"What will you do next?" Heather asked me after we listened to Malcolm's begging fade off into the distance below.
I thought about my itinerary and looked up as I did so to trace my upcoming route in my mind. "I'm scheduled to go up on an R&D tour: a few space stations and manufacturing facilities. Drop in on the L5 colony and see Helen and Rachel. Both Rachels are there right now. My wife and my daughter. Then on to the moon to see Diana and Janey. See how construction is going. Then out to Mars and the Asteroid Belt. Back to here."
I tossed a sour look at the elevator door as if it was its fault that Malcolm had emerged from it earlier. "However, and while I am not pissing on your idea to keep him at bay, this fucking meeting throws a monkey wrench into that tour plan. I was going to Mars to see Laura, Dad, and Marvin. See how the new ship projects were going. Now they'll have to come here to brainstorm up a bunch of joint projects we can use as a smokescreen. Keep Global busy and distracted. Make Malcolm rich enough to retire and steal Bob. Your plan is good here. You know as well as I we are not close to ready to get off the Earth. Not all of us. We need another 80 to 100 years to have enough off-world space for everyone. Not even counting if you and Dad and Laura get the N-drive working and we start extra-solar expeditions. I was going to be gone for a few months as part of a supposed R&D oversight tour. Guess I am putting that off until after the meetings. Once Dad and Laura are freed back up, I imagine they'll head back to Mars at 1G constant to continue work on their project. Marvin and Sky will probably stay here to see Morgan for a while since he is here. Or maybe Morgan will come with me on the tour. Who knows? Depends in part on what Denise has Morgan doing for Crew I guess."
"Actually? I mean tonight. I can see your itinerary just fine." Heather tapped her head with one finger to remind me of her connection to computers. I'll be glad when we get implants that work in Vampires that let us commune with our computer friends. The downside of our immune system. Implants are not welcome.
"You headed anywhere tonight? In the rain?" Heather clarified
"Oh. I see. No. I'm pouring myself another beer and headed for the porch to watch the rain. Interested? Or are you zooming off somewhere?"
"You are spending the night here?"
"I am. Shower and bed. Why we have an executive suite on this floor. Some of us can't fly anywhere in the world in a few moments." I pointed out.
I did not sound envious. I am not sure I would want to have to have Heather's power any more than she does. It has its advantages. Without her working with Dad and Laura, we'd be nowhere near N-drive. It takes Heather's innate understanding of Localverses and the Universe to even begin to build the devices to traverse and escape the laws of Localverse physics.
"Then, of course, I am staying. Pour me a beer?"
I went into the office and to the beer taps and freshened up our mugs. "Why is that an 'of course'." I asked. "You can be anywhere. You want to see Bill? He's in Maine. Cristine is over in France with Nakoma while Nakoma is being the current 'Claremont' heir. You can get there in a few minutes. Tops."
Heather laughed at me and took a sip. "Yeah. Right."
"What?" I asked, not following her amusement. It's obvious when you command her kind of power that she can do that.
"What nothing. Don't be dense. Who all is here? From the family, I mean. In this city. With you."
"Just you." I said.
"Exactly." Heather said with a little bit of triumph.
Lights went on. "Oh. Jessica's rule."
" 'Oh' indeed. Now you are getting it."
I said nothing for a moment and took a very deep pull on my Kolsch. "You know Heather? That was like ... I don't know. Over 125 years ago. I can spend the night by myself. I even have. I don't get night terrors anymore."
Heather shook her head back and forth slowly. "No, Adrian. Does not change the rule. You getting kidnapped and running and hiding for a month, in terror of being caught and raped again, does not count as you getting out of Jessica's rule. If anyone could have found you, it would not have happened. If I had been in the family then, it would not have happened."
"What about you? You are afraid of Jessica? I know she is big and strong and scary, but Heather: You are you."
"Oh no. I am only me. Not a force of nature. I only command energy in all its forms. I know how to live the localverse. I am not interested in doing that when everyone and everything I love is here. I can't be here if I piss off Jessica. Not to mention if I piss off Jessica, I piss off Morgan. No, thank you. I like my head where it is. Jessica pulled me aside before I came here. Told me I was not to let you sleep alone. If you even tried it, I had three choices. One: go get her from the clinic and bring her here. Two: scoop you up and take you there. Or three: Stay here with you. Three choices. All I had."
I find it funny that a being of Heather's immense power is scared of Jessica. On the other hand, the only person who isn't afraid of Jessica is probably Morgan.
"Look. I have no problem of any sort sleeping with you. Simple sleep to a night to remember. Whatever! You are family. It is not as if we have never done it before."
"Exactly. I may not have slept with many men other than Bill, but you are most definitely one of them, and I love every minute of it when we do. My only problem is it does not happen often enough." Heather looked out the window. "It stopped raining. Nothing to watch out there. Let's go get in the shower and go to bed instead."
