The Ballad of Verdene Molloy Ch. 03

She turned from the stove, wiped her hands on her shirt, pulled Verde over to her and looked her, smiling, in the face.

"I think you're cute," she said. Verde smiled back.

"It's a while since anyone's found me that," she said.

"I think you should fix the eyes," said Morey. "I know a guy. In the meantime, I claim my payment for putting you up for the night."

She pulled Verde in and they kissed, long, slow and deep, standing in the kitchen as the morning light of the city shone grey and sullen outside.

"Tell me again what these tattoos do," she murmured. Verde pulled back and shook her head.

"No, really," she said fervently. "You don't want to see them."

"Why not?"

"Okay," said Verde. "Ever been stimmed?"

"No," said Morey, looking disgusted. "Stims are for paedos and rapists."

"Well, the tats are like stimming for everybody," said Verde. "You'll want to fuck me but you won't know why."

"But I already know why I want to fuck you," said Morey, with a huge, winning smile.

Verde looked at the other girl, appraisingly, for a long moment.

"Okay," she said at last, "I'm not gonna say I don't want to. But you'd have to wear a blindfold."

"Ooo," said Morey, flashing her eyebrows, and then "Why?"

"Cause it's the only way I can be sure the tats aren't fucking with your brain," said Verde. "I'm sorry."

Morey considered this for a moment.

"I'll do it," she said, "but only if you do too."

An hour later, breakfast inside them, Morey was kneeling naked on her bed and Verde was fastening the blindfold at the back of her mane of hair.

"See anything?" she said.

"No," Morey said. "Gods, this is hot."

Verde smiled, and she moved back and shucked off her own t-shirt and shorts. Naked, her body glowed pale pink-white in the room and the tattoos were barely visible. Verde reached down and picked up the other blindfold and tied it over her own eyes, then she groped forward and touched bare flesh.

"There you are," said Morey. "Wait." Morey turned around and Verde felt Morey's hands moving up her body until they reached the blindfold around Verde's eyes, which Morey tightened. Then, each as blind as the other, they turned around and faced each other and came, tentatively but eagerly, until their bodies touched, and they put their arms around each other and kissed.

Verde felt herself slowly melting in Morey's embrace. Morey was taller than her and more angular. Blind, they each had only the feel and smell and taste of each other's body to go on. Morey reached down and touched Verde's sex and Verde sighed at how gentle she was. She inhaled Morey's sweet, clean smell and licked the other girl's shoulder. Morey laughed softly.

"Oh, gods," Verde sighed. "You are lovely."

"So are you," said Morey. "You're so fucking smooth."

"Alopecia universalis, baby," said Verde. "I have no body hair at all."

"Even . . . here?" said Morey, reaching behind Verde and stroking her fingers between Verde's ass cheeks. She gasped.

"Even there," Verde said, feeling herself blush, but smiling. Morey kissed Verde's scalp, again and again, making Verde giggle, before working her way down to Verde's eyebrows and eyes and nose and mouth.

They kissed, blindfold, for a long time.

"I so want to take this damn blindfold off," Morey murmured.

"Please don't," said Verde. "Please, Morey."

"But I just wanna see you," said Morey.

"You won't see me," said Verde. "You'll see what that Draconian wanted you to see. And then you'll just fuck me five ways and we'll both come ninety million times and it'll be like last night. Please. I'm sorry. Can't this just be for us?"

Morey held Verde tight, her blindfold face close to Verde's, and then she growled softly and kissed Verde again.

"It's hard to break old habits," she said. "Sure, Questions. Actually I'm kinda getting into this now. Lie back."

Verde felt Morey release her, and she lay on her back on the bed, wondering what Morey was doing, and then she felt Morey getting on top of her, but with her pussy over Verde's mouth, and felt Morey's lips and tongue eagerly kissing and sucking at her own bald pussy.

"Oh, gods," she gasped, tasting Morey's neatly shaven pussy - it wasn't completely smooth like her own, there was a strip down the middle. "I've so missed this."

"You're so smooth," came Morey's muffled voice. "Mmmmm. God, this is . . . mmm. I could drink you."

Verde gasped and shuddered as she felt Morey's tongue poking at her labia, tasting her, drinking her up.

"I miss my muff," she panted. "I miss muffs. I love hair."

"Shut up," Morey chided. "You're still gorgeous. Well, you feel gorgeous and you taste gorgeous."

Morey buried her face in the soft folds of Verde's pussy and Verde lay back and accepted it with dazed happiness. She pushed her own face into Morey's bristly crotch and loved the now-unfamiliar scratchiness of a recently shaven pussy on her own face. Her fingers stroked Morey's bare ass, feeling the tough little hairs inside the crack, and she cooed with pleasure.

"Steady," Morey gasped. "Still kinda sore in there."

"Sorry," Verde breathed. "Same goes for me."

"Why do men just want to fuck us in the ass," Morey said, and applied her lips to Verde's wet, tender pussy.

