PMS 31

	<Halifax>	[As the scene left off, Halifax had just collapsed on the bed. There are a few serious things she needs to tell Emily, and she's on eggshell on how to bring up the topics...]
	<Halifax>	E-emily?
	* [Atai]Emily	looks over.
	<[Atai]Emily>	Yes?
	* Halifax	figures she should test the waters first...
	<Halifax>	What do you dream about doing in the future?
	* [Atai]Emily	puts the last of the glasses away, then comes to sit down next to Priss. She thinks about this one for a while.
	<[Atai]Emily>	...How far in the future?
	<Halifax>	Hmmm... five years.
	<[Atai]Emily>	If it's five years, or ten years, or something, I'm happy just being with you.
	* [Atai]Emily	smiles a little and leans against Priss.
	<Halifax>	What if I weren't here though.
	* Halifax	give a single laugh and smile with that.
	<Halifax>	What would you do then?
	* [Atai]Emily	looks over, worried.
	<[Atai]Emily>	...What do you mean?
	* Halifax	looks back and becomes a bit defensive...
	<[Atai]Emily>	like, if you'd never taken me away from the mansion, or...
	<Halifax>	Hypothetically speaking
	* [Atai]Emily	trails off, and starts to guess where this might be going.
	<[Atai]Emily>	...Something's wrong, isn't it.
	* [Atai]Emily	takes Priss' hand in hers, sitting up. A look of concern is'clearly evident on her face.
	<[Atai]Emily>	Is somebody after you?
	* Halifax	breaks eye contact... A number of things are wrong...
	<Halifax>	I'm an infamous pirate captain. If someone WEREN'T after me, I'd be worried.
	<[Atai]Emily>	...Er... somebody more dangerous than usual, at least. I assume you probably have a few people unhappy with you... comes with the job, right.
	<Halifax>	I'm just worried about you...
	<[Atai]Emily>	I'm fine, though. What happened?
	* Halifax	weighs the pros and cons in her head. If she were to spend the last of her time with Emily, would she want her to worried the entire time?
	<Halifax>	...
	* Halifax	shakes her head. She wouldn't want to be left in the dark if it were the other way around...
	* Halifax	...ugh... And yet, Halifax is already keeping bigger secrets from Emily. She'd never even like me if she knew of my strange body, let alone what the urges drive her to do...
	* Halifax	gulps...
	<Halifax>	Okay... I have bad news, worse news, and terrible news.
	* Halifax	turns away, she doesn't want to see Emily's reaction for any of this lest she lose her nerv...
	<Halifax>	Which do you want to hear first...
	<Halifax>	?
	<[Atai]Emily>	...The terrible.
	* [Atai]Emily	speaks calmly. No good news, huh?
	* [Atai]Emily	sits very still, trying to ready herself.
	<Halifax>	I... made love to another woman last night...
	* [Atai]Emily	is deathly still.
	* Halifax	decides not to sugarcoat it. If Emily hates her she won't miss her so much when she's gone...
	* [Atai]Emily	has suddenly a great many thoughts running around in her head. None of them are pleasant, to say the least.
	<[Atai]Emily>	.......Did you, now?
	* [Atai]Emily	's voice almost cracks.
	<[Atai]Emily>	Why.
	* Halifax	's back tenses. Excepting knife or at least a solid punch... She inhales to continue her explanation...
	* [Atai]Emily	's question doesn't even sound like a question. The inflection isn't there because she can't put forth the effort to shape her words right, she's so... so..
	* [Atai]Emily	draws up her legs close to her, hugging them to her chest.
	<[Atai]Emily>	...Why.
	<Halifax>	That has to do with the worse news... I've kept a secret from you. Since as long as we've known each other....
	* Halifax	feels some water brimming her eyes. She blinks back the tears and is glad she's facing away from Emily and that it doesn't show in her voice...
	<Halifax>	...sorry...
	* Halifax	gulps...
	<[Atai]Emily>	I'm waiting.
	* Halifax	curls a bit inward...
	<Halifax>	I'mma hermaphrodite...
	* Halifax	says quickly and softly...
	* [Atai]Emily	pauses.
	<Halifax>	...with a terrible libido...