"OK." I agreed. I was not going to make any moves on Heather. She is family and a lover. I never make assumptions about interest. In addition to being a life form from the real Universe, in the localverse Heather has been a Vampire for a while now and adapted well. She does tend to limit her circle of male lovers tightly. Heather is probably immortal so she wanted Bill and Cristine to turn so that they would live Vampire-length lives. She tends to spend most of her carnal time with Bill. Not all, but most.
The executive suite of any IE facility has a big bed and a big shower. IE is run by Vampires, and we are hedonists and also fastidious. We make sure whoever from the extensive family is in town has a place to get cleaned up and go to bed. Heather and Bill are in the Sagan family. Given their age, they align in the pod with Me and those of my age or older.
Nakoma and Cristine, being our children, align to that generation. They are in many ways an echo of the Pod we built. Nakoma hunts up men for Cristine and herself to enjoy. It is a bit like Vera and Angel, except Angel used to hunt up men because her wife needed men. Nakoma does it because they both like men, and neither is ready to settle down. They are too busy working with Fiona and the fertility clinic in France to take time out to start a family just yet. Nor are they married to each other, like Vera and Angel are. They are non-biological sisters, Astral and Vampire, who hunt together.
Vampire and Astral lifespans make lots of human world rules not apply.
I stripped off and piled my clothes into the laundry hamper. I have a go-bag with fresh clothes. Next time I come here, the set I just took off will be clean and I can swap them out. Every place I go I have a laundry and sets of clothes. Part of being the head of R&D and a member of the NorthAm council. I never know where I am going to land. But everywhere I do, I am not allowed to sleep alone. Ever since I was raped, Jessica has never allowed that.
I don't like to sleep alone, but I also hate feeling like such a damn burden and responsibility to my family.
In the shower, I started to wash myself.
"Hey! Stop that! That is my job!" Heather told me.
"Uhm. OK. Sorry. I did not assume Jessica made that part of your responsibilities. I mean: You know me. I do not like to assume. Presume? Whatever is right in this case."
Heather held out a hand. "No. I like that you do not assume but listen to me Mister Sagan: Washing you is part of my pleasure and you are robbing me of it. Stop that. Give me the detergent and I won't have to hurt you. You do not want to know about electricity and water."
I handed her the bottle and the washcloth. "You are correct about that." I agreed.
When Heather got around to the front, after washing my back, she stopped and held me very intimately. "You are not hard."
"Again: I am not making assumptions. Just because we are showering together does not mean you want more." I said.
"Fair enough. Let me explain then: you are going to clean me and I expect you to make it as fun and interesting as you can. I know you are good at that. Making my legs tremble good at that. Then I expect you to take me to bed. For sex, if I am not being clear. Lots and lots of really nice sex. Unless you do not want to. With me. I want you, but I do not want to assume."
"You may assume I want to. It has been a while for us, so I am very personally interested. I would like to make up for some lost time even. Again: I just did not want to assume. It's not like during the meeting I scented what I am now about your ... point of view on the subject."
"That lack of assumption you make about women is part of the exact reason I am interested." Heather looked down at her sudsing hands and what they held of me. "Oh. Much better. I can work with this..."
"Since you turned all those years ago, you have not been on the typical Vampire trajectory when it comes to lovers. I bet you have not had sex with ten different men in total." I pointed out as she enjoyed my new hardness. "You keep your circle of lovers small. Just family."
"I love my husband. We did all this Vampire stuff so I could keep loving my husband. It's a never spoken of, non-verbal contract. We stay fairly true to each other. Far more true than is usual in Vampireland. I miss sex when Bill is out on some Crew mission thing. Dashing through cities or whatever with all the ladies of Crew. I can find him. Wherever he is. I don't. Not usually. I am not a henpecking and needful wife. If Bill crawls into the sack with someone from Crew for a night of carnal joy while they are out and about fixing something, he does not need me showing up and acting like I do not trust him. Bill and I understand that being a Vampire changes the rules of our marriage. I get to sleep with whoever I want when he is not around. I rarely choose to do that and not with some random guy I hunted for Vampire reasons. Neither does Bill but we are realistic and have been since Boot Camp. Vampire bodies drive their own needs. I care about and love more than Bill. Bill cares about and loves more than me. I know for a fact he'll take Denise to bed every chance he gets. I get it. Totally understand. I love her too. I sure as hell will not pass up a chance to catch up on sex with you one-on-one. You are a sweet and thoughtful lover. I look forward to your attention and my upcoming pleasure from you and with you."
"Fair enough. I look forward to spending the night with you. Let's plan a late start for tomorrow then shall we? Let's make it a night and a morning to remember."
"I like that. Also, I would like it if it was less rare. You and me in bed? Not sleeping? That is a conversation for another day. For now, I think I'm going to put this where it will do the most good. I'm ready now. I turned myself on washing you. Turn off the water. We'll clean up again later." Heather held me, pulling me hard enough toward the door I barely could reach back and turn off the water.