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The Longest Night: A Meridian Society Christtmas (TheCorsair & Madame Mim)

TheCorsair

TheCorsair

Fruit Bat Vampire
Joined
Dec 17, 2013
The Swiss Alps
December 19, 1918

It had been a long and difficult mission for the Society, one that had nearly ended badly. With 'badly' defined as 'Berlin conquered by the Devil King and his Machine-Men'. Because of this, Professor Algernon Swift decided that the team needed a rest.

It had been in his mind to simply allow them to separate for a time. Everyone had their interests, after all, and would benefit from time to pursue them. But then, Madame LaMonte had proposed a different sort of vacation. One which would allow the team to relax and bond simultaneously.

He hadn't intended to agree. But Anne Marie could be very persuasive when she set her mind to it. And so, without quite understanding why, he had invited them all to spend Christmas at his chalet.


"She-it," Sam said, looking around. Then, covering her hand with her mouth, she sniggered. "Ah mean oh mah goodness, Professor. Ah never would have believed it."

Algernon shook his head indulgently. Ever since their little adventure in Berlin, she'd made s game of playing with her elocution lessons around him. However, desire her air of contempt for the 'high-falutin'' lessons, he'd also observed a distinct change in her habits. Right now she was dressed in a cream silk blouse with tiny pearl buttons, and a quilted black vest embroidered with a red and gold floral design. She still wore trousers, but they were black tweed instead of denim, and she'd put her long hair up with the aid of two Chinese hairpins. "Would not have believed what, Samantha?"

"All these guns," she replied, gesturing at the racks of long arms and swords that covered the wall. "Hell, all th' weapons. Ah knew y'all was a fair shot wit' a heat ray , but..."

"But you took me for a bookish intellectual?"

Sam shrugged. "Yep."

Laughing, he took down a rifle and examined it closely. "Grew up in the bloody outback, didn't I?" he answered, playing up the accent he normally suppressed. "Every bit as wild as Tejas, an' bloody well dryer, too." He replaced the rifle, and returned his speech to the cultured tone he normally affected. "I learned to ride and shoot long before being accepted to Oxford, and I still hunt when I have the chance."

From the other side of the room, Colin shook his head. "I never realized you were Australian, Professor"

"You weren't meant to," Algernon answered. "But, to return to business. Madame LaMonte has kindly offered to oversee preparing dinner, so I propose we go hunting. Fresh venison would make an excellent holiday feast, after all."

"Hell, yeah!" Sam enthused. "Ah ain't been huntin' in years!"

Colin glanced out the window. The view from the chalet was spectacular and frigid, revealing knee-high snow to the tree line, with a view of snow-capped mountains beyond. "I'll pass," he decided. "I prefer to do my hunting from the deck of a ship."

"Suit yourself." Algernon inspected another rifle, finding it satisfactory. Nearby, Sam was gleefully inspecting a lever-action Winchester rifle. "Erik? Kieran? Will you join us?"
 
The others were surprised to find that Professor Swift was Australian, but Anne Marie was more surprised to find the well-appointed chalet in the Swiss Alps. His family had money, she knew, and it had come as no surprise that they had more than one home. But she'd never been to this one--indeed, she'd only been to Algernon's home in England a handful of times--and looked around appraisingly. It was perfect; just what she'd had in mind when she'd suggested they spend the holidays together. While she was preoccupied with decoration and recipes, already they were putting together a hunting party for supper.

"I'm afraid I'll have to excuse myself too," Erik said. "I've never been one much for killing things."

"Not as much fun if it's not poaching," Kieran admitted, "and it's been a few years so I'm rusty, but I'll go. Used to hunt on the King's land to help feed my family." He chose his own weapon from the wall, sighting down it and nodding in a satisfied sort of way. "Much more sporting than heat rays, I think. Used to be able to put one through the eye of a rabbit at a hundred yards..."

"Kieran that's horrible!" Anne Marie frowned.

"Where d'ya think your meat and fur comes from, Madame?" he countered pointedly. "And stop that: frownin' gives you wrinkles."

Anne Marie frowned deeper then shook her head. "Just gut it and butcher it where I can't see." She waved a hand, shooing them out the door before turning to the remaining two men. "Right then. Draw lots, you two."

Erik frowned and exchanged dubious glances with Colin. "For what?"

"Well it isn't Christmas without a tree, is it?" she said as though it were obvious. "I saw some firewood round the side, so I can start up fires and look and see what the cellar has to offer if one or both of you would be so kind as to get a tree." She shed her long fur coat, hanging it on a peg near the door, before shooing them as well.

~*~

By the time the hunting party had returned with a dressed kill, the chalet looked quite different from the cold, dark cabin they had left. For one, an enormous spruce stood in one corner waiting to be decorated. A large fire roared in the fireplace and Anne Marie positively glowed as she busied herself weaving garlands from branches they'd already trimmed from the tree. Vegetables from the cellar sat on the counter already prepared, waiting for the arrival of the deer before she started making any side dishes. Algernon knew how much she enjoyed Christmas; he really should have expected as much. Anne Marie looked up as the hunters walked in and set aside her project.

"Oh good! I was starting to worry a bit." She cleared off as much space as she could for the butchered deer, plans for it flickering behind her eyes. "I found some cider in the cellar. It's still warm if you want some. Colin thought enough to bring coffee, too." She gestured vaguely to a pot on the stove before choosing a cut of meat and grabbing a knife. Colin and Erik were still by the fire, clutching warm drinks and still warming themselves after chopping down the bloody tree.
 
"Ain't nuthin' ta worry 'bout," Sam laughed, kissing Anne Marie on the cheek as she stripped off her gloves. "Saw some wolf tracks. That's all." Hanging her quilted greatcoat up, she poured herself a mug of coffee and crossed over to the fire. Cradling the coffee in both hands, she leaned into Erik and sipped the hot drink gratefully. "Mmmm," she purred. "Nice an' hot." A pause, followed by a grin as she nipped Erik's ear. "An' th' coffee's nice, too."

Colin watched the display, bemused. He - and most of the rest of the team, he suspected - had yet to fully reconcile this Sam with the hard-bitten Tejas Ranger he'd known for the last three years. In the space of three months she'd embraced some of the trappings of femininity, and it still seemed quite foreign to see her in silk and jewelry and even a little makeup. He doubted she'd ever be a flapper, even if she had the build for it, but she seemed to have decided she was a woman.

