Cat-Katie-Kitten Ch. 07 - Secrets

"Ah cain't believe he did that," Savvy exclaimed, pulling away from the parking garage where Magic Maybelle sat during pole dancing class.

"He didn't act interested in my opinion," Katie admitted with a dismissive shrug. "And I didn't care enough to stop him."

"But hunny, that's rape! Husband or not, iffin yew don't wanna, then th'answer's 'No'." Savvy fumed so much, Katie could almost see the cartoonish steam cooking out of her ears and found herself pleased by her girlfriend's concern.

"Honestly, I'm so tired of listening to him beg every day, I said 'Fine. You're going away on this trip for two weeks so knock yourself out. You've got to leave for the airport in about an hour.'."

"Jest like tha'?"

"Yup. And then I rolled over onto my knees, pulled up my nightie up so he could find my pussy while I grabbed my tablet to play Bejeweled." She noticed they didn't take the usual route home. Savvy drove down unfamiliar streets to a section of LA she rarely entertained a reason to visit.

"And he did?"

"Well, he TRIED. He jabbed away at me for awhile, but I knelt there bored and playing my game. I don't think I even got wet. Finally he gave up and went off to take a shower, yelling about how I'd turned into a 'frigid bitch' and won't give him what he wants."

"But yew ignored him, raight?"

"Absolutely. He acted like fucking me back to the way we used to be will solve our problems and I'm not having it. I even went so far as standing naked in the kitchen holding my cup of coffee for him to try and cum into like we've been doing the last several weeks. I gave him a ten count while he tried to get his dick out but he wasn't even hard before I got to ten."

"Outstandin' Katie Kitty!" Savvy beeped her own horn, then waved cheerily at the people they passed on the sidewalk who looked to see what the commotion was about. "What happens now?"

"Now I'm going to try and find a new source for cream in my morning coffee, spend some time getting passionately banged like a drum by a sexy stud and his wife, whose pretty fucking hot herself, and see about doing some clearing out of some family stuff I've held onto for too long." Katie glanced around at the unfamiliar streets and businesses they passed. Nothing felt sinister or dangerous, but she'd learned wariness for Savvy's surprises. "Where ARE we going?"

"Ah'm sorry, Ah fergot to tell yew!"

"Again." Katie added, smirking.

"Agin," Savvy agreed. Turning a corner and slowly guiding the car to a stop in an available space. "Ah needed to stop in an' talk ta mah tattoo gal about some new ink fer mah leg. Ah'll take yew out fer dinner when we're dun."

"Deal. Will Jerry meet us there?" They climbed out of the car and started pulling the travel cover over the open cab.

"Naw. He and the crew are takin' Ian outta Vegas fer his Bachelor Party. Ah offered ta jump naked outta a cake but Jerry said that's somethin' Ah'd 'do on a Tuesday afternoon jest 'cause' and 'not special enough fer a bachelor's send-off'. The Ass. So they're gone fer tha weekend."

"So we're on our own this weekend? We're not getting out of bed tomorrow, are we?"

"Damn raight. We'll make it a gurl's weekend. Maybe call up a few friends. Bonnie and Linda would love to spend time with yew! 'Specially since yew jes gave Cesar a hot ride."

She smiled at Savvy and, taking her arm, she saw a dark, gothic sign across the street- 'Lesbo Vampyres Studio- Tattoos and Piercings'. The black-tinted windows framed an old, heavy wooden door with a hopefully fake bat hanging from a wreath of weeds. Sadly, the terror sensation lost a huge chunk of it's edge with the shop sitting sandwiched between the brightly flashing neon of the adult toy store on one side with its cheery flashes of 'Porn Porn Porn' in bright pink and orange and the staid, Old-World charm of the dusty used bookstore with a window full of ferns and other plants surrounded by sun-faded old hardcovers by Robert Ludlam and Danielle Steele on the other. They crossed the street and entered, tingling musical little bells announcing their arrival when they opened the door.

"Hey there, Savvy!" said the woman at the register, finishing up the exchange with a 'butch' customer sporting a fresh bandage over their right forearm. "Now, you try to keep this clean and covered with the antibacterial ointment for the next THREE weeks this time. Otherwise it'll fade and your Martian Manhunter will look more like Gumby if you skimp out again."

"Three weeks," the customer nodded. "And pat dry, not rub."

"Right, though with the dry weather lately if you stick your arm outside for a few seconds after a shower, that will likely take care of it. Take care, Stevie!"

