"Get. The. Fuck. Out," Blay breathed.

"For real." Qhuinn tossed his head back and swallowed half his beer. "I will say, though, that transition… man…" He looked at John, his mismatched eyes narrowing. "Get ready, J-man. It's hardcore. You wish you would die. You pray for it. And then shit gets critical."

Blay nodded. "It is awful."

Qhuinn finished his beer and tossed the empty into a wastepaper basket. "Mine was witnessed. Yours, too, right?" When Blay nodded, Qhuinn cracked open the minifridge and took out another Corona. "Yeah, I mean… that was weird. My father in the room. Her father, too. All while my body was whacking out. I would have been embarrassed, but I was too busy feeling like ass."

"Who did you use?" Blay asked.

"Marna."

"Niiiiiiice."

Qhuinn's eyelids got heavy. "Yeah, she was very nice."

Blay's mouth fell open. "Her? She was the one you-"

"Yup." Qhuinn laughed as Blay collapsed back on the floor like he'd been shot in the chest. "Marna. I know. I can barely believe it myself."

Blay lifted his head. "How did it happen? And so help me God, I will whup your ass if you leave anything out."

"Ha! Like you were so forthcoming with your shit."

"Don't dodge the question. Start barking like the dog you are, buddy."

Qhuinn sat forward, and John took the cue, moving to the very edge of the bed.

"Okay, so it was all over, right? I mean… the drinking was done, change was finished, I was lying on the bed just… yeah, train-wrecked. She was hanging out in case I needed more from her vein, like in a chair in the corner or something. Anyway, her father and mine were talking and I kind of passed out. Next thing I know, I'm alone in the room. Door opens and it's Marna. Says she forgot her sweater or some shit. I took one look at her and… well, Blay, you know what she looks like, right? Instant hard-on. Can you blame me?"

"Not in the slightest."

John blinked and leaned in even closer.

"Anyway, there was a sheet over me, but somehow she knew. Man, she was totally looking me over and smiling, and I was like, 'Oh, my God…' But then her father calls her name from down the hall. The two of them had to stay over because it was daylight by the time I was through, but he clearly didn't want her bunking in with me. So as she leaves, she tells me she'll sneak back in later. I didn't really believe her, but I had my hopes. Hour goes by, I'm waiting… I'm jonesing. Another hour. Then it's like, Fine, she ain't snowing. I call my dad on the house phone and tell him I'm crashing. Then I get up, drag my ass into the shower, come back out… and she's in the room. Naked. On the bed. Christ, all I could do was stare. But I got over that fast." Qhuinn's eyes fixated on the floor and he shook his head back and forth. "I took her three times. One right after the other."

"Oh… shit," Blay whispered. "Did you like it?"

"What do you think? Duh." As Blay nodded and lifted his Corona to his lips, Qhuinn said, "When I was done, I put her in the shower, cleaned her off, and went down on her for half an hour."

Blay choked on his beer, spraying it all over himself. "Oh, God…"

"She tasted like a ripe plum. Sweet and syrupy." As John's eyeballs popped clear out of his head, Qhuinn smiled. "I had her all over my face. It was fantastic."

The guy took a long swallow, like he was so the man, and made no effort to hide his body's reaction to what he was no doubt reliving in his head. As his jeans got tight at the zipper, Blay covered up his hips with a fleece.

Having nothing to conceal, John looked down at his bottle.

"Are you going to mate her?" Blay asked.

"For God's sake, no!" Qhuinn's hand lifted and he gently prodded his black eye. "It was just… a thing that happened. I mean, no. She and I? Never."

"But wasn't she a-"

"No, she wasn't a virgin. Of course she wasn't. So no mating. She would never have me like that anyway."

Blay looked over at John. "Females of the aristocracy are supposed to be virgins before they're mated."

"Times have changed, though." Qhuinn frowned. "Still, don't say anything to anyone, okay? We had a good time, and it was no big deal. She's good peeps."

"Lips sealed." Blay took a deep breath, then cleared his throat. "Ah… it's better with someone else, isn't it?"

"Sex? By miles, buddy. Doing yourself takes the edge off, but it's nothing like the real thing. God, she was so soft… especially between her legs. I loved being on top of her, working my shit in deep, hearing her moan. I wish you guys could have been there. You'd have really dug it."

Blay rolled his eyes. "You having sex. Yeah, now, there's something I need to see."

Qhuinn's smile was slow and a little evil. "You like watching me fight, right?"

"Well, sure, you're good at it."

"Why should sex be any different? It's just something you do with your body."

Blay seemed nonplussed. "But… what about privacy?"

"Privacy is a matter of context." Qhuinn got out a third beer. "And, Blay?"

"What?"

"I'm really good at sex, too." He cracked the top and took a pull. "So here's what we need to do. I'm going to take a couple days to get strong, and then we're going out to the clubs downtown. I want to do it again, but it can't be with her." Qhuinn looked over at John. "J-man, you're coming with us to ZeroSum. I don't care if you're a pretrans. We go together."

Blay nodded. "The three of us are a good vibe. Besides, John, you're going to be where we are soon."

As the two started making plans, John got quiet. The whole picking-up-chicks thing was unfathomable, and not just because the transition had yet to hit him. He had a bad history with things of a sexual nature. The worst.

For a split second, he had a vivid memory of the dirty stairwell it had happened in. He felt the gun at his temple. Felt his jeans being yanked down. Felt the unthinkable as it was done to him. He remembered his breath scratching up and down his throat and his eyes watering and how, when he'd pissed himself, it had gotten on the tips of the guy's cheap sneakers.

"This weekend," Qhuinn announced, "we are going to get you taken care of, Blay."

John put his beer down and rubbed his face as Blay's cheeks got red.

"Yeah, Qhuinn… I don't know-"

"Trust me. I'm going to make it happen for you. Then, John? You're next."

John's first response was to shake his head no, but he stopped himself so he didn't look like an idiot. He was already feeling behind the eight ball, all small and unmanly. Turning down an offer to get laid would put him solidly in Loserland.

"So we got a plan?" Qhuinn demanded.

As Blay fiddled with the bottom of his T-shirt, John got the distinct impression the guy was going to say no. Which made John feel so much better-

"Yeah." Blay cleared his throat. "I… ah, yeah. I'm, like, juiced as shit. It's almost all I can think about, you know? And it's, like, painful, for real."

"I know exactly what you mean." Qhuinn's mismatched eyes sparkled. "And we are going to have us some good times. Shit, John… will you tell your body to get its groove on?"

John just shrugged, wishing he could leave.

"So, time for some 'sKillerz'?" Blay asked, nodding to the Xbox on the floor. "John's going to beat us again, but we can still fight for number two."

It was a royal relief to get focused on something else, and the three of them got wound up by the game, yelling at the TV, throwing candy wrappers and beer caps at one another. God, John loved this. On the video screen they competed as equals. He was not small and left behind; he was better than they were. In sKillerz, he could be the warrior he wanted to be.

As he tanned their hides, he looked over at Blay and knew the guy had picked this game specifically to make John feel better. But then, Blay tended to know where people were in their heads, and how to be kind without embarrassing someone. He was an excellent friend.