The old lady, who was seated right beside the tub, listened sympathetically to her charge as she gently brushed her hair. ‘My sweet child, do not b...rden yourself. You are only human.’ ‘It’s easy for you to say, it is so difficult to do.’ ‘The pains of the heart only grow bigger when they are concealed.’ ‘You know very well that this isn’t going to bode too well with public scrolls.’ ‘Your sister and myself are not public scrolls.’ ‘But once I tell her, I might not have the strength to keep my. And it might be useful to keep up l’deception. Besides, Madeline was fun to be with. It wasn’t as though I would be cheating on Juliette by going to a party with Madeline, especially since in all probability I would never see Juliette again. I was waiting on Platform 8 at Victoria Station when the ‘Golden Arrow’ arrived. As soon as Madeline saw me, she ran and threw her arms around my neck and kissed me. Looks like we are starting the charade a little early, I thought. But I enjoyed the kiss.. ." Without wanting to offend you... if I buy you the game, I'd like to... well... I'd like to lick your bum in return."I smiled at him pleasantly, trying to look as casual as I could given the intimate nature of what I'd just asked of him."Lick my bum?" he asked, looking surprised and confused. "You mean you want lick my backside... my actual arse?"I couldn't see how the word bum could mean anything other than an actual arse, but I nodded and said, "Only if you're willing to let me, of course.". "Well, hell, that's it!" he exclaimed. "Pass that blasted coffee pot, will you? Jeezus, you guys, I'm going nuts trying to figure how we're going to stay alive another day without our weapons, and you two sit there grinning and drinking all the damn coffee!"Marie grabbed the pot and tipped the last of the brew into Steve's cup. She made sure a good slug of grounds from the pot's bottom got included in the pour."So, sweetie, what have you decided?" she asked."It's easy. You just told me the.