Other Places 3: Detours

by P. S. Power

  Thinking about it, as he walked to stand behind the sales desk, just in case anyone needed him for anything, he realized how insane that was, and stopped it. After all, both women would, without comment, have sex with him. For that matter, he'd just left two women that would have. Given that he was a skinny, somewhat average looking guy, that wasn't too shabby, was it?

  The people in the store were varied, for all that they all kept looking at the door to the sitting room. There were two men, a young one that seemed to be about eighteen or so, and looked about like Zack did, in a lot of ways. Young, average and with dark hair. Though, to be fair, the geek with his stack of books had about forty pounds of extra muscle and really only needed a better haircut and some good clothes to change a lot of things in his life.

  Zack would look better if he did that too, but Darla had suggested he simply eat more for a while and not burn too much magic, which is what that kind of shape changing would take. Even building muscle the hard way still required that for his kind. Otherwise he'd tend to kind of stay the same, only changing slowly, over time, to meet his own expectations. That did remind him to change that though, and realize that his features were becoming more symmetrical. After all, no one really hated you for being slightly better looking than Joe Sixpack, did they?

  The other man was older. Actually, old came to mind. Clearly human, like the younger one, and also clearly hoping for his own turn in the room with one of the women. He had solid gray hair, that was, given the way the space around it rippled a little, not part of him, and teeth that were too even and white for his age. That meant either really good dental care, of false teeth. Otherwise he seemed pretty normal, including the slightly sagging middle that came from too many rich meals, and not enough time in the gym.

  That left the single woman in the place, who had rust red hair, thick black framed glasses and a twitchy demeanor that would have normally meant she was on drugs. Especially with her very thin frame. She had her arms covered, wearing a pull over shirt that was a rich purple, and while clearly a Bat shifter, not one of the two he'd ever met. She was the oldest one that he'd seen though, and looked to be in her early thirties, at a guess.

  She glanced at the sitting area suddenly, shook a bit, since she was clearly getting a bit turned on by what she was hearing, and then pretended to be more interested in him for a bit. She even walked toward him, smiling. That became a bit more legitimate, if nervous, when she got closer to the desk.

  "Hi! I heard that you might be hiring here?" She held out her hand, which was callused and hard, even though she was tiny, over all. Barely five foot and nearly as thin as he was. Her short hair looked military, but then, most shifters had to serve in their version of the armed forces, since it was how they made money, as a people. That she was willing to work with him...

  Well, when he touched her palm with his own, much softer, hand, and the palms connected, several things became clear. The first was that she was actually under orders from their brass to try and get a job there. To spy on him.

  She also didn't really realize that he was him at all, since she mentally expected a much more imposing figure, one that possibly had horns, or at least a tail. The woman, who was named Madeline Hale, was also Calley Hale's Aunt. Which wasn't that big of a stretch, since about half of all Bats were directly related to that family.

  The last piece of information that Zack picked up was that she kind of wanted to have sex with him. Or one of the other men in the store. She would have settled for one of the Alede though, if need be, even if they were clearly women at the moment. Bats, as a rule, weren't picky that way.

  So he smiled.

  "We pay ten dollars an hour, under the table. You get two weeks off per year, and the chance to win wonderful prizes regularly, like node travel, if you have the highest sales each month. You can report back to your superiors, but if you have something really juicy, I expect you to let me know what it is first. Is that agreeable?" He smiled, and let her have her hand back, which was nearly yanked from his, though she hesitated a second later. It was just a response to his statement about her bosses, he thought.

  Not even her being a massive anti-Demon bigot. Which, of course, she was. They all were. Even the people that liked him. It was a thing he'd been starting to pick up on, trying to read everyone like he had been. It took a lot of work, but did give him more information than he would have had otherwise.

  She tilted her head cutely. Or at least it would have been that, if she could have held the move for about two seconds longer. Instead she managed to turn it into a nearly spastic twitch. It looked more drugged than anything else. That wasn't true thankfully. The woman in front of him didn't even drink coffee.

