[adamu]

Saturday, August 2nd, 2076

After the previous evening's feast, Al wasn't extraordinarily hungry. He downed some eggs and a few rashers of bacon, sipped a bit of coffee, and grabbed a beer to go.

"Alyce, yer a vision this mornin'. An' Grace, real glad you consented ta accompany us today. Now, we wanna git outta the inlet with the tide, an' that means you lovely ladies need ta be down ta Pier 23 in an hour. Ol' Al's goin' down now - only seen the digital walk-through, an' I never take a boat out sans my own inspection fer seaworthiness. See ya down there."

They had rented a thirty-eight-foot Samufani Sea Lion cabin cruiser called the Meanderer. She was no speedboat, but the foredeck was clean would be a good place if the ladies were the lie-in-the-sun types (incomprehensible to Al, but he knew some females, and even a few girlie-man types, went for that), and there was a small bar and sunken seating area aft. The cabin was well-provisioned for a gourmet lunch, and all the mechanicals and hull were in the excellent condition advertised.

Apropos her name, they had nowhere special to go in her, but Al was looking forward to being on the water in something smaller than a minor village, and planned to take her out at least twenty miles, just to get a taste of being out of sight of land.

[Mercy Merchant]

Saturday, August 2nd, 2076


Al had given them an hour, but Alyce and Grace show up at the pier in thirty-five minutes, ready to board the cabin cruiser.  They had left almost immediately after Al had and had descended in the lift to the hotel shops to look for appropriate clothing, finding some very cute shorts and blouse combinations.  They had worn their new purchases from the store and walked the short distance to the pier.  The shorts showed off the toned legs of both women and they had garnered some double and triple takes from the men they had passed and more than a few whistles.  Arriving at the gangway to the Meanderer, they see Al on the aft deck and Alyce calls out to him.  "Hey, Al, we alone on this trip or is there a crew?"

[adamu]

Saturday, August 2nd, 2076

"Welcome aboard, ladies. Don't reckon ol' Al needs a crew ta handle this little skiff. Jist relax yerselves an' I'll have us onna water lickety-split."

Cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth, released the aft mooring, walked along the wooden marina planking and untied fore, then took a long step back onto the deck.

[Mercy Merchant]

Alyce and Grace go aboard and smile at Al as he admires their legs.  He goes through the motions of getting the vessel away from the pier as the ladies take a quick tour.  The sunken seating section at the aft is nice and both of them mention to each other how the foredeck is perfect for sunning.  Below the deck is a nice cabin with a small galley and they ooh a bit over the spread arranged for them.  Forward of the sitting cabin is a small bunk room, presumably for trips that take more than a day.............or in case someone needs a bit of privacy. 

While below, they feel the surge of the powerful engines and both reach out to grab onto something to keep from staggering.  Laughing, they return to the deck and watch the town disappear behind them.  There is some sea spray as the boat moves quickly through the swells and it is soon quite apparent to any observer that neither girl is wearing anything under their blouses.  Alyce leads Grace back to the sunken seating area and fetches both of them a lemonade from the well stocked bar before sitting on a comfy cushion next to Grace, putting her bag down and feeling the water slip by.  Grace casts a look at the receding shore and looks back to Alyce with a slightly worried grin.  "He does know what he is doing, right?"

Alyce smiles broadly.  "Don't worry.  He is Al Guthrie and he always knows what he is doing.  From the stories he has told me, he is more than capable of handling this boat.  Sit back and relax."

The sun is warming and as soon as Al gets the boat past the harbor and gets it to settle down, Alyce removes her clothing and digs a bottle of sun tan lotion from the bag at her feet.  "Lotion me up?"

Soon both girls are rubbing lotion on each other and some of the touches are more than platonic, leaving both almost to the point of showing complete disregard for propriety.  Certainly they are both breathing harder by the time they sit back and let the sun work its miracle on them.

