Date: Sat, 13 May 2023 09:29:05 -0400
From: Samuel Stefanik <churchphilips@yahoo.com>
Subject: Stolen Love.  Chapter 24

Did you ever get caught doing something and have to explain it?  Did
someone ever ask you a question that you didn't want to answer because it
was just TOO EMBARRASSING??  Imagine if people could read minds.  I hope
you enjoy the chapter.

NOTE: I'm looking for a collaborator on another project.  I need someone to
bounce story and plot ideas off of and someone who can help me streamline
my tales to better hold the audience's interest.  If that sounds like you,
email me...please.

If you're younger than 18 or find these kinds of stories offensive, please
close up now and have a great day!  If you are of legal age and are
interested, by all means keep going.  I'll be glad to have you along for
the journey.  Please donate to Nifty.  This is a great resource for great
stories and a useful outlet to authors like me and readers like you.


Crown Vic to a Parallel World: Stolen Love
The third and final installment of the ongoing adventures of Church Philips

24

An Unexpected Breakthrough

We watched the sun rise in silence.  I tried to keep my mind idle and focus
on the dawning day, because given Paul's current state, any thoughts that I
had would flood at him like a stream of consciousness monologue.  The
trouble was, given all that he'd told me, avoiding thought was very
difficult.  Paul was the model of restraint.  He didn't react verbally no
matter how far my imagination spun in my head.  I was glad he didn't say
anything about what I was thinking.  It let me have the illusion that my
thoughts were private.

The biggest question I had was `why?'  I wondered what could have occurred
in the man's life that put him in the position to travel to Mexico City in
the first place.  I recognized that metaphorical `place' he'd been in
before he left.  It wasn't a physical location but a place in life where
whatever choice you make, it didn't seem to matter a damn.

That was the place I was in when I staggered into the November cold from
Big Nick's bar back in 2019, the night I met my husband and put my life in
his hands.  I wondered what could have driven an eighteen-year-old to that
place.  Questions fired through my mind like balls from an erratic pitching
machine. `Where were his parents?  Who raised him?  Who was looking after
him?  Why was he so free to do whatever he wanted?'  The word `free' in
that usage being translated to `alone.'

When I didn't get anywhere with that line of thought, my mind turned itself
to other things to analyze.  I was struck with a random absurdity and
wondered how many sunrises and sunsets I'd watched with people and had life
changing conversations with them.  It had been more than one.

I didn't think I'd need to take my shoes off to count them, but it was
possible I'd need more than one hand.  I tried to remember them and count
them off.  There was Bem's reveal of his past as a problem solver, and
later that same week, his request to marry my sister, both discussions had
at sunrise.  My brother Joe admitted to being afraid of going to Solum with
me at a different sunrise in the same backyard as the two discussions I'd
had with Bem.  That made three.

Shawn and I have had many sunrise and sunset discussions.  Many of them
deep, but not all.  I doubted I could count those.  He and I liked to watch
those daily events, and since they came with no built-in music or dialogue,
we often added our own.  That meant we were predisposed to deep thoughts at
sunrise and sunset.

I went through the list of people I was close to, that I may have watched a
sunrise or sunset with.  I'd once had a sort of sunset moment with Paul at
the rectory the night I told him my life story.  Cigars and whiskey in the
dark wasn't exactly the same thing, but the principle was similar.  Bem and
I had watched the sunrise when we were waiting for Primis to set off back
to Oppidum the day before.

We hadn't talked much then, not about anything except the plan.  He had
said that Shawn would be proud of the way I was handling myself.  I
supposed that counted as a deep thought, though not exactly life changing.
I decided to count that part of the discussion as the fourth instance of a
moving sunrise-chat-moment.

Thoughts of that conversation with Bem led my spinning brain to a mental
image of Primis as he climbed out of his car to pee on the plains.  I had a
short fantasy about my brother-in-law.  Though I hadn't seen him excited,
what I did see made me think he was fairly `well equipped' in the dick
department.  I wondered if he knew how to use it as well as Shawn did.  In
the time Shawn and I had been married, we'd experimented A LOT.  Each of us
knew exactly what to do to press each other's buttons.

