“Yup.”
“They don't get paid?”
“Nope. It's all just to party.”
Kerry blinked. “Wow. I think I like New Orleans.”
The band marched by, all playing their hearts out, sending brassy tones up into the night air as unicycle riders wove in and out of their ranks, tossing beads and glowing necklaces as they passed.
“Jesus!” Kerry glanced down the road for the next float. “Oh look at that. I want a stuffed animal.” She pointed at two women throwing the objects randomly.
“No problem.” Dar responded gallantly, starting to unbutton her shirt.
“No wait.. not.. Dar!” Kerry grabbed her clothing hastily. “I don't want one that bad!”
“I thought you liked me with my shirt off.” Her partner complained.
“Dar!”
Dar chortled softly and put her arms around Kerry, giving her a hug. “Okay hon.” She rocked them both back and forth. “How about a beer?”
“Sure.” Kerry steered her towards an outdoor cafe. “That's a lot safer than plush toys. All I need for this place is cash.” She fished a bill out of her pocket and pinned the waitress with an intent stare. “ I don't have to share my eye candy.”
Dar started laughing out loud.
“Pfft.”
**
It was very late when they finally wandered back into the hotel lobby, arm in arm. Kerry felt amiably overstimulated, her ears still ringing from the brassy music and a sense of pleasant displacement insulating her from the several mugs of beer she'd consumed.
It smelled of wood and candles in the hall, and there was a sense of age and decorum about the room, historic and different and reminding her oddly of some places she'd been in the Capitol. “Shouldn't have had that last beer.” She remarked mournfully. “Time to park my ass in bed.”
“That's where were going.” Dar guided her up the steps, giving a brief smile and nod to the room service waiter on his way down.
“Evening, Ladies.” He returned the greeting with a smile. “Anything I can bring you lovely gals tonight?”
“Please don't say ice cream, Dar. I've got too much beer in me.” Kerry muttered. “Not a good mix.”
“How about some nice hot tea.” Dar suggested. “And a couple bottles of water.”
“Surely!” The waiter smiled. “Be right up with it.”
“Mmm.. nice hot tea.” Kerry sighed. “You're the best.”
Dar unlocked the door and steered them both inside finding their bed turned down and chocolate truffles placed neatly awaiting them.
“Boy, that looks good.” Kerry kicked off her shoes. “I don't know if I”m going to last for tea. I'm wiped.” She carefully untangled the many strands of beads from her neck and put them on the desk, adding the coins to them. “That was wild and crazy.”
Dar pulled something from her pocket and dropped it next to Kerry's booty. “There”
“Oh, you got one?” Kerry picked up the plush animal with a look of surprise. “I didn't see you do that.”
Dar chuckled.
“Did you have to flash them for it?” Kerry peered at her from under very disheveled bangs. “Tell me the truth.”
Dar obligingly came over, wrapping her arms around her partner and gazing down into her eyes. “The truth is, I'd have stripped naked and covered myself in honey if it would made you happy.” She smiled at the gentle shift in Kerry's expression. “But the truth also is three people from the ILS New Orleans office were on that float and nearly split their pants rushing over to give me their toys.”
“Bwahahahahah!” Kerry fell against her and savored the hug that followed. “They recognized you?”
“Oh yeah.” Dar laughed easily along with her. “Actually they told me someone told them we were going to be here and they were on the lookout for us.” She said. “You were getting beer at the time, and they had to keep up with the float. They were bummed they missed you.”
Kerry closed her eyes, glad the windows were sufficiently insulated that only a faint blare of horns and yells filtered through to them. She felt Dar start to peel her shirt off and merely smiled, enjoying the sensation of the room air hitting her bare skin between her shoulder blades.
There was a slight sound as Dar tossed the fabric over the back of the nearby chair, and she pushed the edge of her partner's shirt up and and savored the skin to skin contact. She pulled the sweater over Dar's head and it went somewhere, as she felt Dar's fingers cradle the back of her head and their lips met.
She let her hands slide down and work at the button on Dar's jeans, the well worn and broken in fabric yielding easily to her fingers. The loosened denim slid down revealing the taller woman's briefs, a pair sedately decorated with Unix commands Kerry had gotten her for Christmas.
Some people shopped for lingerie at Victoria's Secrets, she shopped at Thinkgeeks. So did Dar, who had gotten her the Darth Vader boxer shorts she was currently in the process of losing, believing the statement 'come to the dark side, we've got cookies!' seemed to fit her.
Rampant nerdism.
She had just removed the spots from Dar's hips, and they were making a slow move towards the bed when there was a knock at the door.
“Ah, crap.”
“Tea.” Kerry banged her head gently against her partner's chest. “Why did we do that?”
“We're drunk.” Dar nudged her over to the bed and pulled the covers back. “G'wan. I'll get it.” She pulled her shirt back on and tugged it down to an almost modest length and trudged over to the door.
Kerry watched with a faint grin and half closed eyes, as Dar opened it to accept the tray, setting it down on the credenza and walking the bill back over to the waiter and closing him out of the room once he took it. Then she went back to the tray and opened one of the bottles of water, her figure outlined by the light from the window.
“Here.” Dar brought two glasses back over. “I've been told if you stay hydrated, you get less of a hangover.” She sat down on the edge of the bed and offered Kerry one. “True?”
“Never tried it, no idea.” Kerry drank the liquid anyway. “But it sure as hell can't hurt, right? I figured you'd find some way of making that chocolate fizzy thing if waking up tomorrow's too bad.”
“Mm.” Dar put her glass down, then took Kerry's and got rid of that too, pulling off her shirt and giving it a toss in the direction of the credenza. She licked her lips and slid under the covers. “Now. Where were we?”
“I was taking off your spots.” Kerry rolled over and put a hand on her hip, getting her thumb under her waistband. “And you were... ah, yeah.”
She felt the straps on her bra come loose and then Dar's thigh was slipping between hers, and she gave herself over to the growing passion that burned it's way through the alcohol and brought life into sharp, sensual focus. It brought a lightness to her thoughts, and any memories of earlier shadows vaporized as Dar put her knowledge of Kerry's body to good use.
They were part of each other in this moment, and this moment was the only thing she knew or cared about. Kerry felt the aching tension start to escalate and it brought a rush of adrenaline with it, making her ferociously happy.
Hangovers and ghosts be damned.
**
Dar opened her eyes, half lifting her head off the pillow. After a moment of silence she blinked, not sure what had woken her up.
It was dark and quiet in the room, soft creaks and pops sounding at irregular intervals. It was raining outside, and she could hear a faint rumble of thunder, but that was it. She glanced over at her bedmate, finding Kerry curled half on her side and half on her stomach, her arm wrapped around her pillow, very sound asleep.
“Hmph.” She settled back down on her side, resuming her spot against Kerry's back and putting her arm back around her waist. Without waking, Kerry seemed to sense the pressure, and she shifted a little, moving closer and pressing against her partner with a faint sound of contentment.