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TEMPEST:
“WHAT IS THE EMERGENCY here? Oh, hey, Lily,” Sunny said when she burst through Tempest’s front door.
“Hummus?” Lily asked, bringing the tray of chips and dip from the kitchen to the living area of Tempest’s quarters. She’d arrived early to make the snacks. “It’s fresh.”
“Oh, is that the version with the toasted pine nuts? I love that one.” Sunny grabbed a chip before Lily even sat, dipping it into the bowl of dip and moaning.
Hmmph. Tempest didn’t mind inviting her friends over—though to be fair, this was the first time—but were they really starving? Dinner was technically an hour and a half earlier and she’d seen them both in the mess hall. Which is precisely why she invited them over now.
“Have some, Temp,” Lily said. “It’s what girls do when we get together. We enjoy fancy dips that have no meat. When the males are present, they all insist on hearty meat dips that could not only pass as lasagna, but break the chips.”
“Girl, right?” Sunny laughed.
It was the “what girls do” that got Tempest. The name “hummus” did nothing for her—but the idea that other girls ate it did. She picked up a chip—albeit a bit gingerly—and dipped it into the creamy concoction. In case it was hideous, she schooled her face for control as she bit into the chip. A myriad of flavors burst onto her tongue.
“Good, huh?” Sunny laughed. “Don’t look so surprised. And you don’t have to freeze your facial features when trying something, Tempest. You’re our friend. You either like it or you don’t.”
“It won’t hurt my feelings,” Lily agreed. “More for us if you don’t.”
It wasn’t bad, per se. Plus, it was good to know that males did not care for it. That made it more special for girlfriend functions. “No, I like it,” Tempest admitted.
“Well, good,” Sunny said. “Now, back to my original question, what’s the panic?”
“I merely wish girl advice,” Tempest said, narrowing her eyes in case Sunny thought to back out. “And you both are girls. Plus you both owe me for the good I’ve done for you.”
Lily rolled her eyes. “Girlfriends don’t keep count of what they do for each other.”
Tempest winced. Another thing she’d have to remember.
“If you’re inviting your girlfriends,” Sunny said. “Why aren’t Robyn and Amanda here? I seem to remember them being included on your girlfriend list somewhere.”
“I wished to have Xeno Sapien girlfriends. I feel Robyn and Amanda might be influenced with the human factor. In fact, I think Lily may be slightly influenced with humans, being mated to Jason and all. However, I relented when I realized her cooking skills may be a pleasant experience to bring to a get together.”
Lily’s mouth had dropped so Sunny grabbed another chip. “Well, she’s got that right,” she said to Lily. “Do go on, Tempest. Tell us what has your panties in a bunch.”
Panties? Bah, who needed them? “I requested overtime to cover the dance. By working the wall so that others may attend,” she clarified. “But instead Shawn has scheduled me to work the dance. With him. In actual civilian clothes.”
“And?” Sunny asked, munching on the chips as if that was her sole purpose for being here. Lily, to her credit, remained quiet.
“It feels too much like a date and not work,” Tempest exploded. “Especially with what occurred between Shawn and me.”
“What occurred?” Sunny asked, mouth full.
“Shawn has remembered that he and I made a pact the day his death occurred,” Tempest said, trying not to squirm. “We had agreed to explore the sexual feelings between us.” At Sunny’s raised eyebrows, she hurried to explain. “I have since changed my mind.”
“Why?” Sunny asked. “He’s hot.”
“Because he is human and weak,” Tempest spat.
“Is it because he is human or because he is weak?” Lily asked.
Lily was probably feeling put out because she was mated to a human, but Tempest had no time for such delicate sensibilities. “Both.”
“Well, he may be human, but there’s no way he’s weak,” Lily said. “He’s never once balked at the idea of having to fish me out of the water when I’m in my altered state.”
Hmm. Lily had a point. She was a man-eating barracuda while in saltwater.
“And he’s not really weak if he trains Xeno Sapiens,” Sunny added.
“He does not have the physical strength we do.”
“He expends it in other ways. He can deflect blows until we tire because he knows how to compensate for our propensity for strength. That is hardly weakness.”
“He’s not weak because he died either,” Lily said, taking a chip. “If anything, death makes him stronger. He seems to know what he wants and commands it.”
Yes, Shawn was definitely more commanding since his death. Used to be, he was laid back and laughed a lot, giving Tempest her way. Now, he was in her face and all snarly most times. It was perplexing.
“In any case, it is confusing,” Tempest said. “I do not understand the purpose of attending an outing with him on my personal day off. Especially when he has turned it into a work day and knows I cannot refuse his commands.”
