A Red Leaf & Ten Orchids Ch. 17

"Because," Sam said looking away a little, "you're beautiful, and I'm not. I might just barely make it all the way to mildly pretty on my best day."

Siobhan scowled a little, "You're a fucking idiot," she said, "You're so beautiful that I don't mind standing near you when we're someplace together, like I feel entitled to be there, and with a little luck, a little of the way you look will rub off on me like the way that your confidence seems to. I think it's kind of like standing near the glow of a special light. I just have to look better when I'm near you. I had the feeling that we almost blew up a few pacemakers in the senior's complex."

Sam laughed then, imagining it, "Oh I don't think I'd want to be known as one of the girls who red-lined a bunch of pacemakers. Anyway, I thought they were looking at you. I was kind of proud to be with you. I'm all musclebound."

"You're fucking gorgeous," Siobhan said, "so just shut up about barely being pretty. What an absurd thing to say." She looked at Sam for a second, "You've got an awesome body. You're fit and ... " she grabbed Sam's bicep for a moment and she laughed, "So lovely and at the same time, I'd bet that you could crush a Volkwagen with one hand."

"Now we're just getting stupid," Sam laughed, "which is the idea, I guess," she said as she looked into her cup of mead. "Come on, Sis. Let's get to bed. We'll get the nerves out of the way and I'm getting a little tired."

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That was about the end of their big decision. They just undressed the rest of the way and got into bed. After a little more joking and some long kisses, they just settled into an embrace and went to sleep.

During the night, Siobhan awoke briefly to find Sam's breast very close to her face and after a little thought, she kissed it for a moment, and since that brought no complaint from Sam, she decided and took another large step when she opened her mouth and sucked the nipple for a moment or two.

She was about to stop when she heard Sam sigh. "Please don't stop just yet," Sam whispered and Siobhan looked up to see Sam looking at her. She nodded a little and went back to it very gently as Sam pulled them closer together.

They both fell asleep a little later and in the morning they just knew that they had nothing to be afraid of anymore. They both liked men just as they always had, but when they were alone, they could admit that they loved each other and that was the end of the discussion.

The next night, they began to trade little touches and caresses and it became an expression of their need for each other. There was something beautiful in it for them. If one felt herself getting close, she'd just let the other one know and then a little more effort was put into it, but there was no real drive to go beyond that.

It was what they each admitted to the other, but they were both caught in a little lie then, because they did want it to go farther; they were both just afraid to ruin something so nice and stayed stuck at that point for a little while.

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At the end of January, Sam was on the carpeted floor in front of the TV late one night. She sat cross-legged as she played a video game. Siobhan sat next to her paying a bit of attention because she did like to watch as Sam played, always in a small bit of awe since the way that Sam played was much the same as she lived her life, Siobhan had learned -- right up front and balls out.

Siobhan would have at least wanted to take a look before stepping into anything, even in a video game. She had her laptop open and she was going through her email when she noted the arrival of a message from the firm where she'd interned.

"Oh no," she said quietly, "old Mr. Mallard has died. He was about the only person besides the staff at that place who ever spoke to me. He was a nice man and ... "

Sam kept on playing, though she was paying attention, "And? And what? You guys drive me a little crazy, they way that you all never finish a damn sentence." She found a spot where she could at least stop running her character in the game for a moment and she looked over to see Siobhan sitting looking over the top of the laptop screen at nothing.

"Hey, are you ok?"

Siobhan looked over in a great deal of shock, "Mr. Mallard had a dog, Ajax. He's being kept at the vet's until they reach me. Mr. Mallard has willed Ajax to me."

"But that's in England," Sam said just as her character was set upon by three succubi and killed, "How can you ... do you want the dog?"

Siobhan sat with a pair of tears just forming in her eyes for a moment, "It says that the executor has funds set aside to ship Ajax to Toronto. If I want him, I have a week to respond before Ajax is put down. Nobody wants him. Besides his owner, I'm the only friend he's ever had. What do I do?"

Sam looked at Siobhan, "Well judging by the way that you look at the moment," she smiled, "I think that you say yes, if you want him."