Beyond the physical act, we also knew how best to turn each other on.
Shawn maintained his title as the master of sensuality by regularly
surprising me in various states of undress at the most opportune times.
He'd earned that title, in my mind anyway, when he treated Bem and me to
that oily strip tease in his apartment the first time we'd invited Bem for
a romp.  It was the day after the second mock battle before the first
mission.  The images, burned into my memories from frequent recall, flashed
in my head.  Those memories led to the memory of what came next and the
first of several `master classes' Bem would teach us on the art of
providing and receiving pleasure.

"A-HEM!" Paul cleared his throat and forcibly dragged me away from my
fantasy.

I turned his way to see what was bothering him and noticed that his face
was bright red with embarrassment.  It took me a second to understand why
he was embarrassed.  When I figured it out, when it dawned on me that Paul
had just been treated to my memories of Shawn's strip tease and the
follow-up threesome with Bem, I felt the heat rise in my face as well.
"I'M SORRY!" I blurted.

Paul dropped his eyes from mine and wiped a hand across his face.  "Quite
alright, young man.  I...uh...this magic business...more to it than I
expected.  I never thought that...a-hem...you understand."

"Jesus Christ." I grumbled to myself. "Of all the fucking memories it had
to be that one."  I tried to chase that thought away with other thoughts,
mundane thoughts like my daily exercise routine or how to fry crisp bacon.
The technique I tried to replicate was similar to how I would chase
unwelcome song lyrics from my mind by thinking of other song lyrics.  It
started to work, and I risked a glance Paul's way.  His face had returned
to its normal color.  To my surprise, instead of an embarrassed grimace, he
wore the biggest grin I'd ever seen.

"What?" I asked.

He shrugged shallowly like the answer didn't matter in the least.  "Just
smiling at the strangeness of the situation."

I let the obvious humor of the moment replace my mortification and smiled
back at him.  "I'm glad you see the humor.  Once upon a time, when Andy's
power activated, a similar thing happened.  I think it was far worse for
him because he was relatively innocent at the time and very attracted to
Shawn.  I warned him that mind reading is like x-ray vision.  For every one
thing he'd like to see, there's probably about a million that would make
him wretch."

The corners of Paul's smiling mouth drew down into a serious frown at my
words.  I wondered at his change of expression.  He didn't make me wonder
for long. "Don't misunderstand me, young man," Paul scolded, "I am not
disturbed or disgusted by the physical expression of the love you have for
your husband and your friend, Bem.  I have long been aware of the mechanics
of the act, though I'll admit some of the nuances hadn't occurred to me."
Paul's face reddened and he dropped his eyes again as he said the last
words.

I didn't understand what he was getting at, nor the semi-angry tone of his
voice.  I asked him about it. "What's your point?"

Paul brought his gaze back to mine with a stern look that captured my
attention.  "I don't want you to think that...how can I explain myself?
I'm a straight man who has been celibate for many, many years.  I know my
position as a priest would likely make you assume I would `wretch' at the
thought of the act of male intimacy, but that is not the case at all.  I'm
offended that you would think I was as closed-minded as that, especially
with as long as we have known each other."

I apologized to my friend for insulting him.  He accepted and returned with
an apology of his own.  "I think I overreacted to your simple statement.
My emotions are running a bit higher than normal."

"Yeah," I replied, "it's been...stressful these last few days."

"Agreed." Paul said as his eyes tracked behind me.  He looked through the
window to the morning sky. "Perhaps we should start back.  Your nephew
should be rising soon, and we can see if he can help me."

I checked my phone and saw that it was almost seven.  "If he doesn't get up
on his own, we'll roust him.  It's time to be awake.  Let's go."

* * * *

We had a leisurely, and mostly silent walk back to the house, both of us
distracted by our own thoughts.  Well, I was distracted by my thoughts.  I
assumed Paul was distracted by his thoughts and mine.  He was nice enough
not to react to anything that went through my head, again providing the
illusion that my private thoughts were private.  As we got to the estate, I
led us through my kitchen and into the residential wing in route to Andy's
apartment.  We were in the corridor that ran along the front doors to all
the apartments and were almost to the far end where the younger people
lived when we ran into Shawn's mother, Lenis.

