"So, what'ch ya wanna do today?" Joey asked with a grin when I answer the front door.

"Shit, I don't know. I figured you'd have made a list as long as your arm, so I really haven't thought about it." I said as he came in and I closed the door.

"I take it having sex with a pair of triplets I met last week would be out of the question?"

"Yeah, you can pretty much cross out any kind of sex out for me."

"Well, that just about crosses off everything on my list," he sighed, plopping down on the couch in the family room. "Where is the celibate red head anyway?"

"She's in her room playing zombie," I said as I sat down in the chair facing him.

"Really? So have you... Checked to see if she's really a red head yet?"

"I didn't have to do anything sneaky like you're suggesting. When I came home from school Friday, Jennifer and my mom were playing cards in the buff."

"Whoa... I bet you were surprised."

"Yeah, you can say that again."

"So... How is your mom? I haven't seen her since... Shit, before Christmas I think."

"She's doing okay. I don't see her that much anymore myself, but I spent last Sunday with her and Richie, so we had some bonding time then. How's your mom and dad doing?"

"They're all right. You know that job my dad got about a year ago? Well, he still has it. We keep joking he's broken a record... Uhm... Dad's been talking about moving."

"Moving? What, to a bigger house?"

"No... To someplace closer to Central State. They figure since Sarah lives there and I'll be going to school there... They just don't really have much to tie them down here."

"Well, you can't blame them, can you?"

"No... It's just... I don't know. It's hard to think of anyplace being home but the house we're in now. You know what I mean?"

"Yeah... I sometimes dream I'm still living in my old house. I even miss it sometimes. But you'll get over it Joey. It's not the house, really. It's the people who live in it, and the things you did there with them. The house isn't alive. It didn't do anything that any other house couldn't have done just as well."

"I know... But... Well, if my folks don't live around here..."

"You can always stay here, you know. Nobody can blame you for wanting to come visit me and Suzi once in a while. Oh, did Suzi ever decide where she's gonna go?"

"Yeah. Her dad didn't like it, but she's gonna go to Central State with me. He was really pissed when he found out she didn't want to go to Barnhoff College. I can understand why though. I mean he's worked there for fifteen years... So where are you going to go? I keep asking you and you never say."

"That's because I don't know what I want to do yet," I admitted.

"I know what you mean," Joey said, stretching out on the couch. "I can't decide if I want to go into engineering like my dad, or medical school like Sarah. Suzi wants to be social worker. Can you believe that? A social worker!" Joey laughed.

"So?"

"So!? I don't want to marry a social worker. She'll be telling me... Oh shit. I'm sorry, Tim."

"Huh? Why?"

"Well... I mean," Joey said as he had one of his famous body blushes. "I haven't like asked her or anything."

"Asked her what?"

"If she'd marry me," he said slowly while watching me carefully.

"Have you even talked to her about it?"

"I've tried, but she always looks at me like I'm crazy for mentioning it. I get the feeling she's scared of hurting you as much as anything, and to tell you the truth, so am I."

"Why? No offense Joey, but I don't want to marry Suzi, or you for that matter. Sure, I might be upset if you two do tie the knot, but not as upset if I found out you two didn't because you were worried about me. Shit Joey. How long have I been saying I knew you two were meant for each other? Three years?"

"Something like that," Joey admitted sadly. "Timmy, tell me the truth. Have you ever seriously considered... the three of us..."

"What, getting married?" I laughed. Then I got serious and said, "Yeah, I guess at one time I did, but not any more. Come on, Joey. Don't get all glum on me. We're supposed to have fun, not sit around getting depressed. Hey, I know what will cheer you up. How about a little mud wrestling?"

"Yeah, okay," he said, trying to smile convincingly. "But this time can we do it right?"

"You mean without the suits? Yeah, okay. Jennifer told me to have fun, so I'll have fun."

We went down to the gym, and after mixing up the instant mud, we stripped, and I found Joey's cock at full mast staring at me with its single eye.

