Mike & Karen Ch. 11

Disclaimer: All characters are 18 years of age or older while actively engaging in sexual activity. This story is a prequel/sequel (sprequel?) to my other work, Alex & Alexa. As always, many thanks and gratuitous panty shots from Freja and Jeanie to my long-suffering editor and beta-reader for their assistance in polishing up and improving this work. Reviews are welcome; flames will be snickered at and deleted with extreme prejudice. Enjoy!

Please Note: There are incest themes with a secondary couple in this story. Just a forewarning.

Chapter XI - The Trouble With Angels

1986 ...

"Just call me angel of the morning, angel!
Just touch my cheek before you leave me, baby!
Just call me angel of the morning, angel!
Just touch my cheek before you leave me, darling!
Just call me angel of the morning, angel!
Just touch my cheek before you leave me, dar-ar-liiiinnnng! ..."

Karen, sitting on the stool up on stage in front of the microphone with her eyes closed, had barely finished belting out the final, elongated note before the entire bar was on its feet, cheering loudly. At their habitual table, Lisa, Mona and Janet were almost screaming as they clapped, bouncing up and down with excitement.

Karen sighed and hung her head for a moment before looking back up, smiling at the packed bar and nodding her head in appreciation. Against all odds, she'd come to enjoy this little ritual, despite how pedestrian it was. She waved at her friends near the back and then noticed out of the corner of her eye the huge, looming presence at the door.

DeBourne was leaning beside it, towering over everyone else, an amused look on his face. Dammit. She didn't know whether it pleased her or not that he'd seen her.

Inevitable, really, since karaoke was one of his goofy pastimes, and he was here every Thursday night whenever possible. She didn't look at him, but kept smiling at the other patrons and finally rose and left the small stage. She made her way back through the tangle of bodies, while someone went up onstage and began butchering some Whitney Houston song. Lisa hugged her, bouncing up and down before letting her sit, the other two friends joining them.

"Wow, you knocked that outta the park, princess," Janet said lazily, slumping into her seat. Karen found the girl's posture issues maddening, but she'd resolved to try not to correct her. At least, not unless she knew her parents were coming for a visit. Then she'd drill Janet mercilessly on how to sit correctly, lest she embarrass the Hell out of Karen. "Bet you're pleased that Mister Karaoke himself saw your performance, eh?"

"Who?" Karen queried, feigning ignorance.

Janet frowned: "Mike. Y'know, DeBourne. He's over there by the door, saw the whole thing."

Karen's eyes flicked over toward the door and then back to her friend while she shook her head. "Sorry, didn't notice."

"Jesus, you are such a lesbo," Janet sighed, clearly bemused, before looking at Lisa, sitting next to her. "No offence."

"None taken, I suppose ..." the redhead sniffed.

"But seriously, Kar, how could you not notice?" Janet pressed. "I know you like getting fucked; you were with two guys at once not long ago at all!"

"Janet, we will not be so vulgar as to discuss my proclivities in public," Karen said, her voice form. "Do it again, and you won't sit down for a week, I'll spank you so hard."

"Don't threaten me with a good time!" the brunette laughed, while the other two joined her. Karen sighed and frowned at the table, clearly hard done-by. Was this her reward for coming down off her mountain, to play with the mortals?

***

The present: a university lab ...

"Here, take a look ..." Mike said as he moved aside from the microscope, allowing his son to take a look at the sample on the glass plate slip. Alex looked at it carefully, noticing tiny particles that seemed unusual to him.

"They ... look like they want to do something else," he mused. "But what?"

Mike nodded, while Alex straightened up and moved aside, allowing Freja to take his place. She gazed into the eyepiece lens for several seconds. Jeanie, her wife, leaned in behind her, pressing her breasts into the Danish girl's back, as if she'd be able to see what Freja was.

"They are ... wanting a current?" Freja asked.

"Exactly!" Mike said readily, pleased that she'd understood. He wasn't surprised, of course, since she was a rather brilliant engineering student. Freja's capacity for diverse engineering subjects, from civil engineering to microtechnology, was enthralling. Whether she was building model rockets or tinkering with robotic parts, she was always intuitive about applications and how to build them. Mike and Karen both admitted to no small jealousy of her ability to fabricate devices and gadgets of Rube Goldbergian complexity. She was also well-versed in engines and power sources, and could ride a motorcycle better than anyone else he knew.

