On the Line (Alternate Places Book 3)

by P. S. Power

  After the movies ended they went back to her room, Don getting quiet and distant.

  “Um, well, I had a great time, so, you know, maybe we could do it again, if you want?” He seemed suddenly shy for some reason, which honestly baffled her. Clearly it was about sex, she could tell, but not why, since he knew that she'd basically do anything he wanted, at least in theory. They'd talked about it, and he'd seemed to understand at the time.

  When he moved to leave, she put her hand on his arm.

  “Wait a second...” Her voice sounded husky and playful as she pulled him over to the bed.

  “I won't force you to do anything, but I think you'd better have a pretty good reason if you're just going leave. If you don't want to have sex... Well, I mean you're a guy, I'm a Succubus, the other Alede will make fun of me if I don't bang you at least twice before you go. Especially Britney. You know, she actually asked me to have sex with you? Not that I didn't want to before that, but how often do you have one hot chick that desperately wants you, asking another hot chick to do you?”

  Don blushed and asked if Britney had actually said that.

  As she pushed him back onto the bed, she told him that the other girl had, and then, a bit later, as he lay panting she explained the whole situation to him.

  “So, Britney can't do you, not right now. And she doesn't want to lose you, because, you know, she loves you. I think Blaine probably does too, but he's being all cool about it, because he knows you aren't into guys. It's probably half the reason he's making her stay away from you though. Sure the roommate thing is valid, but, come on, saying she can't do anything with you for that reason? I bet his tune would change if you were willing to do them both...” She didn't wait for him to say anything, just went back to giving him head. She listened to his breathing, but mainly paid attention to the energy he released, doing things to raise the energy level as high as possible and keeping it there. Luckily this corresponded to his level of pleasure, so she could literally feel when she did something he really liked.

  He finished quickly the first two times, but on the third and fourth it took longer and they actually had sex, which he told her was his first time. He'd brought condoms, but she explained that he didn't have to use them with her, since she literally couldn't get or pass a disease at all and couldn't get pregnant, not from sex at least.

  After they finished, he rolled over and held her for a bit, then, stroking her hair, he asked her how her kind reproduced if they didn't do it the normal way. With a partner.

  “It's different... We actually reproduce asexually. We can choose to do it any time we want, if we have enough energy for it. Really, though no one has ever proven it scientifically, it's believed that all Alede are basically one line. So really, I'm probably as close to Britney and Blaine as they are to each other genetically. Our looks change depending on where we are, the groups of people we're around, that kind of thing. We always manage to look really good for the society in which we live of course. It can make for some interesting family reunions though!” She giggled.

  “A friend of mine, Val? She's a light complected blonde. In fact she looks a lot like Britney, only a couple of years older. If we put them all in the same room she could easily pass as the twins' sister. Her real sister came to visit, about a month ago... Now, her sister's been living in Africa for years, and her whole family are fast responders, they change quick to match their surroundings, so she's totally black. I don't mean American black either, but a deep purple black. Dead gorgeous, but she looks nothing like Val at all now. If she stays here for a while, ten or twenty years, probably less, her appearance will change to match what's hot wherever she ends up.”

  Kate watched Don, who'd closed his eyes, thinking about something, though she could tell it involved her, from the energy coming off of him, the lines directed at her, it didn't seem to involve sex, not directly. He nodded to himself as if working something out in his head.

  “Does this change take place internally or is it due to external factors, do you know?”

  That caught her off guard, being a strange question to ask laying in bed. She asked him to clarify before answering, not really knowing what he meant. When it became clear, she had to shrug, not really knowing the answer at all.

  He opened his eyes and stared at her.

  “Well, if it's external, then you could control how you looked, eventually at least, by controlling who you had around you, that would take a lot of work and probably wouldn't be worth it, since you'll end up hot regardless. But if it's internally directed, then you should be able to learn to control your own looks directly. Just imagine that you're surrounded by people that all have a certain look to them and decide what they think is pretty. I mean, I don't know how long it would take, but it could give you some say in what you ended up looking like, right?” He rolled over and cupped her hip with his right hand, slowly moving down toward her leg over the smooth skin.