Clearly, her work with Madame LaMonte and her relationship with Erik had been good for her. "Was the hunting good?" he asked, sipping his cider.

"Y'all have no idea!" Sam gushed, slipping an arm around Erik's waist. "Coulda bagged a half-dozen deer, if we'd had a use fer them."

"We did not, though," the Professor interrupted. He was still in the kitchen with a selection of knives to hand, assisting with butchering the carcass. "We kill only what we eat."

"An' did Ah try ta shoot more?" Sam shot back, sticking her tongue out at him. "Ah never did see no sense in shootin' somethin' fer no reason. Ain't gotta treat me like a kid."

"In fairness," Colin pointed out, "you are young enough to be his daughter."

"Well, Ah ain't." She gestured around the room with her mug. "Pa's whole house'd fit in this room, Ah reckon."

"If I'd had a daughter," Algernon murmured, shaking his head, "I'd have taught her to shoot like that." He set to work on the hindquarter. "She brought this beast down, you know. Single shot to the skull. I believe he was dead before he knew he was hit. And Kieran demonstrated his skills haven't atrophied as he feared. We have three fine rabbits as well, admirable for roasting or stewing."
 
Erik watched Sam, glowing and invigorated from the hunt. Beautiful...and kissing Anne Marie. A flame of jealousy flared up in his chest and he tried very, very hard to tamp it down. She'd come out to him a month ago, some time before Hannukah, telling him that she also enjoyed the company of women. Sexually. God knew he still loved her, and he wasn't exactly devout when it came to some parts of the Torah, but it still felt sort of...wrong. And more than that he couldn't help but feel threatened by her relationship with Anne Marie. He knew Sam often talked to her about things she couldn't talk to him about--Anne Marie was a trained professional, after all--and that still stung a bit despite understanding her reasons. Then after she had come out Erik couldn't help but notice whenever they stood close together, or touched one another in an innocent way. Anne Marie was a beautiful, experienced woman; he was sure she presented a strong temptation to a young woman in her first real relationship.

But then she came to sit by him and nipped at his ear, sending chills down his back. Erik bit his lip to suppress a stupid grin and leaned back against her gently, turning his face to the fire so his blush could fade. Their relationship was an open secret, he knew--nobody talked about it, at least not while they were present--but he still wasn't used to these displays of affection. That could get them put into separate units, after all. But since this wasn't official Society business, there was no harm in it. When Professor Swift declared that Sam had taken the enormous buck down herself he raised his eyebrows then turned and kissed her temple.

"Proud of you, Schatze," he said with a smile. He didn't have much to add to the conversation, since he didn't hunt. His father had taken him hunting several times, but he just couldn't bring himself to murder a living thing for the sport of it.

Kieran laid his kill out on the counter, putting a hand on the small of Anne Marie's back and kissing her cheek. "No worries love; already skinned 'em for you. I know you don't like seein' 'em as, well, animals." He patted her waist before getting himself some coffee, tipping something from a flask into it, then taking a seat near the fire, though not quite near Colin. He didn't know what this little vacation meant for them. It felt an awful lot like commitment, and that was disconcerting.

"Thank you," Madame LaMonte said with a smile. "Well then since we have rabbits we can have this lovely deer for Christmas dinner. If you would be so kind as to continue butchering that, Algernon, I'll start dinner." She cleaned her knife before turning it on one of the rabbits, cutting it up for stew. "If you'd had a daughter and her mother had let you, you mean," she mentioned casually.

Anne Marie's love for Professor Swift had for a good while been of the filial sort. Every now and then, when her feelings threatened to rise to the surface, she tried to recall that filial devotion. She was young enough to be his daughter too, after all. Did he still see her as a child, as a daughter? Had he ever seen her as a daughter? She wasn't sure whether she would feel relieved or devastated if he did. Did he want children at all? She wasn't particularly fond of children, but if...

No. That was not even a 'what if' she would entertain. With a renewed sort of concentration Anne Marie put a pot of stock on to boil and began seasoning the rabbit.
 
"Three of them?" Colin asked, impressed. "That's a difficult shot."

"Ome bullet apiece, too," Sam added. "An' no hesitatin'. Just pow, pow, pow." She extended her index finger, miming a shot with each word.

"Well, he does know how to handle a rifle," Colin said, sipping his cider.

"Oh, Ah reckon y'all know all 'bout that," Sam responded with a wink, eyes twinkling as Colin nearly choked on his drink. They'd been disctete, of course, but it hadn't been all that hard for her to piece it together. She was, after all, a Ranger. That meant investigating and piecing clues together, not just busting heads. And she'd wager good money that the two men were fucking - something that sounded more interesting than she expected. She loved Erik, of course, but Colin and Kieran were bith delicious-looking.

Erik.

He'd been acting... strange. Ever since the first day of Haunnikah, when she'd decided to be honest and explain that she was attracted to women, too. She'd been emphatic in explaining that she loved him and wouldn't ever hurt him, but she had to tell him. Because she'd been reading up on Judaism and they didn't seem to care for her... what had Anne Marie called it? Bisexuality? Yeah, Jews didn't care for it any more than Christians did, and he deserved to know.

But now he was... well, he was just as sweet and loving and sexy as ever. Most of the time. But sometimes he seemed... tense. Distant. And that worried her, because she didn't know what was wrong. Wasn't honesty a good thing? But right now, she felt like she was walking on egg shells around him.

Finally, she sighed. "Ah'm gonna get me a refill," she said. "Anyone else want one?"


"If you'd had a daughter and her mother let you, you mean,"[/hr] Anne Marie said.

"She would have," Algernon said, the casual intimacy of the kitchen catching him off guard. In his minds eye he saw her again, his favorite memory of her. Dark hair spilling over the white shoulders of her fencing uniform as she pulled her mask off, triumphant laughter dancing in her soft hazel eyes. "Point," she cried, "the match is mine!"

"Hardly a fair one," he laughed in return, sweeping her into his arms.

"Hardly fair?" Her words were filled with a comic outrage. "If you were a better fencer..."

He silenced her with a kiss. "The target is the heart, my dear. And you struck mine years ago..."

