Tag: Medusa

Stone Sisters 2: Date Night

March 27th, 2021

[I recommend reading the original Stone Sisters before this one! Link]

“You want me to wear that, Tera? Again?”
“Like I said, Cleo. I paid a lot for these! I gotta get my money out of them!” Cleo frowned at Tera. She held the two matching leather jackets in her hands, “They’re our good luck charms!” The gargoyle explained, “They got us these dates and they’ll carry us through these ones too!” Both jackets on the back said ‘Stone Sisters’ in big letters with ‘Here to kick ass and make the bed rock!’ under it.
“But I wanted to dress nice,” The medusa whined as she gestured to her casual ribbed knitted black dress with a matching cardigan.
“Just take that coat off and wear this one! You don’t have to wear the necklace or shades this time,” She flapped her wings excitedly, “Come on. You’ll see. Those guys think we look good in them!”
“Yeah… They did like them,” Cleo remembered how she blushed when Luke had complimented her on it. He said he thought she looked good in it when the four of them had all gotten drinks together. The tip of her long, light grey snake body thumped against the floor as the serpents on the top of her head writhed in a similarly anxious fashion, “Fine,” She took the cardigan off and threw it aside before taking her leather jacket from her friend.
Tera’s short tail and powerful wings both twitched with excitement, “Now we’re talking!” She brushed her short black hair out of her face.
Cleo posed in the jacket for herself in the mirror. It did look good on her. At least she liked to believe that. She finished her look with some silver earrings on her pointed ears and a black bow on one of the snakes that made up her hair, “What do you plan on wearing?”
“Just this,” She gestured down to her loose white shirt and form fitting black bike shorts. She threw on the jacket, making sure her leathery wings made it through their holes in the back.
“Really? You always wear that.”
Tera’s concrete colored face turned red, “Luke said I looked good in them!” She huffed, remembering how her date for tonight had complimented her when they had all four gone out for drinks, “So I’m gonna keep wearing it!”
“Fine,” Cleo smirked, “Lemme text Trevor again, just to make sure we’re still on.”
“You’ve texted him like five times already,” Tera shook her head, “But go ahead.”

Trevor sat up straight as his phone buzzed and a jingle played. He quickly paused Soul Calibur and snatched up his phone, disrupting Luke mid combo, “Bro. Is that Cleo again?” Luke grunted.
“Yeah. No one else texts me, I kinda like it,” Trevor chuckled as he started to type in a reply, “She’s asking if we’re still on for tonight.”
“Again? She asked an hour ago.”
“She’s just nervous. It's kinda cute,” Trevor admitted as he gave Cleo a friendly text that surmounted to ‘yeah, we’re still good’ with a few smiling emojis.
“You like her already, huh?” Luke teased.
Trevor quickly got defensive “What about you and Tera? You were practically salivating at those shorts she wears!”
“N-no!” He shot back, hardly keeping his voice from cracking, “I just liked the outfit she had on. I caught you staring at that medusa’s hair!”
“I was just being nice and complimenting her! I read that some echidnas and especially medusas get self conscious over it so I made sure to tell her that I liked what she did with them. I also happen to like the bow she puts on them and I think those matching jackets they wear look nice.”
“Whatever,” Luke sighed, “Unpause so I can kick your shit in.”
Trevor nodded. He wanted to finish getting ready but he at least could do his best friend the courtesy of finishing their match. He frowned as he watched his friend’s Nightmare obliterate Raphael, “Alright, I need to finish getting ready,” He put his controller down and started to make for his room.
“Should we try to match like they do?” Luke asked sarcastically.
“What are you, an alp? No. I’m just gonna throw on a button up and some casual slacks.”
“Really? You want the IT guy look?”
“Cleo said she liked it on me!” Trevor quickly explained. He recalled how the medusa told him she liked the button ups he wore when the four of them had gone out for drinks. A smile spread on his lips as he thought about it, “What about you?”
“Eh, just a hoodie and some jeans. We’re just going to a movie and Tera made a nice remark about me looking good in a loose hoodie,” Luke tried to think back on when the four of them got drinks together, but struggled to remember the details, “At least I think so. Maybe she made a comment about my hair?”
“Whatever, man,” Trevor smirked, “Put some deodorant on. Don’t forget this time.”
Luke scowled, happy that he hadn’t gone easy on Trevor, “I don’t need you to remind me!”
“Then go put it on! We’re leaving soon!”

Luke gripped the steering wheel as he turned onto his date’s street. Trevor rode shotgun, his hands gripping his knees. The car coasted slowly as it rode behind a horse drawn carriage, “Dammit,” Trevor grit his teeth as he glanced out at the houses and buildings around him.
“What’s up?” Lukr anxiously chuckled to himself as he rode toward the girls’ apartment building.
“You think Cleo likes me? Like, Tera seems to like you, maybe that medusa is just doing these double dates to hang out with her friend and just tolerating me.”
“I think she’s too nice to do that to you. Why would you believe that?”
“Well… when we got drinks, she wasn’t really looking at me. I complimented her on her hair-- snakes-- whatever it is! Then she was quiet for a little while.”
“You’re overthinking it! I know you’re nervous, shit, I am too! This date’s just us taking them to the movies. Easy. Just buy her some candy or share some popcorn and you’ll make her happy.”
Trevor gave his friend a little smile, “Right. T-There it is…” He nodded at the apartment complex.

“I’m not sure Trevor likes me,” Cleo sighed as she and her best friend exited their apartment. The sun was high in the sky with very few clouds around it. She quickly put on her shades as the sunlight felt more extreme to her than most others, “Do you think he’s actually interested? I feel like he’s just being nice to hang out with his friend without wanting to make me feel bad.”
Tera glanced at her friend, “He doesn’t seem like the kind of guy to lead you on like that.”
“Well, probably not… but…”
“Stop being so worried! Look, they’re here,” The gargoyle pointed to her date’s car and stomped toward it. Cleo sighed to herself and slithered across the ground after her, “Hey boys~!”
“Hey!” Luke called back after rolling the window down. He took a moment to find somewhere to park.
“You boys ready to ROCK tonight!?”
“You know it!”
The medusa watched her friend banter with her date while her own fidgeted nervously in the passenger seat, “Look,” Tera grabbed Cleo’s arm and spoke in a hushed whisper, “I’m nervous too. Just relax. We’re just gonna go watch a movie with them. Maybe he’ll try to kiss you too! I know you’d love that.”
Cleo’s face turned bright red as she playfully shoved her friend, “Don’t say that! He’s not going to do that!”
Tera laughed, “Come on! I’ll make sure your whole tail gets in,” The gargoyle threw the car door open and watched her friend slide across the seats and sit behind the driver. Cleo and Trevor made eye contact for a few moments, making both freeze. Anxious smiles spread across their lips before the eye contact broke just as awkwardly. The medusa’s body was pulled under her, trying to leave enough room for her friend.
“How are you ladies today?” Luke asked as he waited for the pair to put their seatbelts on.
“Good!” Tera replied for the two of them, “Just been waiting to hang out with you guys.”
“Yeah, same with us,” He laughed to himself, “Does anyone have any idea what movies are playing?”
The entire vehicle went silent, “N-no,” Cleo squeaked as she wrung her hands nervously. Her serpents also writhed in discomfort.
“I thought you two would pick one for us,” Tera grumbled a little sheepishly.
“I… well…” Trevor folded his arms, “I didn’t look either. I thought I’d let them pick.”
“Dammit,” Luke growled to himself.
“We can just pick when we get there,” Cleo suggested, “I’m sure there will be something we want to watch.”
“Right,” Tera smirked, “If not, we can just go to the mall and goof around.”
“Fine by me,” Trevor leaned back in his seat and tried to relax. He turned up the radio and let the somewhat soothing sounds of Electric Light Orchestra wash over him.
“Wow, gramps,” Tera teased, “Is this what you listen to?”
“Yeah, Trevor listens to that dad-core stuff,” Luke chimed in, “Led, Blue Oyster Cult, Dio, all that kinda music.”
“Dad-core?” The gargoyle repeated with a laugh and even her medusa friend giggled as well, “Where do you two come up with this stuff?”
“I’ve always called it that,” Trevor shrugged, “It’s the good stuff. There’s way too many love songs in the post mamano genres.”
“Well, most girls do have boys and their cocks on their minds at all times,” Tera reminded him, “But it’s all real catchy.”
“Very catchy,” Cleo sighed, “Did you hear that new Amanda Dawn album? It’s full of sweet love songs.”
“Amanda Dawn…” Trevor repeated the name to himself, “Doesn’t she actually live in town?”
“She’s been spotted at Morrigan’s salon before and I think Kimiko mentioned meeting her once,” Tera pointed out.
“She wrote a song about that burger place just down the street from the Monster Mart, didn’t she?” Luke grunted, “Or at least that’s the story I see the internet repeat.”
“Oh! I know that story!” Cleo’s eyes sparkled as she thought about it, “I think Fíon told me. Amanda apparently had a burger in that restaurant that was so good that she completely lost her disguise! She got swarmed by fans! Just like in the song!”
Trevor chuckled and glanced back at her, “Sounds a little far fetched to me,” The medusa pouted at him, sending chills down his spine as he looked into her reflective sunglasses, “Hey, there's the movie theater,” He quickly changed topics.
A close parking spot was quickly found and soon enough the group of four was staring at the posters out front, “Well…” Luke rubbed his chin, “Only five choices.”
“Makes this easy then,” Tera nodded, “‘Manticore Manor’?”
Trevor shook his head, “I’m, uh, not really keen on watching what, to me at least, surmounts to bad horror and too much gratuitous porn.”
Cleo quickly agreed with him, “That’s more of a married couple movie. What about ‘'Find Me In The Alps’ or ‘Cash and Kerry’?”
“Eugh, rom coms?” Tera stuck out her tongue.
“Yeah, gross,” Luke scoffed, “‘Way Of The Salamander’?”
“Oh! Yeah! That one’s really good!” Tera clenched all four of her hands excitedly before glancing at her friend. The medusa frowned at the mention of the movie. Cleo didn’t want to end up crying in front of her date, “But, uh, we should skip it. Maybe we can watch it if you and me do a solo thing.”
“Make that a promise and I’ll agree to skip it,” Luke smirked.
“Fine. You and I will watch it some other time. That leaves…”
“‘Monster Girl Hunter’,” Cleo read. The movie didn’t even have a poster, only its name was printed along with the other four on the billboard above the ticket booth, “Never heard of it.”
“Same here,” Tera grunted, “You don’t think it’s one of those edgy anti monster movies do you?”
“They wouldn’t risk playing that shit here,” Luke remarked, “It’s our last option. Let’s go for it.”
The others nodded, “How bad can it be?” Trevor foreshadowed with a chuckle.
Luke and Tera hurried up to the ticket booth, “Two for ‘Monster Girl Hunter’, please!” Tera managed to talk over Luke.
“Here, let me pay,” The human offered as he went for his wallet.
The gargoyle scoffed, “No way, bro. I’ve got it.”
“No, I insist.”
“I AM insisting!”
“It's the gentlemanly thing to do!” Luke argued, “Let me pay!”
“Oh, now YOU’RE an old fart stuck in your old ways!?” Tera shot back, “Times have changed, old man! I’m paying!” The teenager behind the glass considered closing the shutters and hitting the emergency button as their ‘politeness’ escalated.
As the two continued to bicker, Cleo and Trevor stood behind them awkwardly, “You… Look good,” Trevor bleated at the snake woman, “I think I said this before, but I like that jacket a lot.”
Her gaze as well as that of most of her snake hair turned to her date. She tried to hold in how much she was blushing, “T-thank you. Um. I’ll pay if you don’t mind,” The medusa offered.
Just like every other time the two spoke, Cleo wore those sunglasses keeping Trevor from seeing her eyes and never really letting him be sure what she was thinking, “Sure. I won’t fight you on it. Not like them,” He glanced at the two ‘love birds’ as Tera managed to put him into a headlock and hold him there with three arms while she paid with her fourth.
“HA!” Tera screamed as she shoved the two tickets in her date’s face, “I win again!” She stepped away from him, fanning herself with the tickets and receipt haughtily.
“Dammit,” Luke murmured, “You’re lucky you look hot in spats.”
The gargoyle turned paler than usual, “Y-you making fun of me!?”
He cringed as he realised what he had said, “You misheard me!” He slowly got up, helped by his best friend, “I said something about you being lucky and then acting like hot shit.”
Tera didn’t believe him at all, “Maybe you’d like to get up close and personal with my ‘hot shit’!?” She teasingly shouted, wanting to flaunt the compliment she had received.
"Haha, gross!" Luke gave her a shit eating grin.
She froze, realising what she had just said, “Oh my god! I meant hot spats!” She fell to her knees and covered her face with all four of her arms.
Cleo wrapped her arm around Trevor’s and pulled him out of his stupor and to the ticket booth. The teenager and everyone else around was wholly feeling second hand embarrassment, “Two please. For the same movie as them,” She requested in a deadpan voice. She gave her card to the man at the front and quickly got it back along with her tickets, “Do you need any snacks too?”
“You paid for my ticket, let me get you something there at least,” Trevor pleaded. The medusa quickly gave in and nodded.
“Hey,” Luke stood over Cleo, “Come on. You can pray for death inside.”
She stood and folded her arms. All of them. Her face was still beet red, “I… I like your hair like that. Idiot,” She huffed and put her hand in his, letting him pull her to her feet.
“Ah, sorry about that,” Luke apologized quietly.
The gargoyle pushed him away, “Yeah. Uh… do you really think that I--”
“Hey!” Trevor called, “Hurry up you two! Movie starts soon!” He took his date inside without waiting for them. They exchanged glances and shrugged, heading inside.

The four settled into their seats. Each pairing had a bucket of popcorn to share and Trevor and Cleo had gotten some candy as well. Tera frowned as she saw how little people were in the theater, “Empty, huh?” She grumbled to herself, the only other people she could see were a fox girl and her husband as well as their children up toward the front.
“They’re hardly advertising this, so it kinda makes sense,” Trevor shrugged, “But…”
“Don’t worry about it!” Cleo grinned, “I’m sure they wouldn’t play just any trash here.”
“Haha, yeah,” Luke quickly recalled the mountains of trash he had watched in this very theater even before monster girls had shown up two years ago, “Well--” He was interrupted as the cinema lights went down and the surround speakers came to life with a pleasant jingle reminding them to silence their phones.
“Shh!” Tera jabbed him with her elbow, “It’s starting!” She watched as the trailers started. First was a romance called ‘The Fly Who Loved Me,’ starring a lazy beelzebub and a somewhat dorky man. Luke thought it looked schlocky and unimpressive and Cleo made a mental note to check it out later. Next was a cursed sword harem action romance comedy starring nine cursed swords titled ‘The Cursed Blades.’ Tera thought it looked interesting enough and Trevor was annoyed by the amount of romance movies that monster girls had been farting out since they arrived in this world. They combined romance with every other genre in some strange experimental way. They at least pulled it off usually. Soon after the two long trailers, the movie seemed to actually start.

Luke struggled to keep himself awake. He felt ill because of the fast and frantic camera cuts. Tera leaned on her propped up arm as she tried to pay attention to the movie. The action scenes were few and far between and the main hero, Arthur, was some kind of incredible Gary Stu that managed to easily beat any monster girl that tried to claim him minus the time when the director’s self insert, a large red scaled dragon, came to fight him. Even when there was action, it was incredibly boring. Cleo wasn’t enjoying it as the movie lacked real romance. The director’s role as the dragon obviously liked the main human and they would probably get together at the end with a forceful sex session but they were fourty some minutes into the movie and they hadn’t kissed or even hugged once. Trevor slumped in his seat as he had realised this movie was based on a comic he had actually read and was mostly upset that the movie strayed so far from the source material in a horrible way. All four of them hated it for a mixture of all of those reasons and none had it in them to speak up to the others and say so for fear of ruining the day for everyone else.
None of the four seemed to register the sudden blaring alarms as their brains had turned to mush. Trevor was the first to notice it, shaking himself out of his stupor with a start and jumping out of his seat, "Is that the fire alarm!?"
The others only seemed to wake up as one of the children near the front row began to wail loudly at the sudden noise. They watched as the two parents quickly began to struggle with wrangling their four small children as the wife was also pregnant. The flashing lights quickly stunned Cleo due to her high sensitivity to bright lights. Luke and Tera glanced at one another before hurrying down the front row to help them corral their children. Cleo started to panic, unable to find her sunglasses, “W-where are they!?”
Trevor grabbed the medusa’s arm, “I’ll guide you, just close your eyes,” He told her over the alarm.
With a child each lifted in their arms, Luke and Tera quickly exited the theater along with their children’s parents. Trevor and Cleo were a little slower, but both managed to get out of the room and out into the sunshine of the day. The children were quickly returned to their parents before the gargoyle and her date sat down on the curb outside the theater, “Talk about a blessing,” Tera chuckled.
“Huh?” Luke smirked, “You didn’t like that movie?” He asked teasingly.
“Ugh,” She groaned, “Awful. At least those kids seemed to like it.”
“I guess so. Good job helping me with those kids, by the way,” He held out his fist for her.
“Yeah, whatever, nerd,” She fist bumped him with both hands on her side near him.
“Still upset about your slip up?”
“SHUT IT!” Tera punched him in the arm, making him laugh. She found herself laughing too.
Trevor pulled Cleo gently towards the doors as they waited for the rest of the panicked crowd to file out. He didn’t want her tail to get trampled on. Neither was too worried since they couldn’t smell any smoke. He looked at her now that they had some real light and reached up to the top of her head. She pushed herself into it as she felt his body heat near her head. He barely managed to wrench the sunglasses free from the top of her head as the writhing mass of excited snakes tried to absorb his body heat, “I found your shades,” Trevor smirked as he put the glasses in her hands.
She swiftly put them on, “Where did you find them?”
“You, uh, put them on top of your head. D-don’t look so embarrassed, I’ve done the same thing before,” He admitted.
“Thank you, Trevor,” She put her hands on his shoulders as her brain told her to kiss him on the cheek as no one was paying attention to them. She quickly chickened out and merely hugged him around the neck. He was too shocked to hug her back before she let him go and took hold of his arm, “Would you… finish leading me out?”
“Oh, right,” He chuckled nervously before locking arms with her again and leading the way. Being two of the last people out, they watched as most of the crowd went to the ticket booth for their coupon for a free ticket due to the false fire alarm. They spotted their friends sitting on the curb together, rough housing again as Luke continued to tease the gargoyle, “Hey! Luke!”
As Luke got distracted, Tera grabbed him in a head lock again, “Apologize!” She demanded.
“Never!” He croaked out.
“Fine!” She spat, keeping him in a hold, “So, you two enjoy the movie?”
Trevor and Cleo both looked at one another with frowns, “No,” Cleo decided for them.
She laughed back, “Yeah, we weren’t having much fun either,” She let Luke go as he tapped her arms a little frantically, “Next I’ll put you in a leg lock if you mouth off to me!”
Luke was panting but a grin formed as his lips curled up, “You want to leg lock me? Ha, maybe I should buy you dinner first.”
The gargoyle blushed and grit her teeth, “I meant like a head scissor lock, you damn perv!”
“Even better!” Luke got punched in the arm again, “I thought monster girls liked perverts?”
“Shaddup!”
Trevor stepped in before they turned into a slug match, “What are we going to do now?”
Cleo looked at the nearby mall, “Want to go window shopping?”
Tera and Luke glanced at each other but nodded, “There’s a pretty good sushi joint in there, wanna hit it?” Tera asked.
“Sure, but I’m paying this time,” Luke demanded.
“Ugh, you’re such a baby. Fine.”

Hours later after going their separate ways, the two girls decided to head to Tyler and Ellen’s bar to regroup. Tera held the door open for Cleo to slither into the pub, “Thank you,” Cleo smiled softly before making her way to the bar. The medusa quickly got a seat and the gargoyle joined her. Cleo sighed, “That movie date was a bust,” The air in the little pub was warm and smelled of liquor and fried foods as various groups laughed and joked in their own little corners of the bar. It was a cozy little place where people got together to have a bit of fun.
“Window shopping was a bit of fun, right?” Tera reminded her.
“Yeah, but…” She grimaced again as she took off her stylish sunglasses, “It could have been a much better day.”
“Well, at least it wasn’t your date that made himself sick with the sushi,” The gargoyle scoffed as she wrapped her wings around herself.
Cleo managed a giggle despite her distress at the date that had occurred earlier that same day, “What do you think about him?”
“Luke? Guy is a block head. A perv too. He can take a punch and a joke at least but he might be better at joking than I am... I might be in love,” She looked at the medusa, “Stop grinning like that! I just think so! What about you and Trevor?”
Cleo blushed, “W-well. He is quite sweet and a real gentleman, I feel. I had to keep myself from kissing him today when he walked me out of the theater,” She admitted sheepishly.
“You should have! Sealed the deal right there!”
“I don’t know…”
“Hey there, ladies,” Ellen stomped over to them, “You two look like you’ve had a good day,” She wiped her hands on her apron as her flaming eyes burned softly, “I take it your dates with those boys went well?”
“Well enough. Someone yanked the fire alarm at the theater,” The gargoyle explained, “Saved us from that god awful movie at least.”
“Spent another hour or two in the mall which was nice,” The medusa reached into her purse and proudly displayed a tiny red R/C car, “And he bought me this,” It was something that she might have otherwise quickly discarded into a drawer to be forgotten for years, but because Trevor had given it to her she found herself infatuated with it.
“Mine bought me sushi and got sick,” Tera grumbled.
The hellhound chuckled a deep, gravely laugh, “Well, you still sound like you had a good time, right? That’s a win in my book.”
“I suppose you’re right,” The medusa sighed as she examined the car.
“I’ll drink to that!” The gargoyle grinned, “Hit me with something hard!”
“Something fruity and light for me, please,” Cleo put her little car away.
“Comin’ right up you two,” The hellhound grinned before turning to grab some liquor for them.
“Psst!” Another voice tried to get their attention. Turning to their side, the two girls saw a small, brown haired kobold staring at them with blue eyes, “I can’t believe you didn’t come say hi to me when you got here!”
“Sorry, Daisy,” Tera sighed, “We just made a beeline right for the drinks.”
“Well come sit down! We’re just dying for more company!” Daisy insisted as she pointed back at the booth she came from. Two tall and imposing girls sat in the corner booth right next to one another as they spoke quietly. One was a hellhound and the other was a jinko.
“Here you go, ladies,” Ellen passed them their drinks, “Need another drink, Daisy?”
“Not right now, thanks! Come on you two!” The Stone Sisters hardly had a moment to pick up their drinks before the kobold tried to drag them back to her table. Quickly relenting, they went with her, “Hey, girls, look who's here!”
“Greetings,” The jinko grunted. She had an eyepatch over one eye, short hair and wore a plain black shirt and jeans.
“Wow, surprised you’re not in a kimono, Kimiko,” Tera prodded as she slid into the booth, “Hamiltons not paying as well as they used to.”
The jinko didn’t show a single twitch of anger, “No. I got a raise recently, even. I was merely told I should dress more casually. My usual look draws a lot of attention, apparently,” She took her sword off the seat next to her and put it on the table so Daisy could sit beside her, “I am struggling to get acclimated to this look.”
“Yeah, she came to ME for advice!” The hellhound laughed. She sipped on the bottle of water she had because of her swollen belly. Her pregnancy shirt said ‘CREAM PIE STATUS: BAKING.’
“Hello, Ruth,” Cleo greeted her quietly.
“Hey, hey, Cleo. Fíon, wake up, our old drinking buddies are here,” She shook the martini glass that the fairy was lounging in.
“EH? Wha--? Who the FUCK-- Oh! Hey gal pals!” The fairy got out of the glass and used a napkin to dry herself off. She was wearing a green bikini that she quickly threw a green dress over, “Why the shit do you ass hats never call me anymore?”
“They got boyfriends,” Ruth reminded her, “They’re too good for us now!”
“W-we just haven’t been going out as much,” Cleo explained sheepishly.
Tera nodded, “And when we do it's with the guys. We’ve been going to their favorite dives recently.”
“I wish I could see you guys more…” Daisy whined.
“Gone on any fuckin’ dates or are these cunts just givin’ ya the run around?” Fíon asked as she used a straw to drink whisky from a shot glass.
“We went on one today!” Tera quickly claimed, “Saw a movie and got some sushi.”
“A-and Trevor got me this,” Cleo showed off the R/C car, “Other than the fire alarm going off during the movie, it was fun.”
“Good for you,” Kimiko gave them a little smile, “Do you have another date planned?”
“Yeah! Do something romantic!” Daisy chimed in.
Fíon nodded, “Not a bad idea.”
Tera grumbled, “I dunno. What would we do?”
Ruth’s fire blazed a little brighter, “Oh! Kimiko, isn’t Maxine funding some play? She asked me if I wanted to go see it.”
“Hm? I suppose she is. I’m being forced to go along. I believe it should be premiering next week. I could get you four tickets relatively easily,” The samurai closed her one eye as she thought about it.
“Oh! That sounds great!” Daisy grinned, “I-I can’t go, unfortunately, but Maxine and Gwen will be there!”
“Ah, I wonder if Gwen will bring along the little ankle biter,” Fíon smirked.
“I would love to go!” Cleo smiled, “What do you say, Tera?”
“Shouldn’t we ask the boys?” Tera grimaced.
“Let it be a surprise! Come on!” The medusa insisted.
“Fine,” She gave in, “I’m down.”
“Give me a moment,” Kimiko excused herself from the table with her katana in one hand and her cellphone in the other. The table went quiet as everyone wet their throats as they waited anxiously for the jinko to return. Her conversation was only a few sentences long before she stomped back to the table and sat down, “Your tickets will be here soon.”
“R-really? That easy?” Tera asked in shock.
The kobold’s eyes sparkled, “Yay! Good for you guys!”
“Thank you, Kimiko,” Cleo smiled warmly.
Kimiko nodded back with her usual stoney expression, “It is nothing. Maxine requested more attendees for the play so I merely provided.”
“Yeah, now the fuckin’ illustrious Stone Sisters will be there!” Fíon’s voice oozed with sarcasm.
“Better them than me,” Ruth chuckled to herself as she thought about her and her husband suffering through the play. She wondered if her unborn child would appreciate it. Probably not, knowing the genes she was coming from.
“Wait,” Fíon turned to the jinko, “What the fuck did you mean when you said they would ‘be here soon’?”
“The Hamilton family hires their own couriers,” The samurai closed her eye as if listening to something. Everyone sitting at the table waited for her to move or speak again. Eyes turned from one person to the next as shrugs and strange looks were exchanged.
Fíon scoffed, “The hell are you--?”
“She’s here,” The jinko’s eye flew open dramatically as the front door to the pub flew open.
A single, winged woman stomped into the room, “Eve-Courier is here!” The black feathered harpy announced with a loud screech. People in the pub glanced at her then went back to their drinks and conversations, “Hi, Kimiko!” She squawked again before dashing over to her.
“NO RUNNING IN MY BAR!” Ellen barked, startling the harpy. She slowed down to a snail’s pace as she stared at the hellhound in fear.
“Eve!” Fíon shouted, “Hurry the hell up!”
As if immediately forgetting about the furious hellhound, the harpy began to trot over to her friends. She stood at attention and saluted them, “Eve-Courier is here! Delivery-item for you!” She was dressed in an all khaki uniform with a matching baseball cap on top of her messy hair. Eve reached into her leather messenger bag that read ‘HAMILTON’ on the front and produced two unmarked envelopes, “Here you go!” Tera slowly took the two envelopes.
“How’s work, Eve?” Cleo spoke.
“Good-fun! I get to fly all around town-city!” She grabbed Ruth’s water bottle without asking.
“Hey!” Ruth growled. Eve stared at her with big eyes and her mouth was just about to envelop the lip of the bottle. The hellhound relented, “Fine. Just take the bottle. I don’t care,” The harpy greedily drank the water that was ‘offered’ to her.
Kimiko cleared her throat, “You should go back, Eve. You do not want to keep the Hamiltons waiting.”
She nodded back, “Right-correct! I’m off! Bye-bye friends!” Eve skipped out of the building and back into the dimming light of the sun.
“Take good care of those tickets,” Daisy warned, “I’d hate to hear that you lost them.”
“Yeah… I’ll be careful,” Tera shoved them into Cleo’s purse.
With a grunt, Ruth adjusted herself, “Come on, enough with those faces. Get some more drinks! It’s time for smiles!”
“Yeah, that’s fuckin’ right!” The fairy grins, “Next rounds on me, fuckers!”
Smiles spread across peoples’ faces.

Two days later, Luke held the door open for the girls and Trevor. Tera leaned close to Cleo, “You’ve got the tickets, right?” They were in a restaurant that smelled like fish and pasta with a hint of alcohol.
“Of course I do!” Cleo retorted, “I’m organized,” The two gave each other excited looks
“Name an’ how many?” The young sahuagin at the front asked with a thick Bostonian accent. Cleo and Tera couldn’t quite place it. The entire restaurant was staffed by sahuagins and their husbands and sons.
“Four,” Luke raised his hand and held up four fingers, “Luke.”
“I’ll getta table ready for ya soon, go ahead an’ take a seat here,” The waitress said with a little smile.
The four friends sat down on a long bench across from another one in the small waiting area. A man sat nearby them with two plump, winged goblins, or goblettes depending on where you’re from. The man glanced between Trevor and Luke while the two goblettes tugged on his sleeves and whined about being hungry, “Don’t you recognize an old friend?” He asked them.
Trevor and Luke stared for a few moments, “Oh! Chris!” Trevor tapped his forehead in a non verbal, ‘duh’, “I didn’t recognize you with those tattoos.”
“Boss, who’re dey?” One of the goblettes demanded.
“Calm down. They’re my friends. Even if I haven’t seen them since high school,” Chris chuckled, “The tattoos are per Gorka and Morka here's request. Not that I mind.”
Tera stared at him in wonder. She recognized him from the news, “You mean you know ‘Warboss Chris da Pink, Chosen Warboss of da Great Green Gods!?’”
“Oh! It definitely is him! I recognize him from the news!” Cleo chimed in.
“What are you talking about?” Luke folded his arms and looked at her, “Chris didn’t do anything like that. He works in an office, I’m pretty sure he works for your friend Gwen.”
“What? But the news said he took over Canada! Turned it into Ork-Land!” The gargoyle insisted.
“That doesn’t really sound like him,” Trevor gave her a cross look, “Just because he has green skin wives doesn’t make him or them savages.”
“Oh, are you getting politically correct with me!?” Tera jabbed a finger into his chest.
Cleo threw her hands in the air, “Why not just ask him!? He’s right there!”
All four pairs of eyes turned to the amused expression on Chris’s face and the smug smirks on the plump goblettes’ faces, “Well, Chris?” Luke blinked at him.
“Yeah, ‘Warboss Chris da Pink, Chosen Warboss of da Great Green Gods’ what story is right?” Tera demanded.
“Boss,” Morka leaned into her husband, “Dat overgrown pile a’ rocks sounds like she needs a good krumpin!”
Gorka nodded, “Yeah, boss. Maybe a smashin’!”
“Why you little--” Tera tried to get up only to be pulled back into her seat by Luke.
Chris looked like he was having a great time, “Well… what really happened is… up to interpretation, really. Who knows if I settled down in a cushy office job and put kids in these two or if I really did invade Canada? It’s not like they don’t deserve it,” He shrugged.
“Chris?” The waitress called, waving him over.
“Looks like my table’s ready. Call me for drinks sometime, will ya? We need to catch up,” Chris got up and his goblettes used their leathery wings to fly after him. Both stuck their tongues out at the gargoyle.
Tera waited until he was out of earshot, “You better not have drinks with him,” She growled.
“We, uh, probably won’t,” Luke sighed.
“What does ‘up to interpretation’ mean in real life,” Cleo looked terrified, “It’s not like this is some kind of book! Either it happened or it didn’t!”
“He’s always been like that,” Trevor explained, “Best not to overthink it.”
“Luke?” The waitress called, waving them over. The four rose and quickly made their way to a booth table where they sat next to their dates. Cleo and Trevor stared at the nearby bubbling fish tank as the sahuagin passed out their menus, “My name is Penelope an’ I’ll be ya waitress fa tonight. Can I start ya with some drinks?”
All four quickly ordered a drink and went back to scanning the menu, “Anything look good?” Cleo asked Trevor.
“I don’t eat much seafood,” He quickly admitted, “I’ll probably get that fish and chips to keep it simple.”
“That sounds nice,” The medusa adjusted her dress, wishing she hadn’t dressed so nice now that she had seen the restaurant. It wasn’t as downtrodden as an Applebees but it wasn’t super fancy either. The atmosphere was friendly at least.
“I want that grilled salmon,” Tera salivated.
“Scallops for me, I think,” Luke decided.
“I think you should be careful after the last time you ate seafood!” The gargoyle laughed.
“Maybe I’ll get… clam chowder?” The medusa pondered.
“Do it. It’s good,” Luke encouraged. He glanced over to Trevor as he put his menu down, “Uh, Trevor. Did you…”
“Yeah I did,” He replied with a smirk. Luke smiled back.
“What are you two on about?” Tera groaned.
Trevor glanced at her then Cleo, “Should we… right now?”
“Yeah. Do it,” Luke encouraged.
With a sigh, Trevor reached into his pocket and grabbed four thick pieces of paper, “Ta-da!”
“Tickets?” Cleo took one and started to read it.
Luke nodded smugly, “Yeah. Thought you classy ladies would want to go see a play, so--”
“No way!” The medusa shrieked.
“That excited, huh?” Trevor grinned, proud of himself.
Cleo shook her head, “A-actually, yes I am, but…” She reached into her purse and grabbed four identical tickets, “We were going to surprise you with tickets to the same play!”
Tera looked at them, quickly seeing they were for the same still unnamed play, “How the hell did you nerds get tickets!?”
Trevor sighed with defeat, “Our buddy, Nick is best friends with Aiden, the man in the play. We saw him the other day when we went for drinks and he gave us the hook up. The more the merrier, he said.”
“Don’t look so down, Trevor,” Cleo pat his back, “This just means it was meant to be! How romantic!” She swooned.
“You’re funny, Cleo,” He smiled, “Looks like drinks are here.”
“Alrighty,” Penelope had a tray in one hand, “We’ve got a bloody mary,” She set the drink on a coaster in front of Cleo, “A moscow mule,” She pushed it to Tera, “Rusty nail,” Quickly she put it in front of Luke, “And a cider,” She reached across the table to give it to Trevor. The ice cold bottle slipped out of her hand and crashed into the table, the lip of the bottle wound up in his lap, spilling its contents on him before he could snatch it up as Cleo and Penelope gasped loudly, “Oh my god! I’m so sorry!” The sahuagin quickly grabbed the partially drained bottle as the medusa grabbed paper towels and furiously attempted to wipe him down.
Trevor just laughed, “It’s fine. I was a little too hot anyways.”
“Let me get you another one right away!” The waitress hurried back to the bar.
“Just your luck, huh?” Tera laughed.
“Yup!” Luke grinned ear to ear.
Cleo was distraught, “Your pants are ruined!”
“They just need to be washed, don’t worry about it,” Trevor assured her.
“H-here, I brought you another one. O-on the house!” The sahuagin held it with two hands. She reached across again, slowly and gently trying to give him the spiked cider. Her foot adjusted, making her stumble and spill the beer in his lap again. If her face hadn’t been red before, it was now. Tears welled in her eyes as she picked up the bottle, “I’m so sorry,” She hardly squeaked out before running off again. This time into the back.
Tera and Luke laughed at their friend’s misfortune. Cleo shot a furious look at them, “Stop laughing at him!”
Trevor put a hand on her arm, “It’s fine,” He had a big goofy smile on his face, “It happens,” He glanced up as another, much older sahuagin approached the table with another bottle of cider.
“Sir,” The sahuagin looked wholly embarrassed. Penelope was right behind her with her head bowed, “My granddaughter, quite a clumsy woman,” She chuckled sheepishly, “Your meals and drinks, on the house,” She reached over the table to give him the drink, “I am so sorry that--” The drink slipped out of her hand and into his lap. Luke nearly choked on his drink as Tera started to laugh loudly. Even Cleo found herself laughing this time. The older woman looked mortified. She bowed her head, “I-- I--”
“Don’t worry about it!” Trevor laughed, “Maybe I should just stick to water.”
“Haha…” The sahuagins looked at one another, “I-I will be right back.”
“What do you even say after that!?” Tera snorted, putting her head in her hands.
“That it’s no big deal,” Trevor told her as he wiped his lap, “I can’t even be mad now. This is beyond accidents and more of divine intervention now.”
The older woman returned carrying three things. A cider with the cap still on, a bottle opener, a gift card to the restaurant, “P-please forgive us,” She begged. She put everything on the table in front of him and got on her knees to plead.
“Hey, it’s alright,” Trevor assured her as he opened the bottle himself.
“Yeah, you guys get a five star rating from me for this entertainment!” Luke grinned like a cheshire.
“All that’s left is to spill his food on him too!” Tera laughed, “Now THAT would be comedy!”
Cleo couldn’t keep her giggles in, “Maybe you should order an ice cream float and have them dump it on your head!”
The older woman laughed wearily, “Y-your food will be out soon. Again, I am very sorry,” She trudged away with her head hanging down.
The rest of the night went by relatively peacefully other than the constant jokes about spilling food or drink on Trevor.

