New to Nachton (open)

Rorri smiled and leaned forward kissing Ana lightly on the cheek.

"It's ok Ana, there will be other nights." Rorri giggled as she leaned back against the elevator and smiled mischieviously. She definately seemed pleased with something.

Ana nodded. She was glad that, from Rorri's smile, her friend seemed to be "okay" with having their night disrupted.

The door opened onto the forty-first floor. They walked to the door of the suite, and Ana just needed to confirm their plans. "So after we change, what're we planning on doing? Just roam around the city? Or find a taxi to a park?"

Ana realized that, if she was going to stay in the city, she'd need a job, somewhere to live... And vaguely remembered a job offer from Rorri last night at dinner... "If I'm going to stay in this city, though, I'll need a place to stay, because it just wouldn't be right for me to stay in the hotel, and besides, I've never been a fan of living out of a suitcase before, though a camping backpack is a bit different. And I should probably look for a job. And get a license and registration and everything for this state... I came down to pretty much jumpstart my life, and it's as good a goal as any to continue."

Ramblemuch, Ana? Sighing, she shook her head and waited for Rorri to open the suite.

Rorri glanced back at Ana as she made her way to the small kitchen and poored herself a small glass of spanish port from her own private stock.

"My job offer is still on the table and ye are more then welcome to move into here with me Ana. As for going out I have a limo on retainer." Rorrie explained with a smile as she shifted back into business mode.

She idly wondered if there was a commodity in this city that was needed that Rosethorne Industries could provide, perhaps Ana would have an idea, though several were already forming in the back of her mind.

"Well you didn't exactly explain what the job would consist of. And I am not quite sure but I think I might feel kind of weird living with my boss. Not to mention I've never lived in a hotel for an appreciable amount of time. It might be interesting, it might be frustrating. I don't know. We'll see."

Ana was intrigued by the offers but didn't want to dig herself into debt with Rorri's gifts and such.

"Friendship is never built on gifts," Ana knew. Not the material ones, anyway. But gifts like the moments they'd shared just a little while ago, about their losses and that they could be there for each other... Those were the "gifts" that friendship would grow from.

Ana wondered if Rorri knew that.

"Well...I'm not sure what else to do , though I've been trying to think of what commodity that Rosethorne Industries might have to offer this city, in short a reason to stay that my board wouldn't object to." Rorri explained softly.

"And as for living here, well we could get a condo or a manor if that suits ye better, but perhaps I should simply just ask ye for yer opinion dearie?" Rorri said softly with a loving smile.

She could see the bit of uneasiness in Ana's face and wondered why her dear friend was worried? Was it because of her wealth and power or something else Rorri wondered?

Ana rubbed her jawline with a soft pad of finger. "We need to talk."

She gently guided Rorri to the sofa they'd watched the news from last night. Sitting across from the Englishwoman, she crossed her legs, reverse-Indian style.

"When I planned to come down to Nachton, it was mostly to visit my friend. Perhaps move in, if I could find a job and if she didn't turn out to be a psycho or druggie or... You know, just someone I wasn't compatible with. But that wasn't really something that I'd thought much about, because I'd never met her." She took her glasses off, and rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"I'll never meet her. But I did meet someone who not only rescued me, damsel-in-distress style, but helped me buy a lot of stuff I not only wouldn't have thought I needed for myself, but helped me be pampered for hours in a professional spa. Then she asked me to share her hotel room. All of this was much appreciated. I hope she knows that."

Her voice became raspy and deep as she continued, "But I'm scared. Scared of what might happen, as I said at the breakfast table this morning. I don't want to see you hurt, Rorri. But I also know I need to move on with my life, that dwelling on losing Olivia before I ever really "had" her will only drive me to insanity, depression, drinking, drugs, okay maybe not so much the last two, but definately early menopause."

She took a deep breath. "I want to be your friend, Rorri, but for the longest time I've been very slow to befriend people. I've met more friend-worthy people in the last thirty six hours than I have in the previous thirty-six months. Moving in with you sounds like a treat, but I can't help but wonder what I could offer you outside of goofy one-liners, American tastes and stereotypes, and just being your friend. And to earn my friendship, you need to know that you needn't buy me things, or try to impress me with big houses and shiny limos... I'm just as happy to drive you around in my little yellow Jetta. I love driving."

She shook her head. "Did my rambling make any sense?" She looked sheepish as she slid her glasses back on.

Rorri smiled and leaned closer.

