Edgar Aeternum, Book 1: Tales of Aeternal Love (10 page)

"I promise," replied Edgar with a chuckle. "I
gave him a good tip though."

"
Si, si
, why do you think he was
walking funny!" she laughed.
"¡Adiós, amigo!"

Edgar laughed and said, "You got me there,
Carmencita!
¡Adiós, chica!
End call."

He got out of bed and headed for the
bathroom, still laughing. No time to dawdle
; Las Dos
Hermanas
was never late and he didn't want to greet the
delivery boy - man, really, he was eighteen - naked again. He
forgot to put on the wrap and one thing led to another, which
ultimately led to cold
chilaquiles
and a happy pair of
sweaty men. Actually, he wouldn't mind greeting the young man naked
again if it promised a repeat, but if Carmen said they were busy,
they must be getting slammed. She never used the word "busy" for
anything but a mind-bogglingly huge volume of orders.

Done in the bathroom, Edgar tossed on his
robe and went to the kitchen for coffee. He was at his desk, just
finishing reading the financial feed, when the HC announced the
delivery. He opened the current events feed and approved Raul's
entry to the building. A short time later, the HC chimed,
announcing Raul's arrival at the door. Edgar put down his coffee
and went to greet the handsome delivery boy.

The door whooshed open and Edgar swore he saw
a momentary flash of disappointment on Raul's face upon seeing
Edgar in a robe. The young man covered it quickly with a friendly
smile and greeted Edgar, handing him a bag of food.

"
Hola
," Raul said, dark eyes shining.
"I hope you're having a good morning!"

"
Hola
, Raul," Edgar replied. "I'm
having a great morning, thanks; how about you?"

"Pretty good so far," Raul answered, licking
his full lips suggestively.

Edgar reached out and brushed the back of his
hand against the side of the boy's face. This simple act caused
Raul to close his eyes and lean into the gesture. Edgar felt a
familiar twitch from parts south and pulled his hand back. "I'm
sorry, Raul, I shouldn't have done that. Carmen told me you guys
are too busy this morning for me to delay you. Not that I wouldn't
mind," he ended with a wink and a smile.

Raul sighed and returned the smile. "I know,
she gave me the same speech before I left. Still, it was nice, so
no worries. Maybe another time?" The boy looked hopeful and Edgar's
familiar twitch became a familiar throb. He brought the bag of hot
food in front of his crotch to hide his growing erection.

"Works for me," Edgar said, noticing a bulge
beginning in Raul's pants, too. "The last thing I want to do is
piss off Carmen!" he laughed. She was an easy-going person but he'd
seen her temper once when he dined at the restaurant. A
particularly nasty customer finally managed to push her to the
breaking point; the dumbass man was lucky her tongue wasn't a
knife, though it was certainly as sharp.

"¡Ai, no!"
Raul said, also laughing.
"That's the last thing I need! Maybe you can call me sometime? I'm
at Tango-four-five-three-eight."

"Got it," said Edgar. "I may take you up on
that, Raul."

"Great! Well, I better go; we really are
slammed today and Carlos, our new delivery guy, is slow as shit,"
Raul said.
"¡Adiós!"

"¡Adiós!"
Edgar said as Raul walked
back toward the elevator. Edgar watched him for a few seconds,
enjoying the subtle flexing of the young man's tight ass. That,
coupled with the heat from the bag, brought Edgar to full erection.
He stepped back inside the apartment and the door slid closed.

Damn, not that I want business to suffer,
but I sure wish they were slow today. I can always reheat the food.
Ah, well, maybe another time. Right now, I need to satisfy the
hunger in my stomach; the other hunger can wait.

He took the food into the kitchen and plated
it. Soon, he was back at his desk, lost in the current events feed
and the delicious
chilaquiles
. He got up once to refill his
coffee and a half hour later, he was done with both the food and
the news. He leaned back in his desk chair and looked out on the
perfect day.

He put the dishes in the washer and refilled
his coffee before heading back to the desk. He thought briefly of
indulging in a quick JO session, but taking time out for breakfast
and the news put his libido back to sleep for the moment. Rather
than wake it up, he ordered his list of freelance assignments to
the computer display.

