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

===Interrupt Us===


As the bottle slowly emptied and the afternoon wore on, talk turned to home again.  Freya spoke up from Alex’s shoulder.  “Do you think everybody else is enjoying their time away?”

“The ones who took some,” Remilia said.  She shook her head, sending wet blond hair all around her.  “Angela sure didn’t.  Straight to work for her and Hana.”

“And Kelly…I still feel awful for her,” Venus said sadly.  “I hope she’s okay when we’re back.”

Freya nodded.  “She’s tougher than she thinks.”

“What’s Hana doing?” Alex asked.

“She went straight to a four-week seminar thing, I forget the subject.  We can ask when we get home.”

“I wanna hear about Miranda’s vacation!” Jake said.  “An entire planet of resorts sounds fucking awesome!”

“I’d settle for a day or two at that beach,” Remilia said dreamily.  “That orbital photo was just plain sexy.  An entire inland ocean…”

“I’ve never been to a casino, either,” Jake said wistfully.  “I have a feeling I’d do pretty well.”

“Trust me, Jake, nobody goes to resort worlds and comes back richer, not playing a game of luck like Poker,” Remilia said.  “You’re good, but you can not believe the shit professionals do.  They piss themselves at the table so they don’t have to get up, they use augmetics that show hormonal levels in opponents’ blood, all kinds of shit to get ahead.”

Jake leaned forward, his expression intense and focused.  “Then the solution is clear.”

Remilia blinked.  “What?”

Jake’s voice was rough and flooded with conviction.  “We must transplant Freya’s nose onto me somewhere I can conceal it under my clothes, then set me loose on the casino.”

Freya fell out of Alex’s arms, laughing hysterically.  Venus snorted champagne onto Jake’s chest as the Remilia and Alex fell about laughing.  Freya managed to calm herself, staring at Jake in naked disbelief.  “I can’t handle what you just said,” she said, gasping past her laughter.

“Ah well,” Jake shrugged sadly.  “I’ll just have to make good on what I have, regretfully.”

Venus blew the alcohol out of her nose.  “You know, Jake, I’m proud of you,” she decided.

Jake glance up at her.  “How so?”

“When we met, you were so scared of us all that you barely even smiled around us,” Venus recalled.  “Now, here you are.”

“Perseverance overcomes all obstacles,” Jake said.  “I just kept at it.”  He squeezed her hand and smiled up at her near-invisible face.  “The payoff has been well worth it.”

“You should write self-help books when we get back to Earth on how to overcome social un-confidence,” Remilia suggested.

“Hey, yeah, I could ask Angela how she got published,” Jake said.

Freya’s watch beeped.  She sighed.  “Well, guys, it’s dinnertime.  We should head back, I think,” she said, rising from the geothermal tub.  The water glued her long red hair to her flanks like a shroud.  “That was still a lot of fun.  We should come back if we get the chance.”  Suddenly, she froze in place, her eyes wide and staring.  She hissed for silence and gestured the others to stay still.  “…FUCK!  Someone’s coming!” she said under her breath.

“Uh oh,” Venus said, scrambling out of the water.  She scurried over to the towels and scooped one up, hurriedly drying herself off.

The others jumped out too, stumbling a bit as the alcohol took its toll.  As they dried, Freya moved up to the entrance and listened.  Two voices, one male and one female.  Not voices she knew.

As soon as she judged them close enough, she started yelling.  “We’re a bit busy!” she said in Juvjk.

The footsteps outside stopped.  “Ah, lass, don’t do this to me!  It’s an hour from the village!” the man complained.

“Just give us a moment to clean up and we’ll be gone, we were done anyway!” Freya called.

“Like hell, it’s freezing out here!” the woman scoffed.  The footsteps started up again.  “We’re coming in, it’s nothing we haven’t seen before.”

“No, you AREN’T!” Freya yelled, baring her teeth in defiance.

Venus pulled her shirt on, hurriedly slapping her sunglasses over her eyes.  Just in time, the voices arrived.  A Fenrisian man of twenty or so and a woman of the same age entered the cave, glaring at them.

Freya stomped out of the water and walked right up to the man, hiding her fangs with an effort.  “Has privacy no meaning to you, fool?” she snapped.  “My friends are dressing here!”

“Bah, no man owns this place, girl,” the man scoffed.  “Now if you’re done, begone.”

“Neighborly of you,” Freya said coldly.  Her hand closed over the man’s like a vice, making him pause and gasp.  “I said you should wait because not doing so is bad for your health,” she snarled.

The woman slapped Freya across the face, shocking her into releasing her grip.  “Hands off him, bitch!” the woman said angrily.

Alex stared, one arm hanging out of his shirt.  Freya slowly looked back at her, her hands clenching into fists.  “Wrong move,” Freya said darkly, and hauled off with a quick jab that knocked the woman flat on her ass.  In a blur of red, she spun to the side and cold-cocked the man, sending him sprawling.

The others finished dressing as Freya dried herself off and left the two Fenrisians reeling on the floor.  She marched past them with the others in tow as Alex doused the torches in the water and left them floating.

The Thunderhawk was swooping in from the horizon as they emerged, and Freya breathed a sigh of relief that the natives hadn’t seen it.  Alex cleared his throat nervously.  “Exit notwithstanding, Freya, that was the best time we’ve had since we got here.  And yeah, we should do it again.”

“I agree,” Freya said, and to the others’ relief, her voice was free of anger again.  “Maybe next time we won’t be disturbed by morons.  Honestly.  Does nobody respect common courtesy around here?”

“Would you want to lurk about outside while people took their time dressing in there?” Remilia asked.  “At least they didn’t seem to notice our clothes.”

“Hmph.  Oh well.”  Freya shielded her eyes from the backdraft of the Thunderhawk as it landed, and they climbed aboard.