Then again, Mike was too large to ride any motorcycle, anywhere, so anyone was better than him, technically.

Freja kept looking, adjusting the focus. "It would not take much to generate the current, would it? These particles are very sensitive. They would behave like polyacetylene, would they not?"

Mike nodded: "Yeah, but I can't as yet think of any practical application for it. Even if I patent it and then make it public, the first use will somehow end up being military, which doesn't suit me. Thought I'd ask you before I did anything with it."

Freja kept looking at the sample. "It could be any colour, ja?"

"I don't see why not."

She seemed very intent. "It would take so very little current. Even static electricity ..."

She stood up and look at Mike. "You are having more of this?" He nodded. She looked at her wife and held out her hand. "Yndling, may I please have your makeup kit?"

Jeanie shrugged and pulled a small makeup kit out of her purse. Freja rummaged around and pulled out a tiny applicator brush. She dusted it against her forearm for a few moments, then went back to the microscope and gingerly caressed the sample with the delicate hairs. She grinned in excitement.

"Look, Mike!" she declared. He leaned in to see what she was referring to and then nodded.

"They're arranging themselves in an aligned pattern under the influence of the static electric current you've introduced into them. As expected."

"Ja, but I am thinking that we have an immediate and awesome use for this," she replied, her hazel eyes glinting. "With their alignment, they are also having refractive properties. Look!"

Without another word, she pulled the specimen plate off the microscope and turned to her wife. She pulled Jeanie into position and began used the makeup brush to begin applying the almost dust-like substance to her wife's cheek. Jeanie made a 'oh!' sound, not aware of what was happening, but trusting to the good intentions of the geniuses around her. It's how she generally lived her life and remained happy.

A pattern was now barely visible on Jeanie's cheek. Freja then put down the glass and the brush and pulled a tiny flashlight out of her pocket. She pressed a button on it and it started buzzing rather loudly.

"Uff, sorry," she said hastily, blushing as she turned it off and put it back in her pocket while Jeanie snickered. "Wrong tool." She pulled out the actual flashlight this time and began shining it on Jeanie's cheek, taking her wife gently by the chin and turning her head for Mike and Alex to see.

"They refract light," she explained. "Now watch!"

She clicked the button on the back of the flashlight, turning on the laser pointer function. Alex's eyes widened as he looked on.

"Oh, wow," he said quietly. "It's like the stuff is dancing under the light."

"Ja," Freja agreed. "With the right consistency, it could apply in any shape, and refract to any colour. If it is safe on skin, it can be makeup."

"Kinetic makeup ..." Mike mused, looking on in fascination. "Imagine how awesome Alli'd look under stage lights with this stuff on."

"You must patent this!" Freja said eagerly. "This application alone could be worth so much money!"

Mike shrugged: "I've got money. You go ahead and take it; you're the one that thought of its first practical use. You and Jeanie should have it."

"This is very generous of you, Michael!" Freja breathed, throwing herself against him and hugging him tight. "Thank you!"

"No problem," he said cheerfully, hugging her back, even though she practically disappeared in his embrace. Of the three girls, Alexa, Jeanie and Freja, the Danish girl was the slightest in build. "Getting it crowdfunded shouldn't be difficult - just make sure you patent it ASAP."

"A sap?" Freja queried, looking up at him with a wry expression. "Is that not the person who unwittingly buys into a nefarious scheme and loses money? I am thinking this will be a maker of money. We need not scam people."

"C'mon, hon," Jeanie said, giggling. Freja's English was generally passable when she was sober, but there were occasional gaps in her colloquialisms. "Let's get a sample of this kinetic makeup of yours and then find a patent office, okay?"

"Alex, go with them," Mike instructed, looking at his son. "Make sure it goes smoothly."

"I can do that, pop," Alex replied, looking at the two girls. "Get what you think you need and let's get outta here."

The young'uns were gone, and Mike returned to his musings on various subjects. Heaven only knew, there was more than enough to occupy his attentions without getting sidetracked by commercial applications. He found money bothersome. Mars possibly had more oxygen than originally thought, the Andromeda galaxy was closer than they'd believed, and particles had exceeded the speed of light in Switzerland. Things required his attention.

Was he just occupying himself so intently because his wife was nowhere to be seen?

