Flying Blind Ch. 01

"I know, I'm being difficult for the sake of it," she grumbled. "But Billy . . . I was having the best time of my life tonight! He ruined it."

"He doesn't have to have," Sasha said as she interjected herself. "I'm sure that a sexy eagle-shifter wouldn't mind slipping you some more tongue."

"Sasha! You saw that?"

"Babe, the whole dance floor saw it. I'm so proud of you!"

"Please, kill me now," she whimpered.

"Oh no," Sasha said, turning Madison around by the shoulders. "You need to meet people, and not just as friends. Now go talk to Heda."

"But --"

"Now."

"But--"

"You go talk to her, or I'll publicly call her over here to discuss the lip-action that --"

"I'm going!" Madison grumbled as she extended her sectional cane and shuffled over to where Heda was waiting for her without trying to make it appear she was waiting.

"What's with the cane?" Heda asked as her dancing partner got closer.

"Have to keep up appearances," Madison replied.

"Listen, these guys --"

"Everyone seems cool, but I just met them. I don't trust people easily."

"I noticed," Heda said. You know it's been a week since you said anything nasty to me or tried assaulting me?"

Madison smiled and blushed. "Bitch."

"You just had to go and ruin it didn't you?"

"What can I say? I'm jumpy and hostile." Madison's smile turned into a frown. "You would be too if you'd been dealing with that crap for this long."

"I've barely met him, and even I can tell he's a genuine asshole."

Madison stared off into space like a good blind girl should, then moved her head so she was facing her friend. "I'm not used to having help. Except Billy, but he has his own life and stuff to deal with. And he'll graduate before I do anyway. I appreciate you stepping in, but --"

"I get it. But face facts," Heda said, "if he's getting more physical, you'll need help. I'm not stupid enough to think you're helpless, but he has friends and no apparent morals, so let me help. If it's just him being a jackass, I'll let you handle it yourself if you don't want me involved."


"I do want you," came the reply, then Madison realized what she just said. Her mouth hung open and she tried to make more sound, but neither vocal chords nor brain were helping.

"I kind of gathered that," Heda said, grinning from ear to ear. "So, you play for the girl's team too?"

Madison covered her face with her hands. "I was born blind and gay. One more minority status and I think I earn a door-prize or something. I should've said something, I know, but I'm just getting used to the idea of having a friend. If I'd just come out and said it when you told me about you --" She stopped and waved her hands wildly.

"It would've looked like you were jumping on the first available person who came along."

"Yeah. That. I'm sorry about the whole kiss thing and --" Madison was stopped when she felt hands on either side of her face. She switched from vocalization to echolocation just in time to using sound to map out the scene in front of her. That scene involved Heda's gorgeous face approaching hers, and those lips pressing against Madison's.

Madison promptly forgot what she was apologizing for, as well as her name, social security number and the planet on which she lived. She blushed as she heard the whoops and hollers that erupted when the lip-lock commenced, but she was pretty much incapable of putting a stop to anything. Heda could kiss. Not that she had much to compare it to, but she was pretty damn sure that Heda's tongue had its own brain.

"Oh God dammit, not another one!" Tony shouted from nearby, causing everyone including Heda and Madison to laugh.

Heda noticed over Madison's shoulder that Billy and Sasha had just exchanged a high-five and then a kiss of their own. "They knew!" she muttered, her voice dripping with amusement.

"Who? What?" Madison murmured, licking her lips.

"Billy! I was scoping you out at the radio station, and he must've seen. And I'm willing to be that he knew you were gay --"

"And THAT'S why he got you to walk me . . . ooh!" She tried to fume, but she couldn't get too mad. She'd get her "friends" back later. "So," Madison said, shyness filling her head and chest like the flu, "I don't suppose that . . . you know, if you're not seeing someone and might be interested --"

"How about we go out tomorrow?" Heda interrupted, not wanting to wait the twenty or thirty minutes it was probably going to take for this woman to finish her sentence. "You and me, up in the mountains for a good flight?"

Madison's face beamed with happiness. Her only shifter friend was ground-based, so the idea of actually getting to fly with someone and not be afraid was exhilarating.

Heda realized instantly that she'd made the right suggestion. "Nine o'clock?"

"I can't. I work until midnight, but after that would be good."

"Cool. I'll pick you up after work." She kissed Madison again, albeit more briefly. She loved Madison's lips, and loved the way she smelled.

