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I was so glad to get Kim and Andy in this one together. I love the sniping Kiera inflicts on Joshua, like a feral cat that can't decide whether to be nice or mean.--Maer.
Back on Boros. Oh yeah!!!
Kiera rolled out of her bed, two thoughts in her head. Grabbing clothes, she got dressed quickly, glancing at the sheets of paper on her desk. She was gonna get that green dress. And a guitar. The words had finally coalesced in her head and made their way onto paper. And she was gonna make a song of them. Never mind that she hadn't touched a guitar in nearly 12 years. It'd sound bad, but she needed something to keep her busy on the long hauls. Something to nurture her creative mind. It had been far too long that she had let her muses sit ignored.
Just shows how cold you got, Kieracat. You used to sing and play, paint and ride when you were a kid. She tossed her head, combing her fingers through the mess of her red hair. Very few people could know what Kiera was feeling, her ability to shut down. She learned it as a child, honed it in med school, perfected it on the cold streets.
But she was trying to find her way back.
Boros, Georgia (Huang Long) system
Beglan had wandered off to grab breakfast and a coffee and I lingered over the engine room boards double checking everything. By working flat out for the past two days, he and I had whipped through our monthly maintenance. Considering the amount left undone due to injury and capture by hostile forces, to say nothing of our hard-partying passengers, the past 48 hours had to be some sort of record for a ship this size. I scanned the boards. Everything showed green. I closed my eyes and listened to our girl humming to herself. Pitch perfect.
Job’s done. You have a life outside the engine room. Get to it.
Aware I’d missed waking with Joshua this morning in my zeal to get a couple of hours in before breakfast, I pushed off the console and made my way forward. I cut through the machine shop and put my tools away, then used the tiny sink in the corner to clean off my hands. I got the worst of the muck off and went through the lounge for the galley, hoping there’d be some coffee left.
Joshua sat quietly, legs crossed underneath, perched on the countertop in the galley. The ship always felt remarkably quiet after passengers left. The silence lingered for days, a passenger unwilling to leave ship until new passengers had come on board. And it was best in the galley, right after everyone had eaten, the quiet of a room that had just been lived in.
He meditated there for a little while to the smell of coffee and the last of the bacon that had been gobbled up by the crew. Joshua knew he didn't spend enough time these days meditating. Or on any of the basic tenants of Aikido. His excuse had been that he had been too busy, but all the more reason to focus back in, to get even better. He was about thirty minutes in when he heard Rina down the hallway headed in his direction.
Beglan and the others had thoughtfully left the dishes on the table and frowning at the mess, I started scraping and stacking everything to haul into the galley. The mugs were a bit tricky, wrapping my fingers around multiple handles, but I managed to hoist everything up and get it through the galley door. That's when I saw Joshua sitting cross-legged on the prep counter, Buddha-blissful, and I hated having to disturb him. There was no real way to put what I carried down without a nasty clatter, though I did my level best. I winced as a plate slid off the stack and bounced into the sink. I put the stack down damned quick, lest I drop anything else, and the cutlery rattled in the mugs as they joined the plates.
"Sorry," I whispered Joshua's way--completely unnecessary, but still. We'd had a hectic month, despite our three-week flight to Georgia, and I was loath to ruin any peace he could grab for himself. The fact he was perched on the countertop in the galley made me think his business was needful, else he would have pursued it elsewhere at his leisure. I turned to tiptoe out, to let him continue without further interference from me. I'd just grab a bottle of juice and leave him in peace. I had any number of tech journals I could look up on the local Cortex.
That should do me for hours.
Too many damn stairs and ladders in this ship, Kiera thought to herself as she panted her way to the kitchen. Bedroom. No. Engine room. No. Bridge. No. Last place I'll look. Getting close to the mess, she hollered Rina's name, hoping she'd answer.
Joshua chuckled. The silence had decided to take residence in another room in the ship. No matter, probably best he got around to some other duties or maybe some off ship time. He unfolded his legs and hopped off the counter. "No need to be quiet, love. But I appreciate the thought."
I’d no sooner turned around and kicked the fridge shut when I heard Kiera bellow my name. I drew breath to bellow back but instead went over to give Joshua a hug. Hell, the ship isn’t that large and I’m not going anywhere. She’ll find me. I nuzzled Joshua’s shirt and murmured, “It’s been an up-and-down kinda run, lately. We all need a break.” I gave him a squeeze and breathed him in. “You got any ideas for the downtime coming?”
"Sex." he said bluntly. "Lots of it off ship. I was hoping you'd join me in that, but after that, no real plans other than trying to reconnect with my studies. You?" He hugged her tight. He always liked the feel of her and coming off a meditation, his senses always felt more alert. And those senses heard Kiera about to enter.
Her boots were whisper quiet, but her breathing wasn't. Groaning, Kiera appeared in the doorway to peer inside. "Oh, that's why you wouldn't answer," she snarked. "Got yer face in his chest." Positioning herself comfortably against the doorframe, she grinned. "Could I entice you to help me go buy that green thing that we talked about before?" she asked cryptically.
