Out of the Woods (The Coalescence Book 1)

by P. S. Power

  Walking over, he waved at her, which others there had done several times so far.

  “Hi! I’m Will. Pleased to meet you.” That one had come up in class the other day, as a greeting. Hopefully it didn’t sound too strange to the woman.

  She smelled of a hundred things, most of them sweet. A few that reminded him of the perfume that he’d left with Eve for her friend. Earthy, woody scents.

  “Lisa. This is a nifty sign. Holographic projections? That’s a bit expensive for a fancy ice cream place.” She had nice blue eyes, and was more animated than Doris was. Then, this woman wasn’t thousands of years old. She also didn’t meditate constantly. He could feel that about her without even trying.

  He smiled then, and shook his head, going over what Eve had said about the place. Magic was known there. They had mages, anyway.

  “No, I don’t think so. It should be solid. It isn’t real, just magic. My Aunt Taman made it.”

  The woman smiled a bit wider.

  “Taman? Is that Dareg Canton’s aunt as well?”

  Will didn’t know, to be honest. After all, there could be another Taman in the area, with another Dareg. He was literally looking at a very different, yet similar, Doris. So he took a stab in the dark.

  “From what people call Tor’s world? If so, then yes. Things can sort of match up across the realities however, if they’re close. At least I’m supposed to be taking lessons with another you, right this moment. More or less.” He tried to seem charming, which might not have worked that well.

  Lisa moved to touch the sign, then shook her head, waved her right hand and cast a bit of silver light at the thing. No one looked at her all that strangely. After a moment she pulled it all back.

  “Lessons for what?” She paused, then made a funny face at him. “I meet people from other worlds all the time, but it’s a bit more rare that they know me where they come from. It’s happened, so I’m not totally floored by it, but it’s always interesting to find out what those other versions of me are getting up to.” She seemed to mean it, so he shrugged. Then only covered part of it.

  “English. I’m totally going to count this as her giving me a lesson. It doesn’t work for reading though. Hopefully I can get the book from her she planned to get for me. Things move faster there than here, I think. That’s what I was told anyway.”

  The woman seemed confused for a bit. Then she stared at him, her eyes raking over him closely. Finally, she shook her head.

  “I don’t think you need many more lessons then. I honestly can’t tell that you aren’t a native speaker. For that matter that you aren’t from this area. Dareg always dresses funny and sounds German to me. How long have you been taking lessons in it?”

  “About three days. It’s why I haven’t learned to read it, yet. I can make out the sign, and some of the letters are similar to Standard, so that helps. The sounds are a bit different, but I can sort of work things out. For instance, you came from that store… Can-dlees ond Muur. Since I’m not an idiot and know a little English, I can guess that was wrong. Probably… Candles and More? I wouldn’t want to read a book yet, given my poor skills there. That would be slow going.”

  The woman just nodded at him, which could mean anything.

  “Neat. I took several languages in college. I didn’t learn any of them in three days. Not even three years.” She waved at the sign then, and touched his arm, gently. “So, you have magic in your world? We should discuss that sometime? I’m the mage Ambassador here. We can see how techniques differ?”

  “That sounds really fun! Right now I’m supposed to look around here and try to not seem like an alien. That isn’t going to be easy. Half the things I’m assuming are wrong, so far. On the other side of things, I was given free food. Say, that doesn’t mean that I’m engaged to Eve, does it? I also complimented her several times over her preparation efforts there. It was very good.”

  That was his real feeling on the thing. It wasn’t bugs on a leaf however, or sour fruit, so he was calling the frozen treat a win for the day. It had made a poor meal however. He could tell, because he was getting hungry again.

  The Ambassador, who didn’t seem upset that he’d forgotten to bow, just nodded at him like they were friends already.

  “No worries there. We do a whole dating thing first, then you get engaged, then, sometimes, you get married. It normally takes years and you can back out of it at any time. You could do worse than Eve though. She’s hot.”