	* Halifax	laughs a little with no mirth...
	<Halifax>	heck... I even raped one of your maids....
	* [Atai]Emily	is still reeling from the ugly first revelation, but this newest one-- or what she thinks she heard? --is just weird enough to make her look up, skeptically.
	<[Atai]Emily>	...You're...
	<[Atai]Emily>	...with both sets of ...organs?
	* [Atai]Emily	's face colors, despite herself.
	* Halifax	pushes a hand to her face. She just nods.
	<[Atai]Emily>	I don't think that's even biologically possible in humans.
	* [Atai]Emily	uncurls a little, and looks over at Priss.
	<[Atai]Emily>	How did...
	<[Atai]Emily>	One of my maids?
	<[Atai]Emily>	...
	* [Atai]Emily	has a sudden gut feeling.
	* Halifax	just nods...
	<[Atai]Emily>	Was she... kind of red hair, large bust, maybe seemed kind of slow?
	* Halifax	shrugs.
	<Halifax>	I think...
	<[Atai]Emily>	It probably was. Poor Lindulia attracts that sort of thing without even trying.
	* [Atai]Emily	laughs a little wearily.
	<[Atai]Emily>	If she went to an all-girl's school, she'd still end up with child somehow.
	<[Atai]Emily>	......
	<[Atai]Emily>	......Who was this other woman?
	<Halifax>	That's the bad news...
	<Halifax>	You can probably guess, but I would never put someone else to blame for what I did to them... So please don't ask me to tell you...
	* Halifax	relaxes visibly. All the bad news off her chest...
	<Halifax>	Oh! There is some good news though...
	<[Atai]Emily>	...I thought there was bad, worse, and terrible.
	<[Atai]Emily>	What is the bad?
	<[Atai]Emily>	save the good for last. I am going to need it.
	* [Atai]Emily	looks at Priss levelly as she says this.
	<Halifax>	The bad was that I can't tell you who the other woman was. I don't like keeping secrets from you...
	<[Atai]Emily>	...Then what was that talk about not being around?
	<[Atai]Emily>	And don't tell me it was nothing.
	* [Atai]Emily	takes Priss' hand back in hers, again.
	<[Atai]Emily>	...Please.
	<Halifax>	Oh, that's the good news. See all this bad stuff won't really matter since doctor says it'll be a miracle that a live for another year...
	* [Atai]Emily	goes white.
	<[Atai]Emily>	What?
	<[Atai]Emily>	In what way is that good news?!
	* [Atai]Emily	almost shouts that last, horror-stricken.
	* Halifax	just covers her ears a bit, that was loud for an inn in the late evening...
	<[Atai]Emily>	What's wrong? What... why?! How did it happen?
	<[Atai]Emily>	Is it poison? I can find an antidote.
	<[Atai]Emily>	A disease? I know some of the best doctors around.
	<[Atai]Emily>	What is it?
	* [Atai]Emily	is right up next to Priss, panicking, almost starting to babble.
	<[Atai]Emily>	You can't die. The doctor was a fake, he must be. I wouldn't trust these scrubby little local doctors further than I could throw them. He has to be wrong.
	<[Atai]Emily>	Has to.
	* [Atai]Emily	is clutching at Priss' coat, knuckles white from how tight her fists are balled up.
	<Halifax>	...sorry.
	* [Atai]Emily	's head is buzzing louder than a hive of coked-up bees playing miniature vuvuzelas.
	* Halifax	doesn't know how else to respond. She never really deserved Emily in the first place. It was her usual selfishness that made her pursue such a gem. What possessed Emily to let her take her is beyond Halifax.
	<[Atai]Emily>	What is it.
	<[Atai]Emily>	Tell me.
	* [Atai]Emily	can only focus on this thought.
	* Halifax	tries to remember what exactly the doctor said. She wasn't very caught up in the technical terms...
	<Halifax>	Some kind of parasitic spider that sets up a hive of sorts in it's host, in this case me... Doctor said he was surprised I hadn't died of internal bleeding, doesn't seem like anything usually lives long with these things feed on them from the inside...
	* Halifax	shrugs
	<[Atai]Emily>	...