He leaned heavily on his wall and hung his head, sighing. He couldn't believe how this week was dragging by. In an attempt to keep his mind off his wife, he was likely to solve great mysteries of the universe at this rate. He would rather have just had his wife back at his side.

Sunday still felt like a thousand years off.

***

1986: the Social Studies faculty ...

"It's a big problem, Kar," Lisa sighed, holding her books against her chest. "People are really worried that radiation from the site could be spreading out over Ukraine and into western Europe. The Germans are pitching fits."

"I don't blame them," Karen replied grimly as they walked down the hallway. "A cousin of mine was on a student exchange recently and was living in West Berlin when we all heard about Chernobyl. Saying his parents were having hysterics was a minor understatement. I'm not sure astronauts go through that intensive a battery of physical tests, like he got when he returned home."

"'course, the Soviets aren't saying much at all, just announcing everything is fine and they have it under control," the redhead muttered with some aggravation. "We all know they're lying through their teeth. That's all the Kremlin does is lie."

Karen looked at her friend in mild amusement. "And here I had you pegged as an ardent Trotskyite. Don't you support the communist agenda?"

Lisa snorted: "I'm not as red as all that, thank you, but even if I was an ardent follower of Trotsky, with his call for instant global revolution, I'd still hate Moscow and everything it stands for."

"That makes two of us," Karen said agreeably.

"I suppose I oughta hate you for what you represent," Lisa mentioned.

"Oh? And what would that be, tovarisch?" Karen asked, smirking.

"God, it's sexy when you speak Russian," Lisa breathed. "I ... fuck, I forget what I was bitching about."

"Me, the great enemy of the lowly prole," Karen replied simply.

Lisa sighed: "I ... Kar, you know how much I love you, but if you were anyone else, I'd probably resent the Hell out of you. You're so blithe with your money, so casual about it. I mean, you're not stingy, you're pretty crazy generous with it, in fact. But it never seems to have any end. Whatever the expense, you never bat an eye. It ... kinda makes me crazy."

"You're being unusually forthcoming today."

"Does that bother you?" Lisa asked almost nervously. She'd just die if Karen was angry with her. Perhaps she was being unnecessarily honest.

"Not at all," Karen said, shrugging. "I have socialist leanings myself, you know."

"It's hard to tell, sometimes," Lisa confessed. "You're so aristocratic and elite."

Karen raised her eyebrow as she looked at her roommate and lover.

"Not elitist, though!" Lisa said hastily. "Oh, darn it, Karen! I can't articulate what I mean, you know you intimidate me!"

"I've noticed," Karen replied dryly. "How we've ever managed to have sex is quite beyond me on occasion. Please the find the wherewithal to continue, though. I am fascinated and wish to know more."

"Couldn't you just say it for me?" Lisa pleaded. "You obviously already know what I mean!"

Karen rolled her eyes. "Very well, rambling rose. Your feelings for and devout friendship with me are at odds with your notion of the fair distribution of wealth and how society would be better without classes based on monetary and landed status."

"Wordy, but ... yes," Lisa muttered.

"I don't really know what to tell you," Karen said, shrugging, stopping their walk and turning to face her companion. "If everyone is suddenly equal, with wealth distributed evenly, then soon enough, people will begin hoarding such wealth as they can acquire, secretly or otherwise. And whatever system of government is in place will spend its time punitively punishing those who do so, to curb any thoughts they have of advancing themselves."

"But that doesn't mean people have to rise to the top at the expense of those now beneath them, exploiting them!" the redhead protested.

"Ethical capitalism is something of a paradox, I agree," agreed the bronze-haired beauty. "You must like the ideals of the Federation in the Star Trek series. I know I do."

Lisa shook her head somewhat tersely. "I don't go in for that sci-fi stuff, you know that."

"I just thought you might enjoy it for its political statement," Karen said, casually. "In any event, they've already established that mankind has access to infinite energy and has created means of unlimited supply, so money is unnecessary, a thing of the past. Everyone lives their lives with self-improvement in mind. There's no want or hunger, no desire to exploit your fellow man."

"Huh," Lisa sniffed. "Sounds good in theory. What do you think of it?"

"I rather like it," Karen said simply. "Sounds quite ideal."

"It's just so at odds with your life, how you live and where you come from," Lisa pointed out. "I'd almost expect you to oppose it, because your social status would mean nothing."