  "Um." She looked at him as if that would be enough of a statement to get a job.

  "I'll let you off the hook this time. I'm Zack Hartley, the Line Walker. Yes, I know that you were sent in to spy. I don't care, since everything I'm doing is above board right now. So, you're in!" He tried to seem happy about it, since, really, he kind of was. She was exotic, after all, and wasn't another Alede. It would help cut the unrealistically good looks of his staff by a good bit, which would be nice, he thought.

  Though he did wait, wandering what the woman would manage to bring to the conversation. Hopefully it would be something, since otherwise this was about to get awkward.

  She blushed, and then stammered at him a bit. It really wasn't the best interviewing technique, but he'd already told her she had the job, hadn't he?

  "You're the Line Walker?"

  "Why don't you try that without sounding doubtful?" He grinned at her and shook his head a bit. "But yes, that's me. I'm also a friend of your niece, Calley? Can you be back in today at four, for orientation? We have a team coming in. You'll have to work with a lot of different people though, so be ready for that. Mages, Alede, maybe even Humans. Is that all right? I notice that you're a bit scared of Greater Demons, but don't let that part worry you. Not with me." He made a face, and then sighed, which took some acting. "Now if you meet any others of my kind here, I suggest trying to stay away from them as much as possible. It can happen, since I know a few, and they might drop by. If a fight breaks out..." He shrugged.

  Then he left a long pause, since the younger man was actually coming up to the front, with a stack of books. It wasn't a huge stack, but he had four of them, and it would be the first sale, as far as Zack knew.

  "Well, if that happens, then run, obviously. You just work here."

  "May I help you with that?" Zack smiled professionally, and rang the man up. He was clearly a bit disappointed to have missed either of the really good looking women that had been there when he walked in. It was plain from the way that he kept staring at the door to the sitting room.

  Zack waved at it, after taking his money.

  "They'll be out in a bit. You should wait. Maybe get a drink or something to eat at the cafe? It will be worth your time." He didn't say why, but the kid wouldn't have believed him anyway.

  "I... guess." It sounded nearly defeated, but Zack could relate to that. There had been a long time when he hadn't been able to get with a woman at all, himself.

  Mirror Him sighed loudly, his reflections showing in the polished marble of the counter top as Zack put the books into a nice, very heavy, paper bag with handles made of twine. The shop's name was printed on the side.

  'Damn, you could at least screw them first, you know? Well, at least you have the Bat-girl here. That's good thinking. As far as I can tell, her kind doesn't say no. I bet you could nail her in the back room, if you wanted. I mean, right now. Probably in the ass. I bet she's freaky in bed. Or on the floor. Or the desk top... Or, you know, has a nice male relative for you, given how you swing both ways now. I was kidding, before, you know. Are you really going to make us do that Vampire? I mean, I get it, but I'm not much for the man parts, you know?'

  He smiled and nodded. After all, it was MH that had kept calling him gay for years. Anytime he couldn't get a woman
in fact. It would serve him right, having to service Marissa, just for being so homophobic.

  'That's not fair, Zack. I just didn't want you to become some kind of little girl, that's all. Why don't you score with that nice Lenore again? Or, I don't know, go and make nice with Lisa? I bet you can wear her down and get some trim there, if you want a challenge. Maybe along with your new Bat friend here?'

  Zack didn't answer, just watching the back of the young man who was headed toward the cafe. There were still people back there, two of them, but they seemed to be actually drinking coffee and looking at books. Madeline swallowed nervously and twitched at him, but then turned to look at the door where Kait was coming out, along with a man that looked like he could be her dad. At least the man seemed a bit ashamed of himself. She wasn't underage, but he was pushing fifty, at least, and looked it.

  He also had a wedding ring on. He could have put that in a pocket, Zack thought, if nothing else.