He bit off the statement with sudden force as old pain tore at him once more. "I doubt," he said, voice clipped and controlled, "that any woman I married would have refused." He forced his hands not to shake as he embedded his knife in the block. "Excuse me. There is something I must attend to."

Sam dodged around the Professor as he exited the kitchen, watching him leave with some curiousity. Then, with a shrug, she refilled her coffee and Erik's cider as Anne Marie chopped the rabbit. "Uh..." she said, hesitantly. "If'n y'all don't mind, kin we talk? Later, Ah mean? Ah..." she glanced toward the fireplace, watching Colin excuse himself and Erik watching her with that strange new expression of his. "Ah... got a problem, an', well, Ah'm hopin' y'all kin help me."


Colin walked the hall, heading towards the water closet. Strange how he could dfink beer or grog for hours, but three pints of cider went straight to his bladder. Of course, it was also an excuse to get away for a few minutes, regain his composure after Sam's comment. He'd thiught he'd been discrete! Was he slipping? That was something to worry about, because he could lose his commission if it came out that he was homosexual. Even if he also had a taste for the fairer sex.

A strange noise stopped him, sort of a wet sniff. An animal, perhaps? Whatever it was, it came from the door up there, the one that wasn't fully closed. So, casually resting his hand on the small revolver he carried in his coat - paranoia was a safety precaution in the Society - he slipped forward and peeked in.

It was Professor Swift, seated with his back to one wall. A daguerrotype was held loosely in his his hands, an image of a young woman with long, braided hair in a white gown, and he stared at it with an unreadabke expression.

Feeling suddenly as if he were intruding, Colin slipped away.
 
Kieran choked on his spiked coffee when Sam mentioned how well Colin might be familiar with his handling a rifle. "Well, we've been hunting together several times," he mentioned in a studiedly casual tone, trying to salvage the conversation.

It was unsalvageable. A queer look in Erik's face made it clear that while Sam had apparently divined the nature of the Captains' relationship, he most certainly had not. It had probably never crossed his mind. The tension was made even worse by Sam offering refills and Colin excusing himself. Erik gave a tense smile as he handed his mug to her.

"Danke, Schatze," he said, still unsure how to handle the new information. He'd always thought Kieran might be quite the ladies' man. If nothing else, he and Anne Marie had clearly had something...What, was everyone homosexual but him?? He and Kieran glanced at each other out of the corners of their eyes, unsure what to say.

"So...uh..."

"Ja..." Erik cleared his throat. "Samantha has always been sharp, but discretion is a skill she's still learning." They both shifted awkwardly before deciding that silently staring into the fire was the best course of action. If nothing else it distracted him from the fact that Sam had found a way to linger in the kitchen with Anne Marie.

~*~

"If you had a daughter and her mother had let you, you mean," Anne Marie mentioned casually, cutting up the rabbit.

"She would have." Something in his voice made her look up. Professor Swift had a hollow sort of expression and she realized too late that she'd made a grave mistake.

"Algernon--"

"I doubt," he said, voice clipped and controlled, "that any woman I married would have refused."

Anne Marie's throat clenched. So it had been his wife, after all. She hadn't wanted to find out like this. Her voice was soft when she spoke again, not wanting the others to overhear. "Algie, please I'm so--"

"Excuse me. There is something I must attend to." Professor Swift stuck the knife in the block and disappeared.

Anne Marie allowed herself to sag for a moment. The facades they both kept up had come down for a bare moment, but at the wrong time and in the wrong company. They only ever let them down when they were alone, and even then very slowly and carefully. It had been too much at once and she desperately wanted to follow him, to apologize for not thinking, but that would have alerted the others and would have been an even more unforgivable mistake. And now she knew just how formidable a woman Mrs. Swift had been, and wasn't entirely sure whether that made matters better or worse.

When Sam entered the kitchen, however, Anne Marie sniffed and her back became rigid as always. "Oui, of course," she said easily, mask fixed back in place. God but they really were children, weren't they, with Mummy and Daddy pretending everything was okay for their sakes? "I assume it's to do with your newfound openness with Herr Schmidt?" She followed Sam's glance towards the fireplace, then added in a lower voice, "It's rude, by the way, to out someone who does not wish to be like that. Captain Drake could lose his commission. God knows what Captain Shane's men--or enemies--would do. And for that matter they could both hang several times over." Anne Marie's tone wasn't harsh, but it was firm. She glanced up from her preparation at the Ranger. "Not everyone has so little to lose as you do, Samantha," she reminded her gently.
 
"Yeah. Least, Ah reckon so," Sam sighed. "Ever since Ah told him Ah... y'know, like ladies too. An' he said it didn't matter, but..." She shook her head. "Ah dunno what Ah did wrong, Anne Marie!"

But Anne Marie wasn't following up on that. As requested, it would be for later. Instead, she pointed ou how rude - no, that was too mild a word really - she'd been. Sam wanted to bristle, but the possible consequences made her realize just how thoughtless she'd been. "Oh. Mah. Gawd," she whispered, shocked and numb. The two mugs clattered as she held them. "Ah... woukd... would y'all excuse me?"

Erik and Kieran were still there when she returned, but Colin was gone, and she barely noticed when Erik took his cider. She just sat, perched next to him, staring down at her steaming coffee. "Kieran," she finally murmured in a subdued little voice, "Ah, uhn, Ah... Ah'm sorry. Ah jes' thought everyone..." Grimacing, she shook her head. "No, no, that ain't right. Ah jes' didn't think, an' Ah talked outta place, an', an' Ah don't rightly think sayin' sorry'll be enough. But... Ah am. Ah really am."

Disconsolatly she sipped her coffee, almost glad that it scorched her tongue. "Ah'm a damn fool, Ah am."

"Perhaps," said Professor Swift as he returned, not acknowledging the way his appearance made everyone jump. "But the beginning of wisdom is to realize that one knows nothing." He wasn't certain what had brought about the moment if insight, but it was good to see it happen. Samantha was rough around the edges, but so were diamonds

Striding past, he went back into the kitchen and returned to the deer carcass. It was good to have something to work on, he decided, because it kept him from having to see the tensiin in Anne Marie's posture. A couple of minutes passed as he sliced and chopped, slowly reducing the carcass to a collection of cuts of meat.