"Ye already offer me more then ye could ever know silly..." She whispered as she kissed her passionately, a light little kiss that left little to the imagination or Rorri's feelings.

Rorri leaned back and smiled bashfully with a slight blush, her emerald eyes searching Ana's.

"I could be happy with you anywhere Ana..." Rorri whispered softly with that adorable smile she possessed.

Several different thoughts flashed through Ana's mind as Rorri's lips contacted hers, pressing searchingly, softly.

"That's nice."
"What's that for?"
"I don't get it."
"This doesn't feel so bad."
"Why's she kissing me?"

Suddenly the contact was gone. Rorri leaned back from her, blushing, smiling, and whispered, "I could be happy with you anywhere Ana..." Ana felt her brow furrow. Her heart jumped in her chest and a flash of fear bubbled up inside her. Rorri was waiting expectantly, so Ana assumed she there was a response needed. "That was nice."

"Oh, great, you said it?" She wanted to beat herself on the head with a book. The look on Rorri's face was one of shock and disappointment. "Oh, Rorri, that didn't quite come out the way I meant it... I didn't want you to think it wasn't nice, but... Oh, I'm gonna shut up now."

But she didn't. Something made her ramble on when in Rorri's presence. "I don't know that much about this kind of stuff. I never learned about sex, not really. Well I got the standard 'boys have a penis, girls have a vagina' and the part where 'boy inserts etc and so forth' but they never let us ask many questions. In fact, that's all I know about sex. Sometimes with respect to that part of my education you'd think I went to a Catholic school. I never understood the appeal of tongue, or having a boy - or girl - lick you or touch you 'down there' or anywhere else that feels good, so I don't know what it's all about." She licked her lips and took a breath. "So after I got my computer in High School and went to college, I started researching it. That's when I discovered I didn't like erotic fiction, because it didn't seem realistic to me. The people in the stories would do things I couldn't imagine someone having sex, as it had been described to me, would want to do. Why would someone want to lick a woman 'down there?' Why would a woman want to put her mouth on a man's 'thing?' I jut didn't get it. I still don't, not really." The words just kept pouring out. Why did she have to explain herself to Rorri? Because she did. She had known she would eventually need to tell someone, and Rorri seemed the first to be honestly interested... but Ana couldn't fathom in what direction that interest might lie.

"My roommate in college was all about sex. I'm not sure which she did more of, drinking or having sex, but she sure didn't do much studying. Anyway she told me more than once I needed to get laid. Even left me a birthday gift once. But never told me what it was for. I even had to ask her what it was. Turns out it was a vibrator. One night she came back to our room drunk and slipped into bed with me... Kept touching me but didn't touch my girl-parts. She eventually stopped and got into her own bed." Ana giggled. "Okay, so she missed the bed completely and ended up passing out on the dirty clothes pile. Anyway. So after I graduated I decided to go on a cross-country trip. I met a really cute boy in San Francisco and took him to my hotel room... And he couldn't insert. When he was crying he said that all his life he'd liked boys more but needed to try to have sex with a woman to see whether or not he was really gay. Yeah, that was an interesting night."

Ana had lain there with the really cute, well-spoken, intelligent, sensitive boy - well, man, since he was her own age of twenty one - laying on her shoulder, feeling his breath across her naked breast, and hadn't felt a thing other than confusion.

"Why pick me? Why is it bad to be gay? Even if he's gay, why doesn't his proximity give me urges?" These things had never been taught to her, neither by her father or any of the sexual education classes in High School. She'd even talked herself out of attending a Human Sexuality course at college, strictly because she didn't feel she'd stand up to any assumed minimum requirements. That is, she'd never had any real schooling in sexuality and didn't know more than the basics. Standing from the sofa, she moved away a few steps. Turning back to Rorri, she stretched, bending at the waist, going through her standard motions. She continued.

"I didn't like what I saw. Or maybe I didn't not like it, but somehow I knew he wouldn't be ... compatible? I don't know how to describe it. More of a 'hey this is neat, I have a fully naked man against me and he's not trying to insert anything into me.' Eventually when talking to Olivia -" Her breath hitched slightly "- she started talking about her current boyfriend and how well he'd laid her, and how she had orgasm after orgasm and that her world had exploded. I couldn't imagine that feeling, and I told her that. So we went all into how the one time I'd almost gotten laid had been by a gay guy. I'd been asked out a few times in college, but those guys had all been dirty or completely gross in one way or another. College guys seemed to be always at one extreme or another with regards to hygiene." She shook her head, surpressing a shudder.

