#thetower

The Tower is a notoriously negative card, but the more I learn about tarot the less I believe in starkly positive or negative meanings. The Tower symbolizes challenges, difficult ones, like....the kind of challenges that leave you back at square one. But challenges in my mind mean change. Getting knocked down means you have to do something different when you try again, whether that is putting more care and effort into the techniques used before, or trying something new entirely.

Some of you know by now that I've been having an issue with my spine/sacrum for a few years now - while I'm able to carry out my days normally-ish now it has left me with chronic pain that I'm still hoping will heal. It's affected the way I work, the way I relax, the type of exercise that I can do...Pretty much everything part of a routine that I worked hard to build has had to be altered in some way. It's a journey I'm still on and frustrated by. I'm not fully convinced that the diagnosis I received is the entirety of the issue. I also think a part of it isn't a diagnosis thing at all, I'm just getting older.

The spine is the center. It connects the brain to the body, and serves as the conduit for every message between them. It's the foundation for our anatomical hardware and software.

So, is this a personal piece?....Who's to say.

A week after all the events on V.T.B., the sun warms the rooftop of The Tower on Earth 2. Dreko is standing there, barefoot. Two hands hug him from behind, and a head gently rests between his shoulder blades. 

“I never realized how sharp these things are.” Rowena rubs her cheeks against them, making Dreko laugh. “Oh, my god, you are ticklish!” She keeps tickling him. His laugh is made of deep, short exhalations; his chest jumps up and down with every laugh. The tickles reach the point where the laughter turns into desperation, and Dreko moves at superspeed away from her. So fast that Rowena is left with her arms hugging the air. The immortal appears behind her, returning the favor by gently poking her ribs, and Rowena immediately lets herself fall to the floor. 

When her pale face turns red, Dreko stops so she can breathe. Her laugh goes on for two whole minutes, during which Rowena’s lower body is on top of his legs. When she calms down, he extends a hand for her to sit up. 

“I can’t believe you are here.” He says when they are both sitting across from each other. The loving stare that Dreko has is so pure that she feels hugged by it. 

“It wasn’t so crazy of an idea, right? I couldn’t risk it.” For a brief second her stare darkens, but Rowena keeps the memories at bay by focusing on the present. “Besides, you are here, Lumen is here; it was a no-brainer, and I can jump back when I need to.”

“You should explore on your own, which reminds me.” From his old hoodie, he pulls a small box with shiny wrapping and a tiny bow. The decoration doesn’t match, and the box is a bit crushed; she notices it when he drops the gift into her hands. Details so ridiculously endearing that they could only come from someone like Dreko. She lets out a chuckle before seeing what is inside: a two-sided charm necklace. The first side has a dark purple raven engraving. The second side has a wine-red claw engraving. “The chain is made from an ultra-resistant metal that I found in my explorations; the stone is a malleable, glowing mineral that I smoothed, tinted, and carved. I embedded it with nanotech as a way to make the chain not removable except for the user.” He picks it out for her and keeps talking. She is speechless either way, shocked by the gift and love-infused by watching him explain so invested. He has a spark of curiosity and wonder in his eyes. “It’s actually more than an accessory; the technology inside of it turns it into a hands-free portal emitter. The raven one is for you to go wherever you want within the Earth you happen to be, and the claw one is for you to bring me straight to you wherever you are.” He finishes, holding in each hand the end of the chain, so she turns around, allowing him to put the necklace on.

Rowena is flabbergasted, to say the least. Sure, she had dated many men. Nerds or brainiacs were a given; she is a hacker, after all. Also not the first time she had been on the other end of an obsessive talk. But it was the first time someone she was dating made her something.

“Not one of my partners has ever made me something since Miguel Fermin gave me that giant drawing with my name on it. This isn’t that.”.

Since she moved in, her experience has been as normal as the context allowed it to be. Sporadically, her new reality was shocked by a random explosion in the distant lab, or a fiery bird would burn the curtains when resting on the open window. It took a couple of seconds for Rowena to realize that the feeling overflowing her was love. 

She hugs him. Dreko is caught by surprise, hugging her back. Between her naturally cold skin and his being unusually warm, that’s a fresh and cozy hug. The intense feeling of being loved, considered, and protected by Dreko wakes a yearning up inside of her. She pulls him into a kiss by the neck of his shirt. 

