From alt.pub.dragons-inn Tue Jul 5 08:34:43 1994 Xref: netcom.com alt.pub.dragons-inn:7450 Path: netcom.com!csus.edu!csulb.edu!nic-nac.CSU.net!usc!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!caen!crl.dec.com!crl.dec.com!jac.zko.dec.com!leggy.zk3.dec.com!orb!not-for-mail From: penny@agora.rdrop.com (Penny Hutchison) Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn Subject: [BDay] [PARTY] _Grand Entrances_ Date: 3 Jul 1994 06:25:21 -0000 Organization: Wan Dabadabadabatta Admiration Society Lines: 315 Sender: news@Orb.Nashua.NH.US Message-ID: X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4 PL23] Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Length: 12396 'Raelf in his various appearances is property of Steve Hutchison. Luthor is property of the Dreamer. All other characters property of Penny Hutchison. This story is copyrighted (1994) by Penny Hutchison. Permission is granted for the distribution of this story on the usual alt-net channels and for archival but all other rights, including repost, are reserved to the author. This is the fourth try at posting this. The news posting software seems especially rotten right now. If you've seen this more than once please let me know! ----++++----- ar'Elya looked for a quiet and private part of ShadeHaven. With the influx of guests, she wasn't sure if she'd find such a place. But eventually, dodging laughing kids and boisterous sentients, she found an abandoned alcove. Sighing with relief, she unshouldered the barrel of Catamount Porter, kneeled next to it, and looked carefully at the lid. She was just trying to pop it off when 'Raelf came running up to her crying, "Wait, stop, halten sie!" She looked up at her mate, smiling but puzzled. "But I thought this one was all for me. Aren't there plenty of other potables for you here?" 'Raelf grinned. "Sorry, but I need to use some of this specific stuff. Watch out." She saw his hands curl into fists, and WHAM onto the lid of the barrel. Surprisingly, most of the porter stayed _in_ the barrel, but the missing part unerringly got all over her. 'Raelf's grin got bigger, but he made his eyes all big and gooey and said "Whoopsie." She looked at him. "Uh, someone must have loosened the, uh, top." She didn't say anything, just looked. He swallowed. "Well, better fill my tankard." He dipped his silver tankard into the barrel, looked as if he'd like to kiss her but thought better of it, and walked backwards saying, "See ya later, twinkles." After he left, she grumbled, "I really could have done it myself," glowed briefly and absorbed all the spillage, then walked over to the barrel to see what he had seen fit to leave her. "Now what would he need a third of a barrelful of Catamount for? Hope what's left will do for me." She looked at the barrel, searching for the best hand-hold. She knelt back down and placed her hands on the spots she had chosen when she heard the sound of splashing waters behind her. She turned to see Lex. He was looking even more serious than usual. She stood up and stepped towards him. She couldn't quite read the expression on his face. She took both his hands in her own and squeezed them gently, massaging the tops with her thumbs. At her touch, he blinked and said, "Erik and I are going to be going over to the cliff to watch the sunset." He fell silent, and just as she opened her mouth to answer him, he added, "I thought you'd like to know where I'll be." "That was very sweet of you." A pause. "Is there anything else I need to know?" "No." She blinked at his abruptness. "I mean, not yet." He drew her closer and kissed her, almost apologetically, and disappeared in a rainbow swirl of fine rain. She stood still, looking off into the middle distance. Then, shrugging, she turned back to that barrel. With the lid shattered, the strong bitter-sour aroma of the porter came all too easily to her nostrils, which flared in distaste. She decided to try picking it up from a standing position, and reached out, bent over, and felt something hot right on her "Reelya! Whatcha doin'? Kin I help? Wow, porter! Kin I have some, just a little?" She stood again, sighed and turned to face the eager 6 year old. "Dearest, you know I have to drink this in order to manifest at this Party. I'd really rather drink