‘It’s so loud! Is it always so loud?’ Fei shouted at him from beside the waterfall.
Kuja chuckled as he jumped over several water-slicked rocks to reach Fei’s side. ‘Yes! What did you expect?’
She scrunched up her face for a moment, then said, ‘The ocean outside my apartment on Enoc makes annoying shhh-shhh sounds. I’m relieved this waterfall doesn’t do that. But I didn’t think sound was important enough to factor into my simulations, though I’m starting to reconsider this, because some plants get violent when they hear loud noises and I don’t think our clients would be too happy if I put those species near waterfalls!’
Kuja smiled at her, enjoying the sound of her voice as it accurately translated her thoughts. The past few days had been wonderful — he had spent every spare hour with her, spreading his presence across several different worlds while staying physically by her side. He was finding it easier to split his focus, though it did give him a decidedly glazed look which Fei had occasionally made fun of. He didn’t mind; he loved seeing her laugh so easily. Her memories of her former lover were now haunting her much less and her mind was full of images of Kuja instead. She was looking forward to taking him to bed, something she saw as the perfect addition to an already perfect holiday.
Kuja had worried for a while that he wouldn’t be able to please her, because he was sure his body would fail to perform as it had in the Enocian Harem, but he had decided it didn’t matter. He had learned how to pleasure a woman and it thrilled him to think of giving Fei his complete attention without asking for anything in return. She deserved that and more.
Fei leapt away from him, onto another rock, then shrieked as she slipped sideways. A vine swiftly whipped out from beneath her feet and wrapped around her hand. Fei’s arm went taut and she jerked to a stop, suspended above the water. She hung there for several seconds, stunned, before reeling herself back in. She mused out loud that she must have snagged the vine on her way down, though she wasn’t sure how.
Kuja shot a severe scowl at the vine responsible. Stop that! She is not one of mine and might never be. And I do not want her noticing anything unusual. Do you understand me?
We understand that you wanted to see her get wet, the vine responded in a coy voice that made Kuja’s tongue feel as slimy as the seaweed that populated many of Fayay’s worlds.
I did not, he snapped.
You enjoyed seeing the other one wet.
Kuja cleared his throat noisily and held out his hand to Fei. She accepted his touch, allowing him to lead her towards a less slippery side of the pool of water gathering beneath the falls. Kuja took a moment to admire his companion. Fei’s hair was ruby red today and dusted with droplets of moisture. Her clothes were as bright and impractical as ever, but at least this time she was wearing sturdy closed-in shoes. She’d borrowed them from one of the TerraCorp scientists.
‘I like it out here,’ Fei said, seating herself on a soft blanket of moss that Kuja knew hadn’t been there a handful of minutes ago. He barely refrained from berating this plant as well. ‘There’s no line of code that needs fixing, no temple or agent in sight, no one to hear me going on like this. Well, except you. But you don’t seem to mind.’
Kuja sat beside her, tilting back with his hands braced behind him. ‘I don’t mind. At all. You can keep going if you like.’
She didn’t need to be told twice. Kuja tried to focus on her words, but thanks to the scurrilous vine over by the waterfall he was now trying — and failing — not to envision what Fei might look like wet and without clothing.
We could have a look…and show you what we see… a withered, thin root offered as it crept over from Fei’s left, intent on winding its way up into her shirt.
‘Kuja, are you thinking about me naked?’ Fei asked bluntly. ‘Because I’m pretty sure that’s what you’re doing. I mean, I’ve started going on about how loud the waterfall is again and you can’t be looking that interested about it.’
‘Yes,’ Kuja said, his gaze snapping back to hers. ‘I am thinking about you naked. And wet.’
Fei blinked. ‘Oh.’
He quirked an eyebrow at her. ‘Is that a problem?’
‘No.’ Her lips began curling upwards. ‘What about kissing me? Because I’d like that. So…are you? Thinking about kissing me, I mean.’
Kuja leaned over and stamped a hand over the root, setting it back into the ground. Now much closer to Fei and able to feel her warm breath on his face, he found he didn’t want to relinquish this new position. ‘Not right now.’
‘Oh,’ Fei said again, looking away from him.
His heart constricted. She sounded so defeated.
‘Fei, your company is the best I could have asked for — you’re talkative, alive and keen on sharing everything,’ Kuja told her softly. ‘My mouth on yours would only silence you and, besides which, I’m not a very good kisser.’
The gap between Fei’s lips grew and shrank several times. ‘But…what if I end up saying something you don’t like? I feel like…like I’m always wrong. My boss talks over me and the other Creator God worshippers seem to think I shouldn’t have any doubts — or at least keep those doubts to myself. I guess I should just find another religion,’ she finished in a mutter.
‘You don’t strike me as someone who’s able to accept something you can’t question and look into,’ Kuja noted, regretfully easing himself out of her personal space. ‘No matter what belief system you end up adopting, you’ll still investigate and find its secrets, just like you did with GLEA and TerraCorp. You can’t help yourself, Fei.’ He smirked. ‘Bagara should be very afraid of you. But if he knows what’s good for him, he’ll answer every question you have. And if you find him wanting, he’d better find a way to appease you or he’s not worth your time.’