  He understood that to mean pretty, or close enough. It was used in a similar fashion as fine was back home.

  Willum nodded then.

  “She also looks like my Aunt Tiera. Queen of the Moon. I know that probably sounds like a joke, but it isn’t at all. Not that she isn’t lovely. Actually Eve is less so that way, thankfully. There’s a point where too much is… It doesn’t look right, any longer.”

  “The uncanny valley. That point where you’re incredibly close to human, but are just off of it. In her case it’s probably magic though, not computer graphics.” She stopped, then proved why she was the Ambassador. “Computers are machines that perform intellectual work. They can make pictures, do math, a lot of things really.”

  Then she stopped.

  He smiled.

  “Ah! I saw some yesterday, in space. With an alien fleet. Ysidril. Great people. I didn't know what the things were called. The Mech people are machines… At least some of them look like we do however. Which means nothing right now. Some day you should come and tour our other Earth.” He meant it, even if he didn’t have the ability to do that kind of thing yet. Then, odds were he could arrange that, if he tried hard enough. His arm was touched again, the hand soft and warm on his bare skin. It was a bit close for him, with a stranger, but not a thing to worry over he didn’t think. No one seemed ready to attack him over it yet.

  “Nice meeting you Will. Feel free to drop by sometime? When we’re open of course. Otherwise the place will be empty.” She wasn’t making a joke, but was at the same time. He thought.

  So he smiled and nodded.

  “I look forward to that. I hope to see you again soon?”

  “Bye.”

  Then she walked away, not looking back at him in the slightest. Which could mean anything. Still, she didn’t seem worried and hadn’t ordered him to leave, so he set out through the mall, which was a collection of shops on two levels. There were many kinds of things. Some were familiar, like places that sold clothing. There was a blacksmith who had a fine array of swords and knives in one location. Near that there was a wise man, selling herbal remedies. He looked a bit like the people of Vagus, but gave off a gentle white glow that came out of him, then circled around before returning inside his physical body.

  The man saw him looking, watching the flow, so bowed a bit. Going about a quarter of the way down. Will, the stranger, did it back, going deeper by enough to show respect. That got a nod that seemed kindly enough. It wasn’t a signal for him to come inside however. Which was fine. He lacked coin for it, as well as need for any of what the man had. Unless he sold tea. Willum hadn’t had a cup in days, after all.

  What got him to go in to examine things was a shop that sold books. Thousands of them, from what he could tell. Enough that he felt himself drawn into the space. At first he simply looked, trying to sound out the titles. Those were varied and for the most part meant nothing much to him at all. After about ten minutes, one of the very attractive female workers there moved on him, to assure he was going to be purchasing and not damaging the goods. She didn’t say that, but it was about what he would have done in the same place.

  She had glasses on, for decoration. The clear lenses wouldn’t change the focal point of anything, he was willing to bet. She had curly hair, which was a deep brown. Her face was familiar however, though she had brown eyes.

  “Trice has blue eyes. She’s taller as well. My aunt. Otherwise you two look like sisters. She might be darker, by a few shades.” A lot of people in this place were actually n
icely light skinned. Like he was now.

  The woman who wasn’t his Aunt Patricia nodded at him.

  “I’ve heard that one before. Never from myself, however. I… You need darker hair and eyes, maybe to grow a few inches…”

  He did the eyes first, then the hair. After that, Will tried to seem happy.

  “I can’t really grow that fast. I can’t say that I look that much like you. I mean, a bit, around the edges, but no more than anyone might.”

  That got a snort from her.

  “Yeah. Sure. Come with me. You do casual sex in the first few minutes of meeting strange women, right? Or men?” She seemed to mean it, as if either of those things would be reasonable. “Oh, hey, Kaitlyn by the way. You’re Kyle?”

  She took his hand firmly, tugging him toward the back of the book shop. There was a small restaurant or café to the left hand side, but they didn’t go that direction. No, they stopped early and went into a small room that had two chairs in it. Then the woman, who looked no more than a year or so older than he did, locked them in.

