Brother Bonding

Sam Wright changed into his sweat suit up in his attic bedroom after his shift.  A run, a shower, maybe a wank and he’d be ready for bed and another shift tomorrow.  He was thinking about how he’d run into Catherine … no Kitty Carmichael at Perkatory.  She was with Chief Brate, his girlfriend and Gareth Dunham.  The Chief being there, Sam immediately got anxious, but before he realized the Chief was with her, he’d slipped and called her Cath, which is what he called her back in New York.

He knew it was the job that was making him so nervous around her.  If they could meet when he wasn’t on duty … he was pretty sure that things would be different.  That not knowing how being seen as the friend or even boyfriend of a girl working in the Blue Door rattled his nerves.  Maybe no one would care, but being raised in the high society Jewish community … it was natural for him to worry about … a lot.

Making up his mind that he would go and see her - off duty and in street clothes - relaxed him.  He moved down the stairs and paused to put on his running shoes, then opened the door.

And came face to chest with Kitty Carmichael, hand raised to knock on the door.

For a moment, they simply stared at each other.  Kitty broke the silence.  “This is stupid.”  She announces, marches in, bent down and kissed him soundly on the lips.

It was as if the fight that had left a gap between them had never happened.  Like he had only kissed her a the day before and not almost two years.  Wihtout thinking, his arms went around her, pulling her into a kiss, touching her hair, refamilarizing hiself with her body.   His hand slid instinctively up her long skirt and he knew that he would always remember the contures and sweet spots of this body better than any other he had or would ever encounter. The moan of pleasure from her lips was like a voice he had not heard in too long and was glad to hear again.

And then he remembered Alex.

His brother was home.  Alex was almost always home.  Sam knew that fucking this glorious woman at the foot of the stairs while his brother was home … might not be the best idea in the world.

“Not here, Kitty.”  He forced himself to stop.  Barely.

Kitty’s moans of pleasure stopped, but slowly.  “Why not?”  Followed by.  “Never mind …  I don’t care.  My place .. now .. god, I am about to cum just thinking about fucking you again.”

So they went to her place which was less than fifty meters away.  They reunited without care of who might hear them, or who might see them through Kittys windows.  But he already suspected the walls of the Pantheon were relatively thick, as it was an older building. One of Alexandra’s originals, just like the house he lived in.

Afterwards there was chat .. reuniting.  Sam knew now he could be more himself around Kitty.  The fight about her education was now a moot point.  Kitty was going to school.  Perhaps even to become a nurse or something.  She wasn’t entirely sure yet.  It seemed she was torn between nursing and the pharmaceuticals.  To Sam it didn’t matter.  As long as she was happy and using that beautiful brain of hers.

He opted NOT to spend the night, as he has work in the morning.  He walked home, finally free to think …. Did his brother hear those few minutes of moaning before he left the house?


Alex sat serenely on his meditation pillow on the floor of his room. He was listening to a guided meditation by Deepak Chopra. The guru's gentle voice and lilting accent was guiding him through the chants to move energy through his chakras from the root to the crown. Lengthening his spine he began chanting in unison with the recording.

"Lam lam lam lam lam lam lam..." he began at the root.

By the time Alex reached the throat chakra he was feeling very in tune with his body and it's balance between earth and sky.

"Ha ha ha ha Ham......"

Alex began to pick up on a sound from elsewhere in the house, a sort of moaning? A woman's voice. Was he having some sort of auditory connection to the universe. He opened his mind and tuned into it and then felt his throat chakra close completely and then all the ones below it. This was a woman and it sounded acutely sexual. Had his brother brought someone home? He crept to his bedroom door and opened it a crack. Now it was louder. Alex cringed and then heard his brother's voice from the bottom of the stairs. Were they openly doing it in the middle of the house? He reluctantly tiptoed to the railing and looked over as Sam said “Not here, Kitty.”

The woman, who he now presumed to be named Kitty was still moaning but it thankfully slowly abated. She towered over Sam. He could mostly see her long curly black hair and there was a scent. This woman used some sort of product that disrupted the natural air and attacked Alex's allergies. Maybe it was shampoo or perfume or hairspray, or some horrible combination of many. Alex felt the onset of a headache and his nose began to run a bit.

