Story Notes:
Sorry for the long absence; I've had a lot of things to do, a massive amount of writer's block recently (The latest Karistaa Usko chapter's presently in Limbo), and a complete overhaul of my mythos, so I decided to do one more in the general Pokemon universe. As the July contest inspired me a bit to write this chapter, it's a contest entry (or, at the very least, Nowhere and Everywhere is since I'm not certain how long this inspiration will hold).As usual: Pikachu, Pokémon, Mother et al. are the property of Nintendo. The characters are mine, as is the plot.
Thunder and Lightning...
Thunder and Lightning...
*)August 2, 2009 - 11:33 KDT(*
What I have here is a direct quote from Nyithindo Mudiwa, taken from his writings, which I received yesterday from Eoin.
"The foraging party splits into groups when leaving the storm, and always goes to the north or south; never to the human-trafficked areas to the east or towards Mt. Silver to the west. Those two groups then split further into evenly-distributed groups, one dedicated to finding berries and the other to finding meats, usually pidgeys and spearows, but on occasion a rattata or two. Sometimes the berry foragers raid untended berry patches; never ones humans maintain. After the search, which takes three hours, the group reunites and returns to the storm with the spoils."
It is presently breeding season here; I will discuss that in (sanitized) detail next time I transmit.
-Lori Tanner
Since breeding season started, Eoin refused to sleep in the same chambers as Nicolau, instead spending the night with Mudiwa, who still lived with his parents, or Ime, who was more preoccupied with the Ascension Ceremony and private letters from Nicolau. He frequently accepted Chu duty, if for no other reason than to stay away from Nicolau (although affording the breeding pairs an opportunity to mate proved frustrating for Eoin, as it only reminded him of his loneliness).
One day, while on Chu duty, Mudiwa decided to visit Ime. Ime was in, toying with a graph on paper. Beside him was a binder in disrepair, likely stolen from an unwitting human's backpack, and the underside of the desk he was working on was concealed by leaves. Neither Eoin or Mudiwa nor anyone else in the storm, save Nicolau, knew what was there.
"Morning, Omulosi," said Mudiwa in Chu.
Ime turned around and hurriedly hid his plans in the binder, which he then hastily shoved under the desk. "Hello, Nyithindo... Mind telling me what this social call is about?"
Ime had the largest hut in the storm, and great pains were taken in its construction - it appeared to be waterproof, and various diagrams, most of them penned by the omulosi himself, were tacked up on the walls. Beside the desk was a door made of an unknown metal; Ime had welded it shut. The bed was a simple cot, but possessed a piece of what looked like something soft as a pillow.
"Eoin," said Mudiwa.
Ime swiveled around in his chair. Mudiwa knew that it could not have been Chu-made, and that it wouldn't have just blown into the storm. It was a computer chair.
"Is this about him avoiding the Kabaka?" asked Ime.
"Mostly," said Mudiwa, sitting on the bed. "Does Eoin hate the Kabaka that much?"
Ime sighed. "There's no love lost by Eoin towards the Kabaka. But, the Kabaka has a rather hard crush on Eoin, which is, if I'm correct, why the Kabaka raped Eoin on his first night here."
"Is that why he's on Chu duty all the time and spending the night with me or you?"
Ime nodded. "Eoin's afraid that if he stays there the Kabaka will again bed him unwillingly in the fervor of mating season."
Mudiwa nodded. "Understandable."
"Though why he doesn't just abandon any pretense of going back to humanity when this year is over is beyond me, especially when he seems to loathe it as much as he does," noted Ime.
"I don't think he has any choice in the matter, " said Mudiwa. "If he did, he would have been more aggressive trying to court me in the Moonlight Meet."
Ime held his heart from his throat. Eoin was flirting with a nyithindo, of all things?! "Is that why he's so lonely all the time? Because he knows he has to go back?"
"That's my guess," said Mudiwa. "Otherwise he'd be doing more than just spending the night."
