by P. S. Power
It was a thing to try doing again.
“That’s always the rule, isn’t it? We should save people suffering and hardship, if we can. If we can’t… Well, then we have to do what we think of as right and hope that it’s enough. It probably won’t be, but hey, that’s up to history, not the little people like you and me.”
Tomas giggled then. It didn’t sound well balanced totally, but it wasn’t unkind.
“Do you truly believe that you’re one of the little people in this world, Gwen Farris? You’re probably the closest thing this land has to a true hero right now! As it stands I’m planning to pair you up with Omegon in his next adventure, just to improve his credibility. Perhaps on an airship? Or is that too close to the mark, do you think?” He waved for her to head toward a door to the left. There was something slightly playful in his voice then. “Of course, I need to find the author of your other book, to make certain they don’t have a legal claim to the character. I haven’t found them so far, though I have to admit I haven’t tried that hard. Have you had any luck?”
Gwen shook her head, then started to unzip the front of her jumpsuit. She had on underwear and a light shift under that. She thought that was what the non-stretchy t-shirt thing was called. They were in a matching light pink color, which distracted the man from the fact that she needed to shave her legs soon. Instead of feeling uneasy, she shrugged.
“Not yet. It won’t take long if I want to get to it. I’ll do that later? After we finish having fun here.”
That part was fun and used up all the hot water. When they got out over an hour and a half later, Gwen felt both clean and ready to see about some things. It meant leaving her boyfriend behind, but he had some things to get ready for, as well as ideas to write down, for the books.
“I’m… I need to get back to Park Street, before everyone figures out where I’m staying. I guess this is kind of improper? Hanging out with you like this?” She didn’t really care that much. It was all about trying to make certain she had the right rules working in her head. That part actually felt incorrect to her, she realized. Like it was no one’s business what she and Tom got up to in private. The only people disagreeing were an entire kingdom.
The man, looking fresh and ready to face the world, nodded.
“Oh, right! That could be an issue. I’d forgotten about that part, to be honest. I don’t suppose that you’d be interested in marrying me? I know that I’m not that great of a catch, being insane and fantasy prone as I am… But I have some businesses and income. A few houses and a title? I hear some women like that sort of thing?” He didn’t seem all that shy about it all, though it was clear he didn’t think her answer would be yes.
Which was odd.
The man was nearly perfect after all. Interesting and willing to be a bit flexible as far as what was real, or could be. That was pretty much a thing that was going to be needed if he were going to be hooked up with her for any length of time.
“Um… Sure? Yes? That sounds-” She stopped talking then, her voice muffled by a giant kiss. That was better than it had been before. Just a bit of practice let them both work out what felt nice, or at least it seemed to be working that way.
She did it back, since it was all about being a partner. Even Gwen got that part.
Tomas grinned, his eyes shining happily.
“Wonderful! We should do that next week? Before you wake up and realize that you can do a lot better than me. I’ll have my man, Smithers, get a wedding hall prepared?”
She tilted her head, then tilted it back and forth a few times.
“Three months? We have that training first. Also, if I try going too fast, Ethyl will probably disown me. Trust me, I’m not going anywhere. You’re certain about this? You don’t have to marry the first girl that comes along. Not that I’ll stop you from having some fun with the second one either…”
That got him to shake his head.
“No, Gwen. I know what I’m asking. You’re the right one.”
He looked deeply into her eyes, his brown to her own light chocolate.
“All right then. Let’s do it?”
That meant going to Park Street for her, even if Tomas had other things to do. What that was exactly she didn’t know, not asking for the specifics. It was important for people to have their privacy, after all. At least she thought that was one of the big relationship things. It was funny, but she kind of had a clue this time, as to what to do.
After all, she’d been engaged before.
The first thing was to bug Ethyl and Robert over the matter. Then Bethany and Heather. After that she really needed to find whoever was putting out those comics about her. It was one thing to suggest she was into girls when she was single. Another to say that when she was about to get married to a man. They’d at least need to rework the things so she was doing both. Otherwise their comic was going to seem stupid.
In the end, she decided to see about that one first. Starting by looking at the company name on the back of the book. It was something called SimColored Press. She blinked at the name, not being an idiot. Not most of the time. SimStyl was a magazine that exposed people as being gay. Sometimes even if they weren’t. The thing there was that Gwen knew the person behind that, or at least one of them. Deborah Winslow. Charles the super butler’s younger sister.
She wasn’t a horrible person, but back in the day she and Katherine had been an item for a while. Before the woman had been dumped for several other people, including Erin Debussey. Kat would have been much better off sticking with Debbie when it came down to it. Even being homosexual in a world with almost no place for that kind of thing was better than trying to destroy it all and bring in the most horrible things in existence.
Thanks to her new tricks, Gwen was outside of a rather plain looking apartment building not five minutes later. Dressed up for visiting, complete with makeup on. Not a lot of it, but enough to work with, as a starting point. She’d have to get better at it, she decided. If she didn’t want Tomas to change his mind on her. That didn’t seem likely, but that wasn’t the only factor for her.
