Editing Story:ROAD TRIP! (Warhammer High)/Part Three (section)

===Waking Up Again===

Jake yawned, feeling the day’s exertions take their toll.  Venus was busily unequipping her armor and unloading her weapons in the corner.  “I’m just gonna turn in, unless you want to keep watching that movie,” he said, referring to the flick they had started that morning after breakfast.  The slight wobble in his gait was now more pronounced, driving home a reminder that he was recovering from his own trial.

“Sure thing.  Or we could put it on the slate and watch it in bed,” Venus said.

“Let’s do that, we can watch something else on the ship,” Jake said.  He grabbed his slate and tapped the appropriate runes as Venus finished her undressing and bathroom rituals.  “Is Alex going to be all right?” he asked as she returned.

“I have no idea,” Venus confessed.  She slid her sleeping clothes on; a very thick undershirt and cotton panties so she didn’t accidentally overheat Jake.  “Damn it.  I feel like I owe him an apology for not putting my foot down on Kimball-Carlin when I had the chance.”

“Screw that, anyone who disowns his son in front of a crowd is going to be a shithead no matter how many Royal Family members are in the room,” Jake said.

“But this trip has been fine until four days ago, when it’s gone tits-up, and I feel like I could have prevented it all,” Venus pressed.  She dropped into the bed, slamming her fist on the bedspread.  “I mean, the thing in the bar was horrible…and then I get purse-snatched and Alex gets fucking disowned.  What a fucking nightmare.  I thought the worst thing we’d have to deal with on Nocturne would be the damn dragons,” she said.

Jake shrugged, passing her the slate.  “Not your fault, baby, and I don’t want to have to tell you that over and over.  We just got here.”

As he finished his own bathroom prep, Venus stared at the black ceiling, thinking.  What could she ask of her host tomorrow?  She had been planning something like it since Hesiod, but this was her first real opportunity.

Jake slid into bed beside her, waving down the heat and turning the slate to her.  She cuddled up on his flank, resting her head on his shoulder and narrowing her eyes so she didn’t drown out the screen.  “Well…at least it’s almost over,” she sighed.

“Hey now, don’t think like that,” Jake said.  “Nocturne is an amazing place.  We’ve just seen some bad along with the good.  Compared to the shit in the hives, this has been a resort trip for me.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” Venus asked.  “Jake…I’m sorry, but I feel like this is my fault.”

Jake sighed again.  He paused the slate and looked down at her head.  “Stop.  Here,” he said, setting the slate aside and rolling her onto her stomach.  He dug his fingers into her tensed back.  “You had no way of knowing that any of this would happen,” he soothed.  He gently massaged her hot flesh, working the tension away.

“I guess.”  She chuckled after another minute or two of his silent rubs.  “I can’t stay mad when you’re in physical therapist mode.”  Jake grinned to himself, remembering the result of his first administration, and the joyous few weeks that had kicked off.  “Speaking of,” she asked.  “How’s your head?”

“Better.  Much better.”  Jake squeezed her shoulders, digging his thumbs in deep.  She sighed into the pillow.  “My legs are better too, that was just a little soreness.  I’m gonna be okay,” he said.

“Good.”  She slowly adjusted her sleep shirt, pulling it up to her armpits so he could reach her lower back, mindful of her burn scar.  “Hey…as long as we have it out, want to send a letter home?”

“Sure,” Jake said, moving his hands down her side.  “In a minute.”

“Okay,” she said with lazy contentment, her resentment melting away under his cool hands.  After a while longer, she languidly stretched, flexing the beautiful swimmer’s back Jake admired.  “All right,” she yawned.  “Much better.”  She slid the sleep-shirt back down and gave him a grateful little kiss.  “What do you want to say?”

“Depends,” Jake said, settling down beside her.  “Do we mention Alex?”

“Hmm.”  She sighed.  “Let’s not.  We can mention he had a shit day, but let’s leave the details to him.”