  Waving got them to both come over, the man looking like he expected to be arrested at any moment. Normally Zack would have been too embarrassed, given the fact that his friend had just been having sex with the man, but since she sort of needed to do that kind of thing, and he could kill off all feelings that didn't serve him at the moment, he did.

  Then he looked at the man and gave a single slow nod.

  "You might want to look at our bestsellers section. If you plan to be a regular here, I mean." They weren't selling sex, after all, but seriously, the man would be back. It had to be far too tempting for him not to be. "Kaitlyn, this is Madeline, she's going to be working with you. Later though. Right now, I think that young man in the back was trying to get your attention?" Or at least some female company. How Kait handled that was her business.

  The man she'd been with blushed again, but she patted him on the back and rushed off to see to the new man, as if it were perfectly normal. Madeline just stood for a few seconds, waiting for something. Reviewing, Zack wondered if he'd missed anything, and realized that he sort of had. He hadn't gotten the woman to write down any of her contact information. Not that he didn't know it already. He was about to scramble for a job application form, when she turned and left, looking back at him strangely.

  She'd be around at four, so he didn't worry. It was part of her job. Both of them, now. Really, she was probably going to go and report to Catherine Peterson, at her people's embassy. It was right next door, so they could listen in anyway. At least the Bat shifters could.

  Claudia came back out, and her friend turned out to be a woman, surprisingly enough. A slightly overweight one, who seemed a bit flushed and moist. They got waved over and extorted too, with a suggestion that the Alede succubus see to the older man that was waiting for attention from the helpful staff. The woman looked at it happening, and shook her head a little.

  "She's so lovely. Maybe next time we could all do something?" That was said with a bit of a downcast look, and without confidence at all. In fact it was so shy seeming that it was pretty clear the woman in front of him would have had sex with almost anyone that was willing to give her attention, he was willing to bet.

  Zack smiled.

  "Well, I can't promise anything, since she works for me here and that might be inappropriate, but we could go out?" It was a total change in what was on the table, but the woman, who was heavyset, busty and a bit heavy of feature through the face, which meant not that good looking, actually beamed at him, as if he'd said the right thing for once.

  "That would be nice. Claudia said I should ask people here, if, you know, they wanted to do things. I thought she just meant for..." There was a much brighter bit of flushing then and not all of it was due to embarrassment.

  He nodded.

  "Yeah, that too, for a lot of them. Not all, but asking probably won't be a problem for anyone. Still, remember to shop too. And actually read the books, or what's the point in having them, right?"

  That got a giggle, as if it were both a joke and actually funny, even if it was neither one, and the woman faded off, without even getting his number or anything. That probably meant she was too content, sexually, at the moment to be bothered with him. Not once assured that she might have a chance with someone else there.

  The rest of the morning went a bit like that, with his two Alede being busy enough that he had to buy time for them to shower in the break room. He was planning to use the one at home for that, if he could, because it made sense, having a house. It made a lot more sense suddenly as to why they'd wanted one put in there though. It wasn't until noon that he managed to get Kaitlyn and Claudia out at the same time.

  They both seemed...

  Really happy. Almost as if they were on drugs. Sexy, sexy drugs.

  "Lunch time, at least for me. We have people coming in at four and I have a pick-up and delivery to the Ettarian lands for that. New co-workers coming in for orientation. I want you both around for that, if possible, so make sure to time things correctly. Also, can one of you, at least, make sure to hold here for a bit? I'm going to have to eat in my office, so that I don't scare anyone." He watched both women, but Kait reached out and touched his arm gently. Just on the sleeve of his black sweater.

  "We can do that. This is... A great first day. I wasn't even sure that we'd have sales, much less friends already. We'll make sure we're around for work too. We might want to bulk up the staff, at this rate." She seemed pleased enough with that, and gave him a look that seemed to indicate she was ready for a lot more of what she'd been doing, earlier.