That was how they found themselves at Toronto Pearson International again four days later. "What kind of dog is he?" Sam asked, and when Siobhan said "He's an English --"

Sam interrupted then and said, "Never mind. I think I'd rather that it was a surprise. It doesn't matter to me, really. You want him and that's enough for me to know. Besides," she grinned a little, "he's an English something. So now I get to guess, don't I? I get to kill a little time and try to guess if he's an English bulldog, or setter, or spaniel, or some damn thing. Who the fuck names their dog after a brand of cleaner anyway?"

"He's not named after that," Siobhan smirked, "Next to Achilles, Ajax was the most important warrior on their side of the Trojan war."

"I don't know anything about all that," Sam said, "I just know about cleaning bathrooms. What's taking so long?"

A handler called Siobhan's name and they were summoned to an office in the freight section. "There's a tariff on the import of livestock," the man said, "We're trying to assess his value."

Sam looked for a second as though she wanted to respond in a manner which might not be conducive to them getting Ajax cleared so Siobhan stepped up to the plate. "I've just come back from a two year internship in Yorkshire. I met this animal there. His owner has passed away and the executor has offered him to me, and if I don't take him, he was to be put down. You want to assess is worth? Just open whatever container he's been travelling in and he'll show you pretty quick. Most people wouldn't want anything to do with a dog like him."

The man looked over, "Why do you want him then?"

"Because we like each other," Siobhan said, "and I've got a farm for him to run around on. How much do I have to pay to get him sprung?"

When she heard the amount of the import fee, she shook her head, "I'd almost like to ask you to try to justify that."

"Many people purchase and import dogs for the purpose of breeding them," the man began.

"With respect," Siobhan said, holding her own tongue in check now as she peeled off the bills, "the last time that I saw him, he weighed about one sixty-eight. Who the hell has a bitch that size? Dogs only do it one way, and the girl has to hold the male up for that. His mating options are a little limited, I'd say."

The direction of the talk was making the man a little uneasy, but just then, Ajax had been released, and they were called into a pickup area. "Here's your dog," a second man said.

Sam looked, but all that she saw was a large shipping crate for animals. One look through one of the openings told Siobhan that Ajax had been heavily sedated and lay on the floor of it. Sam tried to peek inside, but without any familiar frame of reference, the dark shape in the dark crate interior didn't look like anything recognizable to her.

It took a bit of doing, but after a while, they were off, headed home with the crate in the back of the van that Siobhan had rented. "One hundred and sixty-eight?" Sam asked, "Pounds? I thought we were here to get a dog. Is he part pony or what? And I still don't see why we just couldn't have borrowed Dad's truck for this. He's got fur, hasn't he?"

"He's never been in any cold weather like this, and an hour and a half in the bed of a pickup ..."

"Ok," Sam grinned, "I get it."

Ajax was beginning to stir by the time they were on the concession road a little way from the farm and Siobhan was fuming a little. "What the fuck did they give him? He's been out all this time, all that time before for the flight and the dicking around before that. I hope they didn't go too far. His poor liver and kidneys."

When they pulled into the main yard, Siobhan was out the passenger door in a flash and around the back, opening the doors. There was shifting in the crate as she did.

"Help me get this thing open," she said to Sam and they worked at it together. "Hang on Ajax," she said, "You're home now."

It took the animal a little while to recognize Siobhan's voice, but then he began to work on gaining his freedom with a will. A minute later, they looked in at a huge dog who looked like he'd been dragged all the way from England. Ajax wasn't really with it, but he was beginning to look a little happier, now that he recognized Siobhan.

Sam stared, "This uh, ... this Ajax character in the Trojan war, ... I'm guessing that he was a, you know, a big guy."

"Colossal, according to the mythology," Siobhan smiled, "the mightiest of all the Achaeans and cousin of Achilles. Come on, Ajax," Siobhan coaxed, "You need a pee and, "she sniffed, "a bath something awful, you poor thing."

Just getting him down to the ground went all wrong. Ajax wasn't hurt in the fall though; he'd had the cushion of Siobhan and Sam whom he pretty much flattened under him. While Siobhan guided him in his attempts to stand, Sam stepped to the front of the van and came back holding out the most plain donut that the coffee shop sold. She hadn't told Siobhan why she wanted it when they'd stopped and it had lain forgotten in its little paper bag, but now it was in the air in front of that huge head.