	<Halifax>	So everything about my case was new to him. I shouldn't even be alive up to this point...
	* [Atai]Emily	looks Priss in the eyes.
	* [Atai]Emily	The steel in her eyes is now in her voice as well as she speaks.
	<Halifax>	He said the spiders would live on in the corpses though, even after a couple generations lefts....
	<Halifax>	So they probably wouldn't leave me as long as they can...
	* Halifax	stops talking now.
	<[Atai]Emily>	Loose women, burrowing spiders, rampant lust, or whatever else life tries to burden you, with, Priss... I don't care.
	<[Atai]Emily>	I won't have a single one of those...
	* [Atai]Emily	struggles for a word.
	<[Atai]Emily>	...those fucking things take you away from me.
	<[Atai]Emily>	Not one.
	* [Atai]Emily	would be more surprised at herself swearing were she paying more attention to thinking about her actions.
	* [Atai]Emily	That stopped happening a while ago, though.
	* [Atai]Emily	pulls Priss in for a fierce, emotional kiss as silent tears run down her cheeks.
	* Halifax	's eyes go wide at this before she lets them close...
	* [k]Ariel	is outside, listening to the conversation. So, another obstacle appears. It must be dealt with accordingly... Sea is her domain. And Emily should just disappear into it.
	* Halifax	doesn't pursue the kiss after she lets her lips part, her cheeks damp with Emily's tears...
	* [k]Ariel	left the place. her head begins to formulate a new, dangerous plan.....
	* [Atai]Emily	pulls back, and there is a strange, unusual fire in her eyes.
	<[Atai]Emily>	Hey, Priss...?
	* Halifax	looks away, her face blushing from the situation...
	* [Atai]Emily	's eyes travel down the captain's body... down. Dowwwn. Dowwwwwn.
	<Halifax>	What is it...?
	* [Atai]Emily	steadies herself, and takes a deep breath.
	<[Atai]Emily>	...
	* [Atai]Emily	...Not steady enough.
	* [Atai]Emily	licks her lips nervously, and she looks back up into Priss' eyes.
	<[Atai]Emily>	...Show it to me.
	* [Atai]Emily	says that, not quite planning to say that in a nervous whisper. Dammit, confidence, stop being a coward!
	* Halifax	opens her mouth to say "what" but immediately realizes where Emily's eyes are looking...
	* Halifax	slides her pants and boxers halfway down her hips...
	<Halifax>	...
	* Halifax	feels the open air on her crotch and is blushing furiously...
	* Halifax	slides her clothes the rest of the way off...
	* Halifax	's heart is in her throat... Though soft now, just the idea of Emily looking at he is making her hot...
	* [Atai]Emily	reaches down before she can let herself think about what she's doing. She takes ahold of it, looking at it with detached fascination.
	<[Atai]Emily>	...So... you really are, after all...
	* Halifax	quickly becomes erect as Emily's soft hands touch her.
	* [Atai]Emily	runs her hand along it, and raises an eyebrow as it hardens.
	<[Atai]Emily>	Oh... Works right, and everything, does it...?
	<[Atai]Emily>	...You know...
	* [Atai]Emily	risks a glance back at Priss.
	<[Atai]Emily>	This... actually makes things easier.
	* Halifax	's member continues to grow hard until it practically quivers...
	<Halifax>	Easier?
	* [Atai]Emily	idly strokes it as she talks, as if discussing current events and goings-on in the neighborhood.
	<[Atai]Emily>	Mm-hmm...
	* Halifax	gulps...
	* Halifax	exercises her practiced patience to not just push over Emily where she is...
	<[Atai]Emily>	You see, I'd been taught about men, and this sort of thing... and what to expect. But when you revealed your feelings to me, then I eventually began to wonder how two women would... couple.
	<[Atai]Emily>	But, this, see...
	* [Atai]Emily	gives it a squeeze.
	* Halifax	hands grip the bed hard.
	<[Atai]Emily>	This is easier.
	* [Atai]Emily	leans in, closer.
	* [Atai]Emily	...closer.
	* [Atai]Emily	clooooser.
	* [Atai]Emily	until their faces are almost touching.
