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The rest of the present day scenes for Chapter 3. The title of this chapter is Together.
"I'll be damned. You smoke and you're drinking my wine? That's underage drinkin' here in these parts, missy!"
"Oh, blow it out your ass, Doug! So what if I have sophisticated taste buds at my age? I earned it!"
Douglas laughed out loud at Michelle's retort. He poured a glass for himself and sat the wine bottle down on the kitchen counter.
"If you're so sophisticated, then what about relationships?" he inquired. "I got a somewhat steady girlfriend. For now. What you got?"
"I got..." Michelle trailed off as she slowly swirled the wine around in her glass. "God! What do I have? Well, there is Tweek. Although I can't say it's, um... us going out, or anything. Told you about that online talk show he got into. He likes having me on that stupid show of his. Talking politics. Often, it's him imitating larper culture. Reading Sonic the Hedgehog erotic fan-fics from the dark web, which is bloody fucking horrific – but he's funny. Girls like that. For me, it depends. Sometimes, I laugh. Usually, I'm just annoyed. Like Athena."
"Yep. Sounds like you," Doug smirked.
"Yes, and look at you! You're always laughing and grinning at everything! That's Tweek now!"
"But that's not you? Hell, even my girlfriend can't stop grinning at me like a lunatic every time she sees me! Think I satisfy her too much!"
Michelle rolled her eyes and looked off into the living room area. "There's a part of me that feels wildly nervous about everything. They say a sign of genius is for you to be in a constant state of overthinking. That's what I do, even if the answer is staring me in the face and I'm too egg-headed to realize it half the time! Not sure if that's genius."
"What you anxious about?"
"I don't know! I just... ya know! Feel like I don't fit into this stupid, screwball existence, like I'm always walking through fog or something."
A silence sat in between the two. Douglas frowned.
"You wanna know what was goin' through my mind back on that pier, right before you walked up to me?" he asked. "It was the past. It wasn't my past. It was planet Earth's. You don't think that shit terrifies me? Friggin' hell. That's why I don't think. I smoke weed and get stoned off my ass."
Michelle couldn't help but crack a smile at Douglas' statement. "That must be nice."
"As far as I'm concerned, you have nothing to be worried about," Douglas assured her. "Until you also get kicked out of Niamaterian after age twenty-five, you'll be livin' it sweet. You got no dystopia bullshit to deal with over there – well, nothing like Earth, anyway. Beyond that, you're doing what you want. Achieving greater things than I ever did!"
Michelle smiled. She nodded thoughtfully to herself. "Mn, hm. Perhaps. It's dealing with others that I suppose what irks me, particularly all those political larper groups."
"Ah! Fuck those brain-dead idiots, walking around, thinking they're hot shit!" Douglas scoffed. "Either they're dumb as hell, or it's class warfare in disguise, like Anthony used to say. Shame that Karen is falling into that weird social illness. Does Athena have any say on her condition, or has she been pushed out of the picture?"
"Don't think Athena's ever been in the picture! I'm starting to think Athena should step in and do something! I'm not sure what. Karen already had this one girl living with her. Her name's Athura Tomko-Pavia. She's a girl about my age. Traded off to Karen from one of her older friends who's time went up in Nia. Met her a few times. Level-headed. Smart. Quite friendly. Long story short, she's now staying at Kathryn's place! I can make plenty of guesses as to why!"
"You know what the word Niam translates to in Hasmian?" asked Doug. "It means immature. Aterian means universe, so the two together literally translate to the words 'immature universe.' Niamaterian in a nutshell. So, in a universe of stupid little shits, ya gotta be one of the few to keep headin' out there and workin' with what ya got.”
"That's what I do. That's all I do, it seems."
They stopped talking briefly. Michelle went back to staring at Douglas' swanky living room area. For once, she felt oddly comfortable, sitting here in complete silence with someone else in the same room with her.
"Hey. How's my other boys?" asked Douglas. "Already mentioned Tweeky. Duck Boy. What's John, Milton and Andrew doin' these days?"
"Last I heard, they bought an old space transport ship, started a mining and trading business. Long time sense I've seen 'em. Good riddance too! Milton and Andrew were larpers! They got gum in my hair! They drenched me with water! Their beds were piled with trash! They smelled!"
"Hey! They weren't larpers! They were dick weeds!" Douglas said, laughing to himself. "Also, that gum in your hair thing was an accident. They were throwing it in the trash can! You came out, got in the way!"
"Bleedin' hell, I did!" Michelle angrily protested. All this did was send Douglas into a laughing fit.
"Oh, dear god," Michelle moaned. "Some of you guys were terrible! It's not even funny!"
"Yeah! Yeah. I know, but we had fun. You didn't, but we did," Douglas smirked. "Ya see, that's what happens when you have an apartment condo full of male testosterone. We develop into a state of farting on each others heads as a means of entertainment."
"I hate you so much right now, Douglas."
Douglas went into a fit of hysterical laughter. Michelle was enraged, but she couldn't help but fight back the smile appearing on her face.
It was late. The living room was silent, save for the fire in the fireplace. Michelle had passed out on the couch. Her jacket was on the floor. The two flag pins on her jacket reflected the flickering light of the fire.
Douglas had been mired in thought. He had come to a rather decisive decision. Tomorrow morning, he was going to ask Michelle to not wipe out his memories. All those fake memories weren't doing much for him.
Once again, he took out the coin that he had with him back out at the pier. The coin was an old United States Silver Eagle, depicting 'Lady Liberty' with one outstretched arm, walking towards either a sunrise or a sunset. In Douglas' mind, it was a sunrise.
He got up from his big, comfy chair, grabbed Michelle's jacket and popped the coin into her front pocket. Douglas then put the jacket over Michelle's form like a blanket and slowly trotted off to bed.
NEXT SCENE (Coming Soon)
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