Fantasy A Remembrance amongst Equals by TMaskedWriter

[Ramesh_Rocky]

Story :- A Remembrance amongst Equals

Written by TMaskedWriter

"Tommy, can you hear me?

Can you feel me near you?
Tommy, can you see me?
Can I help to cheer you?
Ooh, Tommy. Tommy. Tommy. Tommy."
-The Who, "Tommy Can You Hear Me"

[Ramesh_Rocky]

A Remembrance amongst Equals Pt. 01

(This story takes place a month after "The Continuing Education of Susan.")

Julie Equals emerged from the bedroom in a sheer blue nightie and pink panties. The moans emanating from the room were silenced as she shut the door behind her. In the almost a year that she and her husband had owned the house, they'd done a bit of remodeling, and soundproofing the bedrooms had been an early project.

She walked through the living room to the kitchen, encountering three women stretching on yoga mats on the floor. Her friends Claire and Rachel had stopped by and Claire was giving a private yoga lesson to Rachel and Susan; her roommate and girlfriend. Susan turned to face Julie as she went past.

"Hey, how's he doing?" Susan asked her.

"Not great," Julie replied, entering the kitchen and continuing the conversation through the breakfast nook window. "We're only on day two of the antibiotics, so the headache's still driving him nuts." She filled a bowl with some soup and popped it in the microwave as they spoke. "Today's a sort-of anniversary for us, and I had a surprise planned, but that's not going to happen now."

"Damn," Claire said. "Ear infections suck. Hope he's better soon."

"Me too, and not just because of the special occasion," Julie said as she filled a plastic bag with ice and put some more in a glass. "I mean, he's never been one of those ultra-macho guys when it comes to pain, and I guess it'll go away soon, but I've never seen him like this."

The other three women nodded. Julie and her husband Troy had literally been best friends since birth, growing up as next-door neighbors; and aside from her once taking a long trip to Europe with another friend and the two of them attending colleges in different states, had been largely inseparable pals most of their lives. Their closeness had caused other romantic relationships in their lives to suffer as their partners eventually grew jealous and suspicious of their friendship, until they realized that they truly loved each other more than anyone else in the world and began the romance that led to their marriage. The other three women knew their history and took her statement that she'd never seen him in his current state seriously, beginning to worry about him.

"Would you like me to sit with him a bit," Susan asked. She was Troy's girlfriend as well as Julie's. All of the women in the room could safely claim to be in a relationship with the two of them, but Susan was closer to him than Claire or Rachel. Julie and Troy had agreed early in their relationship that their love was big enough to share, and so their marriage was quite open. After they'd helped her get out of an abusive relationship, Susan had become a welcome addition to their home and their life together; and although she had her own bedroom, any combination of the three of them sharing a bed was a common sight in the Equals household.

"I think he'd like that," Julie said with a smile as the microwave beeped. She placed the now hot bowl of soup onto a tray, setting the ice bag in one corner of the tray and the glass a distance away from it. A can of Coke from the fridge went next to the glass. "No need to stop the lesson, though. I have a feeling things are going to be like this all day. Probably all weekend." Julie took a bottle of Ibuprofen from its place above the kitchen sink and shook two tablets out of it before giving it a moment's thought. She then put the tablets back in the bottle and set it next to the homemade ice pack on the tray.

"That bad, huh?" Claire asked.

"Ear infections are weird like that," Julie replied, grabbing a spoon and a row of saltine crackers. "The doctor said it's all pressure and inflammation. Ice packs and ibuprofen help a little, but it's hard to get him to take anything stronger." She looked around the kitchen for another moment, trying to think of anything else to include on the tray.

"Have you tried... you know... doing what we do?" Susan asked. That caused Julie to stop dead in her tracks and a look of "Oh shit, why didn't I think of that" to appear on her face.

From an early age, she and Troy had been fascinated by the subject of hypnosis and mind control and studied every book or reference that they could find on the subject; until by the age of nine, they'd learned the secret of how to control others. That, along with Troy's financial genius, was part of how the two of them could afford such a large house and how they'd met and become intimate with the other three women. They'd been teaching their ability to Susan as well, and it was such an everyday part of her and Troy's lives that it hadn't even occurred to her to see if that would help him.

"I haven't yet, but I will now," she answered, thinking of the last item that she needed. She went to a cupboard and pulled out a small bag of plain M&Ms, setting it on the tray and picking the whole thing up. "He loves these when he's sick," she explained to the others. "Says it makes them taste better."

* * *

[Ramesh_Rocky]

Troy Equals was lying on his bed in his darkened room and groaned, clutching the left side of the top of his head. Pain pulsed through the entire left side of his head and down the back of his neck as he shifted position again. He'd tried laying on his right side, but that made the pain that had spread to his neck worse, and the left side just pressed his head into the pillow, worsening that as well. Lying on his back with a neck pillow lifting his neck up from the pillow seemed to be the best compromise that the pain would allow.

The door cracked open and Julie stepped inside. The light didn't aggravate his headache, but his eyes had adjusted to the dark, and he rolled onto his left side away from it, instantly regretting the decision as his left ear touched the pillow and he gave another gasp of pain before rolling back to the central position. Julie made a small frown at the sight of her best friend in agony, but quickly changed it to a smile as she approached his side of the bed with the tray.

"Hey, boy," she said softly as she set the tray on his nightstand with the icepack being the closest item to him and opened the can of Coke, pouring a glass. Troy's hand shot out for the ice pack and he set it under the left side of his head. The bottle of ibuprofen was his next target, and as he was fiddling with the childproof cap, he registered that Julie had spoken to him.