Joshua's arms tightening around me sent a warm jolt straight to my groin. Flotilla had been the last chance for a bit of alone time and that had been over a month ago. I grinned up at him and was about to answer when Kiera interrupted from the door. Caught between the tug of sex on one hand and the pull of friendship on the other, my head went blank as I tried to answer to both at once.
"I'd like that--uh, but I--um." What's the first rule of holes? When you fall into one, stop digging! I took a deep breath and slipped Joshua a wink before I turned in his arms to face Kiera. "I did. I would. Give me a minute to finish up here first?" Between one sentence and the next, I struck upon a plan to have my cake and eat it too and I grinned a sly little grin at Kiera that Joshua couldn't see. Let's see if it works.
Joshua took the opportunity to kiss Rina where her neck intersected with her shoulder, lingering overly long as Kiera stood there watching. Besides the fact that he enjoyed teasing Rina like that, he knew it would irritate Kiera just a little. And he had to get his digs in where he had a chance. Then he whispered to her, "We've got later. Go have fun with Kiera." And then he smiled an irritating little smirk at Kiera from where she stood on the other side of the galley.
"All's I can say," Kiera drawled, unaffected by his smirk, "is that if I was paying for this show, I'd want my money back. Let's go shopping and let him practice, Rina." She had to bite her lip to keep from grinning, but her lips were stronger and her eyes widened with the effort of holding in a laugh.
As the moist heat of his mouth caressed my neck, I melted and I leaned back in Joshua’s embrace … and slipped a hand behind me and gave his crotch a stroke. I heard his suggestion in my ear and Kiera’s snark decided the matter. I would dangle the bait and see if either of them would bite.
“All right. On one condition,” I said, stepping away from the counter and the warmth of Joshua’s arms. “That you come with me,” I pointed at Joshua, “so you can give me an opinion on the underwear that you said you’d pick out for me.” On the last you, I pointed my finger at Kiera, holding her to that threat she’d made during our last stopover on Boros. So help me, seeing the two of them needle each other made me want to needle them both in return. “In fact, I’ll even try on butt floss, if that’ll clinch the deal.”
Besides, I had an agenda and having them both on this outing served it rather nicely.
"You want Joshua on our girl trip?" She couldn't hide the disbelief in her voice, blinked in confusion that she might have to try on "clothes" that he would be able to have an opinion on. "Ummm, I'm sure he'd rather---"she began and then stopped, aware that Joshua might just enjoy her discomfort. "Come on then," she stated, changing tactics. "I've always wanted a threesome." She forced a smile, although it was darker than she intended.
"I don't want to get in the way." While the idea of seeing Rina model clothes for him was pleasant, the uncomfortableness that Kiera was clearly radiating wasn't terribly compelling. On the other hand, he had to admit that turnabout was fair play, and Kiera had often worked at making him uncomfortable. Also, he was pretty sure that Kiera had seen him in a whole lot less than anything he would see her in.
"But if you're sure I won't be in the way, I'd be happy to come and keep you two company."
Kiera sighed, forcing down the wall that she had instinctively put up. She counted Joshua as a friend too. Making a face, she shook her head. "Well, come on then. Besides, he might tell us both that the green thing is awful. Better I know before I spend the money."
That was all the answer I needed. I grabbed Joshua’s hand and pulled him away from the counter. “C’mon, Kiera, it’ll be fun.” I leaned in and whispered into her hair, “I know you like making him squirm.”
As did I, if for different reasons, but I wasn’t about to tell her that. I led the way out of the galley and stopped only long enough to grab my money from our quarters before pulling them both for the stairs down.
I grabbed the key for the mule out of the key safe and peeled out of there for the great outdoors. It was summer on Boros and the heat was welcome after the controlled environment of the ship. The sun wasn’t too high yet and the coolness of the night lingered at the edges of the day, giving the slipstream from the windshield a pleasant tingle. The air felt good on my skin and the wind tugged at my hair and I felt a wild urge to do some crazy thing. Maybe it was a symptom of being cooped up onboard for a month. Maybe it was the promise of sex and lots of it with Joshua. Maybe it was Kiera’s dig at Joshua that made me want to put the lie to her implication that we’d have more fun without him.
Or maybe it’s just a glorious day out and I’m going to enjoy it. With other people. Imagine that.
I cut a glance at Kiera past Joshua’s shoulder. She had her eyes set in the distance, humming what sounded like showtunes, and seemed content enough for the ride. The bench seat was a tight squeeze for three adults, even with a small one like me behind the wheel, and I was thankful for it. It allowed my hand to stray off the controls to rake my nails up Joshua’s leg, on the near side where Kiera would not see. I grinned at the windshield and kept on driving.
Oh, yes. I was going to enjoy myself immensely.
It had been a long time, Joshua felt, since he had seen Rina so happy. And that made him happy. Well, that, and the way she kept her hands wandering.
