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Message-ID: <57388asstr$1204953001@assm.asstr-mirror.org>
From: Shalon Wood <dstar@pele.cx>
Subject: {ASSM} Prudence, TX Population 1276 66 (Mff ff Mm rom)
Lines: 335
Date: Sat, 08 Mar 2008 00:10:01 -0500
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Newsgroups: alt.sex.stories.moderated,alt.sex.stories
Followup-To: alt.sex.stories.d

Standard disclaimers apply; this story may or may not contain, in any
given part, graphic depictions of lesbianism, homosexuality, group sex,
bdsm, underage (teen) sex, magic, occultism, violence, and biting 
sarcasm.  If you're underage, or if for any other reason it's illegal 
for you to read this, or you're disturbed by the content, please don't 
read it.

Archived at http://prudence.pele.cx, and we've got a web-forum at
http://playground.pele.cx/forums as well, for discussion of both
Prudence and our other stories. Send an email to velvet@pele.cx and
I'll add you to the mailing list to be notified when Prudence
updates. 

Comments *greatly* appreciated.

Enjoy,

Velvet
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He was young, looking no older than his mid-twenties, with long blond hair
that belonged in an anime movie and eyes that were such a light, silvery
grey that Mark could see the color even from several yards away. His face
was delicate, with high cheekbones, and the overall impression was of
something ethereal, inhuman. It was rather hard to process that, though,
when Mark's primary thought was that here was someone who'd come right
through his supposedly secure, nearly impenetrable door, and he had no idea
how.

The man stopped as he caught sight of them, and he smiled shyly. "Hello?
She said to come on down...." His voice trailed off uncertainly as he
looked around the room.

"Uh... who said to come down?" Mark asked, confused, as Aaron sat up
abruptly.

"Dad!" He scrambled off of the bed and headed for the stairs.

The man hurried down the stairs. "Aaron! You're all right, son? I was
worried sick when the sheriff called." He wrapped his arms around his son
and hugged him tightly. He was a few inches taller than his son, but even
slimmer and more delicately built. "I got here as fast as I could. I'm
sorry."

Aaron leaned against him for a moment, looking very young, and then stepped
away with a smile. "I'm fine. It's all right."

"No, it isn't," the man disagreed, but some of the tension left his face,
and he turned to finally answer Mark's question. "Your wife, I'd assume.
The young lady upstairs. I'm Josh Deveraux, by the way."

"Mark Hasseran. And this is my wife right here. _What_ young lady
upstairs?" Mark asked, totally confused. "The ghost?"

Josh frowned, shoving a strand of silvery blond hair behind one ear
irritably. "Ghost? I didn't see a ghost. She was quite lovely, really.
Beautiful golden curls, the most extraordinary blue eyes. Maybe I'm glad
she's not your wife."

Out of the corner of his eye, Mark was surprised to see Steven staring
openly at the newcomer, a slightly stunned expression on his face.
Thoughtfully, he gave Josh a closer look.

Joshua Deveraux was a beautiful man. It was easy to see where Aaron got his
looks, once he knew to look for the similarities. Josh would, in fact, be a
beautiful woman if he'd been dressed in an appropriately padded dress.
Still... Steven had never seemed fascinated by Aaron, and if anything, Mark
considered the boy's exotic coloring to be more than equal to his father's
tiny bit of extra delicacy.

Realizing that his mind was following completely irrelevant pathways in an
attempt to avoid what he knew he had to say, Mark winced slightly and
rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I'm sorry to tell you, Josh, but that's our
resident ghost. Her name is Emma."

"She looked quite alive to me! She opened the door!" He seemed more upset
than indignant-- not as if he didn't believe what he was being told, but
rather that he didn't _want_ to believe it.

"Is she still up there?" Mark asked.

"I would assume so."

"Why don't you ask her to come down, then?"

"I think I will! I must say, if this is a joke, it's in very poor taste."
With that, Josh turned and stalked up the stairs, and even then, his tread
barely made a sound. There was a kind of inherent gracefulness to the way
he moved that made a good angry, indignant stomp rather ineffective.

Aaron watched him go, then sighed and took the chair that Kayla had
abandoned earlier. Mark bit back his reflexive impulse to tell him that it
wasn't necessary-- when and what his father was told or shown should be the
boy's choice.

Josh was gone for several minutes, and when he came back he descended the
stairs much more slowly than he'd gone up. He shook his head. "She's gone,"
he said softly, sadly, and then raised his head. His eyes met Steven's, and
the two of them froze, staring at each other as if hypnotized. After
several seconds Steven, with a noticeable effort, tore his gaze away and
stared at the floor, his cheeks going hot.

_Now _that's_ different,_ Mark thought. _Hmm, I wonder...._  He closed his
eyes most of the way and let them go unfocused, and his suspicions were
confirmed. The silvery green line of the bond between the two was faint,
but it was definitely there. This was going to be really, really
interesting -- and he owed Steven for the man's gleeful enjoyment of
several of his own uncomfortable moments. So he grinned and looked at his
father-in-law with raised eyebrows. "My... Steven, Josh, let me be the
first to congratulate you."

