The Twisted Vine

by Alyce Caswell

  The voices of the villagers outside grew in volume as some of them neared the hut. Fei reflexively ducked down and glanced over her shoulder, but the door remained closed. Kuja had left early that morning, but not before licking his way down her navel. His goodbye kiss on her intimate lips had lasted so long and felt so good that she hadn’t been able to feel very sorry about grabbing his hair when she’d convulsed against him.

  Fei squeezed her thighs together just thinking about it. She groaned in frustration. Not only did no one know where Kuja had gone, but they didn’t seem to be able to contact him either — unlike the rest of the Bagathians, he had no communicator. Fei wondered if he saw little use for one, or if there was a reason he didn’t want to be contactable.

  CC? BozzMed prompted.

  I’m here. The Web is slow out where I am. Fei grinned. It sounded better than ‘I was just reliving some great sex from this morning’. The text-based Webchat made it a lot easier to filter out embarrassing thoughts like that.

  Tell me what happened, CC instructed. And what everyone experienced. And why anyone would want to make this go viral on the Web.

  Fei began with the details of the actual festival itself, then ended with, It’s a very attractive offer. As someone who’s well and truly over the Creator God and his followers, I like the idea that someone actually gives a shit about me and just wants me to be happy.

  I take it you’re one of the people who made it go viral then, BozzMed said, his response flashing up almost immediately. Can I interview you on vidcam?

  Fei darted another look at the door of Kuja’s hut. She hadn’t mentioned anything to Kuja yet, but she’d started making Bagara-related posts on certain Webchat feeds. And she wasn’t alone. Thousands of beings across the galaxy were filling the feeds with discussion about the rainforest god. Many of them weren’t even followers but they were interested in hearing more; others joined in just to make fun of those who were taking it seriously, or to point out that there were sub-level gods who were cruel and couldn’t be trusted, such as the water god, Oceania.

  Kuja didn’t seem particularly keen about Oceania either. He hadn’t said it in so many words but she’d felt it emanate off him, like a low-powered shield that swarmed a micrometre above his skin.

  I don’t think it’s a good idea to appear in a Webcast, Fei finally typed. I could get fired.

  BozzMed wasted no time in pursuing that lead. I get the feeling your reluctance is due to GLEA interfering somewhere they shouldn’t, maybe your workplace. Care to comment on that?

  Fei almost dropped her techpad in her haste to reply. Forget I said anything. Unless your Webcast isn’t all that popular and only two or three people watch it.

  My viewership is around ten billion.

  Who are you, Ton Tinel? she demanded, naming the galaxy’s most famous mediaist.

  Yes. Again, a simple answer that revealed nothing about how he felt.

  He was probably lying, Fei decided. Still, if he was Ton Tinel… At least you’re not one of those mediaists who gush on about GLEA. But even you don’t ask them nearly enough questions.

  I think you know what happens when you upset or offend GLEA. His words might have been wry if he’d spoken them. You strike me as someone who’s figured that out from personal experience.

  Maybe, Fei said cautiously. I’ve got to go.

  Can I use what you’ve written about the festival? BozzMed asked.

  Sure. Just don’t forget to say ‘thank you for watching Ton Tinel’. If you are him, that is.

  Fei signed off from the feed, deactivated her techpad and leaned back against the bed. Her attempt at relaxation was rudely interrupted when something sharp spasmed in her neck and starting aching. Sighing, she dug her fingers into the affected muscle and massaged it, straining to hear the soothing sounds of the rainforest that had faded into the natural soundtrack until Inesh had taught her to listen.

  It was too quiet in here. She needed to submerge herself fully inside Bagara’s domain.

  Fei left the hut and put the village behind her. She took a moment to admire the new floating laboratory that the scientists were clustered underneath, then encased herself in trees, vines and thick heat. When she arrived at the waterfall, Fei knelt carefully onto the rocks, leaning over to coast her fingers through the pool’s shimmering surface. She cupped some water in her hand and brought it to her mouth, the cool liquid kissing her lips before sliding down her throat.

