The Gadget Infinity (A Gunslinger Bink Prequel)
Chapter 10: A Date With Destiny (2: The Lessons of the Past)
Fernando picks up the TV remote, and then takes a pizza box and places in front of her. "Watch the TV and eat something. I'll go over your notes and see if you can pass this class.", he says to her quietly. Aiming the remote to the TV, he presses play. The VHS player begins to play the tape inside.
Several shows were seen, mostly the NOVA's Body series. She looks at them and learns the basics. After four hours of viewing, Fernando nods off for a moment, but Tammy does not pay attention to him as she watches the fifth hour of the show: Sex and Reproduction. She thinks to herself that she already went through seeing this in Jr. High and High School Sex Ed classes and would be bored with it. She was right for the first 20 minutes as it explains the basic sex organs and their purposes in the body. Then the tape seems to degrade horribly with distorted video and interference in the audio. Then the screen goes black, with audio only. A flashing date stamp of 08/15/83 is at the bottom right of the screen.
"Is this thing actually on?", a female voice says.
"It should be, I charged the batteries last night.", a male voice says, a voice that Tammy recognizes as Fernando's.
"Oh come on and put that thing away, Juanita.", another female voice says.
"How come there is no video on the screen?", the first, presumably Juanita says.
"Because you got the lens cap on, Juanita!", the second female voice exclaims. "Now why you want to record our honey moon?", it asks.
"To show my god-child how he or she was made when its old enough!", Juanita says proudly.
An image returns to the TV screen, a white hand withdrawing from the camera lens with a black plastic disc in it tied to a string. The hand lets go of the disc and lets it swing about under the camera.
"OK. Now that you got the camera working, shut it off, Juanita!", a female white squirrel says loudly.
"But this is the last day we will have as friends and the first two you will have as husband and wife.", Juanita almost pleads.
"Just because Cathy and I got married, does not mean that our shared relationship and friendship with you ends.", Fernando says.
"It doesn't?", Juanita asks.
"Juanita. You're more than a friend, you're more to me than my own twin sister ever was. I've known you all my life and you been there for me more times than I can count. If I need you to do something you will do it. That is something special.", Cathy tells her in a very nice and soothing tone. "Now Turn That Freaking Spotlight And Camera Off Or I'm Going To Beat The Black Out of You If You Hurt My Husband's Eyes With that Thing!", her tone suddenly changes.
"Alright…", Juanita says. She turns off the spotlight on the camera but not the camera itself, as she puts it on the nightstand aimed at their direction and still recording in the dimly lit room. Juanita, being a black squirrel compared to Cathy's white, is seen going under the blankets and joins Cathy and Fernando. Another 43 minutes of recording time is spent in a ménage à trois of love and sex between the three of them though Juanita remains a virgin for the most part as she was more of an observer and an minimal participant.
The tape suddenly switches back to the NOVA TV show, showing a birth of a squirrel puppy; the narrator saying, "…the one assisting with the birth gently catches the head of the child as it exits the birth canal…"
"No…!", Tammy says out loud but to herself. It does not wake Fernando up, yet. Tammy takes the remote and pauses the tape, then turns and nudges Fernando harder than necessary, trying to wake him up. "Who were those two? Why does that black squirrel looks so familiar? Why Are You Asleep?"
Unbeknownst to Tammy, very few things can awaken Fernando from sleeping. And being forced to wake up usually puts him into a violent fit of rage, with few exceptions. But in not able to wake him, gave her an idea that she was willing to propose to him but now the temptation was too high to risk. Common with Med School students, it has trickled down to some colleges, including hers. She looks into her bag and pulls out the Temporary Fur Marker with "Washable Ink", and gives Fernando a 'Canary Had Eaten The Cat' grin.
She pulls out he comparative anatomy textbook and starts turning pages. Starting with the hand, she looks at the diagram in the book and at him. "Sorry Fernando, but I need to learn this stuff or fail and they say this is the best way to do it if you can't afford your own cadaver…", Tammy says to herself.
