Numbani, the so-called "City of Harmony." A shining jewel surrounded by the savannas of Africa and the newest of the world's great cities. A place where all people stood as equals and everyone was encouraged to reach their potential.
But it wasn't peace that drew the world's eye to Numbani this dusky evening, it was rivalry. The greatest spectacle in sports was beginning and the eyes of the world were focused on this moment and the ones to follow over the coming weeks. A writhing mass had forced itself through the stadium's gates and halls until every seat was filled, all eager to see the opening ceremonies. The event hadn't even begun but the brightly colored flags of nearly every nation swung in the air as the murmured roar of seventy thousand voices filled the air.
A cheer went up at one end of the stadium as the person of the hour had arrived. A skinny ebony girl had emerged from a dim tunnel and was jogging across the running track. As she made her way across the stadium, her likeness and name appeared on screens fixed to the top of the stadium walls. Efi Oladele, eleven years old and already a prodigy in the fields of robotics and artificial intelligence. The girl's name and photo picture vanished and a robot bearing the name Orisa took its place.
Efi marched up the stairs, a torch made of glass in hand as she neared the waiting cauldron. She paused at their peak and turned sideways to raise the flame higher into the air for a moment before lowering it into the cauldron. The small pool of oil at its base burst into flame, igniting a hidden line that ran up below ground and up to a much larger cauldron mounted at the stadium's highest point. The stadium crowd erupted in a deafening roar as a massive flame burst into being, a shining beacon that could be seen for kilometers in every direction.
The Olympics had begun.
This wasn't the first time Lena Oxton had competed in the Olympics but there was something new this time. She was holding the flag. Great Britain's Olympic Committee had chosen her to lead their nation on this night.
Four years ago she had been a novice, a fresh face out of Great Britain and just beginning her career on the professional circuit. Then the trials had begun and she joined, mostly because of a drunken bet down at the local pub. No one had expected her to qualify but one sprained ACL to the event's favorite and suddenly Oxton had found herself bound for Los Angeles. She dominated. Golds across the board. The one hundred meters hurdle, the four hundred meters hurdle and the four by one hundred relay. Nobody had expected her to compete in let alone win multiple events, and in hurdling no less, not even her, so she had been one of the Game's biggest stories.
Ahead of them the other nations marched out onto the field as they were called one after the other in alphabetical order. Soon enough Lena was standing at the edge of the tunnel, her fellow citizens at her back. The staff member standing against the wall had one hand pressed to an ear as she listened to her superiors. After a few seconds she pointed out at the field. "Great Britain entering the field now."
Lena hoisted the flag up as she marched forward. "Let's go mates." By now the sun was too low for her to see and the sky was tinted in broad swathes of amber and coral. That's not to say it was dark however, the lights of the stadium gleamed overhead and the pinpricks of ten thousand cameras flashing pierced through the night. Lena brandished the Union Jack higher as the words to 'God Save the Queen' began playing over the stadium's loudspeakers.
Tears began dripping from her eyes as she waved her flag from side to side and the air itself felt electric as energy from the crowd surged downwards and down into the field. The pride of presently being her nation's most celebrated athlete made her chest swell and she squared her shoulders, feeling taller than her meter and a half.
It was the same stadium as before but it certainly didn't feel like it to Lena. The sun was shining overhead and the crowd was reduced both in noise and size. There had to be forty thousand or so people in the stands though and still one of the largest crowds she would compete in front of. In front of her a group of women were lining up on the track as the first heat got underway. This one had the bronze medalist, an American, from the last Olympic Games but she had struggled at the last world championships.
Once the pistol fired the women erupted out of the blocks and down the track towards the first hurdle. Lena watched it for a moment longer before turning away to continue her warm-ups. Two steps, raise the knee then pull it her chest before repeating with the other leg. "Hello Oxton."
Lena turned around to see a familiar face gazing at her with that not quite sneering smirk she had honed to a fine point. Amelie Lacroix, the raven haired beauty from France who had been dogging her heels at every major event over the last four years since the Games where she had taken silver in the four hundred meter hurdles. "It wouldn't be the Olympics without everyone's favorite precious hurdler getting all the attention." Amelie's eyes flickered towards a nearby cameraman who had been keeping his lens on Lena as she prepared for her upcoming heat.
