Title: Inviolate
Author: Starsea
Theme: Virgin (Michiru)
Genre: General
Version: Manga
Rating: R (for sexual situations)
The ancient goddesses were 'virgin' because their essence could not be violated. 'I am the whore and the holy one,' said the Gnostic Thunder, Perfect Mind: however many the sexual engagements of this great force, however many the children she bore, she remained whole, herself, undiminished. Virginity in this sense is ever-new, ever-renewed and ever-renewing, too. Chastity is a literalization: there is something which can be lost and lost for ever, and must therefore be protected. Virginity allows for openness to experience and can withstand whatever the consequences may be; chastity is fearful, closed, and has to do with the fixity of maintaining what is, unchanged.
-- Athene: Image and Energy by Ann Shearer
"Do you think we're still virgins?"
The question was unexpected, to say the least. Michiru had been drifting off to sleep, her body warm and satiated, feeling protected by the softness of the blanket and the closeness of her partner. The words pricked her and she opened her eyes reluctantly. "Why do you ask?"
Haruka shrugged. She was on her back, staring up at the ceiling, her mouth a little tight. "The technical definition of a virgin is someone who has not had sexual intercourse, that is, a penis in her vagina." She made a face. "Does that mean all gay men are still virgins? Does that mean we're virgins?"
"You're being too simplistic and you know it," Michiru said, rousing herself. If she let Haruka go on like this, it could mean a black mood. Moreover, she could just imagine Hotaru's face when she tried to explain what had got her father so upset. "That's the heterosexual definition of sex; even that's a little too clinical. Oral sex is still sex, even if it doesn't involve penetration, Haruka. You and I both know that."
A blush stole over Haruka's cheeks, like the sun warming the earth. Michiru hid a smile. She loved to embarrass her partner. Haruka acted so brash and confident but when it came to things like this, she could be endearingly reserved and unsure of herself. It was charming.
"I just don't like the way people categorise virginity as something to be lost," Haruka said after a while, when her cheeks had returned to their usual golden shade. "I mean, once it's gone, it's gone. I don't think that's right. Some people remain virgins long after they've actually experienced sex, I don't think it should have anything to do with sex at all, actually!"
Michiru pondered this. She reached out and smoothed back the white-blonde hair that had fallen into Haruka's eyes, running her fingers down the smooth cheek, into the curve of the throat and over the collarbone. "A virgin is someone who is new and open to experience," she said, thinking out loud. "I think the problem is that people get virginity and chastity mixed up. Chastity is about preserving something, maintaining a status quo. There's no flexibility about it, you're either chaste or not. But virginity, that's different. Virginity is about being open to experiencing things. Goddesses were virgin because they were open to experiencing things but their essence could never be changed. As long as we remain open, Haruka, we remain inviolate. Virgin."
"I suppose. We were goddesses, once. Still are, actually," Haruka added, looking at her sideways with a mischievous grin.
"Yes," Michiru said, trying to look dignified even though she was struggling not to yawn. "We are goddesses. Virgin goddesses. And don't you forget it."
"Virgin goddesses. Right," Haruka drawled, slinging an arm around Michiru's shoulder and pulling her closer. "I'll remember that next time I get cut up on the motorway: 'You can't do that to me, I'm a virgin goddess!'"
"You're the one who does all the cutting up," Michiru mumbled.
"Keeping my essence inviolate," Haruka said happily.
DISCLAIMER: I own neither Haruka nor Michiru. They both belong to Naoko Takeuchi.