The customer trundled out, smiling politely and nodding to Katie and Savvy, leaving them alone with the dark-skinned woman at the counter. Pulling off a pair of blue latex gloves and tossing them away, she smiled broadly, showing off brilliant white teeth contrasting beautifully with light-eating dark brown cheeks. Katie could easily picture this woman riding a bike alongside her or bounding up the side of a climbing wall in a gym.

"That Stevie's a sweetheart. Works for the comic shop around the corner. Comes in once a month to get a new superhero done. They'll have the whole 'Justice Avengers' or whatever done before the end of next year." She turned to Katie and stuck out a hand. "I'm Krystal, Head Vampyre and Tattoo Artist. What can we do to you today?"

"TO me?" Amused, Katie shook her hand, peering around at the eclectic decor of the studio, including the thick fake cobwebs in every corner and the store-bought skeleton reading an old, tattered copy of Tattoo Magazine in the waiting area. Next to him was a sign telling her that he was 'Still Trying To Decide On A Tat'.

"Katie Kitty here's sports some nice linework on her back that could use some color hun, but Ah came in ta show yew what Ah'm lookin' ta add ta mah leg next week." Savvy took a tablet out of her purse, then leaned in to give Krystal a kiss on each cheek.

"We do tats and piercings," Krystal explained, returning Savvy's kisses before leading them to some unoccupied chairs next to her workspace. "Since those go 'into' the body it's more fun to say it that way. Creeps out the uptight straights and goes with the whole 'vampire' vibe. Keeps the TERFs and 'Stars and Bars' assholes at bay too. All my girlfriend's idea."

"Who summons Lilith, the Mistress of the Night?"

When they turned, Katie expected some sort of tall, painfully thin and pale, tragic appearing figure with a severe glare and perhaps a sense of gothic elegance. Instead, dramatically throwing back the rear curtain revealed... an Asian vampire cherub stuffed into a corset and cutoff jean shorts.

Shorter than Savvy by a good six inches. Lilith gave Katie the immediate impression of a young woman who blossomed early, spilling out of the tightly laced corset giving her a more impressive bustline than Savvy's. 40Ds at the very least. Dark hair in big pigtails, heavily shadowed almond eyes and tan skin clashed with brightly colored rainbow leggings under pink fishnet stockings, a red tinsel halo and some sort of tiny black leather wings on her back and gave Katie the giggles.

"I'm sorry, but all I can hear is my grandfather asking if it was Hookerween already," she blurted out, trying not to laugh too hard. And failing.

"Well, your grandfather is a shithead." Lilith replied, smoothing her hands down over her generous hips before adjusting her corset back up.

"Lui, my sweet horror-baby?" Krystal interrupted, pointing at her own mouth. "You missed a little bit there."

Lui/Lilith reached up to wipe away a bit of moisture from the corner of her mouth, inspected it briefly, then licked it off her finger.

"Sorry, that last guy was a bit of a firehose. Good to the last drop though." She pulled out a lipstick and covered her lips with a new coat of glossy black. "For most girls, lipstick is sexy makeup, but lipstick is this vampyre's warpaint."

"Is there someone else here?" Katie turned to the back of the studio, past the curtains where another chair awaited, but didn't spy anyone.

"Oh no, it's just us," Krystal said, shaking her head, then turning back to Savvy's tablet. "She's been 'helping' the neighbors all afternoon."

"There's a glory hole back here into one of the video booths of the porn shop next door. When I'm not working on a client out here, I can take care of anyone interested over there. Wanna see?" Lui beckoned Katie along and, with nothing better to do, she followed the young woman into the back.

"I do the piercings mostly. I'm not ready to start tattooing clients yet, but almost!" She waved at her neatly kept workspace, neater than any tattoo shop Katie visited in the past. Almost clinical in it's precision. "If you don't have any body jewelry already, I'd be more than happy to help piss off your grandfather a little more."

"He passed away three years ago but he would have liked you. He'd call you 'spunky'."

"Only when I'm in the mood for a facial," Lui quipped, licking her lips. "Come to think of it, it HAS been awhile... So what was his deal? Didn't like Halloween?"

