Message-ID: <37865asstr$1029352205@assm.asstr-mirror.org> Return-Path: X-Original-Path: 53ab2750!not-for-mail From: HammonWry@yahoo.com (Hammon Wry) X-Original-Message-ID: <3d62694a.134917280@news.east.cox.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 14 Aug 2002 10:43:31 EDT X-ASSTR-Original-Date: Wed, 14 Aug 2002 14:43:31 GMT Subject: {ASSM} SONG: "Liberty Call" (MF rom nosex) Date: Wed, 14 Aug 2002 15:10:05 -0400 Path: assm.asstr-mirror.org!not-for-mail Approved: Newsgroups: alt.sex.stories.moderated,alt.sex.stories Followup-To: alt.sex.stories.d X-Archived-At: X-Moderator-Contact: ASSTR ASSM moderation X-Story-Submission: X-Moderator-ID: RuiJorge, gill-bates Notice: The following is a work of erotica, and is meant for those of legal age and inclination in their jurisdictions. If you are not of age, or if this is illegal where you are, please do not read any further. (C) E. Howe 2002 All rights reserved Author's note: This is taken whole cloth from my alt.devilbunnies stories. Chronologically, it takes place after "Friendship of the Thighs", and immediately before "Catharsis" and the subsequent "Vanilla". I was inspired to share this piece with you because of the {ASSD} Elvis Event thread, and Hamadryad's excellent suggestion to write something based on a song. Sarah McLaughlin "Angel" was the inspiration for this piece. "Back Story: Totten and Carter again, this time on a real date. Techi, Totten's lover of eight years is undergoing a painful and often fatal conversion from human to devilbunny. Totten, freshly graduated from antidevilbunny training herself, and under the pressure of being labeled a wunderkind, is feeling stressed. Carter tries to help by taking her off base to dinner. Things do not turn out as planned, and the result can be read in Catharsis. Enjoy. Hammon Wry. (C) E. Howe 2002 All rights reserved Quoted lyrics from "Angel" (C) Sarah McLaughlin All Rights reserved Liberty call Part one Friday, June 28 1720 hours "Spend all your time waiting for that second chance For the break that will make it OK There's always some reason to feel not good enough And it's hard at the end of the day I need some distraction or a beautiful release Memories seep from my veins Let me be empty and weightless and maybe I'll find some peace tonight" MSgt.Totten ached. Her feet were swollen, her back was a mass of knots, and her scalp itched from sweat and grit. She sat on the edge of her bed and pulled the steel-toed molders's boots from her feet, let them *thunk* to the floor, and lay back. A knock sounded. She mentally groaned. As much as she liked the TAD's, she really didn't want to be house mother right now. Sighing, she sat up and said with more enthusiasm than she felt "Come in." The door opened, revealing the tall form of Doctor John Carter, the base CMO. She flopped back and said "I am so glad it's just you, Doc." "*Just* me? I'm glad of the compliment, Sarge." "I'm sorry, Doc. I am tired of being house mother to the TAD's." She stood, picked up her boots, and put them away, then crossed to her dresser, and started taking down her hair. "What did you stop by for, Doc?" She watched him in the mirror as she pulled the hairpins from the tight bun at the top of her head. The doctor watched as the bun was unwrapped, and the rubber band was removed, and her hair fell down, cascading over her shoulders. "It's been two weeks since the Temporary Away Detachment arrived, and I thought we might get away for the evening, Wench." She smiled at the nickname, and turned toward him, trying to run a brush through her hair. She winced at a snarl, and said, "What did you have in mind?" "How about dinner on The Hill?" "Dressy, or casual?" He thought fast, and said "Dressy." "Dressy I can do, I think." She remembered that for some reason, she had brought the LBD--Little Black Dress. Hosiery, shoes, foundations, yes, she had them. "Yes, I can do dressy." "Good. How long do you need?" Calculating quickly, she said "I can be ready in 40 minutes--only because I'll have to dry my hair after I wash it." 38 minutes later, the doctor again knocked on the door to Totten's barracks room, and was met by a barefoot woman in a sleek black dress, her hair piled in the same loose coiffure that she'd done on the night of the TAD arrival. She held on to the edge of the door as he entered, and bent to one side to slip on a high-heel, and then closed the door. She then put on the other shoe, and when she straightened, the Doctor whistled his appreciation. She smiled. He was dressed in loose white linen slacks, and a matching white shirt open at the throat. The cufflinks were gold, she noted. "Let me get my earrings and put on my lipstick for the full effect, John." "I don't know if I can handle lipstick and earrings, Wench." "Suffer then, John." "You have no clue, Wench, none whatsoever. Hard hearted woman." "I've been called worse, John." She leaned toward the mirror, and applied the lipstick with a deftness that fascinated Carter. His eyes wandered over her form. It had been a lonely two weeks in his barracks rack. She inserted the thin gold wires of the amber earrings into the holes in her earlobes. Then she reached for a string of pearls, and asked him to help her put them on. He did so. "I'm ready when you are." They left the base for Federal Hill in Providence. Once seated at their table, the doctor noted that Edith was a bit distant. "How did your visit with Techi go this Wednesday past?" Edith focused on John's face. "She says she's not in as much pain, and she's coping with the voices. She should be coming home soon, right?" He nodded. "Probably within 2 weeks, according to Mentat Snowpaw and Dr. Firbrush." She nodded, and continued, "Before you ask, no, she didn't question me about..." the sentence hung unfinished until