"I have theories about that," Verde gasped, "but you don't wanna . . . oooh . . ."

Delicately, tenderly, they held each other and used their tongues to coax each other closer and closer, feeling the warmth building up, Verde feeling with her own tongue how Morey either flinched or yielded, depending on where she was touching, and sighing with gratification that Morey was doing the same thing to her. Their bodies were still aching and raw from the previous night, but what they did to each other was utterly unlike what had been done to them; it was happening out of curiosity, affection, tenderness. Verde felt herself shuddering and, as Morey gently but firmly tongued her.

"Ooohh, baby," Verde breathed, "that is so good." Morey stroked Verde's neat, compact body, her hands on Verde's skin. The fact that Verde was blind, couldn't see what Morey was doing, concentrated all her attention in what was happening between them. Morey was a landscape for her; she was one for Morey. They were free to tunnel and explore, but what they couldn't do was stand back and view it. Verde applied her tongue to the edge of flesh that was the transition from inside Morey's pussy to her smooth, golden skin. Morey writhed in her arms, only to settle and hiss through her teeth with pleasure. Verde's fingers stroked between Morey' ass cheeks, delighting in the taut, firm half-globes of Morey's ass. Morey's tongue aggressively fucked her in response, making Verde whimper; and, as she clutched Morey's long, lean torso, she found herself weeping as she came. Not out of shame, this time.

Morey said worriedly "Are you okay?" but Verde applied herself to Morey's body and slowly but firmly returned the same pleasure, worshipping Morey's tender pussy with her lips and tongue, revelling in Morey's salty fluids, diving into them, and letting every part of her own face help bring Morey to where she wanted to be, until Morey's gasps peaked and she clutched Verde and trembled.

Then Morey got off her and turned around and hugged Verde, as they came down, still blindfolded and naked together.

"You cried," Morey gasped.

"I'm sorry," said Verde. "It's been a long time since anyone was that good to me." Morey laughed and cuddled her.

"As long as you don't get all mushy on me, Questions," she said. "I'm not looking for a lover."

"Me neither," said Verde. "I had one for about five minutes. It ruined my life."

"You're not so ruined," said Morey. "You're good company. And you're fucking great in bed."

"Thank you," said Verde. "You're fucking lovely. I sometimes think . . . nah, forget it."

"What?"

"I sometimes think," said Verde, "it never really gets any better than this. We like each other, we had great sex. Why fuck it all up cause you want some big nebulous thing that nobody can even agree exists?"

"I'd say you're right," said Morey, resting her hand on Verde's left nipple, which made Verde giggle, "except for two things. I'm not looking for love right now, but someday I'm gonna want it, and I'm pretty sure you're the same, and however much we like each other, it ain't love, right?"

"I suppose," said Verde.

"Two," said Morey, "your body is covered in mind-controlling tattoos that make anyone who can read them want to rape you. Until you find a way of doing something about that which is more than just everyone wearing a blindfold, I think it can be said that you have a serious intimacy problem."

Verde laughed, as she hadn't done in ages. Morey laughed too.

They lay side by side with their blindfolds on, panting for breath. Verde felt Morey take her hand and squeeze it.

"Oh, gods," Morey sighed. "That was so fucking lovely." She felt around for Verde's head and kissed her cheek.

"Thank you," Verde murmured. "I didn't know if I'd ever have something like that again."

"I'll tell you something about me, Questions," said Morey. "If I like people, I like to sleep with them as soon as possible. If I don't, and I never see 'em again, I regret it. Also, it gets it out of the way. Now we've got it out the way, you and I can be friends."

"Sure," said Verde, a little startled, "but couldn't we do it again sometime?"

"Sure," said Morey. "But like I said, I'm not looking for a big love in my life right now. I'm trying to get off this fucking planet."

"So am I," said Verde.

"Good for you," said Morey, squeezing her hand. "But that just means that we'd better not fall for each other or we won't wanna go."

Verde thought about it for a while, and finally rolled onto her belly and rested her chin on the other girl's shoulder.

"I guess you're right," she said. "I fucked everything up when I fell for that chick in prison. Before then I was free and single and I didn't give a fuck. As soon as I fell in love I made a fucking idiot of myself and my life went to shit."

"What was she like?"

"Jeezes McChrist," Verde sighed, burying her face in Morey's armpit, making the taller girl giggle. "She was so beautiful, so innocent . . .well, okay, mostly innocent. She loved me. I thought. Maybe she even did. But she was just using me. She was a rich kid and she had that rich kid's thing, you know, where they just always know how to survive, they always manage to do well."

"Sounds like a bitch," said Morey, stroking Verde's bald head.

"It was inside," said Verde. "You do what you have to do to survive. She probably did the right thing by herself. Just not by me."

"Well, it sounds to me like you're a lot better off without her. I'd sooner have a good friend than a faithless lover."