Everything was proceeding on schedule, no
impending deadlines demanding his attention. He decided it was a
good time to dive into research for an upcoming piece on a recent
problem on Ch'oros, the Ch'oran home world. Apparently, a group of
Ch'oran vacationers to Earth decided to go camping; no harm in
that, except that they inadvertently became flea-infested. The
shuttle's bio-screens malfunctioned the day of their return to
Ch'oros and now the capital city was experiencing an infestation of
epic proportions as the little pests multiplied.

At first, Edgar found it slightly amusing.
The Ch'oran were among the fiercest warriors in the known worlds;
it wasn't surprising, what with four sets of retractable, razor
sharp claws along with inch-long fangs. Yet, here they were,
brought low by a minor pest from earth. Then Edgar learned the
depth of the problem; it wasn't so much the itch-producing bites,
although that was bad enough, it was the fact that the little
buggers mutated after feasting upon Ch'oran blood. The mutation
somehow made them perfect hosts for what was typically a minor
Ch'oran virus resembling Earth's now-extinct common cold.

It was even worse than a city full of
scratching, sniffling cat-people, though. As viruses are wont to
do, the damn thing had mutated in the mutant fleas. It went from
minor inconvenience to life-threatening illness in a matter of
weeks. Half of the capital city was sick and the other half was
trying desperately to stay well. So far, the epidemic hadn't left
the capital and the government issued quarantine. Bio barriers were
in place so there wasn't a danger - yet - of planet-wide infection.
However, all it would take was one failed unit and the entire
planet would be in jeopardy.

The problem was compounded by the fact that,
unlike Earth, the Ch'oran hadn't been able to eradicate their
common cold and so had no cure for the minor or the mutated
illness. Typically, they let it run its course as was the way of
humans for centuries; however, the new illness' course seemed to
end in only one way: death.

All the known worlds, including the
near-xenophobic Thraxians, were assisting in whatever way they
could manage. Much to their dismay, the Thraxians discovered they
were the only known race with immunity to the illness. Given their
distaste for offworld travel, along with the growing New Thinkers
movement, they were doubly unhappy when the Council of Known Worlds
asked them to render assistance.

Knowing that refusal would lead to economic
pressures from the Council and possible military disputes with the
Ch'oran and their closest allies, the Thraxian government finally
capitulated and sent several medical teams to Ch'oros' capital
city, Raiks. They also sent researchers to assist in finding a way
to eradicate the fleas; none of the Ch'oran methods worked but one
and, sadly, the chemical was so deadly, it killed several dozen
indigenous animals within the small section of the city used as a
test area. The chemical had a long life and it took costly remedial
measures to clean up that area before it spread to other parts of
the city. If the chemical was deployed city-wide, it would
eventually work its way over half the planet before losing potency.
The effects would be devastating to the Ch'oran eco-system; almost
as devastating as the new virus was to the Ch'oran themselves.

So far, the Ch'oran-Thraxian joint effort
managed to stave off further deaths by using a Thraxian bio-stasis
system modified for Ch'oran physiology. They were no closer to a
cure, though the researchers thought they were on the verge of a
breakthrough of a safe insecticide. Edgar's task was crafting an
educational piece detailing the issue from inception to current
date; it was for use as a teaching resource on a current events
feed for children.

He ordered up a list of resources on the
issue. As the HC was compiling the list, he ordered an alarm for
one p.m. The system chimed and the list appeared onscreen. Edgar
took a sip of coffee and dove into the first resource.

The chime sounded at one and Edgar started.
He was absorbed in a scientific journal article on Ch'oran
virology; he marked his place, stood and stretched. He was tempted
to continue reading, but he learned long ago to balance his work
time; too much time at the computer meant tense muscles, tired
eyes, and wandering focus. Not to mention that mid-day was the
perfect time for a run in Gridley Park.

A half hour later, stretching and prep done,
Edgar jogged into the Park. It was such a lovely day, he decided to
take his time and enjoy a longer run. The crowd was typical for a
gorgeous day in Gridley; joggers, exercise groups, lunchers and
those with children. He loved these daily runs; many of the people
he saw were there every day, but there was always something new to
enjoy.