"Hey, girl," he responded, fishing two of the pills from the bottle. Julie held out the glass for him and he swallowed the two pills, chasing them with a drink of soda. While he did so, she grabbed the bag of M&Ms and opened it, taking a few for herself before handing the rest to him. He gave her back the glass, popped a couple of M&Ms in his mouth, and leaned forward for another sip of the Coke before handing her back the candy. She took a sip as well before returning both items to the tray. "Thanks."

"Always happy to help, Master." Julie said as she opened the saltines and set them next to the bowl of soup that was still too hot to eat. Their shared fascination with mind control from an early age had been such a big part of their lives that long before they'd been a couple, they'd taken to calling each other Master and Mistress as pet names.

"Did you look it up, Mistress," he asked.

"No, Troilus, I did NOT Google how to safely drill a hole in your head," she said with a small laugh. Hearing her laugh caused him to smile through the pain.

"Trepanning is humanity's oldest form of surgery. Someone's probably posted detailed instructions..." She cut him off.

"I already have to explain the Master/Mistress thing to people whenever we do it in public, hon. And trust me, you don't want something on your head that people are always asking about." Julie's hair was unusual, in that it was a dark brown from her roots to about four inches, where it turned a buttery blonde. It had been that combination of colors since infancy, and doctors had been unable to provide any explanation for it.

"I just tell them my Sunflower's a complicated lady," he replied. She gave him a playful punch before remembering that he was in pain, and an apologetic look appeared on her face. He hadn't noticed, and shifted the ice pack to where the pain was flaring up the most. "So who's here?"

"Claire's giving Susan and Rachel a yoga lesson," she answered. Claire had owned a yoga studio when they met her. With Troy's financial and business advice, she now owned a chain of four "Inner Claire-ity" yoga studios around the Tacoma and south of Seattle areas.

"It's cool if you want to go join them," Troy said, reaching for a couple more M&Ms and another sip of Coke, trying and failing not to wince in front of her. "This is sort of my plan for the day." Julie took the glass from him, finished it, and then refilled it with the rest of the can.

"Nah, they're really just doing yoga. Nothing fun yet. Besides, I made a deal with that priest guy, ya know: Richer, poorer, sickness, health, better, worse; this'd be that third one."

"There's gotta be a loophole for three hot chicks getting all bendy and sweaty in our living room," Troy responded, shifting the ice pack again to concentrate on another area as the ibuprofen began doing its job.

"Actually," Julie said, getting up and walking into Troy's private bathroom off the bedroom; her own being on the opposite wall. "Susan had a pretty good idea for something that might help. I feel kinda dumb for not thinking of it myself. This isn't part of it, but it'll help." She returned with a white tablet and held it out for him, picking up the glass of Coke with her other hand. Troy looked at the tablet that he knew to be Percocet in her hand and was about to protest before she pushed it closer to his mouth.

[Ramesh_Rocky]

"First off, yes, you are going to take this, Mr. Equals, and spare me the John Wayne 'I'll just tough it out, little lady' shit, because I am voluntarily passing up the possibility that the goings-on in our living room might break into hot multiple girl-on-girl action at any time to sit with my ailing best friend who's in no shape to either watch or join in. That being a point that you are not going to argue with me, I am also going to minimize his suffering in any way that I can. So take the fucking pill or I'll do what we do and compel you take it anyway."

Julie could see by the look on his face that he was still trying to think of a way to weasel out of it, so she swung her leg up onto the bed and bent her knee, pulling up the hem of her nightie and exposing the panties that Troy could already see through the sheer fabric anyway. "Surely you're not afraid of a little danger, Mr. Bond?"

"I live for danger, Fellatio Constant," he said, taking the pill and popping into his mouth and accepting the Coke to swallow it with. "And invoking the sacred name of James Bond is low, Mistress." The pressure in his head relieved a bit more and he connected some mental dots. "Everyone's here today, hon. What day is it?"

"Saturday," Julie replied. A pained look appeared on Troy's face that Julie could tell had nothing to do with the infection.

"Shit, I got you something, it's in the car." Troy leaned forward, trying to get up. Julie put her hand on his chest and gently pushed him back down onto the bed.

"You're staying right here, Master. I got you something too, but they can both wait until you feel good enough to not ask me to look up drilling a hole in your head." She thought a second. "Or at least until I can't subdue my husband with one hand."

"Ok, ok," Troy said, as Julie walked over to her side of the bed, turning to face her, the pressure on his neck relieving enough that he could turn onto his right side. "Our first time, though, a year ago today, and I've got to have this thing going on."

"Well," Julie said, slipping off the nightie and removing her panties before crawling into bed next to him. "Spending the day in bed with the man I love, horrible headache or not, was one of my ideas for celebrating it anyway. And Susan gave me an idea that seems so obvious now that I'm kicking myself for not thinking of it before." She reached out and put her hand on his right cheek, stroking his ear.

Troy sighed at the sensation, the stronger painkiller now beginning to kick in. The two of them had been putting each other into trance for so many years that both of them had numerous mental triggers in place for the other's use, and the little circles that Julie was stroking behind his earlobe was one of them. She smiled to see a look other than pain on her best friend's face after the past few days.

"Relax and go deeper, My Love," she whispered to him. "Allow me to take you back to that special day."

[Ramesh_Rocky]

A Remembrance amongst Equals Pt. 02

"Ooh, I've been wandering round.
But I still come back to you. (Still come back to you.)
In rain or shine, you've stood by me, girl.
I'm happy at home. (Happy at home.)
You're my best friend."
-Queen, "You're My Best Friend"

(This chapter takes place in the morning hours on the day of "A Conversation Amongst Equals.")

"TROY!" Julie shouted as she emerged out of the gantry from the plane and into the terminal of Ted Stevens International Airport. The bleariness of the redeye flight cleared from her head at the sight of him, and she ran into his arms for a power hug, nearly knocking him backwards. Troy Medina held her close, tilted his head back and gave her a brief smooch on the lips, then resumed the hug. Julie thought it unusual for a fraction of a second, and then stopped caring as she squeezed her lifelong best friend some more.