"Oh no, completely the opposite. He adored Halloween. Full-sized candy bars. Talking with all the kids about their costumes. Used to go all out with decorations- more cartoony types than scary though." She smiled, remembering the maze of old plywood monsters decorating his lawn every year. He would have gone all in with the giant inflatables and giant skeletons if he could. Some people go berserk for Christmas, he chose Halloween. "No, he didn't like all the unnecessarily 'sexy' versions of costumes that shouldn't play up sexy in the first place like 'sexy Big Bird' or 'sexy Hazmat Suit'. Always told me they turned good girls into cheap hookers and I should have more respect for myself. He called those sorts of outfits 'Hookerween costumes' and your outfit reminded me of him. Sorry if I offended you."

"I'd almost be offended if I didn't *just* tell you I suck stranger's cocks through a hole in a wall for tips when I'm bored. Sorry for calling your grandfather a shithead."

Lui took her to the back of the room where another curtain hung. A cozy cubby hole lay beyond with a wall decorated in images cut from various music, porn and tattoo magazines and strings of novelty Halloween lights, currently off. A low standing ergonomic 'kneeling' chair sat positioned in front of a section of wall with a carefully fitted cap, once removed, would reveal a hole through to the room on the other side a bit bigger than a sport bottle.

"This is where I was when you came in. The guy had an average dick but came buckets." Lui smiled and licked her lips, savoring the memory and lingering taste. Reaching into her cleavage, she proudly flashed a pair of fifty dollar bills. "Made a hundred bucks too!"

"So you're bi then," Katie surmised. She looked at the spot on the wall, imagining an anonymous cock sticking through it, waiting for a hungry mouth to take care of it. Her mouth started to water. It might be fun to give that a try someday.

"Everyone keeps saying that! I'm a full-on lesbian! I only fuck women!" The vampyre girl protested, stomping her foot and sticking out her lower lip in a cute pout. She fumed for a minute, then shrugged, which created a mesmerizing effect on her corseted bosom. "Ok, fine... yeah, the 'sucking cock for fun' thing might be a little confusing."

"A little, yeah." Katie closed the curtain, trying not to notice the small light flashing to indicate someone in the viewing booth on the other side of the wall. Lui leaned in conspiratorially.

"Truth is, I don't like sucking dick at all. I'm SUPER turned on by body fluids though- boy cum, girl cum, milk, spit, blood, even piss. Making guys cum is like buying a pack of donuts at a gas station- easy and vaguely satisfying but not great. If I make Krystal squirt when she's having her period? Sploosh! Instant orgasm. Probably why I'm so turned on by vampires."

"That is... pretty weird," Katie agreed, sitting down on the most comfortable appearing chair in the room, the dentist chair where Lui gave customers their piercings. She tried not to look at the blinking light and wonder who and what waited on the other side. Examining the neatly arranged needles and jewelry instead, she thought about Savvy and her piercings. She'd wanted to pierce her nipples for awhile now she rationalized, so why not now? "Maybe that's why you do the piercings too?"

"Oh, that's TOTALLY why!" Lui sat down on her work stool, flashing a big grin showing Katie the permanent fangs she wore. "I like stabbing people and getting paid for it! Plus, I offer a discount if the customer will let me lick up any blood."

Katie sat back and digested that thought for a moment. She'd thought about getting her nipples done but suspected Brian would demand too many restrictions before she could. But now with him gone on his extended trip, she could take time to heal, presenting him with a fait accompli when he got back. Fucking Jerry and Savvy would require extra care, especially if she got her tongue done, but damn did their studs feel great grinding against her clit! Not to mention Jerry's cock-bars rubbing along inside her cunny.

"How much to do both my nipples?" she blurted out, interrupting Lui's stream of consciousness chatter about getting cum and spit on. "And my tongue?"

"I'll do both nipples and your tongue for $100 plus the cost of jewelry. And that's if you agree to the blood-drinking discount."

"Do you have some jewelry I can look at?"

They spent several minutes discussing a display rack of bars, hoops and shields for her nipples, finally settling on some simple bars for starting out and a pretty flower shield kinda matching the tattoo on her back for once the starting holes healed. She settled on a circular barbell with a similar flower pattern inside each bead for her tongue where both ends would rest on the upper surface instead of top and bottom. On impulse, they added a banana bell for her navel when her hand lingered a little too long on one with a tiny, jeweled baby's foot.

By the time they'd selected all the jewelry, Savvy and Krystal joined them in the piercing area. The light over the glory hole had stopped blinking. With Katie the last customer of the day (Thursday's not a busy night anyway, Krystal told them), the four of them could go out to celebrate her new nipples with margaritas and nachos. Tomorrow would definitely require another personal day.

