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34
Punishing an Inanimate Object
The next two days went more smoothly. We spent most of our time on the cliff, climbing as a team. I wasn't asked to perform any further huge feats of magic. Instead, I worked on my control. By the end of the day Friday, the team was climbing together well, all of us had the feel of the safety ropes and repelling, and my telekinetic control was fine enough to give Shawn a full-back massage and foot rub without looking at him.
I was eager to wrap his whole body in my power, but he still wouldn't let me use my magic on his `sensitive bits.' It was a prohibition I didn't plan to obey much longer. Shawn and I were much more discreet during our trysts, but it was largely too late. Wednesday night had given Bem enough material to keep me stop-sign red for the rest of the trip, maybe for the rest of my life.
The first of Bem's teasing triumphs was at the end of Thursday's climbing session. I got to the ground ahead of Shawn and made the mistake of asking Bem to help me get the harness off. "Why take it off?" He asked. "Wouldn't Shawn rather have more than just your slick hips to hold onto? Tell me, is he always the batsman, or does he get to be the wicketkeeper sometimes to?" I didn't get the sports reference, but I didn't need to. I understood the question and turned red, which was the reaction Bem wanted. I struggled out of the harness on my own while he grinned at me.
The truth of the matter was, and much to my surprise and I think Shawn's as well, we'd found out that I could be a very eager bottom and Shawn could be a very aggressive top. I didn't think those roles would be hard and fast...well, I mean...I wanted them to be both of those things, but not every time. I liked to top, and Shawn liked to bottom, but when I thought back over all the sessions we'd had, I realized that when we allowed the lust to take control, more often than not, I wound up on the bottom and Shawn wound up on top. He and I had spoken about it when we woke up tangled together that morning.
My butt was still stinging where he'd slapped it raw the night before, and the naughty hurt made me feel sexy when I kissed him awake. He seemed to have a qualm about what we'd done. "I hope I didn't go too far last night."
"Not at all. I loved it."
"Why?" He asked, then tried to qualify his question. "I mean, whenever I felt like I was getting too aggressive, you pushed me to go even further. Why?"
"Because I can take it and you seemed to love it."
My answer worried him. He voiced his concern. "But you shouldn't take it just because you can take it. Why do you want me to hurt you?"
I gathered him against me and held him tight while he worried. I tried to explain the way I felt. "I didn't take it just because I could. I love it when we make love, but I found out that I also love it when you lose control. It makes me feel sexy and a little nasty. When you got really aggressive, when you...you know...slapped me when you were inside...super fucking hot. It hurt, but it's a good hurt. That's why I didn't let you take the hurt away when we were finished. I wanted the feeling to last."
"Does that mean I really am a sadist, and you are a masochist?"
I squeezed Shawn against me a little tighter to make him feel safe as we had, what I considered to be, a very delicate discussion. "I think sadists like to inflict pain for pain's sake and masochists like to feel pain for pain's sake. I don't think that's what's happening here. I think we found out that I like it when you're aggressive and you like to be aggressive. We're just giving each other what we want. Haven't you done things like that before?"
He shook his head against my body. "No...with Roeb, he was the person I was with the longest, I was always the bottom. Even when I was with other people, most of the time, I was the bottom. When I did top, I was always careful...very careful because I'm a big man. With you...it's like you beg me to be anything but careful."
I guessed from Shawn's words that the first slap he'd given me the night before was out of an impulse and not something he'd taken from previous experience. The fact that he'd tried it, and I'd loved it, was a happy coincidence. He'd been aggressive with me before, but he'd never struck me. I guess it surprised him when he did it and loved doing it as much as it surprised me when I realized I loved receiving it. I tried to convince his calm, regular self to be OK with what his lust-fueled-self had done in the literal heat of the moment.
"Careful is boring. Look...I'm surprised to. I never expected to be the...to enjoy what I enjoy, as much as I enjoy it, but I do. Bottoming for you, and the slapping, they're both great. I mean, not every single time. I want to do other things with you, but when we really get into it, like we did last night, I want you to do everything you did again with no fear. I don't think we should worry about trying to label it or analyze what we think it says about us as people. I don't think it says anything about us as people except we're passionate people who enjoy being passionate together. If it feels right...we should do what feels right. Right?"
"Right." He agreed and kissed me.
"I suppose we should get up." I said reluctantly.
Shawn was about to say something when some noises from the other tent stopped the words before they left his throat. It sounded like Neb and Bem were having a hot time just a few feet away from us, just on the other side of two fabric partitions. "Good for them." I said.
Shawn kissed me with more than just `good morning' behind the action. "Does that give you any ideas?" He asked.
