Merry Christmas to all Jubbers.
Chapter 52
As Dave closed his eyes, he felt the moistness of Ra's lips on his own. His body tingled with contentment. He opened his eyes to find Ra smiling down upon him. He smiled back and slid his hands over Ra's silky, sweat covered skin, as Ra lay on top of him.
"Man, I'm shagged," said Ra. He rolled off, as a result parting their naked bodies. Then he reached over from the bed and grabbed a towel that Dave had previously neatly folded over the back of a chair.
Dave lifted the blankets, keen to catch a glimpse of Ra's sweaty arse as it rolled back onto the sheets. Ra then began to wipe his skin of the sex they had just shared.
"Ra?," Dave whispered.
"What Dave mate?," Ra replied, pausing the towel over his abdomen, while he listened intently for Dave's question.
"Are you happy?"
"Man, what kind of a dumbarse question is that? Don't I look happy? I'm happy now. Now that I'm back with you. Never been happier. I'm happy Dave mate."
"Just wondered."
Ra continued to towel himself while Dave helpfully held the blankets up and out of the way.
"Just thought you might be regretting coming back."
"What? Man! Can you just turn over for a bit mate?"
Dave rolled over onto his stomach. Ra pulled the blankets down, exposing Dave's flesh. He gave him a playful slap on his arse. "How could anyone regret a free and limitless exploration of such a sexy, sexy arse mate?," said Ra, with a combination of chuckle and horniness in his voice.
"But you've only been back about an hour. Don't you think the novelty will wear off?"
"Ask me the same question in ten years and I'll give you the same answer. Your arse is more than just a novelty. It's not like a yo-yo that I'll play with for a few weeks and then throw into the bottom of the wardrobe amongst the empty shoeboxes. I love you man. It wasn't until I got to San Francisco that I realised just how much."
Ra threw the towel onto Dave's chest and sat up on the edge of the bed. He stood, his back and arse glistening from lingering sweat. He looked over at the window, arched his back, and gave himself a stretch. "I think I've got jetlag," he announced, yawning.
Dave swatted the towel off his chest. He wanted to display the tiki proudly. "Jetlag?," he laughed. "Were you fitted with a bionic cock while you were in the States? No one with Jetlag could have pumped my arse as vigorously as you were doing a few minutes ago. Not that I'm complaining."
Dave noticed that Ra's mind was suddenly on something other than his attempted jokes. He watched as Ra walked towards the half opened window and drew back the curtains. "What are you doing? The neighbours will see you. You've got no clothes on Ra," he said.
"I'm going to listen to the ruru mate." He pushed the window completely open, closed his eyes, and inhaled the clean Wellington air.
Dave was overcome with dread. How was he going to tell Ra that the ruru was dead? That some person, that he could only describe as a wanker, had shot it, and that it now lay buried under a tree, in the park? "Ra," he said hurriedly. "Come back to the bed. I've something to tell you."
"Can't it wait man?"
"No. It's important. Come and lie in the bed next to me." Dave patted the sheets, from where Ra had just vacated, with the palm of his hand. "I'll explain. Come and lie here."
"Aargh ... mate ..." Ra began walking to the bed, but just as quickly stopped. He turned and walked the few paces back to the window and gazed out into the night sky.
"Ra?"
"Shhh." Ra turned his head toward Dave and brought his outstretched forefinger to his lips. "Quiet mate," he whispered. The room fell silent while Ra looked out eagerly.
Dave heard nothing. "Perhaps it will come another night," he said finally. "Actually, that's what I want to speak to you about," he added.
"Shut up Dave mate. I thought I heard something."
Dave didn't particularly mind. He could silently observe Ra all night. He looked cute standing at the window, with the lights of the moon and the neighbourhood shining on his nakedness.
"There ... did you hear it mate?"
Dave sat up, startled. "Hear what?," he said, as if he couldn't get the words out fast enough.
"There! Out there. There it is again Dave mate. It's here. Can't you hear it man?"
"Bullshit!" Dave jumped out of bed. He stood beside his partner and they looked out into the night together, naked, their ears primed. The sound was unmistakable. It was the sound that Dave's father had alerted him to when he was a kid. More ... pork ... more pork. It was the ruru!
Ra slipped his arm around Dave's waist and drew him in close. Dave rested his head on Ra's shoulder. The ruru called out.
Dave couldn't believe it, at first. But then it began to make sense. "You can't kill the ruru, can you Ra?," asked Dave rhetorically.
"No you can't kill the ruru mate," said Ra. "No one can kill the ruru. Many have tried, and all fail. It carries the spirit of the ancestors. It's impossible to shut the ancestors up, for long. They have too much that they want to say."
They embraced. The ruru's call became less distant, clearer and stronger. Ra placed his palm on Dave's chest, over the tiki. Then he held it between two fingers, away from Dave's body and straight at the open, uncurtained window, exposing it's clear, white surface. The moon shone on it and reflected a ray of light onto the photo of Rawiri the third's tattooed face, which Ra had placed on top of the dresser. At that moment, it was almost as though Rawiri the third was speaking.
"No one can kill the ruru," repeated Ra. "No one Dave mate."
The End
](/images/smilies/bang.gif "Brick wall ](*,)")
)