"I thought they didn't let people this far into the terminal anymore if you're not flying," she said after almost a minute of hugging.

"They don't," Troy replied, casually looking around. "But, you know, What We Do and all. Also, if anyone asks, you're my 10-year-old daughter. And it'd still be wise to get out of here and down to Baggage before anyone does ask."

They broke the hug and started walking toward the baggage claim.

"I wouldn't have expected you to be first off the plane," Troy told her.

"Advantage of being in the first seat in first class," she replied, looking off to her side as a flight attendant emerged from the doorway. The woman adjusted her skirt and waved to Julie, mouthing the words "call me." Julie winked and nodded before turning back to face Troy. "Seen any of the old crowd since you've been back, Master?"

Troy smiled. It had been a couple years since he'd heard her call him that except via email, phone, and Skype. He'd still missed it.

"Haven't had much time for socializing, dealing with the house stuff, Mistress. Some of the old crowd are still around, though." Julie nodded.

"I'm guessing most of the cool people followed your advice." It was Troy's turn to nod and put on a British accent.

"It is the sworn duty of every Alaskan child to escape. Failing that, it is their duty to confound, confuse, and harass the enemy at every turn."

"Well, anything new?"

"Oh, you know how it goes when you leave Anchorage for an extended period: Friends leave and come back, but apart from a couple new buildings, everything tends to be the same as you left it."

They talked a bit more about friends who were still in town and what they wanted to see and do while waiting for Julie's bags. Thanks to some further use of their ability, her bags had been the last loaded, and so were the first off the plane. As they walked out into the light blue of a 3AM sky in June in Alaska to the parking garage and Troy's car, they unconsciously reached out for each other's hand.

* * *

[Ramesh_Rocky]

Troy sat at the breakfast table at Julie's parents' house. A small TV was on in the nook between the dining room and the kitchen, and Julie's father was catching up on international news while she helped her mother clean up the breakfast dishes.

On the screen, Contessa Helena de San Finzione stood on a platform in an Uongoian refugee camp, giving a speech as soldiers handed aid packages out to the refugees. She spoke to the crowd in Swahili as an interpreter translated.

"When the warlords drove you from your homes, you were in need. You needed food. You needed medicine. You needed shelter. You needed to survive. You looked to America, the land that I am by turns proud and ashamed to call the land of my birth, and you told them of your needs. And they gave you 'their thoughts and prayers.'" She gave a small chuckle before continuing.

"Yes, their thoughts and prayers. And so you tried to treat your injured with thoughts. And your children went to bed with bellies full of prayers. You then looked to the European Union for aid. And they gave you words of condemnation for those who sent you from your homes and 'their concern for your struggle.' And so you treated the ill with words of condemnation, and your children ate nothing but their concern.

"And then you looked to San Finzione. And as I speak, our doctors are seeing to the sick amongst you, and our soldiers are handing out the food and water for your children. The warlords tried to blockade your camps, stand between us and you; and we stared them down until they blinked." She gestured toward the news camera.

"And now the world's eyes are upon you. They are seeing the truth of what you have suffered, of what you have lost, and what still is to be overcome; and they are learning. They are learning that when you seek empty words, you turn to the so-called 'superpowers.' But when you seek a friend who will give all they can, you turn to San Finzione!"

The refugees cheered. Julie's father turned off the television.

"I always knew that little bitch was going to be trouble, coming from that family and all," he said to Troy, picking up his coffee. "But I figured she'd just get into drugs or crime or something."

"She got into something far worse than any of that, Colonel Andrews," Troy said, taking a drink of his own coffee. "International Politics."

"Troy, son," he replied. "When your parents needed a sitter, my wife changed your diapers. If you're not comfortable with 'dad' by now, 'Tom' will do."

"You earned the rank, sir. You're entitled to it."

"Ok, call it a fuckin' order, then," Col. Andrews said, taking both their cups and walking into the kitchen to refill their coffee. "You ladies all right in here? I could use Troy's help in the den."

Julie looked over her shoulder at him with a smile.

"They're called man caves now, Daddy; and yeah, we're good here."

"Yeah, I ain't gonna call it that." He held Troy's cup out to him and gestured for him to follow.

Tom led him into a room with a couple of big recliners flanking an old leather couch with a coffee table in front of it, closing the door behind them. Moving boxes were in packed and half-packed states all over the room. Empty bookshelves lined two walls, and a spot where a big-screen TV once sat opposite the couch was now bare. Discolored spaces on the walls marked where pictures, display cases, and multiple guns once hung, though there were still a few yet be removed.

Colonel Andrews set down his coffee and took down an M1 Garand rifle and several pistols that were still up on the wall, setting them on the coffee table before removing a couple of cleaning kits and a bottle of whiskey from a desk drawer.

"Little something stronger in that," he asked Troy as he sat in the recliner and poured a bit of whiskey into his coffee. Troy nodded negatively and sat close to him on the couch.

"Bit early for me."

"Well, one of those retirement benefits they don't tell you about," he said, taking a drink. "There's no 'too early' anymore."

[Ramesh_Rocky]

He pulled the op-rod back on the Garand and inspected the chamber before loading a cleaning patch onto an obstruction remover, attaching it to a cleaning cable, and pushing it down into the bore.

"Well, Troy," The Colonel said as he slowly pulled the cable from the muzzle end of the gun. "I wanted to have a little word in private with you. You and my daughter have been close friends forever, haven't you?" Troy took a sip of his coffee.

"I think it'd be safe to say that we haven't ever NOT been friends, Tom." Col. Andrews nodded as he flipped the cloth patch over and repeated the process.

