This choice: Humanities Building, an ancient artifact glowing, as if beckoning you... • Go Back...Chapter #4Father Earth, Father Sky by: oldshep   Originally by: H. M.  on Muscle Growth: Go Nuts Guys
...Humanities Building. At first, you thought it was an old television or something. But TVs don't quite glow and pulse like this light does.
You stare at the light for a moment. "What the hell is that?" Sam pauses. reaches up for a moment to scratch his antlers, and then immediately brings his hand back down. "Dude, don't we have some papers to grade? Come on."
You're a fox; you're naturally curious. Occasionally, like in your research, this serves you well. On other occasions, like what lies beyond the bush or what's that noise in my room, your curiosity has led you to a fractured arm and the discovery your first-year roommate had a thing for bondage. "C'mon Sam, I just want to check real quick. It's too late in the day for it to be an office light. I wanna make sure it's legit."
Sam sighs, and glances at his watch (which of course matches his outfit). "Three minutes, babe. Guys, hang on, we have to check this real quick or it's going to be on his mind the whole night. Be right back."
You and Sam try the front door, and of course they're locked. Quickly checking a side door reveals, however, that it is still open. A common custodian's trick, probably left it unlocked in case they forgot their keys. As you and your flamboyant boyfriend walk in, you hear him mumble something, "Bro, with this, and the tests, you owe me when we get home." You had a pretty good idea what that meant, and you smirk. You were okay with paying up, even if it meant you'd be dead on your feet in the morning.
You brush it off. "Fine, Sam, fine." You quickly and quietly make your way to the second floor room where the light emanated from. That floor houses the archaeology department, if memory serves you right. It's easy to tell which room the light is coming from, the bluish-white light fills the little window in its door. The door is open, and you and Sam walk in, bathed in its gently pulsing light. The room looks to be some sort of department commons space, with an overused coffeemaker and some worn out chairs and tables. There are also several display cases, probably for decorative purposes.
The light is coming out of the glass top of one of those artifact cases. You may wear glasses, but vulpine genetics still gave you decent night vision. You slowly read the plaque on the front of the wooden case. "Religious Tools of the Osibwah Native American Tribe". Sam looks inside and peers through the case. "Dude, this is just weird."
You look inside. It appears to be a rock, dark grey or black, with some carvings on it. The rock pulsed with the glow, but it didn't exactly light up, the surface remaining dark and obscure. On the right was a small typed-up card. "'Father Earth, Father Sky' talisman, mid-1200s." You press your hand against the glass, it's quite warm. "Sam, I don't th-"
The old glass gives out, and your hand plunges in. "Oh, fuck! Fuck!" Your hand lands straight on the stone, which is painfully hot. "Youch!" Sam starts freaking as he pulls your hand out and attempts to put the stone back in place, only to discover how hot it is for himself. "Ow! Bro, what the fuck! Cal, I swear, I'm gonna kick your ass! Why would you press your hand against the glass, fuck man! Hold out your hand, are you bleeding?!" You hold it out. There are a couple slight cuts, though it doesn't look like any blood dripped out. You glance at Sam's hand and see he's also a little cut up from reaching in so suddenly to try and fix it. For a flamboyant guy, he looks as angry as all hell right now. "We are leaving NOW. Screw this, dude. I'm not going to jail over this stupid crap." Sam grabs your hand and the two of you quickly run down the hall, back out through the side door and out of the building.
It's only after you get outside you realize the stone's no longer glowing. You try and swallow down a little wave of fear, hoping you didn't just break the thing. A priceless artifact, busted by a curious grad student? Kiss your stipend goodbye if that ever leaks out. Sam keeps shooting you angry little glances as you join back up with Jordan and Louie. "We're good, it was no big deal guys. Let's get over to the math building." Sam, for being as p.o.ed as he was, did a fairly good job of maintaining his composure. You walk with your tail between your legs like a dog, feeling a bit ashamed of what just happened. You're a grad student now, you should know better than act like a kid in a museum. You can't help but chastise yourself, multiple times, for that dumb judgement error.
But as you guys walk along to the math building, you can't help but feel a little...off. Not off as in sick, but the warmth of the stone against your hand seems to have spread to the rest of your body. At first, you wonder if you had received a burn, but burns don't quite have this effect. It wasn't uncomfortable, nor was it particularly pleasant. Just different. The sensation is enough that you take off your scarf, even though the night was just as chilly as before. If anyone asks, you could write it off as the "beer blanket" kicking in. You catch out of the corner of your eye that Sam might be feeling the same thing, as he undoes the top buttons of his velvet coat. Also, and perhaps more notable for you, his sashay isn't there right now; meaning that, although Jordan and Louie couldn't tell, he was in a bad mood. Sam's flamboyance had a habit of becoming quite subdued when he was angry or uncomfortable.
As you all arrive at the boxy and uninspired math building, you take out your key and unlock the main door, letting everyone in. As Jordan and Louie start up the stairs, Sam quickly turns to you. "Do you feel that too? The warm feeling?" You nod, unsure what else to say. He lets out a frustrated sigh. "Cal, I'm not kidding, if something happens to us because of that thing, I will be extremely upset." You nod and give a sincere "I'm really sorry" before Sam pulls you into his arms. "Babe, I love you, but your curiosity is going to really get us in trouble someday." He looks down at you, his eyes meeting your own, a stern look on his face. His nose is right up against yours, and he can't seem to pass up the opportunity to go in for a kiss, and you warmly oblige. As you kiss, both of you pull back with a start; both of you felt really warm to the other. "O...okay. Huh. that felt really warm. Maybe it'll fade later...? I guess we should go take care of those tests."  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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