Ime thought about it, then nodded. "You raise a good point." As he spoke, several thoughts were running through his mind. If he'd courted Mudiwa during the Moonlight Meet, maybe he was lying about not wanting to bed a Chu. Fuck, Eoin was probably stiff from picturing Mudiwa underneath him whining and moaning, sticking his thick human cock into Mudiwa's tailhole... The more he thought about it, the more jealousy set in. "Could you leave me now, Mudiwa? I have some work to do."
"Yeah." Mudiwa got off the bed and left. Once he was gone, Ime pulled a small chart off the wall and studied it. "Hmm... Let's see..."
Eoin decided to stay with Mudiwa again that night. He felt he could talk with Mudiwa without the conversation devolving into sex or anything close to it, and he always heard the hum of a computer at Ime's house, which made him uncomfortable, since he was acutely aware Ime had technology the rest of the Chu did not have.
"Is that how you learned to read?" asked Eoin as Mudiwa read through his half-magazine. His translator was off.
"Yeah," said Mudiwa. "All this stuff just keeps blowing in from the woods. It's how I taught myself to speak Common, too."
"But how?" asked Eoin.
"Flashcards." Mudiwa turned the page.
"Flashcards don't often teach pronunciation," said Eoin.
"These ones did." He decided to change the subject to something more germane. "When are you going to sleep in the Kabaka's glade again?"
Eoin sighed. "Hopefully when he gets it through his skull I don't wanna have sex with a Chu."
"Never, then," sarcastically joked Mudiwa. "You're not the first he's done."
"'Scuse me?" said Eoin, looking at Mudiwa.
"The Kabaka is what you'd call a zoophile." Mudiwa turned the page. "We've seen him with Larvitars, Butterfrees, Pidgeys, practically anything that has legs and testes... practically everyone knows the Kabaka would rather not touch another Chu sexually."
Eoin laid there, mouth agape. Is that why Nicolau was hitting on him? Because he wasn't a Chu? "How did these other relationships end?"
"Not well," said Mudiwa. "Someone kept murdering them in their sleep..."
A jolt ran up Eoin's spine. "Who?"
"They still haven't found him or her," said Mudiwa. "My money is on that crackpot Farai, though." He turned the page.
"Why Farai?"
"Farai just creeps me out," said Mudiwa. "Always ranting about the end-times or some similar hooey."
"We have similar people where we come from. They're called 'Republicans'," joked Eoin, "and that's part of their job description."
"Then whoever's paying them is wasting lots of money."
Mudiwa's mother walked in, and smiled at Eoin. "Piii-ka, Eoin."
Eoin turned the translator back on. "Come again?"
"I said hello," she said. "With as often as you come here, I'm surprised that you two haven't gotten closer than across the room from each other."
"Mother, Eoin's not interested in that. If he did that, he'd be in trouble," said Mudiwa in his native Chu tongue.
Eoin thought a bit. Was he really more interested in Chu society? He figured he'd have to do some soul-searching, but he wouldn't do it during mating season. For now, though, he just had to smile and dissuade her fears."He's right."
"You say that as if I'm scared of it," she noted.
"Look... What's your name, and your husband's, if I may ask?" asked Eoin.
"My mate's named Sithembile, and I am Tatenda," she said.
"Look, Tatenda, I will admit to being gay. I just don't want to offend you by coming right out and saying it in front of your son."
"We know our son goes to the Moonlight Meets," said Tatenda. "We've never objected to him being a shoga."
"I know that; Sithembile told me. However, he has the impression I'll marry his son."
"Well, are you planning on it?"
"No... well, I don't know. My mind's conflicted."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, part of me wants the simpler life here... just common-law rules to tame the chaos, and little else. But, another part of me is reminding me I have obligations back home: My aunt, my studies. I don't know which I want. And even if I stay here, Ime and Kabaka are also lusting for me."
"Let yourself think about it," said Tatenda. "No matter your choice, there's no wrong answer."
"That's what you think," muttered Eoin.