Fic: Safe Habor prompt 31 sunrise
Written for 100originalfics
Title: Safe Harbor
’Verse: Servants Journals
Characters: Ceecee and other original characters
Prompt: 31 Sunrise
Word Count: 2139
Rating: Gp
Notes: We last saw our girls running from a fire, fallowing the San Francisco earthquake.
The days following the quake had been nightmarish. Ceecee didn’t remember much of the first day she and Annabel had fled from the approaching fire. They had made their escape with little time to spare and with only what they could carry in their hands. They had found a barn safely out of the danger zone to rest and Annabel buried herself under the straw. It wasn’t very restful for either of them. That night they ventured out to see how bad the damage was. The city was in chaos, and fires were still burning here and there. They needed a plan, and they needed it right then. Annabel was weak from the exposure to the sun and Ceecee wasn’t feeling too well either. She’d had nothing to eat since the morning of the day before.
Annabel felt much better a little while later after an idiot mugger tried to rob the two ‘helpless’ women. She drained him nearly dry and then snapped his neck; one more corpse in a disaster wouldn’t be noticed.
Finding food for Ceecee had been more difficult. Eventually they broke into a deserted home and found bread cheese and apples locked in the pantry. They decided to wait out the daylight hours in the house as it was too close to dawn to find another save hiding place. Annabel slept in the cellar and Ceecee rested on a pallet out side the cellar door. She had a loaded gun that they had taken from Annabel’s dinner tucked under her pillow.
By the next night they had a plan. They started making their way to the harbor, or more precisely, to a precisely, to find a particular boat that Annabel remembered. They had to circle around burned out parts of the city and did their best to avoid large crowds of people. It helped that the Red Cross had started setting up refugee camps and soup kitchens.
It took them hours to reach the harbor and longer to find the right dock and the right berth. The Merry Be had belonged to a rich older man who Annabel had been feeding off of for months. She wouldn’t let him buy her expensive gifts and she wouldn’t take his money. She did give him a pretty decoration on his arm at parties and the opera and warmed his bed at night. She had also given him a true death just a few months ago. Annabel didn’t think that his family could have gotten around to moving the boat yet, and with the aftermath of the earthquake they probably wouldn’t think of it for a long time. Annabel intended to use it.
It was a mere hour before sunrise when they spotted their goal. There wasn’t anyone else around, or so they thought. Before they reached the wooden planks of the dock three big men stepped out in front of them. They smelled of stale alcohol and from the way they looked at the two women, they didn’t have just taking their money on their minds
The first man to reach for Annabel had his arm yanked out of its socket. He screamed in pain and anger as he went down cursing and clutching his arm. The second man was more cautious after seeing his friend on the ground. He fully intended to tease him about being beaten by a woman later, but for now he focused on the women. He circled around trying to get behind the blond. Meanwhile the third man had grabbed Ceecee. Ceecee was no shrinking violet. She fought with her brains, not her non existent brawn. She stomped on his foot and kicked his kneecaps and scratched, bit, and poked as much as she could to keep him from getting a good grip on her. She knew she only had to get away long enough for Annabel to rescue her. But the mugger was twice her weight and Ceecee was getting tired. Unexpectedly a crowbar came down on her attackers head. He dropped to the ground in a bloody unconscious heap and took Ceecee with him.
Ceecee felt strong hands disentangle her from her attacker and lift her up. The rush of adrenalin tingled painfully in her fingers as she tried to straighten her clothing and catch her breath. She turned to thank Annabel for rescuing her, but it wasn’t Annabel. Annabel was dropping the second man unconscious on the ground. Her rescuer was another man; a really cute man with dark hair and black eyes and a white fisherman’s sweater.
“Who are you?” Ceecee blurted out in surprise.
Annabel sized him up in less than ten seconds: young, strong, honest, and not smart enough to know when to stay out of a fight. “You arrived just in time sir. I’m sure the cavalry never had better timing.” She pretended to be out of breath. “What name shall we call our hero?”
“It was my pleasure Miss. My name is Roger, Roger McKinta. And it looked like you could use a bit of help”
“We are most grateful for that help, but weren’t you afraid?” Ceecee asked. Annabel could see the hero worship starting already, but maybe that wouldn’t be a bad thing.