But the day held promise to be interesting, no matter what happened once they got started shopping and that was all Joshua really asked of his personal life. His work life - he wanted to make up for the bad things he had unknowingly done in the past. But when it came to his personal life, he wanted to make up for all the things he had never gotten to do. And today, with the beautiful weather above and the beautiful women at his side, he planned to wring every last bit of enjoyment out of the day.
The words kept rolling around in her head, chorus without a song: Lets you believe once more in the moon, lets you have faith again in the stars, lets you go free 'cause someone broke through the wall around your heart. It was for someone else, she knew, but it would fit for the pair beside her. As the song words began to fit into the tune, she strummed her stomach lightly with her fingers, fretting the chords. It had been too long, so long that she barely could remember. But she raised her voice anyway, just enough that they might hear if they wanted to. She wanted the feedback. She hoped it wouldn't be ridicule.
She was good. But what surprised Joshua more was that Kiera had music inside of her waiting to be set free. But rather than stomping on it by questioning it, he just raised his voice in song with her. He didn't know the words but just letting the tenor of his voice create an underlying harmony with hers, one friend supporting another.
She could only stare at him before digging in her pocket for the tattered original lyrics that she had so painstakingly copied the night before so that she could add the music. Humming the rest of the tune, she kept at it until he had it fairly consistently before unfolding the page in his lap and beginning to sing. It was falling into place. ...Just outside the place, two people face, each other merely by chance. . .
It had been a long time since he had really sung. In fact, if he remembered correctly, it had been when he had first found about his father and Miranda. Joshua was never going to be a great singer. But, once again, like most things in his life, he might not be great at doing it himself, but he was proud at being fantastic at letting his talent raise other people up. So with the lyrics in hand and tune in head, Joshua threw himself into singing alongside Kiera, letting himself get drawn into the power of the music.
The route into town was from a different direction than the Earhart ranch and I admit I got turned around once or twice. Even so, I made a leisurely drive of it, not having had much of a chance in my past stopovers to actually sightsee around the place. Besides, in the months and years between ports of call, places had this tendency to change behind your back and every return visit held little surprises as you stumbled across something new. So it was with Vandenberg, even though we’d been here only six months before. Being an Allied world agreed with the town, if the three new land offices and banks I saw were any indication. There were a few more businesses of the boutique and sundries variety as well. I thought back to the ships I’d glimpsed on the tarmac beside our girl, and wondered if what I saw here was a reflection of a quiet migration of people to Boros, brought by the recent geopolitical developments in the Core and elsewhere. The idea tickled at the back of my mind even as I found the street Kiera and I had shopped on six months ago. The lot where we’d parked wasn’t far, I realized, and I debated circling the block a few times just to draw the ride out.
Why bother? You’ve got a whole town to explore and two people to share it with. Park it and get going. The day’s not getting any younger and by nightfall … By their own volition, my fingers tweaked Joshua’s waist through his shirt. Maybe we can make good on that comment he made back in the galley.
Joshua’s tenor sounded in my ear and turning my focus outward again, I listened as he and Kiera sang. Intrigued, I sharpened my focus more. Huh. Subtle major to minor shift. Nice twist …
“Where did you hear that one?” I said as I pulled into the lot. “I don’t know it.” No great feat, that. I rarely listened to the vocal crap on the Cortex. I preferred instrumentals, preferably with bass and a driving melodic line, but every once in a while, something with lyrics would tug at me. Like this song they sang now. “It’s lovely,” I added, saying nothing but the truth.
There's walls made of steel, there was walls made of stone but none are so strong as the walls made of fear alone. As they had sung those words, Kiera had trembled lightly. It was so very strange singing with someone. And rather wonderful. She had had no idea that Joshua could sing. She looked at him for a moment, bemused and uncertain, and smiled softly. And then she heard Rina's question. "Oh, sorry. Mine. I made it up."
Hidden depths. Every time he thought he got a grasp on Kiera, she threw him for a loop. She had real talent. Why she wasn't putting it to use was a good question, but perhaps not one for the moment. So Joshua simply said, "It was nice getting to sing again. I had missed it."
It took me a moment catch up with the lyrics, my ear and my head more attuned to tones than words when it came to music. I replayed the song from memory: There's walls made of steel, there was walls made of stone but none are so strong as the walls made of fear alone. I parked the mule and cut the engine and sat stock still, staring out the windshield at the blank wall of the building in front of me without seeing it. There's walls made of steel, there was walls made of stone but none are so strong as the walls made of fear alone. Hadn't that been my journey for the past three years? How could she have known? Heat welled up through my chest and I had to breathe deep against the tears that threatened to spill over. When I could trust my voice, I said, "You should write it down, set the music to record. It would be a shame to lose it."
It would be a good reminder, I thought, against retreating from the world again. I leaned against Joshua and gave him a watery smile.
"And you, Mister, don't sing enough, either. Karaoke really doesn't show you to your best advantage. Or you, Kiera. Seriously, why did they ever invent it?"
God knew, I had to crack a joke, even a weak one. It was that or let the damned tears take over.
Her mouth opened for a moment and then snapped shut. "I want a guitar," she said weakly. "I wrote it down on that," she added, nodding to the crumpled paper. "Now let's go get that green thing."