[adamu]

Saturday, August 2nd, 2076

Al spent an hour on the bridge taking the boat out of sight of land and into a nice gap between the main outbound shipping lanes. Not that they'd be fully out of sight of the passing maritime traffic, but it would be a bit quieter.

Behind him, the girls were having right time of it but at least he could concentrate on the ocean ahead. He was glad Alyce had found herself a new dear friend - it made him less depressed about things.

It also made it damned hard to concentrate. Especially when they moved to the foredeck and stretched themselves out for a nice sunning and  chat....

Warm day or not, the Atlantic waters were cold, which was exactly what he needed. Having wieghed anchor, he'd gone to the afterdeck without a word and stripped, then just dropped into the waves - sort of a reverse birthing, a hippie might call it.

He didn't go far, in case the landlubbers needed anything, just stayed under the surface for a good long while, letting his internal air supply oxygenate his lungs as he watched the sunlight wend its way through the shifting currents and schools of drab silvery gray cold-water fish.

The more fun the trip got, the more he felt the need to step back and think about things. And Alyce, bless her, had a way of keeping things very fun indeed. He'd spent a good part of the previous evening lying on his bed, Ozark Catastrophe in his earbuds, sifting through all the ethical variables and spiritual conundrums. He'd arranged things out, lying there staring at the ceiling after his ice-cold shower, making lists of pros and cons and then mentally crumpling them up and throwing them out. He tried just letting all the data wash over his consciousness in the woman way of thinking, tried to just feel an answer. Even less luck at finding an answer.

Well, plenty of answers - just none good.

He needed more data, the data he hadn't gotten earlier because of Alyce's relationship-martyr thing. Maybe after Grace was gone. Nice girl, but so very beside the point....

[adamu]

Saturday, August 2nd, 2076

While Al was occupied with getting the boat into deeper water, Alyce and Grace had shucked their clothes and applied oil to each other before walking to the front portion of the deck and laying down on towels.  The 800 pound gorilla on the deck is what had happened the previous evening and Grace seems a bit reluctant to get into a discussion of what she had done.  Alyce lets things brew for a half hour then rolls over to face the young woman.
 
“Grace, it seems that you are talking about everything except what you really want to talk about.  Come, we are both adults.  What do you need to let out?”
 
Grace looks at the Keeb and gulps a couple of times.  She blushes a bit as her eyes roam down Alyce’s body and hers reacts in an extremely maddening manner.  In the light of day, she is a bit uncomfortable with how she had behaved in the evening and a lot uncomfortable with what she had done in bed with Alyce.  She is even a bit uncomfortable with the present situation, knowing that not only Al, but everyone else that passes by them can see her naked body, even if she is laying on her stomach.  After all, good girls just don’t do these things and she has been raised to be just that; a good girl.  Her mind is warring with itself on just why she is doing this.  It is not like these people are forcing her to act the role of a tart, but on the other hand, she has never felt so alive in her life.  It is all so very bloody confusing.  Finally, she takes a deep breath and says, “I am not sure I should be here.”
 
Alyce sighs as she hears what she had wonders was the problem.  “Here with us on the boat or here with us on the boat naked?”
 
“Uh, a bit of both, actually.  I am so bloody confused at what is happening.  Yesterday I was simply working a job as a hire car driver and today I am the girl that was very nearly naked in a public restaurant, who was truly naked in the room of her clients, who went to be with another woman for the first time in my life, and who is laying naked on a boat deck where the client and anyone with a nice set of binocs can see me.  This is not me………or, rather, is not the me I was raised to be.”
 
Alyce nods.  “Were you uncomfortable at the restaurant, or in the room, or in the bed?”
 
Grace blushes even more.  “Hell no.  I loved it.  I felt so………………so liberated and free of the fetters of my upbringing.  I actually enjoyed the sense that men were looking at me and trying to see up the frock to get a look at my………well, at me.  And I almost did not notice that I was naked when Al was in the room.  And, most of all, I have never experienced or enjoyed sex as much as I did with you.  That was simply amazing and I don’t know if I…………if I am now a lesbian or bi or what.  And it is all so very confusing.”
 
