Amaranthine

Cait ‘fell’ landing without so much as a splash in the still, steaming waters of a roman bath. The water was perfect, rising to her waist where she sat, arms resting on the side of the pool. She took her bearings, and instantly clocked that she wasn’t someplace within her previous perception of reality. Marble pillars surrounded the bath at regular intervals, but beyond them, the tiled floor stopped, disappearing into a sky that held the cosmos.

Despite the sunless, starry sky, everything was pefectly visible, including Willow, across the pool. For an instant, she appeared as she was back in reality, on her knees, face wrecked and covered in Cait’s love, wearing a kind of look of destroyed contentment alongside it. Then her form fuzzed, and she was standing, dipping into the water and walking towards Cait, composed as ever.

Cait watched her approach, noticing that in this place, her perfection had fallen away. Her skin had the occasional blemish. It didn’t seem to fucking glow from beneath. She liked it.

Without looking behind her, Cait knew Kennedy stood there, bleary eyed and confused.

“Is this a dream?” she asked. “I’m pretty sure I just fell asleep.”

“Hmmm, that works both ways then,” Willow said, reaching Cait. She nudged her legs wide, and sat on her thigh, draping an arm around Cait’s neck. “Good evening Kennedy.”

“Ooooohhhhh, I get it,” Kennedy said, dropping into the water and doing the same, on Cait’s other leg. “Also, I’d say get off my girlfriend, but I’m pretty sure you already did.”

Willow laughed, and its humanity surprised both of her companions. It looked like that within Cait’s soul, her tricks fell away.

“So this is me, right?” Cait asked, trying to tear her mind off the fact that the current situation she was in made her feel like the goddamn CEO of Sex. “Like, my soul?”

“Yes,” Willow answered, “insofar as your mind can conceptualize it.”

“Huh. More…. Roman than I expected,” Cait said. “Also, more sci-fi?”

“Yeah, looks like you and The Hobbyist share similar tastes babe,” Kennedy teased. She laid her head on Cait’s shoulder, accepting that she was probably along for the ride at this point. Willow chuckled again. Her actual laugh was nice, it sent tingles down Cait’s spine, rather than shivers.

“This place can be whatever you want, with training,” she explained, then frowned. “Probably. Its possible that not even you will be able to manipulate your soul.”

“Still no luck ‘pinching’ then?” Cait asked. Willow shrugged, then made a gesture with her hand, reaching to the sky and moving like she was spinning a wheel. She scowled, then shook her head. Her disappointment only lasted for a moment though, as she turned to Cait, laying her hand back on her shoulder and insisting she try herself.

“Try what?” Cait asked.

“Anything you want.”

Cait raised her arm from the water, staring at the cosmic expanse of the sky. She made the same motion Willow had, and the cosmos spun. Stars, nebula, planets and galaxies moved at her thought, easy as swiping on a dating app.

“Did you see that?” Kennedy asked, squinting up at the marvelous sight. While it seemed a silly question, with Cait’s preternatual perception of this place, she thought she knew what she was talking about. She frowned, and moved the universe again.

There, among the countless of stars and cosmic bodies flying across the sky at Cait’s command, perhaps a hundred remained still.

“That’s me…” Kennedy breathed. She raised her hand from where it rested in Cait’s lap, and snapped her fingers at the sky.

The stars were suddenly highlighted, connected by dark purple lines of nebulous dust, forming the same symbol that Kennedy’s soul had formed during their experiments on the way up here.

“What!?” hissed Willow, holding her hand to her forehead like she had just developed a splitting headache. Maybe she had. “How? How are you even doing that Kenendy? How are you moving Cait’s soul, and how is a representation of you something she can’t affect?”

“No idea….” Kennedy said, all but ignoring Willow. Staring up at the sky with her, at the expanse of her own inner self and the constellation Kennedy took up within it, Cait had never felt closer to her, and she knew Kennedy felt the same. They each gazed up in breathless amazement, for the moment, each other’s entire world.

Cait could technically feel Willow squirming in her lap, obviously wanting to break the moment with a barrage of questions, but just barely holding herself back. As if from far away, Cait heard her sigh In frustration, then bury her face in the hollow of Cait’s neck.

In contrast, she felt every movement as Kennedy sighed herself, in contentment, laying her head back on Cait’s shoulder. She raised her arm up, stroking along Cait’s jawline as they continued to watch the stars.

