After a half an hour of walking, Blank, Char, and I approached a clearing. Before us stretched a hundred acres or so of gentle rolling hills covered in fields and pastures, dotted with the occasional barn or house. We strolled down a dirt path towards a small, two story cottage surrounded by a picket fence and blooming vegetable gardens. There was a peaceful, naïve storybook feel to the place. Too peaceful, I thought, hoping it wasn't an omen.
"Mama!" shrieked a feminine voice as the cottage door swung open. A girl appeared in the doorway. She froze as she saw Blank and me, giving us a curious look, eyebrow cocked. The girl was built like her mother, short and round, although not nearly so overweight. Despite her juvenile pig tails and freckled cheeks, she appeared to be in her late teens. I watched Blank eye her developed figure. He smiled coyly and winked at me.
"Josie!" Char barked. "Get yer sis and get your asses over 'ere an' meet our guests!"
Josie, the girl, turned back and shouted, "Meg! Mama's done an' brought us a surprise!" She bounded out of the house, pigtails flying and breasts bouncing (I returned Blank's wink) as enveloped us in a big hug and wet kisses on each cheek.
"Welcome t'Greenburrow!" the bubbly girl chattered as she released us from her grip. "Meg, get out 'ere!"
Another young woman emerged from the house and approached us, although much more timidly than her elder sister. Meg, as she'd been called, was a scrawny girl of about fifteen with here mom's frizzy blonde hair. She wore an oversized, floral sundress and looked so frail that the wind could push her over.
Josie immediately locked onto Blank, linking her elbow around his. Meg smiled at me with a bucktoothed grin. She was your typical cute little farm girl. Sun-lightened braid. Rosy, freckled face. Innocent.
"Aww, maw, you brought us some cute boys!" she blushed and batted her eyelashes. "What's yer names?"
"Zidane, and this is Blank." I bowed and took her dainty hand, rising it to my lips for a gentle kiss. She giggled, flattered.
After introductions were made, Mama Char lead us into their quaint cottage. The inside was no less neater than the out. The downstairs was a spotless kitchen, tiny bathroom, back bedroom, and welcoming living room complete with a cushy pink couch and fireplace. Upstairs I assumed meant the girls' bedroom(s).
Char served us a lunch of some bland, unrecognizable stew. We seated in hard, uncomfortable chairs around an oak kitchen table. I swung my tail in an irritated manner as we were drilled with questions by Char and the girls.
"My girls are lookin' to get married," Char blurted as she munched on a role. I almost spat out a mouthful of stew with laughter. The girls giggled in unison. Blank looked puzzled and terribly uncomfortable due to these forward women.
"Why maw, you're embarassin' us," Josie stammered. Meg, who sat beside me, tickled my leg under the table. I batted her hand away with my tail, which she seemed to have overlooked.
"You have a tail!" she shrieked. Blank and I burst out laughing.
"Meg, you be polite!" Char snapped. She leaned close. "Now, tell us, darlin'… where you get that cute lil' tail o'yours?"
Blank smirked from across the table. My foot connected with his knee. That wiped away his spite.
"I was born with it," I shrugged. What else could I say? I'd been taken off guard by being blatantly asked such a naïve question.
"Well ain't that so?" Meg leaned close and petted my tail as if it were that of a house cat's. "You can move it an' everything."
We continued our meal in much appreciated silence.
Blank and I spent the rest of the day being shown around the farms and drilled questions about traveling and Tantalus. I was awed by Meg and Josie's simplicity. All they wanted was to please their mother by getting married young and having children to inherit the farm. They'd spent their whole lives knowing no other place that the farm—what had they called it? Greenburrow? They'd known no other place. What a foreign concept!
"Mah great-great-great grandfather founded Greenburrow over a hundred years ago," Josie rambled as the four of us strolled down a dusty path. "Most of the farmers 'ere are his grandkids an' our cousins."
Later in the evening, Blank left with Josie to find the local moogle. A letter to Baku would let him know that we were still alive. Meg insisted on showing me her bedroom while they were gone. It was a neat, floral bed crammed into a little room with an oak dresser and pink curtains around a little window. Meg plopped down on her bed and peered up at me with soft gray eyes.