Today was no exception; a duo of particularly
handsome men, twins on closer examination, was practicing an
amazing gymnastics routine. Some of the moves seemed impossible and
Edgar found himself wondering what the two would be like in bed. He
caught himself just in time to avoid knocking a slower jogger to
the ground. The duo's routine was so impressive Edgar made an
exception to his rule of not stopping and chose a shaded spot that
offered him a great view of the gymnasts. He did a stretching
routine of his own, not taking his eyes off the pair.

They didn't seem to notice they had an
audience or gave no indication of it if they did. They took the
twin theme to the extreme; both had matching spikey black hair and
each wore identical cobalt blue singlets. Edgar chuckled when he
noticed that both even dressed left, the substantial bulges nothing
if not eye-catching.

Their next move dropped Edgar's jaw and he
stood staring. Twin A jumped from a standing position a foot in
front of Twin B, landing perfectly on Twin A's shoulders, crotch to
face, legs hooked under the other's arms. Twin B hugged himself,
arms against the tops of his brother's feet; then the seated twin
leaned backward, put his palms on the ground and flipped his
brother forward into a roll. They completed three more rolls before
coming to a stop in the beginning position; Twin B released his hug
and Twin A executed a perfect backflip landing facing his brother a
few feet away.

Twin A took a few quick steps before
launching himself over his brother, twisting in air and landing
four feet behind him facing Twin B's back. Twin B did a backflip,
seemingly levitating long enough to execute a twist and landed
facing Twin A, who took two steps forward wrapping him in a bear
hug. Edgar applauded before he caught himself and the two released
each other and turned, almost as a single unit, to bow. Edgar added
a whistle to his applause, stopping when the duo stood upright
again.

"Thank you!" they called out, again as
one.

"You're quite welcome!" answered Edgar,
amazed at the unity of their actions and speech. "It was
well-deserved," he walked toward them. He couldn't help but steal a
glance down at the twins' crotches, surprised somewhat by the fact
that both brothers were completely aroused. His mind wandered again
to a ménage, but didn't get his hopes up. The twins looked at each
other as he approached and, while there was no mistaking the fire
that burned in their eyes, it was also unmistakable that fire
burned for each other, not him. Very little in terms of sex
surprised Edgar, including the pair's obvious affection for one
another.

So few taboos remained in the 2-4; consensual
incest between same-sex siblings barely raised an eyebrow anymore.
There was no possibility of in-breeding, which was the main
objection to male-female pairings; those were still frowned upon.
These two, now holding hands as Edgar stopped in front of them,
seemed to be more than just bedmate-brothers; the handholding
almost seemed to be a display of solidarity, the type shown by
romantically-involved couples. Edgar made a point of noticing their
linked hands and smiled, a signal to them that he respected their
connection. Their easygoing smiles and the fact that they released
each other's hands told Edgar he'd made his point.

He extended his own hand and shook each
twin's hand, exchanging introductions and complimenting them again
on their performance. "I don't know how you guys do what you do,
but it's amazing to watch! You must have been practicing since you
were little kids."

"Actually, we have," said Alex, the twin on
Edgar's left.

"Yep," Aaron, the twin on Edgar's right
added, "since we were three. Our parents are gymnasts and they
wanted us to have the same good health they got from it."

"It definitely shows," Edgar said. "Sorry I
was staring; I couldn't help it."

The twins blushed a bit which Edgar thought
was cute. They both spoke at the same time, but their words weren't
the same, thankfully. Edgar was a little creeped out by their
earlier Stepford Wives style responses. "No worries," Alex said as
Aaron said "It's fine."

They paused, making sure the other was
finished. Aaron was the first to jump in, "We get that a lot. At
first it was kind of embarrassing, but it is a public space and
lots of people seem to find twins," he paused, looking for the
right word, "irresistible," he chose.

Alex frowned slightly at Aaron's choice of
word and, noticing it, Aaron reached for his brother's hand,
continuing only once they were joined again. "We've learned to deal
with it," he said. We really like working out outdoors, so we had
to get used to it." The smile left his face as well as his voice
and Edgar noticed Alex squeezing his brother's hand. "It hasn't
always been easy. Some people just never learned boundaries."