The hairy smelly amazon spoke.

 “Why not?”  Followed by.  “Never mind …  I don’t care.  My place .. now .. god, I am about to cum just thinking about fucking you again.”

Again?! Sam had a long standing arrangement with this woman? Would this happen all the time now? He felt like the house was under siege. Would it be continually filled with a parade of these creatures? He escaped back to the sanctum of his own space and began pacing.

Alex had considered women before himself but had never spoken with one with the intention to copulate. There were too many environmental factors to consider. His mother had once patted his cheek and said "Alex my boy, it would take a VERY special girl." And he knew exactly what she meant. It would take someone who understood all his allergies and sensitivities and social boundaries, yes a special girl. He was so thankful his mother understood him.

The front door opened and closed! They had left the house. Alex ran to all the second floor windows until he saw them walking away in the direction of an apartment building just across the way. She lived there?! She'd be over every day! Polluting the air and causing Alex to be trapped wherever he was in proximity to wherever they were having an encounter. This was a nightmare!


Sam felt wonderful as he walked across the street to his house.  It wasn’t because it had been so long since he’d had sex.  There were a couple of relatively willing girls at his college, but it was Kitty.  A whole different kind of encounter.  Part of it was his knowledge that much of what Kitty knew, she had learned from him.  A major ego boost, no matter who you were.

He got out his keys and opened the front door, closing and locking it, even as he slipped out of his shoes.  With barely a pause he headed straight into the kitchen for a glass of water.  Straight from the tap for him, no problem.  Then he turned his attention to his stomach.  He had caved shortly after moving and bought a separate refrigerator for himself.  This was, of course, after he had reconnected the house to the world of electricity.  Wild rumors of the family not having toilet facilities was just that, rumor.  But their father had,eventually, disconnected the house electricity.  When Sam reconnected it, he thought that Alex may have even appreciated it.

But the foods Sam ate were not the foods Alex ate and, after several heated discussions, Sam had bought his own refrigerator to store his own foods, most of which would probably make his brother sick, if not put him in the hospital or morgue.  According to Alex, at least.

Sam started making a cold sub.  It was no Katz Deli in Alexandra, but he did his best.  Turkey, pastrami and roast beef along with lettuce, tomato and mustard on marbled rye bread.  Thick and perfect for a post coitus meal before sleep.


Alex was sitting in his room writing in his journal when he became aware of the regular household noise of Sam in the kitchen. He hoped Sam was alone and considered how to address his concerns about the woman named Kitty. Alex lay the journal on his bedside table and made his way downstairs. He sniffed at the air with an irritated expression as he passed the bottom of the stairs. It seemed most of the chemicals from the amazon's products had dissipated. He continued to the kitchen to find Sam eating a toxic looking sandwich that clearly many animals had to die for to create. He politely tried to downplay his disdain with a simple sideways glance at it before heading to the stove to put on the tea kettle.

"Hi Sam." he said carefully "Did you have ...plans tonight?"

Alex moved around the kitchen gathering a teapot and stainless steel steeping ball for his loose tea. He opened a tin and shook something dry and leafy into the ball that smelled much like hay, waiting for Sam's answer.


Sam glanced up as he heard Alex moving upstairs.  He waited patiently and was rewarded with the appearance of his younger brother in the kitchen a minute later.  A glare that seemed more directed at the sandwich almost amused Sam, but he was too relaxed really to get upset.  His guess that Alex had heard Kitty’s moaning was confirmed with Alex’s question.

“No, I had planned on my usual evening run, but a friend came over and my jog got cancelled.”  He makes it sound innocent.  “Why?”    he watches his brother put his odd tea in a mesh ball.  So it was a brotherly discussion in the kitchen.  He was tempted to look around for his mother.


The kettle whistled and Alex poured the hot water over the tea ball in the pot and secured the lid. The mist of steam moistened his face a bit, giving the redness and inflammation around his nose from his earlier congestion a bit of a glow. He blinked slowly and turned back to Sam.

"I thought I heard you...talking...to someone a few hours ago. Was it a woman? I think she might have been wearing scent." He sniffed as if for emphasis after the word scent.