Karen smiled warmly and shook her head. "My dear girl, I would still be me, even without my money. I somehow doubt a society of no want would change who you are. What would socialists do without their great capitalist bogeyman?"

"No fair, being right all the time, you know ..." Lisa grumbled, looking at the ground.

Karen took her by the hand and led her around a corner, into a quiet hallway. She pressed Lisa against the wall, and the redhead sucked in her breath, trembling as Karen leaned over her, smiling rather wickedly.

"Wh- what if I don't give my consent to this?" Lisa stuttered.

Karen pulled back away from Lisa, shrugged and made to leave.

"Oh, you jerk ..." Lisa hissed, grabbing her lover's hand and pulling her back. Karen giggled as she pressed her body into Lisa's and began kissing her deeply and lovingly. No one passed by or noticed them as they kissed heatedly, running their fingers through each other's hair, breasts squashed together. Lisa wrapped a leg around Karen's hip, holding her in place.

Lisa moaned as Karen's slender, but deft and surprisingly strong fingers found her breasts and squeezed them, paying special attention to her nipples. Karen knew Lisa's body as well as the redhead knew it herself. Her breasts were relatively small, but were topped with incredibly sensitive nipples, now enlarged and stinging deliciously between Karen's thumb and forefinger.

"Gnnnn, you're making me crazy, Kar ..." she managed to gasp into her lover's mouth, their tongues tangling. "God, get me back to our room and do anything you want to me! Oh God, fuck me so hard when we get there ..."

Through supreme will, the girls parted and straightened themselves out as best they could. Karen looked reasonably composed, but Lisa was still flushed, her skin a delicate and telltale shade of pink. They walked down the hallway with slow deliberate steps, so as to not give themselves away.

"Don't worry if we take it slow," Lisa said quietly. "Even if we take half an hour to get there, I'm in no danger of stopping being horny."

"That goes for me as well, my dear," Karen breathed, noticing she was decidedly wet already. The curse of the Gordon women. "Woe betide anyone or anything that stands in our -"

They both stopped short as they looked at the towering shape in the hell before them. Electric blue eyes looked down at them. The interloper's massive frame threw a shadow over them both.

"- way ..." Karen finished, finding her voice.

"Well now, if it isn't Juice Newton," Mike mused as he looked down at Karen before turning his gaze to smirk at Lisa. "And her little sister, Fig."

Lisa squeaked in embarrassed panic and buried her face in Karen's shoulder, her whole body blushing the colour of her hair.

"Oh, now look what you've done, you ogre!" Karen complained, rolling her eyes. "Do you have any idea how long it takes to reboot her once she's like this?"

"Sounds troublesome," Mike chuckled. "Have you checked her firmware?"

"Very funny," Karen grumbled. "What are you even doing here in Social Studies? Don't you have a village to stomp, or virgins to eat?"

"There's a decided dearth of those in the vicinity, I find, unless you sneak into the Divinity College, and they tend to frown on that sort of behaviour," he replied, shrugging. "Intervarsity'd have my head."

"Like anyone could reach it," Karen snorted. "And you didn't answer my question, blaggard."

"I sit in on some courses in my free time," he said simply. "I don't get credit for 'em, since I'm not enrolled, but I still wanna know what they have to offer, even if I can't have a degree."

Karen looked up at him for a moment, the piercing gaze of her tawny-amber eyes slightly unnerving him. He frowned. "What?"

"I swear, you border on entirely mythical," she mused, still assessing him. "No one else on campus could possibly do anything as absurd as what you're doing."

Mike raised an eyebrow. "You're one to talk, Wonder Woman" he shot back. "Your course load is every bit as heavy as mine, and you find time for numberless activities and charities. Nice try."

"Just because you won't notice doesn't mean I won't slug you, Goliath," Karen growled, trying to sound intimidating, and failing miserably in her own opinion.

"Oh, you will not," Mike laughed. "You'd hate yourself for losing control like that, Gordon. That and you'd feel terrible for picking on me."

Karen scowled again and huffed, acutely aware that Lisa still had her face buried in her shoulder. "Fine, you win. Live unbruised. What necessarian mission brings you here, anyway?"

"Like I said, just a class on social issues, the passing of communism and such," he replied, shrugging his massive shoulders. "Chernobyl and the debacle in Afghanistan are proving to be the undoing of the Soviets, even if it's not quickly enough to suit us."