by P. S. Power
Avery didn’t really get it, but the information was there inside of her. It just meant that Krista and Zack had sex occasionally.
“I’ll try to do it all without bothering anyone else, of course. Let me know when you want me for that? I don’t really know what to do, but I’ll try not to disappoint you or those on your team.”
The woman on the phone sucked in a lot of air then.
“That sounds great. I was thinking we’d try doing some spoken lines, then, if that doesn’t go over, use the mute girl idea…” There was a slightly hesitant tone to her voice, as if that might not work.
Which, was, according to the Krista memories in her head, down to the idea that actors and actresses were often self-absorbed and their egos got in the way of mission accomplishment. Her goal was to get the idea of Shifters out in front of the world, clearly, showing they weren’t a real threat. Even the ones like her. The government might be less likely to attack, if the people felt at ease. That was the hope at any rate.
So she tried to add a happy smile to her voice.
“That works for me. I’ll try my best at both, but trust you and your people to place me in the right position.” She was in front of the bookshop, but needed the node area, so walked in, trying not to feel her stomach lurching to and fro as it was managing to do. Bente might want anything from her. The memories of the Greater Demon weren’t that harsh, most of the time, though she could be. The thing there was that the Demon had never done that kind of thing before. It was possible that she could be monstrous in her training. In which case all Avery could do was try to survive.
There was a soft breath in her ear.
“Really? That’s wonderful to hear. Most of the crew and talent is already set up, so we could do that… Call it Friday at about four? It should only last a few hours. I know, parties to go to and all that, but…”
Avery laughed then.
“You have a very different view of how my weekends go most of the time, I think. I’ll try to schedule that. See you then? Call me if you need me.” She meant it, but didn’t think it would really be happening.
“See ya! This is great. Thanks, Avery.”
There was a soft click then, and the device was put away efficiently. After all, she didn't want to be holding it and seeming distracted for her new mentor when she got there. It was still ten minutes early, which meant, of course, that the incredible looking, nearly perfect, Bente was standing inside the door, toward Zack’s office as soon as Avery got there.
She checked her watch, but it wasn’t four yet.
The Greater Demon smiled at her.
“Hello. You aren’t late. I came early, so that I could control the situation and steal the march from you. I see you were planning the same thing. Very good. It didn’t work this time, but it may in the future. Please, come this way. Normally I’d be able to get a copy of your entire life with a touch, but your nature makes that difficult. To that end, I learned a way around that, from Zackery. It cost me fifty million dollars, but if it works it will be worth it.”
She walked over, holding up one bare, very pretty, finger.
“I need to put this inside of you. Which orifice would suit for now?” That was spoken with a sexy air that hadn’t been there before. The woman was trying to make her uneasy, on purpose. Which wasn’t going to work.
Taking the finger, Avery put it to her lips, then sucked it into her mouth. It was weird, doing that, but the Greater Demon didn’t seem to mind, even if it was a bit damp. A tingling started then, moving back and forth, in and out of her, across her tongue, but also down into her throat.
After a few minutes of this, Bente removed her hand.
“That is rather different. It’s all the time in the void. I’ll have to process this information, but I can see some areas for you to work on already.”
They were both just standing there, as if going and sitting might not be allowed to them. Bente nodded, as if she understood the thought.
“We need to stress The Line Walker as little as possible right now. He’s young, insane and very kind. That might not last. First, I notice that you’re working to recruit a Human? Phillip? That’s ambitious. You can’t take slaves, so will need to court him in other ways. He seems most interesting. From what I can gather at a remove, you’ve done much toward that end already today. His inner drive is for power, command over his environment and body. Facilitating that is the way to win him to your side.” She looked away then nodded. “Also… You sold Mark the Human to The Rotted, for fine treatment and safety for your mother? Given what you can manage… That was rather well done. We’ll go over ways to ensure their good treatment. Not that Ann will be a problem that way. Once she chooses to love a thing, it tends to stick with her. That’s her major weakness.”
Avery nodded then, not knowing if she was expected, or allowed, to say anything.
So she did, since not doing it could also be the wrong move. Both could be correct as well.
“I hadn’t been thinking about any of that. I’m not very smart, really.”
Bente nodded, her incredibly smooth face almost beaming at her for a moment.
“Exactly. It’s good that you’re aware of that already. We can make some changes there, given your current skill set. For instance, creativity can be learned, once you break down the basic pattern of it. Memory, well you have that one already, thanks to your focus. Your main areas of advancement will be in problem solving and learning to use your imagination.”
The Greater Demon was in a long red gown which was perfect in every way. It covered her shoes, but didn’t touch the ground as she started to walk. There was a large bow in the back, at her neck, with faintly colored beadwork near the throat, which were done up in blue and green, but were so subtle that almost no one would think it more than a different shade of red.
Her long brown hair was put up, off of her neck, which was a creamy white color.
There was a small gesture, a brief movement of fingers, meant to draw Avery along with her.
