I Prefer the Mind Control Rewrite - Chapter 21
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Mom looked Xan directly in the eye. “Don’t think we’ve forgotten about you, Xan,” she muttered. “Because we haven’t.”
Dad nodded. “We have more to discuss with Dylan, but we need to talk to you alone, Xan. And if we don’t like what we hear, I’ll make a quilt out of your skin and sell it on Etsy.”
“Just make sure you get a good price for it, dear,” my mom murmured as she looked at Dad.
Xan shuddered. “I’ve seen Etsy; you would almost certainly be able to sell such an item for an exorbitant amount, but I hope that doesn’t become necessary.”
I leaned into Xan. “It’ll be okay. They’re not really gonna make a quilt out of your skin. My dad’s more into embroidery, anyway. That’s why he knows what Etsy is; he has his own store on the site.”
Mom and Dad stood up from their armchairs. She looked right at Xan and muttered, “We don’t want to intimidate you, but we need to make sure your intentions are pure in taking my child off-planet.”
I couldn’t help fucking giggling. Pure? Xan’s intentions towards me had never been fucking pure. He was more than good to me, but pure he was not. Seriously, we had fucked the first time we met. I had fucked him and his friend the first time we had met.
Vainly, I tried to stifle my giggles. Both parents raised their eyebrows at me, asking what the fuck I was on about. “I’m -- I’m sorry. It’s just -- your word choice. Pure? Um, Xan and I have already had sex,” I choked out.
Mom just smiled. "I would hope you've had sex already. It wouldn't make any sense to go off the planet with someone when you didn't know if you were sexually compatible. When I said, ‘pure,’ I meant I hope Xan here actually cares about you.”
Xan turned to me with a look that stopped my heart for a moment. Damn, that look was intense. “I do care about Dylan,” he murmured. “Very much.” He reached out and lightly brushed my cheek, sending a shock of warmth through my body. In front of my parents. I felt my cheeks heat up; I had to be blushing.
Dad gestured towards Mom’s home office. “We’ll discuss things in Mary’s office, if that’s alright with you, Xan.”
“That’s -- that’s fine,” Xan said, his voice shaking.
I squeezed his shoulder. “Good luck, man.”
He could only nod at me. I offered a comforting smile, or tried to, but I didn’t know how much good it would do. My parents really were harmless, but this -- this was fucking serious.
They all headed into the office. I stood there, watching them go. It was none of my business what they would discuss, so of course I pressed my ear against the keyhole to eavesdrop once I thought enough time had passed.
I heard my mom’s voice, muffled through the door. “So, Xan, why do you think this is a good idea? Dylan has hardly even traveled outside the country.”
“It’s -- a risky thing,” Xan sighed. “I don’t know how well Dylan will adjust to life on Zimara, honestly.”
“And yet you’re taking him anyway?” I could practically hear my dad narrow his eyes and cross his arms over his chest.
“That said, he is not happy here on Earth, either. I -- there is a light in his eyes that I don’t think is there when we’re not together. I’m not foolish enough to think I can solve all his problems for him, but I want--”
“You want what?” my mom asked.
Wow, Xan was being so honest with my parents. It made me like him even more when he admitted this might be a bad idea. Yeah, okay, I know that sounds kind of weird. But isn’t it true that unrealistic assessments often lead to disaster and shit? So, if Xan is being realistic about my going to Zimara, that means it has a better chance of not being a clusterfuck? Of course you’re not gonna answer me on that, are you?
“I want Dylan to be happy,” Xan murmured. “More than anything. He is -- very precious to me -- in a way nobody ever has been before.” He paused. “We’ve known each other for such a short while, and I don’t expect him to feel the same yet, but --” He sounded like he was -- crying? “I -- I love him.”
Wait, what? He loved me? Like, actual “chocolate and roses on Valentine’s Day” love?
“Would you leave someone you loved behind?” Xan whispered. I could barely hear him.
Fuck, he sounded perfectly sincere. I knew he was willing to take me to his home planet, but he -- he loved me? Someone like me?
“I wouldn’t leave the one I loved behind,” Mom muttered.
“I wouldn’t, either,” Dad said.
“You sound like you mean it,” Mom said, sounding hesitant. “But there is -- something else. It’s a -- perhaps it’s a silly question, but I’ve heard...rumors.”