Carter said "...about us?" Edith nodded. "Do you regret what happened?" "I have no regrets about that, John." Her voice was heavy, and he found it hard to believe her. He reached to take her hand, and raised it to his lips. She pulled it back, with a shake of her head. "Please..." He switched his hand position to place her hand back on the table gently, and looked her in the face. "Are you sure you don't regret it?" She looked at him intently. She replied "Regret is incredibly destructive, I've found, John. It is almost as bad as guilt. I needed your company that night. I truly did. But this whole thing with Techi has me in knots, and I just don't know where to start unraveling it all.... "So tired of the straight line, and everywhere you turn There's vultures and thieves at your back The storm keeps on twisting, you keep on building the lies That make up for all that you lack" It don't make no difference, escape one last time It's easier to believe In this sweet madness, oh this glorious sadness That brings me to my knees" "Try at the beginning. Tell me why Techi would be willing to share you with someone else?" She thought a moment, deciding just what to tell him. She really wished that Techi were here, but it was now or never. "We wanted to have a baby. She was to carry it, being the younger of us. However, that was shot to hell when she contracted HLV. But that's not all of it. We wanted the father to be a part of the child's life. We wanted to find a man to invite into our relationship. As the occasional third, and a father to our child." She paused, and toyed with the wine glass in front of her. "We had planned on making the offer to you." Dr. John Carter was stunned. It took him a moment to find his voice. "I'm...flattered." Edith smiled. "You're smart, you're kind, you're good looking, and you didn't strike us as being the overly possessive type. We were trying to come up with a way to broach the subject with you. Then this happened. It's just that we finally find you, and now she's going to be out of the picture." "Because of HLV and the Fourier option, you mean?" She nodded, and lifted the wine glass to sip. She set it back down carefully. "Yes. And to be brutally honest, I hope she accepts the offer. Because Elmer Fudd help me, I could not stomach being partnered with a devilbunny." "If we could suppress it, she wouldn't be a devilbunny, Edie." "I know John, but let's be real. I saw her hands when I was there. Her nails are changing. Her ability to scent is phenomenal. She is changing, and I think you and I both know that try as hard as they might, the BEST that Mentat Snowpaw and Dr. Firbrush can do is simply retard the process, not stop or suppress it." He looked uncomfortable for a moment. He then said "I didn't want to say anything. But that's what it looks like at this point. We had early hopes, but the virus mutates too quickly. We are hoping to stabilize her to bring her home, and then to DoomWarren." "I basically knew. I just was in denial about it. This puts you in one hell of an ethical dilemma, doesn't it, Doc?" "Yes, it would. That is why I have left her treatment to the experts at Namakata." "What? You did that before I told you about the offer..." "Edie, I have not been your doctor since your second exam. I knew then I could not maintain objectivity about you. And I got Techi into Namakata as fast as I could because not only am I not qualified to treat HLV, I could not be objective about her because of my feelings for you." It was Edie's turn to look stunned. Then she laughed, a high brittle sound. "I hate irony, I really do." "Where are we now, Edie? You pulled your hand back just now. Why?" "I don't know, John. I don't know where we are right now. I don't know where I am. Techi is still my lover. But not. She's part of my life. But not. I want a future with her, but not as a devilbunny. I want a baby. I don't. So I throw myself into reopening the base, and work myself to exhaustion. I think I may be overdoing it, because I've felt like hell each morning. My period is late due to the stress. And I have been on the verge of tears more often than I like. And through it all, I see you, and I want you, and I don't dare act on it. So I cover it, probably as well as a cat trying to cover a puddle on a linoleum floor." He chuckled at the analogy. "Fair enough. I'm a patient man, Edie. I can wait." He cast about for another topic. "What was it you said about being a house mother to the TADs? Are they really getting to you?" "Not really, they are all grown ups." She paused, and looked out the open window casement to the street. A light breeze stirred the table cloth. "I suppose war will do that to you. But then, I wouldn't know." John caught the hint deftly. Ah. Another sore spot. He considered his next comment. "You really worry about that, don't you?" She turned back from watching the pedestrians on Atwells avenue and her eyes had a haunted look. "Do you think I shouldn't, John?" "You'd be a full fledged fool if you didn't, Edie" She reached for her wine glass, and took a another sip. Her hand shook slightly. "So I'm only a half-fast fool for pretending it doesn't matter?" "No!" His vehemence made her start, and he continued. "Edie, how the hell do you think Joan of Arc felt? All she had were nebulous voices, nothing half so good as what you have in your Navy experience and training. Add to that a personal determination to hold at bay the Evil that Fluffs, and you will be *fine* in battle." She wasn't paying attention to him. Her face had become a mask of hatred, pure and simple, directed at something over Carter's shoulder. He noted that the tendons on her neck were bulging, and he could see the pulse in the artery at the front of her neck. "In the arms of the Angel far away from here