"Some," I admitted, "but I'm not very creative. I might need help to flesh them out."
He and I followed the example of our team leadership and had an invigorating morning. `Maybe I will be able to get used to this place.' I thought as our passion ignited.
Bem's other triumph of teasing was Friday morning. He was especially raw during breakfast. Shawn slapped his ration down on the tabletop for it to heat but it didn't seem to be working. He whacked it down again. Bem offered some leering advice. "Shawn, Shawn, gently. It's just a breakfast ration. Hitting it harder won't show it who's in charge."
He couldn't get a rise out of Shawn, so he turned his attention to me. "Church, does he soothe the skin when he's done or do you like it when the sting lasts?"
I tried to keep a poker face, but the heat pouring from my head told me I was unsuccessful. I couldn't believe how perceptive Bem was. I wondered how he read me as well as he did. Bem was elated. "Oooohhhhh naughty, naughty, Church; you like the sting. I'm starting to think you told me the truth on the way here. I never met a masochist before."
I felt my own shame rise a little at Bem's accusation and felt Shawn worry from Bem's use of the label that I hoped we'd disposed of the previous morning. Neb, who previously hadn't involved herself beyond a comment here and there, finally took pity on me and put a stop to the teasing. "Bem, do you think Church's constant embarrassment is good, or bad, for the team spirit?"
"I'm just having fun with him." Bem objected like a bully who'd been caught. "He knows I'm only teasing."
Neb pointed her fork and ticked him off like a pro. "You go too far. Wednesday night it was amusing. I played along so they'd know we could hear them. It's clear you're not bothering Shawn, but Church isn't from here and you are bothering him. I won't have it."
Bem sulked a little, but offered no more comments, lewd or otherwise. I didn't know what power Neb had over him to make him comply so easily, but I was happy for it.
On Friday evening, Neb asked us to stay on to Saturday morning. I didn't mind at all. We'd been on the wall all day and were tired. The idea of having to break camp and drive back to the city felt like too much after the day we'd put in. "There's one more thing I want Church to do before we go back." Neb announced without providing details.
That sounds great.' I thought sarcastically. I wonder how I'll wind up almost dead this time.'
The next morning, we packed up and left. Neb drove us deeper into the mountains instead of toward the city. I had a notion she was going to ask me for something big and was worried. My worry spiked to fear when she drove us to the rock quarry that had tried to kill me. Shawn tried to keep me calm by directing my attention to the weathered patterns in the rocks, but it wasn't working. We bounced down the haul-road to a spot about a hundred feet off the old quarry floor and midway along one of the four, equal-length walls. Neb pulled the van close to the wall, parked, and we all got out.
She moved to the edge of the road to look into the quarry. "Church, I can guess you're not happy to be back here, but I need to see your Vitalis magic and this is the only place I can think of to try it. You've got too much power for the city and I don't want to destroy the canyon we just left. This place is expendable and deep enough and far enough away that no one will see the flash of your magic."
I leaned my back against the van with my arms crossed over my chest and objected. "I really don't want to. I mean, I really, really don't want to. Every time I do, something goes very wrong and I wind up full of broken glass, or stabbed, or underground, or some other kind of fucked up. I think I'm more dangerous to me than anything else."
Neb insisted. "We need to know what you can do."
I considered flat refusal. It's difficult to argue with a firm `no.' I was getting damn tired of waking up covered in blood and was starting to feel like I was both the tornado and the trailer park. The problem I kept coming back to was that Neb wasn't wrong. She was the leader and needed to know what each of us could do. I argued with myself internally. The argument broke the surface, taking the form of a tantrum. "Fuck. Fuck! FUCK!" I shouted. "FINE! YOU WIN!" My frustration broke the surface in the form of violent arm waving, like I was trying to scare pigeons off a city park statue. "But we do this the way I want to do it. NON-FUCKING-NEGOTIABLE!"
Neb tentatively agreed to my terms. I got us all back in the van and made her drive us to the top of the quarry and park facing the exit. I opened the back doors of the van and cleared a spot for myself and Neb to sit behind the gear. I put my harness on and made her do the same, then I had her tie us both into the van. I made Bem sit behind the wheel, ready to drive like hell if anything went wrong. Shawn watched the proceedings from the rear-most back seat, kneeling on the seat with his front pressed to the seatback.
The quarry entrance was roughly centered on one of the legs of the square. Opposite was the tallest cliff face. The quarry was a thousand feet deep to the top of the haul road, but the far side cliff face rose above that by another two hundred feet. This was some of the oldest rock that was cut away as it had to be removed before going beneath the surface. The rock was solid with no visible stress cracks. The only imperfection was the regular square pattern left by the removal of ten-by-ten slabs.