"If you two are QUITE through," Joanna said, "we're going to Starbucks. You can suck face more when we get there."

"Billy?" Madison asked, feeling stupid as she talked out into space.

"Yes?"

"Are you two going?" she said, still planning her revenge for them setting her up.

"I guess we could, if you promise not to try to hurt us."

'Damn!' Madison thought. "Okay. You have a twenty-four hour reprieve."

"Cool!" Joanna said. "Hey Madison, you wouldn't happen to have a handicapped parking sticker would you? That would be so --"

"Joanna!" Heda said, almost outraged at the callousness of it. But she knew her roommate didn't have a bigoted bone in her body. She just had no off-switch.

"Joanna," Madison started as if she were about to explain rocket-science to a seven-year-old, "I'm legally blind. Do you understand why they might not give me a special sticker for my CAR?"

Joanna's eyes scrunched up, obviously not particularly humbled by Madison's comments. "Good point." She smiled again. "Okay, let's go."

"She needs less caffeine," Madison muttered, "not more."

"She hasn't had anything but water for hours," Heda told her. "This is her 'toned down' if you can believe it."

Madison shuddered, then allowed herself to be escorted into Heda's jeep. Keeping up the illusion of being completely blind was beginning to grate. It hadn't been a problem before, because she never had enough people around for it to matter. In her radio booth, it was just her, Billy, and the anonymous masses. She had told Heda that she needed time, but maybe . . . Madison lost herself in thought, but smiled instinctively when she felt Heda take a moment to grip her hand before starting up the jeep.

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The next evening . . .

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"What the hell was I thinking?" Madison replied, pacing the short length of her broadcasting booth. Billy was on the other side of the glass, so she couldn't pick up his facial expression, but she was pretty damn sure he was taking no end of delight in her predicament. "I can't go on a date! Not with her. Hell, not with anyone, but especially not her. Why didn't you talk me out of this? She's out of my league, no matter what sport we're playing. And now I'm using damn sports analogies!"

Billy muted the intercom so that he and Sasha could enjoy a laugh (or two) at Madison's expense. The young bat-shifter getting aggravated was becoming commonplace as of late, and to Billy it was better than anything on television. Sasha was just happy that her friend's new outlet might provide Sasha with more quality alone-time with her boyfriend.

Sasha batted Billy's hand away from the button so that Madison could hear her. "Sweetie, you're in anyone's league that you want to be in. Any girl . . . sorry, any GAY girl would be lucky to have you. Okay, maybe some straight ones too. You're young, you're beautiful --"

"I'm cramping your style," Madison interrupted in a mutter.

"-- and smart," Sasha continued, annoyed that Madison had correctly guessed her sort-of-selfish ulterior motive. "Heda seems really nice, and she digs you despite you being a psychopath."

"I am not! Mostly. And what do we talk about?"

Sasha rolled her eyes. "You've been hanging out with her all week, and finding stuff to talk about hasn't been a problem."

Billy nodded. "I think she's more concerned with conversation that might lead to sexual activity as well as post-coital 'pillow talk' and --"

"Billy!?!" Madison shouted. She was preparing a nasty retort when she heard:

"You're on live in five --"

"Who said anything about sex?!" Madison was beginning to hyper-ventilate.

"-- four --"

"Madison," Sasha said, "you SO need to get laid."

"-- three --"

"Do not!"

"-- two --"

"You've worn out the batteries on that vibrator I bought you!" Sasha blurted.

Billy almost choked on "-- one --" as he hit the "on air" button, then collapsed laughing on the floor.

Madison was standing in the booth, her mouth moving and her expression one of utter embarrassment. "This," she started with a squeak, then found her sultry on-air voice, "-- this is Madison, leading you up to high midnight, and that was a block of Led Zeppelin. Coming up, I've got a special treat for y'all from my hometown of N'awlins, Louisiana," she added, using her best bayou accent. "A little bit of upbeat jazz for everyone, staring with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band's rendition of 'When the Saints Go Marching In.' Hope y'all enjoy it as much as I always do." She clicked a key on her board to start the music playing. She had four songs to catch up on her bitching.

"Sasha, I can't believe you --"

"Madison, don't --"

"No," Madison blurted, "just because I have a healthy libido --"

"Madison! You're still on the air!"

