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Seven

The Suite

The following month was like a dream. A really, really wet dream. The loss of Val still stung, and more than one of us still held some resentment against Agnes, but it faded. Some of the awkwardness between her and me faded, too, and we were able to hold a couple conversations without squirming and giving longing looks. It helped ease some of my hurt toward her. I was still angry with her, of course, but it was a good start.

The days in the Yard were... active. I think we were a little addicted to each other, to be honest. I learned a lot about my fellow subjects. For example:

Tanya could not decide if she was dominant or submissive. She would curl up at my feet and beg to put her snout in my crotch, then slap me if I said no (which would immediately lead me to say "yes" because now I was horny, dangit). She was cautious with Kiba at first, but quickly became more assertive. Kiba would basically let her do anything to her, despite not being terribly interested in doing anything back.

Speaking of Kiba, she definitely liked the boys more than us girls, but she was happy to let us do whatever we wanted to her as long as we didn't ask her to reciprocate. She tried tasting Tanya once, but she said she "tasted weird" and avoided doing so again. I think she had a crush on Patrice, too. While she never turned down my brother, she ran to Patrice first and foremost when we entered the Yard.

Leon usually didn't participate. I figured he wouldn't, but I tried to encourage him to join us every time. Subtly, of course. Never asking him to join me, much as I wanted to. I settled for watching him bounce Kiba on his dick or take Tanya from behind (he was warming up to her, I felt). A few times I even got to watch him suck off Patrice. I hadn't really thought about the fact that my brother liked boys, too. He even offered to let Patrice mount him once, but Patrice got nervous and said no.

Ah, Patrice. Once he dropped the macho act, he was actually sweet. Kind of excitable and occasionally dropped back into what we laughingly referred to as his "Alpha strut," but a light chastisement usually brought him to his senses. Or a kiss would do it too. He was always so hesitant to acquiesce to my requests to get hit. I didn't ask him to punch me again--that had been a little intense. I loved it, but I also knew I could only get hit like that so often before it did lasting damage. The slaps felt good and did the trick, as it were. He was otherwise gentle and eager, both of which were adorable but often frustrating.

When we weren't in some carnal configuration, we were often talking about life beyond the walls. Leon and I soaked it all up as much as we could, having never been beyond the walls of the Pit in waking memory.

Kiba came from Meridia. She grew up in the gutters of a city called Etarak's Folly, homeless but with a pack of other Ysoki children who took care of each other, sharing what food or coins they managed to lift, living in abandoned buildings until the City Watch found them and chased them out to the next location. Last year, she was arrested for stealing a diadem from a rich merchant's wife. She hadn't stolen it, but the Watch didn't care. She was a Ysoki and so was the thief, so they considered that good enough and threw her on a prison transport. She wound up in a prison camp on the coast until someone figured out she was Gifted.

"What Gift?" I asked, curious.

She blushed. "Nero Effect."

The others saw my blank stare. Patrice piped up. "That's... Wow. That's super rare. Can you control it?"

Kiba shook her head, raising her little claws to hide her face in her hood, but her hood wasn't there. We spent our time in the Yard naked, these days. "No," she said.

Patrice turned to me. "Nero Effect is an autonomic response that causes anyone in the area of the Anthropus to pass out. A strong enough pulse can even put someone in a coma. It's notoriously hard to master because it's inherently tied to bodily functions that aren't consciously under your control. It's fight-or-flight, in other words."

Kiba nodded miserably. "I accidentally put a guard to sleep when he scared me. Next thing I knew, I was being shipped here for the experiment." She perked up and rubbed her cheek against the Lupus's arm. "I'm glad I'm here now, though." Patrice's ears flattened shyly and he squeezed her hand.

"I wonder why it hasn't happened, then?" Leon wondered aloud. "I mean, no offense, but you spooked pretty easy when we first got here."

Kiba blinked in surprise and opened her mouth to reply, but apparently couldn't think of a reason, because she finally just shrugged.

Patrice fidgeted. "I haven't been able to read anyone's mind since the first couple weeks. I think they're probably putting something in the food, or the water. Lots of Gifted in one place, it wouldn't surprise me if they're stunting our powers somehow."

