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

===Milk and Honey, Hold the Milk===


In the empty liftcar, Freya rubbed her finger over chin and thought.  The day’s diversions would hold them, of course, but what about the next several weeks?  She was running out of ideas.  Perhaps another fishing excursion, only at the equator and on a larger island?  Maybe a tour of the more open parts of the fortress?

The doors opened and she walked up to her room, still deep in thought.  She unlocked her door and walked in, heading straight into the bathroom and getting to it.

As the water poured down, her ears alerted her to someone opening the bedroom door.  The rushing water and the fans had washed away the scent, so she just shrugged, assuming it was Alex.

As she finished up, she clambered out and started drying off, when the oddest scent reached her nose.  She paused, trying to identify it.  Whatever it was, it was sweet.  Maybe…honey?

Curious, she wrapped herself up in a towel and pushed the bathroom door open.  There, sitting on the table in the middle of the sitting room, was a small, steaming cake, on a plate with a few little cups of honey in them, and a note, in Gothic.

Her curiosity piqued, she walked over to it and lifted the note.  ‘Freya, don’t let yesterday get you down.  Someone once told me honey is a delicacy here on Fenris, so please enjoy.  Venus.’

Freya glanced down at the fresh little cake and finally identified the scent of the person who had deposited it there: one of the skjalds who had served them at dinner the previous night.  Venus must have spoken to him while she was chatting with Bjorn.  The pretty redhead smiled to herself, shaking her head.  “Nice, Venus,” she said.  She sat down next to the table, glancing over the food.  “I appreciate it.”

Alex wandered in, his hair glistening in the room’s lights.  He had the breakfast they had requested be sent up to them in his hands, he must have bumped into one of the kitchen serfs in the lift.  “Hey, babe…you order breakfast already?” he asked, spotting the food.

Freya tucked the note into the folds of her towel.  “No, just a gift from someone,” she said.  “Honey is worth its weight in gold around here.”

“Really?” Alex asked, sitting beside her.

“Yeah, this planet redefines ‘killer bees,’” Freya said.  She picked up one of the two little cups of hot honey and poured it over the cake.  “Want some?”

“Sure,” Alex said, breaking off a piece.  He set the other food down next to it.  The two of them sat beside the table, slicing pieces off and eating as their hair dried.

“Mmm…it’s even tastier if you imagine the epic battle that was waged to acquire the honey,” Freya pointed out.

Alex swallowed with some effort.  “Unless it’s imported.”

Freya glared at him.  Alex blinked.  “…though of course Fenris would produce its best for its Blood Princess,” Alex finished.

“Nice save,” Freya said drily.  She finished off her cake and rose, bunching her towel.  “All right.  I’m gonna change before we eat the stuff you brought.”

Alex stood too, sliding his arms around her waist as the towel fell away.  “Hey.  Are you feeling better?” he asked.

She squeezed his hands.  “Much.”

“Good.”  Alex let go and stepped back.  “All right.  Let’s ditch this in the laundry and get ready to explore, huh?”

“You want to see the hammerhold too?” Freya asked as she slid fresh clothes on.

Alex scooped up their clothes and unpacked the rest of the food she dressed.  “Sure, why not?  Sounds pretty awesome.”

“It is pretty awesome, though…I have the weirdest feeling that Venus might actually not like it much,” Freya confessed.  “Where she’s from, equipment maintenance is pretty much sacred.  Around here…not so much.  It’s almost a chore to some of the brothers.”

Alex shrugged on a nicer shirt.  “Can’t imagine that Venus would hold it against them.  Do you think they’d hold it against her?”

“Not in the slightest,” Freya said.  “They’ll understand.  Different Legion, different rules.”

Venus waited outside the lift down to the depths of the hammerhold with the others, tapping her finger on her belt.  She was getting pretty eager to see what the Wolves did in terms of equipping.  Freya emerged from her room with Alex in town, up the hall.  She had apparently decided to use something more utilitarian than the Fenrisian cloak and wrap today, using a simple tunic with a broad leather belt over it.  The pair arrived at the lifts where the others were waiting.  Freya wasted no time in marching right up to Venus and aggressively hugging her.  “Thanks, Venus.”

Venus winced as Freya accidentally squeezed her bruised shoulder.  “You’re welcome.”

The others stared.  Freya left explanations to Venus.  “Just a breakfast suggestion I made,” Venus said as she pressed the call button.

Freya’s green eyes turned to Remilia.  “How’s your chest?”

“Recovering,” Remilia said.  The crater Venus had left was already healing, Freya could see.  “I’ll be fine in a few days.”

“I still feel bad for going overboard like that,” Venus admitted.

“Stop.  We were fighting.”  Remilia shrugged with a hidden grimace.  “So…uh, that stuff you were wearing was bloodpaint?”

“The red stuff was, the clear stuff is just a modified version of it.”  Venus turned to look at her with a sly little smirk.  “Got the point across, did it?”

“It was pretty intimidating,” Remilia allowed.  “Do all Salamanders wear that stuff?”

“No, actually, most of them never use it, since you have to wear it under armor and it can obscure your honor markings.  I just like it,” Venus said.
Remilia made a noncommittal noise and walked into the elevator.  Together, they descended into the heart of the fortress.