They both jumped guiltily, and despite Kristen's elbow to his ribs, Mark's
grin stretched so broad that it nearly hurt.

Kayla cleared her throat, giving him a significant look, and then smiled
tightly at Josh. "All right," she said. "So the ghost let you down here.
Her name is Emma. You've met Mark. His wife is Kristen, and I'm Kayla.
Steven and Angie are in the blue chairs."

Unrepentant, Mark watched, still smiling, wondering if they were going to
acknowledge it or pretend it didn't exist.

Apparently, it was going to be the latter option, because Josh smiled at
Kayla with obvious relief. "You I've heard about, Kayla," he said, warmly,
and Aaron blushed. "Some about Kristen and Mark, too." He shook his head,
carefully avoiding looking towards Steven. "Aaron just said she looked like
an angel, so I assumed the... the ghost had to be Kristen."

Mark had trouble fighting back his laughter, and Kristen dug her elbow into
his ribs and hissed at him, under her breath, to behave.

To his surprise, Steven spoke up quietly, "I met her earlier, too. She told
me Kris was going to be fine, that having the baby wouldn't hurt her. Then
she burst into tears and ran away." He fixed his narrowed gaze on his
son-in-law. "Mark, _what_ baby?"

Well, _that_ was a sobering question if ever there was one. "Ah. That,"
Mark said, uncomfortably. "Yes. At some point in the future-- at the 'right
time', whenever that my be-- Kristen is going to have a baby. A specific
baby, that is. Emma's baby, reborn. We don't know when exactly it will
happen, but it will happen. Basically, it'll be at the best possible time."

"Ah," Steven said, looking _very_ relieved. "So I'm not an imminent
grandfather. Thank god."

"Oh, I don't know," Kayla drawled, with a wicked grin. "Who can tell when
the 'right time' is?"

Steven glared at her. "You are a very cruel young lady," he said, as Mark
returned to his gleeful Steven and Josh watching.

They both ignored him, and, more carefully, each other.

Kayla grinned evilly. "Me? _I'm_ cruel? Shaved any pussies recently,
Steven?"

Mark nearly choked trying not to laugh, and Kristen went into a sudden
'coughing fit', covering her face with her hands.

The tops of his ears turned pink, but Steven didn't remove his glare from
the petite brunette. "It was laser hair removal, and it seemed logical at
the time. How was I to know it was the damned skin, not the fur?"

From out of the corner of his eye, Mark watched Josh, carefully gauging his
reaction.

Running a hand through his hair, Steven turned his eyes heavenward and
muttered, "Spankings. Children today need more spankings." At which
comment, Aaron turned bright red.

Josh was just looking confused and uncomfortable, and Mark was almost moved
to take pity on him, but the imp of perverse humor had a tight grip on him,
and he couldn't have resisted if he'd tried. "So," he drawled, tightening
his arms slightly around Kristen in hopes of avoiding more bruises on his
ribs. "Are y'all gonna just stand there pretending you aren't noticing each
other forever?"

Unfortunately, Kristen managed to slip one arm out of his grip and her
elbow caught him in just the right spot to knock the breath from him for an
instant. "Be nice!" she whispered fiercely.

He smirked down at her. "I am."

"You know what I mean!"

"What?" he whispered back, bending close to her ear. "I think it's good for
your dad to develop a new love interest, don't you?"

She twisted around and placed a kiss against his jaw. "Don't embarrass
them," she breathed against his skin. "He'll get stubborn." Then she gave
his ribs an apologetic caress and stood up. "If we're done with this
meeting, let's go upstairs," she said. "Aaron, you and Josh _can't_ stay at
your house tonight. It's a mess, even if the police weren't staking it
out." She gave Mark a prompting glance, and he picked up on her cue.

"Steven, maybe Josh could stay in your guest room tonight? Aaron can stay
here in ours," he said.

Apparently, it was just enough of an opening, because though Steven avoided
his eyes, he still nodded. "That's fine. There's plenty of room, especially
with Kristen here with you."

"Great!" Mark said, cheerfully. "What are you fixing, love?"

"Food," Kristen said, with a shrug. "Something fast."

***

The house seemed... expectant. That was the only word Mark could think of
as he walked toward the kitchen with his arm around his wife's waist. Not
afraid, or worried... just expectant, and maybe a bit excited. It was
waiting for something. It didn't seem like something bad, but he closed his
eyes and checked the wards, just the same. They seemed as strong as ever,
and didn't seem to be reacting to anything he couldn't see, so he relaxed
just a bit, but still looked around nervously.

All the lights were on upstairs, again. In fact, several candles had been
lit in the dining room, giving a soft golden glow to the light. A large
salad was already waiting on the table, and the last of seven steaks was
sizzling on the griddle.