We were close enough to the edge of the hole that I could see the opposite cliff face from top to bottom, including the edge of the jagged opening of the cave-in and the darkness below. I tugged on the ropes to reassure myself they were secure and got ready to do whatever was asked of me. "I'm as ready as I'm gonna get. What do you want to see?"
"Do the biggest thing you can think of." She prompted. "I want to see how destructive you can be."
Great.' I thought. High expectations and no direction. She's just like every boss I've ever had. What's the biggest thing I can think of? I kinda hate this place. I'm bent because it tried to kill me. What if I wreck it, collapse the mountain into it? I wonder if I can do that. Wouldn't hurt to try.' I gestured to the far wall. "Is there anything over there? I mean, if I drop that piece of mountain into the hole, will I hurt anyone?"
Neb shook her head. "That's all military-property and posted. There are no roads and no access to it. The bare rock doesn't even support animal life."
I rubbed my neck and worried. I was considering a massive feat of magic power...or attempting one at least. Nothing big that I'd done so far, beside the poplar tree, had ended well for me. This time, I'd taken all the safety steps I could think of. I was secure in the van, Bem was ready to drive us to safety in case something went wrong, and the only downside to me using a bunch of power was that I would get hungry and maybe lose some weight. `Oh fuck.' I thought and braced myself.
"Alright...alright...here we go." I stretched my right arm out, palm toward the quarry. I imagined a column of light, like a three-inch-thick laser beam, from my palm to the far cliff. It appeared and I could see it plainly despite the bright sunshine. I aimed for the base of the wall and fired a high-powered burst at it. A pulse of much brighter light left my hand and traveled down the column. It slammed into the wall, taking a big chunk out of it. The only sound was falling rock. The light and the pulse were completely silent.
I heard an awed `wow' behind me. I looked over my shoulder to see Bem completely twisted around in the driver's seat so he could watch me work. I flipped out. "DON'T YOU FUCKING WATCH ME!" I shouted and pointed at him over my shoulder. "YOU WATCH THE ROAD! IF I SAY DRIVE, YOU MAT IT DOWN!"
He spun in his seat and gripped the wheel. "SORRY!"
I turned back to my task. "Goddamned right sorry." I muttered. My anger faded quickly, making way for swelling confidence that took over. The first blast showed me that I could do it. I psyched myself up to go again. "Alright, enough fucking around." I aimed both palms at the base of the cliff and imagined a wide fan of light spreading from them to stretch from one corner of the quarry to the other. It appeared. Neb made a small, surprised noise at the sight. I ignored her and bore down on my magic. I threw all the power I could manage down my arms and out to the base of the cliff.
The whole fan of light glowed like a neon tube. It didn't waver or flicker. The power coursed down my arms, along the fan of light, and slammed into the mountain. I felt it vaporizing the rock and digging deeper. Rock above and below the magic cracked and burst from the wall. Large chunks tumbled and fell into the yawning maw of the collapsed quarry floor. Those that fell into the fan of light were vaporized when they touched it. Some of the chunks of rock that fell were large enough to send crashing echoes up to our ears.
Creating and discharging the power still felt good, but this time it was different. I was mad. It was a dark pleasure battering the inert rock. Logically, inanimate objects can't act maliciously, but tell that to every chair leg you've ever stubbed your toe on. The natural human reaction is to punish the chair. Rational or not, I wanted to punish the quarry.
The destruction was exciting. I poured the power on, found reserves I hadn't previously tapped. I felt Shawn watching. The display excited him, and his excitement, excited me. I took his feelings, added them to my own, and drove them into the magic. The neon brightness of the fan intensified, and it started to make some sound. It crackled like an arc struck with high tension electricity. My pleasure in the discharge pleased Shawn. His pleasure fed back to me, setting up a loop that rewarded the creation of more and more power.
Pleasure grew to arousal, grew to a sexual charge, and an almost orgasmic bliss as I poured the energy forth. Small fissures appeared in the cliff side, growing rapidly to wide cracks. They sprouted from the magic to grow like time-lapse recordings of a burgeoning plant. The fractures covered the once-solid mountainside until it looked like a shattered piece of safety glass that hadn't yet fallen away. I could feel the climax of my work coming and wanted to make it spectacular.
