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

===Steamy Confessions (Literally)===


“Would you guys laugh at me if I asked what the drinking age was on Fenris?” Jake asked mildly.

Freya snorted her drink out her nose and spent a few moments coughing before she could answer.  “Y-yes,” she managed through a nose full of bubbles.

“Just checking,” Jake said.

Remilia lifted her cup as Jake waved one away.  “All right!  To the road trip, leg two!” she said enthusiastically.  Four glasses and Jake’s empty cup met over the depths of the pool.

As the others pulled their hands back, Jake coughed lightly.  “And to Morticia being all better when we get home,” he added, "and Julius getting off of Seadelant safely."

“Hell yeah,” Venus said, sending her cup back in for round two.

They drank and settled back against the edge of the pool, enjoying the soak.  Venus drained her cup and smacked her lips.  “Mmm.  Good stuff,” she said.

Remilia giggled.  When the others looked her way.  “I’m sorry, forget it,” she said, waving her hand.  “Just a funny thought.”

“Mmm.”  Freya poured herself another cup and sipped it more slowly.  “So, guys, what’s everyone gonna do tonight?  Getting sick of losing to me at poker?”

“But that hasn’t happened,” Jake said innocently.  Freya glared at him.  “Well, not very often,” Jake said in blatant false modesty.

Alex rolled his eyes.  “Jake, where did you say you learned?  Darts, cards, the match trick…”

“Middle school, my friend, all middle school,” Jake said.

“What the hell middle school did you go to?  A magnet school for illusionists?” Freya asked.

Jake laughed.  “Hive Tetra Middle School 19889,” he said.

“It didn’t have a name?” Alex asked.

“Nope.”  Jake shook his head.  “Just 19889.  Hive schools are basically factories,” he said, unconsciously echoing the discussion his parents had had with Vulkan a few weeks before.

“Horrible,” Remilia said.  “No way to treat kids.”

“Nope.”  Jake sighed.  “No, it isn’t.”  He peered over at her.  “How about you all?  What school did you go to?”

“We all did different stuff.  Morticia and Kelly had private tutors, some of us went to private schools, some went to upper-crust public schools…”  Remilia shrugged.  “I went to a private school down the road from Imperator.”

“I went to a very small public school,” Venus said from beside him.

“I went to a private school for the second two grades of middle, had a tutor for the first,” Freya put in.

Alex shook his head.  “Homeschooled, but by a small group of tutors.”

Jake nodded.  “I remember the looks on my parents’ faces when I won the award.  They were so proud…”  He smiled at the ebony war goddess next to him.  “Worked out all right, too.”

“I bet they were,” Freya said.  She stretched, letting rivulets of water work their ways down her arms in the shimmering light.  “Mmmm…anyone getting uncomfortable?  Is this too hot?” she asked.

“Nope, I’m great,” Jake said.  Venus and Remilia sounded their approval too.

“I’m too dry,” Alex said, pouring another cup.  He tossed down a quick slurp.  “Problem solved.”

“So…Jake, tell me about the rest of your family,” Remilia said.

Jake thought.  “You know my parents?”

“We met on the landing pad for the ship to take us to the Tide,” Remilia said.

“Right.  Well, my father’s a designer, my mother works for the Cube,” Jake said.  “Hmm…I have an Uncle Walter and an Aunt Alice, my mother’s siblings…my uncle is actually still in college, my mom’s family was really far apart.  I think you guys would really like Uncle Wally, he’s a funny guy,” he added.  “He and Alice both work in an aircar factory in my hab.”

“Factory work,” Freya shuddered.  “I couldn’t survive that kind of repetition.”

“Yeah, I dunno how they do it,” Jake said.  “Well...Alice just got engaged to her boyfriend, Hajime,” he said, rubbing his chin.  “My mother’s parents are both still alive, Grandma Christine worked for the Imperial Estate as a menial, and Grandpa Eric served in the Crusade with the Fists.”

“He was a Space Marine for Dad?” Remilia asked, wide-eyed.

“No, I meant it literally.  He served the Fists,” Jake corrected.  “He was one of Lord Dorns’ tenth- or eleventh- string assistant officers’ personal secretary.  Started out as Praetor infantry, lost a kneecap to a Hrud Dissolver Cannon graze.”

“Gross,” Venus said.  “Poor guy.”

Jake smiled ruefully.  “Ah, he’s tough as nails.  Got right back up and shot the bendy fucker, but he was done fighting after that.  He had a paper degree – rare for an E-3 enlisted back then – so they stuck him behind a desk and he retired one year after the Crusade ended and they demobilized all the Praetor artillery regiments.”

Alex nodded.  “You all know my dad, sadly…let’s see.  My mother used to work for one of my paternal grandfathers’ trading companies on Proximus Station.”

“Isn’t that where Captain Roemer was from?” Venus asked.

“Yep!  It’s a decommissioned O’Neill cylinder ship that they ripped the engines out of and stuck some extra hydroponic labs in there.  They use it as a way-station for megafreighters passing through the Centauri cluster on the way to Sol to deliver the tithes,” Alex explained.  “Grandpa basically owned two small trading companies that sold shit to the freight crews, and Dad met Mom there around twenty years back.”

“Huh.  Before the Crusade ended, then?” Venus asked.

“Yeah.  Hard to imagine how much it’s changed,” Alex said.

Remilia let herself slide forward on the rocks until the water was nearly up to her chin again.  Her soaking hair swirled around her in the gentle current.  “Heh…if we’re in family story mode…my mother helped found one of Uncle Fulgrim’s charitable foundations.  He laid the groundwork out for it almost five years before the Crusade ended, since he sort of suspected it was going to happen, you know.  Mom and Dad had known each other for years before then, though.  She’s Terran, not Inwitan.”