"Oh cut the bullshit. You're still angry with me for having sponsors? You know exactly how much money professional hurdlers make. If a company wants to give me money for wearing their shoes and filming some commercials I'm not going to say no and neither would you."
Wiping that arrogant smirk off Amelie's face was satisfying but Lena still felt a pang of guilt stabbing into her ribs at having played the money card. There was no shortage of high paying contracts and attention in the major sports but not theirs. The exception was during the Olympics when people cheered them on for the sake of national pride but once those were over it was back to the shadows. Trying to balance being a professional athlete for a sport no one cared enough to pay money to watch, hoping they could scrape together enough money to fly to foreign countries or other continents while still having enough left over to pay the rent. Lena had been lucky. Amelie, an Olympic silver medalist and her most constant rival had not.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. If you want I can put in a good word with my agent. He might be able to-."
"I don't need your charity Oxton. Once I beat you in the four hundred meters I'll get my own sponsors, don't you worry." Amelie spat at her. "Though you might not get any golds this time if the rumors are true." The french woman nodded her head at something behind Lena.
Rumors? What rumors? Lena frowned and turned around to see what Amelie was talking about. Nothing stood out at first glance, just more competitors and their coaches helping them get ready for the heats today. Many of them were familiar from the professional circuit but then Lena spotted someone she didn't recognize nearby.
The person in question was a little shorter than Lena and thick brown hair spilled down to her shoulder blades though it was bunched up with a black scrunchy at the moment. She turned and started unintentionally moving in Oxton's direction, doing the same leg stretch Lena herself had been doing earlier. It took a few seconds but the name written on the front of the jersey and the Korean flag above it were dead giveaways. "Is that... Hana Song?" asked Lena incredulously. "She's actually real? I thought someone made her up as a joke."
Amelie chuckled dryly and folded her arms. "I thought the same thing but there she is."
The name Hana Song had been floating around for a year or so now and was one all of Lena and her competitors had heard. A supposed prodigy in their sport from South Korea, a nation whose only medals in track and field were both in marathon. She had never competed at any event outside South Korea and the only evidence of the events in South Korea where she had competed were suspiciously short videos that showed little more than her crossing the finishing line. The thing that truly made her an oddity was her coach's public declaration during interviews that she had a personal best of twelve point three seconds and regularly ran twelve point five's. It was an outlandish claim under the best of circumstances and an egregious lie at worst. A personal best of twelve point three when the all time record was twelve point two, a mere tenth of a second faster, would put her among the fastest hurdlers ever.
"I'm gonna go talk to her." Without waiting for a response, Lena approached the Korean with a hand raised in greeting. "Hey there! You're Hana Song aren't you?"
Hana stopped in her tracks, her mahogany eyes opening wide as she covered her mouth with both hands. "You! You're Lena Oxton! I'm such a huge fan!"
Now that she was up close Lena could see a pair of pink triangles painted onto each of the Korean's otherwise unblemished cheeks. "Sure am! What do you think of the Olympics so far?"
Song looked up at the crowd watching the field and rubbed her arms, clearly ill at ease in this environment. "It's unreal. I've never been in front of this many people before..." The crowd was one thing but numerous drones were hovering overhead and there were dozens of cameramen in every direction, recording everything that happened here for an audience in the hundreds of millions.
"Yeah, it's pretty insane. You just gotta put it out of your mind and remember the hurdles are the same height and just as far apart as every other event you've been at."
Lena would have kept going but a stout looking man whose prime had long passed him by was scurrying over. "You! Get away from my athlete, she has to get ready to run!." He gripped Hana by the bicep and started dragging her off as he verbally lashed into her in Korean. Hana meekly let him pull her away but not without giving Lena a regretful look over her shoulder that only served to further inflame her coach's wrath.
She would have find a way to apologize to Hana for getting her in trouble without making things worse but at a later time. For now she had to keep warming up. Her medals weren't going to defend themselves.
She may have been the favorite in this event but Lena still had to get through the qualifying rounds first just like everyone else. Her times were more than respectable, twelve point seven in her heat then twelve point six in the third semifinal, but she didn't get the top time. Hana Song had. Twelve point six in her heat and twelve point five in the second semifinal.
Lane selections for the favorites were randomly assigned but somehow Lena and Hana were side by side in lanes four and five. It could that was how the dice fell or maybe the organizers wanted a dramatic finish to this event. Either way everyone watching the final would be focusing on the middle of the track.
"On your marks!"
