House on the River

Chapter 10: Love Thy Enemy

The clock on the wall read two-fifteen a.m. About two full minutes past, while both of them stood completely silent in Kira’s foyer, gazing at each other, waiting for the drunken noise outside to pass. The stark realization swept over her that she was now in an extremely dangerous situation. She did not trust Na Na one ounce, and she was beginning to trust herself even less. Though what he said to her at the club sounded to anyone else beyond threatening, that was not the part she was worried about.

“Do you think they’ve passed?” He asked her, after holding his breathe without realizing it. He let out a gasp of air.

“I’m not sure. I think I still hear something.” As much as she wanted him gone (or so she told herself), she wanted to risk him being seen leaving her apartment even less.

The two of them stood there for another couple minutes. Na Na spoke again, finally breaking the silence.

“I meant what I said out in the hallway. I only said those things to you in front of everybody at the club to keep us from being put both at risk.”

“And I already told you. It shouldn’t even matter.”

“Well, I just wanted you to know. That’s all.” He was beginning to feel increasingly awkward, not really knowing or understanding the correct way to make an apology.

“Well, I wish you did mean it.” Her lips were quivering steadily, as she looked directly upon him.

“Me too. It certainly would make things easier, wouldn’t it.” Not matter the effort put forth, he also could not take his eyes off of her.

“Na Na, I need you to tell me something,” she announced in a slow and deliberate tone.

“Yes?”

“What was it you did back at the Crystal castle?”

“Do you mean my occupation?” He inquired.

“Yes.”

“I tended to the slaves. Made sure all the daily chores were completed. I thought you knew that.”

“Yes, I do, but I want you tell me more about it. I need to know details. You were an executioner at one point, were you not?”

“Yes I was. Why are you asking?”

“Because I need to know. I need you to explain to me how it was you who put to death the ones who would not cooperate at the castle, even after being drained of their very soul. I need to know in full detail every cruel thing you ever did to my own kind, and to the podlings – the ones that raised me after my parents were killed. It’s rumored you even murdered one of your kind once, long ago, over some minor dispute or altercation. Is that true as well?”

Na Na was caught completely off guard by her questions. He just looked at her, trying to figure out if after months of anguish and confusion, if she had finally gone mad. “Why? And that last part – where in the fuck did you hear that?”

“It doesn’t matter where I heard it. I just need to know this for my own sake and my own sanity.”

Another moment passed, as the basis of her questions finally clicked with him. “I know why you’re doing this.”

“It doesn’t matter why. I just need to know. Now tell me, please.” Her tone was growing increasingly harsher.

“No.”

“Why not? It’s a simple question, Na Na.”

“Because if I tell you those things, it won’t make any of ‘this,’ go away. Believe me, I’ve tried the same thing. It doesn’t work.”

She thought about this for a minute. She thought of taking her hand with his, and dream-fasting with him if he wouldn’t tell her directly, but then reconsidered. First of all, the person she was dream-fasting with had to be willing to do it, and she was not certain someone of his kind was even had the ability. Second, the fact was, she was indeed truly afraid of what she might see, if they were to share their memories like that with one another.

“I didn’t ask you your opinion on why I need to know. Just answer me! Tell me what you’ve done!” She looked directly at him, almost shaking, sounding completely distraught.

“No, Kira. I really owe you no explanation of why, but here it goes anyways. First, I do not take orders from you. Second, I have already told you, this will not help. No matter what I tell you, you will still lie awake at night, wishing things that can’t possibly come true.”

She felt her face turn hot at his last remark. She shook her head, her voice once again cracking. “I just want this to end. Make it stop!” she actually yelled, her voice full of pure frustration and torment. She then turned, headed into the living, and sat down on the sofa, putting her head in her hands. Na Na followed her, and still standing, leaned up against the wall nearby.

A strong urge came over him to take her in his arms, and console her in her anguish. Besides guilt, this too was an emotion he previously had no experience with. He had never had an urge to help anyone but himself, but all he wanted to do at this moment was take the pain from her, even if it was temporary. He realized though, if he were to actually do that, it would more than likely upset her even further. He remembered being almost gleeful when he saw her so miserable that last time at the diner, nearly downright amused at her torment. This time, however, his feelings were different.

