"Wear something sophisticated and sexy," Dar spoke up after a moment's quiet. "And if you can't think of anything to tell them, just open it up for questions. They know more about you than you do about them."

Sometimes, Kerry reflected, Dar had a knack for bringing home to her in sudden, vivid ways the reason she'd been so successful in life. Aside from her being smart, she had a lot of what Kerry's aunt would have called 'good horse sense'. "I love you," she replied simply, turning her head to kiss Dar's chest through her shirt. "Everyone else has Google. I have Dar."

"I love you too." Dar smiled. She unfolded her hands from behind her and half sat up, resting on her elbows. She waited for Kerry to lift her head up, then she rolled over and stretched out lengthwise on the bed as her partner squirmed around to join her. "I'm sorry I'm going to miss that speech, by the way."

Kerry pulled the covers up over them and sighed as Dar turned off the bedside light and the twilight shadows settled over them. It wasn't quite dark in the room. The blinds let in moonlight and the outside lighting, but it was comfortable and familiar.

She eased over and snuggled up next to Dar. "Are you going to miss it? I'm probably going to end up sounding either boring or crazy."

"You think I'd want to miss that?" Dar inquired. "I love watching you give speeches. I duck into the back of the presentation room when you do them at the office."

Kerry blinked invisible in the darkness. "You do?"

"Sure."

"How come you never told me that?"

Dar put her arms around Kerry and half turned onto her side. "Didn't want to make you nervous," she said. "The setup staff started leaving me chocolate cupcakes back there."

Kerry started laughing silently.

"Maybe I can have a little refrigerator installed with milk chugs. You think?"

"I'll order one tomorrow," Kerry assured her. "Now go to bed, cupcake. We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

KERRY SAT DOWN on the carved wooden bench and studied her new toys, as she waited for Dar to come out of the condo and join her. On the bench next to her was a bucket with six balls in it, and in her lap was a leather glove, the new hide smell making her nose twitch as she examined it.

A softball glove. She fitted her left hand into it, pausing when the edge of the glove caught on her ring. "Ah." She put the glove down and removed the ring, unlatching the chain she had around her neck and stringing the ring on it. "There. "

She put the glove on again and flexed her hand, feeling the strange constriction as she tensed her fingers and made the leather move. It felt stiff and awkward, and she reasoned that she'd have to work it a little to get it more flexible.

At least, that's what Dar had said.

Experimentally, she picked up one of the balls in the bucket and dropped it into the glove, examining how the leather fit around the object as she closed her hand around it. She held her hand up and turned it upside down, agreeably surprised when the ball stayed in the glove and didn't fall out.

She opened her fingers and the ball fell out, dropping to land in her other hand. She reversed the position of her arms and dropped the ball into the glove again. "Hm."

The far off sound of a door closing made Kerry look up, and across the short grass sward to where the condos were nestled. She immediately spotted Dar trotting down the stairs, and leaned back against the bench to watch her cross the road and head toward her.

She was carrying her own glove, with a bat resting on her shoulder, and an expression that could best be described as 'here we go again'. Kerry stood up as she approached and held her hand up in its glove, flexing the fingers like a leather crab. "Hey."

"Hey," Dar greeted her. "Got it on, huh?" She tucked her own glove under her arm and examined Kerry's, tugging the back of it to make sure her fingers were all the way in. "Fits all right. How's it feel?"

"It feels like I have a honking chunk of leather on my hand," Kerry responded with a cheeky grin. "How's yours?"

"Mm." Dar put the glove on. It was a bit larger than Kerry's and a deep russet color. "Hm."

Kerry glanced at her partner's throat in reflex, seeing the slight bulge under the fabric of her shirt that meant Dar had, as usual, thought ahead to remove her ring. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Dar turned her hand around. "It just feels weird." She left the bat near the bench and picked up a ball. "Want to start with some catch?"

"Sure." Kerry walked with her onto the grass and they faced each other. Dar tossed the ball at her without much preamble, and instinctively Kerry put up her free hand, the one without the glove on it, and caught it. "Yow!" She dropped the ball and shook her hand out. "That stung!"

Dar put her hands on her hips, best as she could with the glove on. "Ker, you're supposed to use this." She held up her gloved hand.

"I know that." Kerry picked the ball up and examined it. Then she faced Dar and tossed it back to her, not surprised when her partner caught it in her glove. "You surprised me."

"Okay." Dar put the ball in her free hand.

"Ready?"

"Ready." Kerry watched Dar toss the ball back, and she concentrated on grabbing it with her glove, finding the thing awkward and clumsy but managing to clamp it around the round target anyway. "Ugh."

"What's wrong?"

"This is hard." Kerry frowned at the glove. "Dar, a billion children do this every year, why does it seem so weird to me?"

Dar walked over to her. "Hon, you've only done it once. Give it a few minutes." She pulled her own glove off and adjusted Kerry's again. "It's stiff."

"Yeah."

"Stiffer than mine." Dar removed the glove and handed it over. "Trade."

"I think that one's too small for you," Kerry protested, but she fitted the new glove on her hand and found it to be a lot more comfortable. "Oh," she murmured in surprise. "That feels nice."

"Okay, let's try that now." Dar retreated, putting on Kerry's glove before she turned around and held the ball up. "Ready?"

"Ready." Kerry held her hand up, and when the ball came at her, she reached out and grabbed it, feeling the round surface hit the palm of the glove in a very satisfying way. "Lots better!" she yelled back, removing the ball and tossing it to Dar.

