Chapter 9

Bette woke and stretched.

She sat up and looked at the bed. It was a mess of twisted, damp sheets. She chuckled softly as the highlights of the last couple of hours flittered through her mind. Gazza was still sprawled out on his stomach and breathing the soft breaths of a sated, sleeping man.

She dropped her gaze down his back and over his cute sexy arse. He was so beautifully proportioned and his tanned skin was as smooth as silk to her touch. She itched to touch him again but she really needed to get up. She slipped off the bed to go pee and wash-up a little.

Bette was still a little shocked to learn that she was a touch dominating when in masculine form. Gazza didn’t seem to mind at the time and she found she had been just as eager to experience what he had dished out. She had thought their sex was awesome before but now they had even more options to enjoy.

As much as she had enjoyed the same gender sex, she had wanted to weep the last time they made love. Gazza had her change back to female and the way he made love to her, totally blew her mind. He wasn’t having sex with her; it was an act of love, pure and simple.

Bette knew that he would have a hard time ever getting rid of her. He was hers and she would fight tooth and nail to keep him. She knew she was being possessive but as far as she was concerned he was her soulmate, and the sooner he realised that, then the happier he would be.

She did understand his anxiety about losing her, as she felt the same way about him. She hoped she had proven to him that it was him whom she loved. If not, then she would have to do it over and over again until it was rammed into that sexy arse and thick skull of his. She shuddered with desire and almost crawled back into bed with him. Sighing, she went to check on the flickers instead.

When they got home, they had only hung around long enough to bring the shopping upstairs and get the cold produce into the fridge before she had dragged him to the bedroom. They had also stopped long enough to put clean sheets on the bed. Going by the state the bed was now in, it was a wonder that they had bothered.

Bette headed towards the kitchen but stopped when she saw the table. The two new stools for the flickers were set on one side and the other four chairs were located in the other positions of the six-seater table. One of the new tablecloths was on the table and four place settings were set, two on each of the long sides.

In the centre was a slender vase with an interesting arrangement of long-stemmed plants and flowers. A large bowl of leafy salad and one of cut-up fruit were on the table. Bette heard a chittering and was in time to see Basil heading for the table. He was walking upright and carrying a bowl that was filled with cuts of bread.

He placed it on one of the single chairs, hopped up beside the bowl and then lifted it onto the table. He arranged it to his satisfaction and then jumped down to head back to the kitchen where Bette could hear Petal working.

She spun around and went back to her bedroom. She shook Gazza until he blinked at her and smiled. “You have to come and see what they are doing,” she told him excitedly. She dragged at his arm to hurry him.

Gazza let her drag him out of bed and only stopped long enough to drag on some shorts before they headed into the dining room. “Wow,” he said when he saw the table. He then gaped as he watched Basil do his trick and place a new dish on the table. It had bite-size chunks of three different kinds of cheese arranged on it.

“Basil, you set a splendid table,” Gazza had to say. Basil chittered in happiness and jumped down to head to the kitchen again.

It was at this point Bette smelt something cooking. She looked at Gazza with worry and they both headed to the kitchen. Sitting on the bench beside the stovetop was Petal. They watched in amazement as she expertly flipped the small fillets of fish that she was cooking in the tin frypan that Bette had made Gazza.

Basil had found a short, straight-backed step-ladder from somewhere and he used it to deliver a serving plate to Petal so she could put the fillets on it. Bette said, “Basil if you wish to get the juice for the table I’ll get the fillets for you.”

“I’ll get the glasses down,” Gazza offered. Basil just nodded at them and went to get the juice.

Bette held the plate but didn’t dare take the spatula from Petal. “Oh they look perfect,” she commented, as the delicious smell assaulted her nose. Petal nodded and then carefully slid the fish fillets onto the plate. Bette turned the element off before taking the plate to the table. “Where do you wish it, Basil?” she asked.

