"Do not ignore me."
"Don't do ignorant things that make me ignore you." I reply dryly. "It's very simple."
He bites into sausage link. "I enjoy this meat."
"Good."
He sighs. "You are still angry with me."
"I am irritated with you, not angry." The shadows continue to move near my feet, touching my legs, rubbing my thighs. "Why are you holding onto me with these things?"
He grunts. "It calms you."
"Not really," He doesn't stop. "You owe mean apology."
"For?"
Why am I even bothering with him? He doesn't think he's done anything wrong, and I don't feel like explaining to him why he's wrong and why he should apologize! Besides, if he did, it'd be because I asked him to and not because he felt like he should.
"Men of this age are a different breed." I start. "They used to go to war and die with dignity, now they ask what women bring to the table and demand we go to work, care for children, clean the home, cook food, and have sex with them while respecting them as autonomous beings and obeying their every demand." Shrugging, I continue. "Many think of this 50/50 mindset in which everything is shared, but a woman should do traditional womanly duties and they can do whatever they like. The men that are providers seem to be a dying breed, or there are not enough of them to go around."
Athanasius stares at me, licking the syrup from his fingers. "Kill them and start over."
"Excuse me?" Not that I haven't heard this before, but from someone like him? No.
"They are inferior, flawed, useless. I too, remember when males were worthy of titles like duke, king, lord. They fought and died with pride and honor. They tended their homes and flourished what they had or made in order to woo females to mate with. They showed themselves as prospects to pass on their genes." Athy sighs, pushing himself away from the table. "They cannot provide, what use are they? They do not deserve breeding rights. They can work as slaves and be content with that position or culled for the betterment of everyone around them. It's a simple solution."
I'm not going to say he's wrong, especially with the prevalence of incels.
"Patriarchy." Is my only answer.
"The balance of life was never meant to tilt so foolishly," He rumbles, grabbing his plate and glass to set them into the sink. "Patriarchy is a perversion, a desperate grasp of the lesser to claim dominion over the greater. Nature does not abide by such arrogance—strength lies in the womb of those who can create and hone. Where wisdom flourishes, it is followed. That males would twist this order to serve their own vanity is an offense to the very essence of existence. Disgusting."
Color me shocked. "I don't think I expected you to say something like that, especially since you call me female and human."
"Both of which you are. Make no mistake, I call you what you are because you are lesser than me. If you were a male, I'd call you that." He rubs his chin with one of his hands. "I can see what you mean. It is not said in dishonor of your gender." Sighing, he growls. "I do not mean to upset you, never again deny me the sound of your voice."
Chapter six
How Does She Do This?
Athanasius
She'ssmilingatme.Showing me all her teeth, which in one time was a threat. Still, I know she is pleased with me and in this, I am content.
"I'll see what I can do." She replies, and winks at me as she walks upstairs. "I'm going to get dressed and then we can head off on this little adventure of yours." She says as I follow her. "Where are we going?"
"I can feel it. A place where the earth pulls me and I feel my siblings the strongest. I can speak easier from there." Even now, the drum of the planet beats beneath my feet, but it is dull here. "Maybe seventy miles east."
"Seventy damn miless?" She shrieks. "I know you fucking lying."
"I have no need to lie to rabbits," I balk, why would I ever debase myself as such? "So, no, I'm fucking not."
She narrows her eyes at me, stopping in the doorway. "Don't come in here, I'm about to get dressed."
She does not wish for me to see her unclothed. Now I want to. I do not like to be denied, and she has been rather stingy with her form. "Fine."
She closes the door in my face, but I can still the shape of her body in my mind. Wide hips good for birthing more rabbits. She is comely, and I have had many worshippers, in all colors and forms, but Ione I would place in my top. Some have been agonizing to look at or deal with. I've eliminated them andconsidered others. I can keep her around, I enjoy her presence, and she smells nice. Either that, or I have been away too long and now I'll take anything.