  It wasn’t to keep him from fleeing at least, since she started to pull her clothing off. It was more assertive than he’d ever seen from anyone, so he froze for a moment as she stood there, naked. Her decently ample chest rising and falling as she sucked in extra air. Then, much like he’d seen Doris do several times, the lady changed. Melting and shifting.

  Not into an older version of herself. No, after a few moments, perhaps less than a minute, she was a man. One who looked a good bit like his last reflection had in the mirror. It was very close to his true form now. That was unexpected. If he was going to see anyone he would have figured that it would be his original shape. The one he’d been born with.

  “Interesting! I’m Willum Baker. Will, if that works for you? I can change my hair and eyes, but need an amulet to hide the rest of me. Is that an illusion or…”

  “Real. Here, feel?” The man, who had a very similar voice to his own, grabbed his hand and placed it on the other fellow’s manhood. That stiffened instantly. “See? Now, we should… Actually I can do some things for you? I need to see if I can change back, or the rest of my day is going to get harder. I’m an Alede. You aren’t, are you?”

  “No? I’m just me. From a different reality. Things are different there. For instance, I almost never end up meeting a woman and then holding her manhood in the first five minutes there. The last time it happened I’d gotten dinner first.” That had been the only time, but it was possible that this person would find that idea insulting.

  Instead Kyle dropped to his knees. That meant fumbling at the front of Will’s pants and then doing some things that made him want to cringe at that moment. Will knew it should fade however, as soon as it was over. Rather than be insulting, he tried to make it seem like he honestly enjoyed the effort being put in. His body did, to be fair. It was his mind that tried to fight it.

  After several minutes, he exploded, which was handled with efficiency if not in a way that he would have expected from a stranger. Then, after a few moments, the man became a woman again.

  “That was powerful. Normally I’d have to do that three times to change back. At least I would have before. So… Now that we’re so close, tell me, why do you look like a more attractive version of my guy form?”

  “That… I don’t know. I mean, I was changed by magic, on a genetic level, which is part of that, I think. I don’t know why I look like you. Kyle? People seem to like it all right. Better than my original face. Anyway… I… Are we dating now? I live in another reality, but don’t really have anyone. I’m almost certainly never going to be here. Unless I am, of course.” He didn’t know, but it was kind of complicated to explain.

  Kaitlyn just laughed.

  “Heh! I’m a line walker. There’s no way you can avoid our date nights now, is there? I can find you almost anywhere.” She stopped. “Okay, that’s actually true, but now it just sounds wrong. Um, do you want to do something else?” She pointed at him, since he was ready physically again. She seemed willing enough, and it was easier doing things with a woman he’d met twice who wasn’t biologically related to him, even if Patricia was a relative, than with any man in the world. Even one that looked like him. He also lasted longer and got to use a bit more of what he’d picked up from Doris. He’d thought that was special at the time, but it was kind of clear that a lot of people had that sort of expertise.

  Kaitlyn did at least.

  When they finished and dressed again, the lady hugged him.

  “My last boyfriend dumped me. The last serious one. I’m an Alede. We feed on sexual energy. Normally I can fill up with Eve. She’s my girlfriend. A real one, not just someone I sleep with for food.” She seemed nearly at a loss as to what to tell him, but he was able to put basic ideas together, thankfully.

  “So, Ben, when he became a vampire?”

  She nodded then.

  “That’s the one. Not that it was going to last. Most regular men don’t love the idea of their honey sleeping with more people in a day than they’ve done in their entire lives. Most of us Alede actually have to do that. So…”

  He nodded.

  “I understand. Totally. So you want to have me become your new man. For both you and Eve? That way you can do what you need each day without worry, seeking me out only for my incredible self?” He was using words that Eve had, if in a different combination. It was teasing. Playing, rather than taunting the woman over her loss.