"Mm-hmm. And she's a very beautiful young woman, isn't she, Troilus?" He dropped some oil onto a cleaning brush and sent it through the bore as well. Troy nodded back, admiring one of the pistols on the coffee table; a Walther PPK.

"I know I'm biased, sir; however, I'd be inclined to say that Julie is the most beautiful woman I know."

"Then dammit, boy, why the fuck haven't you ever made a move," Tom asked, handing Troy the Walther and a pistol cleaning kit. "Shit, you two got that apartment together the summer after high college, still don't know how you talked us and your parents into that. I figured you two'd be goin' like rabbits together, but it never happened!"

"It's like we explained, Tom," Troy said, staring into his eyes. "Two 18-year-olds just out of high college, having one big summer blast before college? There was GOING to be partying and loud music and being up all night, better to have it happen there than in your home."

"Yeah, see, always made sense when you talked about it, son. Well, I've seen some of the jackasses she's brought in my door before and since. I've always respected her privacy as long as she didn't get herself knocked up or thrown in jail. And I know all that jewelry hasn't come from being a sweet kid. But all those boys, and during what I hope was a phase, a couple girls; came and went, and my daughter never even talked about most of those pieces of shit again."

Troy checked the Walther to make sure the gun was empty and couldn't resist pointing it at the wall with his left arm raised and his palm outstretched and rocking back and forth a little before reaching for the kit to begin cleaning it.

"I've just never thought of her like that. I guess she's like my sister at this point."

"Well, like I say, we almost never hear a word about those losers. But she's never shut up about you. Her college was a thousand miles from yours, but every time we called to see how she was doing, she made sure to give us an update on you, too. You kids still talked most every week, if not every day. Lemme ask you: How many of those calls were the 3 AM 'just need to hear your voice' kind?" Troy took a drink and thought about it before responding.

"Oh, every couple months. Most of the time, she wouldn't give me details and I wouldn't push, just ask if she was ok, and she'd just say 'I am now.' She seemed all right after that. I'd have been on the next plane if I thought she wasn't."

"Well, I know some of them were just Julie being Julie, but every once in a while... well, she still gets the nightmares sometimes, you know."

Troy set down his cup and closed his eyes with a deep sigh.

"I have to have told her I forgave her a million times now."

"So has everyone. You two were six, it was a dumbass kid mistake, and you lived; but she still looks back and thinks what might've happened. You know my little girl walks between the raindrops, but shoving you into the pool twenty years ago; that's what wakes her up at night. And you've always been a good kid, son. Your parents were our friends for five years before either of you were born. Losing them both was hell for me and Vanessa; I can only imagine what it's been for you and your Propappy. Oh, he always had a big smile on except when he went round and round with that Helen girl's dad; but the man fought in the first big one and buried a son in the second, and then a grandson too. That's enough to wipe the smile off anyone's face, but he kept going and kept that smile up to raise you right."

[Ramesh_Rocky]

"Well, with Propappou gone too, and you and Mrs. Andrews retiring to Arizona, I figure there's no need to keep the house. I'm going for my doctorate in Seattle; I'll sell it and find something there."

Tom finished with the Garand, got up, and packed it into a case before returning to his seat. He put his hand on Troy's shoulder.

"Well, that's neither here nor there. My point is, you deserve to be happy, son. And so does my daughter. And the happiest I've ever seen either of you is when you're together. And I know you're gonna get that Ph.D. Hell, every time we've let the boy next door do our taxes, we got money back; and what you did with Julie's savings got her through college without having to turn to Uncle Sam. Now she's looking at Seattle too; gonna be a new phase in both your lives. I'd feel a lot better knowing she's going into it with you." Troy reached for the whiskey and poured a little into his coffee before responding.

"Is... is that another order, Colonel," he said with a half-smile as he took a drink.

"Of course not, son. I'm just trying to say that if some day, you ever DO want to ask for my daughter's hand, don't bother. You can consider yourself pre-approved."

"Thanks, Tom. I'll give it some thought," Troy replied in a way that made it clear that he'd never given it any real thought before that moment.

Tom took the bottle and his now empty coffee cup and poured himself a finger as well.

"To that, then. Or something. I dunno, it's early." He clinked his coffee cup with Troy's. "Now, that Walther's looking real nice; a Bond nut like you's probably gonna want the Beretta next, right?"

* * *

Julie and Vanessa Andrews watched the men disappear into the den. Julie loaded the dishwasher as her mother handed plates to her.

"You know, Mom," Julie said. "They CALL this thing a dishwasher. As in 'a machine that washes dishes so you don't have to.'"

"Oh, you know those things are more like dish-polishers. They don't get the job done."

Julie closed the dishwasher and started it.

"Technology's come a long way since the 70s. Why they've got these new-fangled phones here..." She took out her phone and held it like she was introducing it to her mother for the first time. Vanessa walked over to the coffee pot and poured the last two cups before refilling it.

"If we can cut the sarcasm now, sweetie, I promise to look into a new one in Arizona." Julie smiled and grabbed the hazelnut creamer from the fridge.

"It's just gonna be so weird not calling this place home. Going to see you at Christmas and not seeing snow on the ground. Shit, seeing you any time between October and March and not seeing snow on the ground." They took their cups into the living room and sat on the couch. Julie looked out the side window at Troy's house. "Not seeing that door out the window." She looked out the front window at the shared yard with two For Sale signs flanking the mailboxes. "Fuck, even that sight bothers me."

"Things change, hon," her mother said, seeing what Julie was looking at and letting the profanity slide. She'd accepted that she'd lost the war to make her daughter speak like a lady long ago. "People get old, they retire." She looked over at Troy's door as well. "Sometimes, they die, too."

"You're not allowed to talk about that, mother." Julie took a drink of her coffee. "Especially now that Troy needs parents too."

