A Red Leaf & Ten Orchids Ch. 17

Siobhan got up and walked to the kitchen, coming back with an old pot in only a minute. "I haven't seen this one used for anything in years," she grinned, "So if you need a pot ... "

Sam thanked her and got up to put her boots on, and the others felt a lot more at ease not having to feel as though they weren't including Sam.

Sam found the light switch in the shed and in only minutes, she'd found everything that she thought she'd need. The small forge was heated by propane and there was a big-assed cylinder hooked up and when she'd hefted it, She'd found that it was almost full.

She cut the metal that she'd need and away she went as she got the flame lit. Once she'd begun, Sam didn't want to stop for anything, since she was having her brand of fun making something. She started with the band to go around the pot and with that fitted, she just got into measuring out the stubby legs and figuring out a way to hang it if it had to be hung up, cutting some black iron for that. Looking it over, she thought that the "feet" ought to be splayed out a little and the next thing she knew, she was pounding them out the way that she saw them in her mind.

The little room was near an outside door and she could feel the cold of that, but with the fire hot, both in the forge and inside of her, she worked up a bit of a sweat in no time.

Sam looked around. There was no one there of course, but she was into this now and so she unbuttoned her flannel shirt and hung it up on a nail. The rest, she beat out wearing just her sportsbra under the apron that she'd found there. She felt better temperature-wise, and she just went to town.

Sile had gone to bed and Siobhan waited for a little while before she decided to wander out to see what Sam was up to. When she walked into the large building, she could hear the heavy beat of a hammer on metal from the door. She closed it after her and walked in past the farm equipment there which was waiting to see warm sunlight again. When she got to the doorway of the room where the sounds were coming from, she froze.

Sam was happy. Even from where Siobhan stood, the warmth of the room hitting her face, she could see the way that Sam felt. There was a slight little pleased-looking smile on Sam's face as she worked, as though she felt happy to be alive and felt the gentle push of each pulse from her heart that doing this required of her and she was glad of it. The hammer rang on the iron and the anvil in a timeless rhythm every bit as old as the secret of working metal in this way.

Siobhan watched as Sam's muscles drove the hammer again and again; over and over the hammer rang in a double-beat just like a human heart and at about the same pace as one.

PING-ping, PING- ping, PING-ping, on and on. She could see Sam's bicep swelling as she called up the strength for another stroke, only to relax in the short time in between beats. She watched as Sam's tendons grew taught in her arm, shoulder, and neck, and in the short intervals between, Siobhan caught glimpses of veins and arteries in those arms where she'd never seen them before.

But they were evident now, required as they were to move Sam's blood around in her body. If she kept her eyes trained on only one spot in space, Siobhan's gaze would be in just the right place to see the Viking long ship on her bicep swell a little in the center -- almost as though the sail billowed in response to a gust of wind. She wondered if that had been the intent of the tattoo and its placement, but after a moment she guessed that it couldn't have been predicted by the artist when it had been done.

There were beads of sweat forming on Samantha's brow now. Siobhan watched as they ran into her friend's eyebrows. She wondered what would happen if the capacity to hold sweat in them was exceeded, but she saw the answer in only a little while longer.

Sam shook her head, not missing a beat and Siobhan watched the droplets fly from her. She hadn't meant it by any means, but it was then that Siobhan realized with a start that she'd grown a little aroused at seeing all of this. It confused and confounded her, since she'd never have thought that seeing something such as this could do that to her and she fought it down after that.

And she stepped forward when Sam noticed her and laid the hammer down. "Almost finished," she grinned, "I just need to drill the holes for the rivets and then put them in and peen them over. We do have mead, right?"

Siobhan nodded with a smile, "Yeah. Are you just going to leave it plain like this?"

Sam shook her head, "I want to do a little engraving, just for the hell of it. But I don't know what to add to it yet."

Siobhan stepped closer and grasped the handle of the hammer that Sam had been using. She lifted it, but it was awkward and heavy as anything to her. "I don't know how you can do it. I was watching you for a while. I might be able to hit something once with it, but over and over like that? No way."

"You get used to it after a while," Sam grinned, "and there is a little secret to it all. The most work is in lifting it. You only drive it a little and then once it's moving, you mostly direct it and let the weight of the hammer do the work. That's why it's heavy in the first place."