Both girls silently and nervously got ready. It had been five days since they had last been on a double date and tonight was the night of the play. Both wanted it to go perfectly. Tera and Luke had gone and seen that ‘Way of the Salamander’ movie since then and Cleo and Trevor had gone out to eat together for a small date. Tonight was a big deal for all of them, “They’re here,” Tera announced to herself and Cleo, “Ready?”
“Ready as I can be,” She took a deep breath and nodded, “Third time's the charm and all that. Do I look good?” She asked. She wore a long and red elegant dress that shimmered in the dim light. Her grey serpents were all pushed over to one side in some vain attempt at a hairstyle. Some of them also wore her signature black bow on their necks. Around the medusa’s shoulders was a thin, but warm enough, black coat. Accessorizing the outfit was a matching red purse and small silver stud earrings.
Tera cupped her friend’s cheeks with her hands and put her wing hands on her shoulders, “You look great. He’ll tell you as much,” The gargoyle wore a nice dark purple button up and a black dress skirt. Her hair, for once not a messy, curly mop atop her head was done up in a bun tied with a matching purple ribbon, “Come on, we better not keep them waiting!” She stomped out of the room, somewhat wobbly in the pumps she wore.
The two monster girls hurried out of their apartment and into the sparsely used parking lot and gasped at what they saw. Illuminated by the quickly setting, softly glowing orange sun, their dates stood with either at one side of the door of a fancy horse drawn carriage that they had booked, “Ladies! Your chariot awaits!” Luke called with a grin. He wore a dark green polo under a grey sweater and khaki pants, “A romantic ride to the theater and a moonlight walk back into town afterwards!”
“Right this way,” Trevor smiled as he opened the door to the carriage for them and put the little step ladder down. He was in a cream colored button up, a dark blue waistcoat, black slacks and a nice black coat.
Tera ventured up to them first, her wings folded around herself like a cloak, “Oh, thank you, sir,” She giggled with a playfully mocking tone, “You look good, slick.”
“You look great. Pretty even. That’s a pretty big feat for you!” Luke shot back. She rolled her eyes, letting him take her hand and help her up into the carriage before following her in, both of them sitting on the same side of the spacious wagon.
Trevor stammered as he stared into the medusa’s gorgeous face, “Y-you look beautiful,” He held out his hand to take hers. Gently, her graceful, tender hand caressed his palm before stopping in his. She held her breath as he brought the back of her beautiful hand to his lips before kissing the supple skin in an awkward, gentlemanly gesture.
Every thought in the medusa’s brain told her to kiss him back. She kept calm and smiled softly, “Thank you. You look quite handsome in that,” She complimented him quietly before letting him help her into the wagon. He followed her, making sure the entire length of her body made it into the vehicle. He sat next to her, his hands gripping his knees.
All four jumped as the wagon began to rattle down the road driven by a skilled rider, “Sunset looks nice tonight,” Tera noticed as she settled into the plush seat and opened the window. A cold chill drifted into the wagon as the last of the fleeting glow of day did.
Trevor glanced to his side of the wagon and noticed an aux cable dangling from a small speaker, “Modern amenities for an ancient vehicle,” He mused as he grabbed his phone and plugged it in. He quickly put on some music. The carriage grew quiet as they listened to the neighing of the horses, the creaking of the wood and the smooth tunes that Trevor had put on. He sat, mouthing the words to himself as he tried to stay focused. Cleo gripped her date’s shoulder and forced him to lean back and sit next to her.
“Would it have killed you to have done something with your hair?” Tera growled at her date as her hand roughly messed with his hair suddenly.
“Hey! Cut that out!” He shot back, “You said you like it!”
“Yeah, usually but not when we’re going to a fancy theater in the middle of the damned woods!” The gargoyle barked as she started to wrestle with him.
“You don’t mind if I...” Cleo trailed off from her question as she rested her head on his shoulder. She felt his body stiffen as the scales of one of her snakes grazed against his cheek. She could feel his delightful warmth as she hugged his arm with both of hers. The tip of her tail wrapped around his ankle too as she struggled to keep herself from coiling around him and getting to all his body heat. She closed her eyes and let the feeling of his heart beat and the music he liked lull her into a state of calm relaxation. Trevor also slowly began to feel relaxed as her serpents began to stroke his face and 'kiss' or taste his cheek with their tongues.
“I said stop it!” Luke demanded as Tera’s hands grabbed his in a fight for control. She flattened his slightly less messy than usual hair with her free arms, ignoring his protests and continuing to try and groom him. He yanked back with his arms, attempting to wrench them free of her grasp. Instead, he managed to pull her onto him. His arms, suddenly let go by the surprise, wrapped around her as he scrambled to keep her from falling to the floor, “Sorry!” He tried to let her go but the wing arms kept him from releasing her.
Tera’s own arms wrapped around him as her head pressed against his chest, “It’s fine. As long as you keep this up, I’ll forgive you, dummy.”
Luke smirked, “Y-you got it,” All four riders settled into the carriage ride, short as it may have been.

Luke and Trevor helped their respective dates out of the wagon before watching it pull away, back into the woods, “Hamilton Theater, huh?” Luke folded his arms as he stood next to Tera, “That cat’s got a big ego, huh?” The theater was obviously old but had been refurbished very recently with funding from the magical cat girl witch.
“Pfft. Her magically inflated ego probably mader her do it. Probably got it from her mom,” Tera jabbed him in the ribs as the two chuckled.
“I did not choose to have it named that,” A mildly hurt voice scoffed. The duo turned around quickly to see the very woman they had been joking about step out of a particularly fancy carriage. She wore her usual cone shaped witch's hat but her black robes had been swapped for an ornate black and gold dress, “The owner insisted that he name the building after me.”
“H-hey Maxine,” Tera sheepishly greeted.
“Thank you once more for the tickets,” Cleo chimed in, quickly smoothing things over.
“Oh, it was no trouble at all!” The witch grinned, “It is the theater’s maiden voyage! The more the merrier!”
Out after her was her husband, Richard. He exchanged greetings with Luke and Trevor. After him was a kikimora, Maxine’s best friend Svetlana. She gave the stone sisters and their dates a little curtsy before standing next to her friend. Next was the ever imposing and somewhat famous jinko samurai, Kimiko. The wagon rocked as her weight exited the vehicle, “Tera. Cleo. Hello,” She wore a black kimono with large flowers printed on it in intricate designs.
“Thanks again for the hook up, Kimiko,” The gargoyle smiled.
“Any time.”
Lastly, making the gargoyle and medusa both mutter ‘aw’s was Bridgett, a young, green scaled dragon girl wearing a nice lilac colored dress adorned with printed on watermelon slices. She stood on the last step proudly, her quickly developing wings flapping behind her. Right behind her was her weresheep mother, Gwen. Her cream colored wool was covered by a nice grey long sleeve and puffy blue vest. Bridgett quickly jumped off the stairs and looked around, “Hi, stone sisters!” She called.
“Bridgett, you know their names,” Gwen scolded gently.
“Uh…” The little dragon girl fidgeted, having obviously forgotten them.
“Aren’t you just the cutest!” Tera grinned as she squatted down, “How’s those wings?”
“Good!” Bridgett gleefully showed off her wings, quite excited to talk to another monster that had both horns and wings like her. She knew many with one or the other, but Tera had both which she obviously thought was really cool, “Mom said I got a growth splurt this morning!”
“S-splurt?” Cleo struggled to contain her laughter.
“Yeah! Splurt! Like the sound that dad’s paints make when he’s running out! Or the ketchup bottle when I squeeze it too hard! The plrrrrbt sound!” She blew raspberries to show what she meant.
“S-spurt, honey,” Gwen corrected her, “Growth spurt.”
Bridgett slowly looked back at her mother, “What’s a spurt? You keep telling me new words! How am I supposed to remember ALL of them!?”
Maxine laughed, “You’ll learn just like we all did.”
“Aren’t you just the cutest!” Tera pinched the dragon’s cheek playfully which made her spew smoke angrily, “When I have kids, I hope they’re just as cute as you!”
Bridgett tore away and assumed a pose that exuded smugness, “I doubt it.”
“Bridgett!” Gwen cried in embarrassment. Tera felt her soul leave her body. Luke laughed out loud while everyone else managed to hold it in.
“Show’s gonna start soon,” Maxine announced, “Come along,” She trotted toward the building with her little entourage of her husband, kikimora and bodyguard. Bridgett stomped after the witch.
“I’m so sorry,” Gwen apologized profusely.
“Don’t worry, it's just a kid being a kid,” Luke smiled for her. The weresheep hurried to catch up to her group.
“Kids are cruel, huh?” Someone asked with a chuckle. Looking up the four saw another pairing. A man with a soldier beetle next to him.
The beetle hid behind her journal as she quickly opened it to a page with ‘HELLO’ scratched onto it with charcoal.
“Hey, Nick,” Trevor gave the man a little wave, “Hello to you too, Penny,” The soldier beetle smiled at the mention of her name, “Thanks again for getting us tickets, by the way.”
“Yeah, thanks,” Luke chimed in, “These are the lovely ladies we told you about.”
“Hello,” Both Cleo and Tera greeted at about the same moment.
“Nice to meet you both,” Nick nodded. He wore a button up under a hoodie while his date wore a simple white dress, “It’s cold as a frozen hell, let’s get inside.”
“Agreed,” Cleo grumbled before leading the charge to get everyone inside. The six quietly stepped inside and stared at the small crowd that had gathered. Mostly friends of the only two actors and a few friends of friends.
One of the two actors was in the receiving room greeting everyone as they came in. The spectral form of a well dressed specter bowed to Maxine, “Ah, the guest of honor has arrived!” Victoria grinned, “Please, make your way to your seat. The show will be starting soon!”
“Thank you, Victoria. I am quite eager to see you on stage!” Maxine returned the tooth filled smile as she led her group in.
“Hi, ghost lady!” Bridgett excitedly greeted with a just as eager wave. The phantom quickly returned the wave.
“How come your daughter is terrified of me but ecstatic to say hello to a ghost?” Maxine asked in an exasperated tone as her head hung in a completely defeated fashion.
“Hey, there,” Nick stepped up and offered the ghost his tickets, “I finally get to meet the lucky lady,” He smirked. The soldier beetle skittishly hid behind her husband.
“Oh! You must be Nick and Penny!” Victoria’s eyes sparkled at them, “Aiden has told me about you, Nick! I hope you both enjoy the show! Your spot should be near the back so that Penny can sit comfortably.”
“Thanks,” Nick pulled his date into the theater.
“Hi, there,” Luke searched his pocket for the tickets.
“Hmm…” Victoria coyly hummed, “I think both Nick and Maxine mentioned you four.”
“Yup,” Trevor gave her a little smirk as he produced eight tickets, “We, uh, got a few extra.”
“No trouble at all. Pick whichever section you four wish to sit!” She instructed before letting the four into the theater.
They quickly made their way to their seats and plopped down in them, the girls sat next to one another with their respective dates sitting to their side. Soon, the dim yellow lights shut off and gave way to icey blue lights that illuminated the stage. A man stepped out onto the stage, “Thank you all for coming,” He put on a big smile, “My name is Aiden. I’ve been here helping with restoring the theater for about a month now. I probably would have dropped dead from all the work I had to do if it had not been for our most mysterious and beautiful benefactor, Lady Hamilton, stepping in and lending a hand, including donating the deed to the Hamilton Theater to us. So once more, thank you for that,” He bowed for the emerald eyed witch.
“Yes, yes! Thank you very much!” Victoria joined him on stage. She was wearing a gorgeous dress with her golden hair falling fashionably on her shoulders, “The play will be starting momentarily, the maiden voyage if you will of a play I wrote myself with help from Aiden here. A tale of love and loss! I hope you all will enjoy it, despite its somewhat short length. Presenting, My Undying Love!” The audience clapped as the curtains were closed on the two actors.
“Love?” Cleo gripped her date’s wrist nervously. Both her and Trevor’s heart rate increased as they felt one another’s skin.
Tera smirked at her, “Scared to see some real loving on a real stage?”
“N-no. I just didn’t know what to expect,” The medusa frowned, unsure if her date would enjoy it with her.
“If you need to step out just let me know,” Trevor smiled, “I’ll come with you,” The medusa smiled back, not wearing her sunglasses for once.
“Shh,” Luke hushed them as the curtains were pulled open by some unseen force.

The four stepped out of the theater and into the cold, dark night. The sky was dark and where there should have been stars for their romantic walk through the woods. The gravel path had a few offshoots that led them off of the main road and on a faster route back to town, “That play was pretty good,” Luke divulged in an almost embarrassed tone.
Cleo wiped her eyes again, “It felt like those emotions were real! Like Victoria looked like she was really going to cry over Aiden’s decision to stay with her!”
Trevor nodded, glad he had been able to keep his emotions in check, “I enjoyed it.”
“Eh,” Tera shrugged, pretending she hadn’t cried at all, “Could have used a bit more humor and action.”
“Oh, I know it tugged on your heart strings, Tera,” Luke teased.
“Say that again and I’ll throw hands!”
“All four of them? Or are you gonna go easy on me?”
“I’m gonna throw your ass with all four of them!” She lunged for him, the two were giggling while they grappled playfully.
Cleo started to huff, “Not in your nice clothes!” The medusa scolded the two of them, “It is quite cold, we should hurry.”
“I don’t like these clouds either,” Trevor frowned, “If you want my coat, just say so, Cleo.”
She smiled warmly, “Thank you, but--” She felt a drip of water on her serpent hair. Soon the drips turned into a drizzle. Before she could speak again, Trevor had his coat off and was offering it to her. She took it hesitantly but thankfully before placing it atop her head in an attempt to keep herself somewhat dry.
Tera used her wing to keep herself dry as the cold rain came down, “Dammit! This was nice too! It’s too far to call a cab out here, we better run!”
Wordlessly, the four agreed and hurried back to town. Their would-be peaceful, moonlit, stargazing walk had turned into a dash to find somewhere dry. The uneven gravel underfoot slowed them down as they struggled to find good footing in their dress shoes, all except for Cleo whose snake body easily kept her up right. Soon the group broke through the treeline. Luke recognized the area and pointed down a street, “I know somewhere we can duck into for a bit!” He took off jogging with the others giving chase. He turned into a parking lot full of mostly dim buildings and one or two still brightly lit restaurants. He picked the pizza parlor and went for the door, holding it open for everyone else to step or slither inside. With their spirits as damp as their clothes, everyone looked around, “Go grab a seat, I’ll call a ride,” Luke decided.
“Don’t bother, that shit’s so expensive this late,” Tera grunted, “How close do you guys live?”
“It’s still a bit of a walk,” Trevor grimaced, “Are you sure you want to? Wait, you want to come over?”
“Yeah. You gonna say no, punk?” Tera scowled at him.
“I wasn’t going to say no… I just... didn’t clean my room very well is all,” Trevor shrugged awkwardly.
“Go grab a booth,” Luke ordered, “I’ll grab some pizza at least. I’m pretty hungry. I’ve been here before, I’ll get something good.”
“Sure… where are we anyways?” The gargoyle asked herself, “Pussy’s Pizza Parlor? What the hell kind of name--”
She glanced at the counter where a grey colored werecat stood, giving them all an amused look. She was wearing an apron that had the name of the restaurant and a cartoonish grey cat on it. Sitting on the counter next to her was a smaller and much younger black furred werecat, “Yoohoo~ Luke!” The grey furred mother cat called, “You and your friends look soaked!” The restaurant was empty except for the four that had just ran in.
“Down to the bone, Miss Cook!” Luke laughed wearily.
“Well, I’ll give my favorite customer the ‘wet pussy’s’ discount!”
“Hey, thanks,” Luke looked back at Tera’s jealous grunt, “She’s happily married, calm down,” He strut to the front to make more small talk with the werecat.
“Her kid’s cute,” Tera mused again before leading the other two to a table.
“Better not talk to her. I’m sure you don’t want a repeat of your conversation with Bridgett,” Trevor smirked weakly at her.
“If you were Luke I’d punch you,” Tera and Trevor both turned to the silent medusa as she slid into the booth next to her date, “Hey, Cleo? You alright?”
Trevor put his hand on her shoulder, “Need something?”
She looked up, the light makeup she had put on was running because of the rain and her tears, “Why can’t ONE of these dates go well!?” She wailed, “The movie was bad! Trevor had drinks spilled on him! And now we’re all soaking wet!”
“Cleo…” Trevor trailed off as he wrapped his arm around her, “We had fun every time, didn’t we?”
“Yeah! Those drinks getting spilled? That was HILARIOUS!” Luke agreed as he joined them at the table.
“And didn’t he buy you that little car you love at the mall after that god awful movie?” Tera reminded her, “Like, yeah, things have gone wrong but when have things ever gone good for the two of us, sister? Other than these two bozos waltzing into our lives that one night.”
“Yeah, same here. Things have never gone great for me and Trevor. At least until I met Tera here. Things have been going better since then,” Luke smiled as he ruffled the gargoyle’s wet hair.
“Yup. And me with you, Cleo” Trevor smiled softly at her. Cleo stared at him for a few moments before she lunged at her date and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. She said nothing as she absorbed his body head.
Tera leaned towards Luke and kissed him on the cheek, “W-was that--?” He stammered.
“Shut it,” She warned through grit teeth, “Before I decide to take it back.”
“Here you are, love birds!” Miss Cook announced as she set a big pepperoni pizza on the table. Two children hid behind her legs, the black furred child who must have been around eight years old and a younger, purple furred werecat with yellow eyes, “Heres something to warm you up too,” She gave them a plate of garlic bread rolls too, “Holler if you need anything!” She left the four of them.
“Was that a cheshire?” Luke mumbled.
“She was adorable!” Tera grinned before looking at her friend, “Hey, Cleo! Let him go and have some pizza!”
“Hm?” The medusa finally broke the hug, “Oh, right,” Trevor’s face was beet red.
“Eat your fill and we’ll try to make it back to our place. Hopefully the rain will let up a bit,” Luke glanced out the window and watched the rain splash against it.

Trevor unlocked the apartment door and let everyone in. The girls looked around the boys’ apartment. It wasn’t too different from their own flat. Couches, a TV, a little table. The boys did have a lot more electronics compared to the monster girls. Trevor went to the kitchen while Luke plopped down on the couch, “Looks like that rain won’t be letting up any time soon,” He sighed. Tera sat next to him, “Want me to drive you girls home?”
“Ah, come on!” Tera punched him in the shoulder, “I thought you were fun! Let’s hang out all night!”
“You two want to crash here?” Trevor asked as he offered both girls towels.
“Would that be alright?” Cleo timidly asked.
Luke glanced at Trevor, “Sounds good to me,” Luke shrugged, “You got an issue with Cleo sleeping in your bed?”
“Of course not. I can sleep out here,” He shrugged. Luke gave him a look like he was an idiot as did Tera.
Cleo tugged on his sleeve, “Could you show me to your room? I am quite tired.”
“Oh, of course,” He cleared his throat and brought her into his room. He quickly started to push clothes aside and pick up blankets from the floor, “Please ignore the mess. It’s not usually this bad, I swear,” He shut down the monitors of his computer and put his shoes away in his closet, “Uh… Cleo, do you need anything else tonight?” He turned to the medusa. His eyes went wide as he gazed upon her nude form. He covered his eyes to not embarrass her, “I’m so sorry!”
“Why are you sorry?” There was no embarrassment in her voice as she approached him, “You asked me if I needed anything else tonight,” Her tail began to coil around his waist as her hands lifted up his shirt and felt his warm, damp stomach, “I need you tonight, Trevor. Keep me warm,” She unbuttoned his shirt and pushed it aside. Her serpent hair hissed as she ran her fingers across his exposed skin making the man shudder and get goosebumps, “Won’t you lay with me, my beloved?” She grabbed his hands and tried to remove them.
Slowly he let her move his hands, “I-I-I…” He gazed upon the beautiful form of the most gorgeous woman he had ever met. He stared into her crimson eyes and swallowed nervously, “You know, when we first started these dates, I thought you didn’t like me.”
“I thought the same,” She admitted, kissing him on the cheek before holding him at arm's length again, “But I love you. I want you to be mine.”
He nodded, “I-I feel the same way-- I mean, I love you too,” He chuckled anxiously, “You’re finally gonna make the bed rock, huh?”
Cleo grinned, “I’ll rock your world, Trevor,” She pulled him into a hug as her tail removed her pants. Soon, Trevor was tossed onto the bed with the medusa assaulting him with a barrage of kisses as her tail wrapped around him. As the snake woman’s long tongue pushed into his mouth and began to play with his, she grinded against his already rock hard member.

Tera glanced at Luke. She wrung her hands nervously. She had him alone, in his house and she couldn’t work up the courage to say anything to him. She could faintly hear her friend talking to her man, and Cleo was supposed to be the nervous one! Tera slapped her own face with the palms of her hands, nice and easy, she told herself, “So, uh. You still want me to leg lock you?” Nailed it.
The shock made Luke’s drink go down the wrong pipe. He coughed and laughed, “W-where’s that coming from?”
“Come on! You said it yourself you think I’m hot! And I think you’re hot too!” Tera undid her skirt to reveal the spats she wore underneath, “Wore ‘em just for you!”
“F-for me?”
“Yeah! Go ahead and touch!” She leaned over in front of him, putting her rear on display, “B-but if you touch me, I’m gonna touch you!” She shuddered as Luke immediately grabbed one of her firm cheeks.
Luke scrambled to find a good compliment, “You’ve, uh, got a cute butt. It’s great.”
“W-well!” The gargoyle quickly got flustered, “Your face is, uh, handsome!” She swiftly put her hands on his face, cupping his cheeks before kissing him on the lips. His facial hair tickled her chin making her giggle. She stroked his face as she climbed onto his lap, “Well? You never said if you still wanted me to leg lock you.”
“I always took you as the kind of girl that would wrestle me into submission,” Luke admitted as his arms wrapped around her.
Her wing arms grabbed his face as her hands started to wander. She grabbed his butt with a smirk, “I’ll hold you down if you want me to,” She gave him bedroom eyes as caressed his face and his chest.
“Well,” Luke grabbed her hands, “You’re gonna have to prove to me you want it.”
“Oh, you’re so getting it now!” The two fell off the couch as they roughhoused, fondling one another, gasping whenever the other grabbed them resulting in both having their zeal redoubled. Soon, Tera was straddling Luke. All four of her arms held his hands above his head. Slowly, she kissed his cheek, “So? Still doubt that I want it?” Her chest was heaving as she panted. She was both winded and horny.
Luke smiled, “No, I don’t doubt it. How about we go to my room?” His chest was rising and falling slowly as she stared into her eyes.
“Fine. Take me there,” She went limp on top of him, forcing him to push her off of himself then pick her up, “Bridal carry me. Show me that YOU want me.”
With a grunt, Luke grabbed her and hoisted her in both arms. Soon, she was tossed onto his unmade bed in his messy room, “Don’t mind the mess.”
“Oh, I’m just admiring it, you slob,” She sat at the foot of the bed and threw off her button up. Her bra was next. Her breasts weren’t the biggest but they still had a nice heft to them. Luke stripped to his underwear and stood before her, “Looks like you’re raring to go,” She grabbed the bulge in his pants somewhat gingerly. She fondled the package, rolling it back and forth between her fingers while her other hand ran down his chest.
“Kinda wish you didn’t have to take the spats off for this,” Luke grumbled as he played with the gargoyle's dark grey nipples.
“Oh, I’ve got you covered,” She grabbed the fabric and tore a hole. She wasn’t wearing underwear. With her wing hands she tore his underwear in half, making his man meat flop out violently. Tera froze as she saw it. She, of course, knew about penises but knowing and seeing were two very different things, “So… that thing just gets jammed in me?”
“I-I guess?” Luke nervously glanced away from her nude body, “I’ve never done this before.”
Tera grabbed his hand gently with two of hers, “Hey, neither have I. Let’s just do what feels good for both of us, alright? I’ll get kinky on you later,” She smiled sheepishly as she pulled him close. She rubbed her clit gently.
“D-do you want me to… inside you?”
“Well, knowing my lineage I’m gonna leg lock you involuntarily.”
“That’s uh…”
“Weird?”
Luke’s cock throbbed as she looked down at her. His heart was pounding and his stomach was fluttering, “Really hot. I think you’re really sexy,” His hands felt her toned body.
His cold, clammy hands gave Tera goose bumps, “Ye-yeah, well. P-prove it! Shove that thing in me. I can’t take this anymore,” She spread her legs for him. Her normal arms grabbed his hips and guided him in while her wing arms rested on his shoulders, making sure he wouldn’t run away. Luke grabbed his shaft and eased the head into her. There was a flash of ecstasy in both of them as he began to slide himself into her. Tera violently shuddered as she pulled him deeper into her. He collapsed forward, propping himself up on his arms over her. Both sets of arms wrapped around him, holding him close as he began to thrust into her.
Luke grunted as his hips thrust slowly into her, pushing himself a bit deeper each time. Tera’s claws raked across his back as she moaned in ecstasy. She pulled his face to hers and kissed him deeply, “God, I love you,” She panted.
Luke stared down at her, his hips still moving, “Oh, you do?” He smirked.
“Say it back, dammit!” Her limbs grabbed him, all four arms wrapped around his back and her legs wrapped around his hips, “Fuck me!” She groaned.
“You got it!” Luke grinned, only excited more by her leg locking him. The smug attitude vanished as he continued to thrust into her. He was getting close and from the way she was writhing and howling he guessed she was too, “Hey, I love you too. I’m gonna cum,” He warned.
“You are SO cumming in me!” The gargoyle snarled as she grabbed him tightly with everything she could. She started to moan loudly as she climaxed, the pleasure of it all being too much for her to bear. Luke threw his head back as his back arched. He panted, keeping himself from crying out as he emptied his load into the gargoyle. He collapsed on top of her as the orgasm stopped. He was spent. The two lay together, basking in one another’s body heat for a time. The gargoyle shifted suddenly as she got restless, “Get offa me, dummy!” Tera shoved him aside and climbed on top of him and put her head on his shoulder. “That was even better than what I imagined.”
“Same here,” Luke smiled, rolling onto his side and forcing the gargoyle to be the little spoon, “Stop struggling, dammit.”
“Fine. Just because I love you I’ll cool it,” She grabbed his hands and kept them wrapped around her body, “Can we have pancakes tomorrow?”
“Sure, whatever you want,” Luke yawned, “Go to bed.”
“Fiiine,” She struggled to lay still. She liked when he held her at least, even when he was asleep.

Cleo’s mouth pulled away from Trevor’s. Remnant strands of saliva quickly fell away as the medusa wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Her prey panted beneath her as he tried to catch his breath. Her hips slowly grinded her wet pussy against his throbbing member. She knew both of them were ready, but she was nervous. Her hands caressed his face, “Are you enjoying yourself?” She asked coyly. Wordlessly, he nodded in response, “Good! Well… I’m nervous for the next part.”
“Hey,” Trevor looked at her before straining to sit up and kiss her on the cheek, “I’m terrified of all this. But, I feel good knowing I have you. I’m ready.”
Cleo stared at him with love in her eyes. She wanted him. She had to have him. Her hips moved and the tail loosened enough for her to stand his member up and feel it. Just touching it excited her. Firmly grasping it, the medusa slid her boyfriend’s penis into her. She pushed herself completely down to the hilt. Both gasped as pleasure shot through their bodies light lightning. Cleo’s grip on her man tightened as she felt him squirm from the feeling. She was engrossed with the expressions he made as her hips began to move. She went slowly, rising up and dropping back down. The medusa pressed her own lips against her man’s once more, letting her tongue wriggle into his mouth and wrestle with his tongue as he moaned underneath her. She grinned, her heart full of love as her entire body was covered in his warmth. Her hips moved faster as her lust heightened. All timidness within her had melted away and was replaced with a massive amount of love for her man. He was completely at her mercy as she took him repeatedly down to the hilt, her hands idly playing with his hair as he struggled to stifle his moans.
Trevor looked her in the eyes. He was writhing from the intense, hot feeling of her vigorous riding. His member was throbbing, he was close to climaxing, “Cleo--” He grunted her name in an attempt to warn her.
“Shh,” She put her hand over his mouth. Her eyes and those of her serpents were on him, “Cum. I’m ready for you.”
Trevor’s moans were muffled by Cleo’s hand. She climaxed as soon as his cum started to be shot into her womb. Her pussy quivered and gripped him tightly as it coaxed more and more out of him, greedily taking as much cum as it could from his balls. She felt warm as her now husband filled her with his precious, hot, seed. The couple pant and stared at one another before kissing again. The medusa slowly uncurled herself from around him, “That was fantastic,” He told her with an awkward chuckle.
“Wonderful,” She giggled back, “Perhaps we should have another go?”
“Not tonight. I need a bit of time to rest,” Trevor grunted before adjusting his position and stretching his sore limbs.
“Take all the time you need,” The medusa stretched before resting her head on her husband’s shoulder. Her serpents quickly laid themselves out on his body to take in his heat, “I’ll be here to shower you with affection as soon as you need it. I love you,” She whispered as she lay in the heat of the after sex warmth.
Trevor’s breathing started to regulate and slow down, “I love you too,” He told her as he pet her scalp and felt the cool, slick scales of her snakes, “I’m damn lucky a beautiful girl like you picked me.”
Cleo giggled, “Aren’t you sweet?” She kissed him lovingly on the lips, “Rest. I suspect I will ravage you again tomorrow.”

Cleo put the last few finishing touches on the meal she made. She struggled to think about how much time it had been since she met her husband. The two were living in a house together now. Only half a year since their first night together. She stood up straight as she heard the doorbell ring, “Honey! Can you get that?”
“Yeah!” Trevor called from another room. The door opened and greetings were tossed around.
“Where’s my friend!?” Tera demanded as she pushed past him, “Hey, bestie!” She dashed into the kitchen and gave her friend a hug, “How have you been?”
“Good!” Cleo smiled back, “We just finished settling down here and I was reminiscing.”
“Yeah, I was too. We finally found a house we both liked. Were you thinking of the wedding again?” Tera looked at the granite counter tops and picked up a wedding photo. Both girls had their weddings on the same day, the ultimate culmination of all the double dates they had gone on with their husbands was to have a big double wedding. The photo was of the two girls in their dresses together with their husbands on the outside.
“How’d you know?” The medusa chuckled, “Looks like your baby is well,” She gestured to her best friend’s swollen belly.
“Yeah, the big dummy put a little bundle of joy in me,” She proudly rubbed her stomach and looked back at her husband as he chatted with his best friend about new games and movies, “Like I said, we’re finally moving out of that apartment and into a house. One near here too!”
“Good!” Cleo clasped her hands together, “Come and sit down, I’ll set the table.”
“Alright,” Tera grunted as she sat in her seat, “Damn, this table looks old!”
“It was Trevor’s grandmother’s. No idea why he wanted it so much.”
“It’s an heirloom!” Trevor insisted as he and Luke wandered over, “It means a lot to me.”
“It looks nice too,” Luke assured her as he placed the salad and mashed potatoes they had brought on the table, “Food looks great, Cleo,” He nearly salivated over the steak.
“Yeah! You’re still the best cook I know!” Tera praised as she started to plate up.
Each smiled and chatted with their friends as most of them drank lightly, happy that they had a four person friendship that would last the rest of a lifetime.

