Morning Hope Rising, Part 10

The green-eyed lady sighed as the shadows grew longer. Not only had her brown-eyed lover not fallen asleep, but he talked and chatted all afternoon.

She kissed his chest, then pushed up, resting on her right arm and cupping his chin with her left hand. “Okay, lover. What songs?”

He smiled and laughed. “You mean, it’s not enough that I stayed awake the entire time and could speak?”

“Nope. Test memory…because you said… green stops remembering”

“Alright… first was ‘Moon Hawk and Chasm Lizard.’”

She nodded.

“Second was ‘Scholar’s Fight,’ followed by ‘Scholar’s Fall.’”

She nodded.

“Next was ‘Merchant’s Silver.’ A solid rendition, but you really have to know most merchants hate what the whore pulled against the merchant in that one.”

She snorted, giggling, “Deserved it… he did… she was smart.”

“Yeah, doesn’t mean they like to remember it. Now the last one… what was it?”

She stopped, eyes widening.

“Hmm…. Fowled Union Furs, wasn’t it? But when my cousin’s union mate taught it to you, did she bother to tell you that it was a cover story with a hidden meaning?”

“What do you mean?” Her green eyes narrowed so only starry centers could be seen.

“Oh, it is the tale of an angry union mate woman teaching her partner a lesson. But buried in with the feathers and the vegetables is a lesson for men on how to fix union problems.”

“Oh?”

“Let’s just say I don’t think you’re as bawdy as that song is, even if you did used to enjoy starting our union festivities.”

She blushed. “Forget it. Need better… word lessons… Get red.”

He pulled out the red vial and began to uncap it.

“How test this one,” she asked.

“About midnight, if I’m still moving, sing me another five of the old songs at random. If I repeat them in the morning, we know that my memory wasn’t affected.”

She nodded as he downed the contents of the vial with the red lid. He adjusted the pillows and leaned back. She flopped over his body to be on the other side of him. Chee-chin scattered and regrouped. She looked at them, “Sorry. Forget need you. Have to remember there.”