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

===Remilia's Evening===


Freya, whose senses had alerted her to Remilia’s distress before she had even arrived, was a bit more direct.  “Go.”

“All right,” Remilia muttered, flushing a bit.

“Can I have your room key, though?  I’ll need to deposit things there,” Venus said.

“Oh…sure,” Remilia said, digging a scrap of plastic out of her pocket.  “Here.”

Venus accepted the card and stepped onto the lift.  “Now…Jake, if you don’t mind, I think I need to curl up in bed and watch something stupid.”

“Sounds good,” Jake said, yawning.  “You guys turning in too?” he asked.

“I think I want to write my mother,” Alex suddenly said.  “I’ve been pretty quiet to her lately.  She has to be wondering how I am.”

“I think I’ll pop into the gym first, burn off some cramps,” Freya said.  “Sitting in a shuttle all afternoon?  Boring.”

Remilia muttered something about having a drink first, then quickly made her escape as the lift paused on the O-Club’s deck.  She walked swiftly down the corridor, pausing at the threshold of the O-Club and settling her breath.

Kines had his back turned, grabbing something from beneath the mirrors behind the bar.  The sudden gasps and murmurs from his patrons alerted him to the arrival of someone important.  No grumbling, so it wasn’t Haarlan.  No red glow, so it wasn’t Princess Venus.  No vengeful laugh from Chief Simmons, so it wasn’t Freya, and the Royal Consorts wouldn’t have alarmed the officers like that.  Which left…

He smiled to himself, his stomach tightening a bit.  “Lady Dorn, Remilia, welcome back to the Tide,” he said, rising smoothly to his feet, already holding up a bottle of the orange soda he knew she liked.

Remilia smiled from her stool.  “Heard me coming, did you?”

“No,” Kines said honestly, sliding her the bottle.  “How are you?”

“All right, thanks,” she said, hiding her nervous smile in a sip from the bottle.  “Yourself?”

“Bit tired.  Looking to get off shift,” he said, shrugging with forced nonchalance.  She nodded, her own casual air equally feigned.

“So I imagine.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen you anywhere but behind that counter.  What time does your shift start, anyway?” Remilia asked, looking for something to fill the air.

Kines grabbed a brew for a pilot who had arrived after Remilia did.  “I don’t have a duty rotation like most officers, I just get up when the bar opens in the lounge and turn in immediately after.  It’s ten hours, or thereabouts,” he said.

“Huh.  Good to know,” she said idly.  They both inwardly cringed at the implied innuendo, but neither remarked on it.


Freya stretched languidly on the bed, sprawling over a pile of unsorted laundry like an indolent cat.  Alex fiddled with his slate, sending a message to the ship’s Astropath.  He was accepting the scholarship from Cyprine.  The note to his mother had been succinct and completely without revelation.  He didn’t want her to worry about him while he was on his trip.  She had enough on her mind.

“You wanna go hit the gym?” Freya asked, rolling a clean pair of workout panties through her hands, wondering if it would even be open after dinner.

“Sure, just let me…send the damn message,” Alex grumbled distractedly.  “There, sent.  The Astropath will send the messages to Terra as soon as possible.”

“Good.”  Freya slid out of her clothes and into her workout kit as Alex did the same.  “So…how adorable is Remilia?”

“What?” Alex asked, his hand halfway through tying his laces.  He glanced over at her.  “What do you mean?”

“Oh come on, even a mortal’s nose can smell the vibes between her and…” her eyes widened.  “You didn’t see those two before?”

“Who?” Alex asked, confused.

“Wow…well, let me put it this way,” Freya giggled.  “We’re going to give Remilia plenty of privacy over the next few days.”

Alex shook his head.  “She has eyes for someone?”

“Kines!  The bartender, remember?” Freya prompted, slinging her towel.

“Oh.”  Alex thought that over.  “…Really?  He can’t be a day over twenty.”

“He submitted his candidacy at fifteen, bought a two-year degree on Corum, boom, officer,” Freya said.  “And Remilia needs it.  I say let it slide,” she said coyly.

Alex snorted.  “Can’t deny that,” he said with a chuckle.

Jake dug through his day bag, extracting his borrowed slate.  “What do you want to watch?”

“Something riotously stupid.  LaffTrax would be good, too,” Venus said, pawing through the bag as well.

