The Girl With Pink Hair: Pt. 05

Laying her hand on the skin of her lover's firm belly, Elena eased her hand into the top of Jess' shorts and investigated the smooth flesh of her sex. She gently palpated the folds either side of Jess' clit and was rewarded with a definite moan as well as some warmth on her fingers.

She sucked the nipple between her teeth and gently nibbled it, being rewarded with a gasp as her lover's blue eyes snapped open. Jess hummed happily, opening her legs to Elena's ministrations, her lubrication starting to flow.

"You going to lick me, love?" she whispered.

Elena left off nuzzling Jess' breast and looked up at her. "If you're a good girl."

Jess chuckled. "Pretty please?"

"Oh, alright. Seeing as it's you."

Next door she could feel Alan's attention spike and then relax along with a pulse of humour. There was something about it that said it was their show and they could call for him if they wanted. Elena loved the way that the Talent allowed these subtleties to be communicated without words.

Jess wrestled her shorts off, and Elena pushed her thighs apart. The fat lips were already starting to pout and the smell of Jess' arousal came to her. She inhaled deeply and bent to kiss the white flesh of Jess' thighs, while running her hands up her lover's sides to cup the full mounds of her breasts and there lightly scratch them with the tips of her nails.

"Oh fuck!" Jess whispered, as Elena licked and kissed her way inward.

"Want me to call Alan?"

"No, you tease, you bitch, I want your tongue in my cunt!"

"Like this?" Elena said brightly and dropped her head, licking the coral split and rolling Jess' prominent clit with her tongue.

Jess' hands found the back of Elena's head and urged her deeper into her sex. The fire was building in her belly and her aura and Elena gave it a little nudge. Jess gasped and next door Alan laughed.

"Easy! You'll make the whole street climax!"

Elena giggled into the wet folds. She could never get enough of the tart liquid that ran from her girlfriend's opening. But now she wanted some attention. She didn't want to stop licking Jess and she didn't want to move, and she also liked being fucked from behind. Therefore ...

"Alan?"

He was there with remarkable alacrity, almost as if he'd been hoping she would ask, and she revelled in the warmth, the humour, and the passion of their newfound relationship. It was scarcely credible that it was still only a week old, it felt like they had always been intended for this. Which was probably at least partly due to the narrative. Elena gently suggested analytical brain take a break.

She felt him pulling her knickers aside. That was alright, she was beyond subtlety, she wanted to be fucked. The head of his cock nudged her labia aside and then he sank deep inside her. Sparks went off in her head and she bit Jess' clit rather harder than she'd intended, earning a shriek and an explosion of white pleasure.

"Again! Again, love! Do that again!" Jess gasped.

A rhythm was established where, in time with Alan's thrusts, Elena licked and nuzzled and occasionally gently bit Jess' clit. Alan's hands on her hips, his shaft touching her innermost places, Jess' fingers in her hair, wetness coating her chin and her cheeks. Elena felt like she was melting into her partners, no longer a separate entity, merely the interface between them.

Great pulses of crimson and silver mingled as a backdrop to the impending climax, which, when it arrived, carried the three of them in white light to a place beyond imagination.

***

The safe house 11am, 4 ^th June

After a late breakfast where from time to time they would catch each other's eyes and burst into laughter, Elena and Alan ventured into town, and Jess was left alone in the flat. She was in the middle of clearing up when there was a knock at the door. The Sword immediately came to attention and Jess suggested gently that Plan B was not always the best way to deal with an unexpected guest. However, she was more than a little apprehensive when she opened the door a crack. Two very large gentlemen blocked the corridor outside.

"Tony wants a word."

"Who?"

"The boss," said one, shortly.

"Oh, the new Nick. Why didn't you say?" Jess said as she opened the door wider.

The two heavies looked at each other and shrugged. "Come with us."

"Just a moment, I need to leave a note for the others. Let them know where I've gone."

Before either one could lay hands on her she darted back into the flat. They followed her inside, confident that there was no escape, only to find her doing just as she'd said. 'Gone to Tony's.' the note read.

***

At the anonymous house, Jess was shown into the front room. Mentally she calculated that Tony weighed at least twice as much as she did. No hand to hand with this one. Not in her unenhanced state anyway.

He motioned her to a seat. "Cup of tea?"