  “Probably take too long to be worth doing. Now if you had some other change that took place faster, the two would probably be linked in some way. Heh, sorry, just trying to think like I would if I were scripting a video game.” Leaning in he kissed her stomach lightly, working his way lower, kiss by kiss.

  She pulled him up then and kissed him on the mouth hard, working her tongue into his mouth a little, touching the tip to the inside of his lip. She did all this automatically, her hand going back to his groin, distracted as she was by her own thoughts. He got partially hard, and then stayed that way, which made sense, since she'd exhausted him for the time being. He'd need hours before he was ready to go again. She stopped the action and pushed away from him, a bit excited.

  “Um, OK, I'm going to tell you something that only, I don't know, a few dozen Humans in the whole world know. This is a big time, for real secret, OK? I don't want you to freak out about it either, but you already know that I'm not really Human...

  He moved back then and stared at her in pretend horror.

  “Oh, my god... You're actually a reptoid aren't you?” He cringed back a bit, laughing. She play hit at him until he stopped.

  “No, I've met some, a few times even, most of them seem really nice. No, it's the other shocking thing that makes people cringe and get all angsty even though they shouldn't...” This got a nod from him, and he sat back.

  “I knew it. You're actually a man?” He sighed and sat back, waiting for more play hitting, which didn't come.

  “No... I mean, I'm a girl. We're all born girls, but, I can look like a man if I want to...” That wasn't the way that she really looked at it, but it was the softest way she could think of to introduce the idea. “And that change? That's really fast, a few minutes. Five maybe and I can look like a guy. A really hot guy, but still, fully male, you understand? Everything works I mean.”

  He nodded and sat back, grabbing the pillow off the bed and covering his face with it. He didn't scream and she ventured to touch his arm softly, expecting him to jerk away, surprised when he didn't. His stomach moved like he was sobbing, a slow rolling movement, he didn't move the pillow for a long time, finally she asked if he was all right, concerned that she may have broken his mind with this information. He pulled the pillow away, revealing that he was laughing, not crying at all.

  “Look... cool. It beats my shape shifting power of getting fat if I eat too much. Hands down, right? I like women, no question, but that's really all about looks. If you'd been born a boy, and looked like you do now, I wouldn't kick you out of bed, so why should I freak about shape shifting abilities? Other than to think it's neat, I mean.”

  She kissed him then and noticed that he didn't back away at all, which helped to reassure her. She'd heard a lot of stories about how Humans would say they felt alright about this kind of thing, then freak out later. Don still could she knew, but maybe not. A lot of younger people seemed way more open minded about sex now. Probably thanks to the Internet.

  Don asked about the particulars of the change and if she thought she migh
t be able to alter what she looked like at all. She explained about how much energy it took and that she'd want to make sure Zack was on tap to power her back up, just in case it took several tries to do or to get back to herself.

  “I can show you a normal change and then come back, if you want though. Boy me goes by Kyle. Zack always says that Kyle's cooler than I am, which is ridiculous. Want to see?” Kate held her breath a bit. There were so many places this could go wrong, but Don just sat back and nodded.

  The change took a little over five minutes. Don gasped as it happened, a few times, but she assured him that it didn't hurt at all. She knew how it would look. A bit like she'd started to inflate a little, taking a harder leaner form as it finished. After a few minutes Kyle sat up and smiled lazily at the other man. He readied himself to fight, or run, not knowing how Don would react to actually seeing him like this, sitting on the bed where he'd just had sex for the first time not an hour before, with a nude guy in front of him.

  Rather than freak out, the other boy looked between his legs and pointed. “So, are you like twelve inches when you get hard or something?”

  Kyle laughed and reached between his legs, stroking himself a few times until he hardened completely, it didn't take a lot, since his sex drive was incredibly high in this form. He pointed at himself once hard.