She let herself out of the mule and almost jogged towards the store where they had last seen the dress.
Dammit, that's torn it. You've scared her off. I yanked the keys and scrambled out of the cab. "Kiera, wait." Nothing doing. The redhead kept right on going. All the plans I'd crafted for our day went up in smoke. Me and my big mouth ... I turned to Joshua. "Help? Please?"
Joshua climbed out the car, not really sure what the hell was going on. But that pretty much made it like much of his life, so he calmly walked after Kiera, slightly trailing Rina. "Give her a few, okay? We're all going to the same place and she probably just wants a couple minutes to process."
Taking a deep breath, Kiera regained her sense of control. "Well, come on," she drawled, turning and pausing to wait for the other two. "Money is burning a hole in my pocket. Momma wants the green thing." She wasn't gonna say dress in front of Joshua. She rolled her eyes. Damn, but she'd had her hands in his body sewing things together. It was weird to go shopping with him.
“Okay.” Process, he said. Meaning: get a grip. I slowed down and let him catch up with me and then slipped my arm around his waist, feeling cold and needing his warmth. Coming out as I’d done these past three years had taught me much, but I still lacked the grasp of the normal cues people gave each other as to boundaries. As often as I stumbled over them, repetition apparently did not make them any clearer to me than before. So we trailed along behind Kiera until she pulled herself together enough to talk again. “Right behind you,” I said in response. “I hope it’s still there. It’s been six months. Then again, there might be something even more gorgeous inside.”
Curiosity trickled through me then and my arm around Joshua’s waist attained more pull. I wanted to see if anything in the store had changed and if so, what.
Joshua just let himself be dragged along. He was pretty much along for the company, although he had it in his mind to slip away and buy that guitar Kiera was talking about. Finding a way to get more music on board benefited everyone. But selfishly, he wanted to get a chance to sing some more.
Kiera nodded, making her way towards the store. The dresses in the window had changed. She sighed but went inside anyway, her eyes darting around for a dress in the same shade of green. One caught her eyes again, silky and soft, sensuous in a different way than the other, a softer green than the emerald from before. It would cling as tightly as the other dress, but would accentuate her bosom and hips a bit more. She held it up and winced. In front of Joshua. Aw Hell! Not a stitch of undies could be worn under that thing. The slit went forever! She glanced back at the couple starting to finger the clothing and shrugged. "I'll be back. And then you can make fun of me."
Joshua and I followed her into the store and I couldn’t help slowing down to touch a dress here and a blouse there. It didn’t hit me until we’d crossed the threshold that a good majority of the clothing in here was for women. Though there were some exquisite items for men on the racks, I knew that most of our time would be spent with Kiera’s purchase. And maybe mine. I held up a hanger with a demi-bra in red and black and raised an eyebrow at Joshua, my meaning clear. Before he could respond, however, the curtain to the dressing room whipped back and there stood Kiera. Her hair, windblown from the ride over, tumbled across her bare shoulders and her chin was tilted at an angle I knew all too well: scared but defiant and unwilling to show it. I saw that in an instant and then my eye took in her dress and like her song, it struck me still.
It was a softer green than the emerald of last December, a touch less blue. It matched her eyes and skin tone perfectly. Silk charmeuse, whispered my afternoons with my mother over her costuming. Bias cut. Lettuce hem. It had deeply cut-in shoulders, nearly hidden by the soft curving folds of the neckline that draped gracefully from her collarbones to her breasts. The rest of the gown was cut in a simple lingerie style, skimming over her figure effortlessly to the lettuce hem that crinkled at her instep. With heels, it would be the perfect length for dancing. Light from the shop windows shimmered over the silk and the folds teased the eye with deeper tones of amethyst and sapphire, making me wonder if it had been cross-dyed before the dressmaker’s shears had been at it. Good trick, I thought, seeing as they went for three colors instead of two.
I let my eye take in the gown and travel back to her face again and I addressed the question I saw there.
“That dress, Kiera, is an incitement to riot. No one, and I mean no one, would laugh to see you in it. They’ll be too busy trying to get you out of it.” I nodded at her. “Is it backless?”
Biting her lip, Kiera nodded and turned. Really quickly, before facing Rina again. Aware that that seemed silly beyond reason, she turned slower the second time, stopping to let them see before facing the opinion written on their faces.
Joshua kept his emotions behind a mask as Kiera walked in, looking stunning in an emerald green number. He had a fine line to walk here. Kiera definitely triggered a lust response in him that hadn't triggered for anyone but Rina. So while he wanted to make sure Kiera knew that she looked good in the dress, because that's what friends did...he also didn't want to say it in such a way that would make Rina jealous or hurt her feelings. Life was a complicated mess sometimes.
He looked Kiera up and down, not being lewd, but just making sure she understood he was paying attention. He nodded firmly and said, "It's perfect, Kiera. Drop dead gorgeous. When you wear that, you'll be able to have any unattached man you want." And probably some of the attached ones too, he thought wryly. Heck, probably some of the women too.