"Well, like Daddy said, I changed his diapers alongside yours. He still has parents." She took a drink and decided to change the subject. "So, are you two moving in together again in Seattle?"

"We haven't talked about it yet, but it seems like a good idea to me. He'll be there for grad college, and it's a good place for an artist to get a start, so it'd make sense."

[Ramesh_Rocky]

"Mm-hmm. Probably save money too if you got a one-bedroom place," Vanessa said, punctuating the statement with a sip of her coffee.

"Mom! Eww, gross! He's my brother!"

"He really isn't, dear. I'd think I'd remember that."

"Yeah, but, you know..."

"What I know, dear," she said, taking a photo album out from under the coffee table. "Is that when you used to have bad dreams, you didn't crawl into bed with us. You'd leave the house in the middle of the night." She opened the album to the first page, showing a newborn Julie. The next two pages showed her being held by younger versions of her parents and neighbors. The page after that showed pictures of her in a crib with another newborn. The last picture on the page was of the two of them sleeping, an arm around each other. "We were terrified the first time. Your father drove all over the neighborhood while I talked to the security officer." She flipped through the next few pages of Julie and the other baby getting older and learning to crawl, then walk.

"And then we got a phone call, telling us where you were." The two children in the pictures now both had hair and were identifiable as a boy and a girl. A big picture that had its own page showed Troy and Julie at age 4. Troy was asleep in his big boy bed, and the sheets were muddy. Julie was snuggled next to him, her bare feet dirty. "We stopped worrying after that, and whenever we'd wake up and not find you in your bed, we'd call the Medinas first thing." Similar pictures to that one were scattered throughout the rest of the album, slowly showing the two children getting older. "Eventually, we stopped waking them up in the night, because we always knew where you'd be."

Vanessa Andrews looked up from the album and saw her daughter staring back out the side window at the front door of the house next to theirs. They finished their coffee in silence until the silence was broken by the door to the den opening. Troy and Tom entered the living room.

"Well, we got most of the guns packed," Troy told them. Julie saw the smile on his face.

"He let you clean the Walther, didn't he?" He struck a pose and slipped into his bad Sean Connery impression.

"Why, yesh he did, Fellatio Conshtant." Everyone laughed at the joke that the two of them had started when they'd play James Bond before either of the kids knew what that word meant. He dropped the impression, then turned to Julie. "I was gonna go home and get started on Propappou's room, then maybe get a nap since I've been up since midnight. I was thinking after that, we could make some calls and see who wants to go meet us for drinks."

"Sounds good," Julie said with a smile. "I'll help, they've got movers coming next week to help them, and I'm sure there's some Propappou stuff I'll want." She got up and the two of them walked to the front door. Julie grabbed the smaller suitcase that was still by the door. "I'm gonna need a shower too before going anywhere."

"Have fun, kids," her dad said. "Don't do anything we wouldn't do."

"Like what," Julie said with mock anger and a smile. "Have a daughter and make her go through life with the name Julie Andrews? Don't worry." Troy waved and the door closed behind them.

Colonel Tom Andrews sat down on the couch next to his wife.

"What'd you talk about," she asked him. They both watched as the two climbed the porch stairs and went into the house next door.

"Even odds, the same thing you two did," he responded.

"Think we got through to them?"

"Hope we did. Be about fuckin' time."

[Ramesh_Rocky]

A Remembrance amongst Equals Pt. 03

"I was born to love you
with every single beat of my heart.
Yes, I was born to take care of you
every single day of my life."
-Queen, "I Was Born to Love You"

(This chapter takes place the afternoon and evening leading up to "A Conversation Amongst Equals.")

A few hours later, Troy and Julie sat on Propappou's bed, going through almost a century's worth of clothing and tossing it into one of four boxes marked "keep," "donate," "trash," and "Helen." Troy picked up a bright red smoking jacket and debated between keep and Helen before tossing it into the keep box. He thought he heard a thump as it hit the inside of the box, but was distracted by the sad look on Julie's face.

"You ok, Mistress," he asked with concern. She fought back a tear and sniffed before replying.

"Yeah, Master. I'm more concerned about whether you're ok. I just remembered that you, me, and him had to do this for your parents and this is the second time for you."

"Fourth, remember? I helped Helen when she had to do this with her mom's stuff, then we both helped with her dad's."

"Oh yeah. Guess I forgot cause hers went so quickly. 'Throw it all in the trash, right next to his fucking corpse.'" Julie thought for another second. "Shit, we're getting good at this."

"Damn," Troy said with a yawn as a pair of hound's-tooth pants went into donate. "I hope not. I don't want this to be my fallback if the doctorate doesn't work out." Julie saw him yawn and did it herself.

"Dammit, Troilus, why've you gotta go making me tired?"

"I got up at midnight to get you from the airport. Guess your parents' coffee is wearing off." Julie blinked a bit, then tossed a fedora into the keep box.

"Yeah, I didn't get much sleep on the plane either. Someone..." She smiled and stretched before continuing. "A flight attendant caught my eye; had to Do What We Do to the entire first class section to make them ignore us. What about you? Seen anyone since you got back?"

Troy blinked, looked over at the fedora, and decided to trust Julie's judgment.

"Been caught up in all this. One of the realtors was really hot, though. She looked kinda like Helen but older; got her number. Hey, speaking of real estate and stuff, you're moving to Seattle too, right? Wanna get a place?"

"Sure," Julie replied instantly. "Figure it'd be a good place for an artist to get a start. I've also been thinking of maybe a graphic design business." Troy yawned again.

"Cool. I could probably help get that set up. After that nap, though, definitely." Troy stood up and took off his shirt. He spotted a copy of The Anabasis in the original Ancient Greek and tossed it into the Helen box. Julie removed her top as well and walked over to her suitcase.