Madison felt the blush spreading from her face to every square inch of her body. She'd forgotten to cut-off her microphone. She slammed her hand down on the appropriate button. "Oh God, please don't let anyone have heard that!"

Across campus, Joanna, Peter, Tony, Carla, and Kevin were all hooting and hollering and laughing their butts off. Even Heda was chuckling, and she also had an enormous grin on her face.

"Ladies and gentlemen," she started, "and you guys too, I think I'm off to pick up my date."

Joanna was laughing so hard she was actually crying, but she managed to get out a gasping, "Have a good night!"

"Sounds like she's going to!" Tony added.

"Odds are definitely in her favor," was Kevin's contribution.

Heda was still smiling as she jumped into her jeep. She parked over at the radio station and headed inside. Both Billy and Sasha were standing next to the glass, staring down at the sound board in an apparently empty room.

"Hey. Where's Madison?"

Billy smiled. "Hiding under the desk." He hit the intercom button. "Madison, Heda's here."

"Go away!" a voice said.

"You can't stay under there forever," Sasha said.

"Watch me!"

Heda couldn't help herself. "If it makes you feel any better, most college students probably can't spell 'libido,' much less know what it means."

Silence.

"I for one heartily appreciate a good sex drive."

More silence.

"You're not getting out of your date with her," Sasha said.

"Can't date," came Madison's voice. "I'm in the process of curling up and dying here."

"How much longer is she scheduled to be here?" Heda asked, trying hard not to laugh.

"Three more blocks," Billy said.

"And she goes on the air again when?"

The big man looked at the board. "Current play time puts it at twelve minutes and thirty-four seconds."

Heda grinned at him, then opened the door to the booth and went inside.

"Who's there?' Madison asked from under the desk.

Rather than respond, Heda got on her hands and knees and started to crawl towards her friend. She waited until Madison's lips parted, a sure sign that she was scanning to see who was approaching her. When the look of recognition crossed the girl's face, Heda kissed her before she had a chance to say anything.

'Oh Mother Earth, she's good,' Madison thought, kissing back in spite of herself.

"Now why don't you come on out and finish up so that we can get out of here and do some flying?"

Madison was actually liking her current situation. Heda had almost pushed her all the way onto the ground when kissing her and was mostly on top of her. The notion that IT might finally happen, and with a woman like this, was almost more than she could stand. But she allowed Heda to take her hands and pull her out from under the desk, helping her stand.

Madison, with her back to the glass, said, "They're making fun of me aren't they?"

Heda glanced over and saw Billy and Sasha high-fiving each other and getting a little lip action of their own. "Nope. Not at all."

Twenty minutes later, the two of them were on the road up to the mountains, listening to a John Mellencamp CD that Madison was happy to sing along with, her earlier public exclamation temporarily forgotten. Heda loved her companion's voice. It wasn't a great "pop" voice, but it was sweet and sexy, and definitely added a whole new dimension of yowza to "Hurts so good." She was content to just listen to Madison all the way until they reached the parking area.

They pulled into a lot that Madison knew about that was otherwise unoccupied. For obvious reasons, she tended to avoid the more popular areas and other shifters, and Heda was honored that she was being allowed into Madison's private world.

Heda was out of the jeep and naked in a heartbeat, then noticed that Madison was "looking" around.

"What's up?"

"Uhm . . . just looking for a place to change."

"What's wrong with where you're standing?"

"You can see me."

Heda cocked her head. "And that's . . . bad?"

Madison blushed. "I'm not good at the public nudity thing. You're gorgeous, so it probably doesn't bother you --"

"And you're pretty damn hot yourself," Heda interrupted. "C'mon, I've already seen you naked anyway. Remember? You dangling upside down --"

"I thought we'd agreed never to mention that again," Madison said, stomping her foot.

"Actually, we'd never discussed anything of the sort."

"We are now." Madison sighed. 'Well,' she thought, 'you kind of want her to see you naked anyway.' She decided to just do it. Standing next to the jeep, she pulled off her dress, kicked off her shoes and then peeled off her tights. She couldn't resist scanning around and seeing Heda's reaction. She took no small amount of pride in the fact that her date for the evening was looking quite appreciative. "There's a grove about a quarter-mile north of here," she said. "It's a nice place to hang out, and the eating is usually pretty good. For me anyway."