  “Nope, eight inches, almost exactly, about the same as you. Well, a little bigger, but within the same range, definitely. Most Alede are, even if they're black, stereotypes aside. Believe it or not, most women really don't want a man that's hung like a baseball bat. Even those that do are generally OK with something between five and eight inches. Honestly, if I could, I'd back off a bit, aim for about an inch less. The virtue of being a girl most of the time, I know firsthand what feels good and what's a bit too much.” He rolled over and took the other man's hand, putting it on his erection.

  “See, it's real. Now, if you just move your hand up and down for a while, I'll be greatly reassured that you'll still like me in the morning and won't freak over this. Plus, you know... Free handjob.” He laid back and smiled charmingly up at his friend, who shocked him by actually doing it. He'd really thought the guy was going to pull back, at least at first. Kyle had to admit he felt more than a little impressed.

  “Blaine would so love to be me right now.”

  Don used his hand, just stroking up and down, a standard action, basic handjob technique, but not bad for his first time, Kyle thought. He asked him to go a little faster after a few minutes, and when he got close to coming, something he could have done at any time, like any Alede could, he asked the other man to use his mouth.

  Don laughed. “Don't push it buddy!”

  After using a towel to clean up, he switched back into Kaitlyn and asked the boy how he felt about all this. After a minute he answered.

  “Kind of stupid.” He looked away, staring at the wall while he spoke. “I mean, I still like girls and don't even really find Kyle attractive, no offense, but, well before I was kind of afraid, that, I don't know, if I did something like that it would change me? Make me less or something, or like I'd instantly be turned gay. Now I can see that I'm exactly the same. The only difference here is that now I'm a little less afraid of the world as a whole.” He bubbled up with laughter and made a funny face, crossing his eyes and sticking out his tongue for some reason.

  Kate reached over and hugged him again, then cuddled against his chest. After a while she sat up and kissed him, mainly to reassure them both that things were back to normal, then went and got her clothing on. He followed suit without asking why. At midnight exactly Zack walked through the rift, carrying several boxes, nearly dropping them when he stopped. Don jumped forward and caught them, helped stabilize them in Zack's arms then took the top two off and put them on the desk that sat on the other side of the room.

  “Hi Don. I came to deliver some stuff and pass some energy to Kaitlyn. Oh, Kate... Merri, Libby and Valerie want to stop by tomorrow. Is that all right with you? They can reschedule if need be, but told me to ask.” He moved over and gave the girl a hug.

  “Sure! They can meet everyone else and come to dinner. I bet Merri will pass out when she sees what they try to pass off as food here. It makes McDonald's seem like heaven.”

  Kate stepped forward and lifted her shirt, letting Zack give that needed energy to her. After a few minutes she started to orgasm and stepped back, indicating that she was done. The thin line-walker turned and looked at Don, nodding and smiling.

  “That's right! The energy gets passed through the other person, and each time I collect a little more from the environment around us. You can see it?” Zack waited for an answer, probably from Don's deeper self or subconscious mind, Kate knew, but got a surprise when the boy answered him directly.

  “Yeah, I mean everyone has a little bit of that around them, but you practically glowed with it. Doesn't everyone see that?”

  Sitting down on the table top, Zack grinned.

  "Yes. Most people don't understand that they do though. If you can see it though, you should try working with it. Moving it around and starting up a circulation like I have going on. Like this?" He did something that Kaitlyn didn't see, but after a bit Don started tracing the pattern in the air.

  Then, nodding, Hartley went on.

  “It's a rare thing. Knowing what you see... I need to get back. Can I drop the girls off at about eleven tomorrow? That way I can bring them just before work for the rest of us. It's Sunday, so it should be a light day. I can come pick them up whenever. If you need to get some work done or something... You know, that whole college thing that we sent you here for?”

  She kissed him on the cheek and Don moved forward to shake hands with him. Like a grown up. As he did Zack grimaced a little, and shook his head.