  Instead she got to run his lunch order back to Palma, who at least had some things ready for him. It was all very good, though off the menu of the Cafe, since it was only the first day and she'd flat out told him that she wanted to test some things out. Eating it all took about half an hour, and there was a lot more cramming of food into his face than he was comfortable with. On the good side, he wasn't hungry by the time he was done at all. He normally was and would be again soon, but it was like he was starting to catch up just a bit. Finally.

  He went over to the shower area for a quick clean up, to find Claudia standing there nude, with a bit of glistening going down her thighs. She was, like all her kind, very attractive, but he managed to ignore her long enough to wash his hands and face. He'd managed, mainly by consuming the food so fast it couldn't fall on his front, to keep himself decently clean that way, but he still felt better after he got done. The succubus cocked her hips at him, pushing her pubic hair, which was red, he noticed, in his direction.

  "Want a quickie?"

  Zack was tempted, of course. It was what her kind did, after all. Not that having sex with him would do a lot for her. He wasn't food after all. He shook his head a little sadly, since it really would cause problems, with Kaitlyn, if he did that.

  "Thanks, but I need to get back to work right now. Are you liking things so far?"

  "Oh... It's not so bad. For a first day. Better than a woman's clothing store. At this rate we really are going to need to cycle the others through here. Especially if you're staying open all night. I have a few people lined up for that, but not for a few days. Is that all right? I probably won't need to sleep, if you need me here?"

  He shrugged.

  "I don't really know. Can I have you on call? I kind of think that nighttime will be my daily rush, really. So, it would be good to have someone around to actually man the store part of things. Palma gets nights off too, so we need someone to work in there. I can cook a little, but I've never done that kind of work. Well, it's a learning process, right?"

  She smiled and turned back toward the shower, which didn't have a door on it, since the Alede all liked space, more than privacy. She started to wash again, a bit of steam coming from the red tile of the floor. Her pale behind was...

  Zack smiled and left, before he got too interested. He really needed to get with his girlfriend, if things like that were going to keep happening.

  'Or, you know, bang those hot chicks that work for you? They're freaking succubi,
and you're their boss. If you don't do them each half a dozen times a week, they probably won't feel loved. I do agree, you should bang Kaitlyn there first. Or Kyle, since I know how you love the cock.' Then, almost as if he realized it was a mistake, MH, for about the tenth time in fifteen years, actually shut up.

  That was smart, since Kyle, who was Kait's male form, was more than willing to oblige, and Zack, even though not into guys as a rule, could make himself interested, just to spite his alter ego, if he had to, now. Really, he'd probably do that anyway, just to make sure he wasn't all hung up about sex. It was hard to remember that being a Greater Demon meant he didn't have the same rules to play by as other people. He didn't even have to be a guy, if he didn't want to. Or at least that was a thing that he'd seen other Greater Demons manage to pull off. One of them at least.

  His father.

  He'd gotten close by pretending to be an Alede, and actually pulled it off so well that her own family hadn't known there was a difference. Judy Swan. Kaitlyn's Grandmother, even though half the time she went by Fargo, which was, he knew now, not an uncommon thing for Alede to do. They all had about a half dozen different identities lined up, since they lived a lot longer than Humans, and didn't age really. He'd noticed the name change at the time, but had met Valerie and Kait as Fargo, then Swanson.

  It was strange and weird, but Hiram was Jennifer's Uncle and had the same last name, even though his sister was the girl's mom. That was a matrilineal thing, Zack knew. Lisa had explained it to him, once upon a time.

  Thinking of her was too hard, at the moment, so he didn't and just worked the store again, running back to make certain his chef was taken care of and happy, which she seemed to really be, and then selling things to people that he subtly blackmailed into it, after they had sex. It was mainly older men, but some younger ones and a few women. He kind of thought that they were stealing customers from the plus sized women's clothing store across the way, in those cases. Hopefully not in a territory invading way.