It felt it. That was just her though. A life of being alone had warped her, turning her into something that was more designed to be on her own than anything else. Now, slowly, Gwen was being hammered by kindness and the love of others into something different. A person, or something like it. Not that she hadn’t been that before, but now…
Now the world was different.
There was a list of who lived in which place outside the main door, so she worked out that Deborah was near the back, on the third floor. Living with a Yoko Winslow, if the listing was correct. Given everything that probably meant that they were a couple. If so, it was a good thing. Even if they couldn’t be married there.
The walk up was easy enough, since she wasn’t running it. That reminded her to do that later, if she got a chance. The last few weeks had been short on exercise that way. If you didn’t do it for long enough you lost what had been worked for.
Knocking got a response, with a rather cute seeming round faced woman answering the door.
“Hello?” She smiled prettily enough. Her dark hair was short, black and her features were more Asian than not. In all she seemed nice so far.
“Hi! Is Deborah in? I’m Gwen. Gwen Farris? I’ve come to berate her a bit. About that graphic novel series of hers?”
The woman clearly knew what she was going on about, from the look on her face. She seemed a bit worried for some reason. Guilty, in her own right.
“Deb? A, ah, Miss Farris is here?” She let her eyebrows go very high then. Which reminded Gwen that she knew who this lady was. From television, of all places. The age was a bit off, by about fifty years, but as Deborah bustled into the room, wearing a business suit, if the lady’s version with a skirt and heavy gray material that was only a bit shiny, the whole thing clicked into place.
“Gwen? I… wasn’t expecting you.” Her voice was a bit diffident.
As if she really hadn’t. If so, then
she wasn’t paying much attention at all to who and what Gwen Farris was.
“Oh? I just came to let you know that I’m getting married. In three months? You might want to make your books about me match that. Is Miss Ono here the artist on that? If so, you do good work.” Not that she knew that the names would match up. It was weird, seeing her there, but if the world had a version of her, Heather Westmorland, then why not a famous artist.
The other woman smiled, or tried to.
“Yes? It seems that you’ve already done the footwork, if you know my family name. It was my idea… I… Hope it hasn’t made things too difficult for you? You were gone, or we…” Her voice didn’t even hold a trace of an accent, unless it was the slightly British sounding one that everyone in the Western Kingdom seemed to hold to her ear.
Gwen smiled.
“A bit. Anyway, I just thought that you might want to address that part? Also, you’re both coming, right? Tomas will want to meet you both, I’m sure.”
Deborah made a face then and sighed.
“Well, thus ends that experiment, eh? It was a good run, for a book of that sort. Time to call an end to it. Now, Tomas? Charles didn’t mention a new man in your life. Here I’d thought that we were getting along so splendidly, too. He did get in touch to let me know you were back before it hit the media, for instance. Now that I think of it, that was probably his warning to me to stop the book series. Oops?”
She did not seem repentant. It was a trait of hers, as far as Gwen knew.
“Well, you know. Besides, I get to move over to the Omegon graphic novels now. I think it’s going to be very patriotic. Fighting in the war against the Europans?”
Deborah flipped both palms, but Yoko when wide eyed and seemed hopeful.
“Truly? That’s amazing! I wish I could work on something like that. I don’t suppose you have a way to introduce me to the publisher? I can send my portfolio along, if you can?”
Gwen nodded, since she knew that Tomas was going to be busy soon. If they were going to keep up a steady flow of books, having others work on them was going to be a good idea. Maybe even a great one.
“That… I can ask? Can I get back with you on that in the next few days? It seems likely to me.”
The woman nodded, then ran away. Deborah just smiled, standing there at their front door.
“So. Getting married. Do you think it will take this time? Is he nice at least? I mean, if you have to have a man, he can at least be the right one. Nothing against Duke Aubrey, but everyone could tell he wasn’t the correct person for you. I could at least. It was in all the gossip magazines. I know, because I put most of the information out there for them. This Tomas… you didn’t give a last name?”
Gwen smiled then.
“Tomas Harrison? He’s a Baron. Not that I care about that. He also publishes the Omegon Comics. That part is a secret, I think? So that his hobbies won’t tarnish the family name? Sit on that part, will you? Otherwise I’ll…” Gwen shrugged then, her mind working hard for a few moments. “Otherwise I’ll provide the world with pictures showing you entertaining men at an orgy. Well-endowed ones, taking you in each hole.”
That got a shocked laugh from the older lady. She was in her mid-forties, Gwen thought.
“I’ve never done that!”
Gwen winked at her.
“I’m from another world, Deborah. You’d be surprised what I can do, if I set my mind to it. Not that I’m really threatening you, but I can actually do that, if my hand is forced.” She was proud of herself, having resisted the urge to threaten violence. “That one would nearly be fair, after all that you and Yoko have been doing to my name for all this time.”
It really was, which it seemed that both women understood. The other woman hadn’t been kidding about the idea that Gwen should take her portfolio. Not just copies of it either, but her actual physical work. Half was in a large tube that was made of sturdy paper. The rest in a leather binder. She just handed them over, without asking a single question. Not even suggesting that she wanted the things back.
Gwen nodded, seeing the trust implied.