A Snake As White As the Moon

November 1st, 2020

When we heard about monsters coming out portals into our world, my friends and I thought that this was the end. Surprisingly, they weren't here for war, the “monsters” were hardly monsters, women - dare I say VERY beautiful women, had used magic to come to our world. This first group, were very forward with the knowledge of their people, offered to teach magic, their biology, anything we wanted, in return for a new home. Of course, humanity agreed quickly.
Wave two showed up a short hour later, with a tide of hunger and lust. I was lying low, inspired by others on the internet to pursue my hobbies. I was in no rush to find myself a wife. There were still plenty of women on the prowl for men with compatible “spirit energy” as they called it. A sort of lifeforce of us human. When humans learned of why they were so hungry for men through demonstration, and then by teaching from these monster girl scholars, we understood why they came here. Their supply of human men ran dangerously low in their realm, so they came here.
After that two week time of everything on earth being shut down because “HOLY CRAP MONSTERS AND MAGIC ARE REAL!” The monster girls had integrated into society and things returned to semi normality. As did my life. After finishing my backlog of homework, hobbies and games, I finished college, dodging hellhound rape, yeti hugs and cheshire tricks for my final few terms. I got a full time job in IT, and started renting an apartment. The job was nice, paid well and I’m pretty sure I only got it because the tanuki boss wants my dick. The apartment was a cozy one room.
“Want me to set you up with a date yet?” The neighbor manticore, Alison, asked me. “I know a lotta girls trying to find a man like you.” Luckily she was already married, I don’t think I could fight her off; unlike that kobold who lives a floor down.
“Not yet. I want to figure out if I want to stay in this job and if it is gonna be stable to support-”
“Oh come on, Anon. You’re just scared.” She teased.
I grunted and walked past her smug look and entered my apartment. I flipped the lights on and got to work preparing a dinner for one. I quickly realised that I would need to venture out to buy more food. I groaned, going out meant fending off more girls. It was tiring trying to hang onto my virginity with a death grip. But, a man's gotta eat.
The drive to the grocery store was easy enough, no one jumped in front of my car to stop me, thankfully. It was a smaller, local store, the meat and produce was all very high quality so I chose to shop here, despite the slightly higher price. I wandered inside and got to shopping. I mostly got the usual mundane things like chicken and bread. I meandered through produce past the new monster cultivated fruits that I didn't recognize. I ignored it, I didn't think I need to put demon energy into my body right now. I started picking through apples, looking for the ripest fruit. A woman walked up next to me and started looking at the citrus.
“Excuse me, can you tell if this is still good? I don’t work with limes often,” she asked, turning to me.
I took the limes from her, my previous experience in service industry kicking in. “They’re too yellow and hard, you want the light green, soft ones.” I looked up at her. The first thing I noticed was her hair, or should I say her snakes. About eight of them, two dangling in the front, by her face, staring right at me. Their white bodies shining from the overhead lights. The woman wore sunglasses so I couldn’t see her eyes, and a blue casual dress. Her lower body turned into that of a snake, also white. A medusa. I turned back to the limes and grabbed a few ripe ones for her, trying not to be overcome by her beauty. “These are what you want,” I tried to hand her the limes back.
“You are not afraid of me?” confusion showed across her face. All of her snake hair turned to face me, coming over her head and around it, as if curious to see me.
“Should I be? I don’t usually fear beautiful women.” My filter had completely shut off for just a moment, enough for me to flirt. I screamed internally.
Her face turned beet red. The snakes were really interested now and the tip of her tail wagged. She crossed her arms and turned away from me. “Well, I-I- you- should, uh, should be.” She took the limes from me. We both got even redder as she accidentally touched my my hand in her haste. She slithered away quickly. I finished my shopping quickly and headed to check out. I got into line and waited for my turn. Who should get in line behind me, but that medusa.
Everytime I glanced in her direction, she would quickly turn away, her snakes however were uncooperative and kept looking at me. Her face was still kind of red. It was really cute. It came to my turn, so i pulled out my card. The medusa was close to me now. I looked around and I noted that people nearby were uneasy. Luckily for them, I was holding all of her attention. My aching heart told me to talk to her, but my brain and memories told me not to.
I listened to my brain.
Taking my groceries, I turned back to her. She didn’t look away. I gave her a smile and left.
I sat at home, at my small table, still embarrassed about my encounter at the store. “A woman that gorgeous has to be married,” I told myself, “Hopefully her husband doesn’t find me...” I put in my headphones as the volume of my neighbor’s lovemaking increased. Sounded like Alison next door gave her husband a triple dose. I think she gave some spines to the holstaurus two doors down some as well. I was glad that I lived on the edge of this block of apartments. I went to bed with an aching heart.
I came home late that friday, had a server go down because of some dumbass in accounting. Still not sure how he had access to those files that should only be open to those in IT. As the manager, it was on me to get it fixed the day of. Even though it was 20 till five. Luckily that gremlin and another one of my underlings were nice enough to stick around and help me. I paid them both with pizza. It was 7:30 when I got home, and I was ready to sleep. I trudged up the stairs to my level. I was stopped by the holstaurus, Haley, “Here, Anon,” she handed me a bottle of her milk. “Thought you might want it since you’ve got that new girlfriend and all.” She gave me a big smile and headed back inside before I could ask who she was talking about. Haley held the extra key to my apartment and I held hers, just in case either of us ever lost a key.
Alison’s husband, Brent, was fiddling with the lock to his apartment, looking like he was heading somewhere. “Think you and Alison could keep it down a little tonight? I haven't been sleeping well recently,” I joked.
“You know that I can’t control that woman. But I’ll tell her you asked,” Brent replied with a smile. “Mistress says we should go on a triple date sometime, us, Haley and Jim and you and this new girl.”
I looked at him blankly. “What girl? I don’t have a girlfriend.”
Brent scratched underneath his marriage collar. “Mistress told me a woman came by looking for you. We assumed she was your girlfriend.”
I thought for a few seconds, “Musta been a delivery girl, I’m expecting a package soon. I’ll talk to you later,” Brent waved as he left. I unlocked the front door and walked in. My room looked a lot cleaner than when I had left this morning. Probably just going crazy, I thought. I took a sip of the milk and put it in the fridge. I was surprised by how good it was, seemed like the legends were true about the taste, unsure about how it would effect my ‘spirit energy’ or whatever. I ate a few crackers and went to room to sleep. I opened the door and scooted in.
“You are late,” a familiar voice said softly. I looked up to see the medusa, wearing one of my shirts, lying on my bed. She hugged my large stuffed shark closely. “I was starting to think you would never come.”
I sat at my computer chair across from her and started taking my shoes and socks off. “What do you want from me?”
“I want you.”
I looked up at her. Although the room was dark, I could see her emerald eyes staring at me, “I don’t know why you’d want someone like me. You can do way better than-”
I was cut short by her tail quickly wrapping around me and pulling me to the bed. I was on my back, with her over me. I avoided her gaze. “The way you looked at me, Anon, I felt like a girl, instead of a monster,” her hand gently pushed my chin, forcing me to face her, “Why would I not want a man like that?” She kissed my chin, then my lips. “Why so, hesitant, dear? Let me give you my love,” I turned away from her again, desperate to escape. She looked like she had a realization in that moment, “Who hurt you?”
“Women I fell for in the past.”
She tightened her grip on me a little bit, hugging my body with her cool, smooth being. “That holaustarus said she suspected that much. Here,” her grip loosened and released me. “Change out of those uncomfortable clothes and come lie down.”
I sighed. There was no getting rid of her. “Haley gave you the key to get in, I assume.”
“Yes. She seemed to worry about you, a very nice girl.”
“Yeah, she’s sweet. Gave me a bottle of her milk today because of you.”
“The manticore next door gave me some of her spines as well. I will not use them on you unless you ask.”
“How did you find where I live?”
“I saw your license at the store. I apologize, but I could not go on without seeing you again,” I finished changing and lied down on the bed next to her. “Now, please, let me mend your broken heart and make you feel loved. Do you enjoy lying in my coils?”
“Yeah it was nice...” I whispered sheepishly.
She leaned into my ear as her snake body wrapped around me, leaving my arms free this time. “Good,” she smiled. “You will keep me warm and I will keep you feeling loved,” she rested her head on my chest and wrapped her arms around me. Her snakes rested on my body as well, stealing my warmth, “Sleep well.”
“You too,” I whispered, pulling a blanket over us.
Despite my neighbors, it was the best sleep I ever had.
I woke up without the warmth of a partner in bed with me. Once I had come to my senses, I smelled food. I found the medusa in the kitchen, still wearing my shirt and a small skirt. A stack of pancakes on a plate nearby. “Right on time, dear, good morning,” she turned to me with a big smile as she put the last of the pancakes on the plate. She had already set up the table for us, I was waved over to eat.
“Good morning. I just realised I don’t even know your name, lady,” I sat down across from her.
“Selene.”
“Well, good morning, Selene,” we ate quietly, making small talk and lame jokes. Her tail was wrapped around my leg the entire time, as if severing that would mean I was gone forever. “What are we doing today?” I asked I after finished eating.
“Back to bed, dear?” She mused. I didn’t have time to respond before she planted a big kiss on my lips. Her long tongue attempted to invade my mouth. She pulled away and pouted. “Still resisting my love? Maybe I should use the spines on you. Or turn your limbs to stone. Or just the old fashioned hold you down with my tail.” I didn’t like the way she and her snakes looked at me.
“Please, Selene. I can’t move as quickly as you in a relationship.”
“But why not? You energy is screaming at me that we are completely compatible, like I was made for you and you for I.”
I moved to the couch, she followed quickly, allowing me a small amount of space. I sighed. “I want to love, to be loved. But I’ve been hurt so many times that I don’t think I can love again. I don’t think I deserve love, either. I’m just-”
“Stop,” Selene looked like she was about to cry. “Please; I cannot bear to hear you talk like that,” She pulled me into a big hug. “You deserve every bit of love that I give you. I will spend everyday reminding you until you believe it!” I pulled away from her and looked into her eyes. I didn’t have words for her. I placed my head on her lap, looking up at her. She placed a hand on my head and one on my chest. “Lie here as long as you wish, darling,” She whispered. I simply nodded in response and closed my eyes.
Selene ran her fingers gently through my hair while we rested in silence. Everytime I opened my eyes, she was smiling at me. I couldn’t help but laugh. “Here I am, falling for a woman who broke into my home just for the chance to see me again. Let her sleep in my bed with me and feed me breakfast.”
She laughed in response. “I hope you can forgive me for entering like that. I was hoping to surprise you in some way.”
“Well you certainly did.” I checked my phone. 8:40. We had gone to sleep early, so I wasn’t too surprised.
“Can you explain more of your realm’s technology to me?” Selene asked.
“What do you mean? My phone?” I asked, trying to sit up.
She wrapped her tail around my waist, forcing me back down. “All of it. In my home lands we have nothing like phones or ‘tee vees.’ I wish to know more.”
“Ah, well, this is a smartphone,” I handed her my aging Android device. “I can call, text, browse the internet or use apps on it.”
I looked up at her. She looked overwhelmed. “Explain further, please.”
I spent an hour detailing how each of these things works, as simply as I could. I found it more difficult that usual, using terms that anyone could understand. Selene was obviously smart, but she had no frame of reference for electronics. The only thing I could think of was magic, but I had no idea how monster magic worked, I knew she had innate magic in turning people to stone, but she didn’t seem to know other magics. I had no frame of reference for her to tell me about magic either. I was familiar with Dungeons and Dragons magic, but this was REAL magic. That was weird to think about.
“Magic being... real now is so weird for me,” I told her.
“Why is that? Are you not happy about it?” She crooked her head in confusion.
“I guess I should be? Though knowing me, I won’t be until I’m throwing lightning bolts at bandits.” I joked.
“Combat magic is one of the most difficult types to learn, if you really wish to learn we could try to see if you have the gift of magic. Starting with illusions or summoning elements is a good idea.” She sounded completely serious.
I had to think about it, ”I think I’ll pass. I doubt I’m special enough to be good at magic.”
She moved a hand to caress my face. “You speak so low of yourself, why is that?”
“Depression with a combo of low self esteem that has been a problem for me for a long time,” I reached up and touched her face, “I’ll try to stop being so negative towards myself. For you.”
“Thank you, dear. Now, show me more of your technology,” she finally let me sit up.
I spent the rest of the day teaching her about the TV, phones and video games. She got sucked into playing the first Zelda game for hours. I checked my phone: it read 9:35. “Do you want me to take you home at some point?” I asked.
Selene pausd the game and looked at me. She hesitated, “Do you desire for me to go?” It was obvious that she didn’t want to leave.
“N-no... I was just wondering if you wanted to go home at some point.”
“The feeling I get here, when I spend time with you... This is the closest I have ever felt to truly being ‘home’ ever since I came through the portal. I only have had a place where I live before now.” She looked so guilty, as if she had done something wrong.
“Where do you live now?” I placed my hand on her shoulder.
She moved my hand to her face and closed her eyes. Her snake hair all fought to touch my skin as well. “As a medusa, I am very solitary and my eyes do not adjust well to bright light. I live with five other girls in a small house. The only way I can get some peace is locking myself in a closet. Sadly, because of my size, I cannot fit into most closets.” Her head moved to my shoulder as she smiled. “But here... I feel peace. No more oni drinking contests, no jinko sparring, no shouting harpy. Just me and you, my perfect, quiet, man.”
I wrapped my arm around her. “Well, I guess we had better go collect your things tomorrow then, huh?”
“Truely? Do you mean it?”
“Yeah, I can’t have my woman in a place like that.” I hardly had time to finish before being constricted, the air in my lungs being squeezed out.
“Thank you, Anon.” With a kiss on the cheek, she hugged me very tightly. I struggled a bit, trying to catch my breath, “Oh, sorry dear,” She let up a bit so I could breath.
I awoke in the morning, the room was dark with the only light coming into the room was from a little bit of sunlight coming over the window. I watched the ceiling for a few moments, shifting under Selene’s weight. My gaze shifted down to my guest. Selene’s white scales glinted in the low light, her pale skin seemed to glow as well. I ran a hand over her cool, soft scales. I had handled small snakes a handful of times, my friend had had one years back, it felt exactly the same; the slickness almost felt slimy, but I knew better than to think it was. The only difference being the size of the scales. Each one was at least the size of a silver dollar, and the cracks between were incredibly small. I took another look at her face, perfect and smooth, I could stare at it forever.
One of her serpents was awake, it stared at me. I reached my hand out to it, offering a sniff of my flesh. Its tongue flicked out, touching my skin; like a cat, it began to rub its face against me. I scratched underneath its chin with one hand and pat the top of it with the other. I had no idea what snakes liked. Slowly, the other serpents rose, each of them trying to take the first snakes spot. I changed my petting tactic to rubbing the top of the head with my thumbs, and my index and middle finger under the chin. I gave each one about a minute of petting each before moving on to another snake. They started getting antsy and jealous of each other before long. As soon as they started getting aggressive with one another, Selene woke up and they calmed down. I breathed a sigh of relief while she yawned and stretched her arms before wrapping them around my neck. “Good morning,” she said with a smile.
“Mornin’ beautiful,” I smiled back and without thinking, I started scratching her chin while patting her head.
“Darling, what are you doing?” She laughed.
“Sorry, I was petting your uh... hair... snakes like that. They seemed to like it,” I started to pull my hands away.
“I call them my girls. And keep petting me, your queen demands it,” she smiled as I started petting her again.
I laughed, “My queen?”
“Just let me have my fun.”
“Fine. But you have to do something for me.”
“What is it, dear?”
“A kiss.”
“Why of course, sir!” she said in a mockingly regal tone. Selene climbed onto me so that we were face to face, she gazed into my eyes for a few moments before placing a smooch on my lips and returning to her position resting her head on my chest. “Can I ask you something?”
“Yeah, of course,” I said, patting her head reassuringly.
“Why are you not afraid? You look me dead in the eyes and even smile. Most people will not give me the time of day because of what I am,” she squeezed me tight with her tail and arms. “You make me feel like a real person and not a monster.”
I thought for a few moments. “I don’t know, to be honest. I don’t understand why people would be nervous around you to begin with.”
Selene gave me a blank look, “Are you being serious?”
I looked her in the eyes, “Yeah.”
“Look at me anon!” Her serpents suddenly hissed in anger and her eyes began to glow. “I have snakes for hair and the lower body of a snake for crying out loud!” I could feel my legs and arms becoming heavy. “I can turn people to stone!” The heaviness and cold kept creeping to my legs and arms. “The only friends I have are monsters who expect me to turn boys to stone for them for easy sex,” My body froze.
“Selene-” I tried to call out to her but got interrupted.
“I should just be left alone in a cave somewhere and-”
“Selene!” I shouted. The cold stopped at my neck. Her serpents stopped hissing and the glowing stopped. I couldn’t move at all. She looked down at me in horror at what she had done. My body had turned to stone. Tears rolled down her face and for the first time since we had met, none of the serpents looked at me.
“I am so sorry!” She cried. She massaged my body, and slowly my skin returned to its normal state.
I wanted to say something to her. Anything. I wanted to make her feel better but I didn’t know what to do. “Selene-”
She cut me off again. “I should go. I will just hurt you if I stay, Anon.” She got off of me and started towards the door.
“You’ll hurt me more if you leave. Don’t make me go back to being alone. You’re not a monster.”
She stopped, hand on the door knob. She smiled a little bit. “You really are a fool, Anon,” she wandered back over to the bed. “Do you really want me to stay?”
“Yes. More than anything.”
She sighed and slithered back into bed, lying next to me, face down in the stuffed shark. “Why are you so nice to me?”
“Because you’re the first person to make me feel like I should keep existing.”
She coiled her tail and arms around me again and buried her face in my chest. “That makes two of us, I suppose.”
I stroked her head and kissed her scalp, “Wanna go take a hot shower together?”
Selene didn’t speak for a few minutes. “Yes...” She looked up at me and smiled, “I would like that.”
The hot water ran over our nude bodies. Most of Selene’s body was outside of the shower, it was tough to fit both of us in. She ran her hands over my body, slathering me in soap. “I wanted to apologize for my outburst earlier,” she said to me.
“You don’t need to apologize. I was being dumb and provoked you,” I replied.
“But I nearly turned you completely to stone!”
“Eh, its not like it hurt me.”
“Stop brushing it off, please. This is something very serious to me.”
“Okay, okay. I accept your apology,” I turned around to her and kissed her on the lips. I took soap in my hands and spread it around her body. She gave me a warm smile as she sniffled a little bit. “You really are shook up bout this, huh?”
She nodded. “I prided myself on the fact that I had never turned anyone to stone. The first person I used my power on is the man I’m in love with.”
I gave her a hug in an attempt to make her feel better. “I love you too.”
Another smile from her beautiful face. “How about you help me wash my tail darling, it will go a lot faster with the two of us!”
I got dressed in the bathroom because Selene didn’t want me to watch her change. I didn’t understand since we had gone groin to groin and we had just showered together. I got finished and stood outside my room patiently waiting for her. She came out after a little while wearing a cute blue dress with a white coat over it. She smiled at me, a few of her serpents were looking at me finally, “You look cute,” I told her.
“Thank you, dear. Are we headed to gather my things today, dear?” Selene asked after giving me a kiss and putting thick sunglasses on.
“Sure, anything else you want to do?”
“Just spend more time with you before having to go back to work on monday.”
“What do you do for work?” I asked as we headed out the door.
“I am a teacher at the middle school up the road. I teach literature and history of the realm that I and other monsters girls come from.”
“Ah, alright. You’ll have to teach me about that stuff some time. I’m not too familiar with either topic,” We got to my car and I stopped, wondering how this would work, “So, you could either sit in the front with me, and put your longer body in the back seat or sit in the back and I can put a seat down so you can put it in the trunk.”
She looked at me blankly, “I’ve never been in a machine like this before, so I would like to be up front with you.”
“Alright, cool,” We struggled for 15 minutes trying to find a way for this to work. First she sat up front and we tried to pull it all into the backseat but it wasn’t really working. Then we tried her getting into the back first and climbing up front while I tried to load the rest of her into the back seat. Selene was about twelve feet long, not the longest snake body in the world but not the shortest.
“Comfortable, Selene?” I asked after I had finished loading her in.
“Comfortable enough, I suppose,” She squirmed in her seat, “Do I really need to wear this binding rope?”
“Yes, you do. I don’t want to have to pay for a ticket today. It’s been nearly ten years with no violations so I’m not starting today.”
“Alright, I will wear it for you,” She huffed.
“Thank you,” I got in and gave her a swift kiss. I turned the key in the ignition and the engine roared to life. The color drained in Selene’s face as she gripped my arm, “Are you ok?”
“Is it supposed to sound like that?” Her grip tightened.
“Yeah it sounds like that normally. Grab that handle up there if you need to steady yourself,” I pointed to the handle on the roof of the cab. She grabbed it quickly, her other hand still gripping my arm tightly, “So, where are we going?”
“O-oh, um... I will direct you there. Its not too far,”I nodded and drove out of the parking lot. I had to drive one handed since Selene had my other in a death grip. Thankfully, we didn’t miss any turns despite how nervous she was. She was so thankful when we pulled up to the place and she could get out. It was only ten minutes but she must have thought it was about an hour. Selene slithered up to the door and produced a key from her purse. Her hands still shaky from the ride, she struggled to unlock it. I stepped in and inserted the key for her, and helped her turn the lock as well.
I grasped her shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile, “You excited to be moving out?”
“Yes. I’m ready for my life to really-” Selene was interrupted by the front door being slammed open. We both jumped.
“Ah, so you’re the one,” Standing in the doorway was a jinko. Her green eyes glared at me, “Thought you could kidnap my friend and just drop her off an be in the clear?” She cracked her clawed hands loudly.
“Stripes, this is my boyfriend, Anon,” Selene stopped her, wrapping her arm around me.
“Oh!” Stripes laughed, “My bad. I’m a little disappointed though, I was looking forward to making him cry for mercy.”
“Not that you would have shown him any,” Standing behind us was a harpy, “You should have seen what she did to those two men that made the mistake of breaking in last month. Perfectly good men, and Stripes here tore them in half,” She pushed past me and Selene and stood on the porch.
“That is Gepepi,” Selene told me, “This is Anon,” She introduced us quickly.
“Do you have any brothers you could introduce me to, Anon?” Gepepi asked.
“Only an older brother, he’s married though,” I replied. Gepepi groaned and went inside.
“Why is it so loud out here? Mine head hurts something fierce,” A large horned woman poked her head outside.
“Selene’s back, and she brought a man home,” Stripes explained.
“Good for her, let them in Stripes! You’re just letting the hot air in,” The oni pulled the jinko inside and waved at us to enter, “Dee,” She put out her hand.
“Anon,” I shook it.
“Selene you should have told us sooner!” Dee turned to her and scolded her jokingly.
“It all happened quickly, Dee. I did it how Molly said to,” Selene laughed.
A fourth girl, some sort of mouse girl, appeared, “What about me?” She looked over from Selene to me, “You actually broke into his house? Nice!”
“His neighbors were more than happy to give me the key to his house,” Selene explained, “The holstaurus and manticore even gave us gifts to commemorate their favorite neighbor getting a girlfriend.”
Dee and Molly laughed, “I hope we get as lucky as you someday,” Molly commented.
“Maybe we could set you all up with a date or two. I am sure Anon has single friends,” Selene looked at me.
“Well, yeah I do. But-”
I was cut off by Gepepi flying into the room, “Tell me about them! Where do they live? What kind of dates would they like? Should I just break in like Selene did or...” This went on for the entire time we were packing up and moving Selene’s things.
The house wasn’t very big. A three room house with a small kitchen, dining room and living room. The group had turned the dining room and living room into living quarters. Selene lived in one of the two smaller rooms. She had a small mattress, some blankets and pillows and a closet half-full of clothes. We loaded the clothes and blankets into two boxes. Stripes and Dee were kind enough to carry them out to my car for us. We left the mattress behind.
“Gepepi, stop pesterin’ Anon. You’ll meet his friends eventually,” Stripes berated the harpy.
“We all want to meet single men, but pestering Anon won’t get you any favor with them,” Molly told her.
Gepepi pouted, “Fine. But I get first pick when we meet them.”
“Sure, whatever, just stop being so loud!” Dee complained, she had taped two frozen bags of peas to her head.
“You two are gonna stay for lunch, right?” Molly asked.
“Sadly, no. We have plans,” Selene explained.
“You two come back to visit soon. Or have us over,” Stripes called as she went back inside.
“Send your friends by sometime, Anon,” Dee joked.
Selene and I waved goodbye and got in the car. Both of us were frazzled by the encounter, “See what I mean about them being loud?” Selene asked as we drove off.
“Yeah. I understand why you couldn’t stand it there,” I answered, trying to shake the harpy’s shrill voice from my head, “What did you want to do for lunch?”
“Anything. I just want you and a dark room afterwards,” Selene was relatively calm this drive. I nodded. I could go for the same thing.
We had sandwiches for lunch. We were both quiet, sitting across from each other looking over lit candles into eachothers eyes. She would smile at me when I looked up from the food into her eyes. When she looked up at me I would make a goofy face. She laughed every time. Thank goodness she didn’t choke. After lunch we cuddled on the couch, her cold, slick scales sapping the heat from my body. Selene wanted to play Zelda again so I just relaxed, lying wrapped in her coils, my head on her lap. Everytime she fought a snake enemy, she would pass me the controller and cover her eyes, then retake the controller and continue playing.
“Why is it called the triforce when there are eight pieces to it?” Selene asked me when she entered dungeon four.
“I dunno, because its a triangle I guess. In later games there’s three parts of it,” I explained. I never really understood it myself.
“There are more of these games!?” Selene got really excited and squeezed me tighter.
“Yeah, there's another on this Nintendo and the best one is on the Super Nintendo.”
“I will start one of those once I beat this one”,” Excitement renewed, Selene gripped the rectangular controller, she was determined to defeat Ganon.
“You’re adorable,” I whispered.
Selene used her tail to lift me up to her face without having to stop playing and gave me a kiss on the lips, “You are mine forever,” as if to prove a point, she gave me a tight squeeze with her tail.
“Can I ask you something, Selene?” I looked up at her, hoping to get something that had been bothering me.
“Of course! What do you want to know?”
“I don’t want to kill your mood or anything, but why are you so against turning people to stone?”
Selene paused the game, “I do not want anyone to have to fear just looking at me. Strangers, friends and even my husband, you, should not need to feel threatened just looking me in the eye. Before you speak, I know you do not. You are strange and are not afraid and I thank you for that, but others do and that is why. I just want to be a normal person who can have normal interactions.”
She grabbed my hand with hers and held it up to her face. I stroked her cheek and looked up into her beautiful eyes, “Thank you, dear.”
“Anything for you, my love.”
The next day at work was torturous. I had been with Selene all of one weekend and I already couldn’t stand to be apart from her. All the monster girls at work could smell Selene on me and teased me constantly, asking who the lucky lady is. I declined to answer, because I was sure they would want to come meet her. On lunch I went out and bought her a phone so that we could call each other on lunch. I also thought about getting her a laptop so she could start using the internet but I decided to not overwhelm her. The phone was an older model, one I could activate parental controls on to slowly give her access to features so she wouldn’t have too much to learn.
I picked her up from the school she taught at after I got off work a little early. She must have been watching me through a window because she came out as she could as soon as I pulled up. She got into the car in the way we had figured out before, where she got in through the back and climbed up front. I put it in park and helped her put the rest of her body in again. She put her seat belt on and looked at me, “I have never felt a bigger pain than being apart from you for that length of time.”
I told hold of her hand, “Same here. It was excruciating.”
“I hope you are ready to snuggle when we get home~” She said with a big grin. As we drove away she gripped my hand tighter. I gave her a reassuring smile in response, “How was work?” She asked.
“Other than painful because I was away from you? Fine. How about you?”
“The kids were a little uppity today as were my girls. I think they might have missed you more than I did.”
“I’ll just have to give them lots of pats today, huh?”
Her serpent hair pushed towards me, trying to get closer to me, “Not while he is driving, girls,” Sadly, the obeyed Selene and returned to a resting position on her head.
Selene and I were stopped on the way to our apartment by the duo of Haley and Alison, “You gonna introduce your girl, Anon?” Alison asked.
“This is Selene, we-” I was interrupted by the two of them pushing past me to get closer to Selene.
“I love the way the sun glints off your scales, Selene!” Haley complemented.
“Are you or your snakes venomous? Do you use it on Anon?” Alison asked.
“Uhm, thank you. I am not venomous, but I can turn people to stone of course,” Selene nervously replied.
“Anon, we’re stealing your wife for girls’ night,” Alison told me.
“That’s a great idea, Alli! We can do her nails and her hair- I mean, her makeup!” Haley said as they dragged Selene into one of their apartments.
“You three have fun!” I called before slipping into my own apartment. I was behind on chores since Selene had shown up unannounced. If I had known I would have cleaned up a bit more. Having Selene around had upped my energy, I made it through work days without feeling like I was going to fall asleep or even yawning. Looks like she cured my insomnia somehow. I got changed into something comfortable and put on some music while I cleaned up. Loaded in the laundry, picked up the games and blankets in the main room, did the dishes and prepared the sheets to be washed as soon as the clothes were done being washed. I sat on the couch and messed with the phone I got for Selene for a while before dozing off on the couch.
I was woken up by Selene coiling her body around me. She looked exhausted, “You alright?” I asked drowsily.
Selene nodded, “Hold me tight, please,” I did as she asked, sitting up and letting her sit as much of her body as she could on my lap. She sat with her back to me, my arms wrapped around her stomach and my head resting on her shoulder. The serpents strained to get close to me and feel my warmth. Selene used her tail to turn on the TV, the NES and bring the controller to herself.
“Really? I thought you were exhausted.”
“I just need two more dungeons to finish the triforce, then I win, right?”
“No, you have to go slap Ganon dead.”
“Right. Then I win.”
“Here, I picked this up for you today, I thought the case matched you perfectly,” I handed her the phone in a white case.
“A phone? For me?” She paused the game and gently took the phone from me. I couldn’t see her face, but she started sniffling as she turned the phone on, “T-thank you, Anon,” She turned around to face me, tears rolling down her face.
I dried the tears with the sleeve of my sweatshirt, “Are you alright?”
She nodded, and nuzzled her face into my neck, “I love it, thank you, dear,” her tail nearly shattered my spine from how tightly she squeezed me.
“Ack!” I cried as she squeezed the air out of me.
“Sorry,” She blushed, “I have never received anything as kind as this.”
“Are you sure? It’s just a phone.”
“I grew up very poor, Anon, poverty even. It may be mundane for you but this is the most expensive thing I have ever owned,” Another squeeze, “I need to do something for you now, hm?” She set the phone aside and slithered off my lap and onto the floor in front of me.
“You don’t need to, Selene. Being with me is gift enough,” I ran my hand over her scalp, the snakes were more than happy to return the love.
“Oh, you’re so humble. I’m going to do something for you,” She pushed my shirt up and started slowly untying the strings of my sweats. The bedroom eyes she gave me got me hard already. She kissed my stomach and slowly pulled my pants down, “Already hard for me, hm?” She slowly ran her long, nicely painted nails down my chest. When they reached my underwear, she slowly began to pull them off.
There was a loud knocking on the door.
“Who is interrupting my man time?” Selene stormed towards the door.
“Man time?” I asked, pulling my pants up.
Selene threw the door open, “What?”
I heard a familiar voice, “I-Is Anon here?”
“What do you want with my man?”
“Selene let him in!” I called, “He’s a friend.”
“Mph, fine,” She pouted letting the man past.
“Hey, Anon. Got yourself a wife, huh?”
“Yeah, Josh. You doing okay?”
“No,” Josh sat next to me on the couch, Selene’s angry expression turned slightly sympathetic. “I keep getting harassed by those crazy hags on campus, shit about human extinction and monsters being evil. I’m so sick of this shit, dude. I had to get out of the housing where they spam their shit,” He picked up a pillow and screamed into it.
“Are there no monster girls on campus?” Selene asked, “I am sure they would not take any of that.”
Josh and I shook our heads, “I graduated from there. I moved down here to get away from that cancerous trash.”
“He was lucky, graduating only a few weeks after those portals opened, I started late and this is what I get. AND you’ve got a pretty wife,” Josh pouted.
“You looking to crash here tonight?” I asked.
“I hope that’s ok with you two, I just really needed to get out of there after almost getting assaulted for not leaning far enough their way,” He explained sheepishly.
“You’re welcome to stay a night or two,” Selene sighed, “Just please don’t interrupt our quiet time together.”
“You won’t hear a peep out of me at night ma’am, though I don’t know how you sleep with Anon, on account of him snoring louder than a jet plane,” Josh chuckled.
Selene smiled, “I have my ways of dealing with it,” Selene joined us on the couch, forcing me into the middle. She wrapped her arms and tail around me and pulled me into her, “So what kind of girl are you looking for, dear?” Selene asked despite Josh not saying anything related to girls.
“Oh I dunno. There’s so many different body types and personality types to go along with them... uh, I don’t think I caught your name.”
“Selene. It is true that there are many different types of girls who would love to get their hands on you, and I personally know a few. Go ahead and name off some traits.”
“What are you doing, Selene?” I asked.
“Looking out for your friend as well as mine, dear. Now hush.”
“Well... This is embarrassing... I’ve always had a thing for taller girls,” Josh said, his face red as a tomato.
“There is no judgement here, keep going, I know at least five tall girls,” Selene ran her fingers absentmindedly through my hair.
“S-sassy, strong, protective, needs to like to cuddle.”
“I know just the girl!” Selene exclaimed and whipped out her phone.
“Dee?” I guessed.
“Heavens no. For an oni, she's not very strong. Not sassy at all either,” Selene got off the couch and slithered into the bedroom excitedly.
We could hear her talking on the phone, but it was too quiet to make out the details, “I’m nervous, dude,” Josh whispered, “Have you met her friends?”
“A few just yesterday, yeah. I don’t remember any of them really fitting the bill though,” I mumbled.
Selene returned after just a few minutes, a sly smile on her face, “She should be here soon.”
“Its like eight, who would want to walk her this late?” I asked.
“Someone desperate enough to do it.”
We waited in anticipation for fifteen minutes maybe. There was a loud pounding on the door as they tried the knob. Selene gracefully got up and opened the door for them. Stripes stormed into the room, panting, “Where is he?”
I was surprised, I didn’t see stripes as the kind of girl who would want to cuddle with anyone. Josh got up and approached her, “H-hi,” He whimpered, awestruck by her rippling physique.
Stripes was a good foot taller than him, she seemed for mean to me than sassy, “You Josh?” She panted, most likely she ran over here.
He nodded, “I-I like wha-what you’ve done with y-your hair,” Josh stammered out.
Stripes bellowed a boisterous laugh and ran her large clawed hand through her messy hair, “You. I like you. Compliment me more.”
“Oh uh, I,” Josh grasped her hand with both of his, “I think you’re really pretty.”
Stripes face got really red. She stammered a bit, trying to decide what to say, “You’re not too bad looking yourself, idiot,” She finally said.
“You two are adorable together!” Selene exclaimed, squeezing me once more in excitement. Stripes pulled her hand away and crossed her arms, she was trying to look tough but her face gave away her embarrassment.
“You wanna get out of here?” Josh asked her.
“Yeah, let’s blow this joint,” Stripes agreed she threw her arm around him. They walked out the door and were gone.
“That was really fast,” I commented.
“Mhm, another successful match,” Selene stretched and picked the controller back up with her tail.
“What do you mean, another match?” I laid out on the couch, head in her lap.
“I had to pay my own way through school, Anon. I was a matchmaker. It paid well and I just had to be able to figure people and monsters out.”
“Huh. Why did you want to go to school bad enough to pay your own way through?”
She ran her fingers through my hair again, “I did not want to be like my parents. My mother was a very cold woman. I have no idea what she saw in my father. She could have done so much better, married an upstanding man and had a wonderful family.”
“What was wrong with the family she had?”
“No amount of mamano mana could change my father. He was a very standoffish, stubborn person. Despite what everyone thinks of monster families, it was not perfect. A lot of them fighting. I got old enough and I left for the closest monster friendly city.”
“Sounds rough.”
“I wanted to get educated so I could find a nice city man and have a wonderful family with him and not live in a cave. Then the portals opened and I got here as fast as I could, itching to find a husband. My friends and I got a house together and I was saving up to... do something to get myself a husband. But you found me, did you not?”
“Yeah, I guess I did. I tried to run away from you too.”
“You did not get away for long~” Selene’s tail wrapped around me, holding me close.
“You pulled some stalker-like maneuver! What was I supposed to do about that?” I threw my hands in the air.
She gave me a quick kiss and got back to playing her game, “Thank you for being in my life, Anon. I could not ask for a better husband.”
“Thanks for being in mine, I feel a lot happier with you around.”
“I am going to snuggle you to death when we go to bed, dear,” Selene giggled.
Friday rolled around, I had the day off because of required vacation time. I hadn’t told Selene I had the day off because I knew she would try to skip out on work to spend the day with me. I dropped Selene off at work with a kiss goodbye she gave me a sad wave. I got back home and relaxed on the couch. I finally had a moment to myself, time to play some video games, I decided. I got up to get some chips and noticed that Selene left the lunch I made her at home. I thought for a few moments. This was the perfect time to visit her at work and embarrass her in front of her students.
I cleaned myself up and got dressed. I packed myself another lunch as well because I might as well have lunch with her. I got a text from Selene between classes. It was just a bunch of heart emojis. I sent some back. In less than an hour I was heading out. The middle school was just four blocks away, so I really didn’t need to drive, but that didn’t stop me from driving there.
I stopped at a convenience store and picked up some sprite for the two of us. I parked along the side of the building and strided to the front. I pressed the button to be let in and heard the lock click open. I opened the door and went to the front desk. There was a moth woman at the front deck who smiled at me, “How can I-” She took a closer look at me, “Anon McAnon?”
“Uh, yeah that’s me,” I was shocked that she knew me.
“Kelsey, we went to school here together, remember? Well, I used to be human so I understand if you don’t.”
“Oh yeah! I remember,” I was lying.
“Well, when Selene talked about you I didn’t think she meant that Anon. She talks about you a lot, even started using your last name recently. Here to see her?”
“Yeah, I am. She left her lunch at home and I wanted to surprise her.”
“That’s sweet of you,” Kelsey handed me a badge with my name on it, “Maybe I’ll find a sweet man some day...”
“You’ll find someone. Everyone will,” I took the badge and stuck it to my shirt.
“She’s in room 112, head that way and left at the T-junction.”
“Thanks, Kelsey, see you around,” I waved as I walked off. I wasn’t surprised at all that she had monsterized, I could recall her talking about not being happy with her body even in middle school, and the little bit I talked to her later on it was still apparent. Glad she hopefully found a way to be happy.
As I walked to Selene’s class room, I hear humming. It was Selene for sure, she was humming the Zelda overworld theme. I peeked around the corner to see the last bit of her tail disappear around the corner. I had no idea where she was going, but she was out of the classroom. Perfect. I probably would have combat rolled across the floor to make her laugh if she was here. I moved quickly to her classroom and threw the door open. All conversation in the classroom stopped as a room full of children stared at me with their big eyes, “Hi, class. Uh, I’m Mr. McAnon and-”
“Are you Mrs. McAnons husband?” A wurm who dominated the backroom asked.
“Are you stupid, Wendy? Of course he is,” A succubus retorted.
“Are you gonna teach us now?” A boy asked.
“Yes. Who wants to know how the internet works?” I got a resounding yes from the class so I started drawing diagrams on the whiteboard. I don’t know if they were expecting something exciting from this lecture, but it was one of the most boring things I could talk about. I used as many small non-jargon words as I could. Explaining those I couldn’t avoid. “...So, here is your computer, connected to this server, which houses the websites you want and its connected to-”
The door was opened by Selene who was going through some papers in her hands, “Okay class, I have the tests here. Wendy, can-” She looked up at me and her serpents shot straight up in the air in surprise, “W-What are you doing here?” She moved towards me slowly and gave me a quick hug.
“Teaching your class about the internet. So, as I was saying, the server is connected to other servers or nodes that...” Selene sat at her desk while I finished the short lecture.
“... and that's pretty much it, any questions?” The class looked at me with blank expressions, “Alright cool, I’ll pass back over to Mrs. McAnon now.”
“Alright I have the test for you all here. Darling can you help me pass this out? It should not take you very long, take your time and let me know if you have any questions.”
The bell rang and her class filed out for lunch. Selene pulled me into her office and closed the door. Before I could speak, she pushed me up against the wall, nearly knocking the wind out of me, “I am glad you came Anon,” She kissed me deeply on the lips, her tongue entering my mouth, touching mine, “I missed you very much,” Her hands held my head still while she kissed me up and down my face. She suddenly stopped, with a sigh she straightened out her clothed and wiped off my face, “I... am sorry. I need to restrain myself more. I just find you so intoxicating,” She rested her head on my shoulder as she wrapped her arms around me.
“Maybe we can go to bed a little early tonight, if ya know what I mean. You’ve been coming to bed late between grading and video games leaving almost no time for quality time together,” I gave her a swift kiss on the cheek before sitting down and handing her the lunch and a soda.
“But I have to save the princess!” Selene was completely invested in the game.
“I know, I know. Do whatever makes you happy, dear.”
“But what about what makes you happy, darling?” She grabbed my shoulders.
“You make me happy, not c’mon lets eat before lunch ends.”
Selene gave me another kiss, “Alright. But when we get home, you are all mine~” She licked her lips and gave me ‘the look’ as I’ve come to call it. The bedroom eyes combined with the biting of her bottom lip. It made me sweat bullets.
Selene came home to a wonderfully clean apartment and a candle lit dinner. She had stayed at the school late to finish grading tests. I had prepared chicken and pasta for the two of us, laid out a tablecloth and lit candles at the small table, “What is the occasion for all this?” She asked.
“You plan on making me your husband through traditional mamano means, right?”
“Only if you’re ok with it, Anon. I don’t want to push you into it.”
“I want it more than anything, Selene. In fact,” I got down on one knee in front of her. Her eyes went wide and her serpents stood on end again, “I wanted to make you my wife in the traditional human way,” I produced a small box and opened for her, revealing a ring, “Would you make me the happiest man alive, Selene?”
“Oh my god, Anon! Yes!” I was wrapped up in her arms and tail as she relentlessly started kissing me.
“Honey the foods gonna get cold!” I laughed as she tried to drag me to the bedroom.
“I forgot about the food!” She laughed back at me, “I love you so much.”
“I love you too,” I told her as I put the diamond ring on her finger, “Now let's eat, please, I worked really hard on this.”
“Yes, lets,” Selene took a seat, refusing to let go of my hand. Her look of lust had been replaced with a big adorable smile. She wiped tears out of her eyes, “Maybe we should wait.”
“Wait for what?” I asked, about to put a big bite of food in my mouth.
“To consummate our marriage. The day we get married we can do that as well. Imagine the love and passion! You in a most handsome suit and me in a beautiful gown!”
I smiled back at her. “I think you’d look amazing in a gown. If you want to wait, we will wait.”
“I love you, darling husband of mine.”
“I love you too, wonderful wife of mine.”
Saturday morning was particularly cold and rainy morning, Selene was clutching me tighter than normal, attempting to sap my heat even more than she already was. She was just so cute that I couldn’t resist her. The snakes looked at me expectantly. I gave them all quick pets before turning to my phone. My parents had sent me a text asking if I could come over to their house today and help set up their new computer. I realised that I had to introduce my new fiance to my parents. I had known Selene for like a week and I had already asked her marry me. I was head over heels in love with her despite how my previous relationships had ended. I told them I would show up around noon.
I was patting Selene’s head while browsing my phone when she woke up, “Good morning,” I greeted her.
“Morning, handsome,” She slid up my body and planted a kiss on my face. She buried her face in my neck this time.
“My parents need me to head over to their place this morning. You want to come with?”
“You have not talked about your parents before, what are they like?”
“They’re fine. Not a lot to say about them, really. No story of me running away or anything. I think you’ll like them.”
“I hope they like me,” Selene whispered.
“Honey, they’re gonna love you!” I said, trying to keep her spirits up.
“Maybe I should just stay here. I can finish my game while you are gone!”
“If you don’t want to go just say so. We don’t need to do everything together,” I pat her head, her serpents rubbed up against my arm.
“But I wish to spend every waking moment of my life with you, Anon. I will go with you. Should we get ready now, or do I get more time with you here?”
“We can be lazy here a bit longer. Or do you want to go finish your game?”
“Mmmm. Can we take the cuddling out to the entertainment room?” I got another kiss on the neck.
“What should I wear, dear?” Selene asked me after we had showered.
“Something waterproof. You can borrow my big sweatshirt if you need it,” I told her, putting on my usual t-shirt, jeans and a hoodie.
“Does it smell like you?” Selene put on a long sleeve shirt and some kind of pants equivalent for a lamia type monster girl. It went from her waist about two feet down her serpent body. It looked like the inside was coated in wool and the outside was a waterproof nylon.
I tossed her my coat, “I dunno. I can’t really smell myself.”
She quickly brought it up to her face, and inhaled heavily. “Ooooh yes. Your odor is heavy on this coat,” She put it on swiftly and took another smell.
“You’re weird.”
“If I can not be intertwined with you constantly, I will take the next best thing. The smell of you,” Selene pulled me close with her tail and gave me a peck on the cheek before letting me go.
“Whatever you say, Selene. Though getting to be lazy with you all day does sound really nice.”
“Perhaps tomorrow we can spend the day just you and I. Maybe I can finally repay you for the phone as well?”
“Selene. Don’t feel like you need to repay me for that or anything else I do,” I sat on the bed and laid back.
Selene got on the bed next to me and took my hand, “I know I do not need to, but you deserve it. Everything you have done for me has been so kind. You have given me so much and what have I given you, besides my undying love? Nothing.”
“You’ve given me someone I am willing to spend all my free time with. That’s a pretty big deal for me.”
“You are so sweet and innocent my darling. But my desire to do something for you will not be stopped,” She gave me a grin and squeezed my hand tightly with hers.
“Come on, let's get going. I’m sure they have lunch being made and I’m getting hungry.”
The drive to my parents house wasn’t too bad it was about twenty minutes there. I was getting hungry and impatient though and Selene had to keep telling me to calm down. I hadn’t had dad’s cooking since thanksgiving. But, usually when they had me over to do something for them they made me food. I hadn’t told them Selene was coming, but I was sure they wouldn't mind. Every time my mom saw me she would ask about her grandchildren. Being the eldest child, it was supposed to be my job.
“Are you sure they’ll like me?” Selene asked, doubt creeping into her mind.
“Of course. They’re my parents. They’ll be happy I’ve brought any prospective woman to them,” I put my hand on her tail, attempting to comfort her, “They’re kind enough people.”
“What if they don’t like me, and they demand that you to leave me?” She scooped up my hand with both of hers and clutched it tightly.
“We’ll run away, then. Not sure where, but we’ll make it,” I did my best to comfort her again.
“I cannot tell if you are playing a fool again or if you mean it,” She pouted a little bit at me.
“Hey, look at that, we’re here,” I completely dodged the question as we pulled into my parent’s driveway. She looked at me, giving me a look of slight annoyance. I turned to her and smiled, “Don’t worry. You’ll be fine.”
“I should have worn a beautiful dress. Should I have put-”
I interrupted her with a kiss on her soft lips, “You look gorgeous, dear. You worry too much,” She grumbled incoherently in response, “I love you too,” I smiled before giving her another kiss.
I got out of the car and walked up to the front door. Selene slithered quickly across the stone pathway, hoping to get out of the rain as fast as she could. She left the hood of my coat up as she brought her entire body underneath the porch cover. I rang the doorbell and waited for someone to answer. My mom threw the door open, “Anon! So good to see you!” She grabbed me in a big hug and kissed me on the cheek, “And who is this?” My mom asked cheerfully.
“This is Selene my-” I started.
“His wife,” Selene finished, acting more cold than I had ever seen before.
“You got married and didn’t invite your own mother to the wedding?” She stared at me in disbelief, looking like she was about to cry.
“We’re not married yet!” I quickly corrected, “Just engaged right now.”
“Well,” My mother regained her composure, “You two come in, its cold and wet out here!” We filed into the first room of the house, “Let me get you a towel or two dear, so you can dry off. Husband!” She shouted suddenly, “Your son is here and he brought a cute girl!”
I took my coat off as my mother walked around the corner and I turned to Selene, I could see her serpents squirming underneath the hood. Selene herself was squirming uncomfortably as well, “Selene what’s wrong?” I had never seen her act like this, the worry must have been obvious in my voice.
“I was completely wrong about your mother and I have no idea how to act now,” She admitted, refusing to look me in the eyes.
“Just be yourself, Selene. You don’t need to put on an act.”