Everything escalates from there. Stumbling across the aisle, not able to stop herself from kissing and feeling him against the walls. She manages to go into her bedroom, where she throws him onto the bed. When being on top of him, Rowena feels it. Her body reacts on a subconscious level now that she feels it through her clothes. A primordial fierceness lit her eyes; the immortal recognizes it well. He undresses himself in front of her while she summons every gram of self-control in her entire body to contemplate that moment. 

The shirt goes over his head. A brown torso so skinny you can count the ribs on his chest. The scars look old but clear; what isn’t clear is a pattern—they cross each other—and she almost can tell, despite the lusty fog clouding her mind, that something opened its way from his inside to the outside. The hand-shaped scar doesn’t elude her; she's unable to decipher it when her new boyfriend drops his pants. His long legs are as thin as his upper body and equally scarred. In any other person, this would look sickish, but not on him; there is a strength emanating from him that trumps what catches the eye. Nothing could get the best of him, and Rowena is more than eager to try. She feels like the moment has stretched for decades, denying her what her soul is tearing itself to get. It hasn’t even been a minute when the underwear falls to the floor. 

There it is. Unexpectedly hairless, a bit crooked, not inhumanly big as she feared, but appropriate for his size. What surprises her the most, although she isn't sure herself why, are the scars there too. This doesn’t last long when she is pulled back into the general mood. 

“Well, that’s something not skinny.” Her mind thinks on its own, just like her body snatched control from her. 

Her turn, not that Dreko hasn’t already seen her like that. Likewise, her entire outfit falls quickly to the floor. She can see, in his eyes, this time is different, more than just lust; Dreko’s eyes express desire, love, and what she can only describe as the hope of a life with her. There is also curiosity about seeing her tattoos from up close and with nothing in the way.

When Dreko is about to get in bed, she stops him. 

“Do you have protection?” 

“Yeah, right there.” He points at a drawer. She checks for any damage and the expiration date on the envelope before throwing it at him. 

“Throw me the lube too, please.” Without her seeing, the recipient hits him on the forehead before he catches it. “Thanks.” He thinks it wise not to disclose the incident. Enough lube is used so the condom slides perfectly. 

Rowena is now against the bed. Her heart beats fast as things escalate. She puts her hands on his hips while he is kissing down his neck. Her breathing is the only thing that can be heard, and, besides the noise from the bed supporting them both and his lips against her skin, no real sound is coming from him. His chest against him is as steady as it can be. Every time her tiny conscious mind space picks up on this, it is pummeled by the rest of her being that enjoys the weird waves of tingling energy coming off from him or the teasing from his penis. 

Each kiss he gives her is sweet and exciting, but whatever he is planning or doing, her body screams it’s not happening fast enough. And he knows. Before anything, Dreko is an annoyingly good teaser but perceptive enough—only in those scenarios—to know when to move on or risk the entire mood. His hand movements seem strategic along her body. Rowena bites her lower lip to hold it in until he finally reaches her vagina. A loud moan is inevitable. 

She gets ahold of the situation. Rowena kisses him, holding Dreko down with one hand while the other hand reaches inside of her. After a few minutes, in which she moans against his mouth, Rowena expresses her intention to him only with a fierce stare. Dreko nods. 

At first, the pleasure that comes with it hits like any other time she has had it, even with the desperate anticipation. Almost instantly something changes. An animalistic pure pleasure wave comes out of every pore and muscle in her body. Her back arches, her hands hold the blue mane, and she screams. It’s not an orgasm, but it's close. Dreko smirks as he knows what just happened. She guides her movements to make the most of it, gaining speed, her hands resting on his chest. He enjoys watching her face and her body and feeling her around him. From his perspective, Rowena is unconsciously putting her entire game on what she knows ensures mutual gratification. Unknown to the fact that, since Dreko’s metamorphosis, the most pleasure comes from the emotional intimacy he shares with his partners. However, it doesn’t mean he can’t get the full physical pleasure; it does mean that his stamina, climax, and recovery are superior. 

Fifteen minutes go by when they both reach climax. Rowena lies on the pillow next to his, trying to recover her breath. Something inside of her has changed; she isn’t even done feeling her climax when a sex drive appears again. 