"My wife," he said softly, making a gesture of apology, "is... was..." He swallowed. "I... dislike speaking of her, now. Too many memories, and the bad ones sometimes threaten to overwhelm the good." A moments hesitation. "You understand, I believe, better than you realize."

His hands were trembling with suppressed emotion, so he laid the cleaver down. Then, with an effort of will, he turned to look at Anne Marie with haunted eyes. "I hope you will understand that I am not ready to talk about her. Not... yet. Perhaps someday." He forced a small smile. "After several stiff drinks."



The sitting room had all of the warmth and comfort if a mauseloeum, Colin decided when he returned. Kieran was giving Sam his trademark devil stare. Sam was hunched over, staring morosely into her mug. And Erik was looking at Kieran with an odd, wary expression. So, he stopped at the sidebar and caught up a stoppered decanter of Scotch before taking his seat.

"Here," he said, refillinng his own glass and Kieran's before adding a generous splash to Sam's coffee. He wasn't certain how she took the stuff normally, but in his opinion anything that masked the taste would only improve the noxious beverage. Erik had his cider already, so Colin just plunked the bottle down within easy reach. "To awkward revelations?" he suggested, lifting his glass.

Everyone lifted their glass by reflex, and then Sam grabbed the bottle and took a long pull. "I'm an idjut," she mumbled.

"Yes, you are," Colin agreed cheerfully, saluting and taking another drink. "But done is done, and little enough harm was done in the process. We're among friends, after all." The last was directed at Kieran and Colin. "Aren't we?"

"Ah shouldn't have..." Sam began.

"Yes, you shouldn't have," Colin agreed. "But apology accepted, as long as you've learned a little discretion?" He grinned and leaned back. "But to tell the truth," he added impishly, "no offense intended, but I had thought you had similar leanings Sam."

She started at that, and he gestured with his cup. "Your, ah, agressively masculine behavior and dress. But, with you and Erik together, I assume I was wrong." He waited a moment, as Sam sipped at her coffee. "At least, that's what I heard in Berlin. Several times."

An explosive spray of coffee, followed by Sam coughing repeatedly as she turned bright red, were reward enough. It was nice to see he hadn't lost his touch.
 
Kieran sipped his coffee in the uncomfortable silence. Sam stumbled through an apology and he allowed her to flounder, seething and mortified. He'd been so cautious. Finally when she proclaimed herself a "damn fool," he nodded.

"Yes, Sam. You are." Leaning back in his chair a little, though still sitting stiffly, he sipped his coffee again. The pirate started as Professor Swift strode through the living room, glad of the interruption to break the tension. With the return of Colin, though, the tension simply returned and increased since they just kept talking about it.

"But apology accepted, as long as you've learned a little discretion?" Colin was taking this far too easily.

"Can you just, shut up? Both of you?" Kieran said sharply, looking at both of them. Colin decided to ignore him, but to his delighted surprise decided to turn similar accusations on Sam. At the mention of Berlin he couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Several? That's a bit of an understatement isn't it?"

Erik choked on his cider, flushing bright red from embarrassment and the lack of oxygen. "I ah..." He pounded the flat of his fist on his chest, coughing up the last bit which had gone down the wrong way. "I apologize if the arguments with my mother disturbed you; she's rather stubborn." He knew, of course, that that wasn't what Colin had meant but that was what he was going with.

~*~

His wife. They had known each other for twenty-three years and this was the first time he'd ever said aloud that he'd had a wife. When Professor Swift asserted that she understood Anne Marie nodded as she put the rabbit into the stew and washed her hands and the knife. They usually did better with subjects like these while keeping their hands busy, but why did it always tend to be weapons? When he admitted that he wasn't ready to talk about it Anne Marie dried her hands on a towel and took one of his hands in hers.

"Of course I do," she said softly. Taking a risk, Anne Marie put her other hand softly on his cheek. "Algernon I wasn't asking you to. It was a thoughtless thing for me to say, and I'm so sorry. But...when you are ready, I'm here. With however much liquor you need." She gave him a small, shy smile and squeezed his hand gently before pulling toward herself the bowl of vegetables she'd cut up while the others were out and dumping them into the stew. This was dangerously close to an unguarded conversation and she was certain if she continued touching him like that she risked him withdrawing further once the spell was broken.
 
The touch of her hand shiuldn't have been so shocking, but the memories of his wife had left him feeling... vulnerable. Still, he recognized it for what it was. A gesture of sympathy and reconciliation. And despite their gap in age, she was still the closest friend he had. So, he nodded. "I won't lie and say I'd like that," he said with the ghost of a smile on his lips, "because it's a painful story with many ugly memories. But..." he rested his own hand on hers for an instant. "If I share it with anyone, it will be you."

For a long instant time froze. All he was aware of was Anne Marie's presence, both in this room and in his life, and an emotion he didn't care to name washed over him. Without analyzing why he stepped towards her, taking her other hand in his. She was so close, now. Close enough to...

Laughter from the other room sounded, and the spell shattered. "Ah," he said, feeling both unaccountably ashamed and unaccountably frustrated. "Yes. That reminds me. Whatever were they all so tense about." He hesitated, glancing back. "Surely... surely not about Samantha and her sexuality? I had thought them all men if the world."

With a sigh, he released her hand and returned to the kitchen table. "We had best finish, before they find the rum. I shudder to imagine Kieran after a bottle of that."


"Oh, Gawd," Sam groaned, wiping her mouth with a napkin. "Y'all heard alla that?"

"Rather," Colin confirmed. "I had the room across the hall from Erik. And while I try not to pry, there were moments of raised voices..." His voice trailed away as he saw something he never expected to see. Sam Cavendish, the tough as nails Tejas Ranger he'd once seen beat seven men unconscious in a bar in Sardenia, was blushing. And not just a little pink on the cheeks. A blush that turned her whole face red.

"Ah... that is..." she stammered.

"The argument did seem a little... passionate," he added with a grin. Then, taking pity on her, he topped her coffee off with more scotch. She sipped it eagerly.

"Ah guess Ah outta tell y'all somethin' 'biut me," she said finally, the scotch loosening her tongue. "It's only fair, given whut Ah blabbed."

"No, no," Colin said quickly, catching Erik's expression. "No need. Just..."