“I just- just fear someone taking you away from me!” She finally looked up at me, sniffling. She lunged forward and latched onto me, crying into my shirt.
“Do you two need a moment?” My mom asked, returning to us. She offered me the towels.
“Yeah, we’ll be a moment,” I took the towels from her and helped Selene dry off when she was done crying, “Do you want to rest in my old room while I put the computer together?”
“I want to stay by your side,” Selene told me. I dried her eyes and gave her a smile. She smiled back and hugged me again, “I am such a mess...” I gave her a kiss in response. I tried to hold her hand for comfort as we talked into the living room, “Not in front of your parents, Anon,” She said sternly.
I didn’t question it. The living room was spacious with two couches and a TV. Off the room was my father’s office on one side and the kitchen and dining room on the other. My father and mother were talking quietly in the kitchen that was separated from the living room by a half wall. They smiled and waved at the two of us, “Is the computer in the office?” I asked.
“Yeah, everything should be on the desk,” My dad called.
I pushed the office door open and held it open for Selene, “They are talking about us,” Selene whispered.
“You’re being paranoid. No one is going to take me from you,” I grabbed the pre built PC off of the desk and set it under the desk. Set the monitor on top of the desk along with the mouse and keyboard.
“Is this what you do at your job?” Selene asked.
“Kinda. I manage bigger machines that house a lot of important data. Remember what I talked about during your class?” I explained while plugging cables in.
“Not very well. You talked about things I just do not understand. We should teach each other more when we have the chance.”
“I would like that. I still want to know the history of your people,” I turned the computer on.
“And I wish to know more about technology, you have told me about computers and phones but I know nothing about these games I play and how they work.”
“Oh that stuffs easy, we can talk about that later. I’m too hungry to think straight,” I quickly configured the system and let it begin the self setup process, “Good to go.”
“Already? That was quick,” Selene gave me a confused look.
“They just ask me to do it since my dad’s back is pretty messed up and the computer can be a little heavy. Plus I know what I’m doing.”
“I see,” Selene gave me another hug before we went and sat at the dining table. My mom sat down across from us.
“What are you two planning for the wedding?” She asked.
“You are a lot more open to this than I first expected ma’am,” Selene said.
“I want to see some grandchildren before I die. Lord knows his sister won’t give me any and his older brother most likely won’t have any,” My mom explained darkly.
“What is the problem with them?” Selene asked.
“Steve’s wife doesn’t want kids, and Samantha can’t keep a boyfriend for more than a month. I’m hoping you two might be able to change Steve and this wife’s mind.”
“We could monsterize her. A high exposure to mamano mana could cause the change,” I almost couldn’t believe what Selene was suggesting.
“Turn my other daughter in law into another beautiful, polite woman? I agree with this plan!”
“Mom, how do you know about monsterizing?” I butted in.
“I watched a lot of documentaries that came out when they came over to this world. Beauty, a high drive to produce more offspring... the only down side seems to be low fertility rate,” My mother explained.
“I will ask Molly for aid, though her price will most likely be a husband of her own after how we helped Stripes. We may as well help Gepepi and Dee as well while we are at it.”
I sighed, “I have ideas on who might be interested. Especially in Gepepi.”
“Is he one of those ‘lolicons’ that I hear the news talk about?” My mom asked me.
“Mom! You shouldn’t know about this stuff! No, its Ben.”
My mother nodded like she understood. My father called from the kitchen, “Dish up!”
The four of us sat around the dining room table. My dad let my mom do all of the talking. We had pulled pork sandwiches and chips with two of my dad’s homemade dips, a french onion dip and a salsa. Selene seemed to really like the salsa.
“Why are you wearing that old coat still, dear? Is it too cold in here?” My mom asked.
Selene pulled the hood over her face a little more, “O-oh, no reason. Its just comfortable.”
“You could at least take the hood off dear. Its considered rude in this household to wear headgear at the table,” My mom said while my dad nodded.
Selene looked at me nervously, her face was beet red. I gave her an encouraging nod. She reached up and slowly removed her hood. She must have been focusing on commanding them very hard because the serpents were the most well behaved I have ever seen them. Six flowing down at the back of her head and two at the front who acted like additional eyes, constantly on the lookout. Selene’s gaze was in her lap, as if she was a child ready to be scolded. My dad’s eyebrows raised a little bit, but he didn’t stop eating. My mom’s eyes sparkled.
“They’re so cute!” My mom exclaimed.
Selene looked up at her in surprise, “Excuse me?”
“You look so cute when you’re embarrassed, dear. I can see why you like her, Anon.”
“Well when she broke into my house and seduced me I didn’t really have a choice. But yeah I love her,” I told my mom between bites of food.
“So she’s a crafty one! Cute, smart, and polite! You better keep her, Anon!” My mom nearly shouted.
“I will. Selene, you’re gonna keep me right?” I asked.
Selene was covering her face with her hands. She nodded, “Unfortunately,” She mumbled.
My mom and dad laughed, “Don’t be embarrassed dear, we’re just teasing you. After lunch I have something to show you that I’m sure you’ll love!” My mom told Selene.
I knew what was coming, I had to avoid this, “Actually, we have somewhere to be.”
“What? I was not aware of this,” Selene looked at me, confused, “You don’t want me to see this, do you?”
“W-well I-”
“Mrs. McAnon. I wish to see whatever it is you have to show me as soon as possible,” Selene started eating her food again.
I was powerless to stop it. All I could do was wait.
My mother went upstairs to grab the book. I sat on the couch with Selene while my dad did dishes. Dread showed across my face, “Do you really not want me to see this?”
I looked at her, “Its fine. Just embarrassing. She does this when I bring anyone over here,” I explained.
“Here it is,” My mom set a large tome on Selene’s lap.
She opened it to a random page and gasped, “Is this you, Anon?”
It was a picture of me, less than a year old on halloween. I was dressed up like a pea pod, with my head being one of the peas, “Yep.”
“You were so cute!” Selene started browsing pages carefully now, making comments and talking to my mom about nearly each baby picture, “Why are you not this cute any more?”
“I’m in my twenties now, Selene,” I slumped in my seat waiting for the torment to end.
“You two have fun!” My mom called as we left her home. The rain had stopped, thankfully.
Selene’s spirits were high, “They were really nice!”
My spirits, much lower after Selene was shown baby photos for an hour. My mom really loved her scrapbooking afterall, “Uhuh.”
“Cheer up Anon, we have the rest of the day to do whatever we want,” Selene gave me a swift kiss on the cheek.
“Yup, we should get groceries so we don’t have to tomorrow or this week.”
“Sounds good, dear. I should call Molly later before I forget. Do you know anyone we could hook her up with?”
We got in the car and drove off while I thought about it, “I could call up a few people and invite them over, you could talk to them and figure it out.”
“Tomorrow? We should invite Josh and Stripes over too! I want to see how they are doing!”
“Works for me. You won’t get to do whatever you have planned for me if we do have them over.”
“I will do it when you least expect, Anon. So you better watch out!” She teased.
I looked at her, her mischievous smile didn’t help calm me down, “O-Okay, dear,” I laughed nervously.
The trip to the store and the ride home were uneventful. When we got home Selene got back to playing Zelda until around dinner where she made dinner for us. A baked macaroni dish, I think. At the table, Selene asked me a question, “What do you think about your siblings?”
“Samantha needs to get her act together. I know she has issues, but she could do better than sleeping around with random guys and living at their house for a month before being kicked out for being lazy,” I said.
“I do not understand why someone would waste time with a man they do not have the intention of marrying or at least just friends with.”
“Its a huge cultural difference between humans and girls like you. In the past decade or two people have started sleeping around with whoever, not even people they’re dating, just anyone whos down.”
“That makes me sick to my stomach,” Selene set her fork down, bowl more than half full.
“Hey, don’t be like that. Things are getting better now. Things are better now that we’re together.”
Selene looked at the ring I had given her on her finger, “Yes. Things are better,” She picked her fork back up and continued eating, “Thank you, Anon.”
“Thank you as well, Selene.”
“Tell me about your brother.”
“He’s cool. We were really close way back. We drifted apart a little bit when I was in middle school and he was in high school. Then when I was in the later part of highschool, he started dating that chick he’s married to now and she was just insufferable to be around. Steve and my relationship just fell apart, especially since the girl I was dating at the time and Steve’s wife didn’t like each other.”
“Did you and this girl you dated ever have sex?”
“No, she kept trying to pressure me into it though. Then she cheated on me and that was the third time I ever had my heart broken,” I poked at my food for a bit.
“I am sorry for bringing up these memories, darling. Do not feel pressured to talk about anything you do not wish to,” Selene put her hand on mine, she and her serpents all looked worried.
“Its good to vent. If you have anything to get off your chest, let me know.”
“Only that I love you very much!”
“I love you too.”
Sunday morning rolled around, we got cleaned up, dressed and ate breakfast together. Selene kept teasing me about the baby pictures. I had no retort for it, other than calling her cute. It didn’t work at all. Josh and Stripes came by pretty early to hang out before others showed up. We got lucky and Molly as well as two of my prospective bachelor friends were free. I did have to lie to the two of them and claim it was for board games. Gepepi would hopefully show up later, as Selene wanted to surprise her. Selene did want to play board games as well, but with six people in my little apartment I didn’t know what we could do.
“How has your relationship been, you two?” Selene asked them.
“Its been great! Though I still haven't beaten anyone up in Josh’s name yet,” Stripes said.
“You scare the shit out of them! The entire football team thinks you could rip them in half! At once!” Josh exclaimed.
“I could and will if they fuck with my sweetie! I mean- uh, my boyfriend,” Stripes wrapped on arm around Josh’s shoulder and pulled him close, leg over both of his.
Selene leaned really close to me, “Josh absolutely reeks of Stripe’s imprint,” She whispered.
“Do I smell like you then?” I asked, whispering.
“Not as much, since we have never had sex, but I definitely have imprinted on you. Monster girls should know that you are taken.”
“What’re you two whisperin’ about?” Stripes called. The two of them were sitting on the couch, I was lounging on Selene’s serpent body, and she was leaning on me with her human upper half.
“Just how cute you two are,” Selene lied. I nodded to affirm this.
“When are the nerds suppose to show?” Stripes growled.
“Molly should arrive at any time, and Anon and Josh’s friends didn’t give an exact time. Can I play more Zelda, Anon?”
“Selene, we have company,” I said leaning back a little more. The snake tail was much more comfortable that I expected ten feet of what is essentially scale coated muscles to be.
“I know, but I am on the last dungeon!”
“Selene does he have you playin’ those video game things? I don’t understand ‘em,” Stripes commented.
“I started her out with Mario on the Wii,” Josh cut in, “Too hard I think.”
“Nothin’s too hard for me. I just don’t get it. Why does the red man keep needin’ ta save this Peach girl? The big turtle keeps stealing his girl and red man just lets him live! Just kill this big turtle guy!”
“Look, Stripes, he doesn’t kill him because its a kids game!”
“That’s a dumb fricken reason.”
There was a knocking on the door sometime later. A light rapping followed by heavier pounding followed by the door bell. I was too slow to get up, as Stripes lept from sitting half on top of Josh and sprang over to the door and threw it open. Three people filed in, Molly, Ben and Chris, “Anon, I thought we were playing board games,” Ben said.
“Pull up some chairs, we’re just hanging out for now,” I told them. Molly took a seat on the couch next to Stripes and Josh, while the other two brough chairs over from the dining room, “This is my fiance, Selene.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Selene greeted, polite as always.
“I’m Stripes. You already know my man,” Stripes was very aggressive with introducing herself, leering at the two of them.
“Stripes calm down. They’re some of my best friends next to Anon,” Josh was surprisingly firm with Stripes. She grumbled and folded her arms in response.
“Molly. What board games did you bring? I’ve only ever really played Monopoly. No one will play that with me any more after I destroyed them at it,” Molly asked, pushing her glasses up on her face like some sort of anime character.
“Uh, I’m Ben, this is Chris. We’re brothers. We brought Secret Hitler, Eldritch Horror, Splendor... a few card games as well,” Ben listed off games to Molly who listened intently.
“Can we play Splendor?” She asked.
“Yeah, totally. It’s only four players so, uh, we’ll have some people sitting out.”
“I will watch, Anon as well,” Selene answered for me. I just shrugged.
“I’ll sit out on the nerd stuff. Anon where’s the booze?” Stripes asked, standing up.
“I don’t got any. There’s leftovers in the fridge if you want some though,” I told her, sinking deeper into Selene’s embrace.
Josh, Ben, Chris and Molly sat around the coffee table. Molly picked up the game quickly, learning and devising strategies quickly. She was two steps ahead of everyone except Ben. She kept inching closer to him as they played, as if stealthily trying to invade his personal space.
“Looks like you were wrong,” Selene whispered into my ear as we lounged about on the floor nearby.
“Uhuh. I’m not an expert like you are,” I replied, keeping my voice down.
“I feel bad. Chris looks so uncomfortable.”
“He’s not the best with new people, he’ll warm up though. Not sure how he’ll handle Gepepi.”
Selene sighed, “None of your friends will look me in the eye.”
“They’re just shy, Selene. People just don’t look you in the eye because they don’t know how sweet you really are.”
“You two whisperin’ about stuff again?” Stripes asked, a spoonful of cold macaroni in her mouth.
“Leave them alone Stripes,” Josh said firmly, she went back to eating.
“Josh its your move,” Molly said, completely monotone.
“I’m workin’ on it...”
“Yeah Josh come on!” Ben said jokingly. Molly stared at Ben. Ben looked up from his phone at her and smiled. Her face went beet red in under a second and she looked away, “How’d you two meet, Josh?” Ben asked, trying to fill the silence in the air.
“Selene introduced us,” Stripes answered for him, “She used to matchmake professionally.”
“Is that so...” Ben looked down at his phone. After a few moments he looked up at Molly then turned to Selene and me, “Is that why you invited me over? Matchmaking?” He was more confused than angry.
“I invited you over to hang out. If you leave with a girl in your arms then that’s good for you,” I told him, sitting up.
“Dude, you know how I feel about dating. I’m sick of that shit.”
“We can skip dating if that’s what you want!” Molly said, “I think datings kinda lame too, you can just bend me over this table and plow me!”
“What? No!”
“O-oh. I-if you think I’m ugly we can put a bag over my head,” She leaned to him and grabbed his jacket.
“No its not that you’re ugly or anything. I’ve just-”
“Please, I need you,” This was getting sad.
“You’re being too forward, Molly. Didn’t even flirt with him,” I called.
“You need to tell him how smart and handsome you think he is!” Selene added.
“Take him to dinner before you beg him to plow you in front of your friends, christ,” Stripes mumbled.
“You have to turn the charms up to eleven if you’re gonna get a man like my boy Ben,” Josh stated.
“Uh, ah,um, uh,” Molly looked around the room at all of us, fear on her face, “I-I uh, I’m so bad at this!” She started lying on the floor, facedown.
“C’mon, bro, you need to get back into a relationship and you know it. Its the only thing that kept you alive,” Chris finally spoke loud enough for everyone to hear.
“Alright, alright. I’ll give her a try. But I’m not plowing her in front of you,” Ben picked the sniveling Molly off the floor and held her in his arms, “Feeling better?” She nodded vigorously before hiding her face in his coat. Ben sighed.
“Where’s my girlfriend, Anon?” Chris joked.
“Selene?” I turned to her.
She was already on her phone, “On it.”
“Wait, you- you actually have someone?” Chris looked nervous. We nodded, “Oh boy.”
The four of them got back to playing Splendor.
Another knock. Stripes got it again, since she can’t sit still. I was surprised once more, as Dee entered my small home, small beer keg under her arm, “Aw here we go!” Stripes giggled, taking the keg from her.
“H-hello,” Dee waved a little bit.
Chris waved at her, “Hey.”
I saw what Selene was going for as Dee introduced herself to everyone. Both were shy and incredibly quiet. I watched them stand by the window and chat quietly, despite the background noise. Both had a glass of booze in their hand, joking and laughing with each other. Gepepi showed up soon after with five pizzas. I expected her to be upset when we didn’t have a boyfriend for her but she said; “Now I have more people to poach brothers from!”
“Two more successful matches!” Selene kissed me on the cheek.
“I don’t know how you do it. Probably magic,” I guessed.
Selene laughed, “Maybe. Sit up dear,” I did as she asked.
“Yo, Anon, Selene. You want a beer?” Stripes asked from the kitchen.
“Sure I’ll take one,” I replied. I looked around the room at the various conversations going on. Selene’s family mingling with my collective of friends. It was nice. I was surprised everyone got along so well. The only conflict was when Gepepi got a little too close to Josh and Stripes snapped at her. The beer got passed along the room to where I was sitting with the love of my life. Selene took a sip before it got put in my hands. I looked around the room again before taking a sip. I watched as Dee pulled Chris into a big hug that would have broken the back of a lesser man. I chuckled and laid back again as I drank.
The night wound down as the sun set. Dee had fallen asleep, her head in Chris’s lap. Stripes and Josh talked quietly on the couch and Molly, Gepepi and Ben played games quietly at the dining table. Selene and I were sitting on the floor still, “We need to do this more often,” Selene said to no one in particular.
“I hope we’re not expected to host every time,” I commented.
“Course not, me and Josh’ll have a bigger place soon,” Stripes offered.
“Our place isn’t much bigger, but it could work,” Ben called from across the room.
“It’s really only me and Dee and Gepepi at the house now, so we could host too!” Molly added.
“We could get together weekly and have a big meal!” Gepepi cried.
“Only if we can play poker,” Josh requested.
We all talked back and forth for a while before deciding on thursday evenings. We had to guess Dee’s schedule since she wouldn’t wake up until we had already decided. People started to leave soon after, leaving Selene and me alone. She kissed me again, “Ready to watch me beat this game?”
“Of course, I’m gonna clean up a bit first. You get it started,” I replied as I got up to clean up a bit.
Selene nodded, using her tail to turn the TV on, grab the controller and turn on the console, “Did you have fun, darling?”
“Of course. You look like you did too.”
“Yes I did. I am glad that everything worked out and everyone got along. Also,” Selene pulled a small red vial from a pocket in my coat that she was still wearing, “Molly slipped me this. Potion that should infuse the drinker with demon energy.”
“And cause them to change form?” I guessed.
“Yes. Should work on your sister in law. Or your sister.”
“I just hope they don’t hate us too much if we do this,” I returned to the couch and laid my head in Selene’s lap.
“As long as it makes your mother happy, then I am fine with any repercussions.”
“Hm, yeah. You’re right. Man, you got to the dungeon fast.”
“Mhm. I have been playing so much that I have commited the map to memory. I found all the secrets by trial and error, and grinded enough gems to buy all upgrades. I am ready.”
“I can see that, only missing one heart, wow. Take the potion even though I told you not to?”
“Yes. I shall not be tricked again going forward!” She was quiet for the rest of her play through. Making only small noises when taking damage or beating enemies. But she did ask me one thing, after fighting a miniboss, “Are some people just bad?”
“I guess so. In the context of this game Ganon doesn’t have a real reason to be bad, I think, other than he’s a bad guy doing bad things.”
“And they deserve bad things to happen to them?”
“I suppose so.”
“The extent of what bad they deserve comes on a case by case basis in my mind,” I nodded in response, unsure of where this was coming from, “Am I a bad person?”
“Why would you think you’re a bad person, you teach, are super sweet and help people find happiness through relationships,” I sat up and looked at her, “Is something wrong?”
“I am just thinking aloud, darling. Nothing is wrong,” She went back to focusing on the game.
She actually managed to beat the dungeon in one try, surprising me, “Wow. You’re good.”
“Thank you, darling. I am ready for the next game,” She was itching to keep playing games.
“It’s late. Tomorrow.”
She pouted a little bit, disappointed, “Okay...”
Selene and I were getting ready for work in the morning. I had just put my pants on when she called out to me, “Darling, can you help me?”
I quickly walked over to her, ready to be of assistance, “What’s up?”
“I can’t get my bra on,” She turned her back to me, holding the bra on her breasts, “Just hook the clasp in the back please,” I did as she asked. It was much harder than I expected it to be, “Thank you,” She gave me a kiss on the lips before going back to getting ready.
I could see on her face how uncomfortable she was, “Bra too small?” I asked.
She sighed, “Yes. I do not want to go out and buy more. Unfortunately, your radiant spirit energy has affected my body,” She turned back around to me. I hadn’t noticed before, but her breasts and hips were much bigger than when we had first met. She had been pretty flat and slim but now her breasts were getting to the size of large grapefruits.
“I’m sorry dear.”
“Do not apologize. You are changing for me too,” She looked at me and licked her lips. She was right, I had lost pretty much all of my fat. Now I was starting to gain muscle mass, despite not working out much.
“We should head downtown after work, get you some new clothes,” I tried to change the subject.
“I can refit my clothes if I need to, but I could use new bras,” She looked hesitant, “I will go.”
“Its a weekday so it shouldn't be too busy. A quick in and out and we’re done.”
Selene gave me a quick hug and a kiss, “Alright. I will take your word for it.”
I picked Selen up from work as usual. She looked nervous, her serpents writhed and she squirmed in the seat next to me, “Are you okay, Selene?”
“I hate places crowded with strangers,” Selene told me.
I laughed, “Same here. It will be over before you know it.”
“I hope so. I get to play Zelda two tonight, right?”
“Well... I was thinking we could just skip that one, go right to Link to the Past.”
“What? No! I have to play them in order, I will miss out on the story!” Her nervousness was completely gone.
“I’m just trying to protect you from that one. None of the games are really connected anyways.”
“It is a child’s game, Anon. You do not need to protect me!”
“Alright, you win.”
I was right about downtown, pretty slow and quiet. I got a good spot in the parking garage and we headed inside. Selene clung to my arm for comfort. We got pretzel dogs on our way to whatever store it was that she bought bras from. She dragged me inside, I knew better than to complain when shopping for clothes with ladies, “Help me pick out some cute ones!” Selene commanded. I nodded and smiled weakly. I walked with her through the store, letting people that worked there know that we didn’t need help. We chose six of them and Selene went to try them on. I was dismissed from her side and went outside the shop to sit on a bench. This was the first time I had done something like this where there were no other boyfriends waiting for their girlfriends.
I messed with my phone, texting friends and responding to work emails. A small group of people approached me, “Sup, Anon.”
I looked up. It was my third ex, Sarah and a group of her cronies, “What do you want?”
“Watch your tone with my girl, punk,” The guy who I assumed was her boyfriend stepped forwards.
“Just seeing what my favorite fuck up is up to,” Sarah replied, ignoring her boyfriend.
“Nothing. Leave me alone,” I said firmly, unsure of where this new courage had come from.
“I told you that you can’t talk to her like that.” Her boyfriend got in my face.
“Get away from him, cur,” Selene seethed as she quickly slithered towards us. The guy backed off us in surprise.
“Oh, god, what a freak!” Sarah laughed, “I always knew you’d end up with some fucking weirdo, Anon.”
Selene ignored her and grabbed my arm, “Let us go. I do not wish to be tainted by the presence of such filth.”
“Oh we’re not done here, snake bitch,” Sarah grabbed my other arm as Selen pulled me away, “You and this fucking loser don’t get to just walk away from me!” Selene was frozen in place, face away from us. Her serpents stared back as us, hissing softly, “Did you hear me freak?”
“Shut up,” I tore my hand away from Sarah, rage building, “Get away from us you ugly skank.”
“What did you just call her asshole?” Her boyfriend got in my face again.
“I called that slut a-”
I got punched in the face. It all happened really fast. I fell backwards into Selene who was ready to catch me. The ambient hissing of her snakes rose as she joined them as well. There was a flash of light that came from Selene. I watched as the faces of Sarah, her boyfriend and her two girlfriends turned from smug satisfaction to horror as their skin turned to stone. I was gripped protectively by Selene, as Sarah tried to step forward. It happened too quickly for any of them to scream, unlike the time it had happened to me. I watched as her gaze turned every inch of them to stone, each frozen in a different pose. The constant being their terrified expressions.
“Are you alright, Anon? Did he hurt you?” Selene quickly released me with her arms and moved around to my front. I was too stunned by everything that had just happened to speak, “Oh, darling, your eye!” She touched the area around my eye. It hurt. I assumed it didn’t look too good either. I looked around, bystanders stood still, staring at the two of us,
“Excuse me, ma’am?” A woman approached us. Selene looked like she was about to bite their head off, but seeing who it was, she calmed down quickly and released me from her protective grip. The woman was a dog woman security guard, an older woman. She was trailed by a human security officer, probably her underling. She greeted us with a genuine smile on her face, “Are you two alright?”
I nodded, “Yeah, I’ll be okay.”
“Do you want to press charges? Its pretty easy to arrest them in this state,” I shook my head. I really didn’t care.
“Ma’am? Aren't they dead?” Her underling spoke up.
“Of course not! I wouldn’t be this calm if they were!” She turned back to us, “You took a pretty solid blow there, kid.”
“My darling in tough. I will make sure he has a speedy recovery,” Selene’s arms wrapped around me from behind.
“Glad to hear it. You!” She turned back to her underling, “Go down to the potion shop and ask for a batch of reverse petrification. Use my name and put it on our tab,” He saluted her and hurried off.
“Do you require potions often?” Selene asked, trying to calm herself down more.
“Nah, this is just the first time we’ve had people turned to stone so we don’t have any on hand. You two get on home. I wouldn’t want to be around when they wake up. Unfortunately, I will.”
“Thank you. Come, Anon. We should go home.”
I nodded and let Selene lock arms with me. I turned back to look at the statues and watched as a kid took a selfie with them. I chuckled. I stopped us at a vending machine close to the exit, bought us both a sprite. I used it to ice my eye and keep swelling down and Selene looked like she could use a drink. We loaded up into the car, threw the bras in the backseat and drove off. I was silent. Still in shock over what had happened.
“Are you really fine, dear? You are usually much more foolish when we’re out,” Selene broke the silence.
“Still reeling a little bit from getting hit. I didn’t think you could be like that,” I said quietly.
“I do not like to. My mother do that a lot, usually to any people we found hunting near our territory, either to scare them off or to steal their food. But that woman is not allowed to talk like that to my husband and no one may lay a finger on him. They were bad people and deserved something bad to happen to them, right?” She grabbed my hand with hers and smiled at me.
I nodded, “I love you, Selene.”
“I love you too, Anon. When we get home I am going to spoil you. I need to make sure you recover quickly.”
The weekend came slowly, especially after a fun thursday with our friends where pretty much everyone said they were going to tear Sarah’s boyfriend in half. The only one I thought might follow up on the threat was Stripes and maybe Gepepi. Despite how friendly and small she was, when she got mad it was scary. Friday after work Selene finally started to play Zelda two. Four days of pampering me and doing everything around the house. I was thankful for what she had done, and the swelling and discoloration were almost entirely gone. Good thing too, as we had a dinner date with my family tomorrow.
“You sure you want to play this, despite my warnings?” I asked from the couch.
“Yes. I am not a baby, I can handle a challenge,” Selene confidently booted up the game and pat my head. It was in her lap, of course. She entered the selection screen and made a new file, naming it after me. She started the game and stood still on the opening screen. She tested the controls silently. The game play jump from adventure to action platformer. She took time to explore the opening area, slowly losing life and lives as she went. She made it to the temple with no extra lives, and a half full life bar. She died to the infinite kobolds and glowing skulls pretty quickly. When the silhouette of Ganon appeared and laughed she quickly shut off the console.
“May I play the next game instead?” She asked.
“I’ll get it the emulator box set up,” I told her.
“What are we taking to your parent’s tomorrow?”
“We don’t really need to take anything. My dad should be cooking up something big.”
“What about the potion for our sister in law?”
“I still don’t know if we should do it,” I finished plugging the console in.
“It is something your mother asked of us. I know that a wife monsterizing can save relationships! Think of how you could be helping your brother.”
“Would you want to be changed into a human without your consent?” I turned to her, my voice raising a little more than I wanted it to, “Its just all so crazy to me, just being around you is changing my body and being around me is changing you. An old friend of mine was working the front at your school and she’s a moth now!”
I sat back on the couch and put my face in my hands. Selene sat still in her seat, unsure of what to do. She slowly grabbed me in a hug, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. It just feels to wrong. This shit would be at home in a horror movie, but here it is in real life. It just feels... romantic and weirdly right. We’ll do the potion. Pour it in a two litre of sprite with some cherry flavoring to hide the red coloring of the potion.”
“Are you sure?”
I looked Selene in the eyes, “Yeah. By the way, what does the demonic energy do to men and monster girls?”
“Just makes them incredibly horny. You should drink some!”
“Not right now, thanks. Just play your game dear.”
The best feeling in the world was waking up with Selene in my arms. Her comfortable, cool scales helped me sleep soundly despite the heat, and helped me keep in the warmth when it was cold. I woke up without her saturday morning. I felt lonely instantly. I was about to jump up and go look for her, but she entered before I could get up, “Sorry, Anon,” She whispered, gracefully sliding back into bed.
“I just had a really bad feeling of loneliness without you here,” I told her.
She kissed me on the forehead before scooping me up and holding me in a spooning position, “I am here now. Go back to sleep dear, it is two in the morning.”
“Why were you up?”
“I had to get the potion mixing into that bottle of soda. I forgot to do it last night because Zelda three was so much fun.”
“Yeah its a good one.”
Selene kissed my scalp and ran her fingers through my hair, “Go to sleep, darling.”
I did.
After a quick trip to the store at the request to my parents and a short drive, we had arrived. Samantha as well as Steve and his wife Claire were already here. We had brought a bottle of wine for my parents, as Selene said was customary, the soda and potion mixture which I had labeled ‘DEMON JUICE’ and a bag of chips.
Although she hadn't needed to, Selene had gotten all dressed up. Since it was a nice day, she wore a light blue dress, at her request, I wore a light blue polo and khaki shorts. I sighed as we approached the front door. Unsure of how I was going to introduce Selene to my siblings.
“How am I less nervous that you, Anon?” Selene teased.
“I don’t know. I’m just working myself up,” I told her.
We were let inside by my mother again who hugged both of us. We were led into the kitchen where my mom who spoke very quietly to us, “Is this it? The demon stuff?”
Selene nodded and handed her the bottle, “Only drink it if you want to change as well.”
“Lets wait till the night is winding down before we do it,” I suggested.
My mom nodded and put the bottle of wine and the cursed drink up in a cabinet. She shuffled us into the living room from there. Samantha was sitting on the floor in the corner of the room on her phone. She looked up from her phone at us, “You’re a lot prettier than mom made it sound.”
“Um, thank you?” Selene replied.
“Samantha, Selene. Selene, Samantha,” I introduced them quickly. They waved at each other.
Steve and Claire were sitting on the three person couch, they took both end spots. Steve looked like he was concentrating on breathing and nothing else. Claire looked sick. She kept scratching her head and her lower back, “Steve? Are you two okay?” I asked.
“Huh? Oh hey anon. This the lucky lady?” Steve said weakly.
“Yeah this is Selene. Selene that’s my brother and that’s Claire,” I performed more introductions.
“Ngh, its too loud,” Claire grumbled.
“Are you two sick?” I asked.
“No, I don’t know what it is, we were passing through downtown and there was some fight nearby. Some huge chick built like a tank went ballistic on some protesters that attacked her and whoever she was with,” Steve sat up.
“Was it an ushi oni?” Selene probed.
“I don’t know anything about monster girls, Selene. So I can’t say,” He grabbed a pillow and held it in his lap.
I looked at Selene who was tasting the air, “What do you think?” I asked.
“Claire, are you feeling discomfort on your skin?” Selene asked turning to the woman.
“Yes. All over,” Her skin was a bright pink from all the scratching she was doing.
“I can smell demon energy on you both. Claire your body is most likely changing.”
“What do you mean changing?” My dad, brother and sister all asked at once.
“Do not think of it as transforming, more of a metamorphosis!” Selene’s eyes sparkled.
“But I don’t want to change!” Claire shouted.
“As we stand currently, there is no way to undo this process when it starts, through magic or medicine. What is best for your body right now, is to relax and let go, the stress can leave you exhausted if you keep fighting,” Selene looked really excited over this.
“This is so exciting!” My mom added with a big grin on her face.
“Why are you excited!?” My brother shouted at her. My mom was taken aback, “My wife is turning into a monster! We don’t want this!” He turned back to Selene, whose smile had fallen very far off of her face, “Now, what’s wrong with me!?”
“Don’t fucking shout at her,” I seethed at my brother.
“Why, she’ll give you another black eye!?”
“I should tear-”
Selene grabbed my wrist firmly, shaking her head at me silently. Her head was bowed, “Your body is screaming at you to reproduce. Common in human men who are exposed to a burst of demon energy. Excuse me,” Selene wandered out of the room and up the stairs.
I heard a door open and close upstairs, my old room, “What the hell is your problem, dude?” I asked.
“We didn’t choose this, Anon. Why should I be happy?” My brother was furious.
“Its not like she did this to you!”
“These things are dangerous, Anon. I can’t believe mom would let you bring one here, with all of us being here.”
I finally understood. Understood why people gave Selene bad looks when we went anywhere. Why mothers pulled children to the other sides of themselves when we walked by. People crossing the street to avoid us, dirty looks, mean comments behind her back.The horrible comments to her face. Through this interaction with my brother and the interaction with my ex girlfriend.
“You don’t know her. You haven't been pulled from the darkest depths of depression by her. You haven’t been protected by her. You don’t know what kind of person she is,” I walked out of the room, steaming. I could hear my mom start to cry in the living room while I poured that demon liquid down the drain.
I found Selene in my room, the first one at the top of my stairs. I hadn’t been in this room in quite a while. My parents had put a twin sized bed in here, where Selene lie. She was lying facing the wall, her serpents were all down as well, “Selene?” I called walking towards her.
“Hello, darling,” She whispered.
“You alright?” I stood at the side of the bed, looking at her.
“As long as you still love me, I am,” She turned over to me a weak smile on her face. She had been crying.
“I’m sorry, Selene,” I sat on what little space I could on the side of the bed.
“You do not need to apologize for your family. You do not control them,” She sat up and rested her head on my shoulder. Her arms loosely wrapped around my neck.
“Selene...” I sighed and wrapped my arms around her, “Do you want to go home?”
She pulled away from me and shook her head, “I want to be here to support Claire.”
“You’re too kind, Selene. I’ll stay here with you until you feel ready.”
“Thank you, darling. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“You two are pretty cute,” My sister walked into the room.
“What do you want?”
“You’re really protective of her Anon. Its cute,” She cracked her weird smile. I couldn’t tell if she was being sincere.
“Can we help you, Samantha?” Selene dried her eyes on me.
“Just wanted to check on you two. Mom asked me to. Don’t let Steve get you both down. You know how he gets.”
“I don’t. I haven’t been friends with Steve in years, Samantha. Claire took him away from me,” I said.
“Maybe he thinks Selene will take you away from him, hm?” Samantha gave another smile.
“That’s stupid. If he wanted to rekindle our relationship he would have tried by now. He’s been pushing me away for a few years.”
“Darling,” Selene wrapped her arms around me again, “I know you are angry. But please, maybe give him another chance.”
I grumbled indistinctly, “Want me to call you two down when the slop is hot?”
“Yes, please,” Selene replied. My sister closed the door again, “I do not like that word.”
“What, slop?” I asked, drawing out the pronunciation.
“Ew, yes. Please do not utter that,” She shuddered.
I laughed a little bit, “Alright, I won’t,” I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and held her close. We sat in silence together for a few minutes, enjoying each others presence. I ended up breaking the silence, “I think I finally understand why people are so mean and rude to you.”
“Why is that, dear?” Selene asked, gripping my wrist again.
“Humans are the real monsters,” I whispered.
Selene rested her head on my shoulder and let out a sigh, “I just want everyone to get along, Anon. No monster or human separations, just people being together.”
“I want that too, Selene. I hope it happens one day.”
“Anon! The slop is hot!” My sister shouted from downstairs.
“I do not know if I want any now, Anon,” Selene whispered.
I dragged her downstairs to the dinner table, Steve and Claire were absent, “Did they leave?” I asked.
My mom nodded, “He stormed out when you went upstairs. Claire followed him. We don’t need him to have a wonderful dinner, do we?”
“No, we don’t need that turd burglar,” My sister added.
I rested my head on my hand, pretty bummed out that he would just leave. Selene put a hand on my back, “Do not think too hard about it, darling. He must be going through a lot of stress right now.”
I nodded. A plate of spaghetti was placed in front of me along with my dad’s fantastic garlic bread. The meal was pretty quiet, with my mom and Selene trying to start conversations every so often. Most fell flat. No one really seemed to be in the mood anymore.
After dinner my mom tried to get a game of poker going. Selene and I declined and headed home, “I do not want any more drama today,” Selene told me as we got in the car.
“I could do without it completely,” I groaned.
“Thank you for standing up for me, darling. You have become so much more confident as of late,” Selene took my hand again.
“I don’t know where this sudden willpower and assertiveness has come from. I used to back down from conflict, now I’m holding my ground.”
“I think it is a good change.”
“Yeah. I hope so.”
We made it home quickly. No stops on the way home this time. Selene and I avoided neighbors and got to our little home. I sighed with relief as I unlocked the door. Nothing else could ruin my night now. I was wrong. A woman lounged on my couch, her lower half was that of a large black snake, similar to Selene. Her head was topped by serpents, all with onyx scales. She wore a regal black and gold dress that commanded respect. Her fingers and ears were adorned by golden jewelry. A woman who was in charge. She looked past me, “Ah, my precious daughter has returned to her home,” She spoke in a very kind tone, but her tone shifted to the completely opposite side when she spoke about me, “Unfortunately she has dragged the filth in with her.”
“Mother. Why are you here?” Selene’s tone was respectful but I could hear poison in her voice.
“I have come to collect you. I have found a respectable, strong young man with a good career for you to marry.”
“I have a husband, mother.”
“What, this flabby child? What does he do for a living? Wash dishes?”
“I manage a team in tech,” I told her proudly.
“Child. The adults are talking,” Selene’s mom’s snakes hissed as her eyes flashed in a bright light.
I fell to my knees as I felt my feet grow cold and heavy. I was turning to stone. Selene began shouting while her mom spoke with that same venomous tone. The cutting voices in my head drowned them out. The cold heaviness crept further and further up my body. Fear and sadness gripped my mind as her mother’s petrification whispered words of doubt to me. ‘You will never see her again,’ it said. ‘She is MINE.’
I caught bits of the conversation where Selene shouted that she loved me and wanted to be with me. Her mother told her to stop being foolish and to go with her. She grabbed Selene’s arm with the intention to drag her out the door. I couldn't let her take Selene. The only thing in my life that mattered any more to me. I was focused on my breathing, trying to keep the petrification from enveloping me.
“Come with me, daughter,” The woman commanded.
“Let go of her,” I demanded in a firm voice. The cold darkness fell off, replaced with only thoughts of Selene. I rose to my feet, slowly regaining feeling in them. Both of them looked at me as I slowly moved across the room. Selene had a look of awe on her face while her mother looked at me in horror. They were both frozen in shock. I grabbed my soon to be mother-in-law’s hand and removed it from my love’s arm, “You can’t take her from me.”
She quickly regained her composure, “Fine. You have proved your worth to me. You may marry my daughter,” She looked at me smugly, pretending that she had planned this from the start. I didn’t have the energy to call her out.
“How did you find me, mother?” Selene asked.
“There was a news article about four people being turned to stone after attacking someone. Their description of the medusa matched you. You did so well to cover your tracks up until this point, luckily I had a small enough area to divine your location with my limited ability. Is he alright?” She whispered to Selene.
“I’m fine,” I growled. I slowly slouched onto the couch, sweat dripping down my brow.
“You are much stronger than you look, child,” I wasn’t sure if she was praising me or not, “Perhaps you will give me strong grandchildren.”
“That is his mother’s motivation as well,” Selene laughed nervously, “Where is father?”
“At home. I did not need him to help me in this. Selene,” She moved to face her daughter, placing her hands upon Selene’s shoulders, “I... am proud of you. I know I was not the best mother in the past. I just wanted you to be strong. I wanted you to have a better life than I did.”
“Mother,” Selene looked at her almost crying mom, “What are you talking about?”
“Your father and I fighting all the time when you were young. You left home when you were so young dear. I- I am sorry.”
“If I had not grown up in that environment, I would not be who I am now, mother. I would not have met the love of my life either. I forgive you,” Selene’s sweet smile made her mother cry. They embraced each other. I couldn’t help but smile. They were too cute.
“I will be taking my leave now,” Selene’s mom told us as she gathered her things.
“What are you doing for a living, if I may ask?” Selene asked.
“I am managing a bank currently. A lot better than I did back home, hm?” She opened the door and looked back at us.
“Goodbye, mother,” Selene said happily.
“Yeah. Bye,” I mumbled.
The long dark body of the snake woman dragged out the door. As soon as that door was closed again Selene dashed over and locked it. She sprinted back over to me and wrapped me up in a huge hug, “Anon, Are you alright?”
“I don’t know. I feel weak,” I went limp in her grasp, letting her shift me onto her lap.
Selene removed my shoes and socks, “Are you petrified still?” Selene moved her hands up and down my legs, checking me.
“No. I have no idea what happened, either,” I was sweating all over my body.
“You overcame my mother’s gaze attack! Do you know how amazing that is?”
There was a pounding on the door. Selene got up from the couch and threw the door open. It was Haley, tears in her eyes, “Is everything okay? That woman said she was your mother so I let her in here and- and I heard shouting and-” Tears started to roll down her cheeks.
“Anon fully nullified my mother’s petrification!” Selene boasted.
Her crying stopped almost immediately, “What!? Is that possible without magic?”
“Is that true, Anon?” Alison and her husband poked their heads in.
“Yeah. With the power of love or something I didn’t turn into a rock,” I coughed.
“Damn. Tough kid.”
“How tough is that?” Her husband asked, genuinely curious.
“Imagine being able to keep up with me in the bedroom. Now imagine being able to go longer than even I can, without magic. That tough,” The manticore explained.
“Holy shit,” He just looked like he had his entire world view destroyed.
“You two have a good night. Come out on a triple date with us soon. Anon said you would sometime,” She wrapped her arm around her husband’s waist and pulled him into their apartment.
Haley nodded and left, “I hope you two sleep well.”
Selene returned to my side after locking the door, “Do you wish to head to bed now, my dear?”
“I could use a bath first.”
“Want me to wash your back?” Selene smiled.
“I’d love that, Selene. Thank you,” I put my feet shakily on the floor. I took two steps and lost my footing. Thankfully, Selene was right there to catch me.
“What am I going to do with you?” She smiled. Before I could say something sassy, she picked me up and set me on the couch, “Let me get the bath warmed up first. Just lie here and rest, Anon. You have deserved it.”
I nodded at her and watched her slither over to the bathroom. I didn’t have the energy to stare at her hips for once. I stared at the ceiling listening to the water run, waiting for her to come back and help me to the bathroom. My phone buzzed. A text from my brother. I thought of ignoring it, but curiosity got the better of me. I slowly opened the text. I was surprised to see a photo of Steve and Claire together. Claire had turned into a weresheep and was holding Steve close with one arm and taking a selfie of the two of them together. I could easily see the drowsiness on both of their eyes, even with the smiles on their faces. I read the text; ‘Hey, I’m sorry, Anon. I want to apologize to Selene as well. We should get together sometime soon. Claire really wants to talk to Selene again.’
I replied with one word; ‘sure,’ not sure if I was ready to forgive him yet.
Selene returned to me, before I could speak she scooped me up in her arms into a princess carry. Even though it was just the two of us, I got beet red in the face, “Surprised at how strong I am?” She laughed, noticing my face.
“A little,” I chuckled nervously.
I was moved into the bathroom where I stripped down, peeling the sweat soaked clothes off of my body. I dipped down into the hot water, wincing as my skin turned red. I looked at Selene who was sitting by the side of the tub, “Just rest for a bit, dear.”
I nodded at her and sank lower into the hot water, “Any idea how I managed that?”
“Resisting the petrification? It might have to do with my adversity to using my own ability,” Selene wondered.
“Like how you freaked out when you did it to me on accident. You want it to never happen again.”
“Yes. You are also standing up for yourself more. Very sexy,” She started running a soapy cloth over my body.
“Hah,” I chuckled. I thought for a few moments, “I don’t think I ever thanked you, for what happened at the mall.”
“I did not enjoy it,” She said darkly.
“But still, you-” I started.
“Darling. I appreciate how thankful you are, but I do not wish to speak of my actions. I lost my head and went too far,” She stopped washing.
“That guy decked me! You didn’t go far enough! You-”
“Darling,” Her voice was firm telling me to stop, “I am no better than them. I used my petrification.”
“You’re not a monster, Selene. Don’t ever think that you are.”
“You are such a sweetheart. Being with you makes me almost feel human. Here, let me finish cleaning you up,” She went back to lightly scrubbing, smiling at me.
“I want to make you feel human, like a real person. Someone who deserves everything I can give you.”
“Only if you deserve the same from me,” She leaned over and kissed me.
Selene was awake before I was. She was staring at me, “Can I help you?” I asked sleepily.
“I dreamt of our wedding,” She whispered, “You and me... at the altar...” She sighed happily, “Can I tell you about it?”
Four months later, I stood across from Selene at the altar. We had had a small party beforehand. Selene’s approach to the altar had been illuminated by the sunlight coming through the stained glass. Despite everyone saying that I would, I managed to not cry when I saw her in her beautiful gown. The officiant was going through the usual religious words. My parents were religious so we were doing it like this at their request. Everything else was to Selene’s specification. Our parents were taking care of most of the costs, thankfully. Thought it was more of a show of power from both of them.
Behind us were our friends, Dee, Stripes, Molly, Chris, Josh and Ben. The crowd was pretty small compared to the other weddings I had been to. The crowd was only 20, not counting our friends. The entire event was a blur of anxiety and happiness to me. Luckily my brother got the whole thing on video for us so I could watch it later. When we got to doing the vows, I stumbled through mine. A standard, “I Anon, take thee, Selene to be my wedded wife...” It was tradition in my family that went back many generations.
The bride usually has a standard set of vows, but Selene does what she wants, “I love you, Anon. The way you make me smile and feel loved, I want to be with you forever. Ever since we have been together, I have felt this way. I promise to keep you close, to be by your side and to love you forever, through everything.”
We exchanged rings, I could hardly stumble through the last of my words. Selene said, “With this ring I seal our wedding pact.”
“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride,” the officiant hadn’t even finished before Selene had wrapped herself around me and pulled me into a kiss.
Selene and I looked out over the ocean. We sat close to each other on the couch, holding hands for the first time as a married couple. We were staying in a beach house for a week for our honeymoon. Neither of us had taken our wedding attire off, “It has been a long road, has it not?” Selene asked.
“Yeah. Its all been worth it,” I rested my head on her shoulder.
“Yes it has. Do you remember a promise I made months ago?”
“The one where you said you’d buy me ice cream if I did the dishes?” I joked. I knew what was coming.
“Not that one, darling. Consummating our marriage,” Her hands wandered lower.
“I’m nervous,” I admitted, undoing my tie.
“I am too, darling. You are all mine tonight and I am yours. Relax and give your body to me as I will give you mine,” my belt was undone.
“A-alright,” I started sweating as I began to strip.
Selene quickly took her gown off. I stared at her naked body, “You like what you see, darling? Touch me, Anon,” She told me seductively.
I did what she said as she moved her hips hypnotically from side to side, “You’re so beautiful, Selene.”
Selene pulled me onto the floor and got on top of me, our soft naked bodies gently rubbed against each other, “I love you, Anon,” Selene’s hot tongue ran up and down my neck slowly.
“I love you too, Selene.”
I woke up early in the morning, Selene clung to me as usual. I tried to reach for my phone, but my arm was restrained. I looked down to see our daughter wrapped around my arm. She looked up at me with her big eyes, “Max won’t let me have his warmth.”
“You have an electric blanket, Ann. Use that,” I told her.
“It’s not as good as a real person... Can I just sleep here every night?”
“No, dear. Your father’s warmth is mine alone,” Selene laughed drowsily.
“But I’ll die!” Ann exclaimed, squeezing tighter. Selene laughed and peeled our daughter off my arm. Her little snakes writhed in anger. I pat her head as her mother gave her a small kiss on the cheek, “I want papa’s heat!” She pouted. Ann reminded me so much of her mother.
“You may lie between us.”
“I love you mama!” Our daughter clung to her mother.
“I love you too, dear. What are we doing today, Anon?”
“Yeah! Papa! Can we go to the arcade again?”
“Maybe. We have to take your brother too.”
“Can I play House of the Dead, papa? I’m five now! I should be old enough!”
“Are we going to the arcade?” My son, Max, entered the room.
“Yeah! Papa’s gonna let me play the zombie shooter!”
“You are not playing that game. Your father is a dead man if you play that,” Selene scolded her daughter before turning to our son, “Come lie down with us, honey.”
Begrudgingly, he crawled into bed with his mother. The four of us shifted around trying to get comfortable. I hugged my wife and gave her a kiss on the cheek, “Papa! Get up so we can go to the arcade!”
“They don’t open till one,” I mumbled.
“I get to play the SWAT game right? I’m eight so I should get to,” Max told me.
“No shooting games. Either of you,” Selene hissed. Still upset her daughter had horrible nightmares the last time we went to the arcade.
The two of them tried to argue with their mother, begging her to let them play the violent games, I chimed in, “They can play LA Machineguns. That’s got robots and not people.”
Selene groaned and the children cheered, “If they come in here in the middle of the night from nightmares, you are sleeping on the couch.”
“Got it. You kids have nightmares and I’m taking your bed.”
They started to complain until Selene shut them down, “If you do not want that, do not play those games.”
“Okay mom,” They both whined.
I leaned over and gave Selene a kiss.
I love my family.
End