Fei snorted, then slapped a hand over her nose. Some of her laughter still managed to leak out between her fingers. ‘Oh my God, you’re right, I have to find those secrets wherever I go. I can’t not do it. Why are you so right — about everything?’
‘I’m older and more experienced,’ Kuja said with a wink.
‘Then you should be a better kisser by now!’ Fei told him.
She laughed even harder and fell backwards onto the moss, causing her loose teal shirt to ride up her navel. Kuja found himself staring, almost wishing the root would return to nudge the cotton fabric a little higher. As if somehow reading his mind, Fei curled her fingers around the edge of her shirt and gave him a grin that made something unfurl low inside his abdomen. She then boldly reefed up the shirt and shoved her rainbow-streaked bra band down, revealing breasts that would have out-sized his hands if he’d tried to hold them. A bead of moisture was sliding down from the peak of one dark nipple and Kuja imagined his mouth engulfing it — along with as much of her breast as possible.
The desire to taste her chased every reasonable thought from his head.
Fei snapped the bra band back into place and dropped her shirt. Her eyes danced and her lips began forming shapes that only served to distract him further. It took Kuja precious seconds to realise she was saying something.
‘Still want to hear me talk?’ she challenged.
Kuja cleared his throat. ‘Oh yes. Especially when I lick my way up to one of your nipples. I imagine you’d say some pretty interesting things then.’
Fei started giggling, a hand pressed to her abdomen. ‘I’ve thought about licking my way up something too.’
Kuja glanced at his shirt, then back up at her.
‘Not what I meant,’ she said, smirking.
He looked further down, to his pants, which were suddenly feeling a lot more constrictive. Kuja sighed inwardly. Much as he’d like Fei to touch him and sate his growing frustration, he was sure it wouldn’t work. And this wasn’t supposed to be about his pleasure — it was meant to be about hers.
Kuja shrugged casually. ‘I do have some experience with that. It feels very nice. But I’d much rather lick you.’
‘I’m definitely going to schedule some time for that later,’ Fei said, then her eyes widened. ‘I didn’t mean to say that. You really shouldn’t encourage me to blurt out whatever pops into my head.’
‘Why not?’ he asked.
Fei bit her lip, frowning slightly.‘You know what, I can’t remember. So!’ She sat up straight and clapped her hands together. ‘Can we talk more about Bagara? You promised we would.’
‘We’ve covered most of it already,’ Kuja said after a brief hesitation.
‘Well, it would give us something to talk about, not to mention something to distract you from those thoughts filling your head.’ Fei waved a hand at him when he opened his mouth to object. ‘They’re written all over your face, Kuja! It’s impossible to feel undesirable around you. I like that.’
Kuja’s lips twitched. She grinned wickedly at him in response. Strangely, around her, he never felt undesirable either — and not just physically. Lorena had never been interested in seriously conversing with him, only in making him uncomfortable.
‘Last time we spoke about this we agreed that Bagara could interfere a little more,’ Kuja remarked. ‘So instead of speaking to people en masse and restricting his speeches to a festival when only his followers are listening, he should also give his voice to those who are in their darkest, most vulnerable moments. It would help immensely for them to have someone to talk to, someone who offers no judgement, someone who simply…listens. No matter their religious preference. No matter what they can or cannot give in return.’
While he’d been speaking, he had rested his hand on Fei’s thigh, rubbing his thumb along the line formed by the stitching on her soft cotton pants. Her hand now fell on top of his, stilling his fingers.
‘Mm-hm,’ Fei said, nodding. ‘We did cover this. I think, yes, we definitely did. Wow, I find it really hard to think around you. But your plan — which is totally obvious, by the way — to distract me from discussing this topic isn’t going to work. Just so you know.’
Kuja smiled. ‘Maybe I should try harder then.’
They gazed at each other, unmoving for countless moments, then her hand left his, travelling to the hem of his shirt before dipping beneath the fabric and gliding over his stomach.
Her expression became incredulous. ‘How are you not sweating? I feel like I’ve been swimming inside a swamp!’
‘Acclimatised, I guess,’ Kuja suggested. He silently asked the rainforest not to create a protective bubble in the weather patterns around him, not because he wanted to keep Fei from becoming suspicious, but because he rather enjoyed feeling like he had accomplished something and sweat helped with that.
Fei’s palm skated along the trail of copper-coloured hair that led down from his belly button and towards the crux of his legs. ‘Can I ask you a question?’
‘You can ask several.’
‘Why are you spending so much time with me?’
Kuja shivered pleasantly when her fingers slid beneath the edge of his pants and began rubbing gently, back and forth, back and forth, until he wanted to rip the item of clothing off entirely. He fought to keep his voice even. ‘There’s a couple of reasons. One, you seem to be interested in learning about our beliefs and, to be honest, I think that’s something you need to do. I’m not saying you have to pursue Bagara, but you might find some peace in seeing that there is more than one way to worship.’