"Sounds good. I'm going to want that shower before anything else, though."

Troy dropped his pants and picked up his clothes, heading upstairs to the parents' old bedroom that was now his. He stopped and picked up Julie's suitcase and she followed him upstairs, unhooking her bra as they walked.

"Well, you know where it is," he said as he left the case in front of the bathroom door. Julie removed her bra and started to enter the bathroom, then stopped and turned to Troy's back as he grabbed the doorknob for the bedroom.

"Hey, just thinking: back at the airport, what was that kiss about?" Troy turned with half-closed eyes, barely registering his best friend's naked breasts as he thought.

"Hmm? Oh, I dunno. Caught up in the moment, I guess. Just really happy to see you again, Sunflower."

Julie smiled and unconsciously stroked her hair at hearing the old special name he'd given her.

"Thanks. I'm happy to see you too, Math Boy. You go rest."

Troy smiled too as they both went into the separate rooms. It was just after noon and the June heat made him not feel like getting under the covers. He dropped his shirt and pants at the foot of the bed and crawled up to the pillow. As he lay flat on his back and closed his eyes, his last thought before falling asleep was "Did her nipples get hard just at the end there?"

* * *

[Ramesh_Rocky]

Julie stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around herself. By the time she'd blow-dried her hair, the invigoration of the hot water pouring down on her had already surrendered to her 20 hours of consciousness. She half-sleepwalked into the hallway, remembering that her change of clothes was still in the suitcase outside the bathroom door.

As she bent down to pick it up, she was hit by the stillness of the house; a house that was just as much her home as the one next to it. Gone were the sounds of bouzouki music playing from the bedroom downstairs, the conversations coming from Troy's mother and hers in the kitchen, the clacking of billiard balls or the bells and whistles of the pinball machine and their fathers and Propappou talking downstairs. The only sound in the house now was the steady inhale and exhale of Troy's breathing coming from the open bedroom door.

She looked out into the living room at the couches arranged around the television, remembering them with the cushions removed to form the castle of Princess Mesmera and the mighty dragon that she fended off with her imaginary hypnosis powers, long before she'd acquired the ability to really do so. Memories of sitting too close to that TV on the floor and sipping Propappou's cocoa as they repeatedly rewound the Mind Maidens episode of Super Friends, poring over numerous books with "Hypnosis" and "Suggestion" in the titles, or sneaking into the kitchen late at night with Troy to create the first Cookie-Bar Sundae Rainbow Explosion. Laying on that floor in sleeping bags and not sleeping at all, practicing things she and Troy had learned from their books or talking about the cool secret tunnel they planned to dig between their two houses. Sometimes hiding Helen from her parents and playing Barbies with her while Troy tried to get G.I. Joe in on the action, or showing her the books they'd read.

Then getting older and watching Troy and Helen snuggle on one couch while she'd lay on the other and they'd watch The Goonies again. Bringing her current boyfriend over to sit with Troy's current girlfriend as they talked. Being told that a teenage boy and a teenage girl were too old to have sleepovers anymore and not understanding quite why because it was just her best pal Troy. Holding him and crying right along with him the night his parents died.

She walked into the bedroom, the suitcase and her clothes now forgotten, and looked at Troy sleeping. She sat down on the bed, towel still wrapped around her, and watched his chest rise and fall rhythmically. Her eyes trailed down to his underwear, and she saw the bulge inside. He didn't have an erection, but the beginnings of one, as if he'd been thinking about something sexy as he'd fallen asleep. She'd seen his penis before, needing to use the bathroom while he was in the shower or walking in on him and another girl when they had their apartment together, but she'd never really thought about it before. Even through the underwear, it was a nice one.

An image of Troy running a produce stand filled her vision, and she found herself asking if she could have the last banana. He told her there had always been a special one here just for her if she just reached out and took it. Then her eyes opened, and she realized that she was at the level of tired where she'd close her eyes for a second and immediately begin dreaming.

Julie was too tired to get up, and retrieving her clothes and getting dressed only to come back here and pass out felt like too much effort. With the towel still wrapped around her, she laid down on the bed with him and snuggled into the position that she'd curled up with him in since she was old enough to operate the front doorknobs of their two houses by herself. Without waking, Troy turned over to face her and his arm wrapped around her. Gazing at his sleeping face and wanting to reach out and touch it, but not doing so for fear of waking him up, she closed her eyes and immediately fell asleep too.

* * *

[Ramesh_Rocky]

Troy became aware through the sleep fog that he had his arms around someone. His eyes opened slightly, and in the dim blueness of the sun's rays being muted by the curtains, he saw brownness before him. His gaze moved slightly downward, toward his feet, and the brownness gave way to yellowness. A couple inches more, and the yellowness became sleeping Julieness beside him.

Troy smiled. Waking up with an unconscious woman in his arms was a familiar experience, but something always felt "off" about it; like they'd been doing it wrong and he couldn't explain or convey exactly how that was the case. The sight of the girl he'd woken up holding more times in his life than any other was always a welcome one. Julie just "got" how to curl up with him in a way other women never could.

He leaned his head in a little closer, careful not to bump into hers, closed his eyes again, and inhaled the scent of her freshly shampooed hair, and beneath that, a scent he hadn't smelled in far too long; her scent. He'd never really considered anything to compare it to, because it was just Julie's Scent to him, and any other would have to be compared to it instead of the other way around. His eyes opened, and he could see from this angle now that the towel she'd wrapped herself in before crawling into bed with him had slipped and exposed her breasts.

He looked at them. He'd seen them many times before, the first real breasts he'd ever seen, and the ones he'd seen right before laying down for his nap, however long ago that was; but he'd never seriously looked at them like this before. Never really admired the curves of them, how her aureole, pink and a bit taller than they were wide, took on an almost teardrop shape from this angle; the dime-sized nipples slightly poking out from them. They were amazing to him. He was tempted to reach out and touch them before remembering whose they were.