When we'd originally laid out the estate, I'd set up the residential wing
with the youngest people at the far end and the oldest nearest the main
house.  I did this for practical reasons.  I assumed the youngest would be
the ones whose lives would be changing the most and it would be easier to
renovate or add onto the far end of the wing verses changing things near
the main house.  I also thought the eldest had some rights to easier access
than the younger.  The last consideration was that the `public' gym was at
the far end of the residential wing, and I assumed the young people would
be more likely to want to use that than the older.

That meant Paul and I had to pass Lenis' apartment to get to Andy's.  She
happened to be in the corridor when we went by.  She greeted us both warmly
and stopped to talk.  I didn't announce that Paul's power had activated,
because I didn't want to embarrass him or open a line of dialogue for Lenis
to jump into.  I hoped we'd have a quick `hello and goodbye' chat and move
on to Andy's.  Lenis seemed in better spirits than she had been since Shawn
was taken.  I assumed she'd found some solace, like I had, in the
assessment Bem made when he found out Shawn's father was involved in the
kidnapping.

Lenis sidled close to Paul and leaned into him, with her hand flat on the
center of his deep chest while she spoke.  "You wear my great-nephew's
clothes very well, Paul...very well indeed." She said and shamelessly
appraised him.  She gripped Paul's upper arm with her free hand and hummed
her appreciation of what she felt. "I think some short sleeves would be
good.  I will have to mention that to Andy.  A man of your stature, with a
build as naturally powerful as yours, should accentuate that build.  I
appreciate big men...something I have in common with my son."

She leaned away from Paul to stand on her own and address me.  "I feel so
much better now that we know my ex-husband is behind this.  I wish he would
have just asked me for help, but his pride is his biggest failing.  Shawn
will be back before you know it.  I have to check in with Bem now, to see
when we are going to pay the next ransom installment.

"By the way, your liquid holdings are in excess of five billion, there are
another five billion in easily convertible investments, and another ten
that could be liquidated within one week.  The liquid holdings of your
friends who have offered their help, total in excess of twenty-seven
billion credits with more available through the conversion of investments.
I thought you would want to know.  I will leave you to...whatever it is you
are doing."

I didn't know what she meant about `the next ransom installment,' but I
didn't want to get into a big discussion, so I didn't ask.  I assumed after
Paul and I finished with Andy, we would seek out Bem for a situation
update.  I was also a bit surprised at the amount of Shawn and my joint
fortune, but I didn't have anything to say about it that would matter.  I
kept my mouth shut and waited for Lenis to leave.

She leaned into Paul and hummed again.  "Yes, short sleeves and a closer
fit.  When you have something worth flaunting, Paul, you should flaunt it."
Lenis said in an unintentional echo of what Paul had said to me earlier
that same morning.  She did a neat twirl in front of him and leaned against
him again. "That is what I do." She pushed away from Paul and strolled
along the corridor, rolling her athletic hips as she went.

I watched her go, then checked to see how Paul had taken her assault.  His
mouth gaped open, and his face was stop-sign red.  "You OK?" I asked the
stunned man.

My words got Paul's mouth closed and his voice working.  "That is a VERY
forward woman." He observed while still facing down the hall where he'd
seen her last. "She...uh...she thinks that I am...oh my, her thoughts...she
pictured me...and her...had a fantasy...about us...doing things."

I thought of a million things to say but none of them seemed quite right.
Instead of offering advice or platitudes, I tried to get us back on track
and moving toward Andy's place.  The sooner we could get Paul's power under
control, the better off he'd be.  I physically turned him to face the far
end of the hallway and put my arm over his shoulder to lead the way.  Paul
allowed himself to be led and walked with me.

Paul wasn't done being stunned by what just happened.  "I'm an old man." He
said, his voice full of wonder and surprise.

"She's twice your age." I reminded him.

"What?" Paul asked.  He seemed to be working hard to grasp the realities of
Solum and failing.

"She is more than twice your age.  She was single longer than you've been
alive."

Paul listened to what I had to say and shook his head. "It just doesn't
seem possible.  She's such a virile woman, handsome and so fit.  The images
she conjured...of her and I..."

"I'll have a talk with her." I said to interrupt Paul's stammering with a
brief promise.