“Rumors?” Xan wondered. “About what, exactly?” He sounded especially nervous. I didn’t blame him. Rumors were usually never good.
“About a certain...pair-bonding practice on Zimara. I’m -- well, I’m assuming any grain of truth has been deeply distorted by xenophobes because I heard...” Mom muttered, trailing off.
What the fuck had she heard that made her sound so damn awkward?
Nervously, my mom continued, “I heard that your...idea of lifelong romantic commitment isn’t like ours in the National States. Where instead of a bond between equals, it’s more like -- more like slavery where one partner because the legal property of the other. And to make it especially outrageous -- this is supposed to involve breaking the submissive partner’s very soul and making it so they can’t say ‘no’ to their owner’s desires, ever.”
Wait, what?
That was -- totally a rumor, right?
“You -- you heard Soulbreaking?” Xan spluttered.
That was a thing? With an actual name?
“It isn’t just a rumor?” my dad asked, like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
I leaned harder against the door. This couldn’t be fucking possible. Xan’s people did what now? I should have been the bad kind of shocked, but -- I wasn’t.
A long and fucking tense moment passed before my boyfriend spoke again. He sighed, “Yes, Soulbreaking is real. It works more or less like how Mary described. But -- you can do it only on the truly willing. You cannot ever force a Truebond, and it would be a crime of the highest order to try. And I -- I would never ask Dylan to do something so against his beliefs.”
“Hey, you don’t even know what my beliefs are!” I muttered.
I mean, I obviously wouldn’t do a Soulbreaking. Because it wasn’t like I thought such a mind-boggling setup was...secretly appealing or anything. Hey, stop looking at me like that, author! Hmph.
“Did you hear something, Todd?” my mom murmured.
“Now that you mention it, dear, I think I did. Dylan is probably eavesdropping,” he said.
No, I wasn’t! I was...gathering intelligence.
Before I could so much as move, Mom opened the fucking door, revealing me in the middle of definitely not eavesdropping. I waved. “Uh, hi, everyone. How’s it going?” I said.
That wasn’t gonna fool anyone, was it?
Mom shook her head and sighed, “We should have expected this.”
Xan wouldn’t meet my eyes, and he was blushing deeply. I imagined he wouldn’t have wanted me to hear about that, but I would have fucking found out about it sometime. I wasn’t gonna judge his people for a custom I didn’t even see a problem with if everyone involved was a consenting adult.
I walked over to Xan. He tried to shift away from me, so I cupped his cheek in my hand. I wasn’t going to just let him fucking avoid this. He finally looked at me, his eyes huge and shining with tears. “You -- what are you doing?” he muttered.
My parents watched us in silence, apparently waiting to chew me out for eavesdropping. I looked my boyfriend in the eye, refusing to allow his gaze to fucking wander. “You don’t have to be, like, embarrassed about your people, man,” I said, trying to keep my voice as gentle as possible. “I’m not gonna judge you for your customs. I’m sure things we humans do seems weird as shit to you guys.”
Xan said nothing to that, just kept staring at me with those wide eyes. Even though my parents were there, I pulled his face towards mine and kissed him lightly on the lips before breaking away I whispered, “Really, Xan, the only thing you have to be ashamed of is not explaining these things sooner.”
“You’re -- you’re serious?” he said, his eyes still wide.
I nodded, putting a hand on his shoulder and giving it a small squeeze. “I’m perfectly serious,” I said. “Have more faith in me, okay?”
After I let go of Xan, my mom turned to him. “I think we’ve heard enough from you,” she murmured.”
Xan’s face contorted in horror. Fuck, was my mom going to refuse to approve of him? My stomach sank as I waited for her to speak.
“I can tell you care for Dylan very much,” she said. “I believe you love my son, and I think he’ll be in good hands with you.” Mom then looked at me. “If you’re absolutely sure about this, I’ll give my approval.”
My dad nodded at me and Xan. “I -- give my approval, too. But, Xan, if you screw up and hurt my boy, I will find out about it, and I will turn your head into a soccer ball.”
Was Xan trembling? I couldn’t quite tell. “Don’t worry, uh, Todd -- I won’t hurt Dylan,” he said.