That was an unpleasant thought. But seeing as I had no discernable Gift, I pushed it out of my mind.

"What about you, Tanya?" Leon asked. I turned in surprise. It was the first time he'd shown an interest in Tanya as a person and not a member of the sex party. He looked hesitant when he asked, like he wasn't sure how to proceed. I beamed at him. When he noticed, he flicked his ear bashfully.

"I was trained at the Academy," she said. Patrice's eyes widened. Leon, Kiba and I all shrugged. "Kastigo Academy. It is where promising Anthropa go to train in the Autocracy. All Gifted go there, in particular. We are trained to use our Gifts for combat in the War." Patrice looked both uncomfortable and angry at the comment. Tanya didn't notice--she rarely noticed others' emotional states. "I learned to lift up to one hundred pounds, and push forty-six. My Psychometry is much less potent. Or... it is potent, but I am not able to control it as well. Some objects I touch, I can see events around them as far back as six days. Other times, nothing comes, no matter how hard I try."

Patrice growled. "My brother and I hated what our government stood for, but nothing more than the Academy. He ran away from home with me so they wouldn't take me. They brainwash you, indoctrinate you so you believe their crap about Predator superiority." He blinked, then looked at Tanya. "I'm sorry! I didn't even think about what I was saying. You--uh..."

Tanya shrugged, her face unchanged. "You are correct. They have education programs, but they don't actually educate you. They tell you what they want you to believe. I believed it for a while, but then my commanding officer tried to rape me and I killed him."

She said it so matter-of-factly, I almost didn't catch it. But I knew Tanya a little better now, and I could see the faint tremor in her lip. I reached over and hugged her gently. "You don't have to talk about it, if you don't want."

Tanya shrugged. "It... wouldn't have been so bad. I knew I was in trouble, so I ran, but they caught me and put me in a prison camp. But honestly, it was better than being at the Academy. At first. But then, three guards tried to force themselves on me at once. I hurt them. Bad. One died, the other two won't walk again."

"Good," Leon whispered.

Tanya stared at him for a moment, then nodded. "Yes. Good. But the Warden decided to transfer me, somewhere they could contain me. On the way, my ship was attacked by pirates. I thought I would be killed like the crew, but the captain didn't kill us. She took us and sold us to the Warden here at the Pit. When he found out I had Gifts, he pulled me from the Pit and put me in here."

Leon perked up. "You've been in the Pit?"

Tanya shrugged and nodded.

He started wringing his hands. "Was... was there a Vulpin woman there? Rika? A Vulpin named Rika Ahriman?"

"Yes," Tanya said. "Rika Ahriman. She was nice to me."

I saw the question Leon wanted desperately to ask, but he shook with fear. "K... kits? Did she have... kits...?"

Tanya shook her head. "No children. Just adults."

Leon imploded. I scooted over to him and wrapped my arms around him. Everyone looked like they wanted to ask, but no one did. He didn't cry, but he looked so lost... He didn't need to cry, because I cried for him. "I'm sorry, Leon," I whispered. "But... maybe it's for the best." He shrugged, his face drained of emotion. He didn't look like Tanya, she at least had a light in her eyes even if she didn't express much. She was deadpan. Leon was... dead. I sniffled and squeezed him tighter, stroking his ear. "She's alive. That's good. Okay? That's a good thing."

Kiba looked like she was going to cry too. "Is she his...mate?" I nodded. Kiba's lip trembled. "That's awful. I'm so sorry." Even Patrice leaned over and squeezed Leon's leg reassuringly.

"We'll figure something out, okay?" I hugged him tighter. He leaned against me and stared into nothing. Gods, it hurt to see him like that.

We spent the rest of the afternoon huddled together, kissing and hugging Leon and Tanya and each other, all of us feeling unsure what to do for the others. But worst of all for me was Leon. He looked so small right then. And here we were, trying to convince him it would be okay, when we weren't at all sure it would be.

* * *

After Tanya's revelation about Rika, Leon began to retreat further and further into himself. He stopped participating at all when we played in the Yard, regardless if the game was sexual or mundane. I started working out on the weights with Patrice. He was a great spotter, actually. He kept encouraging me for one more press, one more rep. I don't think I was as enthusiastic when I spotted him, but he never complained.