Alyce puts a hand on Grace’s arm.  The girls blushes a bit more but does not pull away.  “See?  Just like that.  My mind is telling me that I should be pulling away, but all my body and heart want to do is lean over and kiss you.”
 
Alyce smiles.  “I am certainly not going to stop you if you want to do that, but I do understand what you are saying.  About forty years ago I was in a similar place in life.  I was raised to be a “good” girl and my first and only sexual experiences were with the man I was going to marry.  Sex was not even in the equation until after I got an engagement ring on my finger.  Looking back, he was barely adequate in bed, but I did not have the experience to know differently and so was quite happy.  My life changed a lot in the period of one evening, just as yours has, but my experience was rather violent.  The story itself is not really meant for now, but the effect is.  I might have lost my mind over the things I did to survive and get justice for what was done to me.  For a while I became a total tramp, even working in a strip club and prostituting myself.  I told myself at the time that I was doing it all for a reason and that I would probably kill myself after it was all over.  Fortunately, my mind took a different tack and I realized that I could either be horribly angry with myself and feel abused enough to end it all, or I could learn to live with myself and be comfortable in my skin.  I chose the latter and embraced who I had become.  Now you get to make the same choice.  You can look back on these two days with regret and hate us and hate yourself for doing these things and go back to being the “good” girl you were raised to be.  Or you can embrace the real you that you have now discovered and learn to be comfortable with that.  The choice is ultimately yours to make and, really, only you can make it.  Before you get too wound up, though, I think that you should ask yourself if what you have experienced was good.”
 
Grace frowns at Alyce’s words and is a bit shocked at first.  By the time Alyce finishes, though, she has given some thought to what the Elf has said and nods.  “Fair enough, and well said, Alyce.  It certainly gives me something to think about.  Thank you.  I hope that it was not hard to talk about your past?  I assume that you did not get married?”
 
Alyce nods slowly.  “Yes. My fiancée was killed after watching his assassin rape me.  The road to justice took several years and much pain, but it was ultimately very much worth it to me.  That man is one of the few people that I have personally killed in my life and I have to admit that I took a long time doing it, inflicting an extreme amount of pain over that time, and that it was extremely satisfying when it was over.  I suppose that makes me a bad person, too, but I have come to live with that as well as everything else I have done since.  I have very few regrets in life, and killing him is certainly not one of them.”
 
Grace shakes her head as she tries to imagine Alyce killing anyone but cannot.  “Anyway, you have given me lots to think over.  I hope that you will be patient with me.”
 
“As patient as I need to be, dear Grace.  You will come to a decision in your own time, and I am a patient woman.”
 
Grace goes silent as she tries to digest what has been said and is still in a thinking mode when Al stops the boat and anchors it.  Both women hear Al dive into the water from the aft deck.  Grace sits up and looks about before standing.  “Come on, lets dive in.”
 
Alyce shakes her head.  “No thank you.  I have found that oceans and Alyce do not get along very well.  I am actually doing quite well enough to just be on such a small boat in such a bloody great amount of water and being out of sight of land is giving me the shakes.  I can barely float and cannot really swim at all.  Go ahead if you like.”
 
Grace smiles and nods before diving over the bow of the boat and disappearing under the water.  She loves the water and swims like a fish, seeming to be able to hold her breath for an inordinate amount of time.  She quickly finds Al under the water and gives him a thumbs up before diving on past him.  As unreal as it might sound, Al is almost certain that he saw some small bubbles floating up from a couple of small slits on the side of her neck.

[adamu]

Saturday, August 2nd, 2076

Al's long underwater reverie was disturbed by Grace's appearance behind him. She swam a playful circle around him before giving him a cheerful thumbs up and diving deeper. He might have worried had he not seen the gills. A guy on the Troubleshooters had had those, only his were artificial. He suspected Grace was born with hers - damned Sixth World. He wondered if he'd be able to see them once they were out of the water.