  “I know! They all do, well, not the Vampires, but they're almost as bad in their own way. Not a lot to be done about it though, it's in their natures.” He patted the boy on the arm and walked back through the rift, leaving the boxes.

  Reaching over, Don pulled one of the boxes out of the pile, the middle one, which had his name on it and pointed to the strange letters beside it. “Is this Alfric then? That's right, isn't it? Alfric? They're the elves, but don't call them elves, people? What does it say, do you know?”

  Looking at it, she tried to sound it out carefully as Merri had taught her to do. She wasn't perfect at it, but oddly reading Alfric was pretty easy. Speaking it was a lot harder. She could barely ask for someone to pass the salt so far. “D, ah, we, neh. Dawena. I'm pretty sure that's your name in Alfric, or at least as close as Merri could come to a phonetic spelling. What... did Zack mean at the end there?” She asked, interested, since Vampires had been brought up.

  “Oh. I mentioned to him that you were totally orgasming at the end there. So, all the Alede do when he does that? No wonder you all like him so much. Talk about a happy meal.”

  Kate thought back to all those times she thought she was fooling him, having Zack go on for way longer than any of the others ever did, and blushed. Not that she'd stop doing it in the future, it felt too good to give up, but she did feel a little embarrassed in the moment.

  Ah well.

  A bit past twelve-thirty, Don gave up and went back to his room, telling her that he wanted to be fresh when he met the others the next day. If she wanted him to meet them. Giving him a kiss, she leaned in her chest against his, and lips nearly on his cheek.

  "I'd really like that. Just remember, don't thank Merri for anything. Tell her you liked the stuff, kiss her, hug her, even offer to have sex with her. But, and this is a real rule, under no circumstances thank her. For one thing, even though she's little, she could take both of us in a fair fight. Without even calling for her magic sword." Then she kissed him again. “And she won't fight fair. I've seen her fight, so let's avoid that.”

  After he left she made certain she had all of her homework done before they all got there the next day. It took longer than she thought it would,
because after she finished her paper on Etruscan art she decided her premise, that it had clear links to ancient Greek and Roman artistry, would be too obvious. Of course it had clear links to those places, a child could see that, it was literally what the book said in the first paragraph on the subject. So she decided to try and demonstrate some of the more obscure links, to show just how deep the probable connections went. She was just putting the finishing touches on it when her black cell phone rang, at about ten. To her surprise it turned out to be Jelly, and not Zack as she'd expected.

  “Hi... Kate? I was wondering if you'd like to get together sometime this week, and I don't know, do something?” The voice sounded a little breathless, even a bit scared.

  “Jelly? That sounds... Really nice, actually. Do you mean you wanted to do something, like do something, or have sex? I'm fine with either, or both, but I like to know what I'm supposed to schedule for. I have people in tonight, but I should be free any time after eight or so the rest of the week? Or all day on the weekend, though I may be going home next week, so a week night would be better for me.” There was a matter of fact tone to her words, but it felt right. After all, the girl had been listening in to them at dinner for weeks now. She had to know what Kate was like that way.

  Jelly answered with a half articulate “ack” sound, but recovered quickly enough, suggesting they go to the geology museum on Monday, then see what happened after that. Kate didn't know if the geology museum would be fun or not, but agreed anyway, since the girl would almost certainly put out on the first date and seemed interesting enough even if she didn't. Regardless, she hadn't even known that the campus had a geology museum. More to the point, she hadn't been aware there were such things. That could be fun, right? If not, she'd get the girl to come back with her early, and do other things for a while.

  Three minutes later the phone rang again. This time Val asked if it would be safe to come through, laughing as she said it. After all, Alede rules said that if they could catch someone having sex, the other person was obligated to do them, too. True, this rule only applied to school, but, as Val pointed out, Kate's room counted for that. Kaitlyn laughed because her school had that rule, too. It wasn't an official rule, just something that the kids made up. She hadn't known that other schools had done that, too.