Tanya and Kiba always played at least one game of Castles (that was the board game with the weird lumpy pieces). Tanya won consistently, but Kiba never despaired, always ready to try again, try a new strategy.

And Leon sat. He sat at the benches, his one hand in his lap, flexing and unflexing, gaze set in the middle distance. He stopped talking much and started getting thinner. I knew he wasn't eating like he aught to. I didn't know what to do to help. Every time I looked at him, I felt like a failure of a sister.

Agnes eventually gave us another round of serum. This time it hurt, but I didn't hallucinate or pass out. No scales or oily blood. Nevertheless, Agnes fawned over me, constantly taking my temperature and checking my heartrate, my pupils, asking me if I felt anything new. After an hour of it, I irritably swatted her stethoscope away and told her I was fine. I appreciated she was taking precautions this time around, but it felt like she went to the complete opposite end of the spectrum and I wished for the sake of my sanity that she'd find a freaking middle ground already.

Late one evening, after a rousing dinner of wilted leafy greens and three sad-looking celery stalks, two Scrofa took me from my cell and led me to the elevator. I shivered at the sight of it. "Where are you taking me?" I asked. I tried really hard not to make it sound as meek as I felt. I don't think I really succeeded.

"No talking," the left Scrofus snapped.

I managed not to cringe, which I felt was a win.

From the other end of the hallway, Leon came up to the elevator flanked by two Scrofa of his own. He looked as surprised to see me as I was to see him. I wanted to ask if he knew what was going on, but I doubted he knew any more than me, and besides, I didn't want to get yelled at again. I also really didn't want to get into the elevator again, but I did. The Scrofa didn't join us in the box, but we knew there would be another pair waiting for us wherever we were going.

The doors slid shut, and I gripped my brother's hand in anticipation for the shudder and shake of the box as it lumbered upwards. The sensation made my stomach feel like it was trying to escape through my butt. This was probably Leon's first time in the elevator, considering the panicked eyes and the fact that he'd frozen in place. I squeezed his hand again, this time to reassure him, even though I could have used some reassurance myself.

The tiny metal box seemed to go up forever, but eventually there was a quiet, sad little_ding_ and the doors slid open. To my surprise, there wasn't a pair of Scrofus guards waiting for us. Instead there was a tall, corpulent Lupus in gaudy yellow silk finery and an absurd hat with a sweeping upturned bill.

I stared up at the Warden, who leered down at us in greeting.

"Leon! Nola! Nice to see you again!"

Leon and I stared at each other, uncomprehending, before turning back to the Warden. This made no sense. The Warden was not a nice man. He was cruel, and aloof, and liked to grope his slaves--pfft, sorry, "prisoners"--but he was not polite by any stretch.

"Uhhh," Leon managed.

"Hi-i-i," I stammered.

"I'm glad you were willing to speak with me," he said in a thick baritone. I barely managed to stop myself from snorting. Like we'd had a choice. "Come with me, I want to show you to your new accommodations." He turned and waved for us to follow him. Leon and I shared another open-mouthed glance and padded after the Warden. What in the Nine Hells was going on?

The corridor we were in also had a balcony to one side. We were a loooong way up from the Yard, though. This was... Gods. Six stories? Eight? It was hard to count them without getting dizzy, but I thought maybe eight. How many stories up did the Spike go, I wondered? And what was at the top, besides the skylight?

The corridor was wider than the other floors, which seemed odd. From the Pit, it looked like the Spike tapered to a point at the top, hence the name. How could we be higher up and have wider corridors?

Doors passed us to our left, one after another, until we stopped at a fairly nondescript door with the number 7 over the top. He stopped and turned to us expectantly. I couldn't take the not knowing. "E-excuse me, sir," I piped up. "W... what's going on?"

The Warden chuckled. I bet he thought it sounded good-natured. It really, really didn't. "You must be all confused. I apologize. I thought perhaps Mender Agnes had already informed you that you were moving to... more suitable accommodations, given your importance to the experiment. And there are, ah... other factors at play." He cleared his throat, but I swear he looked nervous when he said it. "Regardless, I thought it best to give the two of you a little more privacy and comfort for the rest of the experiment."