Red Eyes In the Dark

November 1st, 2020

I wandered through the dark, the ground beneath my bare feet was soft, sort of like carpet. I was bumping into random things as I went, unsure where I was or what was going on. I heard something behind me in the dark, a loud dragging noise and a cacophony of hissing behind me. My heart was pounding and my breathing was ragged as I tried to get away. I couldn’t speed up, everytime I did I would crash into something painfully and fall to the floor. I tried to pull myself off the floor before being forced back down and rolled onto my back. Red eyes stared into mine behind a veil of darkness. I froze in terror, unable to will myself to move or fight back as something started to coil around my body, up to my neck. The being squeezed me as a glowing, devious smile appeared below the eyes as it began to choke the life out of me. I coughed and sputtered, trying to fight the gripping coils. My vision went dark as a low, hissing laughter rang in my ears.
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I woke up, coughing horribly. My sheets and I were both covered in sweat-- at least I hoped it was sweat. I slowly glanced around my small room as light flowed through the slightly opened curtains. I sat up and rubbed my face, groaning loudly. I slid out of bed, opened the curtains and pulled the blinds open. I watched as people went about their early Saturday morning, the new shops that had been opened up nearby were convenient, I hardly needed my car anymore. Its not like I could drive it anyways, the ‘demon mana’ in the air was messing with it right now and I didn’t want to pay some gremlin or dwarf to fix it up. I was glad everything was back to relative normality since the monsters came through those portals. I quickly remembered the calamity when this had all gone down. Monsters pouring out of portals and grabbing any single man they could get their hands on. Thankfully, at the time I was at the office, unsure of what to do as electricity, network and cellular all went down at once. I managed to sneak home in the chaos of it all and hide away in my house until everything quieted down. I had been left alone until a duo of monsters arrived, a snake woman and a tall dark skinned girl, to ask me a few questions before leaving, deciding I didn’t need to be assigned a wife. Now, I had my internet back and had gotten to keep my job. Everyone above me on the chain of command had been replaced with mostly monsters. I only just barely retained my network technician job.
I stretched and went to take a shower. I looked at myself in the mirror, my facial hair was getting a bit scruffy and my hair was getting long and disheveled. I needed a haircut. I showered quickly and got dressed before doing laundry, my sheets had been covered in sweat a few nights in a row now. Ever since these monster girls came to this world in a pseudo invasion, there wasn’t much fighting back on the human side, I had been having these strange nightmares. The settings change, sometimes I’m in the woods, sometimes I’m in a dark house but every time I’m running from some unknown creature before being caught and strangled to death. I shuddered as I loaded the washing machine, thinking back on those burning red eyes and haunting laugh. The feeling of being choked to death made me sweat again out of fear. I knew something was coming, I could feel it. My grandmother used to tell me that dreams meant something. I was starting to think these dreams meant my death.
I walked down the sidewalk, hands in my pockets as I tried to act calm. I strided past specialized stores peddling things like clothes, alcohol and even magic related goods. I nodded in a silent ‘hello’ to a cow woman in a maid outfit standing outside some kind of bar or restaurant advertising numerous kinds of milk. She smiled at me, “Would you like a sample sir?” She offered me a tiny bottle of milk.
I shook my head, “No thanks, maybe another time,” I gave a polite smile.
“I hope you have a wonderful day!” She gave a cheerful grin as I walked away. I sighed with relief as I got out of earshot. I was thankful for how polite these monstrous women were, I had only one bad experience with them; in the bar I went to every once in a while, the barkeep had married a hell hound and she yelled at me once, thinking I was someone else. I still get free drinks and food from her. I stopped at the edge of the street, across from the place I usually get my hair cut, it was a little hole in the wall situated between two tall buildings. The three story building was a tiny haircut parlor on the first floor and a two floor home above it. It was run by an old man named Bob with a different protege or assistant every month. I wondered if he had found himself a monster wife.
I peered through the windows as I crossed the street, I saw the open sign up, but the lights inside were off. I approached the door and pushed it open, the bell above the door jingling loudly, as I nervously stepped inside. I was expecting the cheerful greeting of the old man, but I heard nothing, “Hello? Bob?” I called, closing the door and peering around. The usual fishing decor had been taken down, replaced with blank white walls and a single painting of a decaying flower in a vase. The dim light of a single overhead light and the sunlight outside hardly gave me enough vision to see across the room. I heard a noise, a dragging noise before the door at the back of the room was slowly opened.
A woman poked her head out, glancing at me, “You are not my scheduled appointment...” She mumbled, revealing more of herself as she slithered out from behind the door. She had a snake body below a curvy human torso. The snake body was a glittering emerald green. Her eyes were a bright brown color. She wore a long blue-green skirt, a black long sleeve shirt under a white apron and a white cloth concealing her hair, “Can I help you?” Her gentle, soft face contorted to a soft smile.
“U-uh,” I stammered, looking for the right words, “I was looking for Bob... For a haircut.”
Her eyes lit up, “I can cut your hair, young man. As for Bob, I purchased the building from him a few weeks ago. He got married to a mermaid and moved to the ocean. Were you close to him?”
“Oh, not really. He just cut my hair.”
“Well, come sit, dear. Let me grab an apron for you,” I watched her slither into the backroom before I took a seat. She quickly reappeared and threw the apron over me, starting to softly fasten it around my neck, “What can I do for you--” She scoffed, “I never caught your name, darling.”
“Oh, I’m Anon. What's your name?”
Her fingernails gently grazed my neck, seemingly on purpose as she touched my stubble, “Morrigan. Pleasure to meet you, handsome,” She chuckled, “I mean, Anon. Now, what do you envision for your hair?”
I was still reeling from that ‘smooth’ compliment. I blinked and shook my head, “Uh, well I usually get a two on the side and about as long on the top with--”
I stopped as she blankly gazed at me, “Darling,” She sighed, “You can do so much better than something like that. I can see the potential on that head of yours. And this--” She caressed my chin, feeling my stubble, “Needs to go, darling.”
“I-I know, I usually--”
“Shh,” She put a finger to my lips, “Let me take care of it, darling. Close your eyes and I can get to work.”
I nervously glanced at her, “How much is this gonna cost me?”
“15 for the hair, perhaps five for the scruff on your face you may call a beard?”
I nodded, it was a good enough price, “I leave my hair in your capable hands,” I sighed, leaning back.
“Tell me about yourself, Anon,” She amusedly instructed me as she started taking a pair of scissors to my hair.
I was at first put off by how handsy she was with me, holding my chin, touching my face and leaning against me. But, I didn’t mind because of how cute she was and that these women just had a different culture than what I was used to. I had heard that this was incredibly common. I was sure she was married, she definitely out of my league even if she was single, “Oh, there’s not much to say. I’m just some guy without much in the way of hobbies.”
“Oh, come now, you must have some interesting facts about yourself, darling,” She leaned against me got close to me as she asked that question, prying anything she could out of me.
“Well, I’m technically knighted by a small European country. I don’t know if that means anything anymore. Not like it did before,” I bought the title back in college, I left that part out because of how lame it was that I bought it.
“Oh! Perhaps I should call you ‘Sir Anon,’ now. I actually have a discount for royalty, see?” She gestured over to a whiteboard on the wall listing prices, mostly for expensive hairstyles for women and hair dying prices. She actually did have a 25 percent off for royalty and government workers listed at the bottom of the board.
“Ah, wow,” I chuckled, “I’m not really royalty. You don’t need to give me that discount.”
“Darling,” Morrigan pouted, “I insist,” I could hear her snake body being dragged around the ground idly as she cut my hair.
I took a deep breath, “Yeah, sure,” I reluctantly agreed.
“Good, good,” She purred quietly as her hand grazed the back of my neck, “A handsome guy like you must have a sweetheart, tell me about her.”
I sighed, “No, I’m single. Haven’t dated since highschool to be honest.”
“A-ah,” Morrigan gently and slyly played with my hair, “Y-you... Single... Hmm,” She shook herself, “Sorry, deep in thought. Let me finish this up, darling,” She quickly finished cutting my hair, surprisingly by not asking me to bang her daughter, if she did have one. She took a straight razor to my face as well, quickly slicing the hair off of my chin and cheeks.
Morrigan pulled the apron off of me, scattering my hair clipping to the floor. I looked at myself, I looked good. The hair wasn’t too out there, I had been expecting the worst, but it was mostly just clean cut and short. The hair on top was a little bit longer on top of my hair and shorter on the sides, the bangs in the front were a little bit longer as they were spiked up a little up, “That was pretty fast for not using an electric razor at all.”
She chuckled, “I am trained in old techniques, I do not need modern technology to do my job. To be honest, it would just slow me down if I tried to learn more complicated tools. Besides, mine are demon silver, I’m unable to cut flesh with them if I do happen to mess up,” She brandished a pair of scissors with a heart stamped into the strange pinkish metal.
“Interesting,” I ran fingers through my hair, “What do I owe you again?”
She reached forward and gently removed a clipping of hair from my shirt, “Ten dollars.”
I frowned, it seemed a little low. I knew better than to argue, “Alright,” I gave her a ten dollar bill and a fiver. She looked at me, a distraught look on her face, “Its a tip. Don’t try to give it back.”
She clutched the money to her chest, “Thank you. See you next month?”
I nodded, “Sure. I’ll see you around.”
I could feel her cold gaze burning into my back as I went out the door, the bell jingling as I stepped out. I turned back, giving a small wave, though it was more like just tilting my wrist at her. I could have sworn I saw her eyes glow red from the darkness for just a moment. She looked down at her hand as she tried to mirror the gesture. She gave up on it and just smiled. I felt my heart beat a little faster as I stared into those beautiful eyes of hers. I slowly turned my back on the building and slowly made my way back to my apartment.
I turned on the lights as I entered my apartment. The small one room apartment had been my home for some time now. I could hardly remember when exactly I moved in. I took off my sweatshirt and threw it on the couch, I quickly checked around the room for hidden monster girls. No one behind the widescreen, no one under my computer desk in the corner, nothing in the fridge or oven and no mice hiding under my couch this time, as charming as that girl was, I am not a fan of my house being broken into. I went to my room, the bed was still a mess and my closet was still wide open. No one could hide in my dresser or nightstand, thankfully. If someone was small enough to, I didn’t doubt I could take them in a fight. I returned to the main room, taking a seat on the couch. I didn’t have a lot to do these days. My backlog of games had nearly been cleared and I wanted to slow down. I heavily regretted selling off my wargaming models a few weeks before all hell broke loose, I would’ve had something to do in my downtime.
I got on my computer, hoping someone was online for once. Most of my friends had gotten married to some monster girl and spent most of their time with them. The other friends vanished, assumedly ‘removed’ by this new monster dominated world or ran away to be a wizard somewhere in the woods and practice their magics. As I was lost in thought, my phone started to buzz. It was my dad. ‘Odd,’ I thought, ‘he usually preferred to text,’ I quickly picked up, “Hello? Dad?” I was afraid for the worst.
“Hi, honey!” It was actually my mom.
“Hey, mom.”
“How are you?”
“Uh, fine. You?”
“I’m really good! Except for...” She trailed off. My mom was a very kind woman, a devout christian woman that had monsterized into a literal angel pretty quickly after monster girls showed up. The weirdest part of it was that she seemed to be completely unaware of her large white feathered wings. Any time they were pointed out, she would look confused and laugh it off. If she gave you a hug the wings would wrap around you in a soft hug. Some people say her faith changed her, or she always was an angel somehow. I didn’t understand it much. She stopped stammering as she searched for the words, “My phone... Is in... Another language again...” She quietly admitted.
“Mom,” I sighed and chuckled a little bit, “I’ll walk you through it. You in your settings?”
“Um... Is that the compass?”
“The gears, mom.”
“Oh! Right! Got it!”
I quickly opened up a webpage from my bookmarks to help me through this, “Uh, press the gears again then the seventh option from the top. Tap the top option now, then find english on the list.”
“Um... There it is! Thank you, honey!”
“No problem, mom.”
“Come over sometime, Anon. We miss you. Bring your girlfriend too!”
My heart sank, “Y-yeah, maybe sometime soon,” I don’t know how she got it in her head that I was currently dating.
“Oh, good! I’ll talk to you later, honey. I have to start lunch soon.”
“Bye, mom,” I listened to the tone, noting she had hung up. I sighed, the little bit of warmth that talking to her gave me was fleeting. I put the phone down and slouched in my chair, staring at my softly glowing screen as loneliness crept back into my heart. I went to close the page, stopping as I noted an ad on the side, ‘Date single monsters in your area! Free!’ I stared at it, knowing it probably was a bad idea. Mom expected me to be married and give her grandchildren sometime soon. I really didn’t want to let her down.
I sighed and clicked the ad.
I was standing with a group of other men in a pretty empty bar on the following Monday night. Each of us had a nametag on that also included a number. All the monster girls were in a completely separate room at the time and their tags only included a number. There were tables for two set out all over the bar, perfect for speed dating. Monster girls apparently have an innate magic giving them the ability to tell when a man is compatible with them. My heart was pounding, wondering if I would manage to find a girl that liked me. I was sat down at table 10 by a cupid sporting a beautiful white dress. I slumped in my chair and stared at the floor, terrified as to what my first ‘date’ would be. I waited until I heard the noise of someone sitting across from me to look up. The noise was more of a loud thud as someone slammed onto the chair. I looked up at a massive red oni in a black suit with short white hair. She held a shaking glass of whiskey in her hand, “H-hi, uh, Anon,” She quietly greeted me with a nervous grimace on her face as she read my nametag.
“Hello, ” I gave her a small smile.
There was a long pause while she fidgeted with her drink and stared into it with a stoney half glare, “Uh, what do you do for work?”
“I’m the IT manager at a local company. What do you do? Looks pretty official based on that outfit.”
“I...” She blinked, “I-I brew liquor. I borrowed the suit from my mom to look nice,” She went silent, looking at me.
“It uh, suits you,” I chuckled.
Her already red face turned even redder. She suddenly gripped the glass incredibly tightly, shattering it in her hand covering herself with glass shards and liquor. She looked down at her hand as it started to bleed, “I-I should go,” Tears were welling up in her eyes.
I didn’t even have the chance to ask if she was okay before she dashed out the bar door. I put my head in my hands as a quiet groan escaped my lips. I stared at the drink I hadn’t even touched as another woman sat across from me. She looked... human. A blonde woman with long hair and a fancy pink dress. She gave me a nice smile, “Hello,” She looked at my nametag. Apparently my handwriting was so bad it caused people to pause as they attempted to read it, “Anon.”
“Hi,” I gave her the most honest smile I could, “How are you doing tonight?”
“Just fine,” We both sat silently, nervously glancing at each other. I looked at her reflective pink dress. I could have sworn it was moving around on her torso, shifting slightly as I blinked, “What's your opinion on harems?” The woman asked, blinking slowly, “Like, maybe...” She shot straight up with a slight moan, “T-two girls?”
“Uh,” I scratched my face, “I don’t know. To be honest harems were pretty frowned upon ‘till recently and--” I felt something warm and gooey touch my ankle. I looked down at a pink tendril, matching the woman’s dress, “What the hell!?” I tore my ankle away causing the woman visual pain. I looked at her, “Nah, I’m not really into harems,” I told her, just wanting to get away from that pink goo. A simplistic face appeared on the dress as they both glared at me. She got up and went to the bar.
I put my face in my hands as I debated just going home. The next round of dating began. I stared at the floor, waiting to offend or hurt the next woman. They sat across from me slowly, “Anon? Is that you?” A kind voice asked me.
I shook myself and looked up at a familiar snake woman, “Oh, Morrigan. Hi,” I gave her a small, weak smile. She was wearing a gorgeous, long black and red dress and a wide brimmed black hat with a short veil over part of her face.
“You look like you are about to have a meltdown. Or die. Possibly both,” She chuckled.
“Both dates I’ve had so far have gone pretty bad.”
“I saw that oni run out in tears, what did you do to her?”
“She shattered her drink in her hand.”
“Poor girl. Mine have been pretty poor too. Both were just...” She trailed off, looking for the right word, “Off. First guy was sort of, um, smelly. Second man didn’t speak much, just looked sort of scared.”
“Maybe he was afraid of snakes,” I shrugged. I looked at her hurting eyes behind the veil, “I’m surprised to see you here.”
“Oh? I’ve been going to these for a few weeks now,” She admitted ashamedly, “I--” The whistle blew, signaling us to switch places. She frowned, “I-I’ll talk to you later.”
I stood as well, “Come on, let's get out of here. I’m not enjoying this and it looks like you aren’t either.”
She blinked at me before a small smile spread across her face, “Lets,” She grabbed my arm in hers, leading me out the door, “I know a restaurant near here that I have been wanting to go to, will you accompany me there?”
I nodded, still needing a way to kill this dreary Monday evening, “Sure,” I couldn’t help but smile as her face lit up with a beautiful grin.
Morrigan was right, the restaurant she wanted to go to was right down the block. An Italian restaurant lit up with softly glowing yellow lights. We walked through the front door and were quickly seated by a man with a thick accent. We sat across from each other at a small candle lit table, “Sangiovese for the both of us please,” Morrigan ordered before the man could even ask. He nodded and left us to browse our menus, “What sounds good tonight, darling?” She asked as she reached across the table, peeling off my nametag.
“Uh, I think I’ll just get fettuccine alfredo,” I shrugged.
“That sounds simply wonderful. Perhaps I will get the same thing,” She mused with a small smile, staring down at the menu, “Why were you at that speed dating event? Surely a handsome man like you could go out and ask any single monster and have them in bed by the end of the day.”
I glanced at her, hey eyes looking a lovely reddish color in the low light, “I don’t know what you see in me, to be honest. I for sure thought you were already married, though.”
“Oh, how I wish I was,” She sighed, “Why did you think I was married?” She chuckled, “A woman like me cannot charm a single man. Unfortunately I have fallen under your spell, a man that is way above me in terms of looks.”
“Don’t say that,” I blushed, “You’re way out of my league, anyways.”
“You are such a sweetheart, Anon,” She swooned, her face blushing red, “You must be trying to pull me deeper into your magic spell... Its working~” She whispered. I laughed nervously, not meaning to flirt with her. I got a short moment of reprieve as the waiter returned, depositing glasses of red wine in front of both of us, “Fettuccine alfredo for both of us, please,” I felt like a child having Morrigan order for me. The waiter left, leaving me alone with the snake woman again. I felt something curl around my ankle, needing all of my willpower to not panic, “You really think I am out of your league?”
“W-well, yeah. Monster girls have an other worldly beauty that I could never stack up to looks-wise,” I sighed.
We were both silent as we listened to the classy music of the restaurant. I looked down at the emerald green snake tail coiled around my leg. Morrigan started to chuckle, “I know next to nothing about you, Anon. What kind of work do you do?”
I chuckled, “Tech work. I manage a small group to maintain computers and servers.”
She looked at me blankly, “Ah. I do not understand technology much, darling. I keep messing up the settings on my phone and I keep getting errors when I try to use it.
“Let me see it,” I held out my hand. Morrigan did as I asked without any fuss. I quickly went through her settings and fixed things like time zone and displays. I saw her storage was 94 percent full almost exclusively through photos. I went to the photos app to see what was up. I saw hundreds of accidental photos, mostly of the floor or a pair of glowing eyes in the dark. I pointed the phone screen at her, “Can I delete these? Your storage is nearly full.”
“If you think it is necessary.”
I nodded and started the arduous task of deleting her massive collection of photos. Morrigan silently watched as I labored away, staring in wonder. I handed the phone back, “Done. Do you want my number in case you have any issues? My mom already uses me for tech support so I don’t mind much,” I froze at what I had just mindlessly said. I prayed she would say no, she might think I’m asking her out.
Her face lit up in a wide smile, “Oh! You’re such a gentleman! Yes, please, I would very greatly appreciate your help.”
‘That went better than I expected,’ I told myself silently, ‘She didn’t freak out about dating or anything.’
Before I could speak again, the waiter came back and placed our food in front of us, “Thank you!” Morrigan turned back to me, “Enjoy your food, darling.”
I walked Morrigan home late at night after a wonderful dinner together. The moon was overhead in a clear sky as it glowed brightly, slightly tinged red on account of the demon mana in the air. We both shivered as a cold breeze blew through us, “Are you cold blooded?” I asked as she grabbed my arm and pulled me close to her forcing me to walk arm in arm with her.
She nodded, “I have to sleep with an electric blanket. Back home girls like me would find a man as quick as they could to use as a heater,” She laughed, “Oh, we’re here. You make the time go by so quickly,” She noted as we stopped in front of her little store.
“I’ll talk to you later, okay?” I smiled, ready to head home.
“Oh, please. Come in, I insist,” I didn’t have a say in it as she dragged me into her home. The inside of the building was warm and inviting, despite the darkness, “I wish to repay you for everything tonight. You pulled me out of that awful speed dating nonsense and paid for dinner tonight. And you... Made me feel like a real person.”
“What do you mean?”
She reached up and grabbed the brim of the hat she had been wearing all night. She paused for a moment and released her hat, “Nothing. Just--thank you,” She hugged me and planted a kiss on my cheek. Her tail coiled around my legs gently, it was a nice, almost warm feeling, “Are you alright? Why are you acting like that?” Morrigan pulled away from me, a concerned look on her face.
“Huh?” I hadn’t even realised my heart had started to pound horribly and my breathing had turned to short, panicked breaths.
Her softly glowing red eyes smiled at me, “Ah! I see! Lovestruck, hm?” She laughed, “You can have another kiss if you want!”
I laughed nervously, still unsure what was happening, “I-- I don’t know,” I rubbed my forehead, “I think I need to go home.”
Her grin turned into a concerned smile, “Get home safe, darling. Oh! Your number. Can you show me how to send one of those texts too?” I nodded and helped her put my number in her contacts quickly. She had very few contacts. I walked her through sending a text and made sure she knew how to make phone calls. She hugged me goodbye before seeing me out.
My eyelids were heavy but I could not sleep. I lay awake in my small bed staring at the ceiling as my heart continued to pound and sweat poured down my face. I closed my eyes and tried to sleep, I had work the next day and needed some rest. As my mind wandered, it landed on an unpleasant memory, a choking, fearful darkness around me with a cold, dark... Thing wrapping around me. The feeling of being squeezed and crushed made my heart pound again as red eyes in the dark laughed at me. My eyes shot open as I sat up, hugging my knees to my chest. I panted, realising what I was so afraid of. I was afraid of those red eyes of hers and being coiled in her snake body. I was afraid of Morrigan.

