That's different," I told her. "If someone were to attempt to harm me or anyone else, then I would have to stop them as quickly as possible in order to minimize the harm.
If I am able to make them think twice about doing it again, that would be even better. It would lessen the possibility of them doing harm to someone else in the future."
She said that made even more sense and parted with "thanks, see you tomorrow!"
Jan was full of questions herself, which I answered as honestly as I could while we hurried to my house for our own "appointment".
Most of them were about Paganism, and as with most people, she was full of the misinformation churches spread about us.
"What about sacrifices? You don't do stuff like killing animals, do you?"
That was the first and most common one I had encountered. I explained using my canned response: "Sacrifice takes many forms.
In ancient times, it might be an offering of money, drink, weapons, or goods. As far as animals, that usually consisted of slaughtering a boar, cow, or some other animal that would then be cooked and eaten at a celebration.
It was not killing for killing's sake. We actually value life and nature at least as much, if not more, than other religions."
Next was the inevitable question about the devil. I laughed at that one for the thousandth time (at least) before explaining that we didn't even believe in him, though we did believe in Hel.
The differences in our version of the afterlife perplexed her, along with the people who ended up there.
She seemed angry at first that I believed that people who died of sickness or old age, along with the perpetually lazy, would be sent to Hel's domain while truly evil people wouldn't.
I reminded her of what I had said our version was like before explaining that the truly evil simply ceased to exist upon death.
She had even more difficulty with Valhalla. "That's like heaven, right? So you're saying that the only way to get there is to die in battle?"
I shrugged and said, "Think about it. If the final battle was upon you, or Ragnarok, as we call it, would you want warriors beside you or the weak, lazy, and infirm?
In the final days of that battle, the residents of Hel will also be released. It sounds to me like they're being kept out of harm's way more than anything else."
By then we were at my house, and the topic changed, to my relief. My religion didn't seek converts and didn't believe in proselytizing.
I had been looking forward to this all day. Some might think I was a pedophile, but in actuality, I was a healthy preteen male.
In actuality, I was healthier than any other preteen male had ever been. In my previous existence, I lost my virginity at age 13, so I wasn't that far ahead of schedule if things went as I hoped they would.
I gave Jan the fifty-cent tour, and she commented on the beautiful house with its carved mantles and woodwork.
I told her that my grandfather had done it all by hand, and she was even more impressed. I wish the house was ours, but unfortunately it belonged to an asshole uncle who let us live there because we were restoring it.
The first time around at this time, I actually liked the prick. This time I knew he was going to sell it next year, and we would have to move.
That, coupled with the fact that I knew my mom would be recuperating from surgery that would keep her from working for six months, meant we would only be able to afford a home with dimensions in the range of 12x70'.
constructed of metal and equipped with wheels. Part of the plan I was working on would hopefully alleviate some of the financial strain this time.
My mood was still good as I thought about this on our way up the stairs to my room, but I would really miss this.
I had the whole second floor of the house complete with the king-sized feather bed with the huge hand-carved headboard.
I thought Jan's' eyes would pop out when she saw that. I told her to give it a try, and she fell into the bed, looked up at me, and said
"How do you get up in the morning? This is too comfortable!" She held her arms up in invitation, and I accepted.
We held each other close and started necking. Most guys my physical age would be in a major hurry to move things along about now.
I know it took me almost a year the first time to grasp the concept of patience. I wanted Jan to be so worked up that any consideration of stopping would not enter her cute little head.
I paid attention to her neck and ears with my lips and tongue between kisses and ran my fingers through that long black hair for several minutes as we lay on our sides before beginning to caress her shoulders and back.
Sensitive content!!!
To be continued later on