“What is it, child?”
“I intend to go to the City this evening, Mama?”
“If you must. You may take a message to Sensibella.”
“I don’t take messages, Mama. That is Nimble’s task.”
“Oh, alright Nimble. You can go to the City if you stick close to Goody and take my message.”
“I don’t take messages anymore.”
Pawsense shrugged.
“What is it, Mistress Twitch?”
“I’m thinking about my two cubs. For the first time I’ve a mind to go out and find them. They need a mother. I beg leave of your company, Mistress Pawsense: I must go to the City with Nimble.”
“I’ll go too and help you find them,” Slypaws said.
“I shall watch the sunset and take in the airs,” Pawsense said.
59
With an afternoon sun smiling down on her bell tower, Sensibel went over the new Consent Law with her chosen lover.
“New word: Body.”
“C’mon. You think I don’t know what a body is? It’s what you hug and wrestle.”
“That’s not what the Law says.”
“Yes, it is. If you cut through the verbiage.”
Bella sighed. “Okay, I’ll tell you what a Body is. Pursuant to the Law.”
Both of them were touchy. The sunlight exaggerated Bandit’s colouring so that he appeared to Sensibel to be a dark romantic stranger instead of her first cousin; as for him, the sun’s radiance transfigured Sensibel into a huggable, furry angel.
“Body. It means that part of my spirit which is perceptible. The part you see,” Sensibel said. “My body is actually a great big Spirit-Body, but you can’t see it. You can only see a slice of it.”
“What I can’t see is why we have to go through this rigmarole.”
“Because it says so in the Law.” Sensibel straightened her back and quoted: “All couples wishing to form a relationship, however urgent and timely, must apprise themselves of the concepts and terms set out in this, the Preamble.”
Now it was Bandit’s turn to sigh. But the exhalation didn’t come out as stoical acceptance. It sounded like restraint approaching its snapping point. At last, after several nights of tense undercover work plus two strenuous battles, he was alone with her. His Sensibella. With her body as well as her great big spirit.
“The requirement is in the Preamble in order to educate Raccoons to the reality that they cannot go on living with beastly natures. They must understand that an offense against the Body leaves a sore on the Spirit.”
“I’m not going to hurt your Spirit, Sensibel. It’s so big it fills the universe, and anyway I can’t see it.”
“Of course, you can’t, dear. But don’t you think that’s why it’s appropriate in the New City Republic for prospective partners to know what they are doing and the consequences thereof?” She was quoting the Law. She couldn’t help it. In fact, she was quoting herself.
“I know what I’m doing,” Bandit growled under his breath.
Sensibel went on regardless. “You see, the Concept of Consent is basically good social ecology. It’s basically an extension of the principle of The Rights of the Party that is suffering Scarcity to be consulted by the Party that is enjoying Abundance prior to engaging in a non-exploitative Relationship.”
“If that’s the goal, it’s never going to happen.”
“It’s aspirational. It helps you think of me as a Spirit. As part of the overall balance of life. Do you think of me as a Spirit, Bandy?”
Bandit tried to think of Sensibel as a Spirit. He tried hard. But it didn’t work. Her body kept getting in the way. “Can we move on?”
“Alright. Let’s see … Next we come to Orifices. Note the plural.”
“You can skip that section too. I know what orifices are.”
“You do?” Sensibel looked at Bandit with curiosity.
“Isn’t there some kind of checklist we have to go through before we … ah, engage in the Bonding Act?”
“Oh, you’ve heard the new Law. Bandit, where did you hear the new Law?”
Bandit’s mind went blank.
“Bandit, have you recited the Law before with anyone?”
“It’s on the Net. Look, why don’t we just go straight to the checklist like we’re supposed to before we …”
“Before we what, Bandit?”