"One time I asked Olivia what an orgasm felt like. She asked me for my phone number and called me up, screeching," Ana's voice deepened and became raspy as she tried to emulate Olivia's exclamation, "'You mean to tell me you're almost twenty three and you've never had an orgasm?' And other than answering honestly, I didn't know how to answer her. She told me to sit on the washing machine the next time I did the laundry and to tell me how it felt. So I did. I told her it made my ass hurt from the vibrations. I could tell she was disappointed. So every now and then she'd joke with me saying I needed to get laid or that she'd loan me her boyfriend or even help me herself. Needless to say I couldn't even imagine what she meant by that."

Ana sat back down on the sofa, as far away from Rorri as she could get. She crossed her left arm over her breasts, put her hand in the crook of her right elbow, folded her right arm to her shoulder, which leaned against the back cushions, and rested her chin on her fist. Scrunching her legs up, she sat on her ankles as she gazed at Rorri.

"So... I'm sorry but I don't know how to respond to you kissing me. It was nice, yes, but..." Ana sighed. "I don't know what I'm supposed to feel, I don't know what's supposed to happen next. Or even if there should be a 'next.' I just... don't."

Rorri smiled as she tilted her head in a loving gesture.

"My first time with Kimmie was the same way, we'd always talked about boys and things and sex, but the first boy I actually met...well he wasn't nice to me, luckily nothing happened, but Kimmie, my Kimmie, took me into her arms and told me everything was going to be alright and ye know what? It was..." Rorri explained softly as she walked over and climbed into the sofa next to Ana.

"Sex and love are two different things Ana, sex compliments love, but by itself can leave one feeling empty inside since it's just a need that most people have like an urge." Rorri explained.

"But when you add sex with love it's magic Ana and I do believe that I am falling in love with ye dearie." Rorri whispered as she once again leaned forward to kiss Ana. Ana was definately fun to kiss, shy and lovable.

"Besides...maybe the reason ye haven't had an enjoyable experience is because ye've been waiting for the right person to cross yer path..." Rorri whispered as she came up for air.

Ana pushed Rorri back slightly and licked her lips. The other woman's taste was... odd. That was the best way to describe it. "You're not crossing my path. You're sitting on my ankle and it hurts. And please, stop kissing me."

There, she'd said it. And she moved enough to free her ankle. She still didn't know how she felt about it, about Rorri, her new-almost-friend kissing her. Or that... she loved her? How? She just didn't understand...

"You're hurting, I'm hurting, we both need someone to lean on, I remember that much from my psychology class in college. But I have no idea where I sit or stand as far as sex and love go. I just want a friend, Rorri, just need a friend right now. It goes back to not wanting you hurt. I don't want to hurt you, Rorri Rosethornenglish, and I don't want to be hurt myself. So please -" she held up her hands, palms facing Rorri "- just... don't."

Rorri smiled softly, she wasn't hurt, in fact she was proud that Ana could stand up for herself and perhaps Rorri was being pushy as well.

She sat back, emerald eyes gazing at Ana, thinking quietly.

"Ana...why do ye call me Rosethornenglish? It's Rosethorne." Rorrie giggled softly as she leaned back into the sofa and smiled at Ana.

She did indeed like Ana very much and perhaps it was their mutual pain that had brought them together and made them close, but Rorri was also sure of her own feelings, regardless of what had led to them, but she also respected Ana's need to slow things down; her need to discover her own sexual identity.

"I call you Rosethornenglish because it's an inside joke from dinner last night, and because I'm nervous and confused and I just don't have much of anything else to say right now."

Ana placed a comforting hand on Rorri's shoulder as stood from the sofa and headed into the bedroom. She picked up her bag, dug out a pair of stone-washed jeans - one of the only pairs she owned - a light blue t-shirt with a unicorn graphic on it, and a pastel blue cardigan. Carrying her items into the bathroom, she changed quickly and freshened up.

Her brain was moving a hundred times faster than she herself as she replaced her bag in its corner. Ana was honestly confused. The few people who had shown any sort of sexual interest in her were flakey at best... misguided at worst. And she had only known Rorri for -maybe- eighteen hours at the longest. Sure, the girl - woman - other person had gone through quite a bit herself... but how could she be in love with Ana already? In her mind, Ana thought, it sounded like a really strange TV show or ...
Or maybe since Ana was the first available person who was close to what Rorri liked, she latched on immediately?
Psychology never had been her strong suit in college. Ana ignored the percolating incomplete memories of her studies in that class, and decided to go with her gut - as well as a healthy dose of rationalization, logic, and thought - as far as living in Nachton.