"Would you do me a favor in a little while?" Siobhan asked, "Not any time really soon, but I think I'd really like to ask you to make something for me -- that is, if you could, and if it's not a huge thing to do."

"Sure Sis," Sam nodded, smiling as she wiped her brow with the back of her hand, "What do you need?"

"I need a sword," Siobhan said, "for what I do. It's ceremonial and spiritual mostly, but it needs to be real enough to have some strength to the metal like a real sword. I was going to buy one, and then work my want into it, but it would be better if I made it myself. I can't do that, obviously. But if you made it and I worked my wishes into it as it was being crafted, I think that would be even better -- that it had some of you and me in it. Sile's is in our room, but these things are personal, and I'd never use hers.

Can you do that, and um, ... would you?"

Sam turned and shut off the propane for the forge. "Sure," she smiled, "I'd do that just to watch you do your thing. But if you want this to be anything other than purely something that you - I dunno, wave around in a vague way, I'll need some better steel. I have books on swordmaking. I was gonna make one myself, just for fun. Now I've got a reason."

She quenched the piece that she'd been working and began to set everything together. With a spring punch, she marked where the rivets had to go and then she used a proper punch and a small hammer to make dimples to guide the drill. In a few minutes, she had the last of the rivets in place and tapped to peen the end over so that it stayed.

"C'mon, Siobhan. Do me a favor and wash out the pot, since I put my grimy prints all over it while I have a shower and get this sweat off."

She buttoned her shirt on loosely using only two buttons and they turned to walk away together. "It's thirsty work, this blacksmithy stuff, and I discovered last night that I really like that mead that you and your mom made."

-----------------------------

"That's what I'd like, anyway," Siobhan smiled a little nervously, almost wanting to try to take her words back now that she'd made the effort to get it out of herself.

They were sitting in 'their' room on the floor in front of the hearth and it was late. One of the things that Siobhan had made certain to ask Sile was whether the fireplace in the room worked. Sile had shrugged and said that she guessed so, though it hadn't seen any use over the last few years. She remembered having it cleaned, so she thought that it ought to work fine.

The fire crackled as it had for the past two hours as they'd hung the mead pot off to the side so that the flames would warm it after Siobhan had added everything. They'd talked a lot of things over as far as their plans went and they were a little drunk again.

"Really?" Sam asked. "I think I'd like that too," she said, "but I'd also like to hear your reasons."

Siobhan shrugged, "I ... I just really liked it. Once I got to sleep, I slept better than I can remember in a long time. I know I must sound like some kind of creepy twerp for saying it, but I just, ... I really felt good sleeping like that."

She looked over very uncertainly, "Please tell me that I'm not a creepy twerp."

Sam chuckled, "You're no more of one than I am, I guess, Siobhan. I'd be lying if I tried to tell you that I didn't enjoy that as well. Maybe we're both twerps and maybe we both belong in our own conflicted closets or something, but it was nice."

Siobhan laughed a little, "Hey, can I hang out in your closet sometimes?"

Sam laughed a little, "Ok, but I think I'd rather hang out in yours. The way that I see it, yours has got to have more cool stuff in it." She had a thought and then looked a little uncomfortable, "I just remembered something. I don't know what you normally sleep in. I usually don't wear anything to bed -- though I guess I'd better start."

Siobhan shook her head, "No. That's not the idea. What's the sense if you can't sleep the way that you feel best? I usually wear something, but I wasn't wearing much last night and it felt pretty good to me. But wouldn't that make us ... "

"Two women who like to sleep against each other, I guess. Oh, who gives a shit?" Sam chuckled, "I dunno, Siobhan, but I think we're talking about this because we both liked it. That's all the reason that I think we need. We're all grown up and I think that entitles us to do whatever we want. It's a little weird to me, and by the way that we're talking like this, I'd say that it must be the same for you. All I know is that I really liked it. I love being near you more and more. I know we're not gonna do anything -- unless it's a full moon and the lesbian fairy drops by for a visit."

Siobhan laughed her ass off at that, "I'm having this little scene play in my head now. The lesbian fairy skips in through a crack in the door while we're sleeping and bonks us on our heads with a wand and the next thing we know, we're off hating men and doing whatever lesbians do in their spare time. I just can't get a clear picture in my mind."

