Sequel

"I have four days off coming up, I'll update then!" *facepalm*

The fact that I have two families ... in the same city now... didn't occur to me. It didn't occur to me that I am part of a functioning family now that has traditions and such and those traditions take time. Also. Two Lovers compared to real life happiness is like. No contest. Real world won out. Which surprised me, really.

So Christmas eve I had dinner with my real family, but before that I was doing a tradition -last minute shopping- I've never done it, you're insane if you do it willingly. Maybe its just me and crowds. I live in a smaller town so. Yeah. Christmas was -obviously- christmas. I started this on Christmas morning, waiting for others to get up. Then one person got up and it went off. Today I went back shopping and got a bookshelf, which I desperately needed. So desperately that even though I divided teh overflowing bookcase into two of them I need yet another bookshelf to contain my books.

I have read most of them, novels and encyclodpedias alike, and it is insane but there's this thing with me and knowledge and the ability to flesh out worlds with the stuff I get from encyclopedias and the novels... well I have to read for entertainment sometime.

I made postits on my desktop of Partners and Sequel... then on Christmas, of all days, the one with the extensive languages and whatnot disappeared and I panicked. More about the part where I'd have to reread and it takes a while to reread. It reappeared sometimes this morning but I've not had the time to copy down the information yet...

So I spent about four hours adjusting my small room to work in the new bookcase and before I realised it, it was almost late. But when I did sit down to write this it was difficult to get through. I think it was more about how difficult Rel felt about it. He usually cuts a person out of his life when the previous chapter kind of thing happens. Cuts them out and cuts them off of the public so that his image couldn't be damaged. He doesn't have many friends because of it, which I'm hoping to actually cover eventually.

Except... strangely ... Well Rel states it best so I'll let you read it.

I doubt it will take Muan very long to figure things out. He's got a keen mind between his ears and... I suspect he knows more than he's letting on. Though... internet doesn't really state exactly what it is.

Like four days off and I have like a three page author's note.

Anyone wants to join me at like two pm tomorrow afternoon for a chat, by all means, I'll be over on ayatostales.net. I'll be there between 2 and 3 pm pacific, unless someone shows up, then it may be longer.

Read, Review and Enjoy.





Rel ended up napping, in Muan’s arms, and woke on the floor of the apartment, confused. A pillow under his head, a shirt draped over his shoulders. Muan had decorated several trees with paper decorations and popcorn garlands. The Sidhe was shaking sparkles over one of the trees as Rel sat up. A silvery blue colour that caught on the leaves and the garland to make it seem like snow.

A strange kind of snow.

Muan was shirtless. Rel plucked the shirt that had been draped over him off of his shoulders and took it to Muan. He held the shirt out for the Sidhe and Muan took it, donning the shirt with a grunt.

He had lost control in front of Muan. Something he didn’t like doing. Something that… if Rel had lost his control in front of someone else, he would have cut them off and out immediately. He wouldn’t, couldn’t have anyone seeing his weakness and using it against him.

But there he was feeling hollow and tired, yet had no emotion towards Muan.

The Sidhe bent around the tree and pecked Rel’s forehead. A quick little touch of lips to forehead that was reassuring and comforting. Rel let out a slow, long breath and closed his eyes. Comfort.

Muan had been weak in front of Rel. But that didn’t matter. That one or both of them had weaknesses. What mattered was guarding them from others. Protecting the cracks.

Rel opened his eyes and frowned. That didn’t sound like his own voice. His own voice would have completely destroyed the situation, snarled about how Muan was going to destroy him and act all paranoid and creepy.

He didn’t want to be all paranoid and creepy.

The clatter of the window saved him from thinking too hard. Rel and Muan turned towards the sound and watched Hohi hop into the apartment. The male drew himself to his full height and cracked his joints. Toe to head before the brown eyes opened and Hohi met Rel’s eyes.

There was something very terrifying about Hohi’s eyes. It had been so long since Rel had seen his father that he stared for a long moment before he recalled to look away.

Hatred.

When Rel glanced back at Hohi, to judge his own safety, the hatred was gone. Hohi strode across the apartment floor and looked at Muan, then looked away and down. Submission. Hohi made a hand motion towards Rel before turning his full attention to the man.