this alone as it doesn't look at all attractive to be swilling out of an open barrel, and no, you can't have any. I need what's been left to me and you're too little." Kev giggled and hugged himself. Straight as a flame in an empty room, he grew into a 23 year old self. This Kev had supplemented the swimming trunks the 6 year old had been wearing with an unbuttoned plaid shirt. "Well, am I old enough now?" he rumbled. She put her hands on her hips and lifted her chin. "Yes, but I still need what's left." He took a step towards her, his eyes glowing amber. "Maybe I could persuade you," he murmured, wrapping his arms around her and drawing her close. His hands slid over the silk of her sarong, and his lips touched her face lightly, pausing at her eyelids, her cheek, down her neck. All the while, he breathed endearments that slipped into her ears like smoke. Her right hand lost itself within his curly black hair, dragging his head closer to her own. Her left hand snuck under his open shirt, caressing his smooth back. Finally, they parted. Kev looked down at her heavy-lidded eyes and parted lips with a great deal of satisfaction. "Well," he asked, smoothing her hair back, "how about it?" "Hmmm?" she answered incoherently, her hands now flat against his chest. "How about sharing some of that porter with me?" he demanded, giving her his best 100 megawatt grin. Almost idly, her hands moved over and across his pectoral muscles. He moaned a bit and closed his eyes, leaning into them. "I think I told you," she answered, at first speaking very softly, but her voice grew more firm with each word, "that I need all that is in that barrel. Now go away and play somewhere else for a while," and she pushed hard, spinning him away. He looked at her, startled, then laughed. "Can't I even watch?" he implored. Now she gritted her teeth. "No. Now go AWAY!" Kev laughed even harder. He shrunk back into his 6 year old body, and started to run off. Then he spun around, ran back and hugged her with all his might. "I love you, Reelya. You is so cool!" He dashed off again, only turning to wave. ar'Elya shook her head, smiling ruefully. Once again, she placed her hands on the barrel, and raised it. As she looked for the smoothest part of the rim to drink from, she heard a sound. A far too familiar sound of rumbling earth. "Uh-oh!" she muttered. "Better put this back down now because I just know he's going to..." POUNCE! "Gotcha!" 'Raf had his hands wrapped around her ... chest. "Can I rub your back?" he purred into her ear. "Baka!" she retorted, twisting his hands loose by the thumbs. He flipped backwards and ended up about fifteen feet away from her. "What. Do. You. Want?" she demanded, glaring at him. "Just a leeetly tiny sip." He crouched down on the ground, tail waving. "Please please please?" "No. I need this wretched, smelly stuff so I can be ..." She stared at him. "Stop that." He blinked, tail-tip still twitching. "Stop what?" "You are _stalking_ my keg. Now leave it alone." "Aw, you're no fun," he complained. "You're already drunk from that retsina you and the band have been drinking, and you have those poor gypsy performers trying to out-do the lot of you." She whacked at his nose. "I said _no_." "Spoilsport," he grinned, and dove into the earth. She snatched up the barrel quickly, and a pair of gold-furred hands scratched at the bottom in passing. "Go play in the sand," she ordered. The tip of his tail twitched up out of the ground and headed off towards the beach like a shark's fin. She squared her shoulders and lifted the keg to her lips. Maybe if she did it slowly it wouldn't be too uncooth. The brew had almost reached her mouth when a puckish breeze tugged at her hair and sarong. There was someone watching her. She lowered the barrel. A middling-height, red-haired elf was sitting in a tree just where the barrel would obscure him from her view. "Miro," ar'Elya sighed. "Milady," he bowed gracefully without losing his balance. "Go right on wi' what ye were doin', I'll wait." She looked at him from under lowered eyebrows, put down the barrel once again, and collapsed down beside it. "I wouldn't be makin' ye nervous, now would I?" The elf's smile grew wider. "You just go ahead and drink down ye'r medicine, lass, and I'll avert me eyes." ar'Elya's head dropped into her hands. "And I suppose you want to have some, as well?" Miro's eyes grew wide. "Nay, my heart's desire. 