“How do you feel about toys?” She asks once her breathing goes back to normal. He calls one drone, which brings a medium-sized white box. From the outside it looks a bit more sophisticated than a simple chest. The lid opens up by itself, and the inside being airtight, a disinfectant smell comes out. Different kinds of toys are inside. “Are they clean?”

“Yes, we clean and dry them after each use, and the box has UV-C light sensors to deliver the right amount.”  

“That’s hot.” She says, jokingly, before kissing him again, and the hunger for more churns inside her. “Ready for another round, old man?” By reaching under the blanket, she finds not only that it is ready but also that it hasn’t diminished a bit. She picks a toy, and together they go at it again after he changes the condom.

The new couple falls asleep, exhausted and inebriated by happiness. An hour goes by before they wake up. Dreko doesn’t tell her but doesn’t pretend either when he gets up. Unlike her, he doesn’t feel muscle soreness; the bite marks heal, and the only reason why he isn’t erect anymore is that he commands it not to be. Rowena leaves for the bathroom, sitting on the toilet. There, while she does the deed, she checks on the scratches, finger marks, and bites Dreko left on her skin. A smile appears on her face, never having felt that level of pleasure and exhaustion before. 

From outside the bathroom, he listens to the shower being turned on. After asking the drones to clean everything up, he goes to shower in his bedroom. Any residue of what happened goes down the drain. They both step out of the shower at the same time, dried by the bathroom itself through sonic dehumidification, keeping their ears safe with noise-canceling devices. Still, they need the towels to dry their hair; Dreko needs three or four to get his long mane completely dried. 

She, now in a purple-striped blouse with the shoulders uncovered, tight black pants, and boots, enters the living room where Dreko is. The branches' tattoo on her left arm can be seen, and only the top part of the raven on her other arm is visible.

“You ok?” 

“Shower is great.” She sits next to him. “The thing that dries felt weird.”

“Yeah, sorry, I should have warned you.”

“So… what now?”

“Sorry?”

“Can you tell me how this works? Are we a couple? Am I Lumen’s couple? Are you seeing anybody else? Do I have to see someone else? What kind of relationship are the three of us in? Can you get an STD? Do you test for those things?” 

“We are whatever you want us to be. I can’t talk for Lumen; I would like for the three of us to be in a relationship. I am not seeing anybody else right now. If I start seeing someone new, I’ll tell both of you before something happens. As of right now we would be a triad, but we can talk it over at dinner. I can’t get an STD; if I sleep with someone who has one, my body destroys it immediately. Either way, we can test and cure those here, but yes, one of the only rules I have is to always get tested before anything happens and every six months regardless of the relationship status. You can bring whoever you want here and have Lumen do it, or they can go to any clinic. If it's necessary, I’ll pay for it.”

“You can cure it?”

“Yes, with the same machine we used to heal you; that’s why we didn’t ask you about it.”

“Oh, I really didn’t think about it.”

“Understandable, there was so much going on, and you don’t have to see anyone else if you don’t want to.” Dreko stands up towards a metallic chest. From the first drawer, he pulls out a new computer and phone that he drops onto Rowena’s lap. 

“What’s this?”

“Your new phone and computer: your phone doesn’t work here, and this laptop is better.” He talks as if it’s nothing, and for some reason his tone calms Rowena down instead of shaking her insides as the necklace did. 

“You didn’t have to buy me this; you have already given me so much.”

“I didn’t buy them; I made them.” Rowena looks at him, surprised. He just stands there. “Both can charge wirelessly, but they also have normal chargers embedded into them so when the charge is complete, they will automatically unplug and store the cable inside of them. Great, right? I hated having to be constantly checking it.”

“Ho–? I thought you said you didn’t have an education. How can you do these things?”

”I don’t. I just learned how to do it, and Lumen taught me a lot over these years.”

“This is incredible.”

“And you haven’t even left The Tower.” He smiles for a brief second. “Hey, do you have any other questions? I have something to do in the lab.”

“What?”

“A surprise, inspired by our most recent adventure.”

“Ok, well, I guess I’ll go see Lumen and then… I don’t know.”

“Go, explore; every place is full of wonders.” He says, and as soon as the last words leave his lips, he has disappeared into thin air. Rowena is left standing there; a fleeting pressure on her lips lets her know that he kissed her.