Since she still didn't know what to do about what had just happened, she decided she would ponder it later, and simply go about the day. But, she affirmed to herself, she'd go about the day as if the kiss - no, kisses, she reminded herself - why DID she need to remind herself? - was just like seeing a taxi in New York or a boat on a river. Pretending it didn't happen was insulting and unfair to Rorri.

She found herself back in the kitchenette. . "So are we going to a park? And what do you want for lunch?" She slipped into her jacket and swung her purse over her shoulder. "I don't know of any places here in town but maybe we can find a restaurant to cater to our cravings. Hunger cravings. Food pangs. Whatever we want to eat. For lunch."

For fuck's sake, Ana, shut up!

Rorri grinned and then retreated into the bedroom, dropping her business skirt as she did so in a carefree matter, soon followed by her blouse and high heels. A few minutes later, after the sounds of luggage being opened and clothing being rustled through, Rorri stepped out in a bright green sundress with white stalkings and low heeled green shoes. She wore simple silver jewelry and her purse was rather plain, in short, Rorri Rosethorne the billionaire, had entered the room, but it was Rorri, the girl, that had exited the room.

She walked by Ana and smiled shyly with a little blush.

"I guess I now know who's wearing the pants between us..." She giggled softly.

"I have gas money if you have the ride..." She whispered softly with a smile.

The tone of Rorri's snap comment made the hair on the back of Ana's neck bristle. She wasn't sure of the connotation, but with the remainder of their conversation that morning, she leapt to the conclusion that it had to do with ... sexy lovestuff.

Ana stopped in her tracks. "I just want to be friends, Rorri. I might stumble over some things I say, like the cravings rambling moment I just had, or you might construe something I say to include an entirely unintended double entendre. But I don't want to hear about it. I don't want to consider anything other than your friendship right now. There's no room inside me for it. I have a bottle of grief that's about the size of the Twin Towers in my heart, and the tiny little crack in it that's allowing me to befriend you is only so big. Please, don't overstress it."

Ana sighed, and blundered on. "We both need a friend, that much is certain. I'm hoping that we can grow to become such. But if you can't take the fact that I might never feel for you the way you think you feel for me, and just keep me as a friend, then we probably shouldn't continue on."

Ana lowered her eyes for a brief moment, surprised with herself, then looked back up into Rorri's sparkling emerald eyes. "I'd rather be honest with you up front than hurt you in the future. That... neither of us need."

Rorri smiled softly, her dimples showing. "I know Ana, it was just a joke, nothing more. I'm not going to force or coerce ye into anything more then what ye want, but I do have feelings for ye and perhaps this is just my own way fo dealing with my own issues so please think nothing of it ok?" Rorri replied in a soft tone.

She was sad, but the rejection only showed for a brief flash of a second, but at the same time she understood Ana's feelings on the matter and respected her courage to speak up instead of being railroaded into something she might not be prepared for.

But Rorri also didn't give up hope, she would accept Ana as her best friend and if things worked out between them then so much better and if not, then at least she had a touchy feely best friend again she could hug and tease.

"So you still driving?" Rorri asked with a contageous smile.

Brow furrowed slightly behind her glasses, Ana nodded. "I'm still driving."

She escorted Rorri out to the parking garage, and they waited in a small vestibule lavishly appointed with cheap, worn red carpet. When Ana's little yellow Jetta came around, she tipped the valet a five and they got into the car.

Ana turned down the blasting frozen air until the heater kicked on and set the radio to seek for a station. She skipped the gospel station, the country, talk radio, and rap, and finally settled for shutting it off. "Well, I don't have a city map, and I don't know the city at all, so do you just want to wander around?"

"Sure, as long as we don't get lost!" Rorri giggled as she looked around. She had never been in such a small car before, for that matter she had never sat up front before in a car as someone else had always driven her.

_I wonder if she's upset still?_ Rorri wondered feeling a slight bit of fear inside her.

_It's not like a threatened her or anything; I just wanted to be with her, but I suppose she just doesn't feel that way..._

Ana rolled her window down as the attendant walked by again. "Excuse me sir, could you tell me how to get to a park?"

After listening for a few moments, Ana thanked him and put the car in drive.

(( Rorri and Ana out ))