“That should be everything. You two can go get settled in Dylan’s room if you like,” Mom said, smiling.
I took Xan’s hand. “C’mon, let’s get our stuff and go upstairs, okay?” I looked at my parents. “Thanks, guys,” I murmured.
After we got our stuff into my room, I kicked off my shoes and flopped down on the bed. Xan settled down besides me after removing his own shoes. He looked fucking exhausted, and I just wanted to hug him and tell him it was okay. Before I could do that, though, something occurred to me. I rolled over to face him as he lay beside me.
“Hey, Xan, what about your invisible bodyguards? I’m not sure my parents are gonna like having invisible people in the house,” I said.
He smiled slightly. “I told them about that -- it must have been before you were eavesdropping. That’s a bad habit, you know.”
I chuckled softly. “Yeah, I know. Can’t fucking help it, though.”
“There are a lot of interesting things to hear in the Zimaran Palace, if you care to listen. Especially in the kitchens. I learned all sort of recipes hiding down there. Some of the workers thought I was a servant myself. I never told them otherwise,” he murmured. He propped himself up on one elbow
I gazed into his beautiful bronze eyes. Impulsively, I leaned forward and kissed him. He wrapped his arms around me and deepened the kiss. When he rolled himself on top of me, it warmed my body -- and my fucking soul. Xan broke the kiss and pulled away enough to smile at me. My heart skipped a beat.
“I -- I love you, too,” I whispered. Wait, I didn’t fucking mean to say that. But it was true, as absurd as that seemed, given the tiny time in which we had known each other.
“You heard that too? It’s true, Dylan. I -- do love you,” he whispered, his eyes shining with fucking tears.
I kissed him again. Xan was the first one to pull away, again. I looked at him, feeling kind of worried. “Do you --? I want to take you now,” he murmured.
“I do,” I murmured.
Xan kissed me, roughly. I gave myself over to the kiss and let warmth flood my body. I loved him and wanted him more than anything. Going to another planet may have been risky and what some might call insane, but I knew, to the bottom of my heart, that it was the right decision to make.
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written for 500themes prompt #70 - "Fire and Storm"
next chapter
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Mom looked Xan directly in the eye. “Don’t think we’ve forgotten about you, Xan,” she muttered. “Because we haven’t.”
Dad nodded. “We have more to discuss with Dylan, but we need to talk to you alone, Xan. And if we don’t like what we hear, I’ll make a quilt out of your skin and sell it on Etsy.”
“Just make sure you get a good price for it, dear,” my mom murmured as she looked at Dad.
Xan shuddered. “I’ve seen Etsy; you would almost certainly be able to sell such an item for an exorbitant amount, but I hope that doesn’t become necessary.”
I leaned into Xan. “It’ll be okay. They’re not really gonna make a quilt out of your skin. My dad’s more into embroidery, anyway. That’s why he knows what Etsy is; he has his own store on the site.”
Mom and Dad stood up from their armchairs. She looked right at Xan and muttered, “We don’t want to intimidate you, but we need to make sure your intentions are pure in taking my child off-planet.”
I couldn’t help fucking giggling. Pure? Xan’s intentions towards me had never been fucking pure. He was more than good to me, but pure he was not. Seriously, we had fucked the first time we met. I had fucked him and his friend the first time we had met.
Vainly, I tried to stifle my giggles. Both parents raised their eyebrows at me, asking what the fuck I was on about. “I’m -- I’m sorry. It’s just -- your word choice. Pure? Um, Xan and I have already had sex,” I choked out.
Mom just smiled. "I would hope you've had sex already. It wouldn't make any sense to go off the planet with someone when you didn't know if you were sexually compatible. When I said, ‘pure,’ I meant I hope Xan here actually cares about you.”
Xan turned to me with a look that stopped my heart for a moment. Damn, that look was intense. “I do care about Dylan,” he murmured. “Very much.” He reached out and lightly brushed my cheek, sending a shock of warmth through my body. In front of my parents. I felt my cheeks heat up; I had to be blushing.
Dad gestured towards Mom’s home office. “We’ll discuss things in Mary’s office, if that’s alright with you, Xan.”
“That’s -- that’s fine,” Xan said, his voice shaking.