"Here you go, Ajax," Sam said, "Welcome to Canada."

"What are you doing?" Siobhan asked, "I'm not going to have him eating donuts. That's --"

"Oh shut up," Sam grinned, "The flight and the sedative didn't do him in. This won't either. I just want to make friends.

I don't know if they still do it, but if you went to Hawaii, they gave you one of those lei things when you showed up to welcome you. I think that when you get to anywhere they ought to give you something just for showing up. Like if you go to Cancun, they oughta just hand you a mojito right there at the airport, or maybe a margarita, you know? And a coupon for the taxi to the hotel. Wouldn't want anybody renting a car like that."

"So you think that when people come here, they should get a donut?" Siobhan asked, laughing.

"Fuck yeah," Sam grinned, "A donut, an extra large coffee, a fucking touque, and a free gallon of windshield washer antifreeze."

"What about if they show up in the summer?"

"Ok then," Sam expounded, her finger in the air, "they STILL get the donut, an iced cappuccino, still get the freaking touque, 'cause next month it's back to winter, and they also get the summer windshield washer stuff because there's no sense in the rest of us buying it since it'll freeze solid before we ever use it, and they get a free tennis racket for the mosquitoes. Plus, every fifth flight gets diverted to Baffin Island at random intervals."

Siobhan grinned, "There's nobody on Baffin Island."

"Well yeah ... that's why," Sam said, "They do that often enough, somebody's bound to stay."

Ajax regarded the donut and then looked up at Sam. Siobhan didn't know what might have been exchanged between them at that instant, but the way that Ajax took the proffered treat left it clear to her that some decision had been reached. The only thing that Ajax hadn't done was nod and express his thanks. Siobhan was quick to put down Ajax' water bowl and fill it from the jug that she'd brought.

After five minutes of getting his legs back under him, Ajax was a happy -- though huge -- dog, ambling around, sniffing everything in sight and peeing on about every other thing in sight. Every couple of minutes, he'd stop and look back at Siobhan before coming back at a walk to be fussed over a little, as though he couldn't believe that he still had this one friend.

The first day was a trial, since the dog's system responded to the time change and the different water a little badly, but the next day, Ajax was like a completely different dog and just like Siobhan remembered him. He took a little time to come around to Sam, but by then, it was plain that he was thankful to them both and in her, he found someone who accepted him and Siobhan remarked on it.

Sam smirked, "Come on," she said as she rubbed his head, "he's so fucking handsome -- now that he's clean -- and he's happy to be alive after what he's been through. I can't believe how well-behaved he is. He always looks like he's having these deep thoughts all the time when I look at him, too.

This," she grinned as she sat on the edge of the bed with her arm around the dog's neck -- and he was sitting on the floor -- "this is a girl's dog. You can talk to him and if he doesn't understand, well he hides the fact a lot better than any man I've ever known."

Siobhan nodded, chuckling as she walked over to bend down and kiss Ajax' head, "I know. He's our boy. Biggest kid in the sandbox."

For such a large animal, Ajax was obviously doing his best to try to fit into their lives. He liked Sylvia and Cale instantly, though he did look at Cale as someone who he might be a little hopeful to play with. Siobhan had found an ancient soccer ball of hers from when she was a kid. The thing was half deflated, but Ajax could take it in his mouth and act like an absolute idiot in his attempts to get Cale to try to take it from him.

All of that faded instantly when he'd been brought to meet Sile. Ajax looked to be mindful of her age and relative frailty and he was on his very best behavior as she looked at him and said something which he seemed to listen to very closely, tilting his head as she spoke to him. After that, if the two of them wanted or needed to go somewhere without Ajax, he was happy to be left as Sile's companion.

Siobhan came into the room late one evening and did her best to keep from laughing. Sam was lying on the bed on her front, playing a video game with Alax lying next to her with his shoulder on the back of one of her legs and his head on her bum, snoring -- and if there was one thing that the dog excelled at it was sawing wood.

She tiptoed to the other side and sat next to Sam, "You guys look so cute together like that, like he wouldn't dream of sleeping anywhere else."

Ajax opened his eyes, - just barely, as though the effort was almost too much for him and he regarded Siobhan for a moment. The best that he could do was flop his tail against the bed twice and groan loudly as he closed his eyes again.

