August

May 10

Adrian sat fanning himself in the seat beside June, in the center row of seats in the room. Honestly, he'd wanted to sit with Ren and his father, but they had gently reminded Adrian that he was a married carrier now, and it would no longer be proper for him to be seen clinging to his mother. Adrian sighed and fiddled with his Book, flipping it open to random pages, then closing it again. Beside him, June was focused on the speech being given at the front of the room.
"And so to every thing there is an order. The flower grows. The bird soars. The fox tiptoes along the edge of a fence. The hunter hunts. The prey is caught. These are the ways of nature. These are the balances we must maintain."
Adrian was just about to tune out when the speaker's tone shifted. "And so when things fall out of balance - when they become less adherent to their nature and more envious of the nature of others, we must correct them. When the bird no longer wants to soar, but to walk, we must help him remember how good it was to fly. When the hunter sits down at a tree and no longer seeks his course, we must assure him and send him on his way. Because without the balance, without every individual fulfilling the role ascribed to him, we might all just lose our place in the world. And that, for all of us, would mean death."
There was silence in the room.
"And so we must make it clear that we will not tolerate the disturbance of our own balance, here, in Dothan. We will not tolerate the abandonment of nature. We will not tolerate the eschewing of the intrinsic way of things. We are a good people, who will not tolerate the threatening of the balance of our world."
When Adrian looked up at the pulpit, he was disturbed to realize that the speaker was staring directly at him.

~:~

"Fuck. Fuck. Fuuuuuuuck."
Sheridan grinned against Aaron Soyinka's shoulder as his husband came, hard, inside of him, the wet hot feeling raising him almost to the brink of orgasm, but not quite over it. He tightened his legs around his husband, wanting just a few more minutes of connection. Aaron Soyinka grunted and rolled them over so that Sheridan was on top. He kissed Sher's shoulder and beamed at him.
"You're perfect. Have I told you that lately?"
Sheridan grinned.
"You liked that?"
Aaron blinked large dark eyes, still hazy with the afterglow and nodded.
"Yes. Very much. Let's keep it in the repertoire, shall we?"
Sheridan laughed.
"Alright."
They lay together, basking in the early morning light for a few moments, until it became too warm and sticky between them. Sher moved off of his husband, wriggling down to lay on his back next to Aaron, his legs still twisted in the sheets. Gently, Aaron splayed his large hand across Sheridan's stomach. His touch was tentative, and Sheridan watched in fascination at the way the darkness of his husband's skin contrasted with the pallor of Sheridan's own. Aaron's fingers, trailing across his belly, bumped into the string of beads tied to the little blue pouch that the juju man had given him. Soyinka spun the beads around so that the pouch fell on the front of Sheridan's abdomen.
"You still wear this?"
Sheridan shrugged.
"Why not?"
Soyinka snorted a little, which surprised Sheridan. He frowned, suddenly feeling indignant.
"It's a matter of faith."
Soyinka nodded.
"Quite true." he let go of the waist beads and rolled over onto his back, staring up at the empty white ceiling. "It is all a matter of faith."

~:~

He couldn't have his office back. Dr. Long had been very apologetic, but had informed Phidias that, since he'd left, things had been changed around, moved. Particularly after he'd been enrolled in the accelerated program. They had been sure he would not be coming back.

They had also had to make changes, Dr. Long explained as they walked through the hallways, since Phidias had been rehired. New security systems at all the entrances to the doorways; cameras in the stairwells; passcard systems. His husband had insisted. Fortunately, his husband had also paid for them all, and the building had been long overdue for them anyway.
"We're a research facility," Dr. Long said, stopping by one of the vending machines to buy himself a packet of digestive biscuits, "and the work we do is just as important as any biochemical mumbo jumbo. The government just forgets that sometimes."

Phidias had been reassigned to the small office catercorner to Dr. Long's. It had been recently cleaned, but not repainted. There were two white shelves squeezed onto one wall, taking up most of the walking space. Phidias had to turn sideways to get past them and behind his desk, which was pushed flush up against the wall opposite. In his chair, he faced the door; behind him was a single, grated, curtainless window.
Dr. Long stood in the doorway and rocked on the balls of his feet. His hands clenched behind his back in his customary fashion, making his yellow button-down shirt stretch taut across his belly.
"We can get some of your old journals and things moved back in here. They're all down in storage."
Phidias stared around at the blank walls and felt dizzy for some reason. Maybe he needed a drink of water.
"I realize it's a step down, Phil."
Phidias shook his head and set the box he'd been carrying down on the desk.
"No. No, it's great." Phidias nodded. "Honestly. Thanks."
Dr. Alan Long tilted his head and shrugged.
"Well. Don't thank me. Thank your husband."

~:~

"It was weird, Sean."
Sean shrugged and squeezed Adrian's hand as they walked across the grass towards Will Mackenzie's house.
"I'm sure it was just coincidental."
Adrian looked out across the massive courtyard to the far field where their own half-built house stood.
"Everyone still thinks...they still hate me."
"We don't hate you, Adrian. We don't hate anybody."
"They think I'm a traitor."
Sean shrugged.
"You were."
Adrian pulled at their joined hands.
"But I'm back now! I'm back and I - I got married and I'm pregnant and I built a house and did all the ceremonies and showed up at every service and joined a bunch of committees I don't like. I don't know what else I'm supposed to do." he finished, desperately. Pulling at the hand he held, Adrian stopped walking. "What am I doing wrong?" he asked, quietly.
Sean knelt to pick up a dandelion with his free hand.
"Nothing." he began to twist the stem of the flower between two fingers. "It's just that some people have a hard time forgiving. They don't...forget easily."
Adrian shook his head.
"It's not fair. I'm back now. I'm here and I'm acting normal, and I'm not...causing any problems. I don't understand." his eyes were beginning to fill, and so Sean stopped their walking and turned Adrian to face him.
"Hey. Listen. It's not you. It's them. You're doing everything you can - "
"But it's not enough." Adrian crossed his arms over his chest, his voice trembling. "It's never enough."
Sean sighed and stared off to the side for a minute. He moved his hands off of Adrian and threw the crumpled dandelion off into the grass. It fell, lifeless, manipulated by the breeze. Without looking at him, Sean answered:
"It's not like you're perfect, Adie."
Adrian swallowed and pulled the edge of his sleeve forward to wipe his face.
"But I'm trying, it's just - "
Still watching the dandelion, Sean interrupted him.
"Try harder."

~:~