Mark looked from the candles, to the salad, to the steaks, then glanced
around. "Well. Thank you, Emma."

He hadn't expected an answer, but he got one anyway. It was the tiniest
whisper of sound, just on the edge of hearing. _"I've always hated that
name."_

He raised an eyebrow. "Pick another, then."

_"Lenore. My middle name."_ The steak flipped neatly from the grill and
onto a plate.

"Lenore. That's pretty. Um, would you mind making yourself visible, so we
can see who we're talking to?" he asked, then became aware that perhaps
'we' wasn't the proper word; the others were all staring at him
questioningly. "What? I'm talking to the ghost. She wants to use her middle
name, Lenore."

Steven smiled. "Came a tapping, softly rapping? It suits her better," he
said, and then jumped suddenly, his eyes widening.

The giggle that followed was the first happy sound Mark had ever heard from
his ghost, and from the surprised looks on the faces around him, they'd all
heard it. "What was that?" he asked, with a raised eyebrow, and Steven
blushed bright red.

"Hmm?" Mark asked, truly enjoying himself.

"Never mind," Steven said. "Dinner, anyone?"

Grinning, Mark let it go, but made a point of watching both Steven and
Josh-- though more covertly than before-- during dinner. His vigilance was
rewarded when, about halfway through, he saw Josh go very, very still. The
man was barely even breathing, and his eyes were unfocused. The hair that
lay against the side of his neck fluttered, just barely, as if moving in a
light breeze.

Mark smiled and looked back down at his plate.

Of course, Mark wasn't the only one capable of making observations. Josh's
blond prettiness had probably caused a lot of people to underestimate him,
but Mark had learned a long time ago not to judge by appearances. So, when
Josh kept glancing at him curiously when he thought Mark wouldn't notice,
he noticed. He noticed when Josh kept looking, very subtly, from him, to
Aaron, then to Kayla. He noticed the sudden tension in the man's shoulders
when Aaron, without any apparent thought, simply got up after dinner and
started clearing the table. He could tell when Josh realized that Aaron
seemed to know where everything belonged without being told.

He waited for Josh to send him another of those covert, searching glances
and caught his eye when he did.

Josh raised one elegant eyebrow, somehow imbuing the gesture with about a
hundred different questions.

"Need something?" Mark asked, and couldn't quite keep the slight challenge
out of his tone.

Slowly, Josh shook his head. "Just curious. You are an interesting group of
people," he said neutrally.

Mark laughed. "That we are," he agreed. "Curious about what?"

The blonde backed down, shifting uncomfortably. "Things in general. Nothing
specific."

"Ah. Well feel free to ask any questions you have." Mark wasn't going to
just flat out admit anything, but he wasn't going to flat out _lie_ to an
obviously worried father, either. Josh had taken everything else fairly
well-- not that anyone who'd been married to Lorena Deveraux for a
significant time was likely to be surprised by anything supernatural-- so
perhaps it would be safe enough to tell him the rest. Besides, he _was_
lifebonded to Steven, whether they wanted to admit it or not, so it wasn't
like any secrets could be kept for long, anyway.

Still... he couldn't help but worry a bit as he watched Josh pull Aaron
aside, before he left, and speak quietly with him for several minutes.
Aaron didn't seem to say much, though, and eventually Josh gave him another
tight hug and stepped away. "I'll pick you up after school tomorrow, okay?"
he asked, and Aaron nodded.

"Yeah, Dad," he said, and gave his father a sweet smile. "Don't worry,
okay? I'm fine."

Josh answered with a sad smile of his own and another hug, before following
Steven out the door.

Mark would have given a _lot_ to be a fly on Steven's wall tonight.
Curiosity was going to eat him alive, he just knew it. Smiling, he looked
at Angie. "Are you staying?"

It was a friendly invitation, and an honest one, but it just seemed to make
the woman uncomfortable. She glanced at Aaron and Kayla and shook her head.
"Um, not tonight," she said, and beside him, Kristen looked at the floor.

Kayla's face tightened a bit, and she tossed her head. "I need a ride home,
anyway," she said coolly. "It's a school night."

That situation wasn't one that was going to be resolved easily, he knew,
and he was honestly too tired to deal with it, so Mark just nodded. "All
right. We'll see you both tomorrow." He gave Kayla a slightly warning look,
but wasn't terribly surprised when she just gave him a narrow-eyed little
smile. Oh well. Angie was a grown woman-- if she couldn't hold her own
against Kayla, then she needed to learn how to. Quickly.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you like this, you might want to take a look at Strange Love, an
e-zine of sf/fantasy/paranormal erotica. The first issue is on sale
now for $2 at:

http://strangelove.pele.cx

Take a look!

-- 
Pursuant to the Berne Convention, this work is copyright with all rights
reserved by its author unless explicitly indicated.
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