The new glove seemed to fit her hand better, and it was easier to close her fingers. It felt like a more natural extension of her arm and not quite so much of a club hanging off the end of it.

Weird. Kerry caught the next throw, already getting used to the feel of the ball hitting the glove. She tossed the ball back, pitching it overhand instead of underhand. "Catch that, Dixiecup!"

Dar stretched out one arm and snagged it, barely. "Hey!"

Kerry grinned.

"Told you you'd make a pitcher." Dar tossed it back to her with a grin of her own. "Ker, this is going to be a lot of fun." She tossed the ball back at her partner, watching it get caught with a touch of nascent confidence. "Atta girl."

Kerry felt better about the whole thing too. The last thing she really wanted to do was make a fool of herself in front of half the office, so it was a little reassuring that she could at least handle the basics of softball.

So far, anyway. She dropped the ball into her hand and tensed her fingers around it. She then faced Dar and whipped it back at her, aiming as close as she could to her partner's midsection.

Dar caught it and returned it. They spent the next half hour playing catch with each other as the sun slowly dipped behind the trees and brought a bit of relief to the warm, muggy air.

They took a break, and met back at the bench. Kerry sat down and picked up the water bottle she'd brought with her, taking a swig from it as Dar traded her glove for the bat. "That's the hard part, isn't it?"

Dar put her hands around the bat and took a step back, away from the bench before she extended her arms and took a few tentative swings.

Kerry leaned back and watched. "I thought you said you never played softball."

"I didn't." Dar swung a few more times. "Not on a team, but we played catch and sand lot ball on the base when I was growing up, and I played a little with Dad."

Duh. Kerry smiled wryly. Of course she did. "I can't imagine for a second my father playing a sport.. Well, maybe golf."

Dar's face wrinkled up into a scowl.

"Yeah, me either," Kerry admitted. "Golf was acceptable for girls, in a 'let's ride in the cart and sip ice tea while gossiping' sort of way. Or tennis."

"I played football with the guys."

Kerry tipped her head back and gazed fondly at Dar. "Of course you did, honey. So I guess you know how to use that thing?" She set her water bottle down and picked up a ball, walking out into the grass and turning to face her partner. "Ready?"

Dar assumed a very credible batters' position, setting her feet at shoulder width and cocking the bat. "G'wan, toss."

Amiably, Kerry complied, throwing the ball at her partner. A second and a soft crack later, a white missile was coming right at her face and she only barely evaded it by diving for the grass with a startled yelp. "Dar!"

"Whoops." Dar let the bat rest on her shoulder. "Sorry about that."

"Jesus!" Kerry got to her hands and knees then stood up, brushing the grass of her. "What in the hell was that?"

Dar actually looked mildly abashed. "Um--" She shrugged her shoulders. "A hit?" She walked over to Kerry. "Didn't mean to buzz you with it." She handed Kerry the bat and trotted over to where the ball had landed on the other side of the green space.

Kerry recovered her breath and removed her glove, tossing it onto the bench and giving her attention to the wooden pole she now held in her hands.

It felt weird. She wrapped her fingers around the handle and swung it. "Yow." She just kept from hitting herself in the knee. It was top heavy and awkward, and heavier than she'd expected. She looked up as Dar came back with the ball. "Show me how you did that."

Dar came around behind her and pressed up against her back, wrapping her arms around Kerry and taking hold of the bat. "Okay, now..."

She paused to reposition her hands, suddenly becoming aware of Kerry's warm body pressed against hers. "Um--now," she repeated, a bit bemused.

Kerry leaned against her, tipping her head back and batting her eyelashes. "Now what?" she asked. "Did you say something?"

It was an interestingly sensual moment, unexpected and public and Dar had to force herself not to do what had become natural for both of them. Instead, she nibbled a bit of Kerry's hair and bumped her with her nose. "Do you want to learn this or--"

"Or?" The green eyes took on a warm twinkle.

"Or do you want to get another homeowner complaint letter?" Dar reminded her. "There are some guys behind us driving a golf cart. Want to cause an accident?"

Kerry sighed melodramatically. "Oh, all right." She turned back around and focused on the bat again. "Now where were we?" She felt Dar move her hands back. "Oh."

"Okay. Stand like this." Dar nudged Kerry's feet apart a little. "Hold your arms like this." She shifted her grip and the bat lifted a bit. "Now, the thing is, you can't look at the bat."

"No," Kerry agreed. "I have to look out for the ball, or I'll be taking the helmets off anyone in the vicinity." She let Dar swing her arms through a stroke, twisting her body around to the right as she imagined connecting with the ball. "Right."

Dar released her, and picked up the ball. She walked twenty feet or so away and turned. "Ready? Watch the ball."

"Watching." Kerry focused intently on the ball, watching it as it left Dar's hand and headed her way. She swung at it, but it didn't connect and the force of her swing turned her all the way around and made her sit down abruptly on her butt. "Ow!"

She looked up quickly at her partner. Dar's face had that stony expression she often used in important board meetings when she didn't want everyone in the room to really know what she was thinking. Kerry accepted that as the compliment it was, and got to her feet. "Thanks for not cracking up."

Dar's lips twitched.

Kerry picked up another ball from the bucket and tossed it to her. "C'mon. It's getting dark." She took up her position again, gripping the bat tightly.

Dar tossed the ball at her, and she swung at it again, this time catching a small piece of the ball and sending it ricocheting off the bench, nearly beaning herself in the kneecap with it. "Yow!"