"Nuh-uh," Sam insisted. "Ah gotta."

"Well, let's compromise," Colin offered. "Give me one guess. Then, right or wrong, then that's it. After all, your revelation was a deductive guess."

Sam nodded. "Sure. That's fair."

Colin wracked his brain, trying to come up with something superficially plausible but unlikely. "You..." he finally declared, "worship at the altar of Sappho." There. Given what he'd heard, that was unlikely.

"What?" There was confusion in her voice. "No... Ah'm Baptist, more or less. Raised Baptist, leastwise. An Ah'm studyin' up on Judaism. What's a saff-oh? An' stop laughin' at me!"
 
"Well, I am honored," she answered with a brief smile. "But if it's something you're never ready for--for there are some things which some people are never ready to talk about--then I'll never pry. I promise."

When Algie's hand rested on hers Anne Marie froze and she looked back up at him. They seemed displaced in the flow of time and space, though they were at least displaced together. She'd always known his eyes were brown, but had they always had those flecks of green in them? He stepped closer, taking her other hand in his, and she feared her heart might be pounding so hard it would visibly move the fabric of her dress over her chest. Part of her wanted to pull away, afraid of what might come next and with that all the terrifying change. But another part of her yearned to step closer to him and...

Colin and Kieran's laughter came from the other room and it was like waking up. Anne Marie took a deep breath and tried not to make it a sigh. "I'm afraid it isn't my place to say," she admitted, squeezing his hand gently. She let go slowly, giving him time to take it again if that was something he wanted to do. "I just scolded Sam for doing such a thing, after all. But suffice to say that Samantha still has a lot to learn when it comes to discretion, and this little slip-up was at the Captains' expense." She wasn't sure just how much Professor Swift had picked up on between the two, but if he was now the only one in the dark then now wasn't the time to tell him. She was almost certain he was probably already under scrutiny by the Society for the amount of fraternization already going on in his unit. She released a tiny sigh when he let go of her other hand before continuing to prepare more vegetables for side dishes; it was a pity she didn't have time enough to make dough for bread. That would be for first thing tomorrow, she supposed.

"Oh and it will be the whole bottle," she agreed with a smile. "Do you know, I found him one time in his underwear, wearing my robe and some tatty old tricorn and demanding why the rum was gone?" She laughed and shook her head. "I saw he brought his own, and I suspect Colin of sneaking some as well. I think so long as we control who goes in and out of the cellar we may be able to keep them from burning the place to the ground."

~*~

Erik kept his gaze toward the fire, so red he was nearly purple. Oh dear God that was mortifying! How could he have forgotten that someone had been in a room nearby?! When Sam offered to tell them something about herself, however, his back straightened and he pulled his gaze away from the fire.

"Samantha," he said in a warning tone, but she wouldn't listen. She never did whenever she had enough liquor in her. Willful and stubborn indeed. Colin successfully steered her focus away from that and to a game of sorts and he gave him a look of deep gratitude. The entire topic was highly uncomfortable for him, and obviously was for Kieran as well, and the sooner they were away from it the better. When Colin suggested that she worshiped at the altar of Sappho he couldn't help but snicker. "Sappho was a poet, Liebchen, later deified by the Greeks."

"Y'know, I had an ancestor stole sommat from Sappho's tomb," Kieran put in.

"Oh?" Erik raised an eyebrow. "You're related to a grave-robber? Not something many people would readily admit."

"He was a pirate," the pirate corrected. "Great-great-great-however many granddad. It was supposed to be some coin to let you into the underworld and back out again. Dunno if it ever worked, though. 'Course, stories about that particular relative tend to be pretty far-fetched. Zombie pirates and ocean gods and all sorts of rubbish. Theft though, that's a bit more realistic."
 
"So... y'all come from a long line o' pirates, hm?" Sam sipped her coffee, then oeered into it as she realized it would now be more accurate to describe it as 'coffee-flavored scotch'. "Keepin' the family tradition alive? If Ah did thet, Ah'd be..." A quick frown of concentration. "Reckon' Ah'd be a farmer's wife, now. Borin' as hell, Ah figger." Grinning, she leaned back against Erik again, leaning her head on his shoulder and slipping an arm around his waist. "Not many yummy Germans, neither."

Wait. Had she said that out loud? Better change the subject. "Or French." Fuck. She was drunker than she thought. "How 'bout you, Colin?"

"Oh, more or less I'm carrying on the family tradition," he responded. "The third son gies into the church or the military, after all. And I'm not particularly suited for the clergy." He sipped his drink, and glanced at Kieran. "Not like Thomas, my oldest brother. He's expected to run the estate, marry a wealthy American to imorove the family situation, and produce an heir." Anither sip. "Ideally with his wife, and not with his mistress."

"Mistress?" Sam frowned, squeezing Erik a little. "How's his wife put up with it? Ah'd..."

"Quite well, apparently." Colin chuckled at Sam's startled expression. "Isla resides in a home in Brexhamshire, and Thomas and Margaret spend a great deal of discrete time there." He sipped his drink. "Isla and Margaret actually get along quite well."

"Wait," Sam finally said. "What? They... do? But... how?"

Colin shrugged. "Not my place to speculate, I'm sure."
 
"So...y'all come from a long line o' pirates, hm? Keepin' the family tradition alive?"

"Not just me," Kieran countered, tipping the remnants of his flask into the inch or so of coffee at the bottom of his mug. "Always been a Captain Jack Sparrow out there pirating the seas and skies, right? Jack Sparrow IX (poor bugger) is my second cousin." He nodded seriously before Sam started speculating on what she'd be doing if she'd carried on the family business. Kieran couldn't help but snort into his drink when she mentioned 'yummy Germans,' but didn't say anything.

Erik, for his part, turned red and gently pried the cup out of her hands before replacing it with his own cider, which had remained unspiked. He seemed to be the only sober person in the room, and at the rate Sam was going that needed to change. He took a sip of her coffee-flavored scotch and coughed a little, but didn't put it down. When Colin mentioned his eldest brother's lifestyle he raised his eyebrows mildly. "It's good that they get along. But what was the point of marrying Margaret then, if he won't stay faithful to her?" he asked, keeping judgement out of his tone. "Of course it happens all the time, but I've never understood it."
 