We arrived at the door to Andy's apartment, and I pressed the spot on the
door jamb that served as the doorbell.  Andy's voice boomed through the
intercom.  He sounded too loud and slightly harried. "YES!" He cried.  More
words followed and I guessed he had tried to cover the microphone with his
palm while he said things that weren't intended for us. "Stop...oh my
FUCK...too MUCH...just stop."

I'd assumed we'd come at a bad time and that Andy and Comet were in the
middle of a wake-up tumble.  Actually, given the noises I heard, and the
way Andy seemed to be struggling to control the volume of his voice, I
assumed they were near the end.  Under any other circumstances I would have
chuckled my way back down the hallway and left them to their romp, but with
Paul's power stuck on, I needed help ASAP and Andy had the help I needed.

I decided to chart a middle path and give them a time limit instead of
insisting on immediate attention.  I shouted at the intercom to get enough
of my nephew's attention to start the timer.  "ANDY!" I bawled. "FIFTEEN
MINUTES, STARTING NOW!"

"THANK you." Andy replied, then he trailed off in miscellaneous noises and
disconnected words. "Yes, YES!  There, RIGHT THERE...oh FUCK!"

I turned us away from Andy's door as the intercom disconnected and opened
the door between the corridor and the outside.  Paul and I walked out onto
the plains.  I dropped my arm from Paul's shoulders and gripped my bracelet
with my right hand.  My hand stung as it closed around the bracelet but not
enough to relax my grip.  I thought about apologizing to Paul, but I wasn't
sure what I should be sorry for.  I thought about telling him that it
wasn't always like that on the estate, but that would have been a lie.
Instead of a hollow apology or a falsehood, I kept my mouth shut and raised
my face to the pale blue sky.

I heard some noises from Paul's direction brought my eyes around to see
what they were.  Paul was sniggering and trying to hide it.  His sniggers
built to chuckles, his chuckles built to laughter, and his laughter built
to gut-busting roars of merriment.  I laughed with him.  I didn't have a
choice.  I watched him laugh and it made me laugh.  The tension and the
ridiculousness of the situation meant I had to laugh.  We both howled with
hysterics.  Tears streamed down Paul's face and dripped onto his shirt as
he laughed.

We got control of ourselves slowly, but the laughter was one that would
settle and bubbled up again several times before it settled completely.
When we were both breathing normally, Paul explained what set him off.  "It
was when you almost said it isn't always like this, but didn't because it
is always like this, that I lost my composure.  I can see how it could be
trying, but it's wonderful as well.  What a fantastic group of people
you've surrounded yourself with.

"If you would have told me last week, that today I'd be standing in front
of a mansion made of glass, in the middle of nowhere, on another planet, in
another dimension, waiting for the nephew of a dear friend to finish having
sex with his boyfriend so he can help me get my magic power under control,
I would have said...I have no idea what I would have said.  It's too
farfetched even to presume how I would react."

Paul wiped his hand over his face and put the hand in his pocket to rub it
on the fabric where it wouldn't show.  "I'd like to say I feel like I've
gone insane, but even losing my grip on reality wouldn't account for this
morning."

I agreed with him.  I vividly remembered, at the beginning of my life on
Solum, that I spent most of my time with the feeling that I'd suffered a
severe head injury.  "I love this place, but it is an experience.  No
amount of explanation can prepare you for it."

"Very, very true." Paul admitted with a nod and a fresh smile. "And it's
all wonderful.  I think I will love it here."

The way he said that excited me.  I wondered if it meant that he was
planning to stay permanently.  I didn't ask him.  I assumed it was too soon
to know for certain.  Making a decision like that was a big deal.  If Paul
did decide to stay, he could probably change his mind up to about six
months.  Beyond that...I assumed he'd start to age backwards now that his
magic was active and after about half-a-year, he'd look too young to pass
for himself.  I assumed that would be especially true since he'd started
feeling the effects of the magic on just the second day.

A voice from above stopped my mind from wandering and demanded my
attention.  Paul and I both looked to the second story of the residential
wing where Andy's head and bare shoulders were visible as he leaned through
the open glass wall of the master bedroom of his apartment.  "Uncle Church,
Mister Paul, what brings you here?" Andy asked.

I waved my hands to capture Andy's attention before he spent too much time
looking at Paul and thinking things he wouldn't want known.  "Paul is a
second-class empath, and his power is stuck on.  He needs help." I blurted
in one breathless sentence.