“What are you looking for?” Jake asked.

“Throwing out something we don’t need, forget it,” Venus said dismissively.  Jake shrugged, dropping onto the bed with the slate.

“All right, ‘Armored Eyes,’ coming up,” Jake said, paging through his library of flicks.  Venus headed for the hatch as he did so.  “Going somewhere?” he asked.

“Just dropping something off with Remilia,” Venus said, not looking back.


Far below, Remilia checked her watch with an apprehensive flutter of her stomach.  “Well…all right, Lieutenant.  It’s been fun, but I need to retire,” she said, placing the slightest emphasis on ‘retire.’

Kines nodded, all business.  “Then I’ll see you later, Remilia,” he said.

Remilia set down her empty bottle and walked off, feeling his eyes on her back the whole way.  As soon as she was safe in the corridor, she sighed, wondering if she had been too opaque.  She glanced back, anxiously thinking whether or not to go back and clarify.  As she saw the crowd around the bar lessen in size, however, she decided against it.  With another flutter of nerves, she rode the lifts up to her deck.


A few hours later, having checked and re-checked the schedule for the ship’s operations in her mind, she slowly paced in her room, nerves wracking her stomach.  She had debated putting something more provocative on, but the marks on her arms would have ruined that.  She bemoaned her own short-sightedness in carving herself up like that, wondering if makeup would hide them.

She pushed the hatch over to the small bathroom open and quickly pawed through the bags there, looking for something she could use to cover up her forearms.  Sadly, it seemed that there was nothing to be found.

The hatch to her room rapped.  She jumped a mile.  Coughing to dispel nerves, she answered it, cracking it open.  Kines was waiting outside, his own face a composed mask.  “Hi,” she said.

He smiled slightly.  “Hi.”

“I was wondering if maybe I had been too indirect before…guess not,” she admitted with a nervous laugh.

He raised his eyebrows a bit.  “No…it was pretty clear.”  He glanced side-to-side.  “So…this is a nice corridor,” he said blandly.

“Oh!  Right, come in, come in,” she said, beckoning him into the cabin.  He walked past her and noted the expansive accommodations.

“Wow.  This is a hell of a lot better than a bunkroom,” Kines said, taking in the sight.  His eyes travelled over the pile of bags that the crew had deposited, over the neat bed, to the nightstand-

His eyes froze, and his cheeks flushed so deeply red that for an instant, she wondered if he was ill.  She followed his gaze, and spotted the box of condoms Venus had deposited there.

She slowly slid her hands over her face, dying of embarrassment.  “Venus, I’m going to shoot you,” she whispered.

Kines, of course, had no idea of Venus’ involvement, and pretended to have seen nothing.  “Well…My Lady…er, Remilia, sorry.  I suppose…”  he went silent, frantically looking for words.  “Hah!  You know, I came in here with the most suave lines I could think of or steal, and suddenly there’s nothing,” he admitted, finally letting his anxious nerves overwhelm him.

“I know what you mean,” Remilia muttered.  He turned to look her over, and nearly laughed at the absolutely complete flush she had, from pale collarbone to hairline to ears.  She glared at him.  “Something funny, Chuck?” she asked coolly.

“Not at all, I’m just struck by the novelty,” he said, sitting at the foot of the bed.  He smiled up at her.  “So…what fantasy scenario did you have cooked up?  We’re still hewing pretty close to mine.”

She flushed even deeper, brushing a bead of sweat off of her brow.  “Well…to be honest, I didn’t really have one,” she said.  “This doesn’t happen to me all that often.”

He actually managed a laugh.  “Really?  Travelling to far-away planets, discovering exotic locales and men?”

“This is kind of my first venture, in both regards,” she admitted.

He didn’t seem to catch her drift.  “Well it’s certainly making my day,” he said, kicking his shoes off.  “I hope yours is improving, too,” he added, a hint of his confidence returning.

“It’s getting there,” she allowed.  She sat down next to him, slowly running her hands over her arms, unconsciously hiding her scars.  She finally managed a nervous smile.  “I’m glad you, at least, seem to know what you’re doing.”

Kines laughed shortly.  “Rule number two of being a Second Lieutenant: Always Look Like You Know What You’re Doing in Front of a Superior Officer.”

Remilia giggled.  “What’s rule one?”

