Chapter 39: The Winter Ball

Jaime and Keira and Emerson

THINGS CONTINUED to progress well for Jaime and Keira with Trayce. They had a fun date the next weekend, continuing to explore physical activities by trying axe-throwing. They were all surprised that Trayce proved to be the champion.

“Wish I could carry one of these around with me,” Trayce said, hefting the axe. “I’d feel safer!”

“It might not work as well in close quarters,” Keira warned. They went on talking about self defense and the pros and cons of having a weapon.

They also agreed to attend the winter ball at the school the next Saturday.

On Monday before the ball, Emerson found Keira and Jaime at lunch.

“Can I join you today?” she asked.

“Of course! You’re always welcome,” Keira said.

“We made some good progress on the apps last week,” Jaime signed.

“Yeah, we did. Mr. Perkins said he thought I could sell the app as is to a paint store, but encouraged me to do a scan of their paint chips first and test the app on real data. I guess you know what I’ll be doing for the next few weeks,” Emerson laughed.

“That’s exciting,” Keira said.

“Yeah, but that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about,” she said. “Can I hold your hands?”

Jaime and Keira looked around the cafeteria and nodded.

“It will just look like we’re praying and no one will bother us,” Emerson said. «I want you to be able to look inside me and I want to see in you while I say this, » she continued in her head. «I’ve managed to fall in love with another couple who can’t love me back the way I love them. Yes, I’m talking about you. You can look in me and see everything about me. I’m standing here naked in front of you. I have a powerful lust for you and I’ll probably be seeing you in my dreams as I masturbate for weeks.»

After a silent agreement, Jaime and Keira agreed to show themselves to her as well.

«Fuck! Now I know I’ll see you in my fantasies, » she said. «Wow! Thanks for that. But I need to tell you that I know there isn’t a real future for us. I’m even further outside you two since Trayce is in the picture than I was with Dom and Raquel. I’m in such serious lust that I’d literally strip off my clothes right here if you’d both fuck me. But I’m not part of your ménage. I won’t ever be. There’s no sense in trying to kid myself about it. You have something very special with Trayce and I wish you the utmost of happiness.»

«Thank you, Emerson. I hope you aren’t saying that you won’t be our friend any longer, » Jaime said.

«No. Not at all. We’ve got some real work to do on our projects together. And ... if you, like ... need a fourth for your ... you know ... crime fighting? I’ll be available. We did good in Astoria. Yeah. That’s all.»

Emerson withdrew her hands from Jaime and Keira, though she could still feel them lurking in her mind.

“Thank you, Emerson,” Keira said. Then she started channeling Jaime as he began signing. “We hope we will never need to do that again. We don’t want to be mental crime fighters. We have a long way to go before we are comfortable even with the powers we have. Nonetheless, I’ve been referring to you as the glue that held our gestalt together in Astoria. I could feel it and I don’t understand it, but I know it’s there.”

“Well, if you just want to run some experiments, I’m up for it. I’m just beginning to understand what happened out there and could use your help on it. And Trayce. Everything has to include her now. I’ll see you in class later, Jaime.” Emerson left their table and the cafeteria.

Jaime and Rose

“I must admit, I didn’t really expect you to come in to see me,” Rose said. “You seem very independent.”

“As long as you don’t mind my computer voice, I’d like to talk a bit. I might not be as independent as you think,” Jaime typed into his TTS.

“It’s fascinating. It should be easy for me to suspend my focus on the technology once we get going. You’ve never spoken aloud?” Rose asked.

“My mother died when I spoke aloud,” Jaime said.

“Oh! Do you blame yourself for that?”

“Yes. If I’d been normal, she wouldn’t have been surprised and fainted. It was my fault.”

“That’s a heavy burden for a child to bear. You know, don’t you, that you’re not to blame for it? You didn’t know what would happen. People were pressuring you to speak aloud, I’ll bet. It was expected and hoped for.”

“Not being intentional doesn’t mean there wasn’t cause and effect,” Jaime said.

“Are you confusing cause with sequence?”

Jaime just shook his head.

“Is this what you want to talk about today?”

“Sort of,” Jaime typed. “I’m concerned about the possible results of Keira, Trayce, and me linking our minds.”

“I see. Do you think you might give someone orders just because you are linked together and have that ability?” Rose asked.

“It’s less about controlling our ability than about controlling our impulse. We’re eighteen. We want to save the world. But our idea of what makes a better world might not conform to other people. What right would we have to interfere?” Jaime typed.

“Back in college, we had a Buddhist monk come to give a guest lecture to our ethics class. He was a quiet and unassuming man, as you would expect. He started his talk by saying, ‘Everyone wants to make the world a better place, but no one wants to help Mom with the dishes.’ It stuck with me—possibly the only specific thing I remember from that class,” Rose said.

“I like that,” Jaime agreed. “I don’t think Keira or Trayce or I would have any problem with that. Of course, we should all become more aware of helping those closest to us. I just don’t want to get enthused about something, like Keira and I did with the kidnapper at the movie, and just start shouting commands about it. I’m not even sure it would work.”

“You had no qualms about giving me a command when you and Keira came to see me.”

“Impulse control. That’s what I’m talking about. We never should have done that. Thank you for helping. It could just as easily have gone badly.”

“I had already decided on a course of action before you jumped on it,” Rose said. “I didn’t know you had already contacted Angus.”

“He stopped them from grabbing me a week before they got Trayce.”

“They’re quite a team,” Rose laughed.

“Yeah. I guess what I’m looking for is a way to restrain ourselves when we’re ... being intimate and happen to discover something wrong someplace. I’m worried about Schwartz’s post-hypnotic suggestions being triggered by something.”

“Has it happened?”

“Yes. We were sharing a fantasy. Long distance because we didn’t want to rush things physically and we’d been sharing fantasies for a long time. Just when we were all relaxed and basking in the afterglow, a command came from deep inside Trayce to order you and Angus to go away like we did Schwartz. I recognized it just in time. It was a command to protect him from his enemies. But when she used the command, it weakened our ability, too, since we’re his enemies. I was able to dismantle that one.”

“My oh my, Jaime. You surprise me at every turn. First of all, you must realize how unique that ability is. And I can’t help but think it is ultimately your ability, supported and bolstered by your girlfriends. Our ... or my understanding of our gift has been that it was all one of hearing. You have a gift of speaking, and that is scary. I think for you as well as for me. I’ve never heard of someone able to dismantle a subliminal command without either drugs or hypnotism.”

“Like Schwartz used to plant them in Trayce,” Jaime typed.

“Yes, but you have a better method, in my opinion. You are gentle and non-invasive. You will need to keep a part of yourself aware of the possibility at all times, but that is the best way to discover any triggers. I don’t believe you need to worry directly about Schwartz, but there could be some landmines,” Rose said.

“Okay.”

“There’s something else.”

“Yes.”

Jaime hesitated with his hands above the keyboard. Rose was experienced enough to just let him think without interruption. Finally, he started typing.

“I spent all my life trying to make other people hear me. I thought I was a bad person because no one would respond to my head talk. Then, in kindergarten, I learned to sign but I still didn’t open my mouth. And then it became so much a part of me that I never considered out-loud speaking again. Mostly. But then Keira found me and she could speak in my head. And we found Trayce ... or she found us. Then, I discovered that if I was touching Emerson, she could hear me if I wanted her to.”

“Your world is growing.”

“But what if ... if Trayce and Keira only love me because I want them to? Am I controlling them? I don’t want to force them to love me!”