At the Cinema

For the first time in her life, Gemma had found herself staring accusingly at the phone. And to really emphasise the dismal state of her life, she'd caught Elizabeth's cold. It was one of the reasons why she'd decided to spend the afternoon at the movies, knowing that she wouldn't be the only sneezer there, although she did appreciate the irony of it all. She'd planned to get lost in the movies, but for the first time since she was about thirteen she realised just how difficult it was to concentrate in this place. Gemma's gorgeous, slightly reddened dark eyes were beginning to water copiously as the delicate little itch in the back of her nose slowly, oh-so-slowly grew and expanded, forcing her nostrils to flare involuntarily, gradually widening as the sneeze took control of them. Her eyelids flickered shut as her whole body began to shake with the intensity of the build-up. She made a little gulping sound as the tickle attacked with a vengeance as her mouth dropped open in expectation, her face falling into a relaxed expression of pure, focused anticipation.

"HAAASHHOOO!"

The sneeze was all the more violent for having been kept back, and resounded in the ancient, cavernous theatre. It had been designed to magnify the voices of nervous amateur actors, and even the slightest noise (Gemma's sneezes did not qualify as slight) re-echoed like a bomb.

"Bless you."

A low, throaty female voice sounded next to her. Gemma watched the woman fall delicately into the seat to her right, blinking the tears from her eyes as she registered the newcomer's dramatic fall of cinnamon hair, her almond-shaped, half-lidded hazel eyes and her overwhelming scent of peach pulp. Elizabeth.

"Funny. I thought you'd have a tissue," Elizabeth said mischievously, taking a freshly laundered handkerchief from the pocket of her tight, slightly faded charcoal jeans. "Here. Use mine."

Gemma didn't take it. "You did't call be. Ad you gave me the plague. Why do't you leave be alode?"

"Because I don't particularly want to, sweetheart." Her tone was a peculiar mixture of malice and affection.

Gemma sniffed deeply in a pathetic attempt to stop her itchy, protesting nose overflowing. Hot, sticky, irritated tears dampened her lashes, emphasising the purplish bruises of late nights and illness that thickly circled her black, shadow-casting eyes. She was wearing her favourite shirt, the dark purple one with the silver motif that did gorgeous things to her skin tone, which was usually a ripe, polished sunbed-gold instead of chalky and sick looking. She ran her wrist under her chapped, tender nose, attempting to deal with the huge amount of filmy mucus that her sneeze had so explosively discharged, and when that didn't work she sniffled like a little girl who'd forgotten her hanky in church.

"Come on," Liz said more softly, coaxingly, pressing the handkerchief into Gemma's hand. "And don't sulk, it doesn't suit you."

With bad grace, Gemma wiped the hanky against her reddened little nose. She desperately needed to give it a really good blow or several, but it was a nice handkerchief and while sneezes in public could be justified because they were accidental, unloading a whole morning's wad of congestion from trying to hold back her sneezes was just too disgusting to think about doing in front of Liz. She handed the handkerchief back.

Liz grinned. "That wasn't it, Gemma. You don't appear to have any consonants left. For God's sake, blow your nose. Really!"

Gemma's nose ran over, dripping down to her upper lip the way lava slides down the flanks of a volcano. Deciding that being disgusting was marginally preferable to total nasal incontinence she unfolded Liz's pale lavender handkerchief, which felt wonderfully gentle to her raw nose, and blew her nose until it was completely clear. She cringed in embarrassment at the sound, which seemed like a cavernous crackling even to her partially cold-clogged ears. When she was done, Gemma gave a slight, fragile-sounding cough and stuffed the handkerchief into her own pocket before Liz could reach for it. "I'll launder it myself. Thanks. Believe me, you won't want to see what's in there now."

Liz played with a flaming strand of her hair, twirling it sensuously around the long, slender fingers of her right hand. "You didn't call me either."

"Maybe," Gemma whispered, recovering a little of her composure, "I don't call."

"Well, that's a bitch," Elizabeth said calmly, gently stroking the back of Gemma's neck with long, warm fingers, "because neither do I. I never call. I don't usually need to. I despise commitment, I'm not sure that I want to take all the politics involved in what you girls do on board, and what do you know, there's two of us. So we'll have to rely on chance meetings, I suppose."

"You seem to know exactly what 'us girls' do, and how exactly is this a chance meeting? You'd never even been here before last week."

"I've acquired a taste for strange movies," Liz said calmly, as if providing an evident explanation to a stubborn little girl. "And I've got the afternoon off. That's all."