"Shit, Joey," I said, feeling a bit unsettled from his severe erection.

"Hey, can I help it if my cock likes to play in the mud?"

"You know that it isn't just the mud it likes," I said warily.

"What's the matter, Tim? You afraid of Joey's big bad fuck stick all of a sudden?"

"Depends on what big bad Joey intends to do with it."

"Look, you've made it perfectly clear you don't to have any sex today, so just cool it, okay? I'm not going fuck you, so relax and get your ass in the mud."

He kept his word, even though he stretched it a couple of times by purposely slipping his cock between my ass cheeks and once even touched his cock's tip to my rose. Physically I wasn't much of a match for Joey any more, for he weighed had at least sixty pounds more than I did, and all of that was in pure fatless muscle. He also was a good four inches taller than me, but despite all these advantages, I was quicker and slippier than he was, so over all we were fairly evenly matched.

We wrestled until noon, then showered separately since by that time I had gotten a woody myself and knew neither would be able to control ourselves in the shower if we were both in there at the same time.

I went first, then made us some sandwiches while he was showering, then we ate together in the nude feeling a little more comfortable about it after having survived all the temptations that the mud wrestling had provided.

We went to the pool room and ate our lunches sitting in the lawn chairs next to a table.

"So, if you haven't had sex in.. How long?"

"Sixty three days" I sighed.

"Shit! Two whole months!? Damn, Tim. I could have never lasted this long."

"You would have if Suzi..."

"No I wouldn't. I mean, I love Suzi and all, but I wouldn't have given up my fucks for her."

"You might surprise yourself, Joey. After all, you gave up a life of having a town full of slaves mainly because of her."

"Well, it wasn't just her, and who said I gave up having slaves?"

"What do you mean by that?" I said somewhat suspiciously.

"Don't start with that shit. You know how I feel about anyone telling me what I can or can't do with my own abilities."

"Yeah, but the way you said it made it sound..."

"And what if I did? Huh? Shit Tim. Your dad has slaves, your MOM has slaves, my sister has slaves... How come they all can have slaves and you don't care, but if I have them, well you just have to put..."

"Okay, okay... Just promise me one thing. Let them have a life of their own to live. Don't make them your fuck and suck slave with no other life or purpose..."

"Tim," Joey somberly said in a soft voice. "I thought you knew me better than that. I'd never do that. That was Steven, not me. To do that would be like... Well, it would be the same as killing them, and I couldn't do that, okay?"

"I'm sorry, Joey. I guess after all you've been through... All we've been through, I'm just not sure about anything any more. For now on, I'll work it the same way as I do with my parents. I won't interfere in your affairs as long as you stay away from the people I care about. Deal?"

"Deal."

"Well, now that we cleared that up... So do you?"

"What?"

"Have slaves?"

He looked at me with a calculating gaze, then said, "A few."

"Thought so. Who?"

"Nobody you know."

"Does Suzi know?"

"She knows that I have them, but doesn't know who or how many."

"So how many do you have?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Come on, Joey. Who else can you brag this kind of thing to?"

"Are you sure you want to know?"

"Yeah. Don't you trust me?"

"I suppose..."

"Well?"

"Five."

"Really? Wow. Five... Shit. Let's change the subject. I'm getting horny again."

"You really are, aren't you?" Joey said with some relief. "I thought you might be leading me on to try and... Never mind. Okay. So what do you want to talk about?"

The door bell rang, and Joey raised his eyebrow while I scanned to see who it was.

"It's just Brad. I'll just let him know to come in."

A few minutes later, Brad walked in saying, "Hey, what's.. Holy shit.."

"What's up Brad?" Joey said smiling. "What? Can't two buddies lay around the pool naked?"

"Uh.. Sure man.. whatever.."

"Then get your buns out those clothes and grab a chair," I said, grinning.

"Uh.. I'll pass, man.. I don't wanna.. uh.."

"Chicken," Joey mocked..

"Braaakk! Brk brk Braaaaak!" I clucked.