“You can already cook, fight, and do basic sewing? Very good! We’ll focus on sewing and making clothing then. Mastery of any skill leads to the mastery of many, if you apply yourself. We can add in creativity to that training. You’ll work out of here for that, as well as my home, in Italy. Here…”
A bare hand came out, but didn't present magic to her flesh. Just the idea of where to go. Avery was used to catching that kind of thing, so didn't have to do much toward that end really. As they stepped out the plain front door to the node space, which looked much like the entrance to a closet, the Demon curled her lips up at Avery.
“Now, Avery… You aren’t one of my people, so insisting that you be treated as such would be foolish. My goal will, instead, be about helping you bring out your own talents and skills. The things that are unique to you and your kind of being. Also, to find the heart of who Avery Rome is, and allow you to experience life that way. Is that all right with you? It does mean that I’ll ask uncomfortable things of you, often, but they will, in most ways, be different things than I would have asked of say, Zackery, if he were mine to teach.” There was another light touch on her arm then, and a nod.
Avery did that as well, since it was clearly the desired answer.
“Sure. That sounds fine.”
“Ah, youth. Not that you truly get a choice. It’s the whole Greater Demon thing, you understand. Now, for today, I have two lessons and two tasks for you. The first lesson is in creativity. Are you ready to memorize this?”
She nodded, then waited, knowing it simply wasn’t a skill she really had.
“Take an object, a person, a place, a thing… Then select another. At random. Try an object and a person now. Name them, then think of ways that they might fit together. It’s all right if those ways don’t all make sense. In fact, that’s better for now. Go ahead.”
It was harder than it sounded like, since she kind of wanted to ask the Demon what she was supposed to choose. That wasn’t the l
esson however. So after nearly a minute she nodded.
“Zack as the person and… An orange?” She waited for the rebuke, since those didn't go together at all, but there was a simple expression of acceptance from the lovely being next to her.
“All right. Now, come up with three ways that they could go together.”
That got her to freeze. Nothing wanted to come, even as she focused and struggled with the ideas involved.
“Well, him eating the orange. Or drinking the juice from it. That… He could also… Wear the orange peel as tiny clothing?” That didn't seem right at all, since it wouldn’t fit or anything. Probably not even being enough to cover specific manly parts of him. Avery could see under his clothing after all. He was big enough that way that it would need to be a very large orange.
“Wait, you didn’t say it had to be a regular orange, did you? What if it were, I don’t know, as big as he was? Then it’s skin could cover him.”
“Yes. Very good. Now, I want you to find the part of your mind that was working to allow you to think of that. It probably hurts a bit now. Can you do that?” She waited, as if it might either be impossible or simple. It wasn’t either of those things, to be honest.
She did find that the front of her head, just inside her brow, on the right, ached a bit.
“I think I have it?”
“Make it tingle now. Feel it buzzing. That will take imagination, so there will also be pain involved for you in doing it. Push that however.”
She tried, and it hurt more than it felt like electricity passing through her. Eventually after ten minutes she had a nice headache as well as a very light buzzing feeling.
“I think I have it.”
The Demon folded her hands, looking down the mall’s main corridor as they walked. They weren’t going anywhere, simply making big circles.
“That is the first lesson. If you keep pushing that part of your mind and putting together objects and concepts that don’t seem to fit, you will, eventually, be able to imagine things. I want you to work on this for at least one hour per day. It may be while you perform other tasks. Second lesson.”
She stopped then, and pointed ahead of her. It was at the Yoghurt World sign. Her intent was just past that however, through the window, toward where people were standing and talking.
“You have information about Phillip, from your observation of him. I want you to lay out a list of his likely interests, based on the things you know. Focus intently on it, and hold the data in the front of your mind, while you do so. This is a memory exercise, but by making a chart, you may find clarity on matters that otherwise could baffle you.”
It was harder than it sounded like, since Avery tried to leave several things out. Those were all called by Bente instantly, without her even being able to see the mental chart at all.
“No! Don’t leave off his sexual interests. Human males are biologically primed for that sort of thing. It will be one of the top drivers of his life, even if not mentioned or hinted at. Also, food. Not a drive as strong as what you have that way, but this boy exercises constantly. That will push his caloric needs up greatly. What does that mean, if we’re looking for a way to win him to your side, in the long term.”
She had to think, since it was kind of hard for her to put it together on her own, but she didn’t cheat and use the memories in the library, even if they kept trying to volunteer the information to her.
“That… He might be interested in sex or food?” She shook her head, since of course there was that. “Or… Really, that I could use that kind of thing to get his attention or build a rapport between us.”
Bente smiled.
“That’s too basic. He’s also a complicated being. You have his attention already. You offered him help in attaining power. Now he owes you. Using the trick from the other night, the one used with your producer friend, Donald… That might work here. Introduce him to the Alede. Except that you’ll need to mark him as yours, at the same time. That is the first task. The second will be for you to focus as intensely as you can on making perfect lines while sewing. I expect several hours a day of work on all of these, as well as your other tasks. Come to me… This next Sunday. We’ll have a meal. Call it six in the evening? My time, so you’ll need to learn when that is. I expect you to be dressed better than this. In something that you made for yourself.” She waved at the light blue sweater and jeans. “These rags are good protective coloring here, but at my home, or in my presence, I expect style, from now on. Unless directed to do otherwise or an emergency arises. I’ll see you then, Avery.”