Sam looked at his brother and sighed.  He made Kitty sound like a skunk.  “Yea .. my friend Kitty Carmichael lives here.  We knew each other in New York.  You may have caught a wiff of her perfume or deodorant.”  He quickly added.  “She doesn’t wear hair spray.”  As if this was a redeeming quality in any woman.


Alex looked down and blinked rapidly a few times and then met Sam's gaze "Could you maybe tell her...or warn me next time to ...reduce.... exposure." And by exposure he was clearly meaning to both the scent and any potential sexual encounters he might stumble upon. He then squinted and asked "And you said she's a...friend? Or...a...FRIEND?"


Sam took a bite of his sandwich both because he was hungry and because he wanted to buy himself some time.  “Reduce.  Exposure.”  He said once he’d chewed and swallowed.  “She isn’t Patient Zero, Alex.  And NO ONE looks sexy in a Hazmat suit.”  he sighed at the word friend clearly overemphasized.  “And yes, she is a friend and a FRIEND.  Don’t tell me those sharp ears of yours didn’t catch her saying she wanted to fuck me AGAIN?”  He didn’t usually swear in front of his brother, but … in this case those were Kitty’s words, after all.


The rest of Alex's face turned as red as his nose and he said awkwardly "I might have heard some of that...yes. Listen, you know I have sensitivities. I don't want to interfere in your relationships but if you're going to copulate in the house we might need to have some communication about that. If I know, I can go out for a bike ride, a walk or work in the garden. I don't expect people to get the scent thing but it really does make me feel ill. I can barely go into public buildings because of the cleaning products and none of the restaurants here are safe for me to eat in. I have to wear a mask on the ferry and even then I pay for it later. I wish I didn't have all this Sam, but I do. I know I'm a freak..."He looked resigned to the fact after he stated it.


His sandwich was halfway to his mouth when Alex spoke.  “Copulate?”  He blinks, looking at his brother's face.  Then the rest comes and Sam sighs.  He knows his brothers pain .. or at least can sympathise.    Alex’s problems were very much real, he believed and he looks across the room at him.  “Well, if you heard THAT, then you heard me tell her I couldn’t.  Not here.  And I got her out of here as fast as I could, Alex.  I really did.”  He sighs.  “I don’t bring women home.  And I wouldn’t.  And you are NOT a freak.”  He frowns.  “Is someone starting again?”  He demands to know.  And if they were he wonders if Alex will admit it.


Alex shook his head and poured the tea into and earthenware pottery mug. It infused the space now with the smell of soggy hay. It's very possible it was in fact hay.

"No. And I do appreciate you taking your activities elsewhere. I am glad you're here. I like my own company of course but it does get a little quiet." He looked small and vulnerable for a moment and then shrugged and smiled a bit "Maybe it's my endocrine system talking. I'm just coming off a pancreas cleanse. Spring, you know?" He asked the last bit as if everyone would naturally acknowledge the turning of the season with an organ cleanse.


The smell of hay permeated Sam’s nostrils and made him think of horses.  He quickly pushed them out of his mind.  “I’m glad I’m here too, even if you’re calling me loud.”  He teases.  “But if someone IS bothering you, you tell me.”  He demands.  “I can DO something about it now besides get dragged off by CHief WInters and hope you’ll survive another year.”  He sighs and starts eating more sandwich when Alex mentions his cleansing.  ALmost anyone else may have thrown up at that point, but Sam was very well versed on this whole train of thought.  Even his mother talked about her cleansings.  “Right.  It’s March.  A little early this year, isn’t it?”  He wonders.  “Mom hasn’t started calling me to do all mine yet.  Pancreas, colon, you know .. the whole damn thing.  Like I am a Toyota.”  He begins eating again, wondering if it is bad for him this year.


Alex seems to be cheering up a bit and jokes "The pancreas wants what the pancreas wants." He then gestures to the teapot "Did you want a cup of this? It's matcha and rooibos. Might break down some of those preservatives for you...." He then comments on their mother "Miriam said she couldn't do the fast this week before the cleanse so she's delaying hers. Just wait till you get to the colon though. You'll feel completely flushed out and so alert. Maybe your Kitty would do that one with you? It could be very bonding after the diarrhoea stage is through."