Lena planted the toes of her spiked shoes against the starting blocks and pressed her fingers against the track, feeling the sun's stored warmth soaking into them. Hana was to her right, looking determined and resolute as she held the same position as they waited for the next command.
"Set!"
Oxton's feet left the blocks and she threw herself forward several meters before coming to a halt. The referee held up a yellow card and she could hear him pointing at her as the other competitors reset themselves. A false start for the defending medalist, one more and she was disqualified. The crowd murmured as Lena made her way back to the blocks, her face red. No big deal, it was only a gaffe that a hundred million people, maybe two, would see as they ate dinner in front of the television.
"On your marks!" Back onto the blocks like before. "Set!" Raise up into position, muscles rigid with anticipation as they waited for the signal. The referee near the finish line raised his starter gun into the air and pulled the trigger.
As one the remaining competitors exploded from the blocks as they threw themselves forward. One hundred meters, a mere handful of seconds and someone would stand victorious. There was no holding back this time, no maintaining your stamina, one giant burst and then it would be over.
Lena's heart thundered against her chest as she ran and jumped the first hurdle then the next. To her right came a clattering of metal and the sound of something hitting the ground as the crowd gasped but there was no time for that. Run and jump. Run and jump. She dashed through the tape marking the end of the race, slowing to a halt before turning to see what had happened.
The other runners had crossed the line as well, all but one. Hana Song was back near the starting line next to an overturned hurdle, her hands and knees on the ground. Her face was hidden beneath her hair but one look at the scene was enough for anyone with half a heart to know what was on it right now.
All thoughts of her victory fled Lena in an instant and she was running back to Hana's side. She put one hand on the woman's back and started to help her up. "Come on love, I know it hurts but we need to get away from the cameras right now."
Hana's only response was another of the sobs wracking her body but she didn't resist as Lena pulled one of Song's arms over her shoulders and walked her towards the tunnel. They had barely gotten out of sight when Hana's coach came running up, his face red.
Lena stepped away, intending to let the coach console Hana but the first thing out of his mouth was a shout. She may not have spoken Korean but there was no mistaking the anger in his voice as he berated her, gesticulating wildly before one hand slapped his athlete across the face. Hana spun from the blow and fell to the ground, barely managing to catch herself on her hands.
"Oi! You piece of shit!" Lena stepped between the two of them, shoving the man in the chest. "Show some goddamn sympathy why don't you? Look at her! She's a fucking mess after what just happened and you're hitting her!? Sod off!" The coach yelled something back at her and started to raise one of his fists.
"Stop."
Both of their heads swiveled to see Hana standing upright and she put a hand on Lena's shoulder. The tears running down Hana's face had streak a path through those triangles of hers leaving a pink slurry in their wake and there was a violent crimson blotch from where he had hit her. "Go. I'll be fine."
"But..."
Hana shook her head adamantly. "Go."
Lena's hands dropped to her sides and she slowly started to back away before heading out of the tunnel leaving the two Koreans behind. She had just defended her first gold medal but the only thing she could think about was that red mark.
Lena stared up at the ceiling above her as she lay on the bed in her small bedroom. There had been two more events after the hundred meter hurdles and two more gold medals had joined the others in her collection. She should have been elated, but there was nothing but a hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach. Lena was still the champion but all she could think about was the other two women she had bested. Amelie had lost to her yet again, possibly dashing her hopes of getting sponsors once more and Hana...
Hana was still with that piece of shit masquerading as a coach. She rolled over on the bed and stared at the clock on her small dresser. Evening had arrived and the day's events were over. She could sit here feeling bad for things that weren't her fault or she could go have fun. For crying out loud she had won three gold medals. Again.
Lena sat up and headed into the bathroom where her makeup kit was waiting. She grabbed a tube of lipstick and began applying the ruby red shade onto her lips. A knocking came from the door to her room just as she finished. Lena raised an eyebrow and headed over to open it, curious about who was calling.
Hana was standing there, her face looking flawless at first glance but the extra makeup on her cheeks was obvious to any woman who bothered to look closer. She was dressed simply in a plain navy blue tee shirt and pair of black shorts hanging down to her knees. Lena leaned on the doorframe with both hands as she peeked her head out to look down the hallway in both directions. "Hana? What are you doing here? Uhh... your coach isn't around is he?"