“I’d me more afraid of my Mamma if she found out I’d let three drunks hurt two pretty ladies,” He said. “I had two older brothers about their size. I had to learn to woop ‘em just keep my own skin intact,
“We are indeed grateful Roger.” Annabel said looked around, “Where did you come from? I saw where those men came from, but where were you?”
“I was sleeping over behind those crates.” Roger said pointing a little way behind him. “The captain of the fishing boat I work on needed a few days to check on his home and family, and he didn’t want anyone sleeping on his boat when he’s not there.”
“You didn’t have anywhere else to go?” Annabel asked.
“Not with the fire and all. The boarding house I was in is gone. There are a lot of people without homes right now. Figured they needed the Red Cross tents more than I do.”
Annabel added noble to his list of qualities and said, “Roger you did us a great service. {Please let us repay you. We have been put out of our home from the fires too, and we thought we would take refuge on my friend’s boat. I know he won’t mind. It’s right over there, The Merry Be. It has two cabins. One is small, but it has a fold down bunk in it. Surely that would be more comfortable than outside on the dock.”
It sounded like a good offer to Roger. With two cabins some propriety could be maintained against judgmental gossips. “That’s a very kind offer. I think I will take you up on it.” He said.
***
Annabel and Ceecee were glad Roger was there. Neither one of them had much experience with boats. His help proved to be invaluable in getting on board and making the boat habitable. He pulled the gang plank up behind them and then retied all the lines. He knew where the candles and non perishable food had been stashed. Minutes before the sun rose Annabel and Ceecee claimed exhaustion and they went to bed. They told Roger that they probably wouldn’t wake up until after dark, so don’t worry about them. They took the larger of the two small cabins; it held a full size bed and had little room for anything else. Annabel locked the door and Ceecee covered the twin portholes with a heavy blanket.
Ceecee hadn’t shared a bed with Annabel before. It was weird being beside her and hearing her stop breathing, but Ceecee was so tired that she forced it out of her mind and fell asleep.
Outside, Roger finished up securing the boat. He waited until he didn’t hear any noise coming from the other cabin before settling on the little bunk in his own cabin to sleep. Once settled in the bunk and before he fell asleep he had a chance to wonder how such a small woman like Annabel had managed to take down two men much bigger than her. Maybe they hadn’t needed his help after all. He decided not to worry about it and go to sleep. Both women were pretty, but it was Ceecee’s odd blue eyes that haunted his sleep.
******
Roger found out the next day that he could go back to work. The fishing boat was starting work again that night. It went out in the middle of the night and returned around sunrise with its hold filled with fresh fish for the city of San Francisco. Annabel told him he was more than welcome to stay with them on The Merry Be. Not having anywhere else to go he took her up on the offer to stay longer than the one night and tried to make himself useful to the two ladies.
Days went by and Roger only ever saw Annabel after dark. He had no idea where she went when she left the boat. Sometimes she would be back before he left for the fishing boat and sometimes she got back just before sunrise. Sometimes she took Ceecee with her and sometimes she didn’t.
Roger was a simple soul. He was wise enough to know there were some things that he was better off not knowing. Annabel’s secret was one of those things. It was instinct that kept him from questioning the pretty blond woman about her oddities.
Annabel liked the handsome young man. It was a good arrangement for the three of them. It became natural to have him around almost from the beginning. He needed a place to stay; she and Ceecee needed his help about the boat. Annabel was well practiced at pretending to be human, but she appreciated his well developed sense of survival that kept him from asking any complicated questions. She did however, flirt outrageously with him. She also knew that Ceecee was smitten with her rescuer.
Ceecee kept odd hours. Sometimes being up all night with her Mistress and sleeping late in the morning or the other way around. He learned that she was Annabel’s personal attendant and maid. Though from the way they giggled together sometimes after watching him from behind he knew they were also very good friends. Annabel winked and blew him a kisses, Ceecee blushed and looked away when he caught them at it after he’d taken his shirt off to work on the anchor chain.
***
Ceecee watched the orange sun emerge from behind the mountains while the Merry Be bobbed up and down under her feet. Two weeks after the earthquake and fires and the air was at last clear of smoke and ash. Seeing the sky blue again lifted her spirits.