"Shit. If either one of you touch me, I'll... Shit, man..."

We watched him blushing furiously as he pulled off his clothes, and while Joey just kind of looked on after having played his little joke, I assessed Brad's physical form and found he certainly did have a nice body... for a guy.

"Shit," Brad muttered after plopping down in a chair. "Where's the pussy, man? I thought there would be some pussy here.."

"Why? Sandi not giving you enough?" Joey teased.

"Shit, man.. Don't get started."

"Really?" I said, finding there was some truth to it.

"Ever since I took that Michelle chick to the prom, Sandi's been playing hard to get. I haven't fucked her in over three days! I'm dyin', man."

"Shit, Brad.. Tim here hasn't had sex for.. What was it? Sixty three days?"

"Yeah.. Sixty three. Heh.. You know I just realized... Jennifer's birthday just happens to fall on the sixty ninth day.."

"What ya gonna do, man? Give her a car?"

"Yeah, whatcha got planned for her birthday. Like the whole school is wondering."

"Well, with her breaking out and all, I really haven't.."

"Her what?" Brad asked.

"How about a soda or something, Brad?" I asked, seeing how both Joey and I were sipping on our drinks left over from lunch, he kind of looked a little... bare without one himself.

"How about a real drink," Brad suggested.

"Hmmm... You know, that doesn't sound bad," Joey said honestly.

"Okay, but if either of you get drunk, you're staying the night, and don't blame me if Jennifer accidentally makes you... uhm.. never mind."

"What?" Brad said as he and Joey got up and followed me to the wet bar.

"You might as well tell him," Joey thought to me.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," I said out loud.

"Hey, man... You guys aren't... Playin' a joke on me, are ya?"

"No Brad... So what do you want? Name your poison, gentlemen."

"Beer," Brad simply said.

"I'll take a.. brandy. On the rocks."

"Eww.. mister sophisticated," Brad teased.

"What are you gonna have, Tim?" Joey asked, ignoring Brad.

"I wasn't actually going to have anything," I admitted, passing them their drinks.

"Come on, man? What's the point if we don't all three have one."

"Yeah... You chicken?" Joey teased.

"BrrraK!" Brad croaked before coughing.

"You guys can get wasted if you want to, Jennifer promised me a surprise tonight, and I'm not going to take any chances at screwing it up."

"HAH! So she's got him right where she wants him," Joey teased.

"Yeah, man.. He may be the one with powers, but she's the one with control."

"For your information, Brad, Jennifer has the powers too, so don't be making fun of her or me, otherwise... You might just wind up being her play thing like last week at this time."

"Shit. You mean..."

"Yep."

"You're joking.. He's joking, right?" Brad said to Joey.

"Fraid not. Remember at the dance?"

"Shit.. I knew something was up with that. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because she didn't want to be a telepath. Sorry, Brad. It was her choice, not mine. But now..."

"Shit... Oh man... Shit... I'm gonna wind up being her little fuck toy, I know it.."

"No you're not.." I said, frowning. "She's not like that. Besides, I won't let her, okay?"

"Shit... Thanks man.. You're a real buddy.. Can I have a refill?"

"Me too, I guess."

The doorbell rang again, and when I found out who it was, I just stayed cool and told them to come in.

"You know.." Joey started, "I really am starting to miss John... Good old John... We had so much fun doing... Uhm... Doing... What did we do that was fun, anyway?"

"Talk about girls, probably," Suzi said from the door. "Well, well, well.. Looky here.. The three hottest guys in our school, all naked and... getting drunk by the looks of it."

"Tim's not," Brad pointed out.

"Mmmmm," Suzi said, taking a nice long look at Brad. "Brad, you look good enough to eat."

"I know..." Brad said with a stupid grin on his face.

"Shit, Brad," Joey said. "Two beers and you're already drunk."

"I am not," Brad said, standing up straight, touching his nose repeatedly, then walking a straight line. "See?"

"So, what's up, Suz?" I said, avoiding getting into it.

"Oh, I got a letter from Eric yesterday, and thought you might want to read it."