She shook back a wave of flame hair from her face, the maelstrom of defiance conflicting with the pleasure of his compliment. Her mouth twitched as a sarcastic comment welled inside her to fight the kindness of his words and then she just seemed to melt, giving into the puppy happiness that their compliments caused her. "Really? It's looks okay?" she asked, turning once more.
"Okay is not a sufficient descriptor. It was made for you and would be wasted on anyone else." He wasn't kidding either. She really wore that dress like it had been custom tailored for her. If he wasn't so deeply in love with Rina...whew-boy. He leaned over and kissed Rina on the cheek as reassurance. Although who he was reassuring, Joshua couldn't be certain.
The shadow of a frown crossed her face, brief and so slight that it may have been a cloud over the sun. "Your turn, Rina," she chirped and went back behind the curtain. "Butt floss time for you woman," came the laughter tinged words over her shoulder as she went.
Seeing Joshua's reaction to Kiera and hers to his was worth following through on the underwear. Joshua's kiss was still delicately wet on my cheek as I pulled a black lace number from a nearby rack and disappeared behind the curtain. And I promptly walked back out to pick a silk robe from another rack. I had failed to anticipate how I'd model the underthings while maintaining public modesty. Although, I thought as I got a good look at the thong on the hanger, modesty wasn't what the thing was made for.
In the end, I shucked out of my cargos and boots and skivvies and after slapping the provided shield in place, pulled the negligible thing on. I knotted my tee at my waist to keep it out of the way and donned the robe—red silk—and artfully mussed my hair before stepping out onto the floor again. I left the robe untied and it hung straight to my ankles. Walking was an exercise in suppressed twitch. The silken caress of the robe on my unclothed ass was distracting as hell. I went right up to Joshua and flashed him, then swept my robe closed and turned my back on him ... and flipped the robe aside for a split second so he could see that butt floss on me from behind. I winked over my shoulder at him as I retreated for the curtain again. I stared at my reflection in the mirror and marveled I'd actually gone through with it. Of all things I could tease Joshua with, burlesque would have been the last thing I'd have picked.
Yet, here you are. And damned if it wasn't fun.
I stuck my head out, holding the curtain to my chin.
"Would you like an instant replay? Or should I try something else on?"
Kiera had just emerged, the green thing over her arm. She wolf whistled appreciatively, getting the best and closest look. "Rowr!" she purred, stopping to stare. "Again, baby! Again! I didn't get to see enough." Grinning, she went to buy her prize.
And there was the reassurance he needed. Damn if she wasn't fine. He took a swallow and said, "I'll take whatever you want to give me, because it is all hot as hell."
"All right then." In for a penny, in for a pound. I left the dressing cubicle with what I had on and strode over to another rack with similar lingerie and chose two more to take with me. The robe fluttered and afforded Joshua glimpses of me underneath, all the way to the rack and back. Then I let the curtain fall and swapped what I had on for a satin piece in a Bordeaux red. It had a narrow ribbon bow in the back and damned if the thing didn't have the gall to tickle me when I walked back out. By now, I had my confidence in hand and I kept my gaze on Joshua as I worked the robe and turned this way and that.
"What do you think?"
"I'm thinking you need to get all of those. It's a crime to show a man what he could be looking at and then deny him of the opportunity." He smiled at her. "Seriously, I think you look amazing in any and all of them. Get whatever makes you feel the most beautiful."
Beautiful? My confidence crumbled at the word and I beat a retreat back to the cubicle and let the curtain drop. Trashy, maybe ... but beautiful? I stared at myself in the mirror, the fun of it instantly gone. There was flirting and there was teasing and there was taking unfair advantage. I hadn't modeled the damned things with the intention of actually buying them. But Joshua's appreciation changed everything. It's a crime to show a man what he could be looking at and then deny him of the opportunity. I knew Joshua wouldn't lie to me about something like this. His compliment was sincere, as was his desire to have me wear the negligee so he could have the pleasure of taking it off me. Self-respect warred with the desire to please, curiosity with disquiet. Am I really that big a prude? About underwear? Really? I held the robe open and took a good hard look, trying to see what Joshua saw. Pale skin. Muscled body, reasonably trim. A lacy scrap over the interesting bits. What red blooded male wouldn't like seeing that? Male attention wasn't something I handled well and my disquiet grew. It was stupid. It was irrational. I needed an objective viewpoint to counteract it and an objective slap across the face, too, if necessary.
"Kiera?" I called softly, sticking my head out. "A little help, please?"
The redhead came trotting up, a nicely wrapped package in her hands. "Madam?" she asked, bowing formally. "What may I do for Madam?"
"Get in here," I said and pulled her inside with me. My pulse was pounding in my neck and my legs turning to water from nerves. I made sure the curtain was fully closed before turning to Kiera and laying it out for her. "I can't go through with this."
Kiera lay her dress package on one of the chairs inside the dressing room. "Huh?" she asked, confused. "Go through with what? Try on dainties?"