Annabel had fed from her before going to sleep for the day. The small wounds in her neck itched, so she held tighter to the hand rail so as not to scratch at them. She saw Roger coming up the pier toward the boat. Had he seen their embrace? From the look on his face he had, but he wasn’t close enough to have seen anything but two friends holding each other for comfort. She made sure her collar covered the bite marks and bade him a good morning when he came aboard.
Roger thought she was the prettiest thing he’d ever seen, standing at the railing The new morn sun behind her turning her white hair gold as it blew loose around her face. His good judgment left him; his conscious thought left him too as he walked to the girl, took her in his arms and kissed her.
At first, Ceecee just stood their in his arms like a doll too surprised to do anything. Just when her brain registered what was happening and before she could wrap her arms around him, he let her go. He stood there stunned at himself and fully expecting her to slap him silly. Instead she stepped into him and demanded, “Do that again.” Roger was happy to do so. One kiss became two then three before they had to stop and breathe.
A sweet, secret and seductive smile was on Ceecee face, “Oh, Roger why did you take so long to do that?”
“Must be because I’m fool.” He said grinning foolishly back at her. “Can I do it again?”
“You’d better!” Ceecee said determinedly, “But there’s just one thing you have to do first.”
Roger was willing to do just about anything at that point. “Anything you want, you have but to name it.”
Ceecee laughed, “Nothing that serious my love. It’s just that you very much smell of fish.”
End.
Bonus Outtake: Time warp
(My muses making sport with me)
Roger learned that Ceecee was Annabel’s personal attendant and maid. Though from the way they giggled together sometimes after watching him from behind he knew they were also very good friends. Annabel winked and blew him a kisses and Ceecee blushed and looked away when he caught them at it after he’d taken his shirt off to work on the anchor chain. “Girls are silly.” He thought, “Men would never get excited at seeing some bloke with his shirt off.” Roger thought to himself.
On the boat in the berth beside The Merry Be, Kat and Shine lay entwined on the deck on a mat covered with pillows. They’d been enjoying the eye candy on the boat across from them. Shine asked Kat, “Do you think we could seduce him into a threesome?”
Kat sighed, “Maybe, if we made it a foursome and invited your distant kinswoman to join in. I’m afraid he looks straighter than any of the other characters running around this head space.” He then nibbled on Shine’s ear, causing him to moan appreciatively before he rolled him over and pinned him to the mat.
Title: Safe Harbor
’Verse: Servants Journals
Characters: Ceecee and other original characters
Prompt: 31 Sunrise
Word Count: 2139
Rating: Gp
Notes: We last saw our girls running from a fire, fallowing the San Francisco earthquake.
The days following the quake had been nightmarish. Ceecee didn’t remember much of the first day she and Annabel had fled from the approaching fire. They had made their escape with little time to spare and with only what they could carry in their hands. They had found a barn safely out of the danger zone to rest and Annabel buried herself under the straw. It wasn’t very restful for either of them. That night they ventured out to see how bad the damage was. The city was in chaos, and fires were still burning here and there. They needed a plan, and they needed it right then. Annabel was weak from the exposure to the sun and Ceecee wasn’t feeling too well either. She’d had nothing to eat since the morning of the day before.
Annabel felt much better a little while later after an idiot mugger tried to rob the two ‘helpless’ women. She drained him nearly dry and then snapped his neck; one more corpse in a disaster wouldn’t be noticed.
Finding food for Ceecee had been more difficult. Eventually they broke into a deserted home and found bread cheese and apples locked in the pantry. They decided to wait out the daylight hours in the house as it was too close to dawn to find another save hiding place. Annabel slept in the cellar and Ceecee rested on a pallet out side the cellar door. She had a loaded gun that they had taken from Annabel’s dinner tucked under her pillow.
By the next night they had a plan. They started making their way to the harbor, or more precisely, to a precisely, to find a particular boat that Annabel remembered. They had to circle around burned out parts of the city and did their best to avoid large crowds of people. It helped that the Red Cross had started setting up refugee camps and soup kitchens.
It took them hours to reach the harbor and longer to find the right dock and the right berth. The Merry Be had belonged to a rich older man who Annabel had been feeding off of for months. She wouldn’t let him buy her expensive gifts and she wouldn’t take his money. She did give him a pretty decoration on his arm at parties and the opera and warmed his bed at night. She had also given him a true death just a few months ago. Annabel didn’t think that his family could have gotten around to moving the boat yet, and with the aftermath of the earthquake they probably wouldn’t think of it for a long time. Annabel intended to use it.