Taking off her top and sports bra, she sat back holding Savvy's hand while the others prepped all Lui's tools and her new 'sparklies'. Wearing black latex gloves, they agreed to start with her tongue, then work their way down. Using a special pair of forceps, Lui captured her tongue, checked it over quickly and then reached for her lance.

Katie braced, expecting pain. After all, this year boiled down to her enduring pain eventually leading to pleasure. At least she knew this pain she asked for. She closed her eyes and tried to relax. She took a few deep breaths, feeling calm.

*Pinch-Pinch*

*Pinch-Pinch*

She didn't experience the pain she thought she'd feel, the lance passed through the muscle of her tongue quickly and easily. Shots for their honeymoon in the Bahamas hurt more. Almost as quickly, Lui hooked the new barbell through the holes and screwed the ends on. She balanced on the edge of disappointment having not felt the pain she expected.

Oddly, she felt a familiar rush. Warm pleasure akin to hugging Savvy or cuddling with Jerry.

"Well damn iffin tha' doesn't look hawt as fuck," Savvy complimented, wiping away a tear from Katie's cheek. "Ah may jest hav'ta git one a'them when Ah come ta get mah tat next week."

"You've already got a tongue stud," Katie observed, surprised her tongue didn't feel weird and make her talk funny. She always thought a tongue piercing would. Studying it in the mirror Lui held up for her, she agreed it did look pretty damn sexy.

"Ah've got the one, but tha double looks like it will be a goddam tease and a half. Gotta keep up mah reputation as a champion cock-swallower. Cain't let the new hottie beat mah rep!"

"I've watched you deep-throat Jerry, you've got nothing to worry about." She squeezed Savvy's hand reassuringly.

"Now you'll probably experience a little swelling over the next few days but keep working the bar like we talked about and keep it clean and you should be fine. Try to avoid really acidic citric juices right off, no alcohol for at least three weeks and you'll have to put any oral on the back-burner for a few weeks until it heals. Sorry, I should have mentioned that part earlier. Ready for your nipples?"

She nodded, sitting back while Lui captured her left nipple in a new clamp, complimenting her on how nice and erect they stood without much stimulation. Her right nipple prepped; Savvy kissed her forehead. She saw the lance in the piercer's skilled, yet small hand.

Closed her eyes.

*Pinch-Tug-Pinch*

*Shift*

*Pinch-Tug-Pinch*

Katie shuddered and climaxed.

Not a huge, body quaking orgasm, but a small rush of pleasure making her wet. She moaned, tensed and relaxed. It might go unnoticed if not for the scent of lust subtly filling the air.

"You ok?" Krystal asked, massaging Katie's thigh. Warm, strong hands worked her tense and tender muscles.

"Yeah," she gasped, still surprised herself. "I'm okay. Don't know where that came from."

And I'll experience another one if you don't stop squeezing my leg, she thought. This is why she stopped seeing her physical trainer after the accident- he'd almost made her cum doing the exactly the same thing to her legs. Shit, she wasn't *that* starved for a woman's hands on her body. Not any more at least.

Deep breaths.

Relax.

Lui replaced the lances with the bars she'd recommended to use until the holes healed, deftly screwing the ball ends on snugly. This time Katie lost a little blood, which the vampire cherub happily licked off her bare breasts.

Flushed and breathing hard, she couldn't wrap her head around what happened. Playing with her nipples never made her climax before but never that hard, and getting a needle jabbed through them didn't count as 'playing'. And sitting topless around three other women couldn't do it alone since she'd gone to the gym often enough to understand casual nudity didn't do anything to her in spite of everything that she'd experienced over the last few months. Something tripped in her brain, or body, and expected pain transformed into unexpected pleasure.

What the (not being) fuck(ed)?

She giggled at her own joke.

"Ready for the last one?" Lui asked, resting her latex covered hand flat on Katie's quivering belly.

"Almost," Katie replied, leveraging herself off the chair. Without a second thought, she stripped off her shorts and thong, tossing them aside to stand before them dressed only in her ankle socks and sneakers.

This felt better. No longer restricted. Held back.

She sat back on the paper covered chair, listening to it crinkle while she made herself comfortable. Legs open, feet on the floor, leaning back not only to hold Savvy's hand, but to put both arms up over her own head to expose herself fully by grabbing the headrest.

Expose herself comfortably.