PT2

I held my head in my hands, staring at the top of my desk as I fell deep into thought. It was Thursday, the same week I had my sort of date with Morrigan. We had been speaking over texts and phone calls and each seemed to put me in a slightly nerve wracked state. My computer screen glowed at me, unread emails glaring at me and unfinished and work tickets I had not yet started scowled across my monitors. I couldn’t focus, the fear swelling inside my body and mind was making me wholly distracted. I undid the buttons of my polo as I rubbed my eyes, trying to think of some way out of all of this.
“Anon,” A voice called out to me, breaking my silence and concentration. My boss, a blue skinned, dark purple haired demon poked her head into the room, “Have you--” She blinked at me, “Are you alright? You have been off for a week or so.”
I wiped my face off, “Uh, I think so.”
She entered the room and closed the door behind her, “Those nightmares again?” I nodded. She was one of the few people I had confided those fears with. She was a married woman with three kids that had begun acting motherly towards me almost immediately after starting working with me. It wasn’t much of an achievement, she acted like that with most of her workers. She regretted making her children get married before they came through those portals, she would have loved one of them to marry me. She was at least three times my age but didn’t look a day over 30, barely older than me, “Come on, tell me what is wrong,” She sat across from me on the other side of my desk placing her elbow on the table and her chin on her hand.
“M-My fears have manifested into a real woman,” I told her, sweat still clouding my brow as my heart beat quickly.
“Ah, I thought I smelled mamano mana on you. What kind of girl is she?”
“She’s a... Lamia, I believe, colored green with brown or red eyes. She cuts hair and--”
“Oh! Morrigan, right?” A shudder ran down my spine as my boss said her name, “I think your reaction speaks volumes, Anon.”
“H-how do you know her?”
“She cuts my hair, obviously. She cuts a lot of womens’ hair in this town. Its a bit pricey, but her skills are second to none. At least around here. She is actually cutting my hair tomorrow morning!” I frowned, unsure what to say, “Oh, but that is not what we are talking about, hm? ‘Your fears made manifest,’ you said? Why is that?”
I sighed, “She seems to enjoy coiling around me and it keeps giving me panic attacks. There’s also those sometimes red eyes, especially in the dark, just like in those nightmares.”
“What do you have to worry about?” My boss frowned.
“We met at a speed dating thing and we sort of hit it off.”
“That sounds cute, but I still do not understand your fears.”
“Well, she has my phone number now because I’m an idiot and didn’t even realise why she was making me panic.”
My boss frowned at me, “Remember what I said about calling yourself that?” I nodded and hung my head, “Listen, Anon. That Morrigan is a sweet girl. I don’t think she would ever hurt you on purpose. Besides, in your dreams there is a lot of hissing, as if from multiple sources, right? She only has one mouth. It cannot be her,” She gave me a reassuring smile and put a hand on my shoulder, “You will be okay, Anon. I’m sure of it.”
I looked up at her and nodded slowly, “Y-you’re probably right. I’m just panicking for no reason.”
“Good,” She went for the door, “That sweet girl could use a win or two,” She smiled at me, put her hand on the knob then turned back to me with a confused look, “Why did I come in here, again? I feel like I had some work related thing to ask you.”
“Uhh...” I scratched my head, “I have no idea.”
My boss shrugged, “If I remember I will come back. Speak to you later, Anon.”
Thursday night meant grocery night. I was running out of food and without a car I couldn’t get a lot of groceries at once, so, I had to come back weekly on my way home from work. I meandered through the shelves as I searched for the items on my list. Snacks for that weekend, chicken and beef for meals, bread for sandwiches and fruit and vegetables for sides. My legs carried me to the chips where I picked through the flavors trying to decide what to get. I felt a chill crawl down my spine as a I heard a noise behind me, and felt someone approaching me from behind, “Ah, Anon? Is that you?” A familiar, friendly voice called out to me from behind.
I turned to face the warmly grinning lamia, Morrigan. She was in a white blouse, a long dark blue skirt, a sunhat and a pair of thick sunglasses, “Oh, come on. You know its me,” I chuckled wearily. I felt relatively calm despite my previous fears, but my heart still pounded in nervousness.
“Oh, humor me would you?” Morrigan laughed.
“Yeah, yeah,” I sighed, rubbing my eyes.
“Darling, you look exhausted,” She frowned at me.
“Just had a long day at work.”
“I am sorry to hear that darling,” Her frown turned into a smile, “Are you headed home soon? I nearly have everything I need. Would you like me to walk you home?”
I frowned back, “Shouldn’t I be the one offering that?”
She pouted, “Stop worrying about the specifics, darling.”
I shrugged and gave her a small smile, “I’m just teasing. Sure, I’ll let you walk me home. How about I grab what I need and I’ll meet you up front?”
“Sounds like a plan, darling~ Better not keep me waiting too long, Anon!”
I watched her slither away down the aisle towards the back. I went back to perusing the chips, grabbing a bag before heading to the sweets. There was a monster girl there, an older kitsune with nine blonde tails wearing a warm coat and skin tight pants. She had a shopping cart loaded with groceries, “Excuse me,” I politely got her attention instead of just reaching in front of her to grab my prize.
She looked at me with a concerned and confused expression on her face, “S-sorry,” She nodded to me before stepping aside.
She had two bags of candy, one in each hand, and was turning them over as she stared at the packaging. I grabbed a pack of the candy I wanted, sour gummy worms, and turned to the troubled woman, “Are you okay?”
“A-ah,” She made a noise that could hardly be classified as a light, awkward laughter, “Just confused. Could you help me?”
I nodded, “What’s up?”
She presented the two bags of candy to me, “My husband asked me to get gummy bears for him and our children and I just cannot figure out which to get and he will not pick up his phone,” She had a big bag of Haribo gummy bears in one hand and Black Forest in the other.
I had to stifle a laugh as I looked at the distraught look on her face. I shook my head and smiled, “Go for the Haribo. Most people prefer it.”
“Really?” Relief spread across her face.
“Yeah.”
“Thank you, dear. I just want to make sure he’s happy. He works so hard and last time I bought shredded cheese I got the wrong one and he said it was fine but--”
“Darling,” Two hands suddenly clamped down on my shoulders as a chill coursed through my body, “Is this woman bothering you?” Morrigan breathed on the back of my neck as a threatening tone filled her voice.
“Oh?” The kitsune tilted her head, “Sorry, I kept your man occupied, dear. He’s such a gentleman helping a stranger in need!”
Morrigan’s tone lightened up, “I know! He’s just the best!”
“Take care you two,” The kitsune walked off with her cart.
I turned to Morrigan, the dark look on her face made me shiver and my heart beat quite a bit faster as her red eyes tore through me, “Why were you talking to that woman?” She demanded in a husghed voice, “You were flirting with her, weren’t you?”
“What!?” I exclaimed, shocked, “No, I was just helping her pick between two brands of candy.”
“Did you initiate conversation or did she?”
“I did.”
Morrigan blinked, “Mmmh,” She thought for a few moments before a smile spread across her lips and a happy tone returned to her voice, “Oh, darling, you are so kind! Randomly helping a person in need,” She swooned.
“Y-yup,” The 180 in her tone made me shiver.
“Are you ready to go?”
“Yeah I am.”
“Come on then!” She grabbed my wrist and pulled me to the registers, “It is getting dark and cold out, darling.”
I carried my two bags as well as one of Morrigan’s as we walked. Morrigan wrapped one of her arms around mine, keeping me close to steal some of my warmth. She had removed her sunglasses and squinted as she walked near bright lights as if never truly accustomed to lights. I gazed up at the softly glowing overhead lamps that lined the street as a cold feeling enveloped me, “Anon, darling,” Morrigan began, “What are you thinking about? You look pale.”
“Oh, nothing,” I lied, not wanting to let her know I was thinking about her. I didn’t know why I was so embarrassed about it.
“Anon,” She said more firmly, trying to pry it out of me.
I shrugged, “Just thinking about where my life is going,” A half truth.
“What do you mean?”
“W-well... I like hanging out with you, from the few times I’ve been able to just hangout with you. I haven’t been able to just hang out with someone in a long time,” I left out the part where she still scares me.
“Oh!” Her face lit up, “I like spending time with you too!” She gripped my arm more tightly as she grinned.
I nodded, “Any other restaurants you want to go to?”
“I can think of a few! But, what do you want to do, darling?” I shrugged silently and apologetically causing her to sigh and giggle a tiny bit, “Perhaps we can watch a movie? I have not seen many human films. Mamano films are starting to bore me.”
“I’m surprised by how pornographic monster films are,” I commented.
Morrigan looked disgusted, “Pornographic!? What you merely see as two people performing intercourse I see a duo performing the greatest act of passion and love a pair of lovers can!”
I pondered this for a moment, not really understanding, “I suppose you’re right. The way we view things are just so wildly different.”
“Perhaps,” She smiled at me, “Oh, can we stop by my place? I would very much like to drop off my groceries so I do not have to carry them to your home then back here.”
I nodded, we were nearly there, anyways. Morrigan led me in through the front of her salon. The unsettling dark room held little more than mirrors, hair cutting supplies and a few chairs. She strutted through the back door and slowly slithered her way up the stairs to the second floor. I followed behind, careful not to step on her tail. She opened the door to her home, and gestured for me to enter. I walked into a sort of living room and kitchen illuminated by softly glowing dim lamps as she flicked a light switch. The walls were barren except for a small painting across from the door of a simplistic landscape. There was a couch with a small coffee table before it that had numerous books stacked on it. There was a small dining table next to a window with a dying bouquet of once colorful flowers in a white vase on top of it, “This is how you live?” I asked, a hint of concern on my face as I turned to Morrigan.
“I-I have not gotten the chance to obtain furniture, yet,” She took her bag from me and set it in the kitchen, “Go sit down and relax for a few minutes, darling. I need to put some things away.”
I took a seat on the couch and shot a curious glance at the books. One stood out to me, a blank red book with a pen sitting next to it. Curiosity was gripping me, ‘A journal? Diary?’ I asked myself silently. I looked back to Morrigan, she was humming quietly as she put milk in the fridge. I slowly reached out to it, just wanting to take a peek. Something small leapt onto my lap, causing me to yelp in surprise as it sunk its claws into my thighs, “Darling!?” Morrigan shouted as she quickly slithered over, “Oh! Mrs. Whiskers loves you already!”
“M-Mrs. Whiskers?” I frowned. I looked down at the white fluffy cat as she rubbed her face on my coat.
“Yes! Mrs. Whiskers. I need to feed her, come here kitty~” Morrigan tried to pick up the cat from my lap only for it to run off and hide under the dining table, “Ah,” Morrigan sighed dejectedly, “That cat.”
“Does this happen often?”
“She’s just a cat, Anon. Very skittish. Especially since...” She gripped the brim of her hat for a few seconds before dropping her arms in a disheartened fashion.
“Since you came through one of those portals?”
“A-ah, yes,” She obviously lied.
“Don’t you need to feed her?” I reminded her.
“Yes, I do. Give me a few minutes, darling.”
I turned my attention back to the blank, red book, ‘I just want to see what it is,’ I told myself, ‘No harm in that, right?’ I quickly flipped the cover of the book open. The first page was adorned with one word, ‘ANON,’ The other things on the page were a few doodles of snakes and hearts surrounding a drawing that I assumed was supposed to be me standing hand in hand with Morrigan. I had a big smile on my face while Morrigan was smiling softly as strange looking hair writhed from her scalp. I closed the book, unsure of what to make of what I had just seen. I assumed the book was just a journal that she had started soon after meeting me. I knew she had feelings for me and I... I had feelings for her, despite my lasting fear of her.
“Anon~” Morrigan sang as she sat next to me on the couch, “Thank you for bringing my groceries in. Here, let me do something to repay you,” Again, she wrapped her arms around me as she gave me a kiss on the cheek. Her snake body coiled around my legs and waist. I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing as I tried to get used to the feeling of her gently wrapping around me, “Are you alright, darling?” I nodded silently, my pounding heart betraying my silent words, “Well, I am enjoying sitting here with you. Let me know when you wish to go,” She snuggled up closer to me, holding me in her grip. She shifted, resting her eyes as I did, “Darling?” She called out to me quietly.
I opened my eyes and turned to her, “What’s up?”
“Are we dating?”
“I just kind of figured you had already claimed me as your boyfriend. Especially after how possessive you got at the store. Is that how mamano dating and marriage works?”
“S-sorry about that, darling. I am just afraid of losing you to some other, more beautiful woman. A-and I have thought of you as my boyfriend. Why do you think I keep kissing you?”
“I dunno, I thought it was maybe some weird friendly thing you did,” I stretched, feeling like a weight had been removed from my heart. I hardly remembered that she was coiled around me.
“Well, how about I walk you home now, darling?” She caressed my chest, smiling at me, “It is getting quite late.”
I stood and shook my head, “Its cold out there, I can get myself home safe. You take the night to rest.”
She blinked at me, standing up as I did, “A-alright, darling. Come here,” She gave me another hug, resting her head on my shoulder. It was a long, tight hug as I hugged her back, “Get home safe.”
“I will,” I smiled, lessening the worried look on her face.
“Text me when you get home?”
“I will,” I attempted to reassure her again.
“Thank you,” She led me outside by the hand and watched as I slowly walked out the front door. She had a sad look on her face.
“Come on, don’t look at me like that,” I sighed, she merely grumbled in response and folded her arms to pout. I rolled my eyes and gave her one more hug plus a small, awkward kiss on the cheek, “I’ll text you when I get home,” She couldn’t respond as she was too enamored by the kiss, clutching her cheek as she blushed. She waved at me by tilting her wrist once to the side. I chuckled and mirrored the gesture before turning and walking off into the night.
I sat at my desk at work, staring at my phone as I waited for Morrigan to text me back. It was Friday, just a day after Morrigan had confirmed my fears and hopes about the two of us. I had not seen her since then but kept in contact through texts and phone calls. A light knocking on my office door made me sit straight up and yank the headphones from my ears. My boss sauntered into the room and sat across from me, a big grin on her face. I cocked my head to the side, “What’s so funny?” I asked, tapping the desk nervously.
“Your girlfriend talks about you a lot,” She chuckled.
“Oh god,” I sighed, “How bad was it?”
“Not horrible. She just had a lot to say about how ‘wonderful’ you are. She asked me a lot of questions about you.”
“Ah, well...”
“Thank you for giving her a chance, Anon. I cannot wait for your wedding! You two are going to be so cute!”
“W-wedding!? We just started dating!” I recoiled in shock.
My boss merely laughed, “Oh, Anon, dear. You will learn about mamano relationships in time,” She started to stand before a look of realization spread over her face, forcing her to sit once more, “Did you see the report I sent you? I need your guidance on a few tech related things.”
I shook myself, jumping back into the work mindset again, “Lemme open it right now, chief,” My phone rumbled and I immediately snatched it up, checking the message I got. Morrigan had sent me a few heart emojis. I quickly sent some back and glanced up at my boss.
“She has you on a short leash, hm?” She cackled.
“N-no... I just...”
“Oh, calm down, Anon. I am just teasing you. Come on, I need your input on this report,” I nodded quickly and opened up the report, ignoring my phone the best I could for the moment.
I made my way down the street, headed for the bar. My olive green messenger bag gently slapped against my hip rhythmically as I strutted down the sidewalk. A familiar sight came into view, the small quiet pub. I pushed the door open, quickly making my way to the bar, wanting to get myself a drink, “What can I get ya?” The large hellhound, Ellen, asked as she wiped down a glass.
“How about an old fashioned?” I asked.
Ellen nodded, “Comin’ right up, kid. Your friend is in the back,” She gestured towards the back where a man in a hooded grey cloak sat with a half drunk glass of rum and Coke.
I thanked her and made my way over to the hooded figure, sitting across from them silently. He silently reached into his cloak and revealed a small wooden box with a red flame painted on the front. I revealed a box from my bag, a black plastic box. We both removed the tops of our boxes and revealed thick stacks of cards wrapped in protective sleeves. His sleeves had a generic anime girl on them while mine were a plain black, “Ah, I see,” He grumbled as I flipped the top card of my deck, revealing my deck’s commander. He showed me his, making me frown as well. I was a bit embarrassed of my old Magic: the Gathering hobby. The man sitting before me was the only person I knew I could play it with. It was used more as an excuse to speak to each other and drink a few rounds. The hobby had gotten a large resurgence shortly after the monsters came through the portals as some believed the ‘Magic’ in the title meant the card game held actual magic in the cards. It died pretty quickly when they realised it had none and the luster of the new game had worn off. Rumors of a few smaller sabbaths formed around the game did circulate on internet message boards, these small women were apparently trying to breath real magic into the game.
“Why do you insist on acting so mysterious?” I asked as I started to shuffle my mono black tron deck.
“You know why I do it,” He grumbled, taking off the hood revealing his long blonde hair. He started to shuffle his red and green deck. He reached into his cloak and grabbed a scroll tube and handed me a mat for my cards before spreading his own before himself, “How have you been, Anon?”
“I’ve been fine, Max. How’s that magic been treating you?”
He shrugged, “Oh, fine. I’m still working on casting lower level spells. Once I hit 30 years I’ll become even more powerful than you can imagine!”
I laughed, “If you make it that long. You keep coming into town every other week just to see me. Some girl could just nab you out of nowhere.”
“You live in this town and haven’t been nabbed yet! I’m safe for now.”
“W-well,” I scratched my chin, “I didn’t get like... Raped... But...”
“Y-you got married? And didn’t even invite me to the wedding?”
“No!” I quickly corrected him, “I just started dating.”
“Ah, well... Congratulations.”
“Thanks,” I grabbed two six sided die and rolled them, “Eh, four,” I announced disappointedly.
Max did the same, frowning as he looked at the results, “T-three.”
“I’ll go first, wanna split my deck?” Max nodded and offered me his stack of cards. I took the top card off and looked at it, a simple forest, I cackled and placed the card on the bottom of his deck causing him to make a face.
We began playing, the first game taking about 40 minutes for me to lose. I took it in stride and immediately began another match with Max. This was much closer, I barely won the match after about an hour, “One to one,” Max grumbled.
I sighed, “Y-yeah. Gonna go get another drink?” I gestured at his empty glass.
“No,” He shot a shifty look at the bar, “There’s a snake woman over there that's been staring at me.”
A felt a shiver run down my spine. I didn’t want to look but I knew I had to. I knew who it was. I turned slowly to the emerald colored lamia, Morrigan. She sat at the bar with a bright blue drink in her hand and another sunhat on her head and sunglasses over her eyes. She drank it through a straw as she sat with her back to the bar, eyes fixed on my table, “One second,” I grabbed my phone and went to my contacts. I brought the phone to my ear, Morrigan doing the same as she fished it out of her bag, “Hey, Morrigan.”
“You know her?” Max whispered, tapping the table.
“Hello, darling,” Morrigan spoke in a deadpan tone as she stared at me.
“How did you know I was here, Morrigan?” I asked.
“Does that matter?” She got up and slithered over to my table slowly. Max was sweating nervously as she came to a stop next to our table. She hung up her phone and turned to me, disregarding the only friend I was still in contact with, “Who is this?” She demanded as she set her drink down on the table.
“My friend, Max. I don’t get to see him often.”
“Are you gambling, darling?” She looked disgusted as she looked down at the cards and dice on the table, “I am so disappointed in you, Anon.”
Her words stung and crushed my heart, “N-no I--”
“Hey, man,” Max interrupted me, “I-I’m gonna head out. Catch you later,” I watched him throw all his stuff back into his cloak before hastily getting up and leaving the building.
I turned back to Morrigan as she strictly stared at me, her red eyes looked sad behind her stony gaze, “I’m going home,” I sighed, starting to pick up my stuff. I couldn’t bring myself to be angry. I was just sad, really.
“Anon,” She firmly stated, the sadness becoming clear on her face, “I-I-I am sorry. I was merely worried when I heard you were dealing with a shadowy figure quite often.”
“How did you even know I was here?”
“Ellen told me. I cut her hair a few days ago. I did not want to upset you but why did you not just tell me you were meeting with a friend and not a drug dealer or some other kind of cretin?”
“Do I have to tell you everything I’m doing at all times?” I growled, making her sniffle. I calmed my tone down, my uncharacteristic outburst made me regret snapping at her, “I was mostly just being secretive with my dumb nerd hobby,” I admitted, “I didn’t want you to think that I’m a huge loser.”
Morrigan let a strange laugh escape her lips, one of worry and sadness, “W-well... I do not care what you do for fun, darling. I just worry about you. If something bad happened to you I would... I... I do not know what I would do,” She wiped her eyes and looked at me.
“Hey, don’t cry. Come over and hang out for a few hours. I’ll show you a movie or two if you want.”
Her face lit up ever so slightly, “Okay. I will accept your offer, darling. Shall we be off?”
The walk to my apartment was freezing. The rain had begun to fall as we neared my apartment building. Morrigan shivered and clung to me as we quickened our pace. She laughed as the freezing rain came down. It was a child-like laughter as we hurried through the rain and looked at eachother, both of us should have been looking miserable in our soaked through clothing, instead the two of us had an excited feeling in our hearts. I chuckled back at her as we entered the lobby of the complex. A quick trip up a flight of stairs took us to my apartment. She wrapped her arms around herself as I led her inside, both of us still shivering from the cold, “W-well, this is how you live? Much more cozy than my home.”
“I-I’m glad you think so. I’ll get the heat going, can I get you some warm clothes?” I asked. She nodded as I went into my room after setting the temperature in the room a few degrees higher. I quickly put sweats on and a dry t shirt while bringing Morrigan a shirt and a large sweatshirt. I went looking for a movie. I grabbed the three pack of the original Starwars trilogy, something easy to watch and we could just talk over it if we felt like it. I returned to the couch where Morrigan had set out a bottle of scotch and two glasses. She had already poured one for herself. She wore my sweatshirt with the hood up, covering her head like she always did. I was starting to think she was bald.
She waved the empty glass at me, “Come, drink with me, darling. It should warm us both right up.”
“You had this in your bag? How did you know I like this stuff?”
“I have my ways,” She smiled at me as I got the movie going. She leaned on me as the opening text crawl began. She didn’t seem to be paying much attention to the movie, “You like me, right?”
“Uh, yeah I do. I wouldn’t be hanging out with you if I didn’t.”
She was silent again for a time as she thought about something. She looked at me again, “You are not off put by my form, yes?”
“You know the answer to that, don’t you? Or are you fishing for compliments right now?”
“N-no, I merely have a few things on my mind,” She was silent again, “Am I the prettiest girl you know?”
“Morrigan, what has gotten into you?” I paused the movie and shook my head, “I think you’re very pretty but what does it matter if you’re the top or not? Its not like I’m the most handsome guy ever! I’m sure you know way better looking dudes than me!”
She paused again, “I suppose you are right, Anon. How about a drink?” I didn’t even have the chance to say ‘yes’ before she poured me a glass, “I am sorry for acting like that.”
“Its fine,” I took a long drink of the liquor, “Do you want me to restart the movie for you? I--” My head started to ring and my eyes started to close, “W-what?” I felt woozy and sick.
“Hm? Darling?” A menacing grin spread across Morrigan’s cheeks, “Is something wrong~?”
“Did you put something in the--”
I froze up as Morrigan coiled around me, pulling my head to her chest, “Ssssh, darling. Let the magic take effect on you.” My eyes started to water as tears began to flow, “Morrigan,” I croaked, unsure of what to do. Tears started to well in my eyes, feeling betrayed by the woman I had finally opened myself up to. I couldn’t even fight back as my strength was rapidly sapped from my muscles and the air was pulled from my lungs. Even if I was terrified or mad, I couldn’t get myself to tell her I hated her, or just scream ‘fuck you,’ at her. I relaxed, the tears stopping as a sudden comfortable and safe feeling came over me as Morrigan coiled around me, her crimson eyes smiling at me with copious amounts of love that she desired to pour into me. I closed my eyes and let my weariness take me.