Basil pointed to the spot he had kept clear, while he poured juice into the glasses after Gazza finished putting them in place. “Do we need anything else?” Gazza asked Basil as he glanced at the expertly set table.

Basil checked over the table, chirped his form of the word ‘no’ and shook his head. Bette took her seat and Gazza took his. By then, Petal had removed the kid’s sized apron that Bette had bought for her and climbed onto her stool.

Basil finished pouring his drink and gently put the jug down. He picked up his knife and fork and looked at Gazza. Gazza winked, so Basil tapped the ends on the table as he said in his language, “Two, four, six, eight, bog in and don’t wait.” Their form of grace, according to Gazza.

The four of them all happily started filling their plates. Bette and Gazza were free with their praise for the meal. They were still amazed that the flickers had prepared it all. Petal informed Bette that Linda had showed them how to set a table and Bette then shared this information with Gazza. Bette then surprised them all by saying, “I wonder if they can learn to levitate?”

“Now that would be handy, we might have to play with that after dinner,” Gazza agreed, wondering why he hadn’t thought to try it himself. Even though he had read a lot of interesting spells that one hadn’t appeared to him yet.

“My sister told me that not every magician can do levitation but we all have Lore, which is one of the best skills to have to learn it. Basil has Energy like me, so he should be able to levitate things other than a light ball. Petal might have a bit more trouble,” Bette commented.

“What about me?” Gazza asked as he filled his fork with the succulent perfectly cooked fish.

“Well, you do have Physics skills so you may do it a bit differently to us, but you should be more than capable. You are a four gemmed mage, so your combined skills will let you do a lot more than most other magicians are able to do,” Bette answered as she stabbed a long bean.

“Sounds like fun, I think we should practice in the backyard. With the high walls, no one would be able to observe us and it is a big yard,” Gazza replied as he reached for his juice.

“I agree, a much safer environment,” Bette offered.

Petal wasn’t worried if she could levitate items or not.

She loved having a deep affinity with nature beyond what other flickers had and felt that her magic was fitting for the first wife of a Prime as amazing as Basil was. She was very secure in her position, as he had chosen her and the magical rings had bonded their love.

She rubbed her tummy and knew she was having twins. Her Prime was very virile and he hadn’t missed that first time. She had already smelt that his presence was bringing Jina into season. She was sure that he wouldn’t miss with her either since he was an exceptional and gentle lover.

Her Prime would father many children on wives and servants but her children would always have precedence. The firstborn of the first wife was always destined to become Primes like their father. Petal knew that these children would be strong in the magic like them and this also made her very happy.

She also knew that by Basil’s association with strong mages and having magic of his own would make her husband a leader of other Primes. Best of all, her Basil loved her and treated her as his Queen. She was very lucky to be his first wife and would always put his and their children’s needs before her own. She was content.

Gazza was surprised that Petal had shared these thoughts with him. His ability to read the flickers thoughts and not just get pictures had grown a lot since he had first met them. He got the impression she was trying to tell him something in her own subtle way. As much as men don’t do subtle, Gazza was smart enough to know he would have to think on her words, as he was sure she was hinting at his own position in Bette’s life.

He looked at Bette and she smiled at him. Yes, she did love him. He knew he had been very insecure in his relationships in the past until Tristin had shown him that he could be an equal in a relationship. He knew he had taken a more dominant role with his boyfriend Mitch but that had been a problem, Mitch had wanted to be dominated and not an equal.

He shivered as he thought about being with Bette earlier. She had neither dominated him nor let him subjugate her. They had made love as equals. They had both been invested in the act of showing and sharing their love.

He knew that like Petal, he would always put Bette’s needs and safety ahead of his own, and if, no, when they had children, they would be as exceptional as their mother was. He hoped they got her wings; he loved her wings and he could easily imagine a smaller duplicate of Bette, this image tickled his fancy.