Jess was wrong footed by his hospitality and nodded. "Black. Not too strong, thanks."

"Errol, sort that, mate."

One of the lieutenants filed out and the main man sat down and steepled his fingers. "First things first. My name's not 'new Nick', it's Tony. What do I call you?"

The Sword bridled, preferring action to words, but Jess reminded her that the Queen had issued no specific orders. Besides, Jess had a few skills of her own. "I'm Jess, the others are Elena and Alan."

He grunted. "You three are making waves. You're obviously not interested in taking over or establishing a rival clan. You'll have hopefuls lining up at the door petitioning you for justice or some other nonsense."

He sighed. "There is a certain order to things here. I can't have that interfered with or there'll be anarchy."

Jess' eyes widened. What she'd assumed was mere lawlessness, turned out to have a Darwinian hierarchy with a Hobbesian political philosopher at its head.

She apologised. "We don't want to stay. We just need to keep a low profile for a bit. The business yesterday was unfortunate, we weren't looking for trouble."

He took this in and thought about it. There were some very weird rumours circulating on social media, both from inside and outside the estate. If the reports of this woman's capabilities were true then the idea of someone able to take her down showing up on the manor was, to say the least, unwelcome. The last thing he needed was more attention from the filth. Or the press. Or anyone, come to that.

The tea arrived together with a plate of biscuits. Jess seized a Garibaldi. "Squashed fly biscuits! I haven't had one of these since I was a kid!"

Tony could feel his lieutenants exchanging glances. Jess just didn't give off the right vibe. The idea of this pink haired bit of fluff single-handedly taking down the Gough Park muppets was ...

He rubbed the back of his neck. He could do with a bit of evidence. "I've got some tough choices."

Jess set down her tea and rested her hands on her knees. The guys behind Tony tensed.

"Easy, easy," Tony soothed, looking behind him. He turned back to Jess. "If I could just have a demonstration?"

The Sword nodded. "Phones on the table."

Tony gestured and one by one they deposited their recording devices by the biscuits. He felt a faint unease that she had not asked for their weapons.

Jess felt the tension in the room rise asymptotically as she came slowly to her feet. "I'm not going to hurt anyone. You have my word."

Ordinarily, that kind of statement would have attracted derision but not today. She raised her hand and a spear shimmered into existence. Her appearance altered subtly to be more upright, with the slim, toned, bearing of an elite athlete. The pink hair was now a reflection of her sheer otherworldliness.

Unexpectedly she grinned. "D'you want the whole nine yards? I haven't been doing this for long so I'm still geeking out about it!"

Open mouthed, Tony nodded. His crew were transfixed.

The hilts of two curved swords appeared above her shoulders. There was a certain sheen about her that suggested armour.

"Katanas!" someone murmured in awe.

"Christ, you're Valkyrie!" Tony blurted, not caring about the potential damage to his rep.

Jess smiled brilliantly and a couple of Tony's more dependable sidekicks fell to their knees.

"Technically I am the Sword, but I think Valkyrie is just the best! Shall I show you what we can do?"

Without waiting for permission, she proceeded to wheel about the room in a series of impossibly fast manoeuvres that were part kata, part ballet, and in somewhat less than a second she was back where she started at parade rest in front of them.

Discipline broke down completely. Tony's eyes were very bright. Somewhere inside him, the young boy that had been entranced by the Power Rangers was screaming for joy. Shit was real!

"Can you show us the swords?" someone asked.

"Sure," Jess smiled. "Give me some room."

Vengeance would have to stay put. The room was too small for two impossibly sharp weapons. She drew the graphite black wakizashi from her sheath. The light fell into the blade, and someone sighed.

"She's called Moonlight. Watch this," she said and plucked a hair from her head. She held it above the blade and let go. All held their breath as the pink strand drifted down and bisected itself without slowing.

"Oh man, I gots to get me one of these!" someone said.

She sheathed Moonlight and drew Vengeance. There were more sighs, and a muttered "Bloody Nora!"

Jess grinned.

"Miss, in the unlikely event you ever need a hand, you let us know," Errol said. Technically he was out of line to make a promise like that but in the circumstances, Tony was inclined to forgive him. It wasn't every day a warrior princess gave a demo to the troops. And, no, she wasn't ever going to need their help, except maybe as a diversion. Mind you, it would be awesome to see her using them swords for real - as long as it was against someone else.