"Of what?" Sam laughed, "Getting bonked on the head with a wand?"

Siobhan laughed louder then, "No. I mean what he looks like."

"He?" Sam was tilting her head now, "What HE looks like?"

"Well yeah," Siobhan laughed, "Whoever he works for, they're an equal-opportunity employer."

"Just what kind of wand was he waving in your perverted little mind, anyway?" Sam asked, but Siobhan had no answer and only shrugged. "It doesn't matter anyway," she said, "from what I know, we both like men."

"Oh do we?" Sam chuckled wickedly, "So I suppose that you'd really like some guy crawling all over you with his octopus hands at work as he lies on you, trying to get you to let him in, or how about when he fucks you from behind and slaps your ass while he hollers 'Giddyup' about twenty time too many? Is that what you want?"

Siobhan blinked at Sam, "Well, um, yes."

Sam put her arm around Siobhan with a knowing nod, "Yeah," she sighed, "Me too.

Anyway, if we're gonna do this perverted thing, I guess I'm in -- as long as there are ground rules."

Now it was Siobhan who looked a little askance at Sam, "Ground rules? Like what?"

"Ok," Sam grinned, "First off, flopping is allowed. I call it as my inalienable right, since I don't think that I can help it." She grinned then, "Your turn."

"Well, "Siobhan smiled, "then I get to snuggle close if I want to. That felt great."

"Fine," Sam countered, "If anything goes wrong, there's two beds in here. If either one of us gets uncomfortable or just wants to sleep alone, she goes to that bed and there's no hard feelings, but an explanation must be given the next day. I like you more than I've liked anybody as a friend in my whole life, so I don't want to have this fucked up over a misunderstanding -- and by the way, I think I snore sometimes."

"You do," Siobhan nodded, "But it wasn't like you were cutting down trees or anything. I think I can live with it. Actually, I think it's cute, the way that you snore softly. Any more rules?"

Sam looked down for a moment as she gathered what to her required some courage. "I ... I'm not gonna make this sound like a rule or anything, but ... well, sometime, I think that I'd really like it if I could kiss you. I really wanted to do that last night while you were sleeping. I don't think I want to get into anything heavy, but ... I think that I'd like that."

Siobhan smiled and nodded, "You can kiss me, Sam. If we're in bed and alone in the dark, I'd be lying if I said that it's never crossed my mind. I ... I've never felt this way about anyone before, so ... yes. I think I'd be fine with that.

Hey, what if ... "She looked across the room, wondering how to even broach what was in her mind then. "Shit, I know what I want to ask. I just ... I don't really know how." She looked over, "What I did last night ..."

"Most definitely allowed," Sam nodded, "We're a couple of healthy women. If you feel the need, hey, just use the other bed, but ... I think that I'd really like it if we made that another firm right, and unless I'm sleeping and you wake me up seventeen times a night, or I wake you that way, I ... well, I don't think that I'd mind all that much if you need or want to frig a little while we're together."

"Really?" Siobhan asked.

"Yeah," Sam said quietly, "I liked it when you did that. I don't know if I could with you lying there and all, but ..."

"I think that I'd want you to at some point," Siobhan said as she poured them another cup of mead, "That way it wouldn't just be me wallowing in my perversion."

"What fucking perversion?" Sam asked a little indignantly, "It's your God-given right to play with yourself, I think. Anyway, I don't think I'd mind. That's all I'm saying."

"I learned a couple of different names for that when I was in Yorkshire," Siobhan said a little knowingly, "Just things that others called it, 'jilling' was one and 'flicking your bean' was another one."

"See?" Sam laughed, "Knowing you is even educational."

Their laughs faded then as they looked at each other for a moment. "I can't believe that we're talking about this," Sam said quietly.

Siobhan nodded, "Me either, but I think there is something here between us somehow. I don't understand it, but I do like it because I like you. When were you thinking of wanting to kiss me?"

Sam blinked for a second, "I don't know, I hadn't even gotten around to writing it down on my day-planner yet. After that, all I've gotta do is get up a little nerve."