  With only one of her thirsts quenched, Fei sat back on her heels and said, ‘I’m not sure if you’ll hear me or if I’m even doing this right. But Gerns said it worked for her and…I guess what I want to know is…what can I do to help you? I mean, I get that we don’t have to do anything in return but…I want to. Please speak to me.’

  Her eyes burned but she kept them wide open, hoping the frustrated tears that threatened to fall would dry before they could. The boom of the waterfall seemed to grow in volume with each passing moment, causing her fear to multiply until her breaths became sharp and erratic.

  And then Bagara came to her.

  This wasn’t like all those other times, when she was throwing out a hope, a wish, a prayer. She could actually feel him. One stubborn tear edged its way out, streaking down her cheek.

  ‘You came,’ she whispered. ‘That’s enough. You don’t have to do anything else. You came.’

  Her heart swelled.

  • • •

  Kuja had spent the day doing his best to answer the thousands of people calling for Bagara. Some of the mortals he visited lived in the domains belonging to his brothers and sisters, their curiosity drawing him to places far and wide across the galaxy. Word was spreading. People were already referring to Bagara as the god of lost causes and casualties. He was glad to be there for them, to answer their prayers.

  And then she called for him.

  Kuja filled the clearing near the waterfall with his presence, watching a delighted glow infuse Fei’s cheeks in response. He wanted to tell her that this was all because of her, all for her, but if she knew what he was she would flee him just as Callista had fled Sandsa. Kuja didn’t want to lose a single day of the weeks they had left, for any reason.

  What would you like to do for me? he asked, making sure to mask his familiar voice with the sounds of leaves sighing and branches creaking.

  ‘Bagara,’ Fei whispered and fell to her knees. ‘Oh. Um. I don’t know. Whatever you want.’

  You shouldn’t make that offer, he advised her. Make one that means something to you. All of this is pointless if you blindly follow me. I am not the Creator God.

  Fei nibbled her lip for a moment. ‘Could I…keep spreading the word on the Web? I’m into tech so that’s what I can do. I’d like to do that. That’s my offer. I think.’

  You’re sure?

  The smile on her face grew and grew, until it looked as though it would ring its way around to the back of her head. ‘No. And yes. I’m just…so happy that you gave us a choice. And your people seem nice. And you’d tell me if I was doing something wrong, right? Right?’

  He let her hear his laugh. Of course.

  Fei chuckled along with him, though she might have only done so from nerves.

  He bade her farewell, adding, I hope you can always find answers here, Feiscina Neron, even if it isn’t your permanent home.

  Fei’s parting words followed him. ‘I wish I could stay here forever.’

  Kuja managed to address seven hundred and twenty-six other mortals by the time Fei’s footfalls reached Bagath. He reformed his body behind the gate then jogged out to meet her. She stopped and turned her smile onto him, gushing about her experience and how she was going to share it with the villagers.

  Deciding he’d rather her think about Kuja instead of Bagara, he encircled her with his arms and lifted her off her feet. Fei yipped in surprise, then coiled her legs around his waist as he carried her towards the showers. He nibbled his way along her collarbone and, briefly distracted, tripped on the unev
en ground. Vines erupted from the soil to anchor him but Fei didn’t notice; she was too busy throwing back her head and gasping. She had definitely liked him suckling on the tense muscle that ran down from her neck to the back of her shoulder.

  ‘Kuja…’ she managed weakly. ‘How are you doing that…just to my neck?’

  ‘Not sure but I’m enjoying your response,’ he whispered against her skin.

  Once the door of the showers slid shut behind them, he set her down, preparing to remove her clothes, but her fingers were quicker. Yanking his shirt up over his head and trapping his arms in the fabric, Fei bent over and captured a nipple in her mouth. Her eyes — royal blue today — peered up at him, curious at first, then downright mischievous as Kuja groaned and stumbled, his back slamming into the open frame of the locker behind him. Any pain he felt vanished when she began kissing his other nipple, her finger darting over the one she had already lathered, working the moisture around the pale brown bead that demanded more and more attention.