She was either under for a long time or else simply had come up some distance from him, because he didn't see her until he got bored a couple of hours later and went up. The last twenty-four hours had helped him decide a couple of things - in fact solving what he called Problem Three. Which was some relief - while not the most fun option, it was one he could live with. But that had never been the biggest problem anyway, and figuring it out put him no closer to the other solutions. But he supposed it was something.

Climbing the ladder up to the afterdeck, he emerged dripping from the water to find his date and their new friend back in the cushioned conversation area having drinks and setting out lunch.

"Oh my gosh, Al..." Grace exclaimed, all shiny with sunblock, "...that's why you call it The Elephant!"

[adamu]

Saturday, August 2nd, 2076

As Grace dives into the water, Alyce suddenly finds herself on her own.  On a small boat.  On the ocean.  With no land in sight.  The fear of drowning has always been primal with her.  She will go into water if others are around to help save her and has three times dove into water to save others.  It should be noted that on those occasions she had very little time to consider the options.  This time is different and she can feel the fear trying to take control of her, turning her into some sort of mindless idiot.  Being around others makes it easy to ignore the fear and push it back into the darker recesses of her mind, but now there is no one on the boat with her and her heart begins beating faster and faster and she curls up into a fetal position to try to protect herself.
 
Grace steps onto the boat first, rising at the rear where the water steps are and moving to the front, dripping water all along the way.  A strange noise is barely audible as she makes her way along the narrow decking next to the side of the cabin and she calls out.  “Alyce?  Are you alright?”
 
The only response is an odd gurgle and she races forward to find Alyce curled about herself on the towel, drool coming from her open mouth and her voice the source of the odd noise.  With years of experience on and in the water, Grace immediately recognizes what she is looking at, though she has only ever seen such a severe case once before.  She reaches out to touch Alyce and is immediately startled by two things; first, that the woman’s pulse indicates that her heart is beating at an incredible, and dangerous, rate; and second she barely catches movement as Alyce’s hand flicks in her general direction, the tip of her index finger opening and an almost invisible strand of……..something…….comes flowing out of it.  She dodges the strand of monowire and it strikes the railing on the side of the boat, slicing through the hard metal as if it were not there.  Afterwards, the strand lays on the deck, a glint in the sun really the only indicator of where it is.  Grace gasps as she realizes how close to death she had come and pays attention to where the two-metre length of wire is as she bends over her friend and lover.
 
Alyce’s skin is extremely pale and she is apparently in some sort of shock.  She realizes that a bad move on her part might cost her an arm or worse as she leans over Alyce and begins to treat her for shock, all the while talking to her to try to bring her down from the narrow precipice the Elven woman is teetering on.  She uses her body to warm Alyce and is horrified when she turns in her arms and threatens to drag the edge of the concealed whip across her back.  Grace’s words and closeness eventually begin to get through to Alyce, who calms down a bit, although it takes nearly twenty minutes to bring her around to a level of consciousness that allows speech.  Once Alyce appears a bit more stable, Grace rolls away from her, very mindful of the position of the monowhip.  She disappears aft at a run to bring some of the lemonade back out to Alyce, arriving in time to see her try to sit up.  The Elf looks at her with a smile then seems to notice her hand.  Terrified, she follows the line of the whip and cringes before returning it to her finger and closing the tip.  She looks at Grace and whispers, “Did I hurt you?”
 
Grace laughs as she settles back down next to Alyce and hands her the glass of lemonade.  “Are you kidding?  No one just gets hurt by something like that.  I would be dead or dying if it had hit me.  Fortunately for me, your aim sucks when you are unconscious.  Here, drink this and then we will go back to the aft deck and sit for a bit.”
 
Alyce takes the glass and drinks the lemonade in a single pull then allows Grace to help her to her feet.  She shambles to the rear of the boat and sits down heavily in the padded conversation pit.  Grace takes a seat next to her.  “OK, now perhaps you can start by telling me why you did not let me know about your little problem?”
 