At last, she lifted her head to look up at him; her voice was still shaky with muddled thoughts. “I think whoever was outside might be gone now. I think you should go.” She was about to get up when he motioned for her to stay seated.

“You and I still have things to discuss.”

“There is nothing to discuss, Na Na. You’re the one who is in my apartment, uninvited.”

“I beg to differ. You’re the one who pulled me in here. I was about to walk away.”

Kira knew that last part was a lie. Still, there was nothing she could do about it now, and chose not to argue that fact. “There were people approaching around the corner. Would you rather they see us together instead?”

“True. But then, you’re the one who had to get Vera involved.”

“That was not my choice!” she shot back, almost screaming. “She and Ellie found me in the bathroom, upset. They saw you knock me down outside, and assumed that was the problem. Believe me, I tried to stop her! What happened at the club tonight was the last thing I wanted!”

“You were upset? Over what? You and I both know that was an accident.” He left where he was standing, and sat down on the sofa on the far end across from her. Kira instinctively tried to back away further, but there was no more room to retreat.

“That wasn’t it, Na Na. Anyways, that part is unimportant. I-”

He interrupted her. “Tell me what was wrong then.” He moved an inch or two closer in her direction.

“I don’t have to tell you anything. Besides, I think you can probably figure it out for yourself.” She glanced briefly his way before averting her eyes once again.

“No, you don’t have to tell me. You’re right, I think I can figure it out.” He paused for a moment. “Kira, I have to ask you something.”

“What?” She looked back at him inquisitively.

“Do you ever think we will figure this whole thing out?”

“I honestly don’t know.” Fighting back tears at his last question, she closed her eyes as she let out a deep breath.

“I don’t know either. But you’re right – I shouldn’t follow you the way I have been. You’re doing a better job at this than I am. It’s just that sometimes...” He paused, looking for words he could not find.

“Sometimes what?” She didn’t know if she should let him continue further on this point, but nonetheless she could not help herself. She glanced at the studded leather strap on his left forearm, as well as the multi jeweled rings on his fingers, wanting nothing more than to take his arms and wrap them around her body.

“Sometimes I look at you, and I see everything that I am not.” His overtly cocky expression had changed to something resembling sadness, filled with longing.

“Na, Na, please don’t. I know where you’re headed with this, and you have to know, no good can come from it.” She was shaking, and she saw that he noticed this too, but there was nothing she could do about it.

“I know. I must ask you though. Do you remember what it was like to get a full night’s rest?” Kira understood the emotions she saw on his face, and immediately knew what was going through his mind. She had never known such terror - or excitement, all rolled into one.

“Once upon a time, yes.” She whispered so softly, he could hardly hear her. She knew if she had spoken any louder, her voice would crack once again.

He moved closer towards her on the sofa. By now, their fingers were touching, but this time, she did not pull away. In contrast, she reached out and grasped his hand with hers, holding on as tightly as her strength would let her. Her touch made him flinch at first, honestly shocked at this unexpected and sudden change in direction. Still he did not let go. He moved closer to her still, close enough now that he could feel her warm breathe on his neck.

Kira continued to look at him straight in the eye, unable to pull her gaze away from his intent stare. She swallowed hard, her spine painfully tense with anticipation, as well as fear. Their hands now clasped in one another, she felt herself move closer yet towards him, aligning her body perfectly with his without actually touching. Another moment passed, both of them unable to move, completely memorized by each other. “Na Na...” was all she could get out as she closed her eyes before their lips briefly met.

The kiss was short, and lasted only a small second before both of them pulled away, looking at each other with intense curiosity, as well as deep confusion. He leaned closer towards her yet again, putting his free hand on her shoulder and around her neck. Their noses were touching, and to both of their shock, Kira moved forward to kiss him again, this time with fevered passion, letting go of his other hand and wrapping her arms around his neck. He responded in turn, opening his mouth as his lips embraced her own.

Not in the entire millennium of his life had Na Na ever been touched in a way such as this, nor had he even had the desire for something as such until recently, but it didn’t matter. As of this moment, none of it mattered. Her lips tasted as sweet as she smelled. He leaned back as she continued to draw him closer in, her kisses becoming harder and more impassioned, as she pulled herself on top of him.

