Ceres appears as a character in William Shakespeare's play The Tempest (1611). An aria in praise of Ceres is sung in Act 4 of the opera The Trojans by Hector Berlioz. The 1937-1940 French 50-franc note depicts Ceres in the Garden of Versailles. Ceres is one of the three goddess offices held in The National Grange of the Order of Patrons of.
Gravity
Principal Two: Density
The bed shifted, tilting one way, and then the other, like a ship rolling on a gentle sea. Aya's eyes slowly opened, and she smiled up at Yuuhi as he grinned down at her apologetically.
'Sorry for waking you,' he mumbled, pecking her lips, then tiredly crawling from the bed. She watched him struggle hazily with a tangle of sheets, then he was gone, the water in the bathroom turning on.
She sprawled on her back, sleepily staring up at the ceiling. Her eyes closed slowly, then re-opened. Then closed again. She was so warm and sleepy.
A sudden flash, a knot of images loosening in her hazy mind. Hot flesh, cold air, breath against her temple, a familiar voice whispering in her ear.
'AYA!'
She flinched, her eyes opening once more as she was suddenly wide awake. Without fully paying attention to them, she roughly shoved the images away.
It was a dream. Wasn't it?
She pressed her hands over her eyes a long moment, then slowly dropped them to her sides.
Just a dream.
She stared up at the ceiling.
'What else could it be?'
There was a fluttering panic, far in the distance of her mind, that worried. But she gathered it all and ruthlessly shoved it under in her denial. Holding it there in her mind until it all stopped struggling to get free.
Slowly she relaxed back into the covers, keeping her thoughts to skim only the surface of her mind, and not delve any deeper with useless question of 'why'.
'Dreams don't mean anything,' she whispered aloud.
She wondered how she could possibly face him now, and then she realized it didn't matter. How she saw him, how she behaved around him-it didn't have to change at all.
It wasn't going to be easy, not for a little while, but she knew if she acted enough, then eventually the act would become the truth.
He couldn't know. He never had to know. It was all a matter of seeing him. Of reaffirming to herself what was real, and what was fake-
Surely he would help her in this, by simply being her brother?
It only took her an hour to realize that there might be something wrong. Not a touch, or a word, nothing so concrete as that. She was at the bar, sipping coffee while Yuuhi cooked breakfast, when Aki came in. In one second her world seemed to tilt on its axis as she caught his lavender eyes. The look he gave her was so hot, so utterly lascivious, that she couldn't possibly see it as anything but.
She froze with her coffee mug half-way to her lips, and her breath suddenly seemed to swallow down into her throat.
It couldn't be real...?
Her whole body seemed to jerk to as he went past her, skimming his hand slowly across the small of her back.
She set her mug down with a clatter, gaining Yuuhi's attention. He glanced back, then smiled, doing a neat little flip with the pan in front of him. 'Aki, good morning.'
Aya felt as if she was going to hyperventilate. She couldn't even get her thoughts together enough to think of a lame denial, let alone one she could force herself to believe. She looked at Yuuhi, then slowly back at Aki, and weakly wondered if she was still dreaming.
Aki was opening the fridge now, rearranging last night's leftovers so he could reach the juice that had been unceremoniously shoved to the back. He was calmly ignoring her now, as if the look he had presented her when he came in had all been in her imagination.
Had it?
She shook her head imperceptibly. What does it mean, that I imagine such things...?
'Good morning,' he mumbled around a yawn, returning victorious with the juice. He got down two glasses and poured a generous portion, placing the glass down before her. His fingers lingered on the rim of the tumbler, and his eyes slowly lifted to hers, a private smile held within their depths.
She stared, feeling disbelief draining the world away from her again. What was this?
It can't be real.
It can'tbereal.
Her body seemed hyper-aware of him. Every move he made. At the same time, she felt this intense desire to just pretend as if he wasn't there. To not deal with reality. She had gotten good at it this morning, ignoring the marks on her neck as she brushed her hair. Pretending she didn't notice the stickiness of her thighs, even as she calmly washed it away.
Her spine straightened as he crossed behind her again, her breath stopping slowly as she felt his presence humming at her back, as if it was a living, breathing thing brushing unhurriedly against her. Hands fell gently on her hips, warm and possessive.
She wanted to jerk, to gasp, but something bit her lips together. She gave wide, disbelieving eyes to her boyfriend's back.
The hands slowly began messaging her hips, kneading the rock-tense muscles. He stepped against her back, pinning her hips to the counter with his own.
Just push him away! Push him away!
NO! Yuuhi will see!
This isn't happening!