"Trying them on is one thing, when you know they aren't coming home with you. But .... he—!" Unable to articulate it, I mutely pointed in Joshua's direction. "He wants me to get them. Now what?!" To make matters worse, I was beginning to sweat and that set up a whole new array of sensations on my bare behind: thongs weren't known for their absorbent capacities. I slid out of the robe and the undergarments before I soiled them to the point of mandatory purchase and yanked my regular duds back on. Fully clothed and properly shod, my nerves steadied. "Seriously, Kiera, what am I going to do?"
It was a rare moment. She was at a loss of what to say. Kiera opened her mouth, thought again, and tried two more aborted attempts before taking a breath to settle the logjam of words that had suddenly burst forth in her head. Picking some to say, she asked gently, "I thought that was the idea, woman. That you'd bring some back. Not all of them. Surely, you understand that sometimes men like the pretty packaging as much as they appreciate what it is wrapped around. I mean," and she shifted to lean against the wall, "ripping the clothes off for hot and heavy is nice." Her eyes rolled back in reverie. Damn hooting awesome, really. "But sometimes the art of removing a pretty package is worth the uncomfortable moments of wearing the damn things."
She inhaled sensuously. "You know," she continued, tilting her head, "his hands on you as he undoes the laces. His eyes on you as you come toward him. The silk on you, soft and caressing, as you slip it on, anticipating his eyes on you." Her voice was soft and sibilant, her emerald eyes intense. "The anticipation can be so hot, Rina. How could you not want to buy at least a piece or two?"
She had leaned forward towards Rina as she spoke and then abruptly leaned back into her own space, her face split with a grin. "You know you want to."
What my flop sweat had started, Kiera’s response finished. Her words cut me off neatly at the knees and I sagged onto the bench and gaped at her. The raw sensuality was overwhelming … and damned if she wasn’t excruciatingly accurate. She’d just described every single guilty fantasy I’d ever harbored concerning Joshua. I stood on the edge of an undiscovered country and the vista it offered was terrifying and yet … I thought back to the night Joshua and I became lovers. I finally realized that I couldn't live in a constant state of siege, I’d said to him then. And started digging out of the prison I'd put myself in. The landscape looks different outside the walls and the barbed wire and I know it’s dangerous … but it’s beautiful, too. Maybe it was time to explore that landscape. This time, however, I didn’t have to do it alone. Joshua would be right there beside me.
“I, um …,” I managed. A victory. “Should I get one or three?”
Kiera responded by peeking outside. "Joshua!" she called. "One or three bits of floss and fantasy?"
"Three!" he called out. Like there was any other correct answer.
Kiera nodded, pulling back into the room. "Three it is," she conveyed with a smile. "I'm going to go find something that causes mayhem and destruction. Wonder if they have mining charges at the general store down the way." She retrieved her dress package and then slid out of the room.
Three's a crowd, Kieracat, she thought to herself. And she was still tingly prickly from the song and the compliments. She was still too raw to handle the conflicting storm of emotions that had washed over her, not certain she wanted to examine what lay at the bottom of the ocean that caused the storm. Her body still tingled from the harmony that Joshua had given her with her song and she was still too entirely tickled at the couple’s unabashed admiration of her in the green dress. And I still can't do anything but fight with Joshua, damn it all! she thought as she beelined for the door. "Catch y'all in a few. It's down to him, Rina," she called. "Have fun Joshua."
Joshua watched Kiera's departure with a bit of bemusement. What mysteries went on behind the hidden curtain? He looked back towards the dressing room where Rina was still ensconced. He called out, "If it makes you more comfortable, I'm okay with only one, Rina."
I emerged from the dressing room with everything on their hangers and myself in hand again.
"It's not the number," I said softly, lest anyone else hear. "It's the wearing. I'm dreadfully out of practice, Joshua. In fact, in order to be out of practice, you have to be in practice first. I don't even have that. But for you, I'd start."
I walked over to the racks and quickly found three bras that matched.
"No sense in doing this halfway." I looked over my shoulder at him. "Right?"
He nodded, a happy little grin on his face as he did so. "I may look like a sex crazed fool right now, Rina. But I am awful proud of you." One hand motioned at the bras. "Those just cause me to obscure the pride under lust."
"Well," I said, fully back to my old self now that I'd had time to get my head around it. "For damned sure these things aren't good for obscuring much else. Which I suppose is kind of the point. So, the black, the red, and the gold. The robe. And that should be enough."
"And we'll definitely need to make some time off ship to test them out. You know, to make sure the materials are in good shape and all." He tried to keep a straight face as best he could.
Outside, Kiera spared a glance back towards the shop. Run! Run screaming into the night, from the responsibilities of relationships, of friendships, of ones that worked and ones that just wouldn't. She sighed, trying to remember where the music shop was. She would have to buy sheets for jotting down the notes. And it would take time to test the guitars until she found one that felt right. She let out a great deep breath and rolled her neck and shoulders. Alone. It felt good not to have anyone with her for just a moment, the enclosed and therefore enforced closeness and unintended nosiness of her crewmates and herself just sometimes more than she could stand. The song forced itself to the fore and she hummed it softly. The stranger may have helped her understand that she needed to go back to the crew. But he didn't get a chance to teach her what do with them and herself when she found them.