The only thing Kira could think of at this very instance was of how good he felt in her arms, and how wonderful his mouth felt on hers. If any of the other issues at hand surrounding the two of them were to enter her mind, she knew somewhere deep in the bottom of her psyche she would finally go mad. The tormented confusion she had known just a few minutes earlier was long gone, replaced by an intoxicating enchantment. Blocking out all other thought and reasoning, she ran her hands over his tall, lanky body, ignoring the pain as the metal on his rings accidentally dug into her flesh.

As good as she felt to him, her touch felt oddly strange, for he was not used any type of affection, let alone passions such as these. He shivered as she wrapped her legs around his waist, running her lips up and down his neck. He in turn, did the same, closing his eyes, drinking in her scent, and running his long fingers over the svelte shape of her body.

As the two natural enemies entwined themselves further in each other’s arms, an unexpected sudden sense of relaxation and stillness swept over both of them. Neither had realized how truly exhausted they were from the ordeal of fighting back these bizarre and unruly emotions that had plagued them for months. Had this not been the case, perhaps they would have made love right there on Kira’s sofa. As it stood now however, neither of them had been able to get a decent night’s sleep in what had turned into months. Her breath became slower and deeper as the euphoria she was now involved in was replaced with a heavy sedation. Listening to her steady and rhythmic breathing as she continued to shower him with her affection, he felt a tremendous sense of tranquility, one he probably had never known in all of his existence. Moving themselves off of the couch and onto the floor below, still interwoven in each others’ embrace, Na Na was able to run his fingers through her hair one last time before the two of them finally fell asleep in one another’s arms, listening the slow steady beat of each other’s hearts.

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Io Jovi arrived back to her apartment on the twenty-first floor shortly after the club had closed. She had offered to walk Kira back to her room before heading upstairs to her own dwellings, after hearing through the grapevine what had happened between her friend and that awful Skeksis. Kira had actually turned her down, telling her she was fine, it was only a short walk, and that everything would be okay. Whatever the case, she seemed to be a strong girl, more than able to take care of her own, Io reckoned. Considering the horrors she had survived back on her home world, she was sure her friend would be fine.

Living on the second to the top floor of the Random House, Io lived among the Greek gods and goddesses. Often confused with her counterpart, Io Lycos, the one-time unfortunate mistress of Zeus - king of the gods, she was actually a human personification of Io, the fiery volcanic moon of Jupiter. Like the inner most moon of Jupiter, also known as one of the four Galilean satellites, Io had a quick temper, sharp tongue, and was never afraid to say what was on her mind, whether it was appropriate to do so or not.

Io wiped that night’s sweat off of her face, and pulled back her long, orange-blonde hair back into a ponytail. She then looked at her caller id on her cell phone. Three calls from that schmuck Andre Linoge. As a friend, he was amusing to her, to say the least, but any serious relationship with him was absolutely out of the question. After all, who wanted to be with a man who could constantly read your mind, or know what you’ve done all waking hours of the day? Not to mention, she had just recently ended a rather serious relationship with Boba Fett, one of the most notorious bounty hunters in all of this existence. She could not be bothered with that sort of thing at the moment. Deciding to return his call in the morning, she headed for bed, always unafraid of what the morning may bring.

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Four hours had passed, and it was now 7:00am. The sun was beginning to shine through the blinds and into Kira’s living room, blazing into her eyes and forcing her awake. Her head lying on Na Na’s chest with his arms wrapped tightly around her, still in the fog of sleep, she had forgotten where she was for one minor instance. She lifted her head to look around and get her bearings. Taking one look at the Skeksis sleeping peacefully beneath her, she audibly gasped in a breath of air and shivered, waking him in the process.

The two just looked at each other for another moment, attempting to comprehend what had just occurred only a few hours before hand. Na Na smiled as he laid eyes on her. It was a smile she consciously did not recall ever seeing on any one of his kind.

“Did we fall asleep?” He whispered softly in her ear.

“Yeah, I guess we did.” She had the anxious look of worry written all over her face, but did not move from his arms, nor did she break her gaze from his.