A customer in the next store over would jerk himself raw over a picture like this. Brian certainly would have filled her coffee cup at last. She wondered if anyone was still in the glory hole booth that needed attention. She wouldn't mind wrapping her lips around an anonymous stranger's cock right now. Well no, she couldn't do that until her tongue healed. Maybe let him into her pussy then. Back right up and let some stranger drive himself mad fucking her through the wall. Almost like Brian's milking videos- just her and a hard cock yearning for her at her mercy.

"Okay, go ahead. I can't tell you why, but this feels so much better."

The others exchanged glances before Lui put her hand back on her belly, the black latex against her pale skin. She made a mental note she needed to lay out in the sun at least once over the weekend. Maybe even talk Savvy into making the trip out to Blacks Beach or Brooks to sun naked if it wasn't too cold.

*Pinch-Tug-Pinch*

She didn't fight it, letting her hips rise as the spike of pleasure spread out from her belly and rushed through her. Pain never turned her on like this. Strawberry's flogging didn't turn her on nearly as much as sharing the experience with Savvy. Nor did she consider herself an exhibitionist in spite of all her recent activities, though, honestly, she might be getting close. She could only describe something subconscious triggering her body to feel fantastic.

Reaching out, she grabbed the back of Lui's neck, diverting her from trying to replace the lance with the cute banana bar and pulling the vampire cherub's face straight into her pussy. The girl needed little encouragement, pressing her round cheeks between her trembling thighs to start drinking juice from her free-flowing cunny.

Katie gave her as much as she could handle, glazing her face over and over with multiple orgasms shaking her tummy and raised bottom. Little fangs nibbled on her wet lips, sucking pulls grabbed her tender clit, gloved hands supported and squeezed her buns.

And she came. Over and over she came.

Clutching Savvy's hand and turning up at her stunned face, Katie climaxed out of control.

Holding tightly to a fistful of Lui's long, dark hair, the tinsel halo fallen to the floor, wide brown eyes staring up her gloriously rebellious body, she climaxed.

Krystal moving to her side to grab her waist, trying to keep the lance still in her navel from flying away or stabbing into her vulnerable tummy, she came.

She came gently. She climaxed hard. Her sides ached with cramps caused by waves of orgasms until, at long last, she let out a long, desperate moan and dropped to the wet paper-covered seat.

The room stayed dead silent except for the heavy panting, each woman trying to catch their breath.

"Hole-ee FUCK!" Krystal broke the quiet, letting Katie go and standing up. She looked over this new client with fear and awe. "I've done this for ten years now and no one's EVER gone off like that... I mean, I had this cute little twink in my chair get a hard-on once but he also spent the whole hour moaning and screaming while he chewed on his boyfriend's arm trying to deal with the pain."

"Ah wanna say she should jest go 'whole hog' and git her hunny button done too, but... shit." Savvy, stroking her girlfriend's hair, searched Katie's face for something, anything to explain what happened. Katie certainly couldn't tell her anything but she CRAVED that clit piercing now.

"I'm going to say 'No'," Lui pulled back, her 'vampire warpaint' smeared all over her glowing cheeks. She not only fed off Katie's cum, but her surging energy transferred over, coaxing a simultaneous but much less violent climax. Gathering herself, she quickly pulled the lance and installed the banana bar with it's little baby foot jewel. "Whatever happened to her just now, we weren't ready for. Katie especially. After cumming like that, her vajayjay's way too sensitive now to do a clit piercing safely. But if you come back when you're on your period, I'll do it for free."

"I can't," Katie croaked with a dry mouth. "I don't have periods any more."

"Wait, whut?" Savvy asked, startled. Katie shared a lot with her over the last several weeks, but not this secret.

"I had an accident at the start of the year," Katie told them, placing her hands on her bare belly. She shivered, finally coming down from the heat that claimed her and Krystal handed her a large towel to cover and clean herself with. She started rubbing the cool sweat from her arms and chest.

"I was out riding my bike. New Years' Resolution- to ride more and get fit again. Feel more like myself. Some asshole in a pickup almost clipped me. Threw me over the handlebars and down an embankment. Never stopped. Never took responsibility. I landed on my stomach with the bike on top of me. Took me awhile to pull myself back up to the road where another driver found me dragging up my busted-up bike. Hand me my top please. Is a sports bra ok to wear with the piercings?"

"Best choice," Lui told her, handing her her top and bra. "They wick away moisture and help keep them clean."