She closed her eyes, willing herself to wake up, to snap out of it. To get her head together and see reality. They were fit now, from thigh to hip, and she made a soft, strangled sound in her throat as she felt the hard length of him pressing against her lower back.
Slowly she felt the knee-length hem of her skirt scratch gently over her skin. His hands were sliding down, gathering the coarse material together. A tender, warm kiss to the side of her neck, then she felt his hands lower further as he sank to his knees behind her.
What is he doing?
What am I doing?
Yuuhi will see!
A feather touch on her knees, under her skirt. The rough material pooled around his wrists as he dragged his hands up her bare legs. She bit her lip, looking slightly pained as his hands reached the thin lace of her panties. He leaned forward and licked the back of her knee, and her teeth sank further in, stretching the lip taut and swelling it with blood.
No...
Even the thought was weak in her head, buried under sensation as it zinged and sparked up her nerves. She could feel her own heart beating in the back of her throat. She had to still be dreaming, this couldn't be real. In no world would her brother ever touch her like this. He wouldn't even want to.
So what does that say about you? That you dream such things?
Her panties were down around her ankles, a tiny scrap of white lace that seemed as impractical and helpless as she felt. He gently lifted one foot, and then the other. And then they were gone, and she was suddenly completely naked before her brother. She still had her blouse and skirt on, but, as strange as it seemed, she felt as if a shield had been stripped from her hands. Leaving her bare and unguarded. Vulnerable.
She felt her breathing deepen, slow, it was as if she could hear it in the back of her head-surely it filled the whole room? A gently scratch of nails across her thighs, and she closed her eyes momentarily, praying for strength, intervention, something.
'Aya?'
Her eyes snapped open, her heart jarring into her throat in shock. Yuuhi was staring at her curiously, clearly having asked her a question. She blinked at him stupidly, her mind in complete tatters and not understanding these things called 'words'.
'I'm sorry, what?' she managed to choke out. Fingers played with the tender flesh of her thighs, slowly pushing them apart.
'Where did Aki go?'
She wanted to laugh, and cry, all at the same time. Where did Aki go-she wanted to know, too, because she had no idea who this person was that so confidently manipulated her body to the point that it turned against her. Maybe she should concentrate on who exactly 'she' was before worrying about others?
Because, at that moment, she honestly didn't know anymore.
'Aki...' Teeth pressed against her skin, and she twitched, clenching her fingers into the edge of the counter even as her face blanked, displaying only innocent pleasantness. 'I think he went to the bathroom...'
'Ah. Do you think he'll want an omelet, too?' he nodded at the over-abundance of left-over ingredients strewn across the counter, clearly wanting to use them before they went bad.
The hands on her stilled, the tongue lapping at her thigh, and she realized suddenly that she had a choice. She could say 'no', Yuuhi would put away the eggs and such, and together they would sit down calmly and have breakfast, a perfect domestic picture.
Or, she could say 'yes', and Yuuhi would be occupied with cooking for a little longer...
She parted her lips, a shiver tightening her scalp as that clever, warm tongue returned, slower, gentler, obviously trying to entice her into staying.
'Yes,' she whispered, even while something within her withered and died. She didn't even try to justify it to herself, she just stood there and smiled weakly at her boyfriend, while behind the sheltering length of the bar her brother's lips pressed an open-mouthed kiss to her inner-thigh.
Yuuhi turned back to the counter and stove, diving right back into his cooking.
Aya bit her lip. What am I doing? What am I giving him permission to do?
Gods, I'm so hot.
She leaned her upper-half across the bar, tilting her head so that her hair fell half-across her face. With shaking hands she arranged the paper out before her, making it seem as if she was looking down at it.
Aki apparently liked the new position, because he silently slid around to the front, splaying his hands on her thighs and gently nudging then apart. She obliged, taking a wide-legged stance and caving her abdomen slightly.
Hot breath on her, and her eyelashes fluttered momentarily, her nails scraping soundlessly against the smooth, cold counter. She readied herself for what was to come, but still jerked when his lips touched her, softly nuzzling against her and sending hot shivers of pleasure to scatter out through her blood. She steadfastly kept her breath deep and even, though her knees seemed to move on their own, turning inward slightly as his hands slid from her thighs to the backs of her knees, then steadily up to cup her butt. She shuddered, feeling her nipples tighten almost painfully, their sensitive peaks grazing against her thin blouse.
She pushed up on her toes slightly, laying her forearms flat on the newspaper before her. She closed her eyes and bit down on her lower lip, but quickly opened them again, knowing that she had to keep one eye on Yuuhi, even though all she wanted to do was sink back into the hazy pleasure that was quickly rising around her. There was a part of her that didn't really care about anything but that pleasure. And that part seemed to be swelling up bigger and bigger.