“Sure.”  Jake grabbed the slate and tapped the recording system’s Advanced Options menu, opening the two-source system.  “Transcribe Two,” he said, starting the dual-channel recording.  He waited a moment.  “Hi, everyone.  I’m calling you from sunny Skarokk,” he started.  Venus sniggered.  “My head’s all better, in case anyone was, like, worried, or whatever.”  He thought for a moment.  “It’s been a weird few days.  Pickpocketings, formal dinners, barfights, and more sunburn than I’ve received in the past sixteen years.”

Vulkan read further.  “Now, Venus.  ‘Not that it’s not been interesting.  Jake’s thick skull is knitting together.  Dad, I’ve included the medic’s name, in case you wanted to know it.  We reward our friends.’  Seems fair.  ‘I spoke with Governor Sralah, and’ – italics – ‘‘''convinced''’ him to impose tough new crime measures.  I know you said leave it to you, but I feel like I have to after today.  I was robbed in broad daylight…’ WHAT?” he snarled.  Misja recoiled in surprise.  “‘Someone snatched my purse then returned it when they realized whose it was.  Fucker got away, too.’”

“Watch your mouth, young lady,” Misja muttered.

Vulkan glared at the dataslate, his own anger building.  “Now Jake again.  ‘The dinner this evening was interrupted by Alex getting some absolutely miserable news from home.  I’ll let him tell it when he gets up tomorrow if he really wants, but it was bad.  Other than that, we met up with some familiar faces from the Tide and we should be ready to go soon.’”

Misja shook her head.  “A robbery.  What the hell is Skarokk coming to?”

“A swift and ghastly blood-letting, when I’m done with it,” Vulkan said darkly.  “Venus, now.  ‘You two, if you get this before George and Sandra, please let them know that Jake is up, ready, and willing to continue the trip to Fenris.  Freya is in bed right now or she’d tell you all about it, but I’m looking forward to it.’”

His wife glanced over the message’s timestamp.  “Nope.  They haven’t got it yet, there’s no reception ticket.”

“Hmm.”  Vulkan scrolled down to the bottom of the message.  “Jake now.  ‘Mom, Dad, I’m all good, and I have taken the requisite pictures of my honorable war wounds.  I mean, it’s just bare skin and hair, even in the photo, but you can use your imaginations.’  Nice to know getting mauled by a drunk wasn’t enough to keep that boy down,” Vulkan said with approval.

“I wonder if he’s going to propose to Venus when the trip ends,” Misja wondered aloud.

Vulkan looked up.  “You think he might?”

“After something like that only made them closer?  I think it’s possible,” Misja said.

“Could be,” Vulkan said.  He thought for a moment.  “I can’t say I would protest much, even if he is a little too young by Terran standards.  On Nocturne, they’d have been Bonded by now.”

“Anything else in the message?” Misja asked.

Vulkan shook his head.  “Nope, just goodbyes.”


Back on Nocturne, and nearly a day in the past, Venus set down the slate after a few small fixes in the transcriptor.  Jake lay down on the mattress, wrapping his arm under Venus’ head and shoulders.  She snuggled up against him, her mind wandering.  “Jake…would you like to go see one of the Salamander galleries tomorrow?” she asked.

Jake looked over at her dark head on his arm.  “Aren’t those sealed to the public?”

“Yes, but I can get us in.”

“Didn’t you say that the Salamanders wouldn’t like us being there?” Jake cautiously asked.

Venus shrugged.  “Yeah, but so far, all you’ve seen of Skarokk are the parts I’m ashamed of…”

Jake grimaced.  “Damn it, baby…”

“I’m not being morose now, I promise, I’m just thinking aloud.”  Venus looked up at him, her eyes bathing his face in light.  “I think, given what’s happened, they would let us in.”

Jake was quiet as he thought it over.  “Hmm.  Well, if it feels like we’re unwelcome, we can just leave, right?”

“Absolutely.”

“All right, we can give it a shot,” Jake said.