PT3

I had been caught. The shadowy monster coiled around me, holding me tightly. I struggled and writhed in its grasp, trying to get free. I heard hissing noises, the coils bound me tighter as they tried to hold me down and keep me from moving. Air was squeezed from my lungs making a pained wheeze escape my lips. Water flowed my eyes as fear took hold of me, my heart pounding painfully in my chest. I tried to call for help as I thrashed weakly, nothing more than an unintelligible murmur escaped my lips. As I thought I was nearing the end of the tunnel and death was fast approaching, I mustered the last bit of my strength and tried to call for help, “Morrigan,” I barely coughed out. I went limp, losing the energy to keep struggling. I heard a nightmarish cry as I blacked out.
I could hardly tell the difference between reality and my nightmares now. I was lying on my back on a soft surface with my head propped up by an even softer object. As my eyes adjusted to the dark and I tried to shift my weight to a more comfortable position. I couldn’t move, my wrists and ankles were both wrapped up by something. A slick, cool body with scales that hugged my limbs moved slowly, loosening its grip slowly. Something with dazzling red eyes stood above me, staring at me. I was sweaty, hot and afraid. The thing with red eyes lie next to me, arms reaching across my body to hold me close to it. The creature leaned into me, mouth nearing my ear, “Darling,” A familiar voice cried with a touch of terror in her voice, “Why do you thrash so? What is wrong? Why do you cry?”
I hadn’t realized I had been crying in fear, “Morrigan, what happened?” I asked-- I tried to, the words were trapped behind my lips that were welded together with some sort of sticky strip over my mouth. Duct tape held my mouth closed as Morrigan caressed my bare chest desperately. I was breathing weakly and she couldn’t notice my movement or the noises I made over her own terror.
“I am here, darling, no need to cry any more,” Morrigan whispered soothingly as she pulled my head against her chest, resting her chin on the top of my head. She gently caressed my hair and kissed my scalp as she nervously hummed a tune, “Do not be afraid of me, please,” She begged, “I will not hurt you, darling. I did not want to hurt you,” It sounded like she was crying softly, “I did not mean to. I am sorry, I am so sorry, darling,” She began to sob.
I slumped against her, closing my eyes as I tried to catch my breath weakly. A chill crept down my spine as I looked around. Rope sat next to the bed on a nightstand along with various instruments like whips and unlit candles. I struggled against my binds, desperate to remove the tape from my mouth to speak to her as she continued to sob, “Mmph!” I tried to call out to Morrigan, still thwarted by the tape.
“Darling,” She choked, “Wake up, please,” She hugged me closer. I looked at what little of her body that I could. She was seemingly completely nude, her nipples right next to my face. Her breasts were quite large and pillowy, something I could rest my head on to sleep or put in my mouth to tease her.
“Mmph,” I made a sound of contentedness as I lost myself in lewd thoughts for a moment.
“Anon...” Morrigan sobbed, “Please, do not hate me...” I needed to get her attention, I was trying to wrack my brain on how to get her to notice me. Struggling did nothing, I could not shout and I could not move much. I turned my head back to her chest, her nipple mere inches from my face. I frowned, wishing I had my tongue to use. I strained my neck, pushing up and brushed the tip of my nose against her nipple. Morrigan let out a moan, throwing her head back as she began to blush and her tail unintentionally squeezing harder on my limbs. I forced myself not to cry out as she began to calm down, looking down into my face for the first time, “Darling?” Tears began to well in her eyes again, tears of joy, “You... You are alive!” Tears flowed once more as a grin spread across her lips. She once more hugged me to her chest, face right between her naked flesh mounds. I struggled gently, trying to remind her that I needed to breath. I was pulled away from her chest as she dried her eyes, “Never scare me like that again, darling, please.”
I blinked and tilted my head at her as she uncoiled my limbs. I rubbed my wrists, “Mpph?” I asked.
“Oh, here, darling,” She took hold of the tape and tore it from my lips, taking small hairs with it.
“Aaaah!” I groaned in pain. I suddenly felt weak again as I flopped back onto the pillow.
“Are you well, darling? Are you... Alive?”
“What the heck are you on about?” I cackled, “Of course I’m alive.”
“Darling... I was so scared.”
“What happened?” I began to slowly remember what had happened as Morrigan tried to tap dance around the subject, too embarrassed to relay what she had gone through, “You drugged me!” I shouted, pointing an accusatory finger at her, “And whats all this?” I gestured to the silk ropes, handcuffs and whip.
She ignored my final question, “A-Anon-- Darling... I am sorry to deceive you. I was sure you would never say yes to taking me to bed with you. I-- I need you, Anon. I needed to ‘mark’ you before you found my secret,” She explained, “I knew you would find out soon. But now...” She rubbed her own face, “I am unworthy of being with you. I have hurt you. You are afraid of me.”
“What are you talking about? What happened?”
“I brought you to your bed after you... Fell asleep and tangled you up in my coils and you suddenly began to writhe and shout so I gagged you and held you tightly. S-suddenly you started crying and shaking then...” She shuddered, “I gripped you even more tightly, begging you to stop and calm down. Th-then... I watched in horror as you went limp after a loud cracking noise. I let out an inhuman howl of grief, thinking I had killed you,” She was shaking again, crying softly. I reached out to her, wrapping my arms around her head and pulling her against her chest.
I felt no fear of her. Her emotions and fears had been lain bare before me. Something clicked in my brain, she was human, just like me. Perhaps even more human than I was. She wasn’t some horrible, terrifying nightmare monster no matter how similar she was to the creature in my dreams, “I’m not afraid of you, Morrigan. Not any more.”
“Any more?” She looked almost disappointed as I smiled at her. A smile appeared on her face momentarily, “You really were terrified of me?”
“W-well,” I stammered, feeling a bit ridiculous about it, “I’ve been having nightmares about being crushed to death by a creature with red eyes while voices hissed and cackle at me.”
“A-and that is supposed to be me?”
“I don’t know,” I shrugged, “But I’m fine now, I’m not scared.”
Morrigan frowned, “But I still hurt you.”
“I’m alright, I swear,” I reassured her with a kiss on the cheek, “Lie with me, I need to rest a little more.”
Morrigan nodded and lie down, resting her head on my shoulder. I noticed it was covered by a knit black beanie, “Oh, the ‘toys’ I brought,” She pointed to the nightstand, finally ready to explain, “I--I was planning on scaring you a little bit more. I knew you were slightly nervous around me and my manticore friend said that man ‘tastes’ better when scared.”
I frowned, placing a hand on her head. I felt something, as if her hair was long, thick strands. I pictured her in my head with long dreads and couldn’t help but smile and chuckle as I pictured her with long dreads in my head. Morrigan grumbled in response, the strands under her hat began to writhe and squirm. I tore my hand away, “Morrigan?” I asked.
“Hm?”
“Why are you always wearing hats or hoods? You know I don’t mind if you’re bald.”
Morrigan did not speak for what felt like minutes. I thought I heard her snicker before finally speaking up, “I am not bald, darling. Something worse. Something inhuman and strange. Something disgusting and horrible.”
I shook my head, “I don’t know what can be worse than bald, Morrigan,” She rose and sat next to me at the edge of the bed. Her snake body was nervously dragging around the floor as Morrigan tried to decide what to do, “Morrigan,” I called out again and sat next to her, “If we are-- If you are to get what you want, what I want as well, we need to be able to trust each other. I need to be able to trust you, no more drugs, tricks, lies or even fear of each other. I want you to trust me as well.”
Morrigan turned to me, “Promise me something.”
“What is it?”
“Promise me you will not cry out in terror and force me to leave,” I nodded, my heart now pounding in anticipation. She reached up to her head and grabbed the beanie. She removed it in one quick motion. Green, thick strands that matched her emerald body were pulled back across her head. She undid a tie in the back of her head and let them drop down around her head to about shoulder length. Snakes. Snakes for hair. I stared in wonder, more mesmerised than anything else by the otherworldly beauty of it all, “D-do not look at me like that,” She shied away from me, looking quite embarrassed.
The snakes stared back at me with black eyes, tongues gently flicking out at me, “C-can I touch them?” I excitedly blurted out.
“T-touch them!?” Morrigan cried, pulling away from me, “Do not encourage them!”
“What?”
“These snakes,” She grabbed one of the two that fell down by her face and yanked on it, “I hate them! I want them gone!”
The snake hissed in agony as a pained expression crossed her face, “Stop!” I cried as I grabbed her wrist, “Please, stop hurting yourself. I don’t mind them, it looks much better than tearing them off and going bald.”
“I have tried that in my seven years in this disgusting form. They grow back. Some medusas even chop off parts of them as some sort of grisly haircut,” She explained, laying across my lap. I thought of the term ‘medusa.’ It was a little strange to hear that as the name of a race rather than a character in an old Greek myth, “Thank you,” She suddenly said to me while I was deep in thought.
“For what?” I asked as she grabbed one of my hands and put it on her stomach. She was cold. It was a very comfortable cold that stole the natural heat from my body.
She ignored my question, “You may touch them if it would please you. But do not become too attached. I should not have them much longer.”
I wanted to ask her what she meant by that, but the dark, foreboding tone made me feel like I would know in time as now was not the time for me to know. It felt best not to rush it. I turned to the snakes that weakly moved around, pressing themselves to my body to steal some of my heat just like their host. I rubbed the head of one and let it lick my hand. It quickly went back to ignoring me, “I can’t believe you hate these,” I murmured, “I find them incredibly charming.”
“You know nothing of the pain that they have brought me,” She hissed, her eyes still closed as she rested across my lap.
“Do you wanna talk about it?” I asked, gently rubbing her stomach.
She opened her eyes, looking right into mine, “Perhaps I will tell you... But, I demand a new fact about you that I do not know.”
I scratched my head, “Well, my favorite burger is--”
“Extra cheese, raw onions, ketchup and sometimes the special sauce of the restaurant you are ordering from,” Morrigan finished for me with a sly smile.
“H-how--?”
“I am friends with a ratatoskr. Through her information letting me know who to speak to I know MUCH about you, Anon.”
I sighed, “Uhm...”
“Come now, Anon. You must have something for me~” She challenged smugly.
“M-my favorite drink--”
“Orange vanilla Coke, Doctor Pepper or cherry Mellow Yellow.”
“Favorite games?”
“Metro 2033, Rollercoaster Tycoon and Heroes of Might and Magic Three.”
“Y-you... I...” I wracked my brain before coming up with something, “My ear canals are shaped really weird.”
“Huh?”
“Yeah, my hearing isn’t very good in my left ear because its full of wax near constantly.”
Morrigan stared at me. She then reached to the floor and grabbed her bag. She pulled out the journal I had so curiously looked in before. She scribbled something down then put it back and put her bag onto the floor, “Alright. You win. I will tell you my story. Lie down and I will begin.”
I did as she said and lay on my back and looked up at her. Morrigan slid onto me, her nude body pressing against my bare chest, “I-if you don’t want to talk about it, I won’t force you.”
“No, just hold me as I speak. I desire your support and you are correct, we should be honest with one another. You have been honest with me... About your ears...” She chuckled, “So, years ago I was born in a small human village. I was born human, darling. I had wonderfully long and silky black hair and long, glorious legs.”
I touched her snake body, “You--”
“No questions until the end, please, darling,” She kissed me on the cheek and took a deep breath, “I took an apprenticeship as a hair stylist and grew into a gorgeous young woman, men fawned over me wherever I went! I moved to a larger town and started cutting hair at the only parlor in town along with multiple other girls. I did this for years, honing my craft and rising amongst the ranks of the beauticians. I was booked a month in advance from all nearby towns!” She swooned, happily remembering a time she considered to be better.
“But, one day, as I was cutting the hair of another human woman. There was something in the air. You see, monster kind and humanity were sort of at war in the old world. It was a massive stalemate with extremists on both sides taking drastic measures when they could. In a false flag attack Order Paladins set off a sort of bomb, flooding a portion of the town with mamano mana. They wanted to rile up the city to join the fruitless war effort. I was one of the unlucky ones. I remember it vividly, my legs fusing together and my hair fusing into writhing serpents,” She shuddered and hugged me tight as she recalled the details, “I was lucky I was not put to the sword. I was spared and exiled from the town as I tried to learn my new mode of transportation. I met my best friends that day as we tried to make our way... Somewhere. I tried to go home but my family pushed me away. I only had these three other girls that I had just started to consider friends.”
She lie still, her head resting on my chest, “I...” I touched her head, caressing her gently, “Then what?”
“I lived with my friends in a monster dominated village and cut hair. Seven years later, those portals were opened and all us monsters were forced here. I bought that building and now I cut others’ hair. I just wish I could cut my own again. I loved doing that.”
“I’m sorry... Honey. Can I call you that?”
“You could call me ‘bitch,’ and I would still love the pet name,” She joked.
“Well, honey, I’m not calling you that. Now what’s your plan?”
“Make you mine. Keep cutting hair. Try to be happy,” She sadly told me.
“Morrigan,” I sighed, “I’ll help you in any way I can,” I gave her a reassuring smile as I kissed her on the head.
“Thank you, darling,” She got up, towering over me, running hands over my chest, “I can think of something we can do right now,” She reached over and grabbed something, her tail slowly grabbing my wrists gently and pulling them over my head, “You are going to be a good boy and stay quiet, alright?” She brandished something sharp, immediately making me sweat. I quickly realised it was her hair cutting scissors, something that couldn’t hurt me. She was just trying to spook me a bit before having her way with me. I nodded, ready to play along with her, “Good boy~” She reached and pulled my pants down, revealing my semi-erect penis. My heart pounded as I let Morrigan take the lead. She stroked my shaft gently, trying to get me completely hard. I writhed in her grip as pleasure took hold of me. I stifled a moan, wanting more than anything to be obedient to my soon to be snake bodied wife.
“Here we go~” She sang. She was obviously incredibly nervous as her once human mind was pushed aside as her monsterous instincts took hold as she pushed herself on top of me. Her arms wrapped around my neck as she started to moan, slowly riding up and down on my shaft. She had a surprising amount of control only taking the tip of my penis. She pressed her lips to mine, suddenly going all the way down on my shaft. We both moaned quietly, our bodies pressed against each other as ecstasy took hold throwing all reason out the window. Morrigan’s tongue slipped into my mouth, playing with my tongue as she started french kissing, her snakes lovingly flicking their tongues out on my cheeks. It was incredibly ticklish. Morrigan suddenly slammed herself against my hips, shuddering violently as she orgasmed. She panted hard, staring right into my eyes. I could have sworn her red eyes glowed even brighter than they normally did and made heart shapes.
“Mmmh,” She caressed my hair and felt my chest, “You are so warm, darling,” I smiled in response, my chest was heaving, “Its your turn, darling,” She started again, slamming herself against me again. There was a terrifying hunger in my eyes as she pounded against my hips. She panted, silently begging me to give her what she wanted. I couldn’t hold it in long, I came inside of her, stifling my moans the best I could. She pulled herself up, staring down at our pooling love juices. She smiled at me, “Together this time, darling,” Morrigan’s suggestion was more of a demand as she started slamming herself against me again. She had a rhythm to her pounding, a steady, wet slapping rang out in my quickly heating room. She kissed me again with her long tongue, her snakes again trying to kiss my cheeks, “Darling, please, now,” She moaned after an unknown amount of time. I couldn’t even tell her I was about to as she began to milk me dry. We both howled in pleasure as we simultaneously orgasmed.
We panted in unison. I had a big grin on my face, the ecstasy slowly wearing off. Morrigan was silent as she held herself above me. She gently rubbed her stomach, a smile slowly spreading across her cheeks, “Darling?”
“Can I speak now?” I asked.
“Yes, you are such a good boy~” She ran fingers through my hair, uncoiling her tail around my wrists, “I hope I get pregnant,” Her tail changed positions, coiling around the two of us holding us together.
I chuckled, “Yeah, I hope so too,” I turned and glanced at the clock, it was about two in the morning. I felt exhausted again, “I need to sleep, Morrigan.”
“I could go another round~”
“Honey, please. I can only take so much. My hips are going to shatter.”
“Okay, okay, darling,” She slumped on top of me, her head on my shoulder, “I love you.”
I closed my eyes and rested my head on the pillow. Her serpent hair rested on my body, bathing in the post sex heat. I caressed her hair and mumbled back, “I love you too,” Before closing my eyes and letting sleep take hold of me.
There was still one question on my mind, what did she meant by ‘Do not become too attached. I should not have them much longer,’ I shook the thought from my mind and drifted off to the dream realm.
----------------------------------------------------
I was in the dark again, a forest probably. I scurried away from a recognizable dragging noise, I felt a small amount of fear as I hurried through the dark, bouncing off trees and clawing my way through bushes that tore as my skin. I turned my head behind me, catching a glimpse of the red glowing eyes behind me. I turned back in front of me, too slow to see the tree I was dashing towards. I slammed into it, falling onto my back. I coughed as I lay on the soft grass. The thing chasing me, hurried up and towered over me before coming close to me with tears in her eyes. Morrigan looked mortified, “Are you hurt?” She asked. I tried to reply but no words came out. She laughed at some unsaid joke, “Darling, stand up. Let us take a break,” She curled up on her own snake body and stretched out her arms towards me invitingly. I spoke silently again and sat with her, her tail coiling around me. She chuckled again and kissed the bruise on my forehead, “Rest well, darling,” I smiled as I closed my eyes. Her coils squeezed me lovingly as the serpent like hair flicked their tongues against my face. My fear had finally subsided and I felt at peace.

PT4

I woke up Saturday morning, a small smile on my face. I felt happy and content. I was ready to start a life with this woman. There was no weight on my chest or scaley tail coiled around my limbs. The smile quickly fell off when I felt a lewd, wet sensation in my nether regions. I tilted my head up and looked down. Morrigan was absentmindedly licking at my semi erect cock, “H-honey,” I whispered.
Her eyes darted to mine, blinking slowly. She said nothing as a small, charming smile spread across her face, instead she used more of her tongue, running it in circles around the tip. It felt amazing, I gasped and moaned quietly as she kissed it then taking it in her mouth half way down the shaft, her tongue still working the tip. I was quickly fully aroused as she bobbed her head up and down slowly. Her fingers caressed my inner thighs as she lovingly blinked at me. Her eyes were half closed as if she was still half asleep. She pulled my now fully erect shaft out of her mouth and put it between her large breasts, moving them up and down slowly, “Good morning, darling,” She chuckled.
“H-honey, I-I--” I gasped again as the pillowy soft breasts moved up and down with a slow rhythm.
She smiled, “Quiet, darling. Let me make you feel good,” She went back to using her mouth, going all the way down my shaft, still using her tongue to massage it. She grabbed one of my hands, holding it firmly as her other hand gripped my shaft, her pace increased. I twitched and gasped as the pleasure took hold. She removed it from her mouth, playfully slapping it against her cheek, smiling at me. Her hand firmly ran up and down the shaft, “Whenever you are ready, darling.”
“O-okay,” I gasped.
“Come on~ Come for me, darling~” She put it back in her mouth, her head moving rapidly and did not stop until I orgasmed. I moaned quietly as I blew my load into her mouth. She quickly and hungrily swallowed it, panting as I still lay on my back, shuddering. Morrigan slithered up my body, forcing me to be the big spoon for her, “Do not expect oral every morning, darling.”
I nodded, “Y-yeah, of course,” I panted, holding her tight to me as she nuzzled up against me, “Thank you,” I awkwardly murmured.
“Was it nice?” She chuckled, pulling my arms tightly around her.
“Amazing, honey,” I stroked her head, the serpents finally waking up and coiling around my arm, pulling the warmth my body produced as close as they could. I lie still for quite some time, gently petting her head before finally asking Morrigan a question, “Any plans for today?”
“Well, we need to get you moved in. Preferably soon.”
“Huh?”
“Come now, darling, you know what I mean,” She raised an eyebrow at me, “Moved into my home with me.”
“Are you sure you want me to move in? I doubt I’ll be the best room mate,” My room was messy and I had a tendency to collect small trinkets that most might find stupid or a waste of money.
She turned to me and took my head in her hands, “Darling. Every morning I wake up without you I feel a deep pain in my heart. Every waking moment I spend without you I feel deep agony as I daydream about running my hands through your hair and caressing your face and kiss those lovely lips of yours,” She let out the longest, most painful sigh, “I NEED you. I really want you to move in with me.”
“U-uh,” I scratched my head, averting eye contact with her. I was thinking it over in my head.
“Imagine all the money you will save and the love you will receive~”
“I don’t know,” I sighed, “I don’t want to be a burden on you.”
“A burden!?” She hissed, obviously offended that I would say something like that, “Darling, you would be no such thing.”
“Morrigan, I don’t know...”
She clutched my face, the sharp nails on her finger tips digging into my flesh as if she believed that if I got away from her, I would be gone forever, “I can cook for you every day if you please! I have been practicing just for you,” The usual sultry tone in her voice was gone. There was now a clear desperation and need in her voice, “I will do anything you want. I have an unused bedroom that you can use as your personal space and I will leave you to your hobbies if you please,” I was still searching for a response as she clutched me even tighter, “P-please, Anon. I do not want to be alone anymore. I do not want you to be alone any more. Please. I love you so much and--” She started to cry as I stared at her with a blank look, “I love you, Anon. Darling, do you not love me? ”
“Morrigan,” I said firmly, listening and watching her desperation was making me just depressed. I smiled and hugged her to my chest, “I do love you.”
She nuzzled against me, sniffling quietly, “I-I am sorry. I got very carried away. You must be disgusted by my despair. I understand if you do not want to at the moment.”
“Does it mean I don’t love you if I don’t move in?”
“No, of course not... I merely got carried away in my pleas.”
I paused, “You do need some more furniture... And the cold months are coming so you could use my heat,” I was convincing myself more and more. A part of me really wanted to move in with her. Another part of me had my doubts. She had a strange obsession with me that I could hardly understand.
“You do not have to, darling. I can find heat elsewhere.”
“I’ll move in. Just stop acting so down, honey,” I pet her head as she nodded, silently soaking in my heat.
A finger ran down my spine making me shiver, “You are such a good man, darling,” The desperate, disheveled look she had just moments ago was gone. She was now confident and collected, “Come now, we have much to prepare for and we could both use a shower,” She looked down at the two of us, “Together of course~”
It had only been a few days since my close encounter with death and my learning of Morrigan’s ‘horrible secret.’ Although I did not mind her serpent-like hair, in fact I found it quite charming, she still insisted on wearing hats and hoods to conceal them at all times. No amount of consoling or support would change her mind, “Honey, I don’t mind them at all!” I would say.
“Darling,” She would sigh and give me a disgusted look, “I do not see why you enjoy them, but please, I do not wish to remember they exist,” I was just glad she would not go to bed with ridiculous hats on.
My dreams had turned quite sweet-- maybe a bit too sweet to be honest. I no longer dreamt of death but I dreamt of marriage and happiness. I had dreams of standing at the altar with Morrigan by my side, her snake hair on full display showcasing her otherworldly beauty and charm as we smiled gently at each other and said our vows before I princess carried her out of the building, filled with some inhuman strength as I supported all of her body with my arms. Morrigan would wake in the morning and describe the exact dream back to me, as if we were sharing dreams with one another.
I did not have too many things to move into my new home so the move only took two days starting at about noon on Saturday. The moving company my new wife hired was a team of massive onis, hellhounds and a dragon all guided by an anubis. The move was surprisingly painless. Morrigan’s home was a three story building, the first floor being her dimly lit salon. The entire home was usually dimly lit as she, along with some other types of monsters, had a strange aversion to bright lights. When we went out in public she would wear thick sunglasses to protect her from the sun and overhead lights. The second floor was a comfortable living area with a living room, kitchen and dining area. We had purchased a large screen TV to complete the room. The third floor was where we had our bedroom, my ‘office’ and a large bathroom. Our bedroom was cozy, two mattresses were on the floor next to each other so Morrigan’s entire body could rest on the softer surface as opposed to the cold, hard wooden floors. The bathroom had a massive bathtub in it. It could easily hold the entirety of Morrigan as well as myself very comfortably. My office was filled with my trinkets and electronics. My computer, my TV along with each console I had collected in my adulthood. Despite Morrigan’s previous promise to leave me alone when I was in there, she spent a lot of time in there with me. Her curiosity about movies had died down as she started playing video games with me. I quickly taught her some of my favorites and set her up with a DS of her own to play casual puzzle and simulation games like Professor Layton and Animal Crossing. She refused to ask me for the answers to puzzles which made me immensely proud.
I returned to work on Wednesday having taken Monday and Tuesday off to spend with my wife and get myself comfortable in my new home. I sat at my desk, slowly tapping away at my keyboard as I tried to get my work done. My boss walked in, sitting across from me, “How was your little vacation?” She asked teasingly.
“Really good. Got moved in with my wife and--”
“You move in with her!?” She excitedly shouted. I was too shocked to reply as she reached across the table and grabbed one of my hands, “Oooooh, Anon! I am SO excited for you!” She shook my hand in congradulations. She smelled the air around me as she got close to me, “That woman just claimed you as her husband and yet you are here at work!?”
I blinked, “I have work to do here! We’re deploying--”
“No, no, no,” She interrupted me, “David can take over for you. This is a wondrous occasion for you, Anon! You need to start planning your wedding, and having kids and...” She took a deep breath and calmed herself, “Take the rest of the week off. I will cover the vacation time, Anon. Go enjoy yourself for a few days.”
I slouched, trying to come up with an argument. I knew she wouldn’t take anything I said, “Alright. See you Monday,” I stood and went to my team’s area and talked to them quickly on what needs to be done in my absence. My boss stood nearby and stared at me expectantly, silently demanding that I go home and take my time off.
I returned home through the front door of the parlor as I usually did. I stepped out of the bright sunlight and into the dimly lit parlor. Morrigan was there, staring at me with her bright red eyes in the dim light. She was standing behind her usual hair cutting chair, “Oh, darling! Why are you home? Is something wrong?”
A loud voice rang out, “Oi, Morrigan, you know this cunt?” The tiny person on the chair, her current client made herself known.
“Yes, I do. That is my wonderous husband,” Morrigan explained to the small fairy. I stepped closer and into the dim overhead lighting, “Anon, this is Fíon. She has been a regular of mine for years.”
“H-hi,” I stammered out at the surprisingly intimidating fairy.
“Sup, cunt,” She crossed her legs and leaned back cooly.
“Fíon, I need you to sit still. This is hard enough with your size,” Morrigan reminded her.
“Sorry, sorry,” She sat back up as Morrigan got back to work using small tools on the seven inch tall fairy’s orange hair. She was sitting on a stack of books with a tiny apron around her neck.
“Darling, take a seat, we can talk in a few moments,” Morrigan told me with a worried smile. I nodded and sat in a comfortable leather chair. She was quiet as she worked on the small woman’s hair. Morrigan was dressed in a thick blue sweater with a black apron over it. Her snake hair was hidden beneath a sort of makeshift white cloth hat like the first time we met. I played on my phone for 15 minutes and looked up as the door was pushed open. A man entered with a thick coat worn on his shoulders like a cloak.
“Oi, hon-- My loving cunt of a husband,” The fairy greeted him, “Ya got ya wallet this time? Morrigan here deserves to get paid.”
“Yeah, yeah I got it ya little self warming fleshlight with wings,” Her husband retorted making the fairy grin wide, “I got some of the good shit too,” He revealed a small bottle of a brown liquid she smiled even wider, “Morrigan you asked for this stuff right?” He presented a familiar bottle, my favorite liquor.
“Yes, thank you,” Morrigan smiled, “Go ahead and hand it to my husband over there,” She gestured to me.
The man turned to me with a surprised expression and passed the bottle, “Hey. I probably wouldn’t have called my wife that if I had noticed you were here,” He admitted quietly.
“Nah, its fine,” I chuckled quietly. We introduced ourselves to each other as our wives finished up their own gossip.
“Oi, honeycock,” Fíon flew off the chair and over to her husband. I got a better look at her. Her green butterfly looking wings glowed a soft green that matched her green coat, “Go ahead and pay Morrigan, would you?” He nodded and got up, quickly exchanging greetings with Morrigan. The fairy turned to me, her hair was now cleaned up, “What’re you looking at, chump?” She smelled of alcohol.
“Fíon, leave him alone,” Her husband sighed. She pouted in response, sticking her tongue out at me before flying off over to her husband, tucking herself into his shirt pocket. They finished paying and headed out the door, saying goodbye to my wife and me.
“Goodbye,” Morrigan watched them leave. She turned to me, hurrying over, “What is wrong? Did something happen?” She grabbed my face and jerked it around, checking my skull for damage.
“Nothing happened!” I pushed her hands off of me as my neck started to hurt, “I was talking to my boss and she made me go home to spend the rest of the week with you. Since we got married in your culture’s eyes and all.”
She breathed with relief, “I thought you were going to tell me that you lost your job,” She quickly pulled me into a hug and ruffled my hair, “I have a few more appointments today, darling. Then we can... Hang out? As I believe you called it?”
“Yeah,” I chuckled. My expression suddenly turned darker as a familiar question echoed in my mind. Something that had been eating at me. Morrigan tilted her head at me, a kind smile was spread across her lips. I searched for what to say as she resumed petting my hair. I did not want to offend her or upset her.
I started to stammer once more just as a voice squawked out, “No!” As the front glass door was pushed open, jingling a bell. A man entered dragging a harpy with long black feathered hair and black feathered wings. One of her wings was in a light blue sling that had been doodled on with bird and flower shapes, “I don’t want to!” She squawked loudly again.
“Eve, please,” The man begged, taking hold of her one good wing. I was surprised that he was able to overpower the frightened harpy as she held her tightly in his arms. He turned both of them to face the confused and concerned Morrigan and me, “H-hi,” He stammered, the harpy with him averted her eyes from the two of us and stared at the floor, “I-- Do you do walk ins? I couldn’t find any information online.”
I looked to Morrigan for the answer and made a note to make her a website or at least update her page on maps. She shook herself and got herself back into a calm mindset, “I do have a bit of time before my next Appointment. What were you hoping to be done with her hair? Or yours?”
The man sighed with relief, “I just need her hair to be cut a little bit. She can’t see past her bangs. Anything will do.”
Morrigan nodded, approaching slowly, “What is your name, dear?”
The harpy shook, as if afraid of the gentle snake woman. The man leaned down and encouraged her quietly, whispering into her ear, “E-Eve-Harpy,” She introduced herself strangely.
“Eve-Harpy?” Morrigan echoed.
“Hubby-Lovey named me that.”
“Oh,” Morrigan must have realised her strange speech was just a small quirk of hers, “How cute. What do you want your hair to look like, Eve?”
She shrugged, still staring at the floor, “She just needs her bangs cut. Maybe something shoulder length. It doesn’t need to be styled or anything. Its not like she will style it herself every morning,” Her husband spoke for her. He talked so lovingly and sweetly about her even with that last comment that could have been seen as rude to someone else. It made me jealous, wishing I could constantly speak of my wife like that. It was as if the man was constantly under some sort of spell from the look in his strangely foggy yet completely alert eyes.
Morrigan nodded and led them over to the chair that she usually used to cut hair. She removed the stack that Fíon had been sitting on just moments before and gestured for her to sit. Eve shook her head violently again, “N-no,” She protested quietly, looking up for the first time at Morrigan, fear filling her eyes as she looked at the snake woman.
I saw a deep, crippling sadness filling Morrigan. First her eyes, her face, her chest then down to her entire serpent body, “I-I-I--” She stammered unsure of what to do.
“Here,” I stepped in, standing in front of the now slouching Morrigan, “I’ll do it. Just come sit down,” Eve looked up at me, into my eyes and lit up a little bit. She sat down as if Morrigan wasn’t there now. Her back was to us now and I turned back, winking at Morrigan. She still looked terribly sad, “I’ll talk to her, just work your magic and cut her hair, honey,” I whispered as quietly as possible. Morrigan looked at me as if I was some genius and quickly started gathering her tools. The sadness remained, but there was now a burning purpose in her eyes. I took the apron from her and gently put it around the harpy’s neck. Her husband stood nearby awkwardly, he seemed to understand what Morrigan and I were up to. I leaned close to him, “Hold her hand. Hopefully it will keep her calm.”
He nodded, “Hi, hubby-lovey!” Eve happily chirped as her husband reached under the apron and took hold of her little claw hand at the end of her wing.
“Close your eyes and sit still, Eve. It will be quick,” Her husband instructed, patting her head softly with his other hand.
I looked to Morrigan expectantly. She nodded and got to work, quickly chopping off large sections of hair as I stood behind Eve, praying she would not look behind herself. I made some small talk with the pair as Morrigan worked quietly. Large chunks of black hairs fell to the floor and onto the apron with little snakes sewn onto it. In a little more than half an hour, Morrigan was done. She put her tools into my hands and stepped back. I used a little mirror to show Eve her hair, “How does it look?”
Eve smiled, her eyes sparkling as she looked into her own eyes. She wasn’t even looking at her hair, just cocking her head back and forth making strange faces at herself, “Forgive her,” Her husband sighed with a small laugh, “She can be oblivious and is completely enamored with certain objects. It looks very cute. Thank you,” There was a quick pause, “How much?”
Morrigan quietly told him the price and led him over to the front desk. He paid quickly and gestured for the harpy to follow him. She hopped up and turned to me, “Thank you human-stranger!” I didn’t even have time to react before she pressed herself against me and hugged me kindly with her good wing. I looked down at her then up at my wife. I saw an inhuman, bestial rage on her face. I felt fear.
“Eve, come on, we gotta go!” Her husband quickly grabbed her, quickly reading the situation.
She turned to him, blissfully ignorant,” Carry-hold?” She asked excitedly. Her husband sighed and nodded, turning around and crouching down a little bit, she climbed onto his back. He shot an apologetic look at Morrigan and carried the harpy out the front door.
Morrigan looked like she was feeling a lot of emotions. She stood still at the front of the store, staring at me. I stared back at her, feeling guilty, then turned my eyes to the floor. She started to move, slithering past me into the back room of her salon. I frowned and looked at the hair scattered on the floor. I grabbed a broom and swept it up slowly, still trying to figure out what to do. I pushed the door open to the back and poked my head in. Morrigan sat at a round table with a sad look on her face. She had a steaming cup in her hands that she was slowly sipping on, coffee from the smell of it. She had let her snake hair down. She idly stroked the snakes as they brushed themselves against the sides of her head as if trying to console her.
I sat next to her, “I-I swept up the hair out there for you,” I smiled at her.
Morrigan didn’t look at me, just back down at her drink, “How do you not see it?” She asked me. I didn’t have time to answer, “How hideous and disgusting I am. I would bet that the feeling of hugging that harpy even if for only a moment was multiple times better than any feeling you would get from me. Even that little harpy was afraid of me without seeing these.”
“She was afraid before she even came in the front door,” I countered.
“You are just trying to make me feel better,” She brushed my comment aside, “I am a monster. A horrible, ugly, disgusting monster,” She started to cry after coming to that conclusion which seemed like the millionth time she had in her entire life, “I just want to go back to normal. That is all I have wanted for seven years now. I want people to not be afraid of me any more,” I watched her as she began to break down. She put her head in her hands as tears began to flow. I got up and wrapped my arms around her. I looked to the couch at the back and took a deep breath. I put an arm under Morrigan and one on her back and lifted with all my might, carrying her over to the couch. She weakly pounded her hand against my shoulder in protest. I sat down on the couch and held her in my lap. Her arms squeezed around my neck and her tail coiled around my hips. She cried into my shoulder as I pet the back of her head. The wailing hissing of her snakes sounded like crying as well. We sat together and cuddled for 10 minutes or more. She had stopped crying and instead sniveled quietly as she clung to me.
“Yoo-hoo!” A feminine voice called from the main room,
“Morrigan? Are you in here?” Another female voice cried out.
“Ah, shit,” Morrigan swore. She rubbed her eyes and dried her tears, “They are early.”
“I can go stall for you,” I told her, offering her a quick kiss.
She grabbed me, kissing me deeply before looking towards the door, “Yes, go, please. I need a moment.”
I hugged her again, “I love you, Morrigan. You’ll never be a monster to me. You’re one of the most human and normal people I have ever met.”
She stared at me, looking like she was going to cry again, “I love you too. Go, please I need to make myself look presentable.”
I took a deep breath and prepared myself to bull shit to some ladies that had just shown up. I couldn’t have been prepared for what I saw when I entered the main room. A purpley gooey, eldritch like woman was humming a tune while sweeping the floor. She turned to me with hollow, glowing yellow eyes. She was covered in eyes that all turned to look at me and mouths that opened and closed as if they were breathing. Her clothing, a maid uniform, seemed to be made of the same goo she was, “Who is this?” Her voice sounded scratchy and alien with strange echoes coming from everywhere around me-- and a little bit like she had an accent like someone from Boston. I was already sweating just from the look of her. She seemed to glide across the floor with a wet, sucking noise as she approached me, tilting her head as she waited for a response.
“A-Anon,” I breathed out weakly.
“I ADORE that name,” The goo woman smiled with tens of mouths.
“Did Morrigan mention an Anon?” Another woman stepped out of the shadows, multiple legs tapped on the floor as she came near me. She had the upper body of a normal woman and a massive spider body from the hips down approached me. She had long silvery, silky hair and thick glasses in front of a multitude of completely red eyes. She wore a generic heavy metal band shirt and a black skirt, “I cannot recall.”
My vision flicked to the side as I saw movement. Eyes peered at me from the dark on long black eye stalks all attached to small woman with ashen skin and a black ooze covering parts of her body underneath her clothes, a white tanktop and jeans. The woman herself had long black hair and one massive eye in the center of her face. She grinned with sharp teeth, “Anon? Name sounds kinda familiar but I know that name used to be super common.”
Hands clamped down on my shoulders. There was a woman floating behind me with a blue body, white hair done up in a ponytail, a black dress and her legs turned into a sort of flaming chandelier, “Where is Morrigan, Anon?” She breathed in a ghostly voice.
I couldn’t just tell them she was in the back room, they would surely go and check. I had so many eyes on me, I needed a way out, a way to stall. I was surrounded on all sides so there was no running. I thought about faking a heart attack or just collapsing. It would just make it easier to beat me up, “W-well,” I stammered, poking the back of my hand. I asked myself if faking autism could get me anywhere, “She-she’s um,” I asked myself if it was too late to pretend to be deaf or disabled somehow. I looked into their faces, the hands on my shoulders gripping harder and the women around me were losing their patience. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, “She’s upstairs. She needs just a few more moments,” I blurted out the truth.
The women all looked at me with mixed looks. They then looked at eachother and frowned, “Hold him,” The spider woman commanded. She had a length of spider silk in hand. The goo woman and the eye stalk woman grabbed my arms. I closed my eyes as my heart pounded, just waiting for them to take me down.
The purple goo woman leaned towards me, smelling me quietly, “I smell our Morrigan on him,” The spider woman paused and looked at the goo woman with a confused look.
“This one?” The ghostly woman behind me mused, “Her standards are much too high for a man like this,” I felt my heart drop as a pained look spread across my face, “Could she even get a man with her... Condition?”
A flash of anger spread across my face. It was enough to scare the eyestalk woman and make her let go of me. The goo woman put up no resistance as I pulled my other arm from her and turned to face the ghostly woman. She protectively held her hands up as if I was going to punch her. I pointed a finger at her, making her flinch. I opened my mouth, feeling like I was going to shout. I stopped myself as I looked at her fearful expression. I coughed, retracting my hand and shoving it into my pocket, “Please don’t talk about her like that,” I asked quietly, “I love Morrigan very much.”
The ghostly woman got closer to me, looking me in the eyes, “Did she really...?” She cleared her throat, “I apologise. Its hard for all of us to find a man. I did not mean anything by that comment. But that lucky snake got you, huh?” A small laugh escaped her lips as she sadly stared at the floor.
“Anon, was it?” The spider woman spoke up. I nodded in response as I sat down in a chair, “We got off on the wrong foot. My name is Delaney.”
“Alexandria,” The goo woman introduced herself to me. I still had a look of confusion on my face as she spoke, “I am a shoggoth.”
I didn’t have much time to take that in before the woman with eyestalkes spoke, “My name is Pricilla. Gazer.”
I turned to the ghostly woman expectantly. She was still staring at the floor with a sad look. Alexandra leaned close to me, “We call that one Willow. She did not know her own name when she returned to life as a willowisp.”
“How tragic,” I mumbled, leaning back.
“Are you, like, Morrigan’s apprentice that she seduced?” Pricilla asked excitedly.
“N-no.”
She huffed, “Damn. That would have made an incredible story.”
“You could write it without it REALLY happening, Pricilla,” Delaney sighed.
“That is not the same! Reality is stronger than fiction, Delaney! We have been over this before!”
“What are you talking about?” I asked, curious now.
The gazer turned to me with a smug look on her face, “I write amazing smut stories that I sell online! I love using real world examples as a basis for my writing!” My eyes lit up, I was intrigued.
Delaney rolled her eyes, “Anon, please do not encourage her. She needs to find a real job.”
“Morrigan approaches,” Alexandria mumbled.
She was right, Morrigan exited the back room and straightened out her coat. She removed her apron and set it on a chair, “Hello,” She greeted simply. Delaney and Pricilla said greetings in reply. Willow was still staring at the floor.
Alexandria approached her slowly, “Why has Morrigan been crying?” The shoggoth hugged the medusa.
“I am fine, my friend. Thank you,” She turned her eyes elsewhere, “Willow? Are you alright?”
The willowisp finally looked up and spoke, “When can I have a husband?” She started to sniffle, “I want a husband too, Morrigan.”
I watched as each of the other girls went into action as they consoled and comforted each other. It brought a very feel good vibe to the room that made even me smile from where I sat on the other side of the room. It seemed to me like they had been through this hundreds of times with each other. I missed my own friends and when we would all sit around and bullshit with each other, “Anon!” Morrigan waved me over to the group, “Come get lunch with us. The girls want to talk to you.”
“A-are you sure?” I stammered as Morrigan gripped my arm.
“What? You want to stay here and look sad all afternoon?” Delaney challenged.
“Come on, I have a lot of questions to ask you,” Pricilla pestered.
“Okay, okay. I’ll come with,” I was easily pressured into going.
I sat at a round table with the five women. I couldn’t help but notice the looks we got as they quietly discussed what to eat, “Anon,” Pricilla whispered, a tape recorder in hand, “How did you and Morrigan meet?” Multiple eyes stared at me, she was hungry for a new story.
“I walked into her salon looking for my old barber. She agreed to cut my hair,” I explained.
“Anon, do not encourage her,” Delaney sighed.
“Stay out of this Delaney! My big break is coming soon!” Priscilla whined.
I turned away from the two that were bickering. Alexandria was staring at the table with blank eyes and a tiny smile. Some of the eyes on her body turned to look me in the eyes. I looked away from her and over to the ghost. She still looked pained, but faked a smile at me, “Do you have any friends? Single ones?” She asked quietly.
As soon as she mentioned that the entire table stopped their conversation and looked at me, “You are going to introduce us to his friends, right Morrigan?” Delaney desperately asked.
Morrigan shrugged, “I have no interest in playing matchmaker. I have only met one of his friends and I scared him off.”
“I don’t even know where most of my friends went,” I frowned.
“They vanished? I wonder if they got sent through the portals,” Willow murmured.
“I hope I may meet them some day,” Alexandria stared off at the wall as if she could see something we didn’t.
“You will all find your man. If I managed to seduce a man I know you all can,” Morrigan tried to lift the tables’ spirits.
I looked around the table at the currently present pity party, “I don’t understand,” I turned to Morrigan, “You’re all good looking--” I saw a twinge of anger on my wife’s face, “You look the best of course, honey. You’re all good looking girls, have you looked into dating? You were at the speed dating, Morrigan.”
I got exhausted looks from everyone but Alexandria, “We all used to be human, darling,” Morrigan reminded me, “We do not know about Willow, but we used to be human. Going from human to these frea--”
“Don’t,” I pointed a finger at the gorgeous snake woman in front of me.
“Freakish forms,” Delaney finished for her, “Forms that we were taught to be afraid of and to hate.”
“It is hard to not feel hatred and anger,” Pricilla took a sip of water as her eyes darted around the room, “At least Morrigan can hide her...” She looked at me in fear, “Part that scares some people.”
I tapped the table and looked at her. I had no recourse or retort. I rubbed my face having already been dealing with Morrigan’s horrible depression and self hatred. I at least knew how to make her happy, or at least let her make herself happy using me. I slowly started to speak, “So what then? You’re going to live your entire life in anger and loathing? That doesn’t sound like any way to live.”
I just prayed they didn’t have an answer. Alexandria perked up, “There is a way.”
“Yes,” Delaney nodded, “We do have a plan.”
“The Demon Lord herself,” Willow whispered as if she was a soccer mom forced to use The Lord’s name in vain.
I had a confused look on my face, not knowing what this was going towards, “You... Are going to try to get an audience with the current ruler of most of the world? To do what?”
“Do you know anything?” Pricilla groaned.
“Pricilla. We cannot expect him to know,” Morrigan soothingly spoke, “Her daughters, the lilim, carry her power as well. One of them could change what kind of monster we are. There was a legend of a witch needing more power to woo her sweetheart. She went to a lilim and begged her to give her a more powerful form. She was transformed with the flick of the lilim’s wrist and turned into a baphomet.”
I finally had my answer to something my wife had said moons ago and seemingly some evidence for this to possibly work, “Y-you want to change from a medusa...Into...”
“Into anything else. I assume any type of lamia would be an easy change. I would be happy with that,” I just stared at her uncomfortably as she rubbed the snakes under her hat.
“I am fine with the whole mono eye thing but these eye stalks scare children,” Pricilla mumbled.
“I am too far gone,” Alexandria mumbled, “My mind from then cannot return to me. I have become the mind destroying horror and it has destroyed my own mind,” I watched as she actually started melting, turning into a puddle of gibbering mouths and frantically blinking eyes.
“Perhaps a centaur,” Delaney smiled wistfully, “I am sure much less men are afraid of horses compared to spiders. Anything else, please.”
“I wish I had a corporeal form to have changed,” Willow sighed, “But I suppose I am somewhat happy with this form.”
I stared at all of them, I thought they were bat shit insane. But what did I know? I knew I didn’t understand monsters, but this seemed extreme to me. I looked up at Morrigan into her gorgeous, smiling, shining, lovely face. I had so much I wanted to say and tell her. Feelings for her I could never put into words. I loved her and wanted her to know that it didn’t matter to me how she looked. I thought she was the most beautiful thing on the planet. But I knew she could never be happy like this. I wiped my face and removed the exasperated, sad look. I put on a smile, the most genuine and kind one I could muster, “I support you, honey. If this is what you want, I’ll help you anyway I can.”
“Thank you, darling,” She put a hand on the side of my head and kissed me on the lips. I could feel the rest of the group’s jealousy. Morrigan merely smiled at me and held my hand under the table for the rest of the lunch outing.

