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Banner by Nicola
Conductivity
Author: Bennie
Rating: PG-13; sexually suggestive, not really graphic.
Disclaimer: I own nothing Roswell.
Character Focus: Liz POV; Liz/Isabel/Michael
Spoilers: Hah! (snicker))
Author's Note: Sequel to Conduit.
So I finally found a perk to being short: it makes it easier to get from point 'A' to point 'B' and back again.
Doesn't seem like it makes a lot of sense, does it? You may well ask, with understandable confusion, whether it wouldn't be easier to cover more ground if you're taller, with longer legs. And I'd answer: It depends on the ground you're trying to cover.
Let me explain.
I used to hate it. Always craning my neck to look up at people, never being taken seriously because I was, and I quote myself here, "Liz Parker, the smallest of small-town girls". I'd go to bed at night and pray to wake up an inch taller. I'd wear heels when I could get away with it, although the opportunities were few and far between.
Now, I wear flats. In fact, I love going barefoot. Well, under the right circumstances.
See, I got involved with some aliens recently. Tall aliens. Aliens - plural.
And boy, is it nice being in a Liz Parker sandwich with a couple of tall aliens. Oh yeah, being in the middle is good.
Now, simply being with aliens is something else. I remember some good times with Max. When I leaned in, I could taste his collarbone. You think the collarbone isn't an erogenous zone? That little hollow under the neck? Think again. And there's definitely something to the cuddle factor. You know, spooning in the warmth of someone with arms long enough to wrap around you and hold you securely … yeah, that was nice. A passing fancy, as it turned out, but nice.
And Tess? Admittedly, it was a one-time thing, more an experiment of sorts that grew out of a "moment". You've had "moments", right? Well, we had one. Once. And my favourite part of the entire experience was looking straight ahead, not up or down or tilting to one side, but straight ahead - and into the bluest eyes I've ever seen. Made me think of pictures I'd seen of the Caribbean, they were that blue. And for the first time in my (ahem) short life, I didn't feel short.
Despite all that, I think I've found something here with the tall aliens. Something good.
And wonder of wonders, it's not just the electricity that flows between us. It's not just the warmth of being surrounded by flesh that moulds to mine, although that does make me a little weak in the knees. And it's not just the feeling of being part of something larger, something important, than just myself. I love all of that, I really do.
But late at night, in my dreams, that's not what tantalizes me, what makes me wake up with a dry mouth and racing heartbeat.
It's the way we fit together. The way we work so well together, almost intuitively.
Like the day we figured it out - what we had between us, I mean. Picture this: I'm standing there in a dim room. Thinking we're there to talk about something completely different. And she comes at me from the front. Dives in, really, swooping down to kiss my neck and nibble at my earlobe. Sounds kind of … odd. And definitely out of the ordinary for "Little Lizzie Parker". Scary, even.
But I liked it. I liked it a lot. I'd never felt anything like it before.
And then he joined in too, and it was … electric. Literally. I could feel every nerve ending tingle, every hair doing its best to stand on end. And then this really incredible thing happened. See, I'm short. I established that. But finally I could make it work for me. I stood there and kissed her back, and when he joined us and she straightened up to kiss him too, there I was. Him behind me, her before me and the thrill of three pair of hands exploring.
And, not to over-emphasize a point, but you did catch the bit about "her before me", right?
Those girls who gossip in school bathrooms are so clueless it makes me laugh. It must be jealousy, because believe me when I say she may be engineered, but there is nothing artificial about Isabel Evans. And I say this from a scientific as well as aesthetic perspective, based on careful and exhaustive experimentation.
You know the basis for good scientific methodology, right? To be worth anything, your results should be observable, empirically conclusive, and repeatable. Well, I studied the subject pretty thoroughly, and from everything I saw and felt from every conceivable angle, I think it's fair to say that Isabel Evans is nothing short of stunning. And naturally, uh, bountiful.