Andy opened his mouth to say something, then his gaze softened, and he
shivered.  When no words came out of him after a long beat, I guessed that
something was happening behind Andy.  Given the dazed and stupid expression
on his face, I suspected that, whatever it was, was happening not just
behind him, but to his behind.  "COMET!" I shouted passed Andy. "KNOCK IT
OFF!"

Paul dropped his eyes to the ground at his feet.  "Oh my." He muttered.

Andy seemed to come back to himself, and Comet appeared next to him.  My
nephew's boyfriend was red in the face, bare in the shoulders, and had a
shiny smear of wetness around his mouth and down to his chin.  "How did you
know I was doing something?" He asked me and wiped his mouth on his
palm. "You're not an empath."

I pointed up at him and felt my face scowl. "I've been around, that's how.
Don't try my patience boy!"

"Church." Paul called from next to me.  I paused my attack on Comet to see
what he wanted.  Paul waved his hand at me, like a dog pawing for
attention, but didn't take his eyes from the ground. "Don't chastise him.
They're in love.  That young man couldn't know that I would know that he
was...A-HEM, oh-my...doing things when Andy was speaking with us."

A flash of curiosity entered my brain, and I wondered just how vivid Paul's
thought reading was.  Paul cleared his throat violently and turned his head
farther away from me so that I couldn't even see the edge of his eyes.
"Quite vivid." He said to the ground. "I didn't know...I mean...I didn't
consider...oh my...that such things were done.  It gives
uhm...intimacy...gives it new meaning."

I tried to follow what Paul was trying to tell me, but I didn't quite get
it...then I did, and I was horrified.  "Ho-ly shit." I said to myself and
raised my eyes and my voice up to Andy. "WILL YOU GET DOWN HERE?  PLEASE?"

"One minute." Andy said and disappeared inside.  Comet tried to linger.  He
opened his mouth to say something, then disappeared from view as he was
dragged bodily backwards through the opening in the bedroom wall.

I walked several paces along the glass wall, away from Paul, rubbed my face
and grumbled into my palms.  "Just fucking PERFECT.  Seventy FUCKING years
old and he learns the definition of `rim job' from reading my nephew's
thoughts while his boyfriend was suctioned to his ass in the middle of a
conversation.  That's perfect."

I fought to clear my mind, something I'm not good at, and went back to wait
with Paul.  Barely a few seconds passed when a fully clothed, but very
rumpled Andy made his appearance.  He took Paul into his living room and
sat him down on the couch.  I crossed the room to the kitchen and asked the
culinarian for coffee.

Comet came partway down the steps from the second floor, saw me and halted
his progress.  I glanced toward Andy and Paul and noticed they were deep in
conversation and unlikely to be distracted by me.  As a precaution I
erected a magic barrier between the kitchen and the living room and made
sure the stairs and Comet were on my side of it.

I beckoned Comet down.  "Come on.  I won't bite." I offered and tried to
sound calm and friendly.  Comet crept down a few more steps and loitered on
the bottom one.  I waved him over again, but he wouldn't budge.  I pointed
at the other room. "I put a barrier up.  They can't hear us, and we can't
hear them.  You can talk if you want to."

Comet tucked his chin and shook his head like an infant refusing to be fed.
He kept his mouth tight shut.

I felt my frustration spike, then took a deep breath and had a sip of my
coffee.  I carried my cup around the counter and sat at the island.  I
pulled the other chair out with magic and pointed at it.  "Have a seat." I
said to Comet.

He shook his head again.

I slid the chair across the floor until it came to rest against the wall
next to the bottom of the steps.  I pointed to it with the hand that wasn't
trying to crush my coffee cup.  "HAVE A SEAT!" I demanded.

The boy scrambled down the last couple steps and perched on the edge of the
chair.  He stared at me like he expected I was gearing up to eat him.  I
took a couple breaths, drained my coffee cup, pried it from my hand, and
set it down.  I put both my hands on my knees, to keep my arms still, and
asked my nephew's boyfriend why he was afraid of me.  "What have I done?"

Comet shook his head again.

I'd long known the boy was nervous around me, but I never knew why.  I also
never bothered to find out.  Once I realized he and Andy were going to be a
couple, for a while anyway, I'd made some small effort to get Comet to
relax around me.  When he wouldn't, I got aggravated with his fear and
decided to fuck with him.  That hadn't been the right thing to do, and I
regretted it, but not a lot.