“So he has you confused?” Sunny asked.
“Yes.”
“So what you’re really saying is you want your power back.”
Tempest thought about that. “Yes. I do not like this befuddled state.”
Lily giggled. “Then you turn the tables on him.”
Tempest turned to her. “I do not understand.”
Now it was Sunny’s turn to giggle. “Remember how we had Beast all confused when he decided to no longer touch me? And you brought me all of that clothing to tempt him?”
“Yes. But that is different. Beastly is rather stupid.” At Sunny’s affronted look, she quickly added, “No offense.”
“The more you know,” Lily said mildly. “All men are stupid when it comes to temptation.”
“Are you suggesting that I tempt Shawn with my clothing?” If anything, this idea baffled Tempest. Did they not understand she was not interested in him that way?
“Hell, yes,” Sunny said. “He can hardly remember to be all commanding and bossy when you’re walking around like a goddess. And it doesn’t take much to make you look like a goddess.”
“So instead of me being confused, he would be?”
“You got it,” Sunny agreed.
“Ta-da,” Lily said. “Power back.”
“Hmm. I do like this idea of having my own power returned.”
“Whatcha got in your closet?” Tempest could hardly make out Sunny’s words with the chips in her mouth.
“Uniforms,” she admitted. “Sweats for when I’m at home.”
Lily waved the dip on her chip gleefully. “Looks like we gotta call Robyn and Amanda over anyway. They need to bring a few of their dresses.”
“The sluttier, the better,” Sunny agreed. “Got any popcorn? Not sure we want them eating all the dip.”
Tempest pulled the dip aside, keeping it from the two barracudas. “I only have four friends,” she snarled. “I need bargaining power.”
Ten minutes later, the computer announced the newcomers at the door. “Dr. Robyn Saraven and Dr. Amanda Becker.”
“Thank the Goddess,” Lily giggled, getting up to get the door. “Break the dip back out.” Both Robyn and Amanda were weighed down with garments draped over both arms. Amanda had a clear suitcase filled with shoes.
“Anyone bring sexy underthings?” Sunny asked.
“I do not wear undergarments.”
All four women turned to look at her. Time seemed to hold still for a moment. Had she said something inappropriate? “Unless I am sparring in a rather short skirt. No sense in giving everyone a freebie,” she amended.
“Well, not sure if you’ll end up sparring,” Amanda laughed. “Let her go without.”
“Dip?” Sunny asked, smoothly maneuvering it from Tempest’s side. “Tempest goes all out when she invites her girlfriends over. She had Lily make it.”
“Is that the one with the pine nuts?” Amanda asked, not waiting for a response.
Robyn and Amanda dumped the clothing over a chair and squeezed onto the sofa around the dip. Four hands snaked out from every direction, descending on her dip like a ravenous horde of ants.
Tempest sighed, getting up from her seat to give her guests room. She had thought that having all four of her friends over would mean they behaved with better manners, but perhaps she had picked the wrong four.
She made her way to the dresses. One was in gold, one in silver, four were black.
“Black seems to be the trendy color,” she said.
“Black is always the appropriate choice. Also, red. But with all the purple skin you’ll be showing, we weren’t sure if you wanted red as a backdrop. So we went with colors to complement the rest of your body.”
That was certainly caring of her friends to remember the rest of her skin color. People tended to forget since she wore uniforms from the neck down, gloves even covering her hands, that the rest of her was a different color than her face.
“I shall try on your selection,” she announced, her back facing them as she dropped her sweats to her ankles and bent over to get them off her fuzzy-stockinged feet.
She thought she heard a small protest behind her but when she looked through her knees, all four women had their eyes glued to the dip they were all crazy over.
“She wasn’t kidding about going commando,” Amanda said. “You could try those on later, you know.”
“It is best if you see them all to tell me which one looks best for Shawn.” Just saying the words made her go all warm and squiggly inside, like she had worms.
“So now it’s on with Shawn?” Robyn asked, her eyes darting back to Tempest.
Tempest dropped her cotton shirt so she stood completely naked, then stepped into the first dress.
“Oh, no. I merely wish to tempt him so that I may regain my power.”
Amanda looked confused. “Explain.”
“He will forget to command me and act bossy if he is distracted because I am dressed to kill,” Tempest said.
“Since she already killed him,” Lily giggled.
“That is inappropriate. However, it does show our comfortable girlfriend status to make inappropriate comments,” Tempest said.
Lily raised a brow. “Like calling Beast stupid?”
“Or calling him Beastly?” Sunny asked.