I squeezed his shoulder. “Good luck, man.”
He could only nod at me. I offered a comforting smile, or tried to, but I didn’t know how much good it would do. My parents really were harmless, but this -- this was fucking serious.
They all headed into the office. I stood there, watching them go. It was none of my business what they would discuss, so of course I pressed my ear against the keyhole to eavesdrop once I thought enough time had passed.
I heard my mom’s voice, muffled through the door. “So, Xan, why do you think this is a good idea? Dylan has hardly even traveled outside the country.”
“It’s -- a risky thing,” Xan sighed. “I don’t know how well Dylan will adjust to life on Zimara, honestly.”
“And yet you’re taking him anyway?” I could practically hear my dad narrow his eyes and cross his arms over his chest.
“That said, he is not happy here on Earth, either. I -- there is a light in his eyes that I don’t think is there when we’re not together. I’m not foolish enough to think I can solve all his problems for him, but I want--”
“You want what?” my mom asked.
Wow, Xan was being so honest with my parents. It made me like him even more when he admitted this might be a bad idea. Yeah, okay, I know that sounds kind of weird. But isn’t it true that unrealistic assessments often lead to disaster and shit? So, if Xan is being realistic about my going to Zimara, that means it has a better chance of not being a clusterfuck? Of course you’re not gonna answer me on that, are you?
“I want Dylan to be happy,” Xan murmured. “More than anything. He is -- very precious to me -- in a way nobody ever has been before.” He paused. “We’ve known each other for such a short while, and I don’t expect him to feel the same yet, but --” He sounded like he was -- crying? “I -- I love him.”
Wait, what? He loved me? Like, actual “chocolate and roses on Valentine’s Day” love?
“Would you leave someone you loved behind?” Xan whispered. I could barely hear him.
Fuck, he sounded perfectly sincere. I knew he was willing to take me to his home planet, but he -- he loved me? Someone like me?
“I wouldn’t leave the one I loved behind,” Mom muttered.
“I wouldn’t, either,” Dad said.
“You sound like you mean it,” Mom said, sounding hesitant. “But there is -- something else. It’s a -- perhaps it’s a silly question, but I’ve heard...rumors.”
“Rumors?” Xan wondered. “About what, exactly?” He sounded especially nervous. I didn’t blame him. Rumors were usually never good.
“About a certain...pair-bonding practice on Zimara. I’m -- well, I’m assuming any grain of truth has been deeply distorted by xenophobes because I heard...” Mom muttered, trailing off.
What the fuck had she heard that made her sound so damn awkward?
Nervously, my mom continued, “I heard that your...idea of lifelong romantic commitment isn’t like ours in the National States. Where instead of a bond between equals, it’s more like -- more like slavery where one partner because the legal property of the other. And to make it especially outrageous -- this is supposed to involve breaking the submissive partner’s very soul and making it so they can’t say ‘no’ to their owner’s desires, ever.”
Wait, what?
That was -- totally a rumor, right?
“You -- you heard Soulbreaking?” Xan spluttered.
That was a thing? With an actual name?
“It isn’t just a rumor?” my dad asked, like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
I leaned harder against the door. This couldn’t be fucking possible. Xan’s people did what now? I should have been the bad kind of shocked, but -- I wasn’t.
A long and fucking tense moment passed before my boyfriend spoke again. He sighed, “Yes, Soulbreaking is real. It works more or less like how Mary described. But -- you can do it only on the truly willing. You cannot ever force a Truebond, and it would be a crime of the highest order to try. And I -- I would never ask Dylan to do something so against his beliefs.”
“Hey, you don’t even know what my beliefs are!” I muttered.
I mean, I obviously wouldn’t do a Soulbreaking. Because it wasn’t like I thought such a mind-boggling setup was...secretly appealing or anything. Hey, stop looking at me like that, author! Hmph.
“Did you hear something, Todd?” my mom murmured.
“Now that you mention it, dear, I think I did. Dylan is probably eavesdropping,” he said.
No, I wasn’t! I was...gathering intelligence.
Before I could so much as move, Mom opened the fucking door, revealing me in the middle of definitely not eavesdropping. I waved. “Uh, hi, everyone. How’s it going?” I said.
That wasn’t gonna fool anyone, was it?