She crawls over to him, taking the book with her, and starts drawing on his fur on one side and labeling on the other side. "Distal Phalanges, Intermediate Phalanges…", she starts on his fingers and works her way down on him. "Proximal Phalanges, Meta Carpals, Carpals…"as she finishes one hand and begins with the other. Within the next half hour she had completed both arms, along with the shoulder and collar areas on both left and right sides, covering bone, tendon and muscle labels. Fernando was beginning to look like 'Invisible Rodent' model done by an expert modeler.
It was the as far as she could go without needing to resort more physical means to achieve her goal. Thus she thinks about it for a moment before taking action. Capping the marker for a moment, she puts it across her lips and holds it by her teeth before crawling over to him and straddles him across his things. She reaches at his waist where the bottom of his t-shirt hung, taking a fist of material and proceeds to life up but stops at the armpits as the arms got in the way.
"I heard that you were disagreeable at times but damn- even in your sleep you wont cooperate…", Tammy says to her, as she takes as she takes the marker from her mouth and holds it against her palm then his arms and puts them over her shoulders to help take off his t-shirt.
With his t-shirt 1/2 way up off his, she tries again but once she has the material over his head he wakes up. Defense reflexes kick, and arms that were on her should move back and fingers wrap tightly around her throat. It only takes a second but Fernando lets her go, pushing her slightly away. She places both arms and hands on the bed behind her to keep from falling back.
They just stare at each other for the moment.
"I'm not into strangulation sex…", Fernando says to her as he fixes his t-shirt and then notices his arms. "What… is this.", he says to her.
Just marking your fur with washable ink with where bones and muscles are at…", Tammy answers nervously.
"I can see that… why?", Fernando says in a semi angered tone.
"They do it to each other in Med School… So they can learn faster.", Tammy answers louder than she should have, trying to hold back her emotions and failing it.
Fernando sighs out of frustration than anything else. "You would not like it if I did it to you.", he then lets out.
The silence gave its own answer, though it was not the one Tammy would give. She takes the marker from her hand and puts it into his, then extends her arms in front of him. "I marked you up, only fair you do the same to me.", she tells him.
"Look…", Fernando starts to say but cant after that.
"Haven't you done this before? Your records at CDRR-HQ say that you were in med-school. Didn't you mark up your fellow student?", Tammy asks.
"It was a long time ago, but the ones I marked up was my wife and a friend of ours.", he tells her.
"Cathy and Juanita?", Tammy asks.
Fernando gives her such a look if it could kill. "Where did you learn of those names…", her tells her sternly.
"Your file in headquarters?", she tries to play it off.
"Wrong.", he tells her.
"Alright.", Tammy says. "Its on the tape.", she then says.
"What tape?", Fernando asks.
Tammy takes the remote from the bed and points it to the TV and VCR. She presses rewind for a few seconds and then play.
"OK. Now that you got the camera working, shut it off, Juanita!", a female white squirrel says loudly.
"But this is the last day we will have as friends and the first two you will have as husband and wife.", Juanita almost pleads.
"Just because Cathy and I got married, does not mean that our shared relationship and friendship with you ends.", Fernando says.
"It doesn't?", Juanita asks.
Tammy presses pause.
"What tape is that? Where did you get it?", Fernando asks.
"It was already in the machine.", she tell him, "There was several shows on it about biology and anatomy and then that popped up on the screen."
Fernando gets up out of the bed and walks to the VCR. He presses the eject button. The take comes out and he takes it, looking at it. "That's where she put it…", he says to himself.
Tammy crawls off the bed to the side he got off on and steps behind him. "She must have been somebody special. Why did you two divorced?", she asks.
"We didn't.", he answers her, turning off the VCR and then the TV.
"Separated?", she continues to ask.
"Killed.", Fernando says.
"Killed?", Tammy asks confused.
"She was murdered.", he points out before putting down he tape.
"I'm… sorry.", she then says.
"Don't be.", he says. He turns around and walks to the bed and sits down in it. "I should be apologizing, it happened a long time ago and besides you should be studying."