Gemma's dark eyes slid towards the ceiling.

Liz said softly, "You're not that irresistible, you know."

Gemma scowled like a surly child, her dark brow creasing dramatically as she felt another enormous sneeze slowly and unstoppably inflating, like a balloon, in her throat. It overcame her quickly, and she angrily realised that she felt too limp and drowsy to stop it so she held up a finger in a "wait-a-sec," gesture to Liz, turned away from her and gulped harshly, eyes squeezing tightly shut. "HahSHHOOOOO!"

Elizabeth cupped Gemma's chin and gently kissed the tip of her twitchy, hyper-sensitive nose. "Poor thing."

Her light touch and her heavy perfume made Gemma's face contort so dramatically that Liz could immediately tell she was being tortured by the tickles. She placed a soft finger under Gemma's twitching nose and rubbed delicately as Gemma harshly gulped, forcing the sneeze to stay down. She had embarrassed herself enough for the time being. Elizabeth grinned at her. "I wonder why you didn't think of doing that with me."

"Please," said Gemma bitterly, rubbing her nose, "we'd only just met."

Elizabeth threw back her head and laughed. "And now we've only just met again."

Gemma's weary, slightly reddened eyes widened as she considered the implications of what Liz had just said. As though that hadn't been enough, she watched incredulously as one of Liz's long, soap-white fingers dived between her thighs and gently caressed. Gemma swallowed hard. "This movie's pretty boring, isn't it?" she whispered. And she had thought she was the forward one!

"I don't know," Liz said, her cinnamon breath pure and hot against Gemma's neck. "And I don't care."

"I suppose now is the time you admit that the primary reason you came in here today wasn't to see one of the strange movies you have newly acquired a taste for?" Gemma whispered, turning her face towards Elizabeth's so that their lips were only an inch apart.

"That depends." Elizabeth answered coyly, licking her lips.

"On?" Gemma inquired. Just how was this 'chance meeting' going to turn out?

"Whether there is more action onscreen or down here."

Her amber eyes flashed dangerously and another strong wave of combined cinnamon and peach abruptly assailed Gemma's tender nose as Elizabeth leaned in next to her, poised to move in for the kill.

"Oh."

Ordinarily, Gemma wouldn't have thought twice about resisting such an obvious invitation- especially not one made by the likes of sexy Liz. However, she really was feeling under the weather and, more importantly, the rich fragrance Elizabeth was wearing was wrecking havoc with her cold-reddened, hyper-sensitive little nose. She could already feel another sly tickle blossoming as a result of Liz's proximity and the last thing Gemma wanted to do was to explode again in front of Liz and draw attention to the two of them.

Elizabeth saw Gemma considering her open invitation and didn't like it. She knew full well how stunning she was and was not used to having people think twice when she made advances of any kind. Gemma, however special, was no exception; they had enjoyed each other too much on their previous encounter for Elizabeth to let this chance slip by. Correctly guessing that Gemma's reticence was tied in to her cold, which really did look quite messy in truth, Liz decided that this time she should definitely be the one to take things in hand. The fingers that had been softly in not subtly caressing Gemma's sex through the thick seam of her jeans abruptly stopped and pressed down. Before Gemma had a chance to speak and dissuade her, Elizabeth leaned in close and pressed her lips against Gemma's.

Torn between the silky warmth of Elizabeth's lips and the burgeoning tickle in her nose, Gemma sighed softly. Mistaking this for enthusiasm, Liz's tongue snaked its way into Gemma's mouth, discovering the moist darkness there with infinite delicacy. With a small groan, Gemma gave in and reciprocated even as she felt her nose itch ominously. She held her breath, hoping this would quell the itch at least momentarily, and kissed Elizabeth with more warmth. The girl really was amazing, after all... Not to mention the best lay she had had in the last few weeks.

When she felt like she was about to pass out, Gemma pushed Elizabeth back softly. "I need to breathe," she explained, filling her lungs with musty, dust-filled air that felt absolutely wonderful after having held her breath for so long.

For all that it prevented her fainting, the cinema's pungent smoke-and-dust ridden air brought the previous tickly feeling back full-force. "Liz, I-" she tried to warn, but it was too late. Before she could even begin to try and keep it down, the sneeze gained momentum and Gemma could only take in a desperate gasp before it escaped, a gigantic "HAAISHOO!" that rang through the entire cinema loud and clear. She saw a few people turn, in the distant front of the large hazy room, accustomed to such explosions and only marginally interested, and felt herself blush. How she wished at times like these that she had one of those little feminine stifled sneezes instead of bellowing explosions that could make the very walls around her shudder from the force of them.