Alyce gives a weak smile.  “Guess it is not so little, heh?  Truly, it has been a long time since I have been alone on the water like that and I had hoped I would be alright but even knowing that both of you were just a short distance away did not help and everything came crashing in on me.  I guess I am not as tough as I thought I was, but I am already feeling better now that you are back on board.”  She reaches out a hand to touch Grace.  “And nothing to Al, right?  He does not know and would be angry that I did not tell him.  I had hoped that I could handle it because he really wanted and needed this boat outing.  Please do not spoil it for him.”
 
Grace sits and thinks on the request for a minute then nods her head.  “Alright.  This time.  And now you know how you react and you will not have a next time, right?”
 
Alyce grimaces and nods.  “I will do my best to not be alone on the water again.  Promise.  Perhaps I should really invest in the time to get some swimming lessons and learn to get past my fear.”
 
Grace nods back.  “Perhaps, indeed.  Now, I expect that Al will be surfacing soon.  What say we distract ourselves with getting the luncheon ready for him?”
 
Alyce smiles and agrees with Grace and the two are busy setting lunch up when Al pulls himself out of the water.  Alyce is not quite herself yet, but she does hear Grace exclaim about the elephant and orients her sensors to get a better view as Al towels himself off then pulls on his boxers and jeans.  Grace blushes but does not look away as the man dresses in front of her.  After all, he has seen every part of her exterior and she is very interested in his.  She leans over to Alyce and softly says, “When he finally gets around to it, you will be very well treated by that thing.”
 
Instead of saying anything else to Alyce, Grace simply calls out that the luncheon is nearly ready then goes to get Al a beer from the stocked fridge, taking it to him.

[adamu]

Saturday, August 2nd, 2076

Al thanked Grace for the beer. By the time she handed it to him, he already had a Lucky Strike lit in his mouth, though she couldn't figure out where it had come from since she'd just seen his cigarettes and lighter next to the wheel on the bridge.

He sat down close to Alyce and wrapped an arm around her, allowing himself to enjoy the feel of her skin against his. Grace sat across from them and they tucked in, all hungry.

As they ate, Grace teased, "So Al, how come me and Alyce have to be sitting here buck naked, but you get to have your jeans on?"

Al answered carelessly around a mouthful of foie gras on sesame cracker. "This one's naked cuz that's how she prefers it...an' cuz ol' Al apparently likes ta do some things the hard way. Yer choosin' ta be naked cuz...well...that'd really be fer you ta say, though I'd wager this one had a hand in it...an' I sure ain't complainin'. Me, I'm wearin' jeans cuz I like wearin' jeans, an' cuz I ain't no damned nudist nature-boy."

He refilled the ladies' wine glasses and opened another beer for himself. Then he remembered to try to spot her gills, but couldn't see a thing. And though curious, figured it wouldn't be polite to pry. So he contented himself with obviously staring at her neck hoping she'd say something, all the while congratulating himself on his subtlety and sense of decorum.

[Mercy Merchant]

Saturday, August 2nd, 2076
 
 
Alyce is quite happy indeed to be sitting next to Al and his arm around her is enough to chase all the demons away and put them back into the darkest parts of her mind.  She gives a contented sigh and realizes that she could live like this for a very long time.  Even on a boat.  Even so far from land.  As long as he is with her.
 
Grace watches the two and shakes her head softly, wondering if she will ever really find someone to share life with as these two so clearly can do.  Their love is not perfect, but maybe, just maybe, real love is not meant to be perfect.  She had thought she was in love twice now and she had been wrong both times.  If she is honest with herself, she is as close to being in love with Alyce as she would ever be with anyone, but nothing can really come of that unless Al allows it or dumps Alyce.  Her nostrils flare a little when she considers just what she would do to Al if he hurt Alyce that much then calms down as she realizes that the last thing that Alyce would want is for anyone to hurt Al.  Grace would just have to be available to pick up the pieces if the worst happens and she suddenly realizes just how Alyce must feel.  Her fork stops in its movement to her mouth as she has an epiphany-type moment and realizes that she would wait until it is her turn, just as Alyce is waiting for Al.  She laughs softly to herself and continues to eat.  Some poet somewhere must have written about such a love triangle as this is and she supposes that she is a true sap for believing in what she feels, but there it is.
 