"You mean that fag kid?" Brad asked.

"Heh.. Not any more," Joey said, giving Suzi a twinkling look.

"What?" I said in a somewhat laughing cry.

Suzi handed the envelope to me, and as soon as I read the first line, I had to exclaim, "Holy shit. Eric's in love with a girl!"

"Whoa... They're not supposed to do that," Brad said, getting up and walking over to read over my shoulder.

"What's the matter, Tim?" Suzi said when she saw me frown.

"Candice. His girlfriend. I know her. Brad, you remember her. She and Eric danced a lot at my mom's and dad's wedding reception."

"Yeah, man... I remember her. She wasn't much to look at though."

"I met her too," Suzi revealed. "At your funeral. That was the only time Eric ever let go of my hand to.. Shit, I miss him."

Joey walked over behind her and wrapped his big arms around her petite frame and gave her a kiss on the top of the head. She tilted her head sideways to lean it on his left arm, and the just stood there while I finished reading the letter.

"It does sound like he really loves her.." I concluded at the end.

"But?" Joey said, hearing it in my voice.

"Well, the thing is, Candice... She was a telepath too, and she really liked Eric a lot, but part of that was because she knew I wouldn't let her mess with his head. But when I wasn't around... I can't help but wonder if she... You know... Made him love her."

"Timmy, I'm not saying you're wrong, but..." Suzi began.

"What Suz?"

"Ever since your funeral, Eric has been miserable. Oh, he got better after a while, but when he moved... Well, this is the first letter he's written to me that he didn't sound like he wanted to die or something. I don't like the idea of someone using Eric any more than you do, but..."

"I understand. Well, I doubt Candice will harm him any... How about we go see him this summer and find out what's really going on, and then we can decide what to do if Candice has tampered with him."

"Hey, he didn't even mention you," Brad pointed out.

"I know, Brad," I said without emotion.

"Shit, Brad. Why don't you just stab him in the heart with a chainsaw," Joey growled.

"It's okay, Joey. I don't feel the least bit upset," I said honestly.

Suzi and Joey both looked a little concerned from that, so I smiled and said, "Hey, will you two stop worrying about me? I'm fine. Really. What, you want me to be miserable about something I can't help?"

They didn't say anything, so I just folded up the letter and put it back in the envelope before handing back to Suzi with a "Thank you."

"I feel like a little dip in the pool. Wanna join me Suzi?" Brad said with a charming smile.

"I'd love to," Suzi said, stepping out of Joey's arms and starts to undress.

"Shit," Joey said, rolling his eyes up. "I guess that means you're gonna wanna fuck him afterwards."

"Are you saying I can't?" Suzi said with a surprisingly amount of hostility in her voice.

"No!" Joey said crankily. "Shit, Suz. At least I don't go fucking other girls around you. First Eric, then Greg, then what's his name... The geek with the blue eyes..."

"Jacob?"

"No. Jacob? I don't remember a Jacob. I'm talkin' about the one you fucked in my back seat."

"Toby."

"Yeah.. Who's Jacob?"

"Oh.. just someone I met at the mall," Suzi said off handedly as she posed for Brad who was all eyes and cock at the time.

"Uhm, I'm going to go check on Jennifer," I said, seeing that they weren't going to make it into the pool."

"Come on, Tim," Joey begged. "Don't leave me here while they do it."

I ignored him, feeling rather confused and torn by all the emotions starting to run through me. All I could think about was getting back to Jennifer, desperately needing to refocus emotions on my love for her instead of the arousal and loyalties I felt for my friends.

When I got to her room, I found her bed empty, and after checking the bathroom, I sent out a pulse to find her. By the time I reached the kitchen, I was starting to feel better already, but not as much as when I saw her face light up with unexpected pleasure from my mere presence.

"Hi. You having fun?" she said, welcoming my hugging her while still sitting at the kitchen table.

"I was," I admitted.

"What's the matter? Did Joey try to kiss you?" she teased.