It was a mere hour before sunrise when they spotted their goal. There wasn’t anyone else around, or so they thought. Before they reached the wooden planks of the dock three big men stepped out in front of them. They smelled of stale alcohol and from the way they looked at the two women, they didn’t have just taking their money on their minds
The first man to reach for Annabel had his arm yanked out of its socket. He screamed in pain and anger as he went down cursing and clutching his arm. The second man was more cautious after seeing his friend on the ground. He fully intended to tease him about being beaten by a woman later, but for now he focused on the women. He circled around trying to get behind the blond. Meanwhile the third man had grabbed Ceecee. Ceecee was no shrinking violet. She fought with her brains, not her non existent brawn. She stomped on his foot and kicked his kneecaps and scratched, bit, and poked as much as she could to keep him from getting a good grip on her. She knew she only had to get away long enough for Annabel to rescue her. But the mugger was twice her weight and Ceecee was getting tired. Unexpectedly a crowbar came down on her attackers head. He dropped to the ground in a bloody unconscious heap and took Ceecee with him.
Ceecee felt strong hands disentangle her from her attacker and lift her up. The rush of adrenalin tingled painfully in her fingers as she tried to straighten her clothing and catch her breath. She turned to thank Annabel for rescuing her, but it wasn’t Annabel. Annabel was dropping the second man unconscious on the ground. Her rescuer was another man; a really cute man with dark hair and black eyes and a white fisherman’s sweater.
“Who are you?” Ceecee blurted out in surprise.
Annabel sized him up in less than ten seconds: young, strong, honest, and not smart enough to know when to stay out of a fight. “You arrived just in time sir. I’m sure the cavalry never had better timing.” She pretended to be out of breath. “What name shall we call our hero?”
“It was my pleasure Miss. My name is Roger, Roger McKinta. And it looked like you could use a bit of help”
“We are most grateful for that help, but weren’t you afraid?” Ceecee asked. Annabel could see the hero worship starting already, but maybe that wouldn’t be a bad thing.
“I’d me more afraid of my Mamma if she found out I’d let three drunks hurt two pretty ladies,” He said. “I had two older brothers about their size. I had to learn to woop ‘em just keep my own skin intact,
“We are indeed grateful Roger.” Annabel said looked around, “Where did you come from? I saw where those men came from, but where were you?”
“I was sleeping over behind those crates.” Roger said pointing a little way behind him. “The captain of the fishing boat I work on needed a few days to check on his home and family, and he didn’t want anyone sleeping on his boat when he’s not there.”
“You didn’t have anywhere else to go?” Annabel asked.
“Not with the fire and all. The boarding house I was in is gone. There are a lot of people without homes right now. Figured they needed the Red Cross tents more than I do.”
Annabel added noble to his list of qualities and said, “Roger you did us a great service. {Please let us repay you. We have been put out of our home from the fires too, and we thought we would take refuge on my friend’s boat. I know he won’t mind. It’s right over there, The Merry Be. It has two cabins. One is small, but it has a fold down bunk in it. Surely that would be more comfortable than outside on the dock.”
It sounded like a good offer to Roger. With two cabins some propriety could be maintained against judgmental gossips. “That’s a very kind offer. I think I will take you up on it.” He said.
***
Annabel and Ceecee were glad Roger was there. Neither one of them had much experience with boats. His help proved to be invaluable in getting on board and making the boat habitable. He pulled the gang plank up behind them and then retied all the lines. He knew where the candles and non perishable food had been stashed. Minutes before the sun rose Annabel and Ceecee claimed exhaustion and they went to bed. They told Roger that they probably wouldn’t wake up until after dark, so don’t worry about them. They took the larger of the two small cabins; it held a full size bed and had little room for anything else. Annabel locked the door and Ceecee covered the twin portholes with a heavy blanket.
Ceecee hadn’t shared a bed with Annabel before. It was weird being beside her and hearing her stop breathing, but Ceecee was so tired that she forced it out of her mind and fell asleep.
Outside, Roger finished up securing the boat. He waited until he didn’t hear any noise coming from the other cabin before settling on the little bunk in his own cabin to sleep. Once settled in the bunk and before he fell asleep he had a chance to wonder how such a small woman like Annabel had managed to take down two men much bigger than her. Maybe they hadn’t needed his help after all. He decided not to worry about it and go to sleep. Both women were pretty, but it was Ceecee’s odd blue eyes that haunted his sleep.