For some reason, that morning of all mornings, it seemed important to reach
out to Comet.  I don't know if it was because Shawn wasn't around, or
because my emotions were running high, or because of Paul's new magic, or
what, but it suddenly seemed very important that Comet and I come to an
understanding.

"Please." I begged the boy. "I promise I won't do anything, no matter what
you say.  I'm not a monster."

Comet muttered something I didn't catch.  I asked him to repeat himself.
"What's that?"

Comet glared at me, his face set, and his eyes hot and angry. "I said, I'm
not strong!" He snarled.

I was surprised to hear anger from the boy.  I'd never heard it before.
Suddenly, everything about him was different from the way I usually
encountered him.  He'd straightened his posture in the chair, squared his
shoulders and sat up tall and proud.  He closed his right fist like he was
going to threaten me with it but left his thumb standing up on the outside
of the ball of fingers.  He pointed the thumb at his chest and practically
shouted self-deprecation at me.

"I'm weak, and soft, and short!  I'm timid!  I'm plain!" Comet opened the
hand he'd been pointing at himself and waved it at the living room. "Andy
is amazing and I'm nothing.  Look at him.  He could have anyone...ANYONE!
And you're just like him...except you've got scary magic!  I can feel it!
I think everyone here can.  I can do things here that I can't do anywhere
else.  Andy and me...can do things." Comet blushed and left the rest hinted
but unsaid.

He didn't have to say it.  I knew what he meant.  He and Andy had a ton of
energy when they stayed at the estate.  They could climb and play and fuck
almost endlessly as long as they stayed close enough to me to pick up my
stray magic.  When they left, and went back to the world, they went back to
`normal,' except they probably didn't.  I knew Andy's capacity had expanded
from spending time with me.  I guessed Comet's had as well.  Since he'd
started with a small capacity, I guessed the change was dramatic for him.
He went on to say as much.

"I'm stronger now...Andy says it's from being around you.  It's crazy!
It's scary that just being around you does that to people...changes them
like that.  It's happening right now.  I know it is.  I'm just here and
you're just there and your power is changing me...making me stronger.  WHAT
IF I DON'T WANT TO BE STRONG?" The boy demanded as his hot eyes bored holes
in me. "What if I get strong and Andy doesn't want me anymore?"

I used the heel of my right hand to rub the back of my neck as I stared at
my nephew's mousy boyfriend.  I'd assumed Comet's nervousness around me had
something to do with my size or my power or both.  I assumed he was afraid
of me for the same reason Shawn had been afraid of me, once upon a time,
because he thought I'd kill him.  It never occurred to me that Comet's
worries would have more to do with his own self-loathing than with my
power.

I replayed his monologue in my head and tried to organize his statements
into something I could grasp.  What I came up with sounded like this.
`Comet loves Andy but thinks he's not good enough.  Comet thinks Andy wants
him because he's not good enough for Andy...some kind of self-loathing idea
that Andy wants to be in a relationship with someone weaker or less, so he
doesn't have to compete with his boyfriend for the alpha slot.  Following
that logic, if Comet gets stronger, he'll be equal to Andy, and Andy won't
want him anymore.  What in the absolute fuck am I supposed to do with
that?'

`How can I reassure this kid?' I wondered and ran over all that he'd said
in my brain again.  I struck on something I hadn't noticed before. `He said
I'm just like Andy, didn't he?  He thinks I'm perfect too.  HA!  How can he
think that?  This kid is so much like me, it's terrifying.  Poor bastard.
Maybe if I show him.  I wonder if that would help.'

I took my phone from my pocket and opened up the photo storage.  I scrolled
backwards until I found the picture I wanted.  It was a picture of me that
Mary had found when we were all staying at Joe's house before my family
came to Solum in 2025.  The photo was taken during the summer before I went
to Solum.  It was probably the last photo that was taken of my old life.

I was at the house, Joe's house, to work on the air conditioner.  I was
dirty from work, leaning on the front fender of the Vic with a cigarette
smoldering in my angry face and my left hand giving the middle finger to
the camera and to my brother who was behind it.  I'd loaded the photo into
my phone and kept it as a reminder, a reminder of where I came from, of
what I had been.