***

Errol insisted on driving her back to the safe house. He was a bit taciturn. Jess couldn't decide if he was naturally that way or he was in awe of the Sword. Bit of both probably. He was a sweetie and she kissed him on the cheek before she exited the car. She looked in as she closed the door. He had his fingers to his cheek and an odd little smile on his face.

***

The safe house 1pm, 4 ^th June

On the grass beside the communal entrance to the flats a small flock of magpies squabbled over something. They darted and chattered in their inimitable shifty way and Jess smiled. The sheen of their wings was an exact match for Alan's hair and Jess thought of him fondly. Absently she recited the rhyme in her head:

'One for sorrow, two for joy

Three for a girl and four for a boy

"Got the girl and the boy," she murmured.

Five for silver, six for gold

Seven for a secret never to be told

Eight's a wish ...'

She stopped and counted. There were eight birds. She huffed a noise halfway to becoming a laugh and put her hands on her hips. Then a shiver crossed her shoulders and the hair stood up on her forearms as the birds ceased their altercation and turned to look at her.

She shook her head and opened her hands, "What? What do you want from me?"

Eight pairs of beady black eyes stared back.

The Folk usually screened out the natural psychic background in much the same way as mundane humanity did when it came to noise. Now, however, Jess opened herself to the little company of black and white bandits.

'Lead us,' they seemed to say, tiny auras of bronze loyalty and red mischief.

"Lead you?" Jess said incredulously.

One dipped its beak to pick something up and then walked its geezer walk up to her and looked at her sideways. "Alright, I give in," Jess said. What was one more bit of strangeness in all that had happened?

She hunkered down and put out her hand. To her immense surprise, the bird jumped up to perch with sharp claws on the edge of her palm. It - no, she, deposited something round and heavier than anticipated. Jess expected Mrs Magpie to jump away again but she stayed put as Jess gently reached for the mystery object with her other hand.

"You really want me to have this, don't you?" she murmured.

It was a ring. It was very dirty, and Jess used a fingernail to flake away some of the grime. Yellow metal peeped through.

"Huh," she said. "Six for gold."

If you counted the avatars, then the Trinity was a kind of sextet. Sort of. Jess had a sudden mental image of her beloved's severe expression and she giggled. Abruptly the fear that they were being railroaded into a nightmare as puppets of the narrative receded a bit, and she got the oddest feeling that despite their current predicament, maybe everything was going to be alright.

The magpie looked down at the ring and back again at her in its quick jerky way.

"I'm going to have to put you down," she said, but the bird started to walk up her arm.

Torn between wonder at having a wild animal voluntarily using her as a perch and slight apprehension at the wicked beak being so close to her face, Jess kept very still. Somehow, the ring had made its way on to her finger and she stared at it.

Aware that it had become very quiet, the whole eeriness of the situation ramped up abruptly. The ring was on her fourth finger like a wedding band. Looking sideways at the magpie she murmured, "Which one are you, then? Hugin or Munin?" Strictly speaking, Odin's advisors were ravens, but magpies were corvids too.

"You gonna be my eyes and ears, boys and girls?"

The bird on her shoulder made a soft, low, guttural sound and bumped her jaw with its head.

Jess looked at the ring and wondered who she might be married to, but rather thought she already knew. She smiled joyously and threw her arms out, twirling on the spot. Her avian passenger made no protest but dug her claws into Jess' coat.

"Alright then! I've made my wish and the kiss will be right along. I'll be looking out for you guys!"

The magpies took to the air in an explosion of wings.

***

The safe house 5pm, 4 ^th June

Later that day, Elena and Alan returned to the safe house with new mobile phones and some decent provisions. They found Jess leaning back on the sofa, staring out of the window with her hands behind her head and a smile on her face. Her aura was just the tiniest bit smug.

"What have you been up to?" Elena said suspiciously.

Jess grinned. "You would not believe the afternoon I've had!"

***

"So, Tony says we can have the place for as long as we need, and he'll keep an eye out for people snooping around." After she finished her story, they both stared at her for a bit.

Elena went to her and gathered her into a huge hug. "I'm so lucky to have you."

"Does that mean I'm forgiven, then?"

Elena hugged her so hard that she could feel her bones moving against each other.