Pleasantly drunk, it took Sam a few minutes to connect all the dots as she listened to Colin and Erik talk. "Wait..." she said carefully. "You mean... he... and both o' 'em..?" She blinked, scandalized and intrigued at the same time. "Like, all at once? Or... they take turns..? Or..." she trailed off, imagination painting a sudden picture of her and Erik and Anne Marie, and she blushed again as she diwned some of the cider.

"I couldn't comment," Colin replied. "My brother and I are good enough not to pry too deeply into one another's affairs."

"All right, all right," Sam laughed. "Ah get it. Ah'll behave." She downed another mouthfull of cider, then peered into the mi,ug skeptically. "The hell is this stuff?"

"Cider," Colin answered.

"Bullshit." Sam tasted it again, then shook her head. "Ain't no alcohol in this. Mah daddy's cider'd blow the socks off a mule." She downed it anyway, then rose and dragged Erik to his feet. "C'mon," she said, tugging him towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Colin asked.

Sam favored him with a wink. "Gotta go.make sure nibidy gets disturbed by no, ah, arguments..."
 
"There's such a thing as non-alcoholic cider," Erik pointed out, taking another sip of scotch. She seemed to be missing the point that he'd cut her off. Sam dragged him to his feet and he frowned, confused as he followed her. When she mentioned where they were going Erik flushed deeply but followed anyway. Hopefully there would be no arguments, but this was too much.

"Samantha," he said seriously once they were in their room. He put both hands firmly on her shoulders. "Liebchen listen to me. I love you very much, and I don't mind a little affection since we're not on a mission. But...I'd rather you not put our intimate business out there for everyone to gawp at." Erik kissed her forehead but didn't move his hands. "I'd like to keep our private life private."

~*~

In the kitchen Anne Marie looked up after catching movement out of the corner of her eye. Erik and Sam were heading up the stairs. She sighed and rubbed her eyes before giving Algie a weary smile.

"I believe that's my cue," she said with a shrug. "Sam wanted to talk about a few things and I think it's best if Erik is there to talk about it too. I believe he may be struggling to reconcile her sexuality with his religion." She shook her head and sighed again. "I should be back down in an hour or two. Dinner shouldn't be ready before then." She put a hand on Algernon's shoulder briefly before excusing herself and quietly following up the stairs. There were low voices behind Sam and Erik's bedroom door and she knocked gently. "Samantha? Erik? May I come in?"
 
"Samantha," Erik said as she closed the door. She turned and wrapped her arms around him, pushing him up against the wall as she kissed him hungrily. Then she made a frustrated, surprised sound as he gripped her shoulders and pushed her back. Liebchen listen to me."

"Erik?" she sounded hurt and worried now. "Erik, what's wrong?"

"I love you very much, and I don't mind a little affection since we're not on a mission. But...I'd rather you not put our intimate business out there for everyone to gawp at." Erik kissed her forehead but didn't move his hands. "I'd like to keep our private life private."

She stared at him for a long minute, looking for all the world like he'd slapped her. "Intimate... business..." she repeated, eyes narrowing a little. "Ah love you, you... you...." The words dissolved into a sound of frustration as she struggled for the right thing to say. finally, with another inarticulate cry, she twisted from his grip and stomped across the room to throw herself down on the bed in a huff. "Ah love you," she repeated, angrily. "An'... an' Ah don't care who knows it! An'... an' we already done told everyone anyway, if they heard us!" She sat up, then angrily pulled a boot off and tossed it at the wall.

"An' Ah wasn't puttin' our sex life out there fer everyone ta gawp at," she huffed, throwing her other boot at the first one. "Ah'd have done pulled yer pants off down stairs an' fucked yer brains out in front o' everyone if'n Ah'd wanted ta do that! Ah jes'... Ah jes' wanted you, Erik. What's wrong wit' that?"

Sam hunched forward a little, wrapping her arms around herself. "Ah jes' wanted you. You've been... distant, Erik. Ain't been flirtin', or playin', or anythin' like y'all used to, an' Ah miss it. An'... an' Ah thought that, maybe, if'n Ah did, mebbe y'all'd join in. But... all Ah did was make y'all mad."

Just then, there was a knock at the door.
 
God but he hated the look on her face! Sam looked as though he'd beaten her or shouted at her and Erik felt a centimeter high, but enough was enough. He was a private person and he wanted to keep it that way. The rest of the Society knowing that they were together, occasionally kissing in front of them, was more than enough public affection for him.

Then she got angry. Erik sighed as she twisted out of his grip and threw herself dramatically onto the bed. This appeared to be turning into their first actual fight, though he still hoped to avoid that. "And I love you!" he protested. "I never said I didn't! And I don't care who knows either. I'm not ashamed of loving you!" He winced as she through her boot at the wall.

"Ah'd have done pulled yer pants off down stairs an' fucked yer brains out in front o' everyone if'n Ah wanted ta do that! Ah jes'...Ah jes' wanted you, Erik. What's wrong wit' that?"

"Nothing!" He wanted to approach the bed, but she was still throwing things. "But we're not animals, Samantha! There's such a thing as decorum. Polite society doesn't announce when they're about to go fuck in a broom closet; they quietly slip off, have a good shag, and rejoin the group later. And...and...talking about homosexuals in polite company...!" He wasn't sure exactly what he wanted to say about that, and knew as soon as the words came out of his mouth that he'd misstepped. "I mean if Colin and Kieran had wanted us to know that they were...well, I'm sure they'd have told us. Just because we're involved doesn't mean we have to announce our private business to the entire world all the time, Samantha!"

But there she was: the insecure little girl he'd first met when she'd joined the Society. Sam sat on the edge of the bed, hunched over and closed in on herself, telling him he'd been distant. Perhaps he had; he hadn't meant to be. But she'd dropped an enormous bombshell on him and it was taking some time to work through. It wasn't as though he didn't love her anymore. Bought a ring, hadn't he? He'd been carrying it around in his pocket for two weeks, trying to figure out the right time and right way to ask her...but for God's sake being partly homosexual was sort of a big deal! She couldn't just tell him and expect him to be immediately alright with it!

"Samantha, I--"

"Samantha? Erik? May I come in?" Anne Marie had heard something hit a wall moments before. Perhaps it was best she stepped in now anyway, even if it had nothing to do with Sam being bisexual.