“‘Never Use the Word ‘Experience,’’” he explained.  “Nothing bothers the senior guys more than a guy under twenty using the word ‘experience.’”

“I bet.”  She let the humor of the moment work its way through her stomach, settling the butterflies down a bit.  The silence dragged on for a moment, prompting him to look at her sideways.

“Are you all right?” he asked, a note of concern in his voice.

“Oh!  Yeah, I’m, yeah, it’s all good,” she said.  She swallowed a bit as he nodded and started working the buttons on his duty shirt, tugging them free.  “Just…you know.  Like you said, novelty.”

He smiled as he removed his outermost garments.  “It’s certainly novel…oh.”  He paused, hand on his undershirt, slowly looking up at her.  “…How novel, exactly?” he asked cautiously.

She shrugged, another bead of sweat working its way down her back.  “Completely.”

Kines nodded as that news set off all kinds of new bells and alarms in his head.  His own temperature worked its way back up a few degrees.  “Well…that’s actually really touching,” he said at last.

“How?” she asked nervously.

“Well…I mean, do you even know my middle name?” he asked.  His eyes flew apart.  “Not to send the wrong message,” he hastily corrected.  “I’m just, you know, flattered.”

“You have a middle name?” Remilia asked, nervously unlooping her belt.  She was already barefoot, fortunately.

“Well, no, but I just meant…” he looked down and flushed again.  “Sorry.  I was sort of operating under the assumption that you had done this before.”

“Well…no, is that a problem?” she asked, her heart seizing a bit.

“Certainly not,” he said, a bit more confidence returning, rushing in behind a wave of well-concealed glee.  He smiled at her, as easily as he could contrive.  “Call me presumptuous, but I thought a beautiful girl like you would be beating the guys off with a stick.”

She snorted under her breath.  “In a class occupied by my cousins, all of whom are prettier and less fucked-up than me?”

He scoffed.  “You’re not fucked up.”  She mutely held her bare arms up.  He hesitated, his words catching.  “I don’t think you’re fucked up.  And Remilia…” he slid his hand over her waist, gently pushing her other hand away.  “You ARE beautiful,” he said softly.

She tightened, quite involuntarily.  “Thanks, Chuck, that’s nice to hear,” she said.  He smiled, gently easing her loose jeans down to the floor to join her belt and running his hand over her muscular stomach.  She shivered.

“You know what, just keep doing that,” she said, each gentle stroke feeling as hot as a brush with a curling iron.

He smiled broadly.  “If you’d like.  Lie down, okay?” he asked.  She hurriedly scooted farther back on the bed, looking up at him with her eyes wide.  He found it quite endearing.

“You’re so cute,” he said softly, sliding his hand up to tug her bra free.  He took in the sight with a smile that was half nerves and half satisfaction.  He leaned down and traced his lips along one little circle.

“Thanks,” she croaked.  She cleared her throat and tried to settle her nerves.  “That’s…” she paused as he continued, sliding his other hand over to give her other side some attention.  “…actually pretty relaxing,” she admitted, feeling a squirming feeling building up just below her stomach.  He smiled against her pale skin.

“Actually wait, shit,” she suddenly said.  He lifted his head up, surprised.  She scrambled over to the bedside table, snatching up the box and returning.  “Nearly forgot,” she said.  He smiled.

“Good call,” he said, sliding the rest of his clothes off, to her unhidden approval.  He flashed a grin at her unusual tan lines.  “Someone went sunbathing on Nocturne,” he observed.

She nodded, pulling her underwear off too.  He basked in the sight for a moment, before accepting the box from her with an unsteady hand.  “I mean it, you know.  Look at you,” he said, gently guiding her back down and applying her offering.  She gulped and licked dry lips.

“Well…if tall and pale goes for you,” she said nervously.

He slid his hand down between her legs and gently pushed, eliciting a moan.  “Hush.  You’re too cute for half-ass compliments,” he muttered, putting his hands back to work.

Minutes later, Remilia mentally checked one more item off the list of things to do before summer ended, as she offered him her virginity, and he reverently took it.


Venus smiled to herself as she lay in bed with Jake, digging a pair of little foam buds out of a box on her nightstand.  The sounds from the next cabin over were faint, but intensifying.  “Time to see if these work,” she muttered.