"Thank you." Katie took her clothes and separated them, then pulled on her bra before continuing. "On the outside I appeared fine- a few cuts and bruises, nothing on the surface that looked really bad. Nothing broken. But the guy who stopped insisted I go to the hospital anyway. He was a nurse and called the ambulance right away. Good thing too, because before the ambulance arrived, I was bleeding pretty heavily and started having really really bad cramps. You know when you're having a *super* heavy day and everything twists up like a... well, like a nasty bowl of spaghetti? Like that, but worse."

The other three made noises of agreement and condolence, filling the space while she pulled on her top. She used the towel covering her lap to wipe down her thighs and ass, sitting on it when she finished.

"They put me out, it hurt so much, then spent the next few hours trying to get a hold of Brian, my husband. Stupid ass out screwing around with his friends from work and couldn't answer his fucking phone.

"Finally, the docs couldn't wait anymore. The x-rays showed some sort of polyp on one of my ovaries burst and they figured at the time it was most likely some sort of cancerous tumor that ruptured when I went over the handlebars. The best option at the time to stop the damage and save my life, since I might bleed out, was to perform an emergency partial hysterectomy."

She lightly stroked her belly, gently caressing the little jeweled foot not resting in her navel.

"They already took my uterus out when they discovered the polyp on my left ovary was an ectopic pregnancy lodged really high in my tube. I'd had a few symptoms warning me about it, but who doesn't have some tummy pain when you're having a real bad period? The accident and bleeding fucked up that ovary so badly it needed to go too. So, the accident caused me to spontaneously abort a seven week old baby that, accident or not, risked killing me either way so... 'win-win'? Yay me?"

She waved her hands in a little cheering fists while her tummy did little flip flops. Her audience sat quietly, still trying to absorb what she told them. A private tragedy spilled to women she barely knew, if at all, as though long-separated girlfriends from years past catching up on all the latest news. Katie didn't cry, but they wept for her. She touched the little jeweled foot now hanging from her navel.

Savvy sat, mouth open, utterly lost for words- she chose long ago not to have children but this... she wouldn't wish this on anyone. Well, realistically she might be petty once in a blue moon, but she promised herself she wouldn't feel good about it. No wonder Katie Kitty fell into her arms after her tumble on the front lawn.

Her thong still felt damp. Wet panties never felt great going on so Katie decided to go commando and wiggled into her snug blue biker shorts. Left her sweatshirt in Maybelle though. Hope it didn't cool down too much before they made it out to the car.

"My husband finally showed his face a few hours late and his FIRST question to the doctor was 'When can we have sex again?'. Swear to God. Sex always played a big part of our marriage before, so I guess it didn't register until recently that..."

She paused, gathering her thoughts while absently twisting her panties in her hands. She needed to admit it out loud for her own sake.

"That he mainly treats me as a cock-socket who pays the bills. Speaking of which..."

She stood up, stuffing her panties into her purse and dug out her credit card, handing it to Krystal, then Lui, then Krystal again until one of them took it.

"I stayed in the hospital for about a week (Thank God the lab carries great insurance!) and did a little physical therapy. Quit going after the first month and a half though. Made me feel weird getting worked over by Stuart, my trainer. Touching my mostly naked body all over like... like a lover while we talked about stuff. I guess now I can say it felt like he tried to put ME, my spirit, back together, not only fix the broken body. Pretty sure I would have fucked his brains out if given half a chance, though I think he might be gay. Either way, he's making someone extremely happy. Maybe I need to go back and find out. Weightlifter. Very 'physical'. Does this massage therapy stuff with heated cups that makes your skin blotchy red for a few hours but feels fantastic. Great 'Chris Evans-Captain America' ass."

She took the slip, added a generous tip and signed it without caring about the total. More than worth it in her mind. Blinking, she considered the flood of personal information she'd dumped all over the floor. Shouldn't she cry? Wouldn't someone normally bawl their eyes out talking about losing a baby? Losing their ability to *have* a baby?

No, she didn't feel sad putting it out there at all. She'd done all her crying at the hospital. Mostly alone until her Mom arrived. Mostly she felt relieved. Relieved to finally take the burden of guilt and depression and anger off of her shoulders and say 'Nope, don't need this anymore'. Savvy squeezed her hand, smiling comfortingly at her.