Troy became aware of the fabric of his underwear becoming more constricting as his still sleep-muddled train of thought told him that she probably wasn't wearing any panties under the towel either. The sensation between his legs was goading him to lift up the bottom of the towel and take a look, but he mentally reminded it that this was Julie and it wasn't happening. The sensation tried to plead the case that even her parents wanted something to happen between them, and he reiterated that even so, it certainly wouldn't be while Julie was unconscious.

As he pulled the top of the towel back up to cover them, his hand brushed against the soft flesh of the side of her breast, and he saw her nipple stiffen as she inhaled a bit more sharply than she had been. As he returned his hand to her back and closed his eyes again, he thought he heard a tiny "love you, Troy" on her exhale and detected another faint feminine scent before fading back into sleep, the feeling in his underwear seeming to tell them that this discussion wasn't over.

* * *

[Ramesh_Rocky]

Julie woke and sat up on the bed, the towel she'd had wrapped around her slipping off with the motion. The blue of the afternoon sun through the curtains had given way to darkness. She had a brief moment of panic at not knowing how long they'd been asleep and uncertainty if it was the same day or not. She turned to wake Troy when she remembered that she'd left her watch and phone in the bathroom, and they'd tell her the time more easily. As she got up, the shifting weight on the bed caused Troy to stir, and he caught a brief glimpse of bare flesh as she rounded the corner into the hall. He remembered who'd been sleeping next to him and became concerned.

"Mistress, you ok," Troy called into the hallway.

"Yeah," Julie replied from the bathroom, grabbing her case. "I just... how long were we asleep?"

"I'm not sure when you came to bed," he said, searching for his pants and the phone inside. "I think it was around 3 or 4, and it's dark out now."

"Well, it's 10:26 now, I went in there right after the shower," Julie said, finding her phone. She opened her suitcase and picked out some clothes. Troy verified the time with his own phone and slipped his pants back on, reaching for the dresser for a new shirt.

"So, a good six hours anyway. Well, damn, too late to call anyone tonight. They're all either out already or in for the evening. By the time we got hold of someone to meet up and made it to the bar, it'd be last call or close to it."

"That's ok, I don't know that I'm up for it anyway," Julie said, slipping on a pair of pink lace panties. "We did the 'last night in town' thing before I left San Diego. Not sure I'm up for a 'first night in town' thing so soon." A short jean skirt and a white tank top were next. "I think I'd just rather hang out here."

"We can do that, Mistress. I can run up to the liquor store before they close if you want a drink of something," Troy said, stepping out of the bedroom as Julie leaned out the bathroom door with a hair tie, pulling her hair into a long ponytail.

"Well, this is the Medina house, I KNOW there's a bottle of Metaxa around here, Master."

"There's some 7-star in the kitchen, and I think I saw a bottle of Angels' Treasure in Propappou's room."

"Ooh, the good stuff! Hmm, I'm sure you don't have everything for what I'm thinking here, but if you want to go pick up some dinner and hit the store for the materials, I'd cut and bake, then maybe a movie?"

"Having you home is absolutely a special occasion, Mistress; Cookie-Bar Sundae Rainbow Explosions are certainly called for. I go!"

The two of them hugged as Troy slipped into his shoes and left. This time, Julie gave him a peck on the way out that made him smile as he drove.

* * *

[Ramesh_Rocky]

Troy returned quickly. By midnight, fast food burgers had been consumed, as well as the bottle of the 7-year-old Metaxa. They'd moved on to the 50 year old bottle from Propappou's room, and Cookie-Bar Sundae Rainbow Explosions were being enjoyed as the agreed-upon film, Office Space, got to the point where Peter Gibbons asked Lawrence what he'd do with a million dollars. Julie had picked the film, and Troy always enjoyed watching her both laugh and cringe at the Michael Bolton scenes.

"Of course," Julie said through Metaxa and hot fudge-scented breath into Troy's face. "YOU'VE never needed a million dollars to get two chicks at the same time; have you, Master?" Troy smiled and leaned in close enough for Julie to smell his breath as well.

"Nope. Just intense study of mind control and learning to read between the lines to find the truth." Julie laughed and put her hand on his knee as she turned back to the film. Troy put his arm around her, and they watched in silence, enjoying the contact, until Milton started talking about his red Swingline stapler.

"I love you, Mistress," Troy said out of nowhere.

"I love you too, Master," Julie replied with a peck on the cheek before both of them turned to focus on the hypnosis scene. As the hypnotist keeled over, Julie said "You know, that's something we haven't done in far too long."

"Dropped dead of a heart attack?"

Julie gave him a playful punch on the arm, the alcohol causing her to hit him a little harder than usual.

"Played a game, dumbass! I mean, I'm not gonna come home drunk after midnight and face my parents, and we just had Cookie-Bar Sundae Rainbow Explosions, so this is now officially a sleepover situation. I say we go all the way."

Troy gave her a look of "Do you realize what you just said?" It made Julie catch the double-entendre and they both started giggling. The giggling grew into laughter and hugging until Troy stopped the film and turned off the TV.

"Ok," he said. "Let's take this to the room. If one of us passes out, we should be on the bed so we land somewhere safe." Julie nodded, accepting the drunk logic, and rose to her feet with a slight wobble. Troy followed her to the bedroom, unsure if the extra wiggle in her hips was because of the alcohol or something she was doing on purpose. They sat side-by-side on the bed and turned to face each other.

"So, which game were you thinking of, Mistress?" Julie closed her eyes and remembered some of their old mind control games.

