So all right, your nipples aren’t pierced. Belly button?

Uhm…

Mark!

You’re letting him guess! What? I can’t help?

No.

You are a strange and twisted bird.

Bird! Who says “bird” anymore to describe a woman?

I just did.

Well, can I use it, too?

Of course.

Bird! Ha!

Wait, so … genital piercing?

Aaaahh! That’s worse! Worse!

Oh no, dearling, it is much better, trust me.

How does that work?

How does what work? Jake, it’s a piercing I mean…

No I don’t mean pedantic little technically how is it done, you dork. I mean doesn’t it get in the way?

Only in the best of ways.

You let them hole-punch your junk?

I paid for it, even!

I can’t … the idea makes me feel queasy.

Oh, but Melina, it is wonderful.

It’s wonderful to take a stapler to your …

It is. Well, not in the moment, that stings.

I would think!

But the end result, quite pleasure filled.

No, never, not even, nope.

But so, all right, it feels good for you.

Mmhmm.

But what about the, the other …

How does it feel for the gentleman caller?

Yes.

Interesting.

What the? How would you know?!

Whoa, yeah, hold up here! I thought… I mean, you two…

Oh, we’ve slept together.

Well … I mean yes, I suppose we have.

What do you mean you’ve slept together? Hell, you’ve denied it in the past!

Yikes, I didn’t think it would anger anyone.

Oh I think you knew it would.

Perhaps he should mention that we have never had sex.

Nope, we never have.

Then what was that? You shared a bed? Come on, that isn’t the same!

No, I mean sleeping in the same bed isn’t sleeping together. I mean it is but it isn’t…

Would it help if we were undressed?

Help who? And no.

Help … I don’t know this misplaced anger.

I think it’s more shock. So all right, you slept in the same bed, undressed.

Well it was raining pretty hard one night when we were in Cananda and the heat was broken and …

You pooled body heat.

We pooled body heat. So where’s the problem.

Well you tried to cause one, and what was that about how her piercing feels?

Ahhh yes. Well Mark, since the cat is out of the bag…

Hey, sometimes things get said.

And later we shall discuss that, but go on, tell them the story, you might as well.

Tell it good so when we tell Dan and Sven and all they’ll get a good version, too!

Melina! You will not go telling this story around town!

I won’t?

You will not!

Yeah, I probably will. Love you anyway, Tashi.

Mark, just tell them the story.

So we were pooling body heat. And drinking, like idiots. And we woke up rather intertwined, not in a bad way just, bits against bits a little …

And there you go, we get far more than the picture.

Yeah this started to turn strange.

There was nothing sexual about it!

Well except for the genital piercing to begin with. That was done for sexual reasons, no?

Yes. Why would you like to see it?

At the table? That might be considered rude.

In the back room!

Sure, why not.

TO BE CONTINUED