Elizabeth was unfazed. "Bless," she whispered, running a cool hand across one of Gemma's red cheeks.

"Sorry. Damn, but I needed that," Gemma apologized, sniffling heavily and turning back to Liz. "Do you still want me?" she asked, a sly grin creeping over her delicate features.

"Do I?" Liz leaned in again, enveloping Gemma in another cloud of peaches-and-cinnamon scent. Her deft fingers began to unbutton Gemma's fly.

"You're mad," Gemma giggled at Liz's audacity. As bold as she might be with her conquests, she usually at least made her way to safety of the cinema's toilets before thoroughly ravishing them.

"Am I?" Liz grinned fetchingly. "Well, in that case..."

She trailed off as her hand, having finished unbuttoning Gemma's jeans, found its way into the warm confines of her underwear. They began a tentative exploration, drawing lines around the contours of her sex before delicately parting its folds. Elizabeth closed her eyes and drew closer, once more pressing her lush lips to Gemma's. Kissing her passionately, she pushed her hand down deeper and inserted a long finger into Gemma's secret darkness, feeling it moisten even as she did so.

Shifting in her seat to render access easier to Liz's probing fingers, Gemma couldn't help marvelling at the girl's sheer audacity. She was more used to being the huntress than the prey and was enjoying this strange reversal of roles. In the state she was in, she wouldn't have thought of approaching anyone at all and was, all things considered, grateful for this opportunity. She let Elizabeth explore moist surfaces both above and below, losing herself in the moment, until the cloud of Liz's peaches-and-cinnamon fragrance began to bother her once more.

Feeling Gemma's lips stiffen around hers, Elizabeth paused.

"You all right sugar?" Her breath felt warm against Gemma's ear.

"Yeah, I just... just got the... huh... tickles again... Real bad, too... Huh..." Gemma was doing her best to keep it down, twitching her nose and forcing her breathing to stay regular.

"Oh no you don't," Liz warned. "Not here; I know it takes a lot to get anyone to pay attention in this place, but I think being caught having sex is grounds enough to have you barred for life from your favourite playground here."

Gemma swallowed hard and exhaled roughly, forcing the sneeze to stay down.

"I know. God, why did you have to give me this bloody cold?"

"Sshhh..." Liz seemed to decide the best way to keep her outbursts and nose quiet was to busy Gemma's lips with her own.

Even as Elizabeth resumed her kissing, Gemma could still feel her heady scent mingling with the dust in the air, torturing her. It seemed to be staying at the very back of her nasal passages, teasingly moving about from the left to the right and then back again, itching it's way into the back of her throat. God she hated this! And Elizabeth wasn't letting up...

The girl's fingers seemed to be everywhere, probing, caressing, exploring. She had Gemma's right breast cupped snugly in her left hand, fondling it gently and lovingly, even as her left was playing with the other's sex, demonstrating a skill that actually surprised Gemma, considering the fact that Liz had supposedly been entirely straight until about a week ago. Her touch lightened and then grew in intensity as she alternately stroked and penetrated, making Gemma writhe in her seat.

If Elizabeth was slowly driving her mad, so was the itch in her nose that refused to let her be. She could feel it growing with every second even though she tried to keep it down, swallowing hard and twitching her nose in a way that would have put even a rabbit to shame. Elizabeth noticed and couldn't help but smile, finding the whole thing amusing in a dangerous, exciting kind of way. It wasn't the impending sneeze she found exciting so much as the risk of discovery; Gemma exploding would surely attract attention and there was absolutely no mistaking what they were doing, even through the cinema's smoke-hazy darkness. Two women, one practically straddling the other with a hand down her jeans, would be enough to shock some patrons and delight others. However, it would most assuredly end their little session and, as she had warned before, it would probably get them exiled from the Orpheum Oriental.

"Don't you dare," Elizabeth warmed, smiling slyly at Gemma.

The other didn't dare speak and only shook her head, raven locks glinting in the dim light, eyes closed from the effort of trying to contain the sneeze and enjoy the magic Elizabeth's fingers were working. Gemma was thankful for Elizabeth's skill- this wasn't going to be one of those long, languorous sessions she sometimes enjoyed with her lovers where the two of them could take hours before coaxing each other into extraordinary, earth-shaking climaxes. The other girl's fingers, sliding lustily up and down her labia even as they lingered around her gorged, sensitive clitoris, were making her thighs quiver and her breath shudder even through the intense urge to sneeze.