"No... Brad came over around one, and Suzi got her a little while ago too. Everything was fine until Suzi decided she wanted to fuck Brad. I didn't want to see that, so I came to find you."

"That's sweet," she said a bit off handedly. "By the way, I enjoyed watching you and Joey wrestle this morning. You two got me wet."

I blinked at her admission, having never expected her to just blurt something like that out. I could feel she was distracted by something, but I couldn't tell without peeking, and I wasn't about to invade her privacy without her invitation.

"How are things going for you?" I managed to ask.

"Oh, they're going okay. I'm almost done, I think. I just have a few more streams to work out, and then I'll.."

"Hold it. Explain what you mean by that."

"By what?" she said, giving me her full attention for the first time since I walked into the kitchen.

"A few more streams to work out? I though you were just... I don't know. Feeling out the symbols."

"What? I did all that the first day!"

"Then what have you been doing all this time?"

"Oh, plenty. I'll tell you all about it tonight, but I'm just about finished eating my lunch, and then I want to get back to work. So could you just.. Go play with your friends for now?"

"No. Not unless you want to see me go nuts with lust. I'll be... around... somewhere."

I left her sitting there, her mind already thinking about other things while her eyes watched me leave. I knew she was just incredibly involved with the symbols and all, so I wasn't really hurt she hadn't taken me seriously. But I was feeling unsettled about it all, especially after I peeked in the pool room and found both Brad and Joey working on Suzi with their cocks.

After having a slight hyperventilation attack, I decided the best thing for me to do was to go take a ride in Midge.

Even though it was still February, it almost in the fifties which made it feel like spring outside. I spent nearly an hour up in the air buzzing around, and when I was coming back to the front of the mansion, I noticed Suzi's and Brad's cars were gone, but one of our limos had arrived.

To find Joey sucking on my breast, er, that is, my mom's right breast, surprisingly made me feel very calm and emotionless, and I watched as Joey drank his fill before mounting my mom and fuck her wildly.

After they had both worn themselves out, they noticed me standing there with an emotionless expression on my face. Their own faces experienced a wide range of emotional contortions, and I just stood there and watched them until they both ended on guilt before saying, "Well, now that you have that out of your system, are you staying for dinner? It's nearly five o'clock."

They exchanged looks of concern, so I added, "I'll just give you a few minutes to decide. I'll be in the kitchen," and left them there to start preparing the meal.

"What you gonna have?" Joey asked a few minutes later as he entered the kitchen.

"I was going to cook a roast, but I waited too long to start. So I'm going to fix spaghetti instead."

"Hey..." he said, putting his hand on my back in a friendly comforting way. "Look, I'm... I'm sorry..."

"You shouldn't be. So are you going to eat here? I need to know how much spaghetti to cook."

Joey took hold of my shoulders and turned me towards him to look me in the eyes. He attempted to trigger one of those empathic connections, but I didn't have the.... empathy I guess to do it.

"Shit," he said when he finally gave up. With eyes full of concern, he then said "Come on, Tim. You were doing so good."

"You're being emotional, Joey. I'm fine. Now, could you please answer my question?"

"Yes, I'll stay!" he burst out before letting me go and turning to walk out. "Shit... I can't believe I... Fuck!"

A few minutes later, I felt my mother's mind gently touching mine. It was her way of asking my permission to probe me, and once I lowered my barriers to her, I ignored her scans while I fixed the salad and warmed the sauce in the microwave.

I was a little surprised to find them both dressed when I announced dinner was ready, but as I had anticipated, they were both very quiet and sullen during our meal.

"Tim, does Jennifer know about what happened last summer?" Joey asked after we had both taken a second helping.

"No, not yet. I haven't told her about any of the unpleasant stuff yet. I will, though. Soon."

"I think you better tell her about it tonight or she might flip out from the way you're acting," Joey said carefully.

"And how am I acting?" I asked surprised.

"Cold, honey," my mom inserted. "Just like when Joey first brought you home."