She sits down next to him. "You don't have too help me if you don't want too anymore."
He gives back the marker to her and then takes off his t-shirt. He starts to point to various parts of his body, "Start marking… This is the Clavicle, also known as the collarbone. Going down to the middle of the chest is the Sternum, also known as the breastbone. It connects the ribs to the spine and protects the heart. After I'm done, you're next."
Tammy nods momentarily, then begins to mark up his fur with the marker at the items mentioned. This is followed by the neck, the windpipe, Adam's Apple (Larynx), Esophagus, and back down for the heart, lungs, stomach and liver. Before going to the intestines, they decide to go for the legs and foot, their bones and muscle groups. The back, spine, muscle groups and organs: the Kidneys, Adrenal Glands, Spleen, and Pancreas. Fernando lies on his stomach for a while as she does this artwork.
"How fast does the ink take to dry?", he asks.
"Almost immediately.", she answers him, then suddenly she pulls down on his briefs from behind.
"Wait a minute!", he says out loud.
"The Ilium, Sacrum, Coccyx, and Gluteus muscle groups are next.", she tells him.
"You just watch where you put that marker…", he tells her.
"You don't trust me?", she asks.
"We got this far, didn't we?", he tells her.
"Then shut up. Besides you cute a nice looking tail end.", Tammy says.
Fernando shakes his head and thought about whapping Tammy with his tail but thought that she would take it and bent it until it hurt, it being part of why he could fly, he would be both mad and disappointed if she would injure him as such and would ground him until his tail healed.
He losses track of time as he thought of his situation, at the whim is a female squirrel half his age whose interest in him and his body is purely medical research at the end of a felt-tip marker.
She smacks him on the side of his rear end. "Finished. Now turn over we can finish the rest of you.", she tells him.
"How about a little respect and maybe a 'Please' added in!", he tells her in a very annoyed tone.
"Alright. Could you PLEASE turn around so we could finish the front?", she asks in a bit too much of a playful tone.
"As soon as you get off me, I will.", he answers her, still in an annoyed tone.
"Oh… alright.", she says, still in a playful tone. Tammy then slowly got off his legs and sat next to him as he turned around and sat up next to her. He takes a sigh as he momentarily put his face into his face, then extends his arms outward and stretches. Tammy could have thought she heard his spine go 'pop!' in several places as he stretched.
He falls back on his bed, "Alright. Lets do this, but without going below the waistband. Aright?"
"Why?", Tammy asks, "Too modest or something?"
"We're not dating or having a relationship. Other than this being a lesson in physical anatomy, nothing should be happening between us.", he tells her.
"And nothing will happen.", Tammy reminds him. "Now take off those tightie whities."
"What was that?", Fernando asks.
"What you mean?", she asks.
"Tightie Whities?", he asks.
"Oh- your underwear.", she answers.
"They're called briefs.", he explains.
"Oh… girl briefs are more like Granny Panties. Yours is more like the ones I have on, you know?", Tammy tries to explain.
"I did not invent them or named them. They are what they are.", Fernando states to her.
"Well, take them off.", she tells him.
"What for?", he asks.
"Lower part of your small intestines, the bladder and the front of the pelvic girdle.", Tammy explains.
"And that's it.", Fernando adds.
"What about the penis, the scrotum, the testis and those other things that makes you a male?", Tammy asks.
"That's where we draw the line.", he answers, trying to inject some authority.
"That's all I'll be doing. And you will be going the same to me.", Tammy tries to inject her authority.
"Look…", he says.
"What?", she asks.
"Look… Just understand that like most males, if some female starts to touch me down there, something might happen.", he answers as hesitantly as possible.
"What might happen?", she asks for details.
"I might get an erection… alright!", he answers her bluntly.
"That's all?", Tammy asks. "Can you look or even touch a female in her most intimate of places and still be professional about it?"
"Yes I can.", Fernando answers.
"So don't worry about it.", she tells him.
"But…", he tries to interject.
"But what?", Tammy asks.