Sam shrugs.  “Sure.  Give me a cup.”  He eats more of his sandwich.  It was a hundred percent kosher, but still full of things Alex couldn’t touch.  “She said something about a banquet.”  He always found it interesting that he called their mother ‘Mom’ while Alex called her ‘Miriam’.  Those thoughts were interrupted by his brothers proposed bonding method.  “I ……”  he began, starting to chuckle.  “I don’t think Kitty would find that too bonding.  She has enough fun tempting me away from kosher foods.  Don’t tell Mom.  She thinks I am all kosher all the time.”  He rolls his eyes.  “How weird are we, Alex?  You got the looks and the health problems.  I got the good health and the Cassanova like prowess.“  he sighs.  “Think about this;  you could have got this nose.”  He points to his prominent nose.  “You’d probably be dead by now.”  It was only half a joke.


Alex takes another earthenware cup from the cupboard as he listens to his brother and half smiles. He pours the second cup and sets it in easy range of Sam.

"You know I've never totally understood your connection to organized religion. But your pretending to be Kosher keeps Miriam from inquiring too much about why I rejected it before my bar mitzvah. I'm more drawn to the Eastern traditions now, maybe because of Sage, but I'll never be a joiner." He looks at Sam's nose and nods but then muses "It would make using a netty pot easier mind you, all that space." It's a little teasing but also a tad serious. He thinks about his brother's connection to the amazon "Sam, if this Kitty is important to you...I could meet her....outside maybe."


Chewing and swallowing, Sam takes the tea and sips it, making a slight face.  He likes matcha well enough but …  “Got any stevia?”  He knows they don’t have pure cane sugar around.  Oh no siree bob.  “You didnt live with Mom.  I did.”  He reminds.  “And that meant living with granma.  So yea.  Kosher.  Temple.  My bar mitzvah was incredible.  Lost my virginity that day.  Best present I got.”  He arches his brows.  “Yea ,...  Dad...."  there is a slight tension in his voice mentioning his father, who was off in Tibet or some damn where, probably copulating with a Yeti or something.  He laughs.  “Yea.  I don’t have ANY trouble breathing, bro.”  And then he grins.  “Actually … yea.  Kitty IS important to me.  We have an open relationship but … she’s important.  I can invite her over.  Meet at the side of the house.  If you like her, I can think of some fun shower and dressing ritual so she doesn’t come over and put you in the hospital before the appetizers are done.”  Which would actually mean no perfume, only certain deodorants, special soaps and PROBABLY special clothes and even shoes.  Kitty might actually like the idea of a whole new outfit, at least.


Alex raises his eyebrows about the virginity comment and then goes to the pantry and puts a big tub of unpasteurized honey in front of Sam "From my food buying club. Better for your immune system." He fishes in the cutlery drawer for a spoon and lays it on top of the lid.

"So how does an open relationship...work?" He looks truly fascinated, almost anthropological about it. Alex has literally zero experience with women. "I could offer her some clothing that's washed safely, if she's not too gender specific about such things. They can be unisex after all. I have an old pair of Thai fishing pants that you can adjust to fit any human form and lots of t-shirts."


Sam shrugs and takes the honey.  It isn’t bad and, after all its his immune system.  He’s never been sick, whether from all the health food or from good genes, he didn’t know.  After stirring it in the tea, he samples then adds two more large spoonfulls.  Then its palatable.  He looks at his brother.  Of course, it was a no brainer that Alex was a virgin.  “An open relationship means I can have sex with whoever I want, and she can have sex with whoever she wants.  As long as we take the proper precautions against disease and pregnancy, its all good.”  His mind wanders for the briefest of moments to Gareth Dunham, but he continues to speak to his brother.  Remembering Thai fishing pants, he nods.  “Tell you what.  Make it a NEW pair of Tai fishing pants.  Some shade of purple …  and you have a deal.  Just order them online, or I will and I will give them to her with … um ….  Cath can run around topless, but I don’t think you’d like my reaction.”  Suddenly he cannot imagine his brother calling Kitty …. kitty.