“I’ll get these back in a day or so? Regardless of the outcome. Now… I’ll deliver these? Thanks, by the way.”
Deborah rolled her eyes.
“For presenting you to the world as something you aren’t?”
Gwen shrugged then, flipping her left hand.
“No. For letting me help change a broken part of this world. Hopefully toward something better? That was the idea, right? Not just making it seem like I know how to be kinky like that?”
They both looked at her funny, which she didn’t get, until the small dark haired woman spoke.
“Kinky? I don’t know that word…” She looked at Deborah, who shook her head, clearly not having that one either.
Gwen sighed.
“You know, weird sex stuff? I’m not all that experienced. Well, anyway, I’ll set some things up and get back to you as soon as possible, Yoko. In a few days. We won’t leave you hanging.”
Then, not bothering to walk away, she vanished in front of them. It wasn’t like her ability to do that was a secret at all. Not now.
That meant going back to Tomas, who she found in a room, speaking to a man she didn’t know, his voice pleasant.
“Three months from now. I need to get the specific day… I…” He looked around, his left hand on the sphere in front of him, since the telestator needed that to stay on. He lit up when she got there.
“Gwen! I need a specific day for the hall? Is that…” He tapered off, but she nodded, naming a number, which was just the twenty-second. He did the rest.
“Got that, Smithers?”
“I do, sir! This is wonderful news. I’ll post the announcements. We need to contract a wedding planner… Or, does Miss Farris have one?”
She blinked, then nodded, making a happy face.
“Honestly, I might know someone. I have to ask, of course, but Agatha Longbranch might want to help. Also Ethyl. Vernor. She’s… More or less my mom.” They helped the last time if nothing else. Even Kat had, come to think of it. She was better at that kind of thing than Gwen was.
Fear ripped through her for a moment, but she didn’t let it get to her. She always had fear now, as a constant companion. Instead of making her weaker, it had inured her to that kind of thing to a good extent. Gwen moved forward and touched her boyfriend, her fiancé, on the shoulder.
He leaned into her hand a bit, which was nice. Reassuring. Better than she would have thought she could ever have.
The call ended a few moments later, so she was able to pass the portfolio along. Being an artist himself, Tomas nodded in understanding, sat and started to flip through the book first. He said nothing, just staring at each page closely. Then he did the same with the things in the tube.
“These are rather good. The style reminds me of the art in the Gwen Farris Investigations. That would be down to the nudes, most like. I take it you found the man?”
That got her to chuckle.
“Eh. Woman. Women, actually. Deborah Winslow, from SimStyl magazine? Also her girlfriend Yoko. Still, they decided to give up the other comic, since I’m marrying and that might be harder to explain. I was thinking that, if she’s good enough, you might consider bringing Yoko on to Omegon? I don’t know if she can copy the style, but if you’re going to be busy, we need someone to keep the issues coming out regularly.” Especially if they were going to be turning the character into a patriotic symbol.
She grinned.
“Ooooh! We can bring in a Westmorland character too! Call him Captain West, or something like that?”
It was a joke, but Tomas tilted his head, not smiling.
“Ummm. Possibly? Let me meet a few first? That might be… I can see it. Though we might want a second book for that? A whole line of the things, if we can hire the right people for it. If… Are you certain it isn’t too juvenile for you? I have a lot of stories to tell.”
Gwen smiled
and kissed him.
“I love the idea. Especially if we’re supporting the war effort. Now, I have to run out again. I still haven’t told the Vernors. Or Beth. That… She’s my best friend, you know? Not like in the books, but… When I didn’t have anyone, or even a world, she was the one that stood by me. Only…” Gwen shook her head, then smiled. “Only that isn’t all of it. They all did. Beth, Heather, even Billy and Adam. The Vernors, Charles…”
It was almost like she knew people.
“Now you. I… It feels weird, having all those people. Ones that aren’t going to all just leave me, or decide that I’m not good enough.” It sounded a bit weak, but got her a hug, instead of called names.
“You have a whole world here, Miss Farris. We’re not perfect, but we are yours. All of us, I don’t doubt.”
They cuddled for a long while, then did some things that should have made her blush, but didn’t.
Then she went to tell everyone the good news.
Saving Bethany for the last batch of the day.
When she got there, to the little house that her friend shared with her own husband, Gwen waited at the door, knocking politely.
It took a bit for someone to come, but when it happened it was her oldest friend in any world. Looking a bit plump for Beth. Healthy and not fat really. She was showing a bit, the bump high on her stomach, pushing her uniform top out a little. That was telling, since no one else in the world was going to let the woman do anything as basic as real work.
Gwen went wide eyed at the blue outfit, then winked.
“Finally get tired of sitting around? I knew that was coming. Beth Westmorland has no training in how to be lazy. You know, you should come and do my show soon. Have you heard about that one?”
She was hugged, then held as the other woman chuckled a little bit.
“Heard about it? I’ve listened to every minute of it. It’s one of the most popular new things on.”
She wrinkled her brow feeling a bit off.
“Uh, how? It’s only a little local WGN show.” Not that anyone had told her that part, but it made sense to her. She was new. That was how things like that worked.