I stretched the photo and cropped it to show just me in all my bloated,
miserable glory, and floated the phone to Comet.  "You see that guy?" I
asked the boy. "That's me, a few months before I met Shawn.  That's what I
looked like when Shawn found me.  Shawn has always been perfect, that's how
I saw him anyway, that's how I still see him, and that was me.  Shawn saw
something in me, in that version of me, something that I didn't even see in
myself.  He saw value.

"I think Andy sees value in you.  I think if he didn't, he wouldn't spend
time with you.  I think if he knew how you thought about yourself, if he
knew what you thought about why he liked you, and what you think would
happen if you got to be as strong as him, he'd be very angry.  I think you
sell yourself short, like I did, and what's worse, you sell your boyfriend
short."

As I laid out my reasoning to Comet, I wondered how he'd hidden those
feelings from Andy.  `Maybe he hasn't.' I reasoned. `Maybe Andy knows
they're there, but he's trying to deal with them indirectly instead of head
on.  I wonder.'

Comet took my phone from the air and squinted at the picture.  His fingers
stretched and moved the image.  He held the phone up to the air so he could
compare it to me.  "That's not you." He insisted with yet another shake of
his head.

I mussed my hair to approximate the disheveled look of the man in the
picture, pressed my lips together like I was angry at the whole world, and
raised the middle finger of my left hand to match the image.  Comet held
the phone up again and looked and looked and looked.  He got off his chair
and approached me so he could hold the phone right next to my face.  He
gasped and was about to say something when I felt a rapping on my magic.  I
jerked my head around to see Andy beating his fists on the barrier and
shouting.

I released the magic and dropped barrier.  Andy ran over to check on
Comet. "ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" He demanded and pushed himself between me and his
boyfriend.  Andy rounded on me, faced me with his arms crossed over his
chest and a very Joe-like scowl creasing his face.  "Uncle Church," he
admonished me, "why are you being mean to him?  Why can't you leave him
alone?  You know he's scared of you."

I started to argue when Comet cut me off.  "Not anymore." He said from
behind Andy.  He handed my phone back to me from around his boyfriend and
sidestepped Andy to stand with him instead of behind him. "Not anymore."
Comet said again and slipped his arm around Andy's waist, squeezing himself
against my nephew.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yup." Comet replied. "Thanks for showing me that.  It...it just goes to
show, you know...love is really something."

"What?" Andy asked but Comet shook his head at him.

"Tell you later." Comet whispered to the side of Andy's face and followed
his words with a pec on his cheek. "Did you help Mister Paul?"

"Yeah." Andy split a confused look between me and his boyfriend.

I assumed Andy was going to start reading minds to try to get his confusion
resolved, but I didn't want to give away what Comet and I had discussed.  I
focused my mind and called up the memory of the smell of the inside of an
industrial grease trap, installed in the sewer system of a lunch meat
factory, that I'd cleaned out and repaired in my old life.  Few things
smell worse than a grease trap and Andy reacted immediately.  His face
bunched up in a grimace of revulsion. "OH, UNCLE CHURCH...WHY?  So gross!"

"I warned you not to read my mind." I said with a verbal shrug and a covert
wink to Comet.  He cracked a mischievous smile back to me.  That smile told
me that I'd reached the boy.  I didn't think we were buddies or anything
like that, but we'd had a breakthrough and that was good enough for me.

I turned my attention to Paul who stood by himself in the living room.  I
gave Paul the thumbs-up sign and raised one shoulder in a half-shrug
question.  Paul returned the thumbs-up and added a nod.  "Andy was very
helpful.  He and I have more work to do, but I can control my magic at will
now." Paul smirked as he said it. "What a strange thing to say out loud;
strange and wonderful."

"Good!" I stood from my chair. "Let's get moving then.  I've got a whole
list of things I want to get to.  I want to find Bem and get an update.
With any luck we'll be hearing from Primis soon.  I also want to check on
Leah to see how she's doing.  I don't know that she's ever been alone.  I
want to make sure she's OK.  I also want to catch up with Cellarius and Joe
and Mary...lots of stuff to do."

Paul and I took our leave of the boys and headed off to start our day in
earnest.