Author's Note
This is a lengthy story, more than 50.000 worlds. It's emotionally charged, heavy on descriptions, dialogue, self-reflection, and BDSM references. Though it is often humorous, full of friendly teasing and banter, you may find some parts more intense. Please note that any BDSM references which are based on my personal perspective on power exchange relationships. If you're seeking a quick or light read or you are not into 'Incest/Taboo' or 'BDSM', you might want to skip it.
Lastly, as non-native English speaker, and despite my best efforts, there may be some errors. Thank you for your understanding.
Chapters
1. A Gal Extraordinaire
2. Gimme a Ticket for an Aeroplane
3. Until I See a Cretan Peak
4. Power Dynamics 101
5. Debugging Feelings: A Programmer's Guide to Oneself
6. Love, Loss, and Hot Chocolate
7. Experimental Dynamic Systems Theory
8. A Possible Kill Screen
9. Python Lessons
10. The Chessboard of Life, or "What Trust Is"
11. Still a Better Romance Than Twilight
12. The Honey Badger
13. The Temple and the King
14. Moonlight Sonata
15. On the Beach
16. So, This Is Paradise
17. And Nothing Else Matters
18. On Differential Manifolds
19. The Shape of Things to Cum
20. Сыграем
21. Que sera, sera
1. A Gal Extraordinaire
Since the late '70s, I have had five female cousins: three from my mom's side and two from my dad's. In the mid-'80s, my mother's youngest brother--or rather half-brother, since my grandfather remarried after my grandmother died--left his family to start a new one with his mistress, something my mom and her other brother couldn't accept, and we cut all ties with him. In the late '80s and early '90s, he had two more children: first a boy named Manolis in 1989, and two years later a girl named Andrianne, or Andie, as she preferred to be called.
In 2007, my uncle sought reconciliation, and we finally met our two cousins for the first time. Manolis was eighteen at the time, and Andie was sixteen. She was strikingly beautiful, unlike my other cousins who had a more girl-next-door appeal, such as my cousin Liz, whom I mentioned in another story. Andie developed a fierce crush on me that she couldn't hide. Though I found it amusing, I was careful to keep her at a distance; not only was she my first cousin, but she was also underage. It wasn't easy, she was--and still is--a gal extraordinaire; it's like God had ten gifts to give out, and being a busy day in heaven, He said, "Screw it" and gave them all to Andie!
As I mentioned in my other story, I passed my university entrance exams on my third attempt due to struggles with physics and chemistry. I was very-very strong in mathematics; in fact, on my first attempt I was one of only three in the country to score a perfect 160 though this wasn't enough, as the University of Crete's School of Computer Science is highly sought and requires top marks for admission.
Andie, despite being extremely bright, struggled with Euclidean Geometry. My uncle asked if I could help her and so for the next two years I became her tutor. Her crush on me grew even stronger, but I managed to keep her at a distance while ensuring I didn't hurt her feelings. I started genuinely liking her and her deadpan humor very quickly. I became enamored with her mind; she is easily the brightest person I've ever met--and I've been privileged to meet many extremely bright people in my life. Last but not least, I won't lie, cousin or not, she is drop dead gorgeous.
Anyway, as it happened--and to my disappointment, because I truly believe she could excel as a mathematician--she chose to study computer science. The best school in Greece for this subject is the University of Crete's School of Computer Science, so she decided to follow in my footsteps. Although I don't consider myself a great teacher, my tutoring was effective. Her issue wasn't a lack of understanding of Euclidean Geometry, but rather a lack of interest in how it was taught in Greek schools. The truth is, Euclidean Geometry requires a level of abstraction and mathematical maturity beyond that of an average sixteen-year-old. Consequently, the material taught is very simplified, which is where she lost interest.
You see, having an IQ off the charts, Andie was anything but average. The problem wasn't her; it was her teachers, who simply couldn't keep her mind engaged. Although I studied computer science, my true love has always been mathematics; in fact, my doctorate is in complexity theory. What I managed to do with Andie was share my passion and love for mathematics, and the rest followed naturally, like water flowing in a riverbed.
What I did was very simple: she loved puzzles and mind games--if you haven't played chess with her, you have no idea what humiliation means--and I showed her that Euclidean geometry is just a mind game with specific rules. Definitions and axioms, based strictly on formal logic, lead to theorems. We didn't stop at Euclidean geometry; I also explained the basic principles of hyperbolic and elliptic geometry. I told her that mathematics doesn't hide any intrinsic truth; with different rules, you can create different games, each absolutely true within its own context, just like Euclidean and non-Euclidean geometries.