Cait wasn’t really sure how long they stayed like that, or what any of this meant. It was more than just awe at the beauty of the sight, that she was certain, but as far as how? No clue. It occurred to her that the best possible source of knowledge on the subject was still sitting in her lap, an eternity away.

“So…” Cait said, and didn’t even have to finish the question before Willow groaned.

“I don’t knoowwwww!” she complained, then dove her head beneath the water, bubbles floating up as she screamed something Cait was pretty sure was ‘Blyat!’.

She rose back up, face schooled, pretending she hadn’t just totally lost her composure.

“I don’t know,” she stated calmly, “but whatever it is, is fascinating.”

She turned to face Cait, lacing her arm over Kennedy’s as she fixed Cait with the kind of smile The Serpent must have given to Eve.

“How would you like to learn how to better manipulate this space, Cait? How to access it without assistance?” she asked, and Cait knew it for what it was: an excuse to spend more time in, and study, her fascinating soul. Cait grinned at her like an idiot.

“Do I get to fuck you every time we come here?” she asked, and Willow grimaced as Kennedy’s gentle strokes along Cait’s jaw ended with a sharp slap. Willow’s eyes flicked between Kennedy and Cait.

“Uh….” Willow stammered, one of the only times Cait had seen her at a loss for words.

“It’s fine,” Kennedy sighed. “I know myself well enough now to admit I like it when she fucks around. She doesn’t have to be a dick about it though.”

“Hey, not like you asked permission to fuck Qi,” Cait complained. Kennedy actually blushed, looking sheepishly up at her.

“Oh, uh, that’s a problem?” she asked, and Cait laughed.

“Fuck no!” Cait answered, pulling Kennedy’s scowling face close. “It’s a free-for-all with you, Lira, Qi and I. Other than that, probably best to ask.”

“How do any of you find the energy?” Willow asked, face composed, but the memory of her experience with Cait clear behind her eyes.

“Eh,” Kennedy said, “If you’re not feeling it, you can pretty much just lay there and Cait does all the work.”

“You’re the only one that does that, you know,” Cait scolded.

“I’ve done it like, once, and that was just because it was like 3 a.m. and you woke me up by accidentally entering me in your sleep!” Kennedy countered.

“Yeah,” Cait said wistfully. “Good times.”

To this, Willow had only one thing to say; “Fascinating.”

She did quickly realize she’d have to step in if she didn’t want to be the third wheel to some pretty messy sex however, and she’d had her fill for the evening.

“This has been fun,” Willow said, tugging on Cait’s shoulder to try, unsuccessfully, pulling her off of Kennedy’s mouth. “I should remind you, however, that Cait is currently standing naked in a sewer, should that be a situation you wish to rectifuy.”

“It’s a nice sewer,” Cait protested as Kennedy pulled back. The dark beauty laughed, dodging Cait’s attempt to reignite the kiss.

“I’m sure it is babe, but that reminded me,” she said, “Qi wore herself out on top of me and passed out. After her link dropped, I am not strong enough to move her. Gonna need you to come home and save me.”

She punctuated her statement with a pout that did nothing to make Cait want to let her leave, but it wasn’t really up to her. Kennedy winked out, and Cait was left alone in the steaming bath with Willow.

“Cockblock,” Cait accused, glaring at the only remaining beautiful woman in her lap. Willow barked out a laugh, a far cry from her normal controlled chuckle.

“You can’t call a woman that when you’ve already had sex with her that night,” she scolded, shaking her head. “Ready to go?”

Cait nodded, and in the silver-white glow of Willow’s eyes, she fell back into her body.

She scowled again when her vision cleared. She’d been looking forward to seeing Willow as Cait had left her again, but the spot on the floor in front of her was just stone.

The air giggled, emanating from the general direction of the other side of the cistern. Cait turned her head to see Willow wiggling her fingers at her from the same stone Cait had rested on earlier.

She was once again ethereally perfect, an untouchable apparition in the liminal space of the cistern.

“The whole ‘perfection’ act, loses a bit of its lustre when you’ve seen past it as far as I have,” Cait teased, sauntering over to her. Willows composure cracked, but only a little. She made a ‘hmph!’, rose, and patted Cait on the cheek, letting her fingers linger as she passed, making her way towards the sliver of moonlight. She didn’t look back when she said; “For that, you can find your own way home,” before stepping into the light and disappearing.

Cait sighed, and started sprinting home.

Spoiler

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