  Just as he was starting to lose himself in the pleasant sensations she was giving him, Fei dropped into a crouch, pulling his pants down to his knees. Then her delicious mouth got to work, leaving a damp trail on the inside of his thigh. Kuja held his breath, waiting — and then she was on the other leg, driving him mad as she repeated the process.

  ‘Fei…’ he rasped.

  ‘Something you want, Kuja?’ she asked innocently.

  His answer was lost in appreciative moans as her kisses travelled upwards again. Then, just as her mouth closed over one of his low-hanging sacks, two of her fingers grazed the fleshy part halfway between his interested member and his backside. Kuja jolted, banging his head against the locker. He attempted to say something, he wasn’t sure what, but then she engulfed him, disrupting what precious little concentration he had left.

  Anyone who needed Bagara right now would just have to wait.

  Fei’s tongue began to flick over a sensitive part of his shaft that was an inch or so from the tip. This sent hot sparks shooting down into his toes, forcing them to curl up against the tiles. When his knees weakened, his vines were quick to ask him if he needed their assistance to hold him up, or if he wanted them to hold her up so that he could slide himself inside her —

  Fei jumped up and tore off towards the dormant jets in the shower area, throwing her clothes over her shoulder as she went. Kuja attempted to follow her but tripped over his pants and crashed onto the tiles. Muttering under his breath, he picked himself up and pulled impatiently at the fabric imprisoning him.

  When he finally descended into the shower area, Fei stepped towards him, her concern bleeding onto her face. This took her away from the spray of water that had already claimed her; the wiry pink patch of hair between her legs was dusted with fine droplets.

  Kuja stared at her, entranced by the beauty of the woman who stood before him, the woman who had inspired a god to do more than sit around and moan about how unfair the Ine was.

  Fei glanced down at her body and self-consciously crossed her arms over her breasts. ‘What is it? You’re looking at me strangely and, well, it’s flattering but also really weird. So, um, Kuja…would you just get over here before I start thinking there’s something wrong with me?’

  Kuja held his arms out wide, offering himself for her inspection as he advanced on her, his member lengthening with each step. The tightness of his balls and the excitement pounding inside his chest made it very hard not to lunge across the space between them and devour her. All of her. And all at once.

  ‘You are wonderful, Fei,’ he said softly. ‘And no matter how long I live, this time we’ve had together will be the best few weeks of my life.’

  There, there was the small, evil grin that reminded him of Finara when the fire goddess was up to something. Fei lifted her arms from her chest and arched her back, stretching towards the jet. Her breasts rose with the motion and her nipples jutted out even more, an irresistible lure.

  ‘Better make some good memories now then,’ Fei baited.

  Kuja surged forward and kissed her, snagging her wrists in the process and holding them against her abdomen. He backed her towards the tiled wall, one hand maintaining his grip on her while the other slid down between her legs. Though the jet overhead encased them in warmth and moisture, she felt so much hotter and wetter to his touch.

  ‘That feels nice,’ Fei breathed. ‘And it’ll probably feel very nice soon, but…’

  ‘I know exactly what you want,’ he murmured into her lips.

  ‘Oh, do you? Prove it.’

  Smirking, Kuja knelt before her, watching her teal eyes follow him down to the floor. He wasn’t sure if he had ever seen her true eye colour — but that didn’t matter right now, because her eyelids slammed shut the moment his tongue whisked along one side of her labia. Kuja kept to the edges of her sex, teasing out the impatient moans until she begged him for more.

  His tongue pressed inside her, gently at first, but then he began to pump it in and out, seeking the saltiness that the water threatened to remove. Delight rained over her features but he was too busy to watch her take her pleasure; instead he drank it in, tasting it, swallowing the heat of her until she cried out his name.

  Shuddering, Fei sank into his waiting arms. Kuja arranged them so that they were both half-sitting, half-lying against the wall.

  After a minute or so, Fei’s hand slid up his thigh. ‘You’re still hard, Kuja. I can deal with that.’

  ‘I am sure it will subside any moment now,’ Kuja said with a shrug. ‘And I would much rather hold you. Then I will wash you. Very thoroughly.’