The subject of pants comes up and Al’s response has Grace giving Alyce a sharp look then a smile as she realizes that Alyce had never said anything more than what Al had just said.  Grace had interpreted the words in her own way but in all honesty, she is extremely glad that she did.  Her life is very different but, in a strange sort of way,  incomparably better for having met these two, even if she never sees them again after this evening.  She laughs at herself and says, “Yes, I do like being naked in front of you and Alyce.  Not sure why, but it seems the way it should be.”  She lifts her wine glass to Al and Alyce and gives a small toast to them and their happiness.

She does notice that Al is staring at her and is lost for a reason.  Certainly it is not her body that entices him, as he has seen all of it before.  Something else........and the light bulb goes off above her head.  Smiling, she flexes her neck just a tiny bit and the gill slits open a small fraction of what they do under the water.  The pain of her body trying to suck water through the gills is more than enough to remind her why she never does this when out of the water.  She blushes at his look and bows her head slightly, half waiting for the "mutant" comments and hoping that he will not embarrass her too much.

[adamu]

Saturday, August 2nd, 2076

Girl knew how to take a hint. Curiousity satisfied for the moment, Al redirected his gaze to some of her other features, again making no attempt to hide his interest.

The conversation turned to the afternoon's ride. Grace assured them she had dealt with the stable she'd hired before, and that they provided excellent mounts for both seasoned and novice riders. Al was impressed that rather than ask them something useless like whether they could ride or not, she asked just the right, specific questions to get an idea of their respective abilities. "Alyce, they''ve got just the right animal for you - a chestnut mare named Cherry. Not exactly a mount for a novice, but someone with a bit more experience, though she won't let you fall. Al, sounds more like you should be riding Bunny."

"Bunny? Sheee-it, girl, ain't ya got a Firebrand or a Blitz or some such?"

"Don't let the name fool you, Al. The stable owner's daughter christened Bunny when she was five years old. But he's their only stallion, and they only hire him out to proven riders. I'll let them know."

She fetched her commlink and was on it for a few minutes. Al said to Alyce, "Yer girlfriend's got gills. Happens. Damned useful, hell, almost enviable. Almost. By the way, you okay leavin' tonight? Don't mind sayin' I'm right eager ta have ya all ta myself again, but two of ya need more time, we can always catch up ta the train later."

[Mercy Merchant]

Saturday, August 2nd, 2076


At Al's words, Alyce shifts her sensors to Grace but cannot "see" any gills so she just takes Al's word for it.  His other question brings her some pause, then she carefully considers her words.  "Is Grace a third wheel for you, Al?  A distraction?  If she is then I am all for leaving tonight.  I think that I have made a strong connection with her, probably more than anyone but you.  That being said, this was supposed to be a holiday for you and me and I am happy to keep it that way.  I want you to feel comfortable enough to talk to me, to work out in your head what it is you need to say to me.  So, yes, I am OK with getting on the train and leaving her at Land's End.  Is that what you want?"

[adamu]

Saturday, August 2nd, 2076

"Not a third wheel if things was simpler. Love havin' 'er around...though I'll allow she does make things, er, harder...pun intended. But ya wanna try workin' through some shit...well...we got two more weeks on this trip, few days won't make no difference, ya need ta git some yah-yahs out."

[Mercy Merchant]

Saturday, August 2nd, 2076

Curious, Alyce put her hands under her breasts and lifted them up.  letting them go, she chuckled softly.  "I thought my yah-yahs were already out."

[adamu]

Saturday, August 2nd, 2076

"That they are, toots, that they are. I mean, ya wanna git yer jollies, blow some foam off the top, release some pressure, unload the gun...I'll allow as ol' Al ain't been much of a date in certain respects..."