	<[Atai]Emily>	Priss?
	<Halifax>	Emily?
	<[Atai]Emily>	...Do you love me?
	* Halifax	nods, tears glistening...
	<[Atai]Emily>	Do you care for me?
	<Halifax>	I-I love and care for you...
	<[Atai]Emily>	Do you want to make me happy?
	* Halifax	has to wet her dry lips...
	<Halifax>	...yes.
	* [Atai]Emily	's hand suddenly clenches tight around Priss' member, painfully so.
	<[Atai]Emily>	Then you'll only ever give this to me.
	* [Atai]Emily	sounds deadly and utterly serious.
	* Halifax	climaxes... Her teeth grit and she nods at the same time...
	* [Atai]Emily	loosens her grip slightly.
	<[Atai]Emily>	If your lust is a problem, then satisfy it with me. Whenever. Wherever.
	<[Atai]Emily>	I won't let anyone or anything take you from me, not even the reaper.
	* [Atai]Emily	suddenly smiles a little.
	<[Atai]Emily>	...You've wanted me all this time, haven't you?
	* Halifax	's breathing slows down a little, she's still has tears streaking down her eyes....
	* [Atai]Emily	's hands stop as she pauses, thinking.
	<[Atai]Emily>	And yet you'd never said a thing...
	* [Atai]Emily	leans in and kisses Priss.
	<Halifax>	I... I loved you. I would have been fine if that was all with nothing more then to have you around...
	<[Atai]Emily>	...And yet you felt you needed to satisfy these ...urges...
	* [Atai]Emily	gives it another tight squeeze at this
	* Halifax	shrugs and then winces..
	<[Atai]Emily>	...with other women. All because of me?
	* Halifax	runs a hand through her hair.
	<[Atai]Emily>	Maybe I'm the monster, here.
	* Halifax	shakes her head at that.
	<Halifax>	No... You didn't do anything...
	* [Atai]Emily	smiles again, and draws away, letting go.
	* [Atai]Emily	stands up.
	<[Atai]Emily>	...I'm... not sure how this part goes. But you do, don't you...?
	<Halifax>	Yeah...
	<[Atai]Emily>	Just ...be careful with me. I've never actually...not with someone else, at least.
	<Halifax>	Okay...
	* [Atai]Emily	is blushing like a virgin on her wedding night... which isn't very far from the truth.
	* Halifax	gives Emily a kiss on the forehead as she moves her hands over Emily's clothes...
	* Halifax	strips Emily to her undergarments. Taking each piece off carefully...
	* Halifax	slides her panties down her smooth legs giving Emily time to step out of them.
	<Halifax>	You are beautiful...
	* Halifax	says offhandedly as she looks at Emily and nothing else...
	* [Atai]Emily	smiles, and kisses Priss.
	<[Atai]Emily>	...Thank you.
	* [Atai]Emily	complies with the undressifying. She's finding herself starting to get aroused, too, just from the sheer insanity of it all.
	* Halifax	smiles back as she gently sets Emily down onto the bed and takes off her own remaining clothes...
	* [Atai]Emily	unbuckles her thigh holster, and sets it on the nightstand next to her.
	* Halifax	leans her face in between thighs and runs her fingers on Emily's lower lips...
	<Halifax>	Already wet...?
	* [Atai]Emily	looks a little confused. This was never mentioned before...but... Priss knows what she's doing, right...?
	<[Atai]Emily>	I, well... yes?
	* [Atai]Emily	is blushing.
	<[Atai]Emily>	Maybe you weren't the only one looking forward to this, you know...
	* Halifax	positions herself over Emily and use holds herself steady at Emily's entrance...
	<Halifax>	From what I hear, this may hurt a bit if it's your first time...
	* Halifax	pushes in.
	* [Atai]Emily	winces, but holds Priss closer to her, nails digging in.
	* Halifax	stops when she is all the way in, giving Emily some time to get accustomed to it before she starts pumping her hips slowly...
	* Halifax	kisses Emily deeply before losing the last of her restraint...
	* [Atai]Emily	kisses her back, hungrily and happily.
	<Halifax>	[And so the two make wild love until they both fall asleep from exhaustion...]