The woman waved her left hand slightly, and space ripped in a slightly zig-zagging pattern. The ends folded under, like the seams of a hem, then she stepped through, vanishing. The hole collapsed after that, but was open enough that Avery could have followed her if she’d wanted to. Slowly, over the course of half a minute, the forced open bit of space started to close, the bent ends unraveling, until only a weak spot remained. A bend, that no one would be able to walk through unless they knew how.
Her watch said it was four-thirty, so doing her best to give herself a headache, she focused on her own brain, making part of it buzz and hurt at the same time. It was pretty bad by the time she got to the Yoghurt World, a whole fifty feet away. She did try to make the pain go away, imagining it as not being there, leaving only buzzing. It wasn’t perfect, but as she worked on it, walking in, the trick was clearly starting to make a difference.
Eve was still busily talking to Phillip, who had mainly filled out the paperwork in front of him it seemed, as he stood at the marble counter.
The Vampire smiled at Avery.
“I was just telling Phil here that the work is hard, but rewarding. So far I haven’t managed to scare him off at all. Not even when I mentioned that he needs to hold off being a line walker or a Vampire until he gets to be at least twenty-one.”
That clicked into place, a list of information forming for her, as she tried to work out why. It didn't take long, since she’d lived parts of that already.
“So that he’ll look older once he stops aging. I’m going to be stuck like this, unless I learn to change shape. It will make dating a little awkward, me looking so young, once he’s older. Still, we’re good for now.”
Phillip rolled his eyes, but Eve shook her head at him.
“Explain that, Avery?”
Moving forward, thinking of her tasks, she put her arm around Phillip’s back. Possessively.
“Well, I haven’t asked yet, but I was thinking we should date. You can see other people, but you know, only for sex. If I say so. Vampire rules, since you’re in training for that. I’m the more powerful person for now, so you kind of have to do what I say. On the great side for you, I don’t have a real sex drive, so I won’t be having fun with everyone else while forcing you to watch.” She felt almost bad saying that, but focused and locked that part out of her mind.
Just not letting her normal self-doubt come into play.
That got her Vampire friend to smile.
“Oooh. That’s good. A real thing, too, Phillip. You don’t have another girlfriend, or a boyfriend, do you? That could get awkward, since Avery will have to fight them, if you do.”
The boy shook his head then.
“Nope. Not unless you want to count…” He glanced at his right hand, which got a knowing look from Eve. Avery had to look things up to get it. Interestingly, that kind of self-pleasure wasn’t always allowed, for Vampires. Not unless their partner thought it was needed.
She just waited for him to finish his paperwork and pushed her mind to work harder than it ever had before. It wasn’t comfortable, but a lot of things probably weren’t going to be from then on.
That was, she suspected, part of the cost of doing anything that involved Greater Demons.
Chapter nine
At about five she walked Phillip down toward Pretty Plus, holding several aprons in her right hand, folded neatly. She spoke as she moved.
�
��I’ll introduce you today, if that’s all right? Alede, all of them are really good looking and they love sex. I’ll bring you back sometimes so you can do that with them. We can leave from the node in the back of their shop, too, so it won’t take long.”
The words weren’t really her own, being the ones that Bente would have wanted her to use, instead. Phillip seemed amused by her antics, rather than upset by finding himself with her for a girlfriend. Then, he was acting like that part had been a joke. It was exactly the kind of thing that she would have been doing if he’d proclaimed them together suddenly, so it wasn’t hard to understand. She had a mission however, so needed to make that part of things real, even if it was well outside of her comfort zone.
Inside the large ladies clothing store, they were met by Roberta. Avery hadn’t really met her to talk to before, but she knew that the woman was also Robert, who was the Assistant Ambassador there. His female form was attractive, though not as fine as Kaitlyn or Valerie was. As Robert he had that kind of thing going on. That was normal for the Alede, at least from her memories. One of their forms was always less attractive, since being too good looking didn't always work.
Right now the auburn haired Alede was smiling at them, clearly paying more attention to Phillip than her. Avery got that. She wasn’t really going to be a good food source for the woman. Not an easy one, at any rate.
“Well, hello! We don’t normally have people as young as you in here. Are you… Looking for work?” She really seemed confused, but didn’t spray them with lust or anything, which was the Alede norm that way.
It showed that Roberta was very controlled for her people. Kait was like that as well, of course, but that one made sense. She was a line walker. Self-discipline was what they did. Roberta was just that good.
She hefted her bundle of aprons.
“I’m Avery? Here to do some sewing. I have to get Phil home in a few minutes as well, but I was wondering if you could do some things with him first? He’s my boyfriend, but he isn’t allowed to masturbate for the time being. Vampire rules, since he’s in training for that.”