Not knowing what else to say to her, he shifted his body around on the hard floor, futilely attempting to find a comfortable position. The room was so quiet a pin drop could have been heard. A couple of minutes passed before he spoke again.

“Kira?”

“Yes Na Na?” She whispered back to him.

“Do you have a blanket or a pillow? This floor is beginning to hurt.”

“I believe so, yes. Let me check.” She wasn’t sure if she were to get up off of the floor, she would be able to find the courage to lay back down with him, but she had to agree, her thinly carpeted cold floor was not exactly the nicest thing to lie on. Managing to break their embrace, she got up and opened her closet door, pulled out two soft pillows, as well as the largest, thickest blanket she could find. After laying the pillows right next to each other, she took the blanket, and wrapped them both up together in it, gently sighing as she once again felt the warmth of his body.

They laid there a couple of minutes more, completely still and quiet, with their arms wrapped around each other. Kira pressed her body more firmly against his, and in return, Na Na began to run her back in a circular motion. He once again began to spread kisses on her neck, slowly making his way up toward her mouth, where he pressed his lips down hard, massaging her tongue with his. She moaned audibly, as she felt sweet relief flow through her entire being. She had fought this for so long, she could not be exactly sure just how long it had been. A voice inside of her wanted to remind her of why she had been fighting, but at this moment, she couldn’t listen.

Repositioning herself underneath the blanket, she wrapped her legs around his pelvis, grinding herself tightly into him. She felt him respond to this, as he ran his hands all over the smooth skin underneath her clothes, massaging her back before moving on to her breasts. She began to remove the outer layer of clothing that he wore, beginning with his dark cardigan sweater, when she felt his body immediately tense up.

She looked at him curiously. “Is everything okay?” she whispered, stopping for a moment, genuinely concerned. In truth, she knew in the back of her head what they were doing could spell disaster for both of them, but at this time, she could not bring herself to think about that.

He looked at her momentarily, taking in her beauty. She never looked more ravishing to him than at this very instance. However, the truth was, like any Skeksis, clothing was of the utmost importance, and he felt especially vulnerable without it.

He leaned forward and kissed her briefly on the lips. “I’m just not used to this,” he replied, as he continued to massage her shoulder blades underneath her shirt.

“That makes two of us.” In actuality, this was not Kira’s first time, having been with Jen on more than one occasion, which now seemed to her to be another life time ago. However, right now, that memory was the furthest thing from her mind.

“I didn’t say stop,” he stated, in a highly authoritative tone. She regarded him for a second longer, before resuming what they had been previously engaged in. Undoing the buttons on her jeans, and then pressing himself firmly into her, she let out an audible moan. She felt his hands slide further down her back, finally pressing directly between her legs. Feeling the warm pleasure of his fingers inside of her, she breathed out a gasp of air; now completely helpless to end this madness they had now engaged in.

She was completely at the mercy of her emotions, filled with a deeply impassioned desire and lust, yet still conscious of an all too present hatred. She wanted to hurt him – hurt him as he had hurt her. All she was able to do, however, was to hold herself tighter against him, digging her finger nails firmly down into his skin as her teeth bit down rigidly on his neck. Reacting to this, it now mattered not where his clothing ended up. They undressed each other as quickly as they could, almost tearing at one another, this time not caring for modesty or constraint.

“We’ve both wanted this,” he uttered to her, stroking her now naked body up and down, leaving no part untouched.

She only nodded to him, unable to speak as he slid himself inside. She closed her eyes, striving desperately to hold in a scream – a scream that would not only have alerted her neighbors, but which also stemmed from the tormented mixture of love and hate, slight pain and unspeakable pleasure. With Na Na directly over top of her, she put her hand directly over his mouth, preventing him from the possibility of doing the same, seconds before kissing him impassionedly once again. The searing confusion was now completely drained from her mind, replaced only with thoughts of exhilaration and unrivaled ecstasy.

Tangled up within each other underneath the warmth of the thick cotton blanket on her living room floor, the two of them could no longer suppress what had been held in for so long. They made love, hard and impassioned, fevered and furious, that early Sunday morning in the silence of her apartment.