PT5

The rest of the evening went quickly. I learned a little bit about what each of them did for a living. Delaney was a seamstress that commonly used her spider silk in her work, Alexandria cleaned houses, Pricilla wrote smut on commission and Willow bummed around, not really needing to sleep or eat. Pricilla kept trying to pry sexual information out of me while Alexandria was asking me about single men that I know. Delaney talked to Morrigan about warmer clothes while Willow interjected with quips about the cold she felt from her loneliness and asked if the spider could spin her a coat to keep her warm from that. The women all joked and gossiped as I continued to wrap my head around their plan. I had already pledged my help to their goals and now I needed to figure something out with them. I frowned as I stared at my food, unsure what to do next, “...Anon?” Morrigan ended a question with my name, one I hadn’t heard.
“Huh? Sorry I was spacing out,” I mumbled.
Morrigan chuckled, “How are you liking the food, Anon?”
“Oh, its good, thanks.”
“You look so tired, darling. You can rest all you want when we get home, alright?”
“Thanks, honey.”
She leaned in close as her friends started talking about music, “Perhaps a bath tonight, hm?”
I nodded and smiled, “Yeah, that would be nice.”
“A nice massage~ My fingernails running up and down your back~ Kisses on your neck~ Perhaps... Something fun?” She whispered into my ear before kissing it. She knew how to excite me. Her fingernails ran across my chin before she sat back and smiled at me as if nothing had just happened. I continued to space out for the rest of the lunch ‘date,’ only speaking when spoken to. My previously terrifying encounter with Morrigan’s group of friends must have drained me and I hadn’t realised it. Before I even realised it, just Morrigan and I were left at the table. She chuckled at me as I blinked quickly, trying to wake myself up, “Ready to go?” She teased.
“Yeah, sorry. I don’t know why I’m so out of it,” I sighed.
“The girls let me know how much they spooked you when you first met. Hopefully your track record of being afraid of monsters goes for ALL monsters and not just my friends and me.”
“I think that fairy was the scariest person I met today,” I shuddered horribly.
Morrigan laughed, “She is quite intimidating. Come now, we should get home. I have an appointment in 30 minutes, darling. Do you need me to carry you, sleepy boy?” She pulled me to my feet and gripped my hand, tugging me along.
“N-no, I’m fine, I can walk.”
“Then prove it to me and hurry up!”
“Lean back,” Morrigan sweetly ordered. I nodded and leaned backwards, dipping my hands into the hot water to support myself. She used the small wooden bucket to pour water onto my hair to rinse the soap out. Morrigan smiled at me, “Does the hot water not just soothe your pains and sores?”
I nodded, “Yeah, it does,” We were sitting in the middle of the bath, it was roughly only knee deep towards the middle and quite shallower on the edge but wide across. Morrigan’s snake body was lazily in circles around me, soaking in the hot water. She was leaning back on a foam thing attached to the side.
“Come. I have promises to make good on,” She beckoned to me with one hand. I did as I was told and sat in front of her, my back to her. Her snake body wrapped around my hips, pulling me close. Her hands felt my shoulders, “So tense, darling,” She started to rub them, getting the kinks and pain out of them. Her hands moved lovingly and gracefully across my skin as she hummed a tune.
“What song is that? You hum that pretty often.”
“Oh! ‘Sweet Caring Love’ by Amanda Dawn.”
“Huh. I haven’t heard of her. I’ll have to look her up tomorrow.”
Morrigan wrapped her arms around my neck and held me against her, “I hope you like it, darling. I know our tastes in music are not the same.”
“They’re similar enough,” I closed my eyes and let myself soak in the hot water.
Fingernails ran across my skin, “Enjoying yourself?”
“Yeah. Do you need a massage too?”
“Oh! Yes please!” Morrigan quickly moved to be in front of me, sitting on my lap and leaning forwards. Her skin was pristine and soft. She was usually cold to the touch but now she had absorbed copious amounts of heat from the bath and was hot to the touch, “Right here please,” She pointed to a spot between her shoulders. I nodded and put my palm against it, rubbing it roughly as I tried to get the knot out of her muscles. Morrigan moaned at my touch, “Oh, darling right there! Yes~” She lewdly cried as I worked on her, “Such a deep message~!” As soon as I was done, she fell backwards, pressing her back against my chest. She removed my arms from the hug around her stomach and placed them over her bare breasts, “These could use a good rubbing too, darling~” She grinded her butt against my crotch as I started to do as she asked.
“Why are you always so lewd and sexy,” I sighed, rubbing her large shapely breasts.
“Only you could call me sexy, Anon.”
“Morrigan,” I moved my hands down her stomach, sadly resting my head on her shoulder as I let loose a loud sigh.
She turned around to me, her snake hair turning to me as well as she sadly frowned, “I am sorry, darling.”
“Its fine. Just try to be more positive, for me, okay?”
She nodded slowly, “I will try. The water is cooling off. Want a quick one before we get out?” She made a lewd up and down motion with her hand. I knew she wouldn’t take no for an answer.
I woke up to my phone ringing. Morrigan had left the bed already, presumably to get ready for work. I scooped up my phone and answered it without looking, “Hello?” I mumbled.
“Hi, honey!” A cheerful voice cried.
I rubbed my eyes and rolled over, “Hi, mom,” I was expecting her to beg me to fix her phone again.
“Are you coming over tonight for your sister’s birthday dinner? We sent you an invite on Facebook and you never replied.”
I sighed quietly, “Mom, I’m never on that site anymore. Calling and texting are the best way to get ahold of me.”
“Okay, okay... But are you?” She asked again.
“I guess so.”
“Are you going to bring your girlfriend? We really want to meet her!” My mother begged.
For the first time she asked this, I actually did have a girlfriend. Though she was more of a wife now, “If she wants to come I’ll bring her.”
“Yes! Wonderful!” My mother was obviously giddy.
“Who are you talking to, darling?” Morrigan reentered the bedroom.
“My mom,” I replied.
“Oh! Is that her? I’ll let you go, Anon,” My mom said.
“I’ll see you tonight,” I stretched and started to get up as my mother hung up her phone.
Morrigan stared at me with wide eyes, “Y-your mother?”
“She invited us to dinner tonight.”
“Tonight!?” She started to panic, “Why did you say yes without asking me?”
“Honey, calm down--”
“I am completely unprepared, Anon,” There was a touch of anger in her voice.
“You have nothing to worry about,” I tried to calm her down.
“Nothing to worry about!?” She shouted. I froze up as she glared at me, “Darling, stop looking at me like a frightened child. I do have to worry about your parents not liking me. And this,” She pulled her snake hair back and did it up into a sort of bun or ponytail, “I have to worry about this too, Anon.”
“I-I’m sorry. I’ll go myself and tell her you couldn’t make it. I never said yes to you going,” I stared at the floor.
Morrigan took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She put a hand on my chin and forced me to look her in the eyes, “Oh, darling, stop making that face. You look so much cuter when smiling,” I frowned a bit more and wiped my face, trying to put on a nice smile, “That is better. I will go. It shall be best to open this wound now rather than let it fester. I am sorry if your parents hate you after dinner tonight,” She wrapped me in a hug.
“Even if they for some reason hate you, I still love you.”
“I love you too. I apologize for snapping at you. Go ahead and rest a bit more. I have already eaten and need to open my salon soon. Come down stairs when you are ready and spend some time with me, okay?”
I nodded and sat back down after she kissed me on the lips. She hesitantly let me go and slowly slithered out of the room, looking back at me as she went. I smiled and stretched my back. I frowned again as soon as Morrigan was gone. I grabbed my phone again and opened up a music streaming app. I wracked my brain as I tried to remember the name of the song that Morrigan liked. The tune remained in my mind despite having never heard it myself. The name of the artist pounded into my mind like someone was suddenly slamming some cymbals together. Amanda Dawn. I looked her up and managed to find the song Morrigan had mentioned, ‘Sweet Caring Love.’ I put my headphones in and leaned back, closing my eyes as the smooth acoustic guitar washed over me. It was a simple song about caring for an ill husband as a single voice, that of a woman, seemingly retold a cute real life scenario. There only seemed to be three or four instruments in the song, the before said acoustic guitar, some quiet drums and one or two wind instruments that kicked in during the chorus where she went on about how much she loved her husband despite the goofy things he did. I could see why Morrigan enjoyed it but it didn’t seem as amazing as she made it out. It did give me heavy folk and country vibes.
I stood up and got ready for the day. As I shaved, I found the song reverberating in my mind. I mumbled the words to myself as I did my hair, spiking up the front with a little bit of gel. I looked myself in the eyes, unsure of why I was so into this song. It obviously was not made for me. I shook my head and got dressed, trying to push it out of my head. I preferred classic rock and metal to folk and country but I just could not get this out of my head. I headed to the salon and watched as Morrigan finished up styling the hair of Pricilla. Her eyes immediately swung to me, “What is up, Anon?” She asked.
“Hey, Pricilla,” I took a seat on the second seat.
“Darling, your hair is looking a little long,” Morrigan commented after a small glance at me.
“Eh, if you wanna cut it that's on you. I don’t mind much,” I stretched and opened up my phone again. I found myself looking up Amanda Dawn, quietly humming the tune.
“You as well?” Precilla groaned, “Morrigan LOVES that song.”
“Yeah its pretty good,” I shrugged. I grunted as I saw she had some social media presence. She seemed to mostly be a writer for a few other people and bands and as such her follower and post count were both relatively low. There were very few pictures of her. She had white hair, grey or silver horns and red eyes with black sclera. Definitely a very pretty girl with some kind of otherworldly beauty. She had nothing on my Morrigan, of course.
“What are you up to, Anon?” Pricilla asked.
“Just looking up some music.”
“If you want to listen to more from Ms. Dawn I own multiple of her CDs,” Morrigan let out a long sigh, “I pray I can see her in person someday.”
“I dunno if she will sign multiple CDs at once, Morrigan,” Pricilla crossed her arms underneath the apron.
Morrigan frowned, “I just think she is a good musician. Unfortunately she is not too popular.”
I looked down at the social media page. I knew Morrigan might be upset if she caught me speaking to another woman. Did talking to her favorite musician, that was already married, count especially if I was just asking her a question for my wife. I took the risk and sent the musician a quick message, ‘Hi, Amanda. I was wondering if you ever went on tour. I can’t find anything about it on any of your social pages.’
“Darling,” Morrigan’s sweet voice roused me from my spacing out, “Your turn,” I nodded silently and traded chairs with Pricilla. Morrigan got to work on my hair, “Same thing as last time, darling?”
“Do as you want. You’re the one that will be looking at it the most,” I leaned back and closed my eyes as I let Morrigan caress my chin and cheeks.
“Ya sure there ain’t some kind of fetish thing going on for you, Morrigan? The way you touch and feel him is... A little intimate,” Pricilla was obviously a little heated up.
“Why don’t you write about it? You’ve been obviously trying to pull a story out of us so far,” I frowned as I opened one eye at the gazer.
“M-maybe I will! If someone pays me for it...”
“Do not expect us to, Pricilla. If those other girls kick you out do not come crying to me,” Morrigan was a little more venomous than she usually was.
Pricilla looked sad and folded her arms, “I... I am sure I will start making some money soon.”
Morrigan folded her arms, “Pricilla--”
“I do not want to give up my dreams, Morrigan. Please do not make me. I just want to be a romance author,” Pricilla sighed, “I just need to make ends meet then I can start my novel!” I couldn’t tell if she was trying to convince us or herself.
“I believe in you, Pricilla,” I smiled at her before Morrigan could put her down again.
She stared at me with every eye she had. I could have sworn each began to tear up, “Why is your husband so nice, Morrigan?”
“He is the best,” Morrigan laughed.
“I am... I am going to go do some writing. Thank you,” She smiled and stood up, brushing back her hair before walking confidently out the door.
Morrigan sighed, “You should not have encouraged her,” She warned. I shrugged as the apron was removed from me, “Coffee?” I nodded and got to work, sweeping up the clippings. My phone vibrated once, making me check the glowing screen. She had replied, Amanda Dawn had replied to me. I was feeling a little intimidated as I went to open it, a little starstruck even if I had only heard a few of her songs and read of her songwriting talents.
‘Hey man,’ She nonchalantly greeted me, ‘I don’t really tour my solo shit. If I’m on a tour its with a band I write for that I’m good friends with. Using magic to play 4 instruments at once TBH. You a big fan or somethin’? I’m already married BTW,’ She ended that with a devil emoji.
I took a deep breath, ‘Thanks for replying! I’m only a little bit of a fan, though I am impressed by your music writing credits. My wife is a pretty big fan of yours and was talking about wanting to see you perform.’
She replied almost instantly, ‘Ah. No need to be so formal BTW. Where you 2 at?’
I told her what state we were living in along with the city after some hesitation.
‘Man, I’m a whole country away from you!’ She put in a laughing emoji, ‘I’ve been wanting to get over there and get some inspiration. Haven’t put anything together in a while.’
‘Its a nice place. Quiet and small.’
‘I thought NYC would help me pump out music but everything here is so suffocating!’ There was a pause before she sent another message, ‘Tell you what. Let me crash at your place for a while and I’ll meet with your wife. I won’t be around your place much. I wanna do some hikes n shit out there and see the place.’
My eyebrows raised. We did have a basement with my old bed in it and a few other sparse pieces of furniture. It was set up to rent it out to someone else, ‘I need to talk to my wife.’
‘Oh, let it be a nice surprise for her, eh? I’m sure she’ll love it.’
I shrugged as if she was really there, ‘Sure.’
‘This weekend?’
Again, I shrugged, ‘Yeah, I guess that will work.’
‘Rad. I’ll message you before I teleport in, boyyy!’
I shook myself as I sent only an ok hand emoji. Morrigan walked in with two cups of coffee in hand, “Something the matter?” She asked as she offered me a cup.
I took it and took a sip, “Nah. Just talking to someone.”
“Well, I have another appointment in a few minutes. I would appreciate it if you could finish sweeping up for me before then.”
Morrigan clutched my arm. I didn’t know what was worrying her more, my driving or the fact we were going to my parent’s house. My car felt alien to me now, new dials and knobs lined the dashboard each with different functions that I didn’t understand. The gremlin that ‘upgraded’ my car didn’t explain it very well. There was a strange metal box attached to my hood with numerous tubes down into my engine. I pressed a button and turned on the heater installed in the passenger seat, doing anything I could to calm Morrigan down. Her eyes focused on the radio that was quietly playing some music by Amanda Dawn, “Maybe this was a bad idea, Anon,” The usual kind tone in her voice was gone and it was replaced by horrible dread and fear, “Perhaps I should stay in the car or at home. I could get a lot of chores done without you there to distract me.”
I glanced at her, “You said it yourself. We just need to get this over with. If things go sour, which I doubt they will, we can leave.”
“But your mother is human, is she not? There is no way she could accept a beast such as me.”
I made a face at the windshield as the rain lightly bounced off it, “Well...” I trailed off, really unsure of how to explain my mother’s condition.
“Well what?”
“You’ll see. Look, we’re almost there. Let me give you my coat. Can’t have you getting that dress wet.”
“Always looking out for me... Thank you, darling,” She was in a cute and stylish blue and black outfit that complimented her scales nicely. She, of course, wore a hat to cover her head.
I pulled up to my parent’s home slowly. A pit formed in my stomach. I was starting to feel nervous too. I was technically married to Morrigan after all. I didn’t know how well my family would take that news. I just hoped my love for Morrigan was strong enough to overcome any challenges, “Ready?” I asked.
She grabbed the collar of my forest green polo and straightened it out before pulling me into a passionate kiss, “I love you,” She threw the coat over her outfit and got ready to slither to the front door.
“I love you too.”
I led her to the front door, dashing through the rain together. I stopped at the front door, standing on the stone porch and stared at the door. I hesitated as I reached my hand out to knock. Morrigan grabbed my other hand, squeezing it tightly. It could have been for her benefit or for mine, “Daring,” She whispered with a shaking voice.
I needed to be strong. For her. I took a deep breath and--
“Hi, Anon,” A voice behind me shocked me out of what I had been focused on. I whipped around to face her, my sister, as she strutted up the steps with an umbrella in hand.
“Hey, Erin,” I nodded at her. My sister was still human, somehow, “Happy birthday,” I quietly added.
“You gonna keep your lady out here in the cold rain?” She glared at me.
“I-I was--”
“Let me get that door for you,” She looked right at Morrigan when she said that. She pulled a key out of her pocket and unlocked the door, “Mom! Anons here!” She called before heading to the kitchen.
Morrigan shuddered and grabbed hold of me again as quick footsteps approached. She stood behind me, anticipating and steeling herself. She let out an audible gasp as my mother approached with a smile on her face, “Oh, there’s my baby boy!” She pulled me into a hug, her big, feathery wings wrapping around me, “I missed you!”
“M-mom,” I stammered as I hoped she would cut it out.
She pulled away from me, just smiling at my face. She quickly turned to my wife, pushing me aside to get a good look at her, “I’m so happy to finally meet you, dear!” She reached out a hand as if to shake with Morrigan. Morrigan nervously outstretched her own hand, shaking it gently, “What is your name?”
“Morrigan, pleasure to meet you Mrs. Anon,” She greeted politely.
“Oh, you can just call me mom, dear. You have such pretty eyes!” My mom blurted out. Morrigan’s face was lit up red as she tried to stammer out a ‘thank you,’ “And your scales-- Sorry, is that weird to compliment you on? I’m still getting used to this.”
“Only as weird as me complimenting you on those gorgeous wings.”
The smile dropped off my mother’s face as she let out a sigh. Morrigan looked terrified, “You too, dear? Anon did you set her up on this prank as well? Its getting old.”
“No, mom,” I sighed, “She probably just senses that angelic aura like every other monster girl.”
Morrigan looked so confused at me. She looked scared. My mother dusted herself off, “I need to get a few things together. Come sit on the couch and chat, won’t you dear?”
“Um, y-yes. I will, thank you,” Morrigan smiled and waited for my mother to leave. I started taking my shoes off, “What was that!?” She whispered in a hushed panic.
I waited a moment and finished sliding my shoes off, “Want me to take your coat?”
“Anon,” She grunted, “What. Was. That?”
I gave her a concerned look and spoke in a low whisper, “She either can’t see them or her mind refuses to acknowledge them. I can’t explain it. They move with her as if she has control of them but she thinks she's still human. I don’t know.”
Morrigan blinked at me, “Strange,” She closed her eyes and brought a hand to her chin, “I wonder why that is.”
I shrugged, “Wanna see my old room?”
“Yes!” A cheerful grin spread across her lips. I led her upstairs to the first door and gestured for her to enter. My room had been converted to a guest room. I had things stashed in some boxes in the closet that I directed Morrigan towards. The dark blue walls felt incredibly nostalgic and comforting to me. My wife picked through old things like blankets and stuffed animals. She pulled out a big teddy bear and held it against her chest. She sat on the floor and coiled up around herself comfortably.
“You look really cozy, honey,” I chuckled.
She nodded, “Can I take some of these home?”
“Sure. I kept that stuff for when I have kids.”
She stared at the soft bear in her arms, “Are we going to have kids?”
I blinked at her, “Haven’t we been trying that?”
“I... Suppose we have. I forget that the monster fertility rate is quite low. I am going to set some things out to take home.”
I nodded and watched her pick out blankets and stuffed animals to take home, “Hey,” My sister poked her head in, “Dinner is ready soon. Going through Anon’s old stuff?” She walked in and looked at what the snake woman had grabbed, “I’m Erin, by the way.”
“Oh, Morrigan. Nice to meet you. Happy birthday, by the way.”
“So... Uh...” My sister nervously started.
“Yes?”
“How does someone like me turn into something like you?” My sister asked bluntly. Morrigan said nothing as a feeling of dread came over me, “Like, I know it can happen. My mom had it happen to her and look how beautiful and kind she is now. She used to be this crabby old woman that I would dread being around. And now--”
“Stop,” Morrigan demanded quietly, “You do not want to be like me.”
“Morrigan,” I tried to interject.
“I know what I want,” My sister retorted.
“You only see the allure of beauty.”
“What don’t I see? Magical powers? Wings? Enhanced senses?”
Tension was building in the room and I needed to stop this, “Hey--”
“I mean you will lose EVERYTHING that you once knew and loved about yourself!” Morrigan hissed.
“How would you know that? You’re a gorgeous snake woman. I would kill to have half your looks!” Erin grumbled.
“I WAS human!” Morrigan clenched her fists as my sister recoiled, “I lost everything I loved! My salon, my family, my friends, my HAIR. I believed I was doomed to be alone forever.”
“Y-your hair?” Erin stammered.
Morrigan turned to me, a concerned look on her face. I nodded. Morrigan turned back to my sister and removed her hat and letting her hair down. The snakes nervously moved as they tried to hide themselves, “I lost everything, Erin. I--” Morrigan wiped her eyes, “Coming here has given me a second chance. Please, you do not want to take that gamble. I know a lot of miserable girls that got turned into something horrible.”
The two awkwardly stood across from each other. I walked up to Morrigan and wrapped my arms around her from behind. She tilted her head against mine and reached up, pushing on my cheek to bring my head closer to hers, “No crying, honey,” I whispered. She nodded as her snakes pressed up against me for comfort and warmth.
“I’m sorry,” Erin bowed her head, “I--”
“You could not have known. If you could please give me a few moments with my husband to gather myself.”
“H-husband?” Erin repeated in shock, “Ooooh, Anon,” Her jovial tone returned, “Congratulations you two.”
She left, leaving me alone with the snake woman. She tried to pull away from me but I held her tighter and kissed her on the cheek, “Are you alright?” I whispered.
“Yes, I am fine,” She silently coiled a bit of her snake body around me, “I should not have snapped at her like that.”
“Maybe,” I grumbled, “At least she took it well.”
“Did she seem frightened by me?”
I let Morrigan go, taking her by the hands, “No, she didn’t seem afraid. I feel like you’re afraid of yourself more than anyone else is afraid of you.”
I felt like the rage I saw on her face could kill me. I felt cold as my ability to move left my muscles. Fear shot through my entire body. Morrigan snapped out of her mood and looked at me with a sad expression, “I... I am sorry. I...”
“Hey, stop beating yourself up over all this. Let’s go have some dinner, okay? I’m really hungry.”
She took a deep breath, “Alright,” There was dread in her tone.
Morrigan went for her hat, “She’s going to make you take that off. She considers hats at the table to be rude. I was lying. I needed to get her out of her comfort zone and I felt this would be a good opportunity. She nodded solemnly without a single word. She put the hat down and had a look on her face as if I had just condemned her to death.
We sat down at the table. Morrigan was staring at the wood of the table and tracing the lines on it with her finger. My sister was sitting across from us, her eyes were on the two of us as we held hands under the table. My parents finally came to the table and set dinner out. Roasted chicken, mashed potatoes and rolls. My mother brought out a bottle of wine as well, “Morrigan, dear. Would you like a glass of wine?”
Morrigan slowly looked up at her, confusion on her face as her snakes looked around the room. My dad was looking right back at the snakes with a blank look on his face, “Uh, y-yes please,” She stammered.
“Here you go, dear!” Morrigan’s tail wrapped around my ankle. I could have sworn she smiled a little bit, “Erin I know its your birthday, but I have so many questions for Morrigan here. When did you two meet?”
“H-How long ago was it now, darling?” Confidence was still completely absent in her voice.
“Um... Maybe a month and a half?” I guessed. I hadn’t been keeping track. Morrigan nodded silently to back up what I had said.
“Well, what is it you do for work dear? Do you work with computers like Anon?” My mom asked.
“No, I-I am a beautician. I own my own parlor,” Morrigan corrected her. She immediately regretted mentioning that last part.
“Oh! You’ll have to tell me where it is sometime! I could use a haircut soon!” My mom laughed.
Morrigan laughed nervously and messed with her snake hair, “Just ask Anon. He lives there now and should know the address.”
“You live together?” The jovial tone left her voice.
“Mom,” I jumped in, “We’re sort of married according to monster society.”
“My baby boy got married and I wasn’t there?” My mom looked like she was going to cry.
“Mrs. Anon,” Morrigan took back over, “The monster method is quite... Personal. We have spoken of doing a traditional human wedding. We will invite you to that, of course.”
My mother quickly calmed herself down, “Sorry, dear. I forget how different our cultures and ideals can be. Will I get to meet your parents then?”
I could hear Morrigan hold her breath. Erin was looking at me to do something. I squeezed Morrigan’s hand. She turned to me with a sad look on her face and drooping snakes, “Want me to tell her?” I whispered.
She shook her head, “It is my story, darling. Mrs. Anon, I do not know how to say this any other way; I was human seven years ago. I was transformed into this and my family and friends at that time disowned. I really only have Anon and a small group of friends.”
“I’m so sorry, Morrigan,” My mother looked incredibly guilty, “If you ever need anything or Anon is giving you any problems, call us. If Anon loves you enough to marry you then we love you too.”
Morrigan sighed sadly, “You do not need to grant me that. I know I am unworthy of love.”
My mother gasped, “Dear. Why would you say that?”
I squeezed my wife’s hand again. She only glanced at me. I was smiling weakly at her, knowing the pain she felt. She looked at me longingly as if wanting to cuddle before bed. She squeezed my hand back before turning back to my mom, “I apologize. I am trying to not have outbursts like that.”
“Well, I hope Anon is showing you enough affection,” My mother folded her arms.
“Anon is doing his best,” Morrigan chuckled. I frowned.
“Can I ask a question?” My dad finally spoke up. Morrigan nodded, “Stop me if this is... Strange or offensive to ask. Is having the snake body and... Snake hair inconvenient?”
“Not terribly inconvenient to have a body like this,” Morrigan mused as she rubbed her chin, “A lot of public buildings were remodeled to accommodate women twice my size. The hair, well, Anon seems to like them but I find they scare a lot of people. Usually I wear a hat to conceal it.”
“We appreciate you being comfortable enough with us to not wear a hat,” My mother smiled.
“Anon said you would not allow hats at the table,” She turned to me with a stony look.
“Well, we usually do not but if it was something that made you comfortable I would have made an exception for you,” My mother covered for me and shot me a wink that Morrigan did not see.
“Ah, I see.”
“Mom what kind of cake did you pick up?” Erin asked, trying to turn the birthday dinner back to her.
“Ice cream cake, dear. Just like you asked for,” My mother replied.
“Are you two gonna hang out after dinner?” Erin turned to us, “We might play some board games or those video games that you play through the phone.”
I turned to Morrigan expectantly, “I will stay if you wish to play games with your family.”
“Do you not want to play?” I asked her with a frown.
“I-I am no good at games, darling. Especially electronic ones.”
I smiled, “You won’t learn unless you try. We have traditional games too,” Morrigan nodded nervously.
“I am sorry, darling,” Morrigan laughed at me as we loaded into my car.
“I can’t believe you tricked me like that,” I groaned.
“It was just a game!”
“I know...” I started driving us home.
“Can we play that game again? I had a lot of fun.”
“Well, maybe we can play Catan again next time we see my parents. I’ve got some better games I can show you, too,” I smiled, praying she would want to play something else.
“Hm, perhaps,” She chuckled smugly, “Only if you will not throw a fit when you lose~”
I slumped, “Y-yeah. Keep those slices of cake safe, alright?”
She looked down at the box in her hands, “I will, darling,” We were silent as we stared at the dark streets and overhead gently glowing yellow lights. I gently pushed the brakes as I approached a red light. There were no other cars out on the road in the light rain and slight fog. Morrigan leaned over and kissed me on the cheek, “Thank you.”
I looked at her with a confused glance, “What-- You’re welcome.”
She said nothing for a while longer, “I never thought I could be happy again. But I am so happy with you. I finally feel fulfilled in life.”
“That means a lot to me, Morrigan. You make me really happy too. Are you going to give up this dream of wanting to change who you are now?”
“I do not think I ever can. But I do finally feel comfortable with who I am.”
I frowned for a moment before smiling again, “Alright. Hopefully we can find some fantastic wizard to help you.”
“Thank you, darling. Can we go straight to bed tonight? We can shower in the morning,” She gently caressed my arm as she gave me a sultry smile.
I nodded, “Yeah. I’m okay with that.”

I felt a little bad about keeping our guest a secret from Morrigan, but after how smug she was about winning a game of Catan last night, it didn’t really matter to me. I was still doing this for her after all. Morrigan stirred where she lay. She had a large stuffed animal in her arms, preferring to cuddle with the fluffy toy that smelled a little bit like me rather than the real thing. The blankets she covered the two of us in were all from my old room and also smelled like me. I figured the smell was incredibly comforting to her as well as the blankets being either quite warm or soft. A smile was on her face as she rolled over to face me, the stuffed toy still in her arms, “Good morning, darling,” She whispered.
“Are you talking to me or Malone?” I asked, gesturing to the bear.
She tossed it aside and coiled around me, “Plans for today?”
“Gonna see Max again.”
“I should bring one of the girls around to talk to him!” Morrigan’s face lit up.
“I-I don’t know. Just don’t overwhelm him. It took me all week to get him out of his hole after you spooked him,” I sighed as I sat up and stretched.
“Alexandria is quiet. How about her?”
I shrugged, “I guess.”
Morrigan beamed at me and wrapped herself around me. She pulled me into a deep kiss and took a glance at the clock, “Mmmph, I do not have time.”
“For what?” The words hardly escaped my lips before I was pinned on my back.
“Oh, I just thought we could have gotten a little frisky this morning. Perhaps tonight. Come shower with me at least, darling,” I nodded slowly. I couldn’t say no to this woman and her loving smile. I kissed her on the forehead just before I helped her up. The snakes on the top of her head ‘kissed’ me with their tongues. I quickly gave them scratches under their heads.
“You should tie bows to them,” I murmured.
“Hm?”
“Bows. On the snakes. I think it would look really cute,” I admitted.
“Perhaps. Perhaps I should chop a few of them off in the front to make bangs. Or better yet cut them all down to the stalk,” She offered darkly.
“Its your hair, do whatever you want,” I sighed, easily defeated.
“Darling,” Morrigan cupped my cheeks, “I know you mean the best. I am sorry I keep talking like this.”
“You’re improving at least. You didn’t call yourself an ugly monster.”
“So you admit that I am?” Morrigan smugly laughed. I frowned and folded my arms as I turned my gaze away from her, “H-honey, stop looking like that,” I didn’t stop