Alex looks thoughtful about the open relationship thing, as if he's reading about it in an intellectual journal "Hmm...alright then." His eyes go wide at the topless comment and then he frowns in confusion "Cath? Is this another person you have an open relationship with? How many pairs of pants are you asking me for?" His expression becomes mildly alarmed.


Sam laughs.  “Kitty’s real name is Catherine.  I thought you might be more comfortable for a more … formal name.”  He explains.  “Relax.  I’m not going to bring any of my other conquests home.”  He pauses and lifts the mug to his mouth.  “Yet.”  and then he sips to hide his grin.


Alex exhales and then sips his own tea before saying "I like the name Catherine. It's less like a cat." He seems to recognize that Sam is joking and jokes back "I'll booby trap the path to your room with bike parts..." He smiles back and then suddenly starts having a sneezing fit "Ahhh!" he exclaims after "I wonder if it's the matcha.....maybe it has a hint of mold..."


Sam gives his brother half a smile.  “Cathering ie it.  Make you think less about her pussy then.”  He winks.  “I promise she will never see my room.”  He sets down his mug and straightens in an instant.  “How old is the mache?”  He demands to know.  ANyone observing would think him overreacting … but he knows his brother.  “Do I need to call Dr McKinney?”


Alex's sneezing shifts into wheezing. He holds onto the counter "It was on sale...maybe that's why. Shit...my inhaler...upstairs..." he turns starts for the stairs clearly heading into an asthma attack triggered by the mold sensitivity. Alex rarely swore so he was clearly feeling a bit panicked.


Sam grabs his brother by the arm and, if allowed, will lead him into the living room and sit him down.  “I’ll get it.”  He knows where all of his brothers medicines are .. for exactly THIS reason.  He runs upstairs and grabs the medicine, reappearing in less than a minute, only slightly out of breath himself.  Kneeling beside his brother, he offers him the inhaler and then watches to see if he still needs to call the doctor or not.


Alex lets himself be led. It was a dance he knew too well with his family. As a child he spent many a night in the Children's Hospital in Vancouver after severe asthma attacks. It had taken years to figure out all the allergies and triggers and he was still sometimes taken by surprise. He grabbed the inhaler from Sam and took a long puff, leaning back into the couch, looking almost faint for a second. Then just his arm moved to his face with the inhaler as he puffed a second time, his breathing starting to ease. He opened his eyes and smiled self consciously at Sam "Sorry." he said tiredly.


Sam watches his brother take the inhaler and inhale deeply.  "No sorry, bro."  he says, clearly relieved it seems to not be serious.  "This is what big brothers are for, remember?"  hed fought not to leave for New York and had always felt bad learning of the troubles he was not there to prevent.


Alex takes one last short puff after a few minutes of decent breath "That should do it. I think I need sleep. And you work. I'll leave the door open...." He knows Sam will check on him to make sure he's OK and is immensely grateful not to be alone in the house.


Sam nods and straightens, offering his brother a hand up.  "Good.  I'll leave mine open, too.  And an ear while I sleep.  Kitty wore me out."  while that was true, when he was anxious, Sam could not sleep.  Worry about his brother would keep him at best in a light sleep, listening for signs of distress.  It was why, he believed, he was such a light sleeper.


Alex takes the hand and nods with a chuckle "You lead a wild life Sam. I can't even imagine it all. Goodnight...and thanks." he lets go of the hand and lumbers towards the stairs, his slightly too thin frame hunching as he reached for the railing.


Sam watches Alex go upstairs without commenting on his life.  For him, sex was a pleasure.  A treat from the suffocating things his life often had for him.  Childhood with a sick brother and fighting parents, then a stiffing mother and a mother who tried too hard to conform and be liked.  Now a job as a policeman, law school and taking care of his brother all by himself.  He needed the distraction.  When he hears Alex in his room, he moves to the kitchen and finishes his sandwich, cleans the kitchen within an inch of its life and considers throwing out the macha, then deciding the asthma attack wasn't the machas fault and shelving it.  Then he heads upstairs, tripping once on each stairwell then sits at his desk studying ... which is where he wakes when his alarm clock goes off the next morning.