Fei’s fingertips, belonging to the hand that was still roaming beneath his shirt, found a nipple and flicked it. Kuja gasped.
She blinked innocently at him. ‘And what’s the second reason?’
‘I think you already know the answer to that.’
‘Tell me anyway,’ she said breathlessly.
‘I’m hoping all this talking will lead to a lot less talking,’ he told her in a low voice.
Fei wet her lips once, twice, seemingly incapable of forming a verbal response. There were no words in her mind either; only images. Her imagination certainly was vivid. But then her thoughts jolted back to their previous topic of conversation.
‘I really shouldn’t be thinking about Bagara just now,’ Fei said.
‘Bagara again?’ Kuja chuckled. ‘I wonder if I should be jealous.’
Fei made a face at him. ‘I can’t help it. You know that.’
‘Don’t even try to stop those thoughts, Fei. I want to hear them all.’
She fiddled with a tuft of moss beside her knee. ‘Sometimes I feel like a fraud, because I don’t feel connected and grateful like everyone else who worships my god. I keep turning up at the temple, pretending to be one of them, when all I really want to do is work on some code or go home and relax.’
‘Bagara prefers his people to speak to him when it best suits them,’ Kuja said, his eyes momentarily tracking a droplet of sweat that was slipping past her collarbone. ‘And if they never acknowledge him, he doesn’t mind. He will still care for them.’
‘But don’t they owe Bagara for looking after them? It’s only fair.’
The growl rumbled low in Kuja’s throat before he could stop it. ‘Fair. There’s nothing fair about making people feel they owe you something, just because you happen to reign over the environment in which they live. They had no choice in their creation. They owe him nothing.’
‘But what does Bagara get in return?’ Fei asked, looking confused.
Kuja blinked a few times, entranced by the amber eyes she’d chosen for today — this colour made her gaze as warm as liquid honey. ‘He gets to watch the people he cares for enjoy their lives. If they want to worship him in return, then that is their choice. He just hopes they will care for others as much as he does.’
Fei pursed her lips. ‘I see. That doesn’t sound terrible. And you know what, I think I’d be more likely to do something nice for other people if my god wasn’t demanding it of me.’
‘It’s easier to love someone when they actually let you exercise your free will,’ Kuja agreed.
She stared at him.
‘Just…an old grievance, with my father,’ Kuja said by way of explanation. ‘I can’t talk about it. I’m sorry, Fei. I would tell you everything…but not that. Not now.’
‘That’s alright,’ she said softly. ‘I don’t mind waiting.’
Kuja couldn’t stand the melancholy now choking his thoughts and starting to infect hers, so he hooked his arms beneath Fei and hoisted her up from the ground. When she demanded to know if he was going to do what she thought he was planning on doing, Kuja gave her a wink and tossed her into the water, making sure she landed in the deepest section.
‘It’s cold!’ Fei exclaimed, bobbing there with an indignant look on her face, her bright red hair puddling around her.
‘Don’t take that into account for your simulations either?’ Kuja teased.
Fei poked her tongue out at him. ‘Actually, I do. Because some plants don’t like cold water and some don’t even need water and some find water poisonous — so there!’
Kuja drank in the sight of Fei. He desperately wanted to watch her face slacken with pleasure as he moved his fingers around inside her, the way he had been taught to do on Enoc. She would be lost in the sensations he could give her, so far removed from the pain that had driven her to this world…
Kuja threw himself into the water, the cool blast of it against his skin a refreshing distraction. He swam over to Fei who splashed him when he got too close. Kuja arched an eyebrow at her, drew a breath, then dove out of sight and barrelled towards her. She darted aside at the last moment. When he resurfaced, their faces were a hand’s width apart and Fei’s amber eyes were glistening with mischief.
Oh Father, I so want to kiss her, Kuja thought. But he couldn’t see if she was ready; her mind was in such disarray. He should ask her, an innocent offer that she could easily refuse —
Fei kissed him.
It was gentle, a peck, a knock at the door, and over far too soon. Kuja responded with a brief kiss of his own, though his landed lopsided, on her cheek. Laughing, Fei took his head between her hands and guided him back to her lips.
She tasted of salt and sweetness. He stored this away for future reference, relieved that kissing didn’t do to him what it seemed to do to mortals. Some of them were struck by a sudden revelation of love or other such nonsense when they locked lips with someone, but it seemed he was immune.
Sandsa wasn’t immune, a traitorous voice inside his head reminded him.
Kuja quickly back-pedalled and began swimming towards to the rocky shore. Fei crashed through the water after him, unusually silent, her thoughts blank and unable to provide any fuel for her voice. By the time they were walking towards the village, the sky was dark above them and Fei was smiling vacantly, her mind preoccupied with memories of what they had done together at the waterfall.
Kuja wondered when he would stop thinking about those kisses. Soon, he hoped.