"Yes."

"In some ways," she continued, "it's more powerful than the physical side of sex, but there's no denying how good it is when both are brought together."

"Yes!"

"But you feel guilty about Gina because you used her to attain that gratification."

" ... Yes," I toned, deflated in a heartbeat.

"Awww, Kitten, don't look like that. Sweetie pie, as much as it pains me to admit it, Ash is right in what she says about us. I, uhh... Well, I've always made a point of behaving myself as well as I could over the years after seeing Sheila in action from such an early age, but it wasn't easy and... Lately, I've been... well, a bit naughty."

" ... How naughty, Auntie?" I asked.

"Heh... Uhh, let's just say that I carry some regrets as well, hon. Its life, I guess. Things change and stuff happens."

"Um, you mean the trouble in Vancouver?"

" ... To an extent."

"It must have been awful."

"Yes. It was. Steven was incredible; he saved me. I was so unprepared at the time, other things on my mind. He's so strong... I really can't blame my recent behaviour on that alone, though," she sighed. "Yes, it was the catalyst, but it's no excuse."

"Have you ever heard a song called Thin Ice?"

"A Pink Floyd song, yes. Sheila always loved it."

"I know. She told me about it."

Auntie snorted derisively, taking my empty glass and rising to her high heeled feet. I watched her bum, a lot like mine but a bit rounder as she spoke to me in terms that only Ashleigh could approach, terms that actually could speak to me.

"I share your worries, Kitten, but the thing you have to remember here, the thing that separates us from Sheila, is how far we take things like that song. One can't just run their life based on poetry, the idea is absurd from the word go. Fiction is fiction, reality is reality and reality is often a lot dirtier than fiction. (Siiigh) I worry about how much like her I am. I always have to some extent, but not like I have been recently. My capabilities do scare me at times, and I won't deny that people have been victimized to satisfy my... need for complete sexual experience... But there's a difference where Sheila is concerned, something that I figured out about her a long time ago. You see, Sheila always had trouble understanding feelings from another person's point of view."

She was returning with our drinks, another of which I really didn't need. When she was settled, much closer this time, and she'd handed me my drink, she went on.

"I mean that quite literally. It's not exactly as though she doesn't care, because she does. It's just that she has no appreciation of other people's feelings. She can't understand how another might feel if they found out she was cheating, although she might feel jealousy if the situation were reversed."

I turned this over in my mind before I had to ask clarification.

"I know. It's hard to wrap your mind around it, but it's true. Her actions and ensuing explanations of them made it clear over and over. It sounds like denial and, for a long time, that's what I thought it was, but I was wrong. I wouldn't be surprised if nobody else ever figured it out. She's not one to get that close to people, never has been save for me."

"But, I'm not like that," I put in with honest certainty. "I know how other people feel all too well."

"So do I, and that's my point. Yes, I've become... a little slutty. I like it and I sort of can't help... (Ahem) But, I can and do identify with the emotional reactions of those around me. I try to help them, not go through them without a thought, despite my failings. This is what makes me different from Sheila, and it's also what makes you different, sweetie pie. It's why we both feel guilt when we look back on our regrets, when we worry about where we're headed."

She had a point, especially with the exclusive, albeit confusing, information about Sheila's behaviour.

"Isn't that right?"

"Well... yeah, except..."

"What?"

"It still leaves my horny."

"Yeah. Um, like I said, I hate to agree with Ash, but she does have a point about the Burchell drive. I mean, I can only speak for myself, but I've been looking at the opportunities here... I'm just saying that it might be best if I started thinking realistically."

"Wow. So, you're gonna stay here?"

"Whoa, I didn't say I was staying. I just said that I may be adjusting some old rules."

"So, you're going," I glumly assumed.

She paused but, with a reassuring smile, repled, "I didn't say that, either. Obviously, if I did decide to let my hair down, to use that cliché, this would be a good place to reside. On the other hand, it could get pretty boring."

Auntie sighed, placing a light hand with rings on three of its fingers on my thigh to slowly caress while she advised, "Try not to make life altering decisions before you have to, sweetie pie. Keep your options open as long as you can, you'd be surprised what sometimes pans out before you commit yourself."

"Yeah... I've been sort of thinking about it, too. Staying here, I mean. Not seriously, just as a... I don't know. It's scary to think that I could just totally change my life with one decision that nobody could reverse. It's so big that I can't take it seriously enough to see it as a realistic future. But Auntie, how would it ever get boring here?"

She looked down at my lap, answering after a short pause and an almost devious smile, "I hope to show you sometime. Kitten... You know, you might want to stay here, at least for a time. Like I said about keeping your options open before committing yourself?"

I nodded my silent understanding as she looked back to my face.

"And if, for whatever reason, you decide against this, you might seriously consider a... a life with me. Steven and I. I know we've only known each other three days, but..."

"I know, Auntie. I feel it, too. Um, I... have this situation at home. I can tell you now that, were it not for that and should I decide to not stay here, I'd go with you in a second, but I got this stuff I gotta..."

"I know, hon," she said, taking my hand in hers. "I don't mean to press, I just wanted you to be aware of that particular option. We have much in common, more than you know. There's so much I can tell you."

Before I could answer, she came in for a soft, lingering kiss to my lips. I kissed back, looking into her eyes and allowing her to slowly, gently push me back to recline in the corner of the couch while her lips became more aggressive. I parted my legs so she could easier lay against me, driving her tongue into my mouth as I squealed, grabbing her bum.

Before I knew it, my tank-top was pulled up to my neck and Auntie was sucking and nibbling on my nipples just the way I love, the very way I do to myself.

"Oh... ooo-ooh, Auntie, my boobies..."

She went to town on them for another minute before coming up for air, looking at me with an abandon I'd only ever seen in Auntie Ashleigh's face while she husked an exhilarating directive.

"You horny little cunt... take all your fuckin' clothes off."

Steven

"I don't believe this," I laughed as Sheila and I sat side by side on the bar top with our feet on our stools, pressed closely together.

"(Giggle!)"

"And I don't know how the fuck I let you talk me into this," I added, knowing perfectly well how.

It was because I was horny as hell, had been all day for assorted good reasons and, by that time, I'd imbibed enough to be quite open to the influences of my mother's other son. I didn't really care anymore, and the more I drank, the less I did.

Sheldon stepped up to her stool as Delores stepped up to mine with the same good humoured and anxious smile. Then, both of our volunteers reached forward and started unfastening our jeans.

"Oh my god, Sheila."

"I can tell you're already hard," she dirtily accused while she watched Delores's fingers undo the button above my zipper.

"Your clit's probably just as big right now."

"What do you know about my clit?" she laughed as she watched the zipper of her jeans being pulled down.

"I guess I'm about to find out when I see it."

"Well, your cock definitely looks nice and big," she said, staring at the blood engorged lump in my pants.

With no underwear again, she got to see for herself a few seconds later when my dress pants were pulled down my thighs. It lay against my shirt, achingly hard and ready for action in ways that Sheila wasn't aware.