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Message-ID: <48556asstr$1090465805@assm.asstr-mirror.org>
From: El Sol <munster@eden.rutgers.edu>
Subject: {ASSM} A Master's Ring by ElSol (36/?)
Lines: 253
Date: Wed, 21 Jul 2004 23:10:05 -0400
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        This email address is NOT read. If you wish to contact me please
do so ONLY at munster(at)remus(dot)rutgers(dot)edu.

	Thank you
	ElSol

<1st attachment, "Ring36.txt" begin>

Chapter 36

	I watched the airplane land. Melisa, Doris Alex and Janet stood
behind me.
	"That should be her plane," Melisa said sadly.
	I nodded.
	"You should wait here, David," Doris Alex said. "Janet will bring
her to us."
	I turned my head to watch Janet walk towards the terminal gate.
Melisa grabbed my hand and leaned her cheek against my shoulder.
	"It'll be okay, Melisa," Doris Alex said stroking my First's hair.
	"I know," Melisa whispered. "I know."
	A half-hour passed before Janet, followed by a woman who towered
over her, returned. They walked towards us until they stood a couple of
feet from me. I turned towards them; Melisa and Doris Alex slid into
position behind me.
	"Brother," the woman said.
	I studied her. She was a couple of inches taller than Doris Alex
with a deeper shade of red hair. Her clothing was chosen to display a
feminine body while hiding the details. The effect was to let me know what
was there but only because I already knew what was there. I reached up;
her muscles tightened as I pulled her sunglasses off. The bruises had not
faded completely but her makeup hid the discoloration well. There was fear
in her dark green eyes but she did not break our eye contact. I watched as
she took a deep breath pulling strength from me. I put the sunglasses back
on her.
	"Welcome, Stephanie," I said softly.
	"I have something for you, Brother," she said extending her hand.
	I put my open palm underneath her hand; she dropped something into
it. Melisa gasped stepping forward. I looked at the Sibling ring in my
hand. The only differences between a Brother's crested ring and his
Sibling's crested ring were the white and black backgrounds. My crest was
composed of white and gray lines with the black of the ring being used as
a third color. It would have been invisible on a Sibling ring. The artist
had inverted the colors of my crest on the Sibling ring to solve the
obvious problem. I smiled thinking only someone that knew about the
inversion would recognize my crested Siblings.
	"I will not accept this," I told Stephanie.
	"David, you must," Melisa said almost angrily.
	Stephanie's eyes looked lost for a second. I turned towards
Melisa; her eyes were pained. She planned to be my first crested Sibling
but Stephanie's wounds were too obvious for Melisa to deny her. I smiled
as the girls moved to stand in support of Stephanie.
	"A Brother cannot refuse a crest," Janet said.
	"Cannot?" I asked.
	"Does not," Doris Alex corrected.
	"Do not mistake tradition with law, Siblings," I told them. "I
will not accept that ring."
	"David," Melisa defended. "Stephanie needs you."
	"You can't live up to what it means, can you?" I asked looking at
Stephanie.
	"I can," she replied weakly.
	"Look at Melisa," I said. "She will bear that crest with you
someday. Tell her, not me, that you will live up to it the way she will.
Tell her it means as much to you as it does to her."
	A tear crawled from underneath her sunglasses down her cheek.
	"What about the woman you were before this happened?" I asked her.
"Could you look her in the eye and say you are not trying to buy my
protection with that crest?"
	"What she is doing is no different than why I chose the white
ring, David!" Janet insisted. "I buy what I need from the Brotherhood."
	"And what do you pay us with?" I said staring at her.
	All of them looked away from me.
	"The white ring is a commitment; a crest even more so, Stephanie,"
I said. "I will live what the crest on my ring means to my Brothers, can
you live what a crest on your ring means to Siblings?"
	"What does it matter if she can't, David?" Melisa argued. "You
would never ask her to do something she doesn't want to. Crest
relationships don't have to be based on sex."
	"Does it matter, Stephanie?" I asked.
	She shook her head slowly. I smiled gently at her.
	"Does it matter to you?" I asked.
	Stephanie turned her head to shake it again but froze. Doris Alex
grabbed her hand. Stephanie swallowed a sob.
	"It's not about me. I'm..." I said and hesitated. "A lot of things
mean nothing to you right now, Stephanie. Hold on to the things that still
do."
	I turned around when the girls wrapped Stephanie in their warmth.
	"What am I supposed to do?" Stephanie asked finally. "I can't even
sleep in my old apartment. I can't go back there. It's not my home
anymore."
	"I didn't say you could not stay," I said without turning around.
"Anna is my Brother; nothing else is needed for you to be welcome in my
home."
	Everyone was waiting when we got to the house. There seemed to be
some form of ritualistic greeting that Stephanie had to go through with
each person; even Rachel gave her a tight hug and a kiss on each cheek. I
was fairly certain Rachel had no idea what had happened to Stephanie. I
ignored the question in Rachel's eyes.
	Heather gave Stephanie a tour of the house with everyone following
in her wake. Stephanie stepped into the room that had been assigned to
her. She looked around for a second and then backed out slowly. Heather
continued the tour until we reached the 'not-quite' room at the end of the
hallway. The room was slightly bigger than a king-sized bed. Everyone on
the second floor used it as an extra closet.
	Stephanie stood in the middle of the room for a long time.
	"Empty it for her," I said.
	"That's not necessary," she said.
	"Let's go get you a bed, Stephanie," I said. "I like a daybed for
this room."
	"It's not necessary, David," Stephanie insisted. "The other room
is fine."
	"I know a great furniture shop," I said walking out the room.
"They make everything by hand so their products are solid. Something in
oak, I think would be nice. It'll probably be too big but so what."
	A daybed proved undoable because of Stephanie's height. They had a
marvelous single bed that was low to the ground and looked unmovable. When
I offered the owner a bonus to deliver it that day, he was very pleased
and arranged for immediate delivery.
	By sun down, Stephanie was completely moved into her new room.