"As to... what happened during the piercings- I've got NO idea where that came from! I certainly didn't expect to absolutely let go like that. But damn it felt great!" She smiled, reaching out to rub her thumb familiarly over Lui's makeup-streaked cheek, now dry of her juices. "Now then, didn't someone mention margaritas?"

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For the next few weeks she felt amazing. Completely unfettered from most cares, she stayed with Savvy and Jerry only occasionally spending a night at home to check the mail and water the plants. She contacted her cousin in Denver and, after a quick Facetime tour of the spare bedroom, began arranging to send off the pieces of furniture she didn't need any more- the old bedframe, grandmother's cradle, special lamps and chairs. She insisted on keeping her old dresser though. She couldn't part with it yet. The one in the bedroom was nice, but too modern.

Or the old Victrola. She liked the way it looked and, with some restoration, it would make a great decorator piece. Though, in all honesty, it fit more into Savvy's lifestyle choices than her own and entertaining the idea of gifting it to her didn't bother her one bit.

Work didn't weigh down on her either. She drove to the lab every morning singing and drove home at night happily leaving what needed to stay behind there. One night she even managed to take her team out for drinks and enjoyed a fantastic evening. They'd hired on enough staff recently that mandatory Saturday overtime had become a bad memory.

Jill, her assistant, went out of her way to mention how drastically she'd changed practically overnight.

Brian called every night, giving her the rundown of the conference he and his team attended or some part of the city he'd explored that day. She listened with half an ear, made the socially acceptable noises at the right times, shared what little news she wished, even asked the occasional question- all while not paying him any mind. He didn't notice or didn't say anything if he did.

Even his 'I love you's sounded more rote than felt. She responded in kind. Reflex more than sentiment.

They even forgot to say it one night.

When he announced a short extension to the trip of an additional three days, neither of them batted an eye.

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The smallest moving Pod took up half the short driveway. Though a little bigger than she needed for a single room's worth of furniture and family treasures, it would do. With Jerry and Savvy's help, it would be packed before sundown and on the way to her cousin in Colorado by the next morning.

They set up a system where she would pull something out of a box or move a piece, take a picture of it, then dictate the family story to Savvy ("Of course Ah take dictation! Ah can take ANYTHIN' with a 'dic'!") who created a small family website to put pictures and story together so her cousin and other relatives would share those memories as well. Then Jerry would take the items out to the Pod and pack them away.

"That should do it," Jerry said, cinching the last tie down before shutting and locking the door. "I don't know about anyone else, but I'm not interested in cooking tonight. Pizza and beer?"

"Works for me," Katie agreed, pulling the scrunchie out of her hair so it could hang free. Maybe she should cut her hair too? Long time since she'd last worn short hair. What was it Marissa had called her bob? Lesbian Tinkerbelle? Both her lovers liked pulling her hair though. Something to think about. "Isn't that a moving-slash-packing tradition anyway?"

"You gonna greet the guy at the door topless again?" he asked, looking at both of them and hoping someone would volunteer.

"Well, iffin it's a sweet little hunny, maybe yew should do it studly," his wife countered, nudging him with her elbow.

"That last guy we both met at your place completely nude came in his pants," Katie added, wickedly licking her lips. "If you hadn't been lounging in the background with your clothes off, he probably would have let us lick him clean as a tip."

While the three of them stood in the driveway debating sizes and toppings (Jerry insisting on a personal pan with pineapple.), a moderately sized SUV pulled up to the curb behind his work truck. A well-dressed woman in a dark red pantsuit climbed out, waving to them.

"Who's tha?" Savvy asked, waving back cheerfully.

"I don't know," Kate admitted, trying to place the woman's face and smooth dark sienna skin. "Not one of our neighbors. She looks familiar though."

"Hi there!" the woman called out, approaching with a nervous but hopeful expression on her face. Kate felt the strange sense that this woman sold real estate or something- businesslike and friendly, but an older white man sold them the house. "Katie?"

"That's me," she replied, dusting off her hands but not offering to shake. Let the stranger offer first. Might be a lawyer, though the possibility seemed unlikely. Brian didn't have the balls to hire a divorce lawyer. Or enough money in his account, which she managed for him. "These are my friends, Jerry and Savannah. How can I help you?"

"You don't recognize me, do you?" the woman asked, her face twisting in... constipation? Worry and anger? Confusion? "I'm Ricki. Brian's team leader?"

She paused, hoping for a bit of recognition before blurting out-

"And girlfriend."