Siobhan set her cup down and got to her knees. "Knowing you is wonderful," she said, "After two years of being ignored by snobs where I was, it was a little hard for someone like me to bear. I expected to come back and have more nothing. But I have somebody who lets me call her my big sister and she feels that way to me, and I've never had a friend like you. All that I've ever had were acquaintances, really."

She put her arms around Sam's neck very slowly, as if she was afraid that Sam would jump up and bolt out of the room as she closed the distance and hugged her tightly. "Thank you, Sam."

Sam sat mesmerized for just a second, and then she reached for Siobhan. "Anytime, and thank you for making me feel like I have a sister too and a family."

They drew apart after a moment and Sam saw that odd look in Siobhan's face again. There was enough light there before the hearth to see Siobhan's face well, and she knew that nothing had changed in reality, but to her, the eyes that she was looking into had turned a little darker, and the beautiful face was still beautiful, only now there was that enigmatic little smile there again.

"God, you're doing that again," she said, "I love it when I see that in your face -- whatever it is."

"I dunno what you're seeing," Siobhan smiled a little more, "But I'm seeing somebody who said that they'd like to kiss me, ... and I guess I'm feeling hopeful that we don't have to get into bed before I get your first one."

Sam pulled Siobhan closer and their lips met. Their eyes closed and Siobhan sighed.

For a first kiss with anyone -- for both of them -- it lasted a long time. When they pulled apart, they were smiling and they put their foreheads together. There was nothing which needed saying really, so they were silent. Sam pulled Siobhan close and hugged her tightly as she inhaled the soft scent of her hair.

"This will work, won't it?" she whispered.

"Yes," Siobhan sighed from against her ear, "You feel so good to hold onto. Like nothing is wrong in the world, and even if it was, I'm safe here with you."

"There really isn't a crack or a gap in the door, or anything like that, is there?" Sam sighed back, "I love this, but if I see a little guy waving anything at me now ... "

She exhaled and Siobhan felt it as a thrill before Sam finished the thought, "I don't think we need him anyway. I don't feel like that, but I do know that I need you a lot. Just like this ... I've never felt this way."

They let go then and looked at each other in the glow of the hearth. Sam came to a decision then and she undid her shirt and began to remove it.

"What are you doing?" Siobhan asked, with that same little smile, looking curious but a little delighted at the same time.

Sam shrugged, "Fuck, I don't know," she said, "Right now, what I really want is to feel your skin against me. I'm a little warm here and I guess I'm hoping that if I take this off, you'll get the idea."

Siobhan chuckled, "I've had the idea since I watched you pound out the metal in the shed, Sam." She leaned back a little and pulled her sweater over her head. They knelt facing each other in pants, Siobhan in her bra and Sam with the clean sports bra that she'd put on after her shower.

She reached over and touched Siobhan's shoulder, just dragging her fingertips over the skin lightly and Siobhan leaned her head over to feel the tops of her fingers against her cheek a little. Sam drew her hand back a moment later and they looked at each other again.

"Well, here goes," Sam said with a shrug as she pulled her sports bra over her head. She looked at the place where she'd set her shirt, placing her bra there as well, not really sure about this or what Siobhan's reaction might be. Neither of them moved for a second, but then Sam felt Siobhan's fingers against her chin.

"It's ok," she said, "I'm nervous too -- and I haven't got anything as nice as you do."

She took her hand back and reached back to undo her bra then. Sam looked over and shook her head as Siobhan added her bra to the pile. "You are so wrong..."

After a long glance, they leaned into each other and the feeling to them was something beyond words for either one.

"Ok, there is no way that we're not sleeping naked," Sam announced softly, "I'm making that a hard rule right fucking now."

"But Sam," Siobhan almost whispered, "I don't know about this. I don't really know what I want or anything."

"Neither do I." Samantha said quietly, "I don't know if I want to go there either. But I do know that I loved sleeping close to you and I want that. If we can do that without any clothes, I'd want that too, even if we don't do anything. Can you do that?"

Siobhan looked at Sam and nodded after a second, "I can try."

"Good," Sam smiled as she hugged Siobhan again, "That's all I need. I don't mind being confused and even a little embarrassed, as long as I've got you to hold on to."

"Why would you be embarrassed?" Siobhan asked, "You're the one with all of the confidence between us. I'm a little confused now. I don't get it."