Skull and Dagger

Frank approached, shaking his head slightly. He had rather good hearing, but there was no way Elizabeth had actually said what he thought she’d said. Although, given the mouth on that woman… He quickly decided that it was entirely wishful thinking on his part. After all, he’d given Annabelle numerous hints that he was interested, and nothing had yet come of them.

“Would you like to put off the lesson for today?” he asked Elizabeth.

Huh? Annabelle was immediately on alert. Lesson?

“No, we can do it now,” Elizabeth insisted, hastily rising to her feet. “Annabelle can come watch.”

Annabelle looked back and forth between the two of them, confused.

“I asked Frank to give me fencing lessons,” Elizabeth explained, keeping the sly smile that was threatening to spread across her face hidden.

“Why not Gerard?” Annabelle asked a bit more waspishly than she’d intended. It’s not an unreasonable question, her mind tried to rationalize it after the fact. After all, Gerard's HER man. Frank's mi—Augh! Where did THAT come from?

Aha, jealousy! Elizabeth thought. Stage one of the plan complete…

“I tried it,” she answered Annabelle, “but it didn’t work.” She took the arm Frank offered her, just as Elizabeth brushed the other one away to march beside her (previously) trusted friend. “You see, we just always ended up having sex.”

Annabelle and Frank both managed to blush at Elizabeth's characteristic bluntness.

She just went right on talking without paying them any mind, however. “After all, you sometimes get up really close, and if you have romantic feelings for that person…” She shrugged. “Well, it’s almost impossible to resist…”

Annabelle's mind suddenly filled with images of her and Frank, breathing heavily from the fight, pressed up close together…and inexplicably their clothes were vanishing in her head once again. Bad mind! She gave herself a few mental slaps upside the head. Bad!

Stage two complete: lust… “Actually,” Elizabeth said as innocently as she could manage, “maybe Frank should give you a quick lesson, too. After all, you were looking a bit shabby during that last attack…”

“ ‘Shabby’?!” Annabelle exclaimed, her eyes narrowing.

Frank tried to keep his face from flushing. He’d never viewed physical combat in the sensual way Elizabeth had described it, but now that she had put the thoughts in his head, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to teach Annabelle anything without at least trying…

Stage three complete: the challenge[i/]… Elizabeth thought in delight when Annabelle fell directly into her trap.

“By the end of the day,” Annabelle insisted, “I’ll be fighting in circles around you!” She turned to Frank. “You’re teaching me,” she informed him in a manner that he just couldn’t argue with.

“You first,” he agreed, gesturing into the empty storage room they used for tournaments of this sort.

And, Annabelle thought gleefully, I’ll finally manage to prove to Lizzie beyond a shadow of a doubt that I do NOT want that…pirate!

Ah, Annabelle, say good-bye to your virginity,