Leon wasn't buying it, and neither was I, but we also weren't about to argue with the Warden. This whole thing was making my fur crawl. The Warden gestured at the door, and reluctantly I moved up and opened it.

The door opened into a hallway about fifteen feet in length, with a door on either side, before spilling out into a wide room beyond. Scared to go alone, I plucked up my brother's hand and led the way inside. "Go ahead, open the doors!" the Warden said cheerfully. I didn't want to see what was on the other side. This place was... weird. Pastel paint on walls that were... wood? Maybe? Definitely not metal. The doors were wood, for sure, with crystal doorknobs that shimmered in the light of the electric torches. I touched a knob, as if testing to see if it would burn me. When it didn't, I twisted it and opened the door.

It led into a wide bedroom, with a four-post bed, a mattress clearly stuffed with something much softer than straw, and silk sheets. A dresser rested against the wall with the bed, and a desk with a mirror against the wall to my right. A wardrobe stood up against the wall to the right of the door, and an iron-bound mahogany chest to the left. The floor was---

I squished my toes against it. The floor was... soft??

I looked at the hallway I'd just come from. Polished wood floors. No metal, but definitely not soft, either. I yanked Leon into the room. He yelped. I held him still. "Squish your toes," I whispered. He did, and his face lit up like the sun. I nodded vigorously. "Right??" I glanced at the crimson veil and maroon sheets on the bed, then stepped over and pressed down. Soft, so soft. Like Agnes's bed had been, but much larger.

Wanting to confirm my suspicion, I ran to the other door in the hallway and threw it open. A bedroom with almost an identical setup, except the desk had no mirror and the sheets were a soft sky blue instead of maroon. The veil was a dark shade of green. Leon stared at it in awe. "That one's meant to be yours, lad," the Warden said paternally. "Though of course, you're free to swap if you prefer."

Leon stared at him uncomprehendingly. "Mine...?"

The Warden nodded. "Yep. For the remainder of the experiment. Go on, go take a look at the den, see how you like it." He grinned. On his wide, patchy muzzle, it did not look as friendly as I think he wanted it to.

We hurried down the hallway, which opened into a large space some thirty feet across and almost twenty feet deep. Something felt odd about the room, but I couldn't immediately put my finger on what. Silks draped from the pastel walls in an odd but not unpleasant color combination. Two sofas furnished the den, as well as a wooden tripod holding a blank rectangle of canvas. Next to it, a scaling shelf held supplies of some sort. Tubes bearing a riot of different colors and sticks with brushes at one end of all sizes and shapes. Another desk held a stack of blank parchment and lead pencils. The right-hand wall was... so... many... books.

I couldn't count them all. Five shelves that stretched from one end of the room to the other and stacked with books and books and more books. One part of the shelf held dozens of big rolled-up pieces of parchment. The spines of the books ran a gamut of colors and degrees of wear, but a few spots held books of identical color and markings--series or almanacs maybe. I could not wait to dive into all of them and find more mathematics. Agnes had given up trying to find more math for me to do; I'd devoured all she had access to already. I was sorely disappointed an alchemist didn't have more math books, but she said she couldn't keep them here due to some bylaw or other about dangerous knowledge kept near prisoners.

But maybe here.

A final door led off from this room. I checked it, and it was a bathroom alright, complete with toilet, sink, and toiletries that looked of slightly nicer quality than the ones in our cells. And the shower... was not a shower. It was a big, wide tub, easily big enough to fit four people comfortably.

"Now, about the tub," the Warden said. "We're still on water rations, I'm afraid. That's not so much a prisoner-only thing, you see. We're in the desert, so water is hard to import. So, water rations all around. However, thanks to some clever bookkeeping, your suite gets two water rations rather than one, so you'll be able to fill the tub once a day, should you desire. You can always take a short shower instead, of course," he added, gesturing at the shower head above the tub. Holy crap, it was both. My brain was absolutely melting.

I wandered back out into the den in a daze, the evening sun washing the room in a soft orange glow and--

Sun. In a room.

I turned to the outer wall. Aside from two feet above and below, the entire outer wall was made of double-paned glass that looked out onto the Titan Sands. As far as the eye could see, dunes rippled through the desert landscape like waves frozen in time. The setting sun burned off to the right, washing the desert in splashes of orange and purple. It was vast and empty and the most gorgeous thing I'd ever seen.