A devilish smile crossed Hana's face and she shook her head. "No he isn't. He's back in his apartment right now. It seems his dinner didn't agree with him and probably won't for the rest of the night. I wanted to thank you for what you did at the race. If you hadn't stepped in when you did things would have been worse."
"Would have been worse?" repeated Lena, aghast at the notion. "He hit you. What kind of coach, hell what kind of person does that? Why haven't you fired him?"
Hana sighed and she shrugged her shoulders, seemingly in resignation. "Because he's the best hurdling coach in South Korea. Normally he treats me fine but this is the Olympics and I guess the pressure got to him..."
Lena started waving her hands to cut Hana off mid-sentence. "Stop. Stop. Stop. Don't defend him. No coach whose willing to hit his athletes is worth keeping around. If you want I can introduce you to my coach or one of the other coaches here. They'll be just as good if not better and you won't have to worry about them getting violent. It might seem weird having someone from another country coach you at the next Olympic games but it's better than having that asshole hit you."
Hana's eyes lit up at the idea of being free from said coach but then she faltered as what Lena had said sank in. "Wait, the next Olympics? Why would I compete again after what happened today? I made a fool of myself on the biggest stage in the world..."
"That's rubbish. Yeah you had an accident but it happens and it's not whether you fall down that matters. What matters is if you stand back up and you don't have any reason not to. I mean come on." Lena repeatedly poked her wrist for emphasis even though there was no watch there. "You had better times than me in the heats and semi's. If you hadn't tripped over a hurdle then I don't know if I would have beaten you. Even without the Olympics there's still the European circuit or you could compete in America if you wanted to."
Lena fumbled around for a moment as she pulled her phone out of a pocket that really didn't want to surrender its contents. "Here, come in. I'll give you my coaches number. Think it over and give him a call sometime. If you don't want to work with him then he can send you to someone else all right?"
Song took a couple of steps into the room as she closed the door before grabbing her own phone, adding the number to her contacts. "Thank you Miss Oxton. I think I should get going now."
"Miss Oxton? Miss Oxton? No, no, no, don't call me that. Makes me sound like a spinster or something else too horrible to imagine. Call me Lena please." Lena hesitated for a moment before deciding to go ahead. "You know, some of the Americans are throwing a party tonight. You should come with me, we'll be wingladies for each other and maybe a one night stand is just want you need to clear your mind."
"I'm sorry but I'm still working on my English Lena. So much slang I don't understand yet. What's a one night stand?"
Lena slowly blinked and she raised one finger before stopping short, perplexed at the situation she had walked herself into. "It's... a one night stand..." Hana raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything, waiting for more. "You know... a tryst, a fling, a quick hookup." Hana just shook her head and Lena sighed. "Sex Hana. Sex with no strings attached."
Hana's mouth made a silent 'O' shape and her eyes widened in shock before she mustered the poise to speak. "What!? You're asking me to go out you with to find..."
"Someone to have sex with. It's just an offer, you don't have to say yes. But I'm getting laid tonight whether or not you come along."
Hana looked around for a long moment, at anything but Lena before mustering the nerve to look the British athlete in the face. "Why? Why would you be so interesting in having a... one night stand tonight?"
"Why?" asked Lena, trying not to be mean and laugh at the earnestness of said question. "Where are we? The Olympic Village. Twelve, maybe thirteen thousand of the world's best athletes from two hundred nations all crammed together in one complex. It's like a giant buffet. Americans, Australians, Russians, Spaniards, Brazilians, whatever you feel like eating is here. Me, I want to get my hands on a really big basketball player this time. Someone whose over two meters tall and weighs more than a hundred kilograms picking me up and..." Lena was practically drooling at the mental image of getting banged in that manner.
"But you could get caught or pregnant..."
"Caught by who? The media? They aren't allowed in the Village and security makes sure they stay out. And I don't have to worry about getting pregnant either. There's plenty of free condoms available, I take birth control pills and if I wasn't then I'd stick to sleeping with women just to be safe."
"You're bisexual?" asked Hana, an unreadable look settling onto her features.
"Sure am." said Lena without any hesitation or concern at outing herself to a stranger. It had been years since coming to terms with her sexuality and the days of feeling troubled by it were long past.
"And you think both of us would really be able to find someone willing to have a one night stand with either of us?" asked Hana, looking skeptical at the notion.
"Absolutely, I had a few flings at the last Olympics so I already know I can do it. And you, you're gorgeous. You wouldn't have any problems finding someone to sleep with you if you're interested in going out with me."
