Doctor Who_ Beyond the Sun - Matthew Jones [62]
He had always believed that people chose well if they were free. It felt that, despite the invaders having brought his world to its knees, the principles of Ursulan life were still alive, growing like weeds beneath concrete. In the face of true choice, even these profiteers with their pettiness and love of property couldn’t help but shine.
His two new friends were lying asleep on the double mattress in the smaller dormitory room.
Tameka had her arm draped protectively over Emile. Both were fully clothed and the remains of their meal still lay on the floor by the bed.
They were probably used to servants or slaves cleaning up after them. He imagined them living in huge palaces surrounded by piles of clothes and presents. Or perhaps they had been the slaves, days filled with mindless drudgery just to have enough food to eat and a place to sleep.
He wondered what they had been fighting about earlier. Property, probably – the boy certainly liked things. Emile was like a magpie – one eye always on what glittered. Scott found himself wondering what it would be like to have sex with someone who wanted to own you, to make you theirs. It sounded both exciting and unsettling. Almost perverse.
Lightning flickered outside and was quickly followed by a roll of thunder. The storm was near and getting closer.
The young woman, Tameka, lifted her head off the pillow. ‘Oh, it’s you. Hello, dragon boy.
What time is it?’
‘It’s late.’
‘How is it next door? Are they still going at it?’
‘It’s over. Your friend is going to live.’
‘Hoo boy, did the old man come to his senses or did Benny have to kick his ass up and down the stairs?’
Scott, for once, wasn’t in the mood for a debate.
They stepped out on to the small balcony beyond the window, closing the shutters behind them so they could watch the storm alone. Neither of them wanted to wake Emile, who was snoring quietly and drooling on to his pillow. There was no rail on the balcony and they sat with their legs dangling over the edge. The sky was a deep orange colour and the lightning which flickered across it was a brilliant yellow. There was no sign of rain.
He watched her closely, as if he might physically see the differences in their lives if he looked long enough. He couldn’t see them. Just a beautiful girl watching a storm, her eyes widening with wonder as the clouds flickered with electric light. Her dark make-up was smudged from the pillow.
He licked his finger and wiped it away from her eyes.
She raised an eyebrow but didn’t object. ‘You’re confident.’
He didn’t understand the meaning behind her words but the smile was universal.
‘I’d like to have sex with you. Are you interested?’ he asked.
‘Last of the romantics, I see.’ She reached out and pulled him towards her. Her lips tasted of make-up and he stopped kissing and asked her to wipe it off.
She sighed and wiped her mouth on her sleeve. ‘You sure know how to spoil a moment, don’t you, dragon boy?’
They had sex on the balcony while the lightning flickered over the irregular outline of the city.
The sex was as strange as he thought it was going to be, but not in the way he had imagined. She didn’t try to control him or force him to do what she wanted. She didn’t actually ask him to do anything for her, but instead seemed to expect him to guess what she might enjoy, rewarding him with whispered sighs when he guessed correctly. It was enjoyable, but it also felt like a game that had fixed rules or a ritual of some kind. He was beginning to tire of it, when she pushed him over on to his back and climbed on top of him. They began to move rhythmically, gently at first. He looked up at her face, which was almost completely silhouetted against the orange sky. Her head was a grey shadow. He could just see that her eyes were closed and she was breathing quickly.
Afterwards, they lay on the cold concrete of the balcony, as the night retreated, showing the very first sign of a lemon dawn. Tameka rested her head on his chest. She ran her hand down his side, tracing the line where his scales merged into his pale human skin.