Not for the Faint of Heart

by Lex Croucher

Give them hell

Luckily, Clem was ridiculous. She prided herself on her commitment to the absurd.

Nobody had ever pinned Clem to a tree before. New experiences were good for the soul.

They won’t be expecting there to only be six of us, gaining access by stealth.” Because it’s foolish, her mind added stubbornly. “Because it’s foolish,” said Josey happily. “That’s why it’ll work.”

Not that she’d know, of course. Pain didn’t bother her.

There had been far too much touching around here lately. Sure, it was medicinal, but it was also very weird. Next thing they’d all be holding hands and talking about their feelings.

“What if somebody else plays the horn?” said Baxter. “We have purchased a particularly horrible horn,” said Kit. “You’ll know it when you hear it.” “Fine,” said Mariel, at the same time as Baxter said, “All horns are horrible.”

“You know what.” “Mmm,” said Clem, running a hand through Mariel’s hair, looking unbearably fond when Mariel had to close her eyes for a second to cope. “I kind of want to hear you say it though. Just humor me, I haven’t got any hobbies.” “You are insufferable.” “I am insufferable and … you, Mariel Hartley-Hood, want me to…” “Kiss me,” Mariel said, her voice cracking slightly at the end.

“Well, I’m cold, so come here and make my life a bit better, would you?” There she went again, just asking for what she wanted, like it was the easiest thing in the world. Mariel was awed and appalled by it. She was also appalled that it worked; she shuffled closer and lay down, their shoulders touching.

“Why would you have any particular feelings about my collarbones?” “Purely a professional, medical interest,” said Clem, as she dipped her head to kiss Mariel there, stalling Mariel’s breathing on an inhale. “Extremely difficult to set these when they’re broken. Very painful.” “Then maybe,” Mariel said, her voice coming out all threadbare and husky, “you should stop biting them.” “No thank you,” said Clem, but she did stop so that she could kiss Mariel properly on the mouth, deep and slow.

Terrible at asking for help. I seem to remember you inherited a little of that.” Mariel winced. “I did. But I’m trying to do better.” “Good,” said Robin, patting her on the shoulder. “That’s all we can do. Fuck the fascists, and introspect.”