"Zidane," she grabbed my hand and yanked me beside her. She didn't loosen her grip once I was sitting down. "I can't take it no more… you're so handsome and more learned that I'll ever be—"
"Don't say that," I whispered, using the opportunity to curl my arm around her shoulders. "You could go to school in Lindbulm."
"The big city? Naw, I ain't cut out for city life. I wanna get married. Mama says I should marry soon and find a strong man, healthy man. A man who ain't my cousin, an' the only single men in Greenburrow are. I like you, Zidane."
Eidolons, she was absolutely, positively the most incredibly naïve person I had ever met. I was the first unrelated man remotely her age she'd met and she was throwing herself at me. Literally.
"I like you, too," I spoke softly as I brushed hair away from her face and gazed into her eyes. All she needed to hear was that someone cared for her. She didn't want to be bought with flower or attention. She just wanted a man who'd love her and support the family he'd start with her. Meg wouldn't last a second in the city. A pretty, innocent girl like her would be swooned with fake promises and then be left pregnant or dumped in one of the slum's brothels.
"I wanna be with you, Zidane," Meg almost whined. She pushed me down against the bed, her tiny body pressing against mine. Her tiny moist lips met mine. We were lost in a mass of wet kisses and heavy petting. Her intentions became clear when she began tugging at my clothing. I peeled off my shirt to receive a hot tongue rolling over my chest.
Wow, Zidane, I caught myself as I was began to unbutton her dress. Meg wanted to make love with me… plain out have sex. I'd been tempted before by more attractive, sexy women, but they'd been sluts looking for an easy, attractive lay. Meg actually was hoping to spend her entire life with one man, and I happened to be the one she desired. But what if she got pregnant? I doubted that she'd mind. In fact, she'd probably receive a baby with open arms. However, if I knocked up a girl, backwater hick or not, I couldn't just abandon her. But what would I get out of a marriage with Meg? We certainly couldn't share more than our bodies. She would never understand me. How could a farm girl relate to an orphaned thief?
I gently pushed Meg away. She rolled beside me, breathing hard. "What's wrong? Ain't I a good kisser? Don't you like me?"
Geeze, I felt stupid. How often was it the man preventing a relationship from going to fast? It was unheard of. A guy is expected to go the pace his girl wanted. He couldn't make the move until she was ready. I could almost hear Tantalus laughing if they were to find out about this little situation.
"I like you, Meg, but I want to know you." Great Shiva, I couldn't believe what I was saying. "I want to know your dreams and ambitions."
"That stuff don't matter, Zidane," she practically cried, her face filled with distress. "I'm a farm girl an' I'll always be one. My purpose in life is to get married an' continue the family tradition like my mama and all of her sister and their mama b'fore them. It's hopeless to try and become anything more."
Meg was inadvertently telling me she didn't dare to dream because she'd spent her whole life being told all she'd amount to was a house wife. Perhaps the only benefit to being orphaned was that I wasn't predestined to follow my parent's footsteps like so many people were.
"Don't say that, Meg," I whispered so she'd feel at ease. "Your destiny isn't chosen for you."
"You really think so?" she peered at me with wide, innocent eyes. I held her close.
"Yes." I brushed her soft, warm cheek. I heard a creak and spun around to see Blank standing in the doorway. He hardly could contain his laughter as I fumbled for my shirt.
"Uh… I'd hate to interrupt, heh, but I'm supposed to tell you 'supper' is ready," he stifled a giggle.
"Blank, you silly goose!" Meg giggled.
"Why don't you head on downstairs, Meg? I want a word with Blank," I urged. She popped up and bounded out of the room.
"Man, Meg was all over you, too?" Blank asked, helping me up from the bed.
"Don't tell me Josie was talking marriage to you…"
"Definitely. After we sent Baku a letter, Josie took me into a loft of one of the barns. She came on to me… and, well, I didn't stop her. Now she acts like we're going to spend our whole lives together… something weird is about those two, and this whole fucking farm. Forget waiting for the transport. I think we should take off first thing tomorrow."
"Agreed," I nodded. Blank and I headed downstairs, wondering what surprises dinner with this family would bring.