Freya nodded.  “Mom, the Queen of Fenris, she’s actually half-Fenrisian herself.  Her father was a skjald of the Rout who was re-stationed on Terra to train the Household Guard of the Paternova.  He met my grandmother, a servant of the House, and Mom happened.  Dad met Mom around…twenty seven years ago.  Dad, not that you’d notice, has a soft spot for girls with red hair,” she said drily, poking at her head.

“Well, they were head over heels for each other…it was only after the Crusade ended that she could have a kid, though, obviously.  We’re not genetically compatible with humans…all of us, anyway,” she finished.

“I am,” Remilia said.  “Gotta be careful.”

“Hope Kines never finds it out the hard way,” Freya teased.

Remilia flushed red.  “Freya!”

“What?  We’re all happy for you,” Freya said, as the others nodded or exchanged sly looks.  “Can’t hide anything from me, remember?” she added.  Remilia remembered her own words in the diplomatic lounge from the Palace, only a few months before.

“Talk about something besides me getting laid,” she mumbled, sinking deeper into the water to hide her blush.

Venus chuckled.  “Dad met Mom on Nocturne, but it was only after she moved.  She’s from Terra originally, she moved to Themis as an Administratum liaison.  She met Dad at a ceremony to commemorate the induction of a fresh batch of about two thousand initiates, and they fell for each other at first sight.”

“That’s cute,” Freya said with a grin.  “They got married before the Crusade ended, didn’t they?”

“Engaged.  Dad knew it was drawing to a close.  I was a surprise, I’m told, but a welcome one.  Even Dad could only look forward to leading a Legion for so long, knowing peace was within our grasp.”

“I wish Dad felt that way,” Remilia sighed from the water’s surface.  “He misses leading the Legion.”

“So does my Dad,” Venus replied.  “I think…after I graduate and find work he’s going to move back to Nocturne and raise the banner again.  Just long enough to shake the dust off and go explore the dark spots on the map for a while.”

“Probably do the Imperium some good,” Alex said.  “We can always use more worlds.”

Venus downed her drink, setting the cup aside for the moment.  Remilia glanced up at her and stifled another giggle.  Venus looked over at her, feeling somewhat piqued.  “What, Remilia?”

“I’m sorry,” Remilia said, grinning in self-reproach.  “It’s just…you went with the black bra and panties, and it’s dark as hell in here, so it looks like your eyes are just floating in mid-air,” she said.  “Sorry!”

Venus huffed a sigh.  “Come on,” she muttered.

Jake slid his arms around her waist and hefted her up, depositing her in his lap.  “There, now you’re visible against my ghost-like flesh,” Jake deadpanned.

Remilia’s giggles escaped, and she slapped the surface of the water in her mirth, sending water crashing around the pool.  “Jake, don’t say that,” she laughed.

“Yeah, ghosts don’t have flesh,” Alex said suddenly, and the others laughed too.

Jake wiped water off his face from Venus’ hair.  “Oh, man…this is great, you guys,” he said happily, squeezing his girl around the middle.  Venus snuggled back against him.

“Yeah, this is a lot of fun!” Remilia said.  “Wonder if there’s a hot tub on the Tide.”

“Actually, yeah, there is,” Venus said.  “Standard on all patrol ships that size.  It’s for physical therapy of crewers accepting augmetics after injury, though, so nobody here gets to use it.”

“Awww.”  Remilia settled back down against the rocks and crossed her legs under the water.  “Well, guys, I want to thank you for bringing me along.  This was exactly what I needed.”

“We’re glad you came,” Freya said contentedly, snuggling up beside Alex.  He slid an arm down her back and held her close in the steamy air.  “Are you guys enjoying yourselves on the trip so far?” she asked.  “I want to think this was a good idea of mine.”

Venus nodded and smiled.  “It’s been rough in places, but…definitely worth it.”

“Yeah.”  Jake squeezed her hand under the water.  “I’d rather be here than home, with or without you guys.”

Alex nodded in silence, though of course everyone present knew his own trip had been far more turbulent.  “It’s been worth it,” he said at last.

“Good.”  Freya wiggled up next to her lover and let his broad arm slide down her flank.  “Anything catch your eye in the Hammerhold, Venus?” she asked.

Venus chuckled.  “No, but it’s always fun to see how the other guys do it.”

“Bet Farah would have loved to be there,” Remilia said knowingly.

“You bet.  Hana too, probably,” Venus said.  Her physiology was protecting her from the alcohol’s effects, as it was with the others, though Alex wasn’t afforded that luxury.


Freya downed her third cup and set it down.  “Well…here we are,” she said, in a movie trailer voice.

Remilia chuckled.  “When I move out of the house, I’m installing a hot tub in whatever I buy,” she said.

“You’ll have to have us over,” Venus quipped.

Jake leaned up to her ear and whispered, so faintly only she could hear it.  “Any tub you’re in is a hot tub, baby.”  Venus bit her lip to stifle a laugh.

“Is the smell getting to anyone?” Freya asked.

“What smell?” Jake asked.

“Okay, it’s just me then,” Freya said.  She waved her hand in front of her nose.  “Sulfur gas from the vent.  Not too bad, but it’s there.”

Alex inhaled.  The smell was so faint he almost couldn’t sense it.  “Not really getting it yet.”

“All right, I can just head out if it’s too bad,” Freya said.