Well, two months after her eighteenth birthday, she was born in late March, she succeeded, and spectacularly so--she aced the exams and, as we found out in late August, she passed with the highest marks, ranking first in her school and earning a scholarship. Our uncle took us out for a family celebration and two days later, Andie asked to take me out for some drinks. I didn't think much of it; after all, I had taken both of my cousins out for coffee on multiple occasions, and Manolis for drinks as well.
When I went by her home to pick her up and saw her, I gasped. By the gods, she looked like she had stepped out of a magazine; she was stunning, and though the dress was quite modest, it subtly accentuated her figure. While she wasn't built like Lizzy, Andie was also a track athlete--400m hurdles--and her body was also quite beautiful, with lovely proportions. Whereas Lizzy was blonde and statuesque, Andie, in comparison, was just 1.67 meters tall, with jet black hair reaching down to the middle of her back and wisps framing her eyebrows. Her eyes were dark brown, and she also had a girlish charm, but not in a girl-next-door way; unlike Lizzy's, Andie's face could be envied even by supermodels.
"Sorry I kept you waiting!" she said after entering my car filling the air with the intoxicating scent of her perfume.
"No worries, Andie," I replied. "You're not the first girl that had me waiting, though you being my cousin makes it easier to forgive!" I teased her, and she playfully stuck out her tongue and made a "brrrrrrrr" noise, making me chuckle.
"Now that we are on the same page, where to go?"
"You asked to take me out, so I'm all ears!"
"I don't know any good place for drinks," she admitted. "Not too long ago, I was underage, did you forget?"
"And the sun rises from the west," I joked. "How dumb do I look to you, miss?"
"'I'm pleading the fifth!"
"Well, while you do have the right to remain silent, if you don't speak, this would most certainly be very boring, because you are supposed to take me out!"
"Okay... let's go to the 'Crypt'!"
"It's kinda early for this. At what time are you supposed to return home?"
"Anytime I feel like, what kind of question is this? I'm not a kid anymore!"
"Well, I'm your cousin, Andie. It would be rather awkward if I were to return you home very late!"
"Nonsense, mom and dad know that I want to celebrate with you, and frankly, they feel safer with you taking me out and returning whenever we feel like it than with John."
"Your ex-boyfriend?"
"Yup!"
"It's a pity that you broke up with him; he's a very good boy!"
"He is, but the heart wants what the heart wants, and John wasn't included."
"Then why..." I tried to ask, but she interrupted me.
"As my favorite cousin says, 'fake it until you make it.' Well, I tried, and it didn't work. Shit happens, yada-yada-yada."
"Well, you made John wiser!"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean love is great and all, but without a healthy dose of cynicism, it's a recipe for disaster."
"And was there someone that made you wise?"
"Yup, that would be Rita, my first girlfriend. Anyway, let's get going because they'll start wondering why the hell we are still here. It's very early to go to Crypt, so I'm taking you for a coffee."
"I asked you out!"
"Be that as it may, I'm the one driving!"
"Sir, yes, Sir!" she mocked.
"Attagirl. So... do you fancy coffee by the seashore?"
"You da best! So, what happened with Rita?"
"She was unable to bear the strain of long-distance and we broke-up when I went to Crete. Anyway, when are you going to Heraklion?"
"Classes start on the 24th of September, so we are going to Crete in early September. I need to find a place to stay!'"
"I'll give you the phone numbers of my former landlord in Crete. Who knows, you might be extremely lucky and find the place I lived available."
"Well, a friend of Manolis is also a student at the University of Crete, and he says that in two to three years, the campus in Knossos will be closed permanently. Only mathematics and computer science are still in Knossos; all the others are in Voutes."
"Yeah, you're right and they are late, it is 2009 already and physics and biology are located in Voutes since 1994."
"I don't care, I'll have my V-Max, so I won't need to use public transportation to get around."
Well, actually, it was my uncle's V-Max, but he had promised to give it to her if she managed to pass the exams, and she didn't just pass--that year, she passed first, having the highest marks. My uncle loved motorcycles, and Andie learned to ride since she was twelve, so yes, on her 18th birthday, she was quite experienced to handle such a 1700cc, 197-horsepower beast.
"Andie, you need to be very careful driving that beast, Cretans are by far the worst drivers I've ever met; they are maniacs!"
"I will, Kostas!"
We bantered until we arrived at the place I had in mind, a very cozy café at Vari, with a spectacular view. It was early so we managed to find the best seats, and though the coffee could be better, if just for the view, it was worth it. Trying to keep her at a distance, initially I intended to let her sit first and then sit at the opposite side of the table, but I would lose the view, so I finally sat beside her. We ordered our coffees and while she leaned to me, and generally gave all the signs a girl shows when she is interested in you, she behaved herself.
"So... how do you feel that you'll be away from home?"