"Looks like you did something right for a change, kid," Alan said over his shoulder as he lugged the shopping into the kitchen.

"There's one more thing I have to show you," Jess whispered, and brought her hand up between them.

Elena stared at the fat gold band. "Where did that come from?"

"Magpies gave it to me! We're not completely without allies, love. I'm not sure who they are but someone is on our side!"

"Magpies," Elena said, deadpan. "Some birds gave you a ring."

Jess was on another planet, fizzing with excitement, "I said you wouldn't believe what's happened to me today! Well, there was a bunch of magpies-"

"Flock. Birds come in flocks." Still deadpan.

Jess batted her on the shoulder. "Oh, shush and just listen! There were eight of them and it was seriously spooky! Then one of them jumped into my hand and gave me this. And eight magpies means a wish, so I made a wish, and the ring went on my finger."

Her girlfriend was full on manic pixie girl and Elena couldn't help but smile. "So, what did you wish for?" she asked, knowing full well what the answer would be.

"I wished for you to marry me, love," Jess said, her blue eyes shining.

"You haven't asked me yet," Elena said playfully.

"Yet." Jess' grin grew, if possible, even wider, and Elena could feel raw delight boiling off her.

"And even if you did, even if I said 'yes', you wouldn't get to boss me around," Elena said, her head on one side. "More than you do now anyhow," she added.

"But you would say 'yes'?"

"Of course I would, you stupid bloody woman, so stop prevaricating and ask me!"

Jess grabbed her hand. "Elena Serafino Kowalski, will-"

"When did you find out my middle name?"

"I'm a spy, for fuckitty fuck's sake! Now stop fucking interrupting!"

Elena took Jess' face in her hands and kissed her firmly. "Never."

"Pardon me for intruding on your little love fest, but where do I fit into all this?" Alan asked.

Jess tutted. "I suppose you'll have to come too. And Her and all."

"Don't I get a ring? Alan needs one too," Elena said firmly, and their partner raised an eyebrow at Jess.

"Oh God, I suppose so," Jess huffed. "This was supposed to be simple!"

"I think I'm going to make something special this evening," Elena said. "Then we'll have another try with Her Majesty."

***

In the kitchen, Elena set out the ingredients and stood for a moment, not seeing them, as a warmth and a lightness of being built in the core of her and diffused out to her extremities. Security, devotion, and a myriad other comforts. This was how it felt to be loved, completely and utterly. The only other human being that made her feel this way was her father. A smile spread across her face as she rooted around in the cupboards for a small pan and a baking tray. Perhaps they were living the great romantic novel after all.

The milk was set on the heat, and she added salt, pepper, a pinch of cayenne and a good grating of nutmeg. While it was coming to a simmer, she weighed some semolina and into a bowl she mixed grated parmesan and mozzarella. She surveyed the ready prepared ingredients with a jaundiced eye, but she'd been amazed to find them at all. When she was a child, she remembered her father having to go much further afield to find what he needed. It seemed that a little variety had seeped into the area in the time she'd been gone.

Once the milk started to froth, she tipped the semolina into it and stirred until it was halfway to being the consistency of plasticine. Then she added the cheese and an egg to the pan and stirred until the cheese was melted and the mixture smooth.

She spread it evenly on a piece of baking parchment on the base of a baking tray and popped it into the fridge to chill. Quickly throwing together a tomato salad, she left it on the side to mature and went next door to flop with the others and argue about whether to watch Stranger Things or Happy Valley, Tony having enabled the streaming services.

***

Later, Elena levered herself out from between her lovers on the sofa and trotted into the kitchen to retrieve the baking tray from the fridge. Quickly and efficiently she turned the mixture into a couple of dozen balls the size of a large marble, each subsequently egged and dipped into well-seasoned breadcrumbs. The gnocchi were deep-fried in batches. She knew the description wasn't accurate but this what they'd been called in the Kowalski household since ever her dad had made them, so that's what they were, end of story.

Jess smirked at Alan as he closed his eyes in near ecstasy at the combination of hot, crunchy, deep fried cheese and sharp garlicky salad. Elena wallowed in their pleasure even as she felt the Queen's puzzlement at her actions. 'Honey works better than vinegar,' Elena thought, and wondered if the Queen would pick up on it.