Psyche & Eresto Part 1: Second Life
Chapter 4 of 4: The Banquet
There was a light knock on the door. "Knock, knock," said a familiar voice.
"Come in, Cassandra!" Kim closed her diary and sat up on the loveseat. She put her pen in the spiral of her spiral notebook and looked up as Cassandra came in and closed the door.
It was the following day, in the mid-afternoon. Kim had done her reading and running, and had also gone for a walk on the grounds in the morning. She was just finishing up her day's diary entry, filling it with her thoughts on the previous evening's conversation with Eresto.
"Hey hun, big day today!" Cassandra beamed. "Your first ten day banquet in a couple hours. After today you are officially part of the gang." Cassandra was wearing something that was between a toga and a robe. Sitting there in jeans and a tshirt she had just gotten from her apartment in a quick "First Life Check", it suddenly dawned on Kim that she had never seen Cassandra in modern Earth clothing like what she was wearing.
Kim reached to the desk next to the loveseat and put her diary in the top drawer. The cover of the diary with the words "Psyche Diary -- NO ERESTO" were the last thing she saw as she put the diary away.
"I'm really nervous," Kim scooted over on the loveseat, making room.
Cassandra sat next to her. "Yeah that's understandable, but you only go the first time once. You'll meet some new people, eat good food... drink a lot of wine... you'll have a blast."
"Seeing people is what makes me nervous."
Cassandra looked over at the far wall, seeing a portrait of Kim that Eresto had drawn a couple evenings earlier. Clad in red, with eyes almost glowing with happiness, it might as well have been a high resolution digital picture of a woman who was more goddess than human. "Wow, did he do that?"
"I've never seen anything like it," Kim replied. "He's an incredible artist."
"Very nice..." Cassandra's voice trailed off, and she sat back for a moment looking at the picture. After a brief pause, she spoke again. "So, have you spoken with Eresto about what we talked about yesterday?" She turned to look at Psyche.
"We watched the sunset and talked a lot last night," Kim answered. "I told him I'll help and support him any way I can. And I found out why he's been so single for so long."
"Aha! The truth comes out," Cassandra interjected excitedly. "So, what's the story?"
"He had a lover a long time ago, and she left him." Kim bit her lip. "He's been heartbroken. I can't bear to think of his wonderful soul as being hurt so."
"Huh, interesting." Cassandra raised her eyebrows as though she was considering the new information. Then she spoke emphatically and definitively. "Well I think he's over that, because the chatter among the ladies is that the most desirable bachelor in Angelhome is head over heels for his new pet."
"I love him so much," Kim gushed, holding back tears. "I don't care that things are different here, or that I have to sacrifice to be here with him. He's everything I could want in a man, and I want to look after him."
"Well, I know this place isn't easy to deal with at first. That's why you've been given space." Cassandra patted Kim on the shoulder. "If you have any doubts, you need to talk to him pronto."
Kim shrugged. Thoughts raced through her mind and she had an uneasy feeling in her gut. Her eyes went to the door that led home. "Is it true, we can walk out at any time?" She asked.
"There was a girl who left, some time back," Cassandra said. "She had been here a while and her longing for the people of her old life consumed her." Cassandra gazed at the wall, as though she was reaching deep into her memory to recall. "She had been here before me, and us girls tried to console her, but the thought took root in her mind and ultimately she told us she had to go. She walked through her door, closed it from the other side, and and was gone for good. Her partner was pretty heartbroken for a while, but they tend to bounce back."
"So they don't try to keep us from leaving?"
"No, but it's not as simple as that." Cassandra replied. "You'll never know or be with another man like Eresto. There's simply no man like him on earth, and no place like this."
"I see. But then again he's not a man is he?" Kim replied. "I've love him, and I want him, but there's something that he can't give me. What I'll really want some day." She turned to Cassandra, hopeful to hear a reply that might bring her comfort.
"He's not, but understand: if you leave, there's no returning and you'll never see him again. We don't see their kind, in life or afterwards." She took Kim's hand. "That's the thing I realized. Here, we have something that most people don't even know exists. It's not perfect but it's damn close."
They sat in silence for a moment, and Cassandra seemed to be in thought. "It's interesting, though," she said as she looked into Kim's eyes again. "They really are a lot like us, like humans, aren't they? I mean, beyond the fact that the, uh, biology works out well."
"In some ways, but he's pure and simple in his soul," Kim replied, stopping to think about her Lover. "There's a lot I think he doesn't understand about human emotions, or at least mine."
"Typical guy," Cassandra noted.
Kim felt a knot in her stomach and a tear welling up in her eye. "He's all love and art. He really loves the world around him and he really loves me. Every time I look into his eyes, that's all I see."
"Not jaded by life on Earth," Cassandra concurred. "And they're sort of built to last, in the soul. I guess when they have infinite days to live, every day might as well be like starting life anew. Otherwise it would all get boring."
Kim felt a tear streaming down her cheek and wiped it away. "Thanks for the help," Kim replied. "I'm really glad I have you to talk to."
"We all need help getting through these first stages of the life here. I did." She rubbed Kim's hand. "I can see why he fell for you, you know. It's not just that you're beautiful. There is a life force inside you. I can't see it because I'm not one of them, but I can tell something's there." She paused and considered for a moment. "I'm really glad Mistress Abeldine asked me to help you out."
"She did?"
"I guess I haven't mentioned that?" Cassandra wondered out loud. "Yeah, she asked me to help you get acquainted with the way of life here."
"Well then, I'm glad she did," Kim said as she looked at Cassandra's lips and smiled. The other smiled back, and Kim felt something in the back of her mind pushing her forward.
Kim leaned in slowly, tentatively, as Cassandra closed her eyes. She kissed Cassandra, whose hand slid over Kim's arm. Cassandra returned the kiss and ran her fingertips over Kim's wrist lightly, almost tickling. Kim felt her skin tingling. She moaned slightly against Cassandra's lips and opened her mouth. Her tongue flicked against Cassandra's front teeth, and their kiss deepened.