"Me too," said Verde, and kissed Morey's bare breasts. Morey giggled again and grabbed Verde, who squealed. Morey was bigger and managed to get to her feet with Verde in her arms, and staggered to the bathroom. She got into the shower, which came on, drenching them in cold water. Verde screamed and struggled. The water heated up very slowly.

"You fucking insane bitch!" Verde shouted, helpless with laughter. Morey's blindfold affected her balance and as the floor of the shower got wet, she fell over onto her bottom with Verde wet and naked on top of her. They struggled briefly, laughing, but as the water got warmer, Verde held Morey down and concentrated, her hand between Morey's legs, and Morey lay on her back, the warm water battering off their bodies, and her breath hissed between her teeth as Verde made her cum once again.

Then they got up and Verde took off her own blindfold.

"I'll wash you," she said. Morey smiled and stood still, letting Verde do the work as Verde soaped her up, admiring Morey's body and carefully rinsing it and massaging it.

When they were both clean, Verde got out and dried off and dressed quickly, before Morey came out, holding her hand over her eyes.

"Safe to look yet?" she said. Verde carefully placed another plaster over the tattoo on her forehead that reminded her of her shaming.

"Safe now," she said quietly and Morey opened her eyes.

"There you are," she said, dropped her towel and walked naked and damp up to fully-clothed Verde, put her arms around the smaller girl's neck and kissed her.

"Want to get some lunch?" she said.

"I would," said Verde, "but I'm gonna chase Yulian for my money."

"Good idea," said Morey. She shivered, reached down and picked up her towel, wrapping herself in it again. "I'm gonna hit the library." Verde went to the door, and Morey followed.

"The library?"

"Sure. Got a lot of reading to do." Morey unhooked the chain and opened the door.

"What for?"

Morey stared at her for a moment, then her face cleared.

"Oh, right. Remember when I said I wasn't writing my doctoral thesis?"

"Yeah."

"Big lie," said Morey. "I didn't want you to think I was showing off." She smiled apologetically at Verde, who kissed her.

"What the hell are you gonna do with a doctorate in Economics and a shitload of student debt you'll never be able to pay off?" Verde asked her.

"I have plans," said Morey, with her sleepy smile. Verde took her in for a moment, and then nodded.

"I dunno why, but I believe you," she said at last. "Maybe someday you can give me a few pointers on that whole 'planning your life' thing. Cause I've been fucking up all the way along."

"You'll figure it out," said Morey.

"See you round the club later?" said Verde.

"I'm not on tonight," said Morey. "Tomorrow."

"Okay," said Verde. "Take care, gorgeous. Thanks for breakfast."

Morey hugged her unexpectedly tightly.

"Look after yourself, Verde," she said, and as Verde turned away and headed for the lift, Morey shut the door behind her.

***

And so it went, for three months.

The first scene got an extraordinary amount of traffic. People loved the 'fucking freak', and her patient disarming of a hostile crowd, together with her evident toughness. The scenes Verde did after that were never quite as incendiary, although she had the people on her side from the start. There was just no need for her to persuade people that she had a right to be onstage; she'd earned it the first time round. So life became a rhythm of one scene following another.

It would be a lie to say that she ever got used to it, or even really enjoyed it, the hectic pulling and straining, the intimate brutality of it all. Some part of her was always hunkered down, teeth clenched, waiting for it to be over. The occasional interlude and moment of affection, a big kiss on the lips or some sweet words whispered into her ear while she was being held down and penetrated, were hardly compensation.

She met the star girls from time to time, and she could see right away how different they were. You could tell the best ones because that they genuinely loved it. Some of them did it as a lifestyle choice, when they didn't have to; some of them did it for their lovers and their lovers' friends. Some of them worked out and trained, building up their muscles so that they could fight back for longer and stretch out a scene until the crowd was driven crazy with lust. They all spent time with Yulian working out long dramatic arcs for their careers, spending six months at a time doing nothing but topping other girls or men before suffering a dramatic reversal, like being dragged into a scene seemingly against their will and undergoing baroque and hysterical humiliation which they'd carefully scripted beforehand, whereupon they'd spend the next few months as everyone's butt monkey until, just as everyone was getting tired of seeing them meek and broken, they'd fight back and turn the tables on another girl who wanted to boost her own popularity by playing Pride Brought Down.

Verde found the whole kayfabe side of it fascinating, but she hadn't the patience or the desire to do it herself, and she could tell that Yulian was aware of her indifference to that side of things and only went on employing her because people liked watching a smart girl suffer. She was doing it for hard cash, and the star girls would give her patronizing compliments on her bravery while - she could tell - pitying her for how unsuited to this she was.

But the world was changing. As the election drew closer, the incumbent One Planet party, which was already far to the right, began to show signs of craziness. It was bad enough that the general population's taste for unrestricted capitalism and brutal repression of dissidence meant that the Calico was constantly being picketed by censorious loons. It just got weirder and weirder.

And then it all changed, and she had to get off the planet.