******
Roger found out the next day that he could go back to work. The fishing boat was starting work again that night. It went out in the middle of the night and returned around sunrise with its hold filled with fresh fish for the city of San Francisco. Annabel told him he was more than welcome to stay with them on The Merry Be. Not having anywhere else to go he took her up on the offer to stay longer than the one night and tried to make himself useful to the two ladies.
Days went by and Roger only ever saw Annabel after dark. He had no idea where she went when she left the boat. Sometimes she would be back before he left for the fishing boat and sometimes she got back just before sunrise. Sometimes she took Ceecee with her and sometimes she didn’t.
Roger was a simple soul. He was wise enough to know there were some things that he was better off not knowing. Annabel’s secret was one of those things. It was instinct that kept him from questioning the pretty blond woman about her oddities.
Annabel liked the handsome young man. It was a good arrangement for the three of them. It became natural to have him around almost from the beginning. He needed a place to stay; she and Ceecee needed his help about the boat. Annabel was well practiced at pretending to be human, but she appreciated his well developed sense of survival that kept him from asking any complicated questions. She did however, flirt outrageously with him. She also knew that Ceecee was smitten with her rescuer.
Ceecee kept odd hours. Sometimes being up all night with her Mistress and sleeping late in the morning or the other way around. He learned that she was Annabel’s personal attendant and maid. Though from the way they giggled together sometimes after watching him from behind he knew they were also very good friends. Annabel winked and blew him a kisses, Ceecee blushed and looked away when he caught them at it after he’d taken his shirt off to work on the anchor chain.
***
Ceecee watched the orange sun emerge from behind the mountains while the Merry Be bobbed up and down under her feet. Two weeks after the earthquake and fires and the air was at last clear of smoke and ash. Seeing the sky blue again lifted her spirits.
Annabel had fed from her before going to sleep for the day. The small wounds in her neck itched, so she held tighter to the hand rail so as not to scratch at them. She saw Roger coming up the pier toward the boat. Had he seen their embrace? From the look on his face he had, but he wasn’t close enough to have seen anything but two friends holding each other for comfort. She made sure her collar covered the bite marks and bade him a good morning when he came aboard.
Roger thought she was the prettiest thing he’d ever seen, standing at the railing The new morn sun behind her turning her white hair gold as it blew loose around her face. His good judgment left him; his conscious thought left him too as he walked to the girl, took her in his arms and kissed her.
At first, Ceecee just stood their in his arms like a doll too surprised to do anything. Just when her brain registered what was happening and before she could wrap her arms around him, he let her go. He stood there stunned at himself and fully expecting her to slap him silly. Instead she stepped into him and demanded, “Do that again.” Roger was happy to do so. One kiss became two then three before they had to stop and breathe.
A sweet, secret and seductive smile was on Ceecee face, “Oh, Roger why did you take so long to do that?”
“Must be because I’m fool.” He said grinning foolishly back at her. “Can I do it again?”
“You’d better!” Ceecee said determinedly, “But there’s just one thing you have to do first.”
Roger was willing to do just about anything at that point. “Anything you want, you have but to name it.”
Ceecee laughed, “Nothing that serious my love. It’s just that you very much smell of fish.”
End.
Bonus Outtake: Time warp
(My muses making sport with me)
Roger learned that Ceecee was Annabel’s personal attendant and maid. Though from the way they giggled together sometimes after watching him from behind he knew they were also very good friends. Annabel winked and blew him a kisses and Ceecee blushed and looked away when he caught them at it after he’d taken his shirt off to work on the anchor chain. “Girls are silly.” He thought, “Men would never get excited at seeing some bloke with his shirt off.” Roger thought to himself.
On the boat in the berth beside The Merry Be, Kat and Shine lay entwined on the deck on a mat covered with pillows. They’d been enjoying the eye candy on the boat across from them. Shine asked Kat, “Do you think we could seduce him into a threesome?”
Kat sighed, “Maybe, if we made it a foursome and invited your distant kinswoman to join in. I’m afraid he looks straighter than any of the other characters running around this head space.” He then nibbled on Shine’s ear, causing him to moan appreciatively before he rolled him over and pinned him to the mat.