She grinned, stretching her legs into longer strides. She'd of just bought a simple, slinky gown, one that was a bit too large so that it could be slid off by the shoulder straps to pool on the floor. That or worn an old button up shirt of his and given him a massage that would curl his toes. It just didn't need to be that complicated. She grinned. It wouldn't be if she ran into that sword-wielding stranger again. And, she gave a mental shrug, failing that, there was Capt Arrow.
"Ahhhh ... I see. Materials testing," I said, going throaty just to see how he'd take it. Damned if Kiera hadn't given me ideas. I leaned into him and walked my fingers up his chest. "Compression. Torsion. Tensile strength. Catastrophic failure thresholds. Who knew?"
"Temptress. Don't tease me with Kiera still around somewhere. But later, perhaps..."
“Later, then.” I slipped my hands around his back, cupped his ass and gave him a squeeze. “I’d like to shop here again and I don’t think they’d let me back in if they had to throw me out.”
"Forward thinking." He smiled and motioned his head back towards the sales counter. "I would survive if you didn't want to get them, but if you do...probably best to go ahead and get them. Don't want to waste the day dilly-dallying in the store when we could waste our time dilly-dallying in other places.” Joshua's smile clearly indicated that he had other activities in mind to waste their time with.
As Rina wandered back to gather her purchases, Joshua looked around to see that Kiera had wandered off and he had a pretty good idea where to look. He called back to Rina to let her know he was off in search of Kiera and he left to head towards the music store.
I'll be disappointed, he thought, if I don't find her there with a guitar in her hands.
I sketched a wave over my shoulder to let him know I’d heard and got the washing instructions from the sales staff. God knew I hadn’t a clue as to their care. When the purchases were wrapped in tissue and packed into a plain paper bag, I inquired after bathhouses and restaurants. I would treat Joshua to one and Kiera to the other. Even after buying negligee I didn’t need, I still had enough cash in my pocket to indulge in an orgy of a soak and a surfeit of dumplings, if I wanted it. With a smile and my thanks, I left the store and its staff and strode out into the daylight to look for Joshua and Kiera. I’d only been a few minutes. Neither could have gotten very far.
It was a tiny shop. She had noticed it on their trips to Boros before, small, but crammed with what seemed to be a zillion instruments. The shopkeeper smiled as she entered and she nodded shyly before going to the wall where the guitars hung.
"May I?" she asked, her voice unusually subdued. The man nodded and she timidly pulled a dark stained one from its hook and tentatively strummed a light chord.
"There's a stool tucked in the corner, dear."
She glanced back with a grateful smile and retrieved it from where he had indicated through a quick nod of his head. Sitting down, she began to play one of the first songs that she learned, trying to find the instrument’s voice, humming softly, and trying to remind her tender and stiff fingers what they were supposed to do. She put it up a moment later, regretfully. It wasn't the one.
Reaching for another, she settled down to tune it. The first strum brought tingles to her body. It was like love, she thought to herself, playing the guitar, her eyes savoring the rich staining on its curved sides. This one supports me, she thought with a thrill. It knows me! But after a moment, she too, put it back to try another. "Too early yet, my friend," she whispered to the guitar she left as she took the one beside it. "But I'll probably be back."
It took him a couple minutes to find the shop (and Kiera) but once he did, it charmed him from moment one. There had to be at least 100 different instruments in the small space, but every single one of them looked meticulously cared for and loved. The man behind the counter, a taller balding man with a guitar tuner looked up to begin to ask if Joshua needed anything, but Joshua silently motioned over towards Kiera. The shopkeeper returned his nod and went back to his work.
Joshua quietly walked a little farther into the store to just watch her carefully examining different guitars. It was clear she knew what she was doing, but that had also been made clear by the ride over. But even more that, it was clear she had a love for the instrument beyond just being able to play it. Not wanting to disturb her, he just quietly stood a bit away and let her choose a guitar.
I was in luck. I caught the flash of Joshua’s shirted back disappearing through a door across the street and three shops down. I made tracks for it and examined the storefront—Lech’s—it said and with my most recent purchase coloring my thoughts, I immediately could see the ribald possibilities of the name. Get a grip, you. He’s probably of Polish or Slavic ancestry. Not like that sort of thing’s impossible, as well you know. I opened the door, stepped inside and the smell of wood and varnish nearly felled me in my tracks.