She drew in gasping breaths, wondering how on earth she was going to hold back, when Elizabeth's mouth was on hers again, full-force. She moaned desperately, trying to push her back, but Elizabeth refused to comply. She was enjoying this way too much. Her long white fingers were dancing over Gemma's sex, stroking in what she knew to be all the right places. Occasionally, she let one perfectly manicured nail rake oh-so-gently across Gemma's clit, making the girl's hips buck from the intensity of it. She could feel the other's breathing, irregular and harsh, both from the pleasure she was feeling and the torture going on because of her cold. Liz fought hard not to smile; she didn't feel even remotely guilty.

"Stop- stop!" Gemma breathed, finally managing to get her mouth free from Elizabeth's.

She was so on the verge of climax now that it was practically unbearable. Almost as much so as the urge to sneeze... The latter was intensifying with every passing second, and Gemma knew that losing the slightest bit of control would be the end of it. She could almost picture the film grinding to a halt, the lights going on, her sneezing her head off with Elizabeth's hand tucked snugly in her underwear as everybody turned to look at the freak show. It was the last thing she wanted, and the contortions of her face contrasted sharply with her enjoyment of Elizabeth's deft manipulations. She'd definitely be in for it after this...

"In your dreams," Elizabeth laughed.

"Nightmares!" Gemma choked out, on the verge of an incredible explosion.

Then, it hit her. Gemma had thought the tickle she'd felt had been unbearable before, but just a few minutes before, someone sitting approximately ten rows in front of them had had the brilliant idea of lighting up a particularly potent spliff, the vapours of which were casually drifting to the back. The fine particles of pungent smoke, a milky shade somewhere between crimson and pink due to the lighting, innocuously weaved their way to where the two women sad.

Gemma was inhaling sharply, still trying to suppress the urge to give in to the fast approaching sturnutory reflex, and got quite a noseful of it. Immediately, she felt the tickle expand exponentially in the back of her nose. Unmercifully, the particles of it bounced off her tender passages, wreaking havoc as if a million sharp little feathers were dancing together, all conspiring to make her loose control. Gemma's nose twitched once, twice, three times and then, she understood at long last that the battle was lost. Oblivious, Liz continued to caress her, now concentrating around the gorged knob of flesh across which she was using her nails with a particularly wonderful softness that came very close to finishing Gemma off.

Gemma tried to warn Elizabeth, but no sound came out of her mouth other than a high-pitched squeak.

"Ha-ah! ... Hahchoo!... Hahsshhoo!... Haisshoo!"

By Gemma's standards, these explosions were fairly quiet. She knew she couldn't resist any longer, but at least, she could try and keep it down.

"Haisshoo!... Hahshoo!... Hashhh!"

Damn that marijuana smoke! No wonder the stuff was illegal. If she got out of this alive, whoever was smoking it in here was going to get it.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth was laughing. A low, suppressed string of giggles, but laughing nonetheless. The whole situation was just too funny; after the scene they'd been through at the restaurant on their last 'date', the reversal of roles seemed immensely amusing. Still, though she was overcome with mirth, she granted Gemma absolutely no reprieve, determined to bring the girl over the edge.

"Hasshoo!... Haisshoo!... Huh-... Hahshoo!"

Gemma just couldn't seem to stop sneezing! This was becoming seriously embarrassing, yet it felt so good to feel the smoke, the dust and the cold being expelled at long last! If only Elizabeth hadn't been there, she would have just sneezed and sneezed to her heart's content, not caring who heard or saw. But the vixen was there, and Gemma saw she was far from getting up to leave. In fact, as soon as Gemma's fit had started, her hand had redoubled its effort. Her fingers seemed to be everywhere, spreading warmth, pleasure, bliss and even as Gemma's thighs were contracting spasmodically both from the sneezing and the pure animal enjoyment of her motions, she felt herself going over the edge.

The orgasm made her stop sneezing for all of two seconds before her nose seized again, causing her to convulse even as she climaxed.

"Hah-asshoo!... Ohh- Oh-OH-... Cshoo!... Hah-ISHHOO!"

With that loss of control, Gemma's will-power, thanks to which she'd been halfway managing to keep down the volume of her fit, promptly disappeared. Against her best wishes, her customary room-shaking sneezes took over and burst out into the room, full force.