"Madame," Erik said, opening the door and looking surprised and flustered. "I uh...Sam and I were just...Erm..."

"She asked me earlier to talk," Anne Marie said, striding in without being invited so he didn't have time to boot her out. "Since I've divined what it was about I thought it best you be here to talk, too. But it seems as though ah..." she eyed the boots slumped against the wall, "as though you've got other problems to work out as well?"

Erik sighed. There was no getting rid of her now, anyway. "I'm afraid they may be related," he admitted. Anne Marie nodded, but didn't look very judgmental. Only thoughtful.

"And how is that?"
 
"Homosexuals?" Sam hissed, eyes narrowing and nistrils flaring. "Tgey're our friends, Erik! Not... not.." She stomped her feet, the sound pitifully quiet in her bare feet, and clenched her fists. "Not things!" She was in her feet niw. "And Ah ain't much different, am Ah? Am Ah?"

Erik, bless his heart, was trying to explain himself. He even stepped towards her, but she sank back onto the bed as her fears about him - about them tumbled out. God but her heart hurt. Pa had said that being in love could hurt, but that hadn't made any sense until now. Homosexual. God, the way he'd said that, like it was something filthy. Like the circuit preacer had said it. Was that it? Did he... did he think she was...

The knock, and Anne Marie's appearance, was all that saved her from breaking down. That was it, wasn't it? He didn't... didn't want... "Fuck yeah, it's related," she got out with a hoarse voice, scrubbing at moist eyes. "Ah... like y'all said, Ah done told him what... what Ah am. An'... an' now... now..." Sam felt her world spinning, threatening to come apart, and with an agonized little cry she jammed ber fist into her mouth. It was foolish, but maybe if she didn't say it, it woukdn't be true.

He don't love me! her mind shrieked anyway. Cos o' what Ah am!
 
"Well what do you want me to call them, Sam?" Erik demanded sharply, finally raising his voice. "They're homosexuals, that's what they are! Would you rather I call them fags? Hm? Like those knuckle-dragging neanderthals who would pick fights with them for it and expect to win? I'm not going to dance around it, you know, so give me a word for it! Candyfloss Unicorns if you like! Words won't change what they are!"

"And Ah ain't much different, am Ah?" Sam demanded. "Am Ah?"

"What?" What did she think he was on about? He tried to explain what he'd meant but she was having none of it. She was curled up in herself and he could tell that she wasn't absorbing a single word he said. Erik wasn't sure it was made better or worse by Madame LaMonte's appearance.

For her part, Anne Marie's heart broke for Sam. The boy was clearly still madly in love with her; any fool who could see past the end of his own nose could see that. Unfortunately, self-esteem and body image tended to shorten sight quite considerably. With a sigh she grabbed Erik's hand and pulled him over, instructing him to sit on the edge of the bed while she sat between them. She put an arm comfortingly around Sam's shoulders and let her lean into her. Anne Marie put an arm around Erik as well, but he only sat there stiffly feeling awkward: he didn't have the same relationship with her that Sam did and it felt weird that she was in their business at all, despite knowing about her sessions with Sam.

"And now what?" Anne Marie asked gently. Erik opened his mouth, but she shook her head slightly until Sam gave voice to what she was thinking.

She thought he didn't love her anymore?? Erik's mind reeled and his heart broke simultaneously. "Liebchen!" he said softly, wanting to hold her but unable to with Madame LaMonte in the way. "Schatze how could you ever think that?"

"Well don't blame her for her feelings," Anne Marie warned gently.

"I'm not!" he argued. "It breaks my heart she feels that way! Samantha...if I didn't love you anymore because you said that you were attracted to women, then I would have broken it off a long time ago. I have more respect for you than to string you along like that. It's just...well, it's sort of a big thing to drop on me and expect me to be immediately used to the idea. It isn't..." He didn't want to use the word normal, for fear of making her feel even more ostracized. "It isn't a usual thing, it isn't something one hears every day. It takes a lot of reflection and getting used to, especially since I'm not a woman, so I really can't quite imagine it. But if you being attracted to women made me not love you anymore...well then, it wouldn't be unconditional love, would it?" He looked over Anne Marie's head at Sam, trying to read her face for a reaction.

"Well, Samantha?" Anne Marie asked after giving her some time to process that. Erik felt that flame of jealousy spring up in his heart again when the older woman tucked a bit of hair behind Sam's ear and wiped a tear from her cheek. "Does that help what was bothering you?"
 
Despite herself, Sam found herself smiling as Erik talked. A sad smike, true, but a smile nonetheless. "Ah... well..." Digging a handkerchief iut if her pocket, she wioed her eyes and bkew her nose. "Ah guess Ah ain't been rightly fair, have Ah? Took me... years, Ah guess, ta admit Ah was... different." Her smile shook, but it was genuine. "Cain't rightly expect y'all ta... ta unnerstand. Ta wrao yer head round it right away, kin Ah?"

She shivered, huddling in close to Anne Marie. "Jes'... ain't like Ah've had a lotta success, y'know? Tellin' folk. An' an' mebbe Ah rushed it, jes' a little." Laughing a little, because it was that or cry again, she slapped the mattress next to her. "Git on over here, Erik, an' gimme a hug. An'... an' lemme give y'all a hug, too."

When he complied, she threw her arms around him. "Ah'm still me, Erik. Jes' cause Ah like women, don't mean Ah don't love y'all. More'n anythin'. An' y'deserved ta know." A pause, then a snigger escaped her. "Probably shouldn't tell yer mah, though. Ah reckon she wouldn't approve none."
 
Erik got up and sat on the other side of Sam, hugging her tightly and kissing the top of her head. "I'm glad you told me," he admitted. "It's just taking a bit of processing is all. If I had any sort of secrets to tell you, I would. Um...Gerta made me dress up in one of her dresses to play princesses when I was 7," he offered with an awkward smile. Sam suggested they didn't tell his mother and he snorted. "Um...no. No she most definitely would not. I guess...I just don't understand how one becomes attracted to the same sex."

"Have you touched a breast, Erik?" Anne Marie asked archly.