"Don't take it the wrong way, but I can be professional doing it but not receiving it. Look, women who I have only had the intimate of relationships had ever touched me down there. You know that I mean?", he tries to answer.
"Alright. We'll deal with it when we get to that point. Now… lay down.", Tammy tells him, and she gave him a shove to lay down on the bed. "The stomach goes around the Transcending Colon, and connects to the small intestines. Meanwhile the liver connects to the stomach through the gall bladder, and delivers bile to aide digestion.", as she continues drawing.
"Since my bones are hollow and I don't have bone marrow in my bones, my liver helps to create blood with a couple of other glandular organs.", Fernando explains.
Tammy stops at the waistband of his briefs. "You don't?", she asks.
"I'm a flying mammal, and like bats and birds, my bones are hollow but are the same like yours.", he tries to explain.
"What about your daughter, her bones hallow too?", she asks.
"I don't know. You would have to ask her.", he answers.
"Oh. OK.", she says. She then reaches down at his briefs and pulls them down to his knees.
"Hey!", he complains. But at this point there was nothing that he could go.
"Stop complaining…", Tammy tells him. "I'm almost done." With a few more marker strokes, she finishes everything but the male reproductive system. She looks at his face for a moment.
"Thanks.", she tells him.
"What for?", he asks.
"Helping me study.", she answers.
"Will this be all?", he asks.
Tammy thinks for a second before answering. "No.", she says before taking off her camisole off and hands him the marker. "Your turn now."
Fernando sighs before taking her hand and starts there. He already knew his anatomy and was able to finish his drawing on her much faster than the time she took. She complained less as well, even when she took her panties off for him. Like her, he finishes drawing her without the female reproductive system. With his help, she sits up and looks over his work. She then looks at him.
"You're not finished.", she tells him.
"What do you mean?", he asks.
"You got the mammary glands right, but what about the rest of that make me, me, as a female…", she says to him.
"But…", he started to say.
"You said that you can do it and be professional about it. Right?", Tammy says.
"Yes, but…", he started to say.
"Then do it.", she tells him, laying down for him and opening her legs as wide as possible for him. "And no funny business while you're down there!"
"Alright…", Fernando says to himself. He takes the marker and starts. Only a couple of lines denotes the clitoris and labia majora, then he draws her vagina on her pubis mound and the cervix and uterus above her bladder where they should be. The fallopian tubes and ovaries complete Tammy's drawing of her internal systems. She tilts her head against her chest and looks down at herself.
"There's a full length mirror in my room.", he says.
"That's quite alright.", she answers. "Now, I trusted you with my most intimate and private of places I have, it's your turn."
"But…", he started to ay.
"Look. If you get an erection, it's fine by me. We're not having a relationship, an if we were, well… you proven yourself that I can trust you with me.", Tammy says.
"Alright.", Fernando gives in. He lays down for her and let her take him and draws on him the missing parts. Then she stops, and he thinks she's done.
"Uhm… Where's the prostate?", she asks.
"Prostate?", he asks.
"Yes.", she answers his question, still wanting an answer for hers.
"Oh… Uhm…its under the bladder, near the rectum. You might as well skip it since it's hard to get at.", he tries to explain.
"Uhm…" Tammy tries to imagine the location.
"If you had one, it would be encircling outside your vagina from under the bladder, if you can imagine that.", he explains.
"Oh. And what does it do?", she asks.
"Among other things, it provides preseminnal fluid to nourishment and transport the sperm for its final journey into the uterus to fertilize the egg. The fluid is mainly made up of glucose in water solution with a few hormones and other things.", he answers as best s he could.
"So, if its mostly made up or sugar and water, why does it taste so salty?", Tammy tells him with a smile.
"Tammy!", Fernando says out loud as he sat up.
"I was just joking. Though a lot of girls I used to hang out with all said it tastes salty.", she explains.
"There are other things and the sperm cells that adds to the taste. But seriously, I don't joke about sex.", he says to her.
"Neither do I.", she begins, "I hope the guy I end up with is as nice and considerate as you."
"There is somebody for everybody.", he says, almost to himself.