I gathered even more power and hurled it along the fan of light. It smashed into the mountain as a blinding pulse of white. The cliff side burst from its parent rock and rained into the quarry like a dump truck unloading gravel. I shut my magic down and let it fall. The entire mountain peak slumped and tumbled like dry sand. The ground shook, the tumbling rock deafened us with its bitter shouts of defeat. "I've seen enough." Neb blandly announced as the vast hole in the ground was filled with rubble almost up to the haul road.
I leaned back against the gear and felt like I'd just gotten off. I felt great. I rubbed my hands together and caught my breath. I didn't realize I'd been breathing hard, but I was and my heart raced. I turned to Shawn. He was flushed and sweaty. "You OK?" I asked.
"I will be when I can get my hands on you." He said fanning himself with his hands.
I looked to Neb for feedback. I didn't have to ask for her thoughts. "I'm starting to feel much better about this mission. Thank you, Church." She said with a crisp nod.
Neb untied the safety rope and we helped each other out of our harnesses. I joined Shawn in the rear-most seat of the van. He instantly suctioned onto my face. I pulled him into my lap, facing me. We necked and groped, hands roaming under clothes, oblivious to anything around us. He was so hot; it was like embracing a freshly cast bronze statue. I thought we'd melt into each other like dissimilar metals.
We mauled each other, mouths open, tongues out licking and sucking at any skin that was available, faces, necks, inside collars. Our hands squeezed and pulled, pouring gasoline on the fire of our mutual lust. I felt his hardness press against my belly and felt my own, trapped under his ass as he ground his roundness into my lap. We brought each other to the point where we either had to stop or have sex with an audience. We stopped, but it wasn't easy. I felt myself losing control and just about shoved him off me.
As I did it, he seemed to realize where we were and used his own force of will to pull himself back from the brink. He gracefully rotated out of my lap. The movement finished with him sitting next to me on the bench seat. I noticed Bem eyeing us in the rearview. He was still in the driver's seat and piloting us along the mountain roads. What I could see of his face was as flushed as Shawn's looked and mine felt.
"Show's over." I announced to his obvious disappointment. He blinked hard and put his attention on the road where it belonged. Neb was in the passenger seat, working on her black tablet. I wondered briefly if she had a very active social media account, was a compulsive reader, or what else she could be doing on that tablet.
My physical hunger overcame my curiosity and I reached for a bag of nuts. Shawn reminded that we still had rations. I tore into a pair of meals. They made me feel better. Brunch over, I held my hands in front of my face, turning them to alternately see the calloused palms and the scarred backs. "That white magic is pretty cool." I said, still not quite believing it came from me. "It's like electricity but not, and like plasma but not, and like high frequency but not."
Shawn watched me examine my hands, and asked me to explain myself. "I'm sure I could go through your memories and figure out what you're talking about, but why don't you just tell me?" He set his own hands in his lap and gave me his attention.
"I told you I was a welder and you know what that means, right?"
"Right." He agreed.
"OK, so, with electric arc welding...let's stick with DC current because it's easiest, electricity has to flow from the positive electrode, usually a welding rod, to the work, which is grounded or negative. The heat of the arc is what melts the metal to bond the joint. The electricity needs to create a circuit to flow. My magic isn't quite like electricity, because I'm not completing a circuit."
"Makes sense so far."
I continued the lesson. "Plasma is similar. In plasma cutting, electricity establishes an arc, then a jet of air is directed through the arc to the work. The arc ionizes the air and creates plasma which does the cutting. It still requires a complete circuit."
I didn't wait for confirmation that he understood. I was excited to talk about my old profession and got carried away. "Some welding processes use what's called scratch start. That's when the electrode is brought into physical contact with the work. That starts the flow of electricity. Pulling back establishes the arc. Some other processes use high frequency start. Those processes use non-consumable electrodes. Scratching them to start the arc would damage them. These use high frequency electricity to create a path for the weld electricity to flow across. The weird thing about high frequency, is that it doesn't seem to require a complete circuit. You can point it into the air and the electricity will flow. See?"
He nodded, then shook his head. He didn't see. I tried to summarize. "My magic destroys like plasma, but flows like high frequency. It doesn't seem to need a complete circuit to flow. That's what I find fascinating."
Neb disagreed from up front. "You're not thinking broadly enough. Magic is born in nature. Most of us absorb our power from nature and use it, effectively returning it to nature. You may make your own magic, but the fuel for your body still comes from nature. It's not as simple as a battery powering a light, but there is still a completed circuit."
Her reasoning made it all work. "All magic, just like all electricity, wants to return to the Earth." I voiced my understanding aloud. "Neat."
"Yes, except the magic wants to return to Solum, not the Earth." She corrected, rather pedantically, I thought.
Problem solved, I sat back to enjoy the ride into the city.