  Fei released a sigh. Kuja would have mistaken it for one of contentment, but she was stiff, unresponsive, and he could feel how upset she was.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ he asked.

  Fei turned an anguished look back at him. ‘It’s just…I haven’t done what I’m supposed to do. If I did, it would help me feel like…like I hadn’t disappointed you.’

  ‘Fei,’ he said, keeping inside his own mind and giving her some privacy; he never doubted that her true thoughts would make it onto her lips, ‘what is it you want?’

  ‘I want to make you feel the way I do right now,’ she said, an uncertain scratch of a smile appearing.

  ‘And how’s that?’ he whispered.

  ‘Spent, sated, but still wanting more…’

  Kuja held up a hand to silence her. The leafy fronds outside the showers were reporting that they had just been crushed beneath the boots of a certain Dr Lorena Hackett.

  Kuja groaned. ‘Someone’s coming.’

  ‘Someone already came,’ Fei said playfully.

  Kuja burst out laughing and only just managed to stand both of them up before Lorena entered the building. By the time the scientist descended the two short steps to join them, Kuja was soaping up his shoulders a respectable distance from Fei, who kept sneaking grins at him while wiping the same spot on her abdomen multiple times.

  ‘I run into all sorts of people here,’ Kuja said as he began edging his way back to the lockers.

  Fei cast a quick look at Lorena, then said, ‘I hope we run into each other again and again. And again.’ She paused. ‘And again?’

  Grinning broadly, Kuja left the shower area and retrieved his clothes, Fei not far behind him. A jet was still running, but he knew Lorena hadn’t come in here to get clean. The nearby ferns were quite insistent that she had been watching the building for several minutes before making her way over.

  Without a single glance at each other, Kuja and Fei quickly dressed then passed through the exit with several paces between them. Kuja’s crotch ached a little less now, though he wondered just how long he would have to put up with the lingering discomfort this time.

  ‘Are you going somewhere again?’ Fei asked quietly.

  Kuja took her hand and squeezed it. ‘Just down to the laboratory. It’s Gerns’ last official day of working for TerraCorp and I wanted to be there to welcome her to Bagath. The villager
s just finished constructing her hut.’

  ‘I’ll come with you,’ Fei said. ‘Gerns needs all the company she can get. This has been really hard on her and I still feel like it’s my fau — ’

  Master! The other one is following you! cried a shingbat swinging from a nearby branch.

  Kuja bit the inside of his cheek and turned to see Lorena carving her way towards them, smashing aggrieved insects beneath her boots as she went. Kuja managed a cordial greeting when she planted herself barely two paces from him. Fei remained silent; she was wary from her past dealings with the scientist. Dr Hackett was noticeably brusque in Fei’s memories.

  ‘What’s the deal, Kuja?’ Lorena demanded. ‘I practically threw myself at you and now you’re hanging around with this programmer?’

  ‘You do not want to have this conversation with me,’ Kuja warned her.

  Lorena swung her blazing scowl onto Fei. ‘So what’s she give you that I can’t?’

  ‘Maybe I actually listen to him, unlike you,’ Fei retorted, then slapped a hand over her mouth, eyes wide with horror.

  Barely a second later, Lorena launched herself at Fei, fists extended.

  Anticipating this, Kuja did not move a single micrometre, instead asking an ancient, rotted tree on the side of the path to snag Lorena’s foot with a root. It obeyed, immediately dumping the scientist onto the ground. Wheezing, Lorena pried her face out of the soil.

  Kuja shook his head at her. ‘Did you really think attacking Fei would make me dislike you any less?’

  ‘But she doesn’t put out, does she?’ Lorena exclaimed. ‘I’m right, aren’t I? She hasn’t spread her legs for you. I would!’

  ‘What makes you think she’s the problem?’ he demanded while Lorena struggled her way out of the uncooperative undergrowth. Kuja turned back to Fei. ‘Lorena should consider herself lucky that I didn’t pursue her because I wouldn’t give her what she wants.’

  ‘Well, I don’t care if we never have that type of sex,’ Fei told him, then grinned. ‘So long as you keep making me breakfast.’