It's a joy to move from "point A" to "point B" when the points in question are so rosy and responsive. Michael and I agree on this, of course. I may be the one with scientific aspirations, but he's one hell of a lab assistant.
At first I felt a little self-conscious compared to her, but I realize now that it's the differences between us that made the whole thing work so well. Sound magnetic theory, don't you think? Well, I think it is. I like to imagine our opposite energies working together to push and pull and move things forward. Isabel once called me a conduit for their energy, and I like the analogy. I like to think of myself - of the three of us together - as transmitting energy and heat and sound in a manner both efficient and beautiful.
Wow, check it out. Liz Parker, waxing poetic. Maybe I really have changed. For the better, I think. Alex and Maria were a little weird about the situation at first, but they've both commented on how much happier I seem these days, and they're happy for me. For all of us, really. And they seem much more relaxed themselves, now that they're together. Maria says it's nice to have someone who looks forward to having a future with her, not just trying to salvage the present. Alex likes the continuity, likes liking the person he's with as much as he loves her. They're good for each other.
God, but I love them both. You couldn't ask for better best friends.
Oh, and let's not forget Michael. Michael … was a pleasant surprise. I'd always dated jocks, and thought muscles were the only way to go. And they're nice, don't get me wrong, but … it's nice not to feel overpowered. Not that Michael isn't awfully solid, and strong - he is - but he's the first male I've ever been intimate with who isn't bent on demonstrating it all the time. It's, well, refreshing.
He can pick me up and pin me to a wall and support my legs around his hips so easily. And the wall is optional; we both prefer Isabel on the other side, pressing against my back and cupping supportive hands under my thighs and nearby regions and completing the connection. But between the two of them I don't feel trapped, I feel light as air, as if they weren't holding me up as much as holding me securely down to the earth and its gravity.
Once or twice I've sat back and watched them together, and I've enjoyed the show. They move so beautifully. But then Isabel would scold me, and Michael would just look at me with hooded eyes, and I'd feel ashamed for denying all of us such magic. But more than that, I knew I wanted to be between them where I feel light as air again.
Max and Tess were a little put out at first. Max, because he had trouble letting go, and I love him for it, really I do. He really is a wonderful man, and I believe he will make a good leader soon. Tess confronted me once at home and asked outright what I was up to. I laughed, made tea, we argued, energies rose and we ended up sharing another unexpected but nonetheless rewarding "moment". But neither Max nor Tess could deny their biological imperative, and she is perfectly happy to play the little wife to his ever-growing sense of authority and need for control. I, on the other hand, tend to challenge a lot of what he says, and I think the balance is important.
Still, it took some doing for them to accept me as a fifth, a rogue element enhancing rather than negating the foursquare. It wasn't until the two of them walked in on the three of us once, and felt the energy we created together, that they understood and accepted it, accepted us. And sometimes I get the feeling they're half-hoping for an invitation to join us. But right now, I have my hands full with my half of their foursquare.
It's an amazing feeling, the - the synergy we create. You know what synergy is, right? It's from the Greek syn- "together and ergon "work", and in some theologies it represents the notion that human will and divine grace can, working together, achieve regeneration of mind, body and spirit. This is what I feel when the three of us are together, not selfish or deviant. I feel … natural. It's where I belong.
And it's all led to this moment. Here I am, watching the two of them together, and I'm enjoying the show immensely. They're so beautifully matched. But Isabel just looked up at me and she'll pout until I join them, until I kick-start the connection into effect. I think I'll start by focussing on her, because she loves it when I do and Michael really gets off on watching us. Once, in a rare show of loquaciousness, he agreed that it's the contrasts that make us beautiful together, and nodded with perfect comprehension when I explained my theory of conductivity.
I haven't changed that much, you know. I still like tenderness. I like romance and sweetness. But … I like a little spice with my sugar now. I like the ever-shifting dynamic, the back and forth, the movement of energies we create together.
Point 'A' to point 'B', folks.
That's what it's all about.
Conductivity.
The End
Conduit Conductivity Conductance
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