Rust & Dust

We are out on the town, and I say gimme a sec, I’ve got to dip into this record shop.

You can interpret that as you should wait outside, or you can come with me. Up to you.

Inside, there’s a modest release party for Lily Vagus, which I think is a scandal cos she’s fantastic.

I wait in line while the various and sundry rubes introduce themselves to her. Then, when it’s my turn, I get the same sort of buzzy head feeling I get every time I see her. I tell her that I know she has to keep up with thousands of names and faces and I only have to recall hers, so it’s okay if she doesn’t remember me, but, Hey, I’m Teresa. We met at the Filament East on the Sirens of Rust & Dust tour.

She furrows her brow, and I can tell she doesn’t remember me but that she wants to, so I think she’s amalgamating a bunch of different fans in her head to make a convincing mental replica of me. Which is fine. I get it, as I literally just said a second ago.

Then she surprises me a bit by putting her arm around me and walking me back through the store to her road manager.

She says, This is Teresa. She’s been with us for a long while now. Since Rust & Dust.

The manager smiles and nods but doesn’t really say anything. They’re sorting records or something; I’m not sure.

Lily leads me to a backroom, wherein there is a woman who reminds me of Lea.

Who’s Lea? you ask.

Don’t worry about it, I whisper. Tell you later.

Once we’re inside, Not-Lea closes the door. Lily tightens her arm that’s around my neck. She’s a bit shorter than I am, so it pulls my face toward hers. Very close. I can feel her breath on my face. I want to kiss her, and I hope she wants that, too.

She says something to me, but I can’t make out what she says. Then she kisses me. It’s brief, but nice.

Lily lets go of my neck, then takes my hand and leads me between two benches that are back here, in what looks like a storage area.

We lay down on the floor, and she takes her top off, guides my face to her breasts. I kiss them and lick them, and she runs her fingers through my hair.

I suddenly feel a little self-conscious about Lea being there, and it seems like she’s watching us.

Lily whispers that it’s cool, so I keep kissing on her body—first her breasts, then her stomach, then I go down on her. It looks like she may have an active inflammation on one of her lips, so I try not to react too obviously and just move back to her stomach and chest.

We fall asleep there.

Some other time—perhaps the next day—we’re at hotel, you and I, meeting up with Hekate and her husband.

Who’s Hekate? you ask.

Just someone I know from the Internet, I say.

The hotel is not exactly rundown, but because it’s a smoke anywhere joint, it’s serving crime movie vibes. At least that’s what I say as we walk the halls.

Who’s Lea? you ask again.

Anaxalea is from one of my books, I say.

Which one? you ask.

A Galaxy of Submission, I say.

But that wasn’t her at the record shop, I say. She just looks like her, I think.

We turn down a hallway.

Almost there, I say, looking at the door numbers.

You cannot read them unless you have lucid dreaming or dream yoga as a skill or trait. [Ed. v.i., play procedures.]

Or I dunno, I say, maybe it was Lea. Can’t ever tell in dreams.

You might ask, Wait, are we still dreaming?

In which case I just look at you and smile.

Play procedures

• If you chose to wait outside, you will realize at some point that I’m not coming back out. On a successful perception check, you can see inside the store that I’m talking with someone and they put they’re arm around me and lead me into a back room. You can leave and do you own thing, or you can come inside. Lea will let you in if you knock. She will be receptive to making love with you, if you’re into that.
• If you already practice lucid dreaming or dream yoga, you can read everything in dreams just fine, and you can stay where you want. If you don’t and you have the absinthe, that can help a bit—let’s say a 20% chance of helping. You can also learn this skill from any secretist, like myself, Riley, Knot, Sean, Scythia, or Buckhorn.
• You can collect either or both of Lily’s albums featured here: Sirens of Rust & Dust or Kilgare, which is not named, but is the one she is doing the promotion for.
• You can add my book, A Galaxy of Submission, to your inventory, if you wish. Likewise, you can add Lea as a contact.