He knew Bette may have to take on the role of a leader but all good leaders listened to their support people and relied on them to help steer them on a safe path. He, in his own right, would have a lot of say and sway as her partner. This frightened him to some degree, as he had never considered himself as a leader.

The Soldier Ant, Scar, had said that he was now the head of the armed forces and if that didn’t make him a leader, then nothing would. He wouldn’t be the supreme ruler but he liked that idea. He considered his leadership role was to keep Bette safe and he could comfortably live with that job.

Looking down he spied his ring and something else Petal had said struck a chord with him. He was bonded to Bette by magic. Bette had said that some entities were mated pairs and they choose mages that were meant to be together. The way they had met also had significance.

Even if he had to share Bette with someone else at some stage, as Petal will have to share Basil, they both had a bond that was deeper than anyone else could share. Others may come and go but both couples were bonded by love and magic.

“Bette,” Gazza said.

“Yes dear,” she replied as she looked at him.

“I love you,” he said once her eyes locked with his. “Always Bette, I will always love you.”

“Good, because you would break my heart if you didn’t return my love,” she told him. “Now we have that settled, do you feel like having some fun?”

Gazza’s eyes automatically flicked to their bedroom door. Bette laughed and her tinkling laughter only emphasises his thoughts. “Oh, you’re such a man. No dear, we were going to play with magic, outside, remember?”

Gazza grinned lasciviously, “But that other sort of fun is magical with you, babe.”

Bette patted his hand. “Yes dear, it is. However, we do need to learn some other magics as well,” chided Bette gently.

“Fine,” he sighed dramatically. “Since the kids cooked we had better clean up,” he then replied as he stood to collect the dishes. He was quite sure that the other sort of fun he liked to have with Bette would be addressed later.

Bette silently agreed in her thoughts, as she got up and helped Gazza clean up before they went to practice levitation.

The next four days disappeared fast.

The little family spent time getting their flat set up to their liking. Linda didn’t object to the modifications to the bathrooms. While Gazza didn’t consider himself an expert plumber, he was proud of his achievements and didn’t mind in the least that he had magic to help him.

He even added a lower shower-rose and taps that the flickers could use in his new shower cubical. Bette made the shower-roses for him after he drew a picture of one for her to copy. He then had to re-plumb Linda’s bathroom for her and Jina. He was pleased that his tiling job was neat and that the cubicles and pipes didn’t leak.

Bette was the one who upgraded the electrical system. Her affinity to Energy had her redirecting the supply between the houses in their grid so that it was more efficient. The extra crystals added to the old batteries didn’t hurt either. Gazza made her a new acid mix, which also increased their ability to store energy for when it was needed.

Linda introduced Bette to the neighbours in their grid so Bette could fix their sections and a few other electrical problems they had while she was at it. She upgraded their batteries and added extra crystals. The power outages in their block would become a thing of the past and all of their neighbours were delighted.

They all agreed that the ‘Repair’ spells and the ‘Keep clean’ spells were a must for their home. Linda had no objection to these spells being put on their house either, as housework could be such a drudge. It was amazing where flicker hair got to and how much of it there was, as the simians moulted during summer.

Linda was delighted to have the young couple and their flickers living with her. They didn’t hesitate to fix anything for her and checked with her if she needed anything before they went out. It pleased her that they were delighted to eat the biscuits, bread and other goodies she baked for them.

Jina had no objections to the new residents either. While she didn’t spend the nights with Basil and Petal, she made sure she spent some quality time with Basil when he was available. He, in turn, made sure that she would happily let him visit with her whenever it was convenient. It was amazing the opportunities he found.

Primes are a randy lot and flicker tribes often have a dozen or more females to a Prime. Consequently, females were not as highly sexed. When he acquired lots of wives, they would be able to change to male form to keep each other and the servants satisfied when his attentions were elsewhere. Servants tended to stay in female form and the wives were not able to produce live sperm unless they became a Prime.