"Well now see that's another thing," he said, motioning to Madame LaMonte. "Now I don't have to just compete with men now for your attention, either. I can recognize when a woman is attractive, so undoubtedly I know you find her attractive. It's...well...it's threatening. It makes it very easy to be jealous."

"Jealous? Of me?" Madame raised her eyebrows mildly. It was perfectly reasonable for Erik to be jealous of her, but she didn't want to give the impression that she had any sort of connection with Sam beyond friendship and non-sexual therapy.

"I've seen the way she looks at you," Erik finally addressed her directly. "It's the same way a lot of men look at you, and it feels like..." He closed his lips tightly. He had barely even admitted this to himself, and he didn't want Sam to get the wrong idea, but Anne Marie was making it very easy to just keep going. "It feels like I'm keeping her from something--someone--she would rather pursue."
 
"Erik," Sam chided, punching him playfully on the shoukder, "Ah don' want anyine else. Ah want you. Y'all don' gotta compete wit' other men fer me." She wanted to leave it at that, but she fektAnne Marje's gaze on her, and heatd her reoeated admonition that a successful relatiinship required honesty. "But... uhm..."

She licked her lips, suddenly nervous again. "Ah... that is, Ah still like lookin'. At other women, mostly. Ah... Ah reckon thst, if'n Ah hadn't met y'all... maybe Ah'd..." She colored. "Ah think... mebbe... well, mebbe y'all done made me bisexual, instead o' a... wassat word? A lesbian?"

She threw her arms around him, holding him tight. "Mebbe it don't work that way. An ain't rightly sure. But y'all done got me stuck on yeh ,ong as y'all'll have me., and yiu remember that, Erik," She leaned into him. "Ah neec y'all ta remember that, Erik. Because Ah gotta tell y'all... sometimes Ah miss th' other side o' mah... whaddya call it, Anne Marie? Mah sexuality? An' then Ah dream... fantasize... about, well, bein' with another lady."

She was quiet for a long moment. Then she fushe, and quickly mumbked "Ansometimswityyouananotherlady. But that's jes' foolish fer kack o' sense, ain't it?"
 
Anne Marie kept quiet, letting Sam sort things out for herself and nodding whenever she hit on a word which had been unfamiliar to her before the two had started talking. Erik certainly seemed to be the exception to the rule for Sam; she'd told Madame LaMonte about her dreams, about the ways in which she had thought over and explored her own sexuality. Although she never mentioned names, Anne Marie had her suspicions about who these dreams might include and chose to keep those suspicions to herself. Erik didn't need any more to feel threatened by.

"You...you fantasize about being with me...and another woman?" Erik repeated, confused. He still held her but looked down at her with a frown. "You mean...at the same time? Am I no longer satisfying you, Schatze?" He looked hurt and a little afraid. "Is that something you want, another woman? Do you want something like...well, like what Colin's brother has?"

He didn't want that. Erik felt selfish for thinking it, but he didn't want an open relationship like that. He wanted Sam for himself, and he could easily content himself with her for the rest of his life. But if another woman was what she wanted, what it would take to keep her with him, that was what he would do. He couldn't deny Sam anything and couldn't bear to see her unhappy.
 
The huft in his eyes and his voice made her heart ache. "No! Erik, no! Yer all Ah want, an' y'all satisfy me. Ah mean, really satisfy me, love. I jes'..." Sam racked her brain, trying to explain herself. "Ah jes', fuck, Ah dunno."

Damnit, she was blushing again! "Ah mean, Ah kniw Ah want you Erik. Always. But Ah..." Blushing even harder, now. "But Ah,,, Ah dream, Erik. An', an' Ah dream about women, Erik. Like... like... like that waitress, Erik. Remember her? At th' Hoffbrauhaus in Munich? Th' little one, wit' the tits y'kept checkin' out?"

From Erik's expression it was clear he remembered, and that he hadn't realized she'd noticed. Smiling, she kissed him. "Y'all were so cute, Erik, a-tryin' ta look without tryin' ta look like y'was lookin'. But Gawd she was hawt, Erik, an'... an' Ah thought 'bout her." He tried to say something, but she kissed him - a trifke more eagerly than she planned. "Funny thing, Ah cain't even cheat on y'all in a dream, Erik."

More blushing, and she felt sudenly and unaccountably shy. "Cos, y'all was there. Watchin', in mah fantasy. An', an' not jes' watchin'..."She'd actually cum hard imagining watching Erik fuck the waitress, but that was a little much to say. But then she kissed Erik, hard. "But that was jes' a dream! Ah would never hurt y'all, Erik! Never!"
 
Erik flushed when she brought up the waitress in Munich. He hadn't meant...it wasn't like he could avoid...well they were practically falling out of her dress, weren't they?! "I wasn't...I mean I didn't..." But Sam stopped his lips with a kiss before claiming that she couldn't even cheat on him in a dream.

"Well that's some comfort," he admitted. What he wasn't admitting--not in front of Anne Marie, at least--was that upon further thought he was starting to sort of like the idea. His face was hot from blushing as he imagined watching Sam make out with the waitress, imagining them taking their clothes off of one another, taking Sam while she ate out the little brunette. Erik shifted uncomfortably, trying to subtly readjust his erection without Anne Marie noticing. She was just sitting there!

"Well then if ah...if you think that's something you'd ever want to try then I think I could try too..." he said slowly. "I've um...I've seen the way you look at some women. Certain types of women. And I think so long as I was there..." He trailed off, uncertain exactly how to have this conversation. Over his shoulder Anne Marie gave Sam a curious look but remained silent. She hadn't forgotten their little tryst before her first date with Erik, after all.
 
Confused emotions sang along Sam's nerves. Erik... liked the idea? Now she was relieved, and fearsomely turned on, and maybe a littke jealous. Just a little. But... "Ah would... well, Ah think Ah'd like ta try. Wit' you, Ah mean. It's jes'...x

Friwninv, she bit her lip. "Shee-it. Should be some sorta ground rules, Ah reckon. Like, we said we'd always be honest wit' each ither, right? But,,, Ah ain't even thought about it fer real." But she was thinking niw, and it felt like she'd need to change her drawers before going back diwnstairs. And Erik was going to have to deal with people knowing about this particular affair, because she was gonna fuck him hard.

"Anne Marie? Y'all're th' expert. Any suggestions?"
 
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