						-----
	
	I was sitting in the living room surrounded by the Siblings.
Rachel was keeping Stephanie company in her room. For some reason,
Stephanie was most comfortable around the non-Siblings in the house.
	"That's a very small room," Malia said thoughtfully. "The big one
was better for her. I would think the room she picked would feel
confining."
	"It's easier to completely control a small space," I said without
looking at her.
	"I don't understand," Heather said confused.
	"In a tiny room, you can choose everything's place," I said. "Even
dust can be controlled. She didn't bring anything from home, not even her
clothing. This is a new start and she wants tyrannical control over
everything that enters her environment."
	"She only brought a carry-on bag and the clothes she was wearing,"
Melisa said with nod. "I've got a huge room and I still need a storage
locker."
	"You've got a lot of shit, Melisa," Malia teased. "No, girlfriend!
You've got a LOT of shit."
	"Take Stephanie clothes shopping tomorrow," I said. "Don't take no
for an answer."
	"Yes, David," Doris Alex said obediently.
	I turned so that I could look at them individually.
	"I don't want her left alone," I commanded. "Not for one minute.
I'll tell you when there's no need to watch her anymore."
	"How will you know?" Janet asked curiously.
	"She'll be annoyed at you," I said.
	"I annoy a lot of people!" Janet pointed out.
	"Yes, you do!" Melisa sniped.
	"There won't be any anger or fear," I said. "It'll be a clean
burst of annoyance."
	They nodded.
	"She won't let any of us touch her," Melisa pointed out. "She's
going to have to be alone while she sleeps."
	"Susan will be spending her nights here," I told her.
	"Does Susan know that?" Malia asked.
	"I'm sure she was planning on it," I answered.
	"David, Susan is a professor," Janet said. "People will talk if
anyone finds out she's sleeping here every night."
	I turned to stare at her.
	"Okay, I'm wrong," Janet said with a pout. "DDLE will take care of
the talking."
	"DDLE?" Melisa asked not able to help herself.
	"David's Deadly Laser Eyes!" Janet said sticking her tongue out at
me.
	I sighed as they broke out into laughter. The Siblings whispered
among themselves until Rachel entered the room. She stared at me for a
minute and then passed her blue eyes over everyone else. They exited the
room quickly to leave the two of us alone.
	"What happened to Stephanie?" she asked with a lot of insistence
in her voice.
	"That's for her to tell you if she wants," I said.
	"She won't tell me," she replied sitting down next to me.
	"What do you think happened to her?" I asked.
	"Rape."
	I did not say anything.
	"Stephanie's not married. No one here has a significant other.
They're all very attentive of you but only Doris Alex is committed to
you."
	"Not Melisa?" I asked turning towards her.
	"David, I'm only here because Melisa thinks you want me."
	"Melisa doesn't just think it, Rachel," I corrected.
	She nodded slowly.
	"That isn't commitment, David," Rachel said carefully. "The world
doesn't make sense to Melisa without you in it."
	I shrugged.
	"Stephanie feels to me like she used to be exactly like everyone
here. She looks at them with this bitterness, almost like she resents them
for having something she lost. I doubt there was a boyfriend or even a
serious relationship," Rachel said. "Those bruises aren't domestic
violence or clumsiness. She flinched when I brushed her accidentally."
	I tilted my head and studied her. Rachel did a good job of hiding
her brains from other people. I wondered for a second if she realized she
had never done it around me.
	"I was there once," she said.
	My eyes lost focus for a second and then it felt like I was
looking at something behind her.
	"It didn't get far," she said staring at me. "You always said you
appreciated my thickness, especially in my thighs. By the way, women
prefer athletic. I have athletic thighs, NOT thick ones. The asshole
wasn't even bigger than me. One kick and it was off to the races. I won."
	"Who was he?" I asked with a charming smile.
	"I'm not stupid, David," Rachel said smiling back. "It was a long
time ago. I've forgotten it so don't even think about it."
	"You haven't forgotten it or you wouldn't have told me," I
whispered.
	"That's why she trusts you, isn't it?" Rachel asked knowing she
was not going to get an answer. "You took care of whoever did that to
her."
	We stared into each other's eyes for a couple of seconds.
	"I'm glad," she said fiercely.
	She stood up and headed out of the room. At the door, she stopped
and turned around to make sure I was looking. She smiled mysteriously
before continuing out.
			
					----

	Stephanie's psychologist visited the next day.
	"I don't like this small space," she said looking around
Stephanie's room.
	"She does," I said to her while looking at Stephanie.
	"Hmmm," the head-doctor replied.
	She was the same blonde that administered my psych evaluation for
the Brotherhood. Stephanie was very nervous around her.
	"I don't want to go see you," she told the psychologist.
	"You will," I said to Stephanie.
	"Yes, Brother," she replied bowing her head.
	"Hmmm," the psychologist said looking between us. "Brother, I will
be staying at Susan's house while Stephanie and I work together."
	I smiled as she walked out of the room; sometimes a Brother needs
a translator with a Sibling but rarely when it comes to sex. Any Sibling
can make a conversation about the weather sound like an invitation to fuck
at the Brother's earliest convenience.
	"Was I ever like that?" Stephanie asked quietly.
	"I didn't know you before," I said. "I have a feeling you were
though."
	"Will I ever be like that again?" she asked plaintively.
	"Is that what you want, Stephanie?"
	"No," she admitted reluctantly.
	She sat down on the floor and sobbed for a long time.

<1st attachment end>


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