"He's a sneaky bastard," Sam smirked, "He acts like he just wants to be near you, and that's how he sucks you in. If you fall for that, then he's up against you. If you don't say anything then, he rolls onto you and then it's too late. Do you have any idea how freaking heavy his head is when it's on your ass?"

Siobhan handed Sam the cup of tea that she'd brought her and just sat sipping hers as she watched Sam play. After a minute, her eye fell on a bookcase directly opposite from her. It was one of the ones that she hadn't even gotten a chance to take a look at, but now she saw that a pair of books were leaning a little toward each other and if she looked between them, she could see something on the shelf behind them.

A little curious now, she got up and walked over, mindful not to get in Sam's line of sight to her game. Kneeling, she removed the books and saw a pair of wooden boxes which were locked and a dusty shoebox. She removed everything and looked. The name on the old cardboard shoebox was from a chain of shoe stores which she surmised had gone out of business and had disappeared off the face of the earth long before she'd been born, and when she opened it, she found four VHS cassettes inside.

"What've you got?" Sam asked, still playing.

"Whoa, ..."was the extent of Siobhan's reply as she looked at the label on each tape.

"Well are you gonna tell me?" Sam asked.

Siobhan looked from the shoebox in her hands to Sam and blinked, "I think these are pornos."

Sam's double-take exceeded the length of time in which she had to act and she cursed quietly as her character fell victim to a pack of ghouls in her game. "Lemme see!"

Siobhan brought the box over, "We can't even watch them," she said a little sadly, "I haven't seen a VHS machine since I was a kid."

"Neither have I," Sam grinned, "until last week. There's one on the top shelf of my closet where I found it, and if it doesn't work, we can just go to the hock shop in town and see if they have one. What's in the wooden boxes?"

"I dunno," Siobhan shrugged, "They're locked." She looked up, "I found some old keys in the desk."

She was gone and back in seconds.

"Well you're not going to sit there with the boxes and the keys and not open them, are you?"

"I kind of feel like it would be snooping," Siobhan said.

"Nope," Sam grinned, "We were told that everything in this room is ours now. That gives us license to snoop all we want."

But by then she was watching Siobhan walk away toward Sam's closet.

"Have you ever worked one of these?" Siobhan asked as she brought the machine over.

Sam shrugged, "How hard can it be? Give me a second to get out from under my buddy here and I'll get it hooked up.

As they fast-forwarded through the first one, Siobhan said, "This is a little wrong to me. " She looked sat Sam and said, "I could watch this stuff if I was alone, no trouble. If I was with somebody -- well, anybody but you, I guess, I'd feel really uncomfortable."

"But not with me?" Sam asked, "Then what's wrong?"

"I dunno," Siobhan said a little quietly as she leaned against Sam, "I think I'd like more of a proper look, you know, where we sit and watch from beginning to end and talk and -- "

"And popcorn," Sam smirked with a nod. "I get it now. I think that you want to make a bit of a night of it where nothing's a big deal. I know just how I'd want this. We go rent some movies in town, get some wine and snacks and just sit on the bed. I've wanted to do that before."

"And when we get tired of the regular movies," Siobhan said, "we can turn the VHS on and look at these. They're old, so they've just got to be at least a little corny. I kind of hope so anyway. I sure hope they're not just fucking. I've got videos on my laptop of animals that I took when I was at the clinic in England. We'd have to go out and see why old Mrs, Snodgress' cocker spaniel couldn't get pregnant."

"You're joking," Sam said, laughing, "What other ones do you have?"

"Nothing much," Siobhan laughed, "it wasn't like I was the local animal pornographer or anything. Though I do have one of a pair of Shire horses going at it. The video doesn't really do them any justice at all. You imagine that you're standing near two animals who are feeling amorous and each one weighs well over two and a half thousand pounds. Seeing something like that going on can be a little ... "

"Awe-inspiring?" Sam chuckled.

"I was going to say frightening," Siobhan smirked, "though the mare sure looked to be having a great time. She just stood there looking back at her boy now and then. If a horse can look pleased, then that's sure what I was looking at. But the sounds of their breathing and the way that he slapped and banged into her..."