“Exactly. Only girlfriends can do this.”
Amanda and Robyn burst into their own laughter, then sobered as she twirled in the dress.
“Hmm. I like it. Fun and flirty. Try on the gold one,” Robyn said, then helped herself to a dipped chip.
Tempest peeled the black silky material from her skin, aware of them all shifting their eyes away from her naked form and back to the dip. It appeared girlfriends were insatiable for food. She would have to remember that the next time someone invited her over for snacks and gossip.
The next dress went over her head with ease, falling easily to cover her small breasts. “Does this make me look like I have no boobs?” she asked Lily. Lily, because she’d once taunted her—though, to be fair, she was in her teenage mode—with having an athletic body.
“Hell, no,” Lily breathed. “You have purple boobs galore. They look as if they might escape the flimsy confines of that dress at any moment. It’s going to drive him crazy.”
“Him and perhaps every other male there,” Sunny said. “And it does draw attention to all that glorious, glittery purple skin.”
Amanda spoke next. “Lots of other women will be wearing black, so the gold dress will pop.”
“Sunny’s skin is gold. She will be a gold person there,” Tempest said.
“Eh, I’m just one person. And I may wear a purple dress,” Sunny said.
“I think the gold one is it,” Robyn said. “There’s nothing like wearing a dress that makes a man go all possessive.”
“Possessive?”
“He’ll be right there, waiting to catch your boobs should they accidentally fall out.”
“Hmm. That would make him a bit of a manservant. I like the idea of him waiting on me.”
“Because that’s what you’d grown used to.”
“I have waited on him,” Tempest corrected. “I nursed him back to health after I killed him, did I not? I told you I am nurturing.”
“That’s just since his death,” Lily said. “Before that, he waited on you. Hand and foot. Like you were his cherished princess.”
Really? Is that how her friends viewed it?
Sunny nodded. “He spoiled you rotten.”
That was good to know. She rather liked that. “This is the dress, then. Now I shall try on the shoes.”
All the shoes were black, so she didn’t really see the point in choosing one pair, so she just picked a couple and squeezed her feet into them. She fiddled with the tiny straps and then warily stood, her knees bowed out to compensate for the odd angle of her ankles.
“Oooh, you have perfect ankles for strappy shoes. Anything looks good on you,” Lily said.
“Let’s make sure you can walk in them,” Robyn said. “Go across the room.”
Tempest sighed. What a ridiculous statement. She took a step, weaved unexpectedly, and then compensated by using her body weight. She took another step, her knees bowed, and swung her body over. She was getting the hang of this.
But when she reached the other end of the living room, there were expressions of horror on her friends’ faces.
“It’s like watching a gorilla swing,” Amanda muttered.
“You can’t bow your knees out like that,” Robyn said. “Try again.”
If she couldn’t bow her knees...she’d have to spread her legs to balance herself. She’d have to take steps with her feet spread three feet apart. She tried again, but the horror didn’t leave their faces.
“You’ve never done this before, have you?” Amanda asked.
“Well, no,” Tempest admitted.
All four women rose from the sofa and flitted slowly about the room. It was like four dainty butterflies.
“See?” Sunny said. “Back straight. You have to make it sexy. Put one foot directly in front of the other.”
“Small steps,” Lily added. “You don’t have to leap across the room.”
“I wanted to get from here to there as quickly as possible,” Tempest explained.
“Well, undo that thinking,” Robyn said. “You are delicate in heels. A fragile flower.”
“I am not fragile,” Tempest said.
“When dressed up in party finery...you are. Use your imagination. Dainty steps. Straight. See how it makes your hips swing instead of your whole body? Keep your gait straight.”
Sunny took her by the hand and gently pulled her, putting a hand around her waist. “Pretend I’m a male,” she instructed. “Get comfortable in the position of dance.”
She was touching her? Was she not afraid Tempest would send a shard of rib flying through her palm?
“That’s it,” Sunny said. “Relax but hold yourself straight. Never slouch. That’s it. We’re sexy, but classy.”
Somehow, she twirled her about the room, and then slowly released her hand. All the females formed a line around her. “Okay, let’s take a step. Now another. Another.”
Before long, they were waltzing across the room.
“I think she’s got it,” Robyn said.
“And,” Lily leaned in, a naughty look on her face, “She tempts me. She’s a fucking knock-out.”
Tempest felt a giggle erupt. Not because they thought she was beautiful; that was simply a fact of her life. She was gorgeous. But because that particular curse word was one that Shawn had taught her, much to Jason’s chagrin.
And that reminded her that though he was weak, Shawn wasn’t such a bad guy.
