Chapter 36: Conversations

Jaime and Keira and Trayce

TRAYCE PARKED her car and walked to where Jaime and Keira were waiting for her in the park. The three didn’t say anything, though surface thoughts were clearly readable. All were excited to be physically together, but were also cautious. They met with cheek-kisses.

“Hey, Jaime and Keira. Fancy meeting you here. I feel like I know this place already.”

“Yeah. We walk here frequently. Even when it’s freezing cold like today,” Keira said. “How are you doing?”

“Okay, I guess. Mom really didn’t want me to leave the house unaccompanied today. We had a bit of an argument. I got a new phone this morning, so I can give you my number and we can text, you know,” Trayce said. She looked at Jaime.

«Hi, Trayce. I’m really glad to see you, » he said.

“Why did you do that? It makes me uncomfortable. Just talk to me.”

«I don’t talk out loud. Sorry.»

“I heard you yesterday. I know you have a voice.”

«You’re one of only four people who have ever heard it. One of them is dead.»

“Shit! I don’t know if I can do this head talk thing. Seriously. I mean it was sort of okay when we were miles apart, but we’re standing right in front of each other,” Trayce said, shifting from foot to foot.

“Trayce, honey, head talk is part of who Jaime and I are. I can use my out-loud voice because I had it before I had my head voice. Jaime didn’t. Even as I’m talking to you, I’m talking in your head as well as your ears. Otherwise, you’d know if I wasn’t saying what I meant. Jaime forced his out-loud voice yesterday because we needed to rescue you. You were the only reason,” Keira said.

“I’ll try to understand that, but I really can’t just do head talk right now. I suppose you can read everything I’m thinking, but I don’t want to talk that way,” Trayce said.

Jaime and Keira began putting up filters so they couldn’t read Trayce’s thoughts nor talk to her with their heads.

«Do you really think this is the right thing to do?» Keira asked.

«We have to respect what she wants, » Jaime said. «I’ll sign to you if I need to talk.»

“Wait! Where did you go?” Trayce asked, alarmed.

“I’ve withdrawn so I’m not reading your thoughts or sending you mine,” Jaime signed. Keira interpreted.

“I’ve done the same thing,” Keira said. “Honey, we don’t want to do something that makes you uncomfortable. We’ve learned to limit our communication to just each other. It’s a bit of a strain at the moment because we didn’t used to know anyone else who could hear us, but we’re getting better at it.”

“It’s like ... You’ve always been there, haven’t you?”

“We don’t know exactly when it started, but circumstantial evidence suggests it was significantly before you joined us in kissing,” Keira said.

“What kind of evidence?”

“Um ... People we met started showing up in your stories before we knew you were there,” Keira said. “Like Angus, Kate, and Thursday. We met them just over there. But that was while we were still figuring out if we could hold hands.”

“My characters! I haven’t been writing my stories at all, have I?” Trayce appeared truly distressed.

“I don’t think that’s true. It seems the only thing you’ve picked up from us is the general scenario. The old detective and two stripper sidekicks. A woman trying to tell her daughter her father was dead. A depressed woman who didn’t look like it to the outside world. Once you had those characters, you brought them to life in amazing stories,” Keira said.

“You’ve read them?”

“When we make love, we sink really far into each other. We saw them in you,” Keira explained.

“I don’t know if I’m relieved or terrified,” Trayce said. “Jaime, I’m sorry I kicked you out of my head—or whatever happened. I really do like you. I even told my mother I loved you—both. Maybe we can do a little trial at a time when we’re together. Would that be okay?”

“We’ll take it at whatever pace you want,” Jaime signed and Keira interpreted.

“I should learn sign language, shouldn’t I?”

“It’s easier when Jaime is telling you inside what the signs mean. He’s been signing since kindergarten.”

“Yeah. Maybe. Um ... I’m so mixed up at the moment,” Trayce said. “Like I want to just drop all my barriers and preconceived notions and be one with you both. But I’m scared that Dr. Schwartz left some suggestions buried in me that will hurt you. I’d die if I hurt either one of you. And as sexual as we’ve been in our heads—and I really loved it—I’ve never even had a real kiss. I mean, not counting the quick one we each had at the door yesterday or on the cheek. And I’m panicked to think I’m actually going to get naked with you and really have sex. It seems like it will be so different that I should go slow on that.”

“Exactly what Keira and I were determined to do,” Jaime signed. “At each stage, something new and a little frightening opened up for us. The first time we held hands was for only a minute and we almost passed out from it. It was even more dramatic the first time we kissed. It was like the world just exploded.”

“But you do it all the time now. Does it get less?” Trayce asked.

“We’ve learned to control it more,” Keira said. “We call it filtering so we can enjoy touching each other without opening ourselves to every input within a mile.”

“We could ... um ... if you’re willing ... we could try a kiss. Can you protect me from being overwhelmed?”

Jaime and Keira communicated with each other before Jaime responded to her question.

“We think so. Trayce, we love you.” He invented a name sign for her, pretending to hold a pencil and write. “We’ll try to hold back how much we open up, but it could still affect you more.”

“Or less,” Keira said. “We don’t have much experience.”

“You’ve both kissed ... her ... Emerson,” Trayce said.

“We’ve been exploring and experimenting like any two people,” Keira clarified. “It was easy to do. But Emerson is not a head talker. She can only hear us if we are in skin-to-skin contact.”

“Okay. I guess. I don’t want to talk about her right now. I just ... I really want to kiss you. You aren’t pushing me to do that, are you?”

“Absolutely not!” Jaime signed.

“Come here, precious,” Keira said holding out an arm to embrace Trayce. Trayce stepped forward and put an arm around Keira and one around Jaime. “Now, tilt your head a little to the right. It’s so we don’t break any noses when we come together.”

“Both? Both at the same time?”

“We can’t stand to be first or second to kiss you,” Keira laughed. “This is remarkably easy once you touch.”

“Yeah,” Trayce sighed as she closed her eyes, tilted her head, and moved forward.

The touch of lips was tentative at first, but those nerve endings sparked an opening of the senses to each other. Trayce felt the flood of warmth and love that came from her lovers and they could feel her joy in their touch. When their tongues came into play, the senses opened further. Jaime and Keira struggled to keep some filters in place, but Trayce was completely unfiltered and both gave and received anything available. They began to hear voices of others in the park: children, dog walkers, and even a power walker who was caught up in the music he was listening to as he strode down the path.

Jaime pulled back before they let the kiss get too overwhelming.

«Wow!» Trayce thought to them. «I really love you both. Thank you for protecting me. I know now that I’ll get better if you are patient.»

«We love you, » Jaime said, then withdrew from her mind.

“Maybe it would be better if we don’t ... um ... make love for a while,” Trayce said. “I mean with me. I wouldn’t stop you two from loving each other. I just mean I should start to focus on the actual physical part of our relationship instead of staying in the virtual world. You can still text me or call, though.”

“We will, hon. And we probably won’t be making love for a little while either,” Keira said. Jaime made a sour face but nodded. “It’s not like we have our own place where we can spend the night together. If we’re lucky, David will spend the night with Olivia again next weekend. Believe me, it’s not because we wouldn’t be headed for bed if we could.”

“I wondered,” Trayce laughed. “I just know so little about how life really works.”

“Welcome to our world,” Jaime signed.

“Well, I should go now or Mom will be panicked. She just sent me a text asking when I was coming home. Um ... I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

“We’ll see you soon,” Keira said. They gave each other an air kiss and Trayce went back to her car and left.