"Most guys I dated were more interested in getting me drunk, naked, and get me into bed with them and do who knows what after that. But here I am with you, in bed, naked and all I can think of is I hope I pass this mid term.", she explains.
Fernando gets up and walks to the foot of the bed, gathering a few things. "Lets eat something as we continue with your studies.", he says. "I'll warm up a few things…", as he puts them into the conventional hot air and microwave oven. It only needs to be set for a couple of minutes to warm things up. He returns with the food and takes a slice of pizza for himself.
"Fernando?", Tammy calls to him.
"Yes?", he asks in answering.
"Your wife… I mean… I can see why you're so private and all, but you are always there to help others. She was lucky to have you.", she tries to say.
"No. I was lucky to have her.", he tells her.
"I don't know what you're trying to say but if you were in your twenties and not forties…", Tammy started to say.
"I'm thirty-six.", he tells her.
"I'm not going to ask how, but isn't your daughter in her twenties? You would have to have been a teenager to be her father.", Tammy explains.
"I'm a Time Traveler. I stopped aging at 36.", he explains.
"That's besides the point. If you were in your twenties, I would go out with you and maybe have you as boyfriend.", she explains.
"Only if…", Fernando says to himself. Then he turns to her, "Look. If we did get into a relationship, I would treat you with honor and respect as you would treat me. We will have out disagreements, but what couple doesn't? Sex recognizes no age, no race and no face. Between you and I, with all things no longer mattering between us, it can happen. But because we do have respect for each other and you think I'm too old for you, its not going to happen. That is all I can say, Tammy."
"Just hear me out, OK?", Tammy begins. He nods. "I don't know what you are trying to get at, but it's been hard since Mom got married and took Bink with her to live in Italy with her husband. I'm all alone in that house I live in. No one visits. I just spend time studying and getting everything I'm trying to learn wrong. I'm not looking for a boy friend, but maybe a friend. I would not mind having you as that friend. Like I said, I know nothing of your past except for those few minutes on that videotape, but from what I saw she was lucky to have you."
"Look, it was the other way around. But lets make a deal…", Fernando begins to say.
"What kind of deal?", Tammy interrupts him.
"Simple. You want me as a friend, then so be it. But if you graduate from school and you are still… you know, lonely, then I want you to be more then what we had become.", he tries to say.
"Are you proposing to me?", Tammy asks.
"Maybe I am. I'm just saying, if you want too after all that time goes by.", Fernando answers.
"I still got three more years before I graduate from school.", she tries to explain.
"And after three years had past, if you… I mean we are still friends… its on you to decide. I'm not forcing you to do anything you don't want to do.", he tries to explain as well. "I'm alone in this house but I'm not lonely. You are in yours and that is hard to deal with. But you are welcomed to stay here when you want it or need it. OK?"
Tammy just bows her head and nods. She eventually speaks up. "Yeah… thanks."
He put the side of his hand under her chin and slowly lifts her head to face him. "How much more you have to study?", he asks.
"Oh!", Tammy says to herself, then reaches over to her textbook. She throws it open between them and starts flipping through pages until she stops mid way. 'Skeletal Differences: Squirrels, Mice, and Rats.' "There.", she tells him as she points to the page.
Fernando just looks at it for the moment. "Except for a few subtle differences, there are really no differences between them and us except maybe in size and perhaps shape. Like the nasal and facial bones of the skull tapers down to a point on rats and mice, but is flat after a point for us. Another is mice are usually smaller than us squirrels but rats are larger than us."
"Any other differences?", Tammy asks.
For the next couple of hours, they continue with her studies, going into further details from the basics they went through before.
However it happened, it happened, but it was consensual between them, though nothing actually happened. They slept together in the sofa bed that they had studied on all night long, sharing as large comfortable blanket among them, and holding onto each other as if they had been sleeping together for a very long time. Though he was sleeping on his back, she was on her side holding onto his as is her very life depended on him being there next to her. For the rest of the night and half way into the day the continued sleeping until unexpected visitors came into the house at about 11AM in the morning.