[adamu]

Sunday, August 3rd, 2076

Before getting their beers, Al went on outside for some under-the-stars time before the headliners got started. A lot of the other clubgoers had the same idea, as usual, and he shouldered then sauntered through the crowd, moving easier as it thinned, until finally he found a nearby alley that didn't have anyone rutting or shooting up. Took a moment to empty his bladder, buttoned back up, and lit a smoke.

Three contemplative puffs later and a young woman walked up to him, almost in spitting distance before he noticed her. "Got a light?" she asked. Her voice was sultry without overdoing it, red lipstick already staining the butt of the cigarette in her mouth. Rarely missing a shot at performing his favorite parlor trick, Al put his empty hand up and there was the big Zippo in it, flame burning steadily. She breathed life into the tobacco from her side and they were all set.

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it, amiga."

"Say that again."

"Don't mention it, amiga....?"

"It's not just your face...your voice too...you remind me so much of Mark Phillips."

"Sparky?"

"The legend himself."

"Been inna ground a helluva long time..."

"So maybe you are him, risen from the grave."

She was tall in her wedges, which had six-inch heels atop a two-inch platform. She wore bright red capris and a black halter, a biker-leather shrug covering her shoulders. A long stem of yellow snapdragon was safety-pinned to the shrug, and her long, straight hair was dyed to match the capri pants and held away from her face by a cherries bandana knotted at the top of her head.

"Sorry, kema sabe, reckon I was born afore he passed."

"Yeah, you do look a bit long in the tooth...just sayin', you remind me of him. Do you sing?"

"Not a note. I'm a Thespian."

"A what?"

"Let's jist talk music."

And so they did. She wasn't too bright, but she was a psychobilly encyclopedia, and they went on and on, Al's familiarity with an earlier age of the genre complementing her knowledge of the current Bristol scene.

And then she looked at her watch and said, "Well, I guess that's about long enough. It's been nice meeting you." And with a wink, she was gone.

Immersed in the conversation, her mention of the time reminded Al that he'd promised the girls another round of beers...an hour ago.

[Mercy Merchant]

Sunday, August 3rd, 2076


Alyce and Grace have a good time as they wait for Al to return with the beers.  After thirty minutes, Grace looks around and says, “Al is certainly taking a long time with those beers.”  She makes to stand up.  “Maybe I should go see if he needs any help.”
 
Alyce already knows exactly where Al is, thanks to the mark she has on his 'link and she can guess what he is doing.  She places a hand on Grace’s arm and pulls her back to her seat.  “Oh, you know him.  He is probably off smoking somewhere, since the venue is supposed to me non-smoking.  I could almost kill for a cigarette, too, to be honest.”
 
Grace looks a bit unsatisfied but allows Alyce to pull her back.  “Hey, Alyce, be completely honest.  How does Al feel about me?  Am I being a third wheel for you guys?  After all, this is supposed to be your holiday and now I am staying in your room and everything.”
 
Alyce shakes her head.  “Dear, I have tried for years to figure that man out and have failed completely.  I do know without any doubt that he loves me and wants me to be happy.  Why he won’t take the last step and tell me, I don’t know.  But he will tell me at some point, when he is comfortable with talking about it.  I also know that he wants you here with us.  He wants you to come with us after we leave Bristol.  I am sure that part of this is him delaying having that talk with me, but most of it is because he likes you a lot and wants you to be with us.  With US, Grace, not just me.  Al Guthrie never lies, so if he said he wants you here, then he wants you here.   And I definitely want you here.”
 
Alyce leans over and presses herself against Grace, kissing her deeply and passionately.  She hears but ignores lots of calls from nearby patrons telling them to get a room or hooting it up at the sight of the two lovely women kissing in public.  Grace initially resists, but succumbs to the allure of the Keeb as well as her own desire and wraps her arms around her as she returns the kiss as passionately as she can.  When they break, both woman are panting and looking at each other with desire and need.  Alyce controls the notion to go off and find a quiet corner to make love to Grace, instead moving her chair a bit closer and taking the other woman’s hand and holding it in hers.  Both hearts are beating quite fast as they try to catch their breath.  They pretend to watch the dancing while considering what they will do to each other when they are back aboard the train and in their cabin.
 

[adamu]

Sunday, August 3rd, 2076

By the time Al got back with the beers the Skinny Jimmies were well into their set and Alyce and Grace were well into each other.

The girl's words echoed in his head - '...that's about long enough.'  Yup, he reckoned it had been.

He figured they'd find the beers when they came up for air, and, as usual, he was right. They grinned their thanks at him, words useless amid the noise, and drank thirstily. The SJ's were in rare form - Grace proved unable to resist the dance floor, and Al a cigarette. No one said anything to him. By degrees, the crowd was whipped into an increasingly raucous frenzy of bacchanalian reverie.