When just the tip of his tongue flicked over her, she didn't know how she managed to swallow down the cry. Other than it must have been let loose throughout her body, because her hips thrust forward on their own, her entrance clenching as if he was already deeply inside her. His hands grasped her thighs, holding her in place, and the feeling intensified without warning, throwing her head back slightly.
But still she remained silent, some instinct of self-preservation kicking in enough to close her throat, but not enough to overcome the heat of his touches, the pleasure of his tongue.
Blowing a slow, soft breath on her, he flattened his tongue firmly across her wet entrance, then slowly dragged it up, the mild roughness of his tastebuds drawing over that already humming bundle of nerves.
He began to lap steadily at her, firm, deep strokes, like bolts of fire that were shooting into her lower stomach, pooling her insides into liquid honey. At the same time, there was a strangely icy edge to it, and it felt even better than the heat. Together they were enough to muddle ones senses to irrationality, which she could only think to explain why she was still standing there, spreading her legs for her twin brother.
With her oblivious boyfriend not ten feet away.
But...it feels so good...I love Yuuhi, I do...But this...I don't know what this is...
A suppressed gasp as his tongue was now licking circles over her fully-extended clit, his hands rubbing up and down her thighs.
Shouldn't be doing this...
She clenched her teeth.
Don't want to do this...
His teeth gently closed around her, and he sucked hard.
Her hips bucked wildly, and her hands suddenly scrabbled at the edge of the counter, trying to steady herself before she gave them away.
Though only a small, shrinking part of her seemed to care anyway.
He let her go with a wet slip, licking gently at her now, though even that still was intense. Aki, she thought, Aki. Stop torturing me.
She wasn't sure what she meant. If she wanted him to stop all-together, or...
His finger slid inside her...
Oh! Oh! That!
Her spine curved, and she was too lost in sensation to care that she was practically offering for something more, like a cat in heat.
In and out, with his mouth playing over her. Gods, all she wanted was to shove him back to the floor and crawl over him, feel him as deep inside her as he could possibly go. To see his hips thrusting up against her as he arched his neck, as his hands splayed on either side of her thighs, steadying and possessive, and inescapable.
Her abdomen tightened, fluttering, sensation stretched out through her, like a knotted rope of heat being pulled slowly through her gut, growing tauter and tauter. She could feel it fraying, her control, her heart, her grasp on right and wrong. And a part of her mind ached with the thought of breaking that 'something', but even still she couldn't stop now. She didn't think she would, even if she could.
I love Aki-why can't this be another way that I tell him?
She knew there was an answer to that question, but she couldn't think of what it was, and couldn't make herself care that she couldn't think of it.
She spread her hands flat on the counter, and rolled her hips against his hand, his mouth. So close, she was so close.
Please, she thought, please, I want to...
And in the next moment she was, her body suddenly shoved to a halt, her mouth open in a silent cry. That rope of heat snapped, flying back at her, but instead of lashing her with pain, it stroked her senses to new heights, wiped her mind of thought and emotion, so all that she was-was sensation. Incredible sensation, burning away words, melding molecules into something new. She was new. She was strong, she was far above the confines of her body, and all the ideas the world tried to use to lasso her to the ground.
When she recovered, it felt so slow, like she was gradually sinking back into herself. Like her skin was a costume that she was pulling back on piece by piece.
Her heart was a trip-hammer in her chest, her breath soft and unsteady, and Aki was still on his knees before her, protected by the tall bar.
He gently smoothed down her skirt, leaned his forehead against her still twitching sex, and sighed shakily. His arms came slowly around her hips, hugging her tightly. But the placement of his head wasn't sexual, it was strangely...comforting. She stared down at gold hair so like her own, and felt something in her chest open and expand almost painfully, squeezing tears out of her throat to glaze light over her eyes.
She placed a surprisingly steady hand on the top of his head, combing her fingers gently through his hair. He took a deep breath, his ribs expanding against her legs.
She didn't need words to know that he was shaken. That he was just as scared of what was happening as she was.
Understanding that he wasn't the villain here, that he, too, was a victim of his emotions, grounded her somehow, stripped away the pretence of pain, of self-recriminations. And though Yuuhi was still in the room, still completely oblivious to the worlds colliding and breaking apart around him, Aya found a measure of peace within herself. A little slice of sanctuary where only she and Aki existed.
I may not have asked for this, but it's done now. We're in this together, from this point forward.
Just as we've always been.
( ) *
It wasn't until she was out the door and half-way to work-that she realized her panties had disappeared. Safe to say, what he-what they had done remained at the forefront of her mind all day long.