"HAH-SHOO!... HAISSHHOOO!... Oh-HAH-SSHOO!... HAH-ISSHOO!... HISSHOO!... HAISHHOO!... Hah-HAH-SHOO!... HAT-CHOO!... HASHHH!... HASHHH!... HAISSHOO!..."

Gemma couldn't remember the last time she'd sneezed like this. This was incredible, even by her standards, both in quantity and in volume. Nonetheless, it felt wonderful, and at this point, she really didn't care who saw or heard what. She'd never orgasmed whilst sneezing before, but for some strange reason, she found her climax unbelievably more intense because of it. Exploding both above and below at once was certainly an interesting novelty, and one seemed to heighten the pleasure of the other. The contractions of her sex went on and on around Elizabeth's almost-still fingers, and as they began to fade at last, so did the volley of accompanying sneezes. Fleetingly, she thought of Jeremy and how he'd love hearing about this.

A few tired-sounding "HAAT-SHOO"'s later, Gemma finally came to her senses and opened her eyes, sitting back in her seat. People across the room were hissing and shushing at them, but she really didn't care.

"You bitch," she said accusingly to Liz, sniffing heavily.

"I know," Liz replied smugly, supplying Gemma with another much-needed handkerchief.

This time, she didn't hesitate before using it to wipe her upper lip, which was by now thoroughly wet. Gemma blew her nose vindictively, casting about as she did so to see if anyone was actually getting up. Liz cheekily leant over and wiped her fingers on a still-dry corner of the handkerchief Gemma was using.

"But the important question, of course, is whether it was good."

"Yes," Gemma replied, sounding stuffy and miserable. "I still hate you."

"Now now darling. You should be home in bed with chicken soup, orange juice and a pint or two of Night Nurse to get you rested and back on your feet again."

Liz was trying to be gentle and gain Gemma's forgiveness, but it wasn't working.

"Like getting back on my feet will do me any good," Gemma replied sourly.

"True; you're not bad on your back either," Liz shot back.

The nerve of her! What exactly did this girl take her for? Gemma shot her a poisonous look.

She was about to delivery an acid reply when all of a sudden, she felt as if she'd just been punched in the stomach. Looking at the teasing grin on Elizabeth's gorgeous face and the tender light that shone in her caring amber eyes, all at once, Gemma she understood just how much she liked the girl.

"I should get going," Gemma sniffed, feeling a sudden desperate need to get out of the complex swirl of melodrama she was feeling herself being swept away by. It just had to be nothing more than a side effect of the cold medicine she'd been taking. Elizabeth was fun, gorgeous and sexy-as-hell fun, but surely not anything beyond that?

"No, I'll go. Look at the time - I ought to get running anyway, love. Enjoy the rest of the movie, keep that hanky too, and I'll see you soon."

Gemma fought hard against them, but the words came out anyway, even harder to resist than the sneezes had been just a few torrid moments ago.

"Will you call me?"

"You want me to call you? Miss Independence wants a call?"

Liz gave Gemma a long, hard look before breaking out in a smile. She leant over and kissed Gemma's hot forehead in a spontaneously affectionate gesture that was absolutely charming. Gemma closed her eyes and breathed in the scent of her peaches and cinnamon sweetness through her now mostly cleared nostrils.

Liz pulled back and gave Gemma a warm smile, filled with tenderness. "I'll see you really soon. Promise."

Gemma sighed, swallowing back sudden tears that welled up in her eyes and caught her off-guard. Liz had struck closer to home than she'd known when she'd teased her about being Miss Independence, and yet Gemma couldn't help but note how neatly Elizabeth had just avoided her question. Could she really finally have met someone who was a bigger commitmentphobe than she was?

"See you then," Gemma whispered, giving Liz's hand a tight squeeze.

"And this is my cue to say 'Not unless I see you first'," the redhead replied coyly.

She gave Gemma a light peck on the lips before making her exit, long feline legs swishing down the aisle with seductive flare. "God she's gorgeous," Gemma thought wistfully, watching her retreat. She dug out one of Liz's handkerchiefs from the pocket where she'd stuck it and blew her nose again harshly.

"Bloody cold!"

Her annoyed whisper went unheard in the cinema, where the din from a sudden upsurge in the movie's music overpowered every other sound. When the patrons shuffled out of their seats to leave the Orpheum Oriental's crimson comfort almost an hour later, Gemma was oblivious to their departure. Fast asleep, head reclined against plushy red velvet, she was lost in cinnamon sweet dreams of a raven, shining like onyx, chasing after a gracefully loping tabby cat.