'Tis only the sight of you that I'm craving." One hand struck his chest dramatically. She looked up at him, smiling with amusement, but after getting a good look at him, asked "Miro, should you be out here? Are you going to handle the crowds ok?" He smiled and swung his feet. "Aye, no problem. Tis a party, and an elvish one, so t'will be as good as being home." "If you're sure." She waited, quietly, her eyes somber and dark. After a long minute he sighed. "So be it, heart of my heart. I'll be after leaving you to ye'r privacy." He bowed again and flourished his cloak, and the breeze picked up sharply. As the wind whisked him away, ar'Elya turned back for what she hoped would be the last time. She lifted the barrel and brought it to her lips all without incident. Just as she was about to drink, she paused, listening. All she could hear were the distant Party noises. "Ah," she thought, and drank, and drank, and finally drained the whole barrel. She swayed a bit, tossed the empty barrel over her shoulder where it disappeared in a flash of not-light, and blinked as if trying to get the world to focus. "Uhhhh, yuck," she moaned, disliking the taste of the porter still lingering in her mouth. She sank to the ground with her eyes shut. When she opened them again, she was surrounded by eight figures, all dressed in variants of tropical garb, and festooned with flowers. Sister El'n looked at her sternly, dressed in a long muumuu of subdued print, with flowers crowning her long, silvery hair. "My child, was all that porter strictly necessary?" "Oooh, _cool_ swimsuit," Leah giggled, looking down at herself. The sorceress was dressed in a brief bikini, all reds and purples and gold, with a sarong of the same material tied at her hips for a pretence at propriety. Errol looked hurt, and stood up brushing the dirt off of his khakis. "My dear, couldn't you have chosen a cleaner place?" he inquired. He looked down at his lurid Hawaiian print shirt, and tugged at the wide lapels, hurt giving way to pleasure at his garish appearance. "Brewski's all gone?" mourned H'ro, not even making an attempt at propriety with his brief leather bikini. A'ree looked at her twin in disgust. "We're gonna play v-ball first!" she told him. She was dressed in a matter-of -fact way, in a black sport bra and bike shorts. Ilya sighed. "Did it have to be shorts? My legs are so inadequate," he said, looking pointedly at H'ro's long, darkly tanned well-muscled limbs, and looking at his own smaller, paler ones. "At least I got to have a shirt." "Oh, Ilya, you look fine. You shouldn't be so concerned with mere physical appearances," soothed Father Howard, quite worldly in a long gauze caftan in a brilliant blue. A throaty chuckle filled the small clearing as Lady Ale stood, attired in a black tank dress, far too tight to breathe in, the very low back criss-crossed with laces. "Appearance is everything. Surely you've learned that by now?" El'n rose majestically. "It is quite clear that _you_ haven't learned anything, Ale." Ale's lip curled. "Your time is coming to an end soon, old woman, and I'll be freed from your incessant meddling!" "Dear Ale, so heated?" Errol patted his breast pocket and pulled out a cigarette. "Since when has the clergy dared interfere with our doings?" "Both of you should be on short leashes!" Ilya shouted, his face reddened. "Unlawful, irresponsible, heedless..." Leah pouted. "But rules are so _boring_!" ar'Elya quelled the heated bickering with a raised hand. "Enough of that. You all know what you have to do. Now go mingle, people!" and she clapped her hands at them all, commandingly. Mumbling and grumbling, the crowd went their various ways, leaving ar'Elya alone once again. Releasing a tightly-held breath, she stretched out onto the lawn, smiled and closed her eyes. One moment, another moment, then someone was clearing their throat nearby. "Greetings, ar'Elya. I thought I'd see how you were enjoying my Party." She opened her eyes to see her host Luthor, looking at her enquiringly. "I hope I didn't disturb you?" he added inquiringly. She sat up resignedly. "Oh, no. I should be used to it by now."