One of Hana's hands reached behind her, twisting the deadbolt into position. "I don't think either of us need to go anywhere for that."
"What does th-" Lena never got the opportunity to finish her sentence as the Korean stepped forward, touching their lips together. For a moment Lena was perfectly still, the kiss coming completely by surprise but then her body was moving, almost of its own accord. One hand reached upwards, lightly brushing against the side of Hana's neck and shoulder as the kiss deepened before Lena breathlessly pulled back. "What are we doing?" asked Lena, suddenly unsure of herself despite a candle wick burning in her stomach and lower regions not to mention how warm those lips had felt.
"I want you Lena." whispered Hana as she wound her fingers through Lena's spikes of hair. "I want to know what a British woman tastes like. I want you to ravish me until the sun comes up."
Lena stared at Hana for a moment and then they were kissing again, more fervently than before as that small flicker of flame was doused in oil until it burned like an actual torch. Hana's fingers pulled on Lena's hair as they stumbled backwards through the room while still kissing until she could shove Oxton back onto the bed. Lena and Hana both hurriedly pulled their shirts off, as if competing to be the first one to strip nude, a race Hana only lost because she was wearing shoes and Lena wasn't.
Hana crawled forward onto the bed until she was situated above Lena on her hands and knees. "What part of me do you want to play with first?" asked Hana, a mischievous smile crossing her face. Lena pushed herself up on one hand for another kiss while pulling on the back of Hana's neck, drawing their bodies closer together. As they continued to kiss the hands of both women meandered their way from neck to hip and back again, eager to touch and be touched in return.
Hana opened her lips wider as she slid her tongue into Lena's mouth while Lena's fingertips grazed against the Korean's chest, reveling in its softness as she explored the peaks and valleys available to her. One finger flicked against the bud on one mound then the other, evoking a whine from Hana's throat. Encouraged by the sound Lena broke away from the kiss and her mouth left a trail of ruby stains as it traveled southwards. Hana gasped as Lena suckled at one one breast, her tongue teasing the nipple on top or sometimes nibbling on it but not so rough as to break the skin.
Eventually Lena's couldn't endure waiting any longer. As good a kisser as Hana was it wasn't enough now. She wanted to do more, she needed to do more. Her hand left the back of Hana's neck and slowly traced a path along that white skin down towards the Korean's most intimate parts but Hana grabbed it while shaking her head. "You didn't trim your fingernails and I'm not gonna wait. Use your mouth."
Once Hana let go of her wrist Lena awkwardly shuffled her body around on the bed until the two of them were inverted, each woman's head by the other's wet groin. Hana murmured in approval and she spread her knees wider on the bed, until she had sunk almost low enough that Lena's lips were touching her vagina.
The light coming through the shades of the window was beginning to dim but Lena could still see every glistening drop on those mounds covered in almost invisible fuzz. She grabbed Hana's hips pulling her down even further as her tongue eagerly began to lap away. "You... are... delicious." remarked Lena in-between long slow strokes.
Hana moaned and then she started returning the favor as she dipped her head to the Brit's unruly hatch of hair and the tantalizing bits they were hiding. Lena shuddered and for a moment she forgot to keep licking as that tongue's nimble tip flicked against her clit. A soft giggle came to Lena's ears and Hana did it again. This time though it broke Lena's hesitation and she got back to it. The two of them went back and forth, each spurred on by the other as their tongues probed deeper or licked harder. In a way the two of them were racing again, but not against each other, against themselves as they sought to make the other woman come in first.
Lena ended up being the champion yet again, Hana's unexpectedly skilled tongue accomplishing its goal after several blissful minutes. Her hips clamped onto Hana's head and she dug her fingernails into those white hips as the climax took her. Wave after glorious wave rebounding through her until it felt like lights were bursting in front of her eyes. Lena shuddered once more and then she reached up, taking a hold of Hana's legs again. "Well that's one for me but I gotta make sure you finish before you go."
Hana licked her lips as she sat upright, relishing the taste of Lena's juices before responding while looking down at the gold medalist. "Uh uh, noppppe. You said you were looking for a one night stand and there's a lot of night to go plus I said until the sun comes up remember?"
Lena gulped nervously but she had never been one to back down from a challenge. "If you can last that long. I'm the champion after all."
"We'll see Oxton. We'll see."