[adamu]

Sunday, August 3rd, 2076

Alyce stays at the table with Al as Grace goes off to rejoin the dancers.  She slips closer to Al and takes his hand, holding it to her cheek for a few moments before putting it back on the table.  Realizing that verbal communication is going to be almost impossible, she instead turns to her ‘link, sending Al a text message.  >>Al [Alyce]:  Thank you, Al.  That was just the right amount of time.  Do you mind if I just sit here with you for a bit?<<
 
She tries to move just a bit closer so that she can more easily make out his smell among the myriad of smells in the area.  She filters out the odors that are not Al and focuses on those that are; his body, his cigarettes, his old jacket that has a distinctive smell of its own, his hair.  She sighs, comfortable just to hold his hand and be close to him, with no need for talking, no need for strange naked antics…………………….just sitting with the man she loves and loving the smell and feel of him near her.

[adamu]

Sunday, August 3rd, 2076

As loud as the Skinny Jimmies were, and as frenzied as the crowd was becoming, Al enjoyed a deeply peaceful moment. Because no one was talking. He realized his mind had begun automatically scheming to find ways to avoid any situation where conversation might be required.

So now, for a moment, things were still.

And with Alyce leaning against him and holding his hand, he could really appreciate her closeness. Think of her wisdom, strength, and beauty. Of course, he also thought of all the other things that had nearly dissuaded him from ever even bothering with this whole courtship thing, all the psycho-girlfriend telltales every guy who's been around the block once or twice knows as signs to head for the hills - the Lucky Strikes, the Zippo, naming her creature after him, the fucking bust...

Well, considering how fucking irresistably attractive he was, he supposed some latitude had to be given. Hell, not meeting her in Phnom Penh, that might've killed most normal women. That she hadn't commit suicide, become a junkie, or entered a convent spoke to a certain very admirable strength.

He reflected for a time, listening to the twanging riffs of the psychobilly band, upon the great responsibility held by anyone - particularly himself - so desirable to all womankind. How easily he could lift hearts to lofty heights with one careless smile on a street corner or kind word in a shop, only for them to crash into the depths of despair when he passed on his way down the road, never knowing the broken hearts left in his wake. At times, when he was sober enough to think about it, the consciousness of it could be a heavy burden to bear.

 

[Mercy Merchant]

Sunday, August 3rd, 2076


The Skinny Jimmies announced the last song of their set and Alyce opens her mouth to say something but closes it without uttered a sound.  It feels so good to be sitting her with him and she does not want to ruin the moment by talking.  She knows that she has a record of saying the wrong things to Al and that bothers her a great deal.  Her heart is overflowing with words of love and she cannot seem to say any of them without saying them poorly.  She is terrified of losing him because she can't tell him that she loves him in a way that he will not blow her words off as a natural thing, or will criticize her for being a woman and saying woman things.  All in all, being in love is a very frustrating experience.so far and she cannot for the life of her understand why anyone would want to do this to themselves.  Still, there is it, she would spend the rest of her life in misery just to have a chance of hearing him say out loud that he loves her and that he wants to be with her always.  Yet it is becoming a bit more obvious every day that he is perhaps never going to say those words and that thought is a bit depressing.  Still, until he tells her that he will never say them, there is still hope in her heart, and love enough to manage.

Grace walks out of the crowd of revelers as the set ends and heads to the table.  She sees Alyce and Al just sitting there and notes to herself that they look perfect together, wondering again if she should stay or just slip off back home on her own.  Emotionally, that might be the smartest choice, because there is a good chance that her heart will be broken if she stays.  She has never met anyone like Alyce before and she has fallen completely for the Keeb, wanting to see if there is anything to it.  She is more like a goalie; waiting for the shot to be attempted and Alyce to tumble to the ground, hurt and dazed.  Grace wants to be there to catch her if Al lets her down and leaving will not allow her to do that.  Besides, she also has feelings for Al, which he has blithely passed off as a natural thing.  He has a maddening way of turning a phrase of love and affection into something completely different and then making light of it in such a way that has her thinking that the man is completely oblivious to how he is hurting Alyce with almost every word and action.  Still, it is Alyce's choice to love him and Grace will respect that and be ready if the worst happens.  She has prayed already that Al will talk to Alyce and will pray again for that. 

She walks up to the table and takes a seat without saying a word, placing a hand on Al's other arm and just holding onto him in companionship and, yes, a bit of love.

[adamu]

Monday, August 4th, 2076

Pleasantly surprised at being allowed to actually listen to the concert in peace, Al had a satisfied feeling after the last encore. It was well after midnight and he was hungry again. Standing, Alyce looked a vision as always in her boots, shades and denim bikini, while Grace's lovely red dress now served as counterpoint to dissheveled hair and sweat-run make-up, giving her an incredibly alluring aura. Considering that he could likely choose any two women in Bristol to accompany him, Al congratulated himself on his excellent taste.