From this dark, cold hotel room, and the endlessness that you feel You are pulled from the wreckage of your silent reverie You're in the arms of the Angel; may you find some comfort here" "Edie? What do you see?" She shook the look off, and looked at Dr. Carter. "John, I think I mentioned that I had first gone to Sears to buy an axe?" Her voice was pitched low, and carried to his ears only. He nodded. "I said that the man who served me tried to sell me earbows for rabbits?" He nodded again. "He was sitting at the table behind you, facing me. He recognized me. He winked at me. He's heading here." Just then she looked up, and smiled. It could only be called a smile because her teeth were visible. Carter would have sworn on all things holy that he had seen her tongue flick over canine fangs. A figure approached on his left, from behind him. He turned, and saw... "Antony Scapaldi." It was a statement, not a greeting. "Dr. Carter? And Miss Totten, I believe... What a pleasant surprise. I trust you are enjoying the summer evening." Carter fought an urge to rise and belt the man in the mouth. Instead he grinned a feral smile, and said, "Antony, imagine meeting you here. My companion here says she was served by you at ...Sears, was it?" "Yes. Imagine my surprise when this stunning lady asks me for an axe. Of course, we don't carry them anymore...it was my disappointing duty to inform her." Totten interjected. "How do you know my name?" She picked up the serrated steak knife by the side of her plate and with her elbows on the table, placed the tip of it against the first finger of her left hand, and idly twirled it with her right. It flashed as it spun. Her irises were dilated out wide, and Carter could see her nostrils flare. The tendons on her neck stood out slightly again. "Miss Totten, I am disinclined to reveal my methodology. Would you be disposed to accept my interest as a compliment?" "I'll accept it for exactly its worth, sir." He nodded, possibly aware of the veiled insult, possibly not. He addressed the doctor again. "Dr. Carter, I should have known that she would be in your company eventually. You always did have a way with the ladies, didn't you?" "Antony, you'll forgive us for asking you to leave us in peace. As you can see, we are trying to enjoy our meal." "Before I do, Doctor, answer me this: why are they re-opening Ft. Roger Williams?" "Because, Antony, we once again have a job to do. I won't bother asking if you will be joining the rest of the sons and daughters of Rhode Island on induction day. Your familial traditions would preclude that option. Now, good evening, Antony, or do I have to call the owner?" Antony stood stone-faced for a moment before turning and bowing slightly to Totten, a smirk on his overly handsome face. He then turned on his heel and left. Totten grimaced, and without realizing it, stabbed the tip of her finger with the steak knife. As the blood welled up, Doctor Carter caught an ice cube in his napkin and pressed it to the wound deftly. She started, and said "Ow! Did I do that?" "Yes, you did." "Who the hell was that?" "Antony Scapaldi. The Scapaldi family are symps to a one." "And they are still alive?" "It's not illegal to be a symp. And they have powerful connections in this state. Word is out, 'Leave them alive' ." "But not 'alone'?" He smiled at the implication. "I could tell you stories about things that have happened to the Scapaldi family. Remind me later, will you?" "Gladly. Holy St. Yosemite Sam, I'd give my eye teeth to peel the smirk off that man's skull along with his skin." She shook the vestiges of the fury from her mind. She could feel the start of a raging headache right behind her eyes. She fought it. Dr. Carter knew from experience that Totten would have one hell of a headache, and soon. He could see her fighting it already. "Edie, you're going to have a headache. I know something that will help it." She rubbed at her eye sockets. In a voice heavy with pain, she said "What?" "There's a nerve between your thumb and first finger--" he took her hand and demonstrated with an extended, hard pinch to the spot. She winced at the pain, and then her eyes widened. He released her hand "It's--" "gone! Show me where again?" He indicated the spot, and she smiled. "Thanks, Doctor." "You're welcome, Wench." She sat back and sighed. "John, I feel so odd. All of this is so unreal to me, like a dream. Carnivorous rabbits, HLV, symps in Rhode Island..." John listened. He knew the feeling. "I know, Edie. But it is real." They listened to the sounds of diners around them, and looked at the night skyline of the city out the open casement. Somewhere on the street a radio played the chorus from "Angel", by Sarah McLaughlin. "In the arms of the Angel far away from here From this dark, cold hotel room, and the endlessness that you feel You are pulled from the wreckage of your silent reverie You're in the arms of the Angel; may you find some comfort here" "John?" He looked at her. "Hmm?" "Please tell me we don't have to go back to the base tonight. I don't think I can face that world right now." "Where would you like to go, Edie?" "I really don't care. Just not there, and not my house." "My house, then?" She simply nodded. On the radio in the distance Sarah sang: "In the arms of the Angel; may you find some comfort here" -- Pursuant to the Berne Convention, this work is copyright with all rights reserved by its author unless explicitly indicated. +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | alt.sex.stories.moderated ----- send stories to: | | FAQ: Moderator: | +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ |Discuss this story and others in alt.sex.stories.d, look for subject {ASSD}| |Archive at Hosted by | +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+