"Perhaps with you two," I said honestly. "But with Jennifer it is different."

I really hadn't intended on hurting their feelings like that, and I instantly apologized, but there was no... warmth in my voice which was precisely what there needed to be to comfort them.

My mom tried to warm me up while we were cleaning up the dishes by giving me a hug, but I didn't feel anything from it and just passively accepted it without returning any of the love she was trying to express.

After my mom failed, she announce she had to get going, and while I was perfectly aware that she was extremely upset as she left, I felt no motivation to comfort her, for I felt nothing emotionally at all.

Joey stuck around a while longer trying to get me to joke around with him or something, but around seven o'clock he decided to go for broke.

"Hey, do I have something in my eye right here?" I said suddenly while we were watching a movie in the study.

"Where?" I asked, leaning forward to see.

"Right here..." he said before pressing his lips against mine and attempting to embrace me with his kiss.

A sort of blackness flowed through me, not an evil blackness, just a blackness. I didn't go numb, I didn't black out, I just didn't find his embrace or kiss pleasurable or stimulating in the least. I didn't resist him, yet I didn't aid him either. My eyes stayed open while his were shut, and as he attempted to push his tongue in my mouth, he suddenly felt as if he was kissing a lifeless mannequin and instantly withdrew.

The hurt expression on his face only grew worse as I emotionlessly stared at him not knowing what to say or do. He finally got up without a word, but I did catch his slight sob as he left the study to go home.

I didn't care. I had absolutely no feelings of compassion or tenderness within me at the time. In fact, I sat there watching the movie without feeling anything at all, not even bothering to stop the tape when it finished for the blank screen and later the screen of static was as interesting and entertaining as the movie had been.

When ten o'clock came around, I finally got and shut the system down, used the potty, took a shower, then sat down on Jennifer's bed and waited for her to come back to life.

Just sitting there watching her breathe did something to me. Slowly my feelings for her drifted back to me, and after a while I finally let my ridged posture relax before I laid down beside her and lovingly caressed the bangs of her red hair.

I was half asleep when I heard her speak to me, and I instantly snapped to full alertness as she turned onto her side to face me.

"Hi," she said softly while smiling sweetly to me.

"Hi to you too," I said with love.

"You been waiting long?"

"Not long. I love you."

"I love you too. Would you like to know what I've been doing now?"

"Can we... Just... Hug for a few minutes first?" I said with emotion.

"Sure we can... Why? What's wrong?"

I didn't answer her for I began feeling a wall of emotion coming loose from within me somewhere that I needed to tie down before it buried whatever emotional stability I possessed.

She didn't repeat her question once I reached around her and clung to her like a little child. I don't know how long I held onto her like that, but once I came to equilibrium, I let go and gave her a simple kiss on the lips.

That night she shared with me what I consider even to this day as the most wonderful gift anyone has ever given me. Jennifer's understanding of the symbols and their streams went far beyond my own. I quickly realized that where I was gifted in what I considered to be the classical telepathic method, Jennifer was gifted in this new form of telepathy. That of the symbols and their streams.

We were like two puzzle pieces, one filling the gap in the other's understanding, very aware that what the other offered was necessary to complete their own understanding, yet would be always partial to methods they had the natural gift to use.

Jennifer's gift to me was to take me on a tour of her own mind, explaining everything to the tiniest details, and introducing me to concepts which I hadn't even guessed at before. There was just so much that I couldn't take it all in, and yet neither of us had any intention of stopping or slowing down, for it was the greatest bonding experience we could have imagined or felt.

We finished our tour somewhere around four in the morning, and even though we were both exhausted, there was something else Jennifer wanted to do before going to sleep.

Mud wresting at four in the morning wasn't exactly what I would call romantic, but we both enjoyed it immensely, even if we did have clothes on. She wouldn't let me shower with her, and I really tried every trick to get her to do it too. But Jennifer had made up her mind that it would be her birthday present, and I was bound by my love to honor her wish, and eventually went to my own room to lay in bed for two hours before having to get up and go to school.