  “Oooh. I hadn’t even been thinking that. I was just going to suggest a threesome. Maybe?”

  She seemed to be kind, rather than sincere, so Will laughed, gently.

  “Probably not. At least, you should wait for me to come here first. I’m in training. Which means right now I need to learn everything I can about this place, since later I’m going to one that is similar, but not here. To learn about line walking?”

  That got her to nod.

  “That’s not a bad idea. Probably not really needed for human Zack, since he likes everyone, but being prepared won’t hurt anything. What do you need for that? I have a bit of time. Not that much, but Roberta has been pounding everyone that’s come in for six hours. She can work the floor for one.”

  “I should learn to read. In English? That might take me a while.”

  It did, but after she sat him down in a section with colored books that had simple tales in them, in bold, simple to read print, he was able to catch on quickly enough. After he learned about how one could sing the alphabet, and that cows apparently said moo, which was false in his experience, he managed to read four, somewhat more complex texts, before a smiling man walked over to him. It was hours later. The fellow was in his mid-twenties, had golden tan skin and brown hair and eyes.

  Instead of telling him to leave, the fellow, who was in a purple shirt that looked finely made, put his hand out. Like they did back home in the woods. Will returned it without thinking. A tickling sensation ran into him then, with the man nodding after a bit, then smiling.

  “That’s probably a good plan, if you can keep up what you’ve been doing. What Eve suggested? Not just today, but in general. You need to tell fewer people about what you’re doing. We have some books that roughly cover manners and body language for this world. That will be almost identical over there. When in doubt, just start telling everyone that you’re sorry and don’t understand them. It shouldn’t really come up. They’re actually decent people, over there. Oh, I’m Zack Hartley. Demon Zack. Just so you don’t get confused. Let me get those books for you. This isn’t without cost. When you learn to travel on your own, I get to send messages with you for free.”

  Will wasn’t from there, but the man was setting himself up for haggling. Even if he didn't know it.

  “One message, or small package, to safe locations for each helpful book. If I can understand it. That only counts if I can learn how to do it at all.”

  That got him smiled at.

  “Fine. But each time you have to service a
man of my choice as well.”

  Will snorted, then shook his head.

  “I don’t think so. The books are nice, but a thing you have without much effort. Shouldn’t you be the one servicing me, when I come? That’s a bit over the value though. What would you charge for that kind of thing here?”

  A nice looking blonde woman, who looked like no one that he’d ever met, stepped in behind the man. There was a ripple in the air when she did it, her face too smooth to be real. Like Aunt Tiera, in a way, but she wasn’t like that at all.

  She just passed two books to Will.

  “More than the loan of two books you won’t need to take with you. Probably…” She stopped, reached forward and put her hand out to shake. Like the man had, even if she were a woman and not old enough looking to be in charge. Which, he was starting to understand, might not mean much. It tickled again. Like magic running up his arm, then back out.

  She nodded happily.

  “The value here of that kind of line walking work would be measured in gold, between the two of you. The loan of a book in coppers. With anyone else here, I couldn’t recommend taking a parcel between realities for less than a thousand gold coins. Even at that, you need to charge a Greater Demon far more than that. Zack here can do the work himself, after all. If he tries to send you, it’s almost certainly going to be for alternative motives. Right now though, he was trying to pressure you into giving him a better deal, using the fact that you’re slightly reticent still to engage men in sex. Less so than him however, which could give you leverage. I think you should become lovers, Willum. You need the practice and so does he. It won’t be comfortable, but you can get the Alede here to help, so it won’t be that bad for either of you.”

  He smiled then, not meaning it, but nodded.

  “For the loan of two books? We can do, well only things I understand and know about right now, or can learn of on my own. I don’t know what sort of things that a Demon might do. Or what a Demon is, to be honest.”

  The man was decent looking. So was the young lady with him. It would have been more fun if the whole thing had been about her, but it was clear that, in her own way she was trying to see to his training. So was this Zack.