Mom shook her head and sighed, “We should have expected this.”
Xan wouldn’t meet my eyes, and he was blushing deeply. I imagined he wouldn’t have wanted me to hear about that, but I would have fucking found out about it sometime. I wasn’t gonna judge his people for a custom I didn’t even see a problem with if everyone involved was a consenting adult.
I walked over to Xan. He tried to shift away from me, so I cupped his cheek in my hand. I wasn’t going to just let him fucking avoid this. He finally looked at me, his eyes huge and shining with tears. “You -- what are you doing?” he muttered.
My parents watched us in silence, apparently waiting to chew me out for eavesdropping. I looked my boyfriend in the eye, refusing to allow his gaze to fucking wander. “You don’t have to be, like, embarrassed about your people, man,” I said, trying to keep my voice as gentle as possible. “I’m not gonna judge you for your customs. I’m sure things we humans do seems weird as shit to you guys.”
Xan said nothing to that, just kept staring at me with those wide eyes. Even though my parents were there, I pulled his face towards mine and kissed him lightly on the lips before breaking away I whispered, “Really, Xan, the only thing you have to be ashamed of is not explaining these things sooner.”
“You’re -- you’re serious?” he said, his eyes still wide.
I nodded, putting a hand on his shoulder and giving it a small squeeze. “I’m perfectly serious,” I said. “Have more faith in me, okay?”
After I let go of Xan, my mom turned to him. “I think we’ve heard enough from you,” she murmured.”
Xan’s face contorted in horror. Fuck, was my mom going to refuse to approve of him? My stomach sank as I waited for her to speak.
“I can tell you care for Dylan very much,” she said. “I believe you love my son, and I think he’ll be in good hands with you.” Mom then looked at me. “If you’re absolutely sure about this, I’ll give my approval.”
My dad nodded at me and Xan. “I -- give my approval, too. But, Xan, if you screw up and hurt my boy, I will find out about it, and I will turn your head into a soccer ball.”
Was Xan trembling? I couldn’t quite tell. “Don’t worry, uh, Todd -- I won’t hurt Dylan,” he said.
“That should be everything. You two can go get settled in Dylan’s room if you like,” Mom said, smiling.
I took Xan’s hand. “C’mon, let’s get our stuff and go upstairs, okay?” I looked at my parents. “Thanks, guys,” I murmured.
After we got our stuff into my room, I kicked off my shoes and flopped down on the bed. Xan settled down besides me after removing his own shoes. He looked fucking exhausted, and I just wanted to hug him and tell him it was okay. Before I could do that, though, something occurred to me. I rolled over to face him as he lay beside me.
“Hey, Xan, what about your invisible bodyguards? I’m not sure my parents are gonna like having invisible people in the house,” I said.
He smiled slightly. “I told them about that -- it must have been before you were eavesdropping. That’s a bad habit, you know.”
I chuckled softly. “Yeah, I know. Can’t fucking help it, though.”
“There are a lot of interesting things to hear in the Zimaran Palace, if you care to listen. Especially in the kitchens. I learned all sort of recipes hiding down there. Some of the workers thought I was a servant myself. I never told them otherwise,” he murmured. He propped himself up on one elbow
I gazed into his beautiful bronze eyes. Impulsively, I leaned forward and kissed him. He wrapped his arms around me and deepened the kiss. When he rolled himself on top of me, it warmed my body -- and my fucking soul. Xan broke the kiss and pulled away enough to smile at me. My heart skipped a beat.
“I -- I love you, too,” I whispered. Wait, I didn’t fucking mean to say that. But it was true, as absurd as that seemed, given the tiny time in which we had known each other.
“You heard that too? It’s true, Dylan. I -- do love you,” he whispered, his eyes shining with fucking tears.
I kissed him again. Xan was the first one to pull away, again. I looked at him, feeling kind of worried. “Do you --? I want to take you now,” he murmured.
“I do,” I murmured.
Xan kissed me, roughly. I gave myself over to the kiss and let warmth flood my body. I loved him and wanted him more than anything. Going to another planet may have been risky and what some might call insane, but I knew, to the bottom of my heart, that it was the right decision to make.
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written for 500themes prompt #70 - "Fire and Storm"
next chapter