Heda smiled. In human form, Madison was mostly a vegetarian except, like other shifters, she couldn't entirely escape her totem-animal's appetites. Madison's bat form was a bug-eater, and she had reluctantly admitted to indulging herself in human form as well. She even had a cookbook on how to prepare insects and arachnids. Even Sasha and Billy were a might grossed out by that. Heda thought it was adorable.

"I'm sure I can find something. I'll just follow you then?" Heda said.

"Sure," Madison replied, turning around and preparing to shift.

"Cool. Give me a chance to stare at that cute little ass some more."

Madison's whole body turned red. She could tell that Heda was grinning at her, enjoying making Madison react. "Bats don't have asses," she shot back, smiling in spite of herself. "Try and keep up, feather-duster."

"Hey!" Heda shouted as Madison shifted.

The bat woman could shift rapidly, and she had better acceleration, but she was no match for Heda's speed once the eagle got up and going. Using her echolocation, she was able to keep track of her date as they sped through or over the trees. Madison felt elated. She had never had anyone to fly with before. Having a best friend who pretty much sat in one place in the water sucked in that respect. Madison actually nabbed a couple of juicy grasshoppers on the way up, and was feeling pretty good about life.

Heda waited until they got to the clearing before engaging in serious hunting. It didn't take long before she nabbed a field-mouse and hauled it up to a branch to eat. She was perched there when she saw Madison fly up and hang underneath, her wings encompassing her tiny body. The two of them enjoyed a moment of peace, soaking in the clean air of the wilderness. Eagles normally weren't night-fliers, but the moon was full and the lack of clouds had made it possible to navigate with relative ease.

Heda shuffled a bit, then launched from the branch and swooped in on the grassy clearing, shifting back into human form. She looked up at Madison and extended her arm. Madison released the branch and fluttered down, grabbing a hold of Heda's finger and hanging off of it. Heda had never thought of bats as cute before, but Madison as a bat was definitely cute. She scratched Madison's head, getting an expressive and content look in return.

Madison was using her echolocation to completely map Heda's amazing body. Madison was a jogger and ate well, so she knew she was in pretty good shape, but Heda was in a class all her own. The bat could make out every line of her abdominal muscles, the soft swelling of breasts, and light muscles of both arms and legs. And Heda apparently shaved everything. She let go of her friends finger and drifted to the ground, shifting into her own human form.

"This is a night to fly!" she said, trying to get past the three-dimensional imaging of Heda's body.

"Yeah, but next time we should do a daytime flight. More fair for us non-nocturnals."

"Oooh," Madison said with a smile while holding her hands out in front of her, making them shake intentionally, "Miss bad-ass warrior eagle afraid of the dark?"

"You? Giving ME shit?" Heda replied. "Last time you started something with me you flying rodent, I hung you upside down as naked as the day you were born."

"You caught me by surprise."

"I caught you by the ankle, which was attached to the foot you tried to kick me with!"

Madison smiled. "You wouldn't be so tough without your Gift."

"I won't use mine if you won't use yours."

Madison nodded. "Deal." Then she took a step back and got into her fighting stance.

Heda blinked. "Deal? Madison, you're blind --"

"Tell me something I don't know."

Heda heard the snap in her date's voice. She didn't want to be dismissed or discounted. "Damn, do you pick a fight with everyone who teases you?" she asked, rotating her shoulders and then getting into her combat stance.

"I'll fight one on one," came the reply. "Alvin never comes after me alone, not anymore."

Heda smiled and moved, noticing that Madison's face followed her even though her Gift obviously wasn't on. "What did you do to him?"

"Alvin's really just an enormous prick anyway, so I kneed him in the smaller prick."

Heda took a step forward and Madison lifted a knee, prepared to block Heda. "Okay," Heda started, "I know the whole blind people have super-hearing stuff is bunk, so I'm guessing you've got a stock set of defenses that you . . . hey!" Madison had snapped a kick forward, nailing Heda in the upper leg with the ball of her foot.

"You talk too much," Madison replied smugly.

Heda rushed her companion, not giving the girl any more chances to react. Madison squeaked and tried to turn, going into a grappling mode where she normally would've been on more equal footing anyway. But Heda's mother had trained her in the martial arts all her life . . . born to be a warrior. Before long, she had Madison in a modified chicken-wing armbar and sleeper hold, her legs wrapped around Madison's waist.

"Give up?" Heda asked calmly. Then she actually heard a sniffle. She let Madison go. "You okay?"