Everywhere I looked I could see instruments, some plain, some fancy. Some were brass but a good portion of them were wood and of the wooden ones, most of them were stringed. They were the source of the smells that struck me and closing my eyes, I was back in my father’s workshop, three years old and three seconds away from mischief. My eyes burned and I had to blink back sudden tears. My vision cleared and settled on a spot of color—Joshua’s shirt. I spied the red flash of Kiera’s hair and noting their positions, I realized that Joshua was hanging back hoping not to be noticed. Why? Curiosity overcame homesickness and after a nod at the man behind the counter, I cautiously crept toward a better vantage point. Ducking behind a sheet music rack, I peeked between the booklets and saw Kiera pick up one guitar, strum a chord, then replace it to pick up another. She cocked her head, listening intently and again I was struck by the memory of my father doing the same thing with his stock of balalaikas and lutes: checking their sound as they cured, tapping the bellies, squinting at the joinery, each waiting for his final touch before he sent them into the Verse. I blinked and returned again to the present. I shifted to watch Joshua—yes, still watching Kiera picking and choosing.
The scent of linseed was stronger in this quarter of the store and I had to leave—the nostalgia was too much and I didn’t want to break down and make a scene. I smiled at the shopkeeper, spied the name embroidered on his shirt—the eponymous owner himself—and took myself back out to the fresh air and sunshine. I found a bench in front of the window and sat down to wait. I stared out at the street and saw again my father’s workshop, its walls and ceiling crowded with instruments in various states of assembly and repair—a strange orchard bearing strange fruit—and yet it was familiar and I missed it. Walking into Lech’s had brought it all sharply back and for once, I let myself indulge in reminiscence. With the store at my back, it made me feel closer to my family than I had in years. I sat and drifted and remembered, for once just an ordinary woman seeking a moment of rest on an ordinary shopping trip. It felt strange, but somehow comforting, and so I passed the time while I waited for Joshua and Kiera to join me.
It was coming back to her, the motions, the sounds, the feel of the strings. She had already played four, but the second one still called to her. She rose from her stool and turned to put the latest tryout back and froze as she caught Joshua out of the corner of her eye. Taking a breath, she smiled.
"So, how long have you been there suffering with my playing?" she drawled. "I figured my caterwauling in the mule would have been enough." A part of her cringed; instinctively she thrust him away as if somehow letting him see this part of her would endanger her very soul. And yet, she wanted to hear his voice again in harmony with hers, had heard the longing for music in his own voice as he sang with her. It pulled at something deep within her and she bit her lip, unable to apologize for the sharp coolness of her words or make the apology to make them go away.
"You do yourself a disservice, Kiera," Joshua commented as he walked up closer to her. Curiosity about where and how she learned to play filled him to the brim, but he pushed it down. She was clearly defensive about the music...or rather, her ability to play the music. You don't play like that if you don't love the music.
He motioned towards the guitars she had been choosing from. "You have one picked out?"
She cocked her head, her face showing bemused confusion. "Well, yeah. Sort of." Grabbing the fifth and last guitar, she strummed it experimentally and then hung it back. She stood silent for a moment and then went to get the second one that she had tried. Sitting down again on the stool, she began to play, tentatively at first and then with growing confidence. Once she finished the melodic song, she sat silent for a moment, her eyes closed. The soft, round notes sang mellow and clear through the room and she rubbed the instrument with gentle fingers. "This one," she said with a shy, possessive smile. Standing, she jammed her hands into her pocket to get the money to pay for it.
Joshua already had a twenty platinum coin in his hand. "This one is on me, Kiera. One music lover to another." It had been much too long since there had been a steady supply of music in his life. A few platinum seemed like a very small price to pay.
She stopped in her walk to the counter like she'd hit a brick wall. "Uh," she stammered. "Whatever for?"
He passed her by. The coin made a small metallic click as he slid it onto the counter and Joshua nodded to the shopkeeper to ring them up. Then he turned back to Kiera. "I think the better question is: Whyever not?" He smiled and continued, "If it makes you feel better, think of it as me being selfish. I want music on board, so it seems only fair to pay for it."
If he had grown a second head, she could have processed it better. But as the transaction happened in front of her, she could only hold the new instrument and stand there as the shopkeeper gently took it from her arms to put it into its case. Her mouth opened only as the old man put the handle into her hand, smiling knowingly.
"Say thank you," he murmured and patted her arm.
Kiera blinked and then nodded. "Thank you," she said as the man returned to his seat behind the counter. "And thank you," she added to Joshua. Frowning, she stared at him for a moment and then awkwardly darted forward to hug him.
"Can't guarantee that it will be any good," she stated softly against his neck, "but you want to sing, come get me."
"It will be good, but it doesn't need to be. Just needs to be true. And that I have no doubts about," Joshua said as he hugged her awkwardly. Never know what to expect from her, he thought as he tried to make sure that the close physical contact wasn't too close. Then he let her go and said, looking around, "I seem to have misplaced my fiance. We'd probably best go find her. She has the keys." And he smirked.
"Need to keep a better leash on that one," Kiera retorted as she released him. "That may need to be your next purchase." She nudged him with her foot as she lifted the guitar to leave with it. "Git on out of here before I start to like you."
"I don't think there is any danger of that," Joshua joked before wandering out. Then he stopped in the doorframe, as he held the door open to the outside. "Don't worry, I'll do something to piss you off before long, and everything will be set right again." The unattended door slowly closed, leaving Kiera alone with the shopkeeper and her new guitar.