"How about 'What's Different?'" Troy smiled. It was one of his favorites. One of them would bring the other into trance and then change something in the room. The tranced one would then have to figure out what they've changed.

"I can dig that one. Who goes first? Or would you like to settle it with 'Who Goes First?'" It was Julie's turn to smile and nod enthusiastically because that was one she liked as well. Using the various triggers and commands they'd put in each other's heads, they'd trance each other at the same time to see who could take the other deeper.

Troy and Julie reached out and touched each other behind the right earlobe. Realizing they were sitting at arm's length, they scooted closer together, and then started gently tracing spirals behind each other's ear. They let out a simultaneous sigh of contentment.

"Go deeper and relax," Troy whispered to her. Julie closed her eyes.

"Mmm... thank you, Master," she said as she felt her mind start drifting. The alcohol increased the effect, and Julie enjoyed the blissful sinking sensation for a moment before responding with "Go deeper and relax, Troy."

"Ooh... thank you , Mistress," he whispered back, a pleasant tingling sensation starting at his extremities and beginning to slowly fill him.

They repeated the cycle a few times, each becoming more and more relaxed with each turn. Troy broke the cycle first.

"I have something I need you to make me tell you, Julie."

"Go deeper and be honest, Troy." The words sunk into his mind and he relaxed further, knowing that he could trust Julie with absolutely anything.

"Ooh... thank you, Mistress. When we were napping earlier, your towel slipped and your breasts were exposed. I... looked at them a bit longer than maybe I should have. I mean, I've seen them before; just before you got in the shower, even, but I've never really..." He searched for the word. "Studied them like that before. I didn't touch them, but I wanted to. They're just so beautiful, Julie. Go deeper and understand." She smiled and her mind seemed to float on his words, but at this point, both of their eyes were closed and neither could see it.

"Mmm... thank you, Master. And it's ok. I have something I need you to make me tell you, Troy."

"Go deeper and be honest, Julie." Her smile broadened at the words, knowing that she would always trust her best friend with all that she was.

"Mmm... thank you, Master. When I got out of the shower and joined you, I had an odd dream about you. Not a sex dream, not really anyway; but unusual. It made me... want to touch you too. Go deeper and understand." Troy smiled too. As he sunk deeper and absorbed her words, an idea floated into his entranced mind of how he could win both of the games they were playing and his eyes slowly opened.

"Ooh... thank you, Mistress. It's time to change something now. In a moment, we will break contact, and we will stand up and take off everything. When we are both naked, we will lay down and face each other and continue taking each other deeper into trance and you will forget that we have done this. When the memory is completely gone from your mind, you will open your eyes, and you will not find it unusual that we are both naked. Go deeper and understand."

"Mmm... thank you, Master. I will obey," she said with an even bigger smile as he gently removed his hand. They stood and he undressed, watching her do the same. As she removed her pink lace panties, Troy caught a note of the scent he thought he'd detected in bed earlier, but now it was unmistakable. Despite Julie's eyes still being closed, she knew the room well enough to sit back down on the bed and move up so that her head was resting on the pillow. Troy did the same and faced her, beginning the spiraling circles behind her ear as she reached out and did the same, and her eyes began to open.

[Ramesh_Rocky]

* * *

"Go deeper and remember, my husband."

"Ooh... thank you, Mistress," Troy said, feeling peace and contentment as the trance and the drugs together had replaced his pain with euphoria. "Our wedding day was the happiest day of my life, but the happiest night of my life was the night I laid down on that bed with my best friend and got up with my true love."

Julie sighed and smiled to see him visibly feeling better. She pulled him closer and embraced him.

"We did make love in the truest sense that night, Master," she whispered to him. "Like, there was more love in the universe when we were done."

Julie pointed to a series of display cases on one of the walls. In it was a collection of special gifts that they'd given each other over the course of their lives. Next to a solid gold engraved invitation to a royal ball given to them by a mutual friend they both loved enough to merit its inclusion in the display was the pair of pink lace panties she wore that night.

"And we still do, Troy. You earn those again every night, Dearest One." Her hand slid beneath the covers and gently took hold of his erection. "Ever since the night this became my pussy's Master."

His drugged eyes looked into hers as he reached down and stroked her wet snatch.

"And this became my cock's Mistress." Troy tried to slide his hand around to her hip to pull her even closer, but she gently brushed it away.

"Not tonight, hon. I know you're feeling better now from the painkiller and the trance, and I want it too, but you're still sick, and you'll hurt worse when they wear off if we try."

"Oh, all right. Well, you better get your present from the car when you can. It's two things: A Blu-Ray of Office Space signed by the guy who played Michael Bolton, and I had my cousin in Athens ship me a bottle of Metaxa Angels' Treasure for you." Julie smiled and kissed him, laying back on the bed and pulling him closer to rest the right side of his head on her left breast.

"Thank you, Master! We'll enjoy both when you're better. My present's in your nightstand. I talked Daddy into giving you his Walther PPK. He put in a note about you having a license to kill to protect his little girl. It's in a safe. The combination's three digits, I'm sure you can guess it." Troy sighed. She couldn't see his face, but she knew he was smiling.

"Thank you, Mistress," Troy began to slur as he started to fade off to sleep. "Hey, what ever happened to that couple in your story?"

"Oh, they're still around," she said, stroking his head, careful to avoid his ear. "They got married and live in a big house near Seattle, and made some very dear friends who're cool enough to share their hearts with and they all have fun adventures, but they're still each other's favorites. And they've talked and decided that when he's got his Ph.D. and her graphic design studio's well-established, they'll be ready for babies to come into the picture, and absolutely NONE of them will be named after anyone famous!"

"Mmm, that sounds nice," Troy said, snuggling closer and drifting off. "We should do something like that, Mistress."

"We will, Master," Julie said, closing her own eyes and joining him. "We will."