There it was. The thing in the books that didn't come close to doing it justice. The World, right outside our window.

Leon wept quietly. I couldn't blame him.

The Warden cleared his throat. I turned to him. "So, listen," he said, trying for a conversational tone and winding up sounding kind of whiny. "In a few months, we're going to have a very special visitor, a ship captain of noble repute. She is an important benefactor for the operations here, and she is quite interested in you two."

"Why us?" I asked. Leon still wasn't paying much attention, still staring awestruck out the window.

"Ah, that's not really for me to say," the Warden said, fidgeting with the kerchief sticking out of his breast pocket. "She can discuss that with you, if she wishes. Suffice to say, she has an interest in seeing your, erm... progress. In things. Now, there is one caveat to this room," he added, wagging a finger.

My chest tightened. I knew it. Some awful thing. He was going to demand sexual favors, or make us take some horrid new serum that would melt our flesh or turn us weird colors, or maybe he just wanted to eat us. Or something. I wasn't really thinking rationally, okay?

"When she arrives, you cannot mention a word of the experiment to Captain Geist. And perhaps don't go into too much detail about your time in the Pit either, hm? Can you promise me that?"

Really? That was it? For all this? "O-okay," I stuttered. There had to be a catch in there somewhere. This was too good to be true.

Leon didn't turn around from the window. "Yeah," he said. "I promise."

The Warden beamed. "Lovely! Meals will be at the same times as you're used to, and Yard time of course. Can't skimp on socialization, hmm?" He leered at us, and I shuddered. "But I think you'll find the meals in your new quarters much more to your liking." He winked and oh gods I wish he hadn't, it was deeply unsettling. "You are free to wander the floor, but you won't find much of interest out in the corridor. The other doors on this floor are locked, and the elevator will only work for me and the guards. For your safety, of course," he added hastily. "Your hampers will be emptied and your clothing washed once per week, and if you have an emergency, just pull the cord." He gestured toward a cord of braided silk hanging from the wall near the bathroom. "Any questions?"

Both of us had about a thousand questions, but neither of us felt inclined to ask them. The Warden tipped his dumb hat to us, grinned, and said, "Farewell for now, friend Harts. Enjoy your new living space. I am sure we'll talk more soon." He turned and strode down the hall, shutting the door behind him.

I stared at Leon. He stared out the window. I hesitantly moved up and touched his right shoulder, making him flinch a little. I winced. He hated having the amputated shoulder touched. He turned to me and said hoarsely, "I don't understand."

I gathered him up in my arms and shook my head. "I don't understand either, but I've missed being by your side. Now we can spend as much time together as we want!"

He leaned his head against me. "It's been a long time since that was true."

"Yeah. A year, now. I hated it. I got to see you when you were in stasis, but it wasn't the same. Other than that, and our treatments, there was nothing. And... I like the Yard, I like the others, but... it's not the same."

"No," he croaked. "No, it isn't."

He was thinking about Rika again. I stroked his head, gently rubbing behind each ear. Eventually, he squeaked softly. "We'll find a way to get her out of there, I promise."

He hesitated. "You don't even like Rika. Why do you want to help her?"

I paused, trying to think of the best way to say how I felt. "I guess... I never really gave her a chance. And you love her, and you're hurting without her. And I don't want my brother to hurt. I want you to be happy. That's all I ever wanted. I didn't think I'd be able to while we were still in the Pit, but now that we're here? Now that we have a way out? Maybe I can make you happy. And if rescuing Rika is the way to do that, then by the gods, I'll find a way."

He turned to me, eyes sunken and sad, and kissed me. Not on the nose, not on the forehead or cheek. On the lips. He held it only for a brief moment, but he held it. It meant more than simple affection, didn't it? Didn't it? Oh, gods, I had no idea. It was beautiful and torturous and I wanted another, but I was scared to steal one from him for fear he hadn't meant it the way I wanted. Surely he didn't mean it that way. He was just being sweet. He wasn't messed up like me.

I sighed and nuzzled against his neck. "Oh, also?"

"Hmm?"

"Naked. All the freaking time."

He snorted. "Yes, ma'am."