“To…” Hohi huffed out and looked down, twirling a finger to the side as if waiting for Rel to fill in the words, “speck ta Mw’n.”

“About?”

Hohi huffed out again and gave Rel a look.

“About stuff that you can’t seem to talk about because of the speech barrier?” Rel murmured, “go ahead and try.”

“Pebbles uzzz… used baholiggicahl wapon. Wehpon. Ohn Si’he. Ehm,” Hohi held up four fingers on one hand and three on the other, “Dad. Did? Deht. Dead! Whishper upsert.”

“Baho… sounds like… Baho. Beho. Biho. bio? Biological weapons?” Rel looked at Hohi, the Sidhe nodded eagerly and pointed at Rel. Like a strange, strange game of charades. “are you certain it was biological weapons, or was it nanotechnology?”

“Nahno,” Hohi looked at Rel, asking for an explanation.

“Nanotechnology is-” Rel stopped when Hohi shook his head and gave the look again, not what nanotechnology was, but how Rel knew about it, “several of my companies deal in nanotechnology. All of it is hypothetical, of course, we are at least a decade away from producing the prototypes. We’re still trying to figure out how to … build something that small.”

“’splain to Mw’n.”

“Ooookay,” Rel looked at Muan. Muan smiled nicely at Rel and motioned towards the bathroom. Rel looked towards the bathroom and saw nothing but wall.

With several pens attached to it.

Rel walked to the wall and squinted. It was the same colour as the rest of the apartment floor, an off white. To the touch, it was smooth, smoother than normal wall material was. Rel plucked up a marker and read the side of marker. Dry erase marker. Rel rolled his eyes.

Mari had neglected to mention that.

Rel wrote exactly what Hohi had told him. He capped his pen and looked over at Muan. The Sidhe walked to the whiteboard and cocked his head to the side. Muan’s lips moved as he read. Eyebrows drew downward.

Muan knew what a people was. The Sidhe motioned to the wording.

“Biological.”

“Ba. Be. Beh…”

“Bi-o-lodge-ick-le.”

“Biological. Te biological?”

“Muan, Rel, plants, life,” Rel paused as he considered, “mother.”

“Auh. Neeno?”

“Nah-no-tek-knowledge-ee.”

“Nanotechnology.” Muan frowned, “te nanotechnology?”

“Uhm. Tiny. Small.”

“S is for snake, S is for small?”

“Yes,” Rel made a hand motion for small, “small, tiny… particles. Like… dust… no see them.”

“Auh.”

Rel had no idea how Muan could understand that. That hardly explained it. But then… perhaps Muan knew that he couldn’t understand that topic. When the Sidhe’s finger moved to warfare, Rel’s heart skipped a beat.

“War… far?”

“Warfare.” Frighteningly, it seemed that Muan was learning how to read the difficult words, and quite quickly.

“Te warfare?”

“War… no,” Rel shook his head and turned away from Muan. He wasn’t going to explain to Muan one of the darker aspects of people culture.

“Auh,” Muan said something in his own language and Hohi went off chattering. Rel turned on the other male and glared at the tall male.

“Stop,” Rel snarled out, jabbing a finger at Hohi, “don’t explain to him what it is, I don’t want him knowing what it is!”

“Neh, not un’ersnand,” Hohi muttered in a growl, even as the male looked away and down, “d’oh wit da, ‘eh fin d out.”

“With what?” Rel turned back to Muan just as the Sidhe rushed past Rel and into the bathroom, laptop in hand, “damn it, Muan!”

He didn’t try to open the door. He just stood there, hands clenched at his sides, upset that Muan had holed up in the bathroom with the laptop. The Sidhe couldn’t figure out how to get online, he told himself. Couldn’t figure out what everything meant on there.

But the door still stopped him. It wasn’t that the door was locked or he was afraid of confronting an angry Sidhe. The door was an obvious need for privacy, an askance that Rel couldn’t bring himself to dismiss. Even though Muan was in there with a laptop, the key to all knowledge and intelligence, the key, the portal to all the intelligence, knowledge and utter fucking stupidity that was the internet.

There was a line of trust drawn in the sand and Rel was afraid to step over it. Because he didn’t want to hurt Muan. The world had hurt the Sidhe enough, Muan didn’t need Rel adding to the pain.

He wondered if Muan felt the same way about him…


.