As was often the case with popular music venues, the law of supply-and-demand had provided a number of all-night eateries in the vicinity. They found one. Like the rest, it was fairly crowded, but they found a booth and Al ordered a full English with beer.

Across the room, he spotted the people he'd pushed out of their table in the club, and quietly asked the waitress to put their meal on his tab. Their response when she told them was to flip him off, but he figured that was fair enough.

[Mercy Merchant]

Monday, August 4th, 2076


At the eatery, Alyce orders a large salad while Grace follows Al's lead and goes for the full English.  Both women order beer to drink and Alyce raises her glass in a salute to the bands and the evening.  "That was wonderful.  Thank you, Al, for broadening my musical horizons and Grace for trying to teach me to dance to swing.  I had a very nice time."

Grace joins in the toast.  "I, too, had a great time and thank you for inviting me."  She turns to Al, "You missed some good dance opportunities.  Maybe next time we can get you on the dance floor."

Alyce takes a few bites in silence then asks, "So, is it back to the train or do we look for a hotel for the night?"

[adamu]

Monday, August 4th, 2076

"Bed's a bed, far as ol' Al's concerned. I'll allow as the train's're a mite abbreviated, but then that don't make no difference ta me. Then again, if you two're hankerin' fer a night with a bit more elbow room..." Al let the thought hang, indifferent as he stuffed half a tomato into his mouth.

[Mercy Merchant]

Monday, August 4th, 2076


Alyce nods.  "Train it is, then.  It is already nearly two in the morning and I would hate to pay for a room for a couple of hours."

Grace nods in agreement and both look at Al.

[adamu]

Monday, August 4th, 2076

It was the first time Al had ever heard Alyce discuss money as if it had any value greater than air. He wondered if the buying a huge house in Cornwall the way he picked up corn nuts at the Stuffer Shack check-out had put an actual strain on her finances. Whatever - none of his beeswax.

They walked the half-mile to the train, the cool air refreshing, and nothing on their agenda for the morrow.

Sometimes he told them to go on ahead, promising to catch up. He always did, and never explained. Fact was, he sometimes had the feeling that walking alongside them was a terrible waste, since it meant he couldn't see them. They were both some striking, each in their own way. So me made chances to get a better look at them as they walked.

Once back at the train, he said his good nights and headed to his compartment. The train wouldn't leave for Wales until Tuesday morning, but they had no particular plans for the next day. With no work to be done, Al saw little reason be ever be awake before noon. He intended to stay in bed at least until then...even if it took him until eleven to fall asleep.

[Mercy Merchant]

Monday, August 4th, 2076


Alyce and Grace watch Al leave their compartment then look at each other.  Grace licks her lips and gives a half smile and a shrug. "Do we?  Can we?"

Alyce steps forward and places her lips against those of the younger woman.  When she breaks the kiss, she whispers, "We do and we can."

The girls clasp each other in an embrace and kiss deeply before moving their hands over each other to remove clothing, which hits the floor at various locations on the short path to the bed.  Falling onto the bed together, they make love to each other for a couple of hours, lost in the emotions of pleasing and being pleased.  Alyce turns her alarm off just before falling asleep and so it is that Al finds them still in bed when he enters the cabin after waking up.  They are laying with Alyce on her back and Grace has one of her shapely legs tossed across Alyce.

[adamu]

Monday, August 4th, 2076

It was after one when Al wandered into their compartment. They had clearly had another busy night, and seeing no need to wake them he backed on out and made his way up to breakfast on the observation deck. Of course by then it was lunch, but food was food. He helped himself to fish and chips with mashed peas and a pickled onion, congratulating himself on his acclimation to the local cuisine.

He'd had about enough of Bristol's sights and shops the day before, so he ate and smoked and drank beer, contemplating a day in his compartment practicing magic tricks and watching the trid.

[Mercy Merchant]

Monday, August 4th, 2076


The women show up in the observation car as Al is about half way through lunch.  The quickly grab some food, knowing that the buffet will be taken down shortly.  They are wearing the short sundresses that Al has said he likes and they join Al at his table, both of them sitting opposite him.  After a "Good afternoon", few words are spoken as all three eat their meals.  When done, they sit back and light up cigarettes; Alyce a Lucky Strike and Grace pulling one from a pack of Players she brings from a pocket.

Alyce takes a few drags then says, "What are the plans for the day, Al?  I am not certain, but I think we have seen most of Bristol."

[adamu]

Monday, August 4th, 2076

"Heard that. Nice enough berg an' all, but seen all I need. Jist speakin' fer myself. Lookin' forward ta seein' what the Welsh contryside has ta offer tomorrow. Till then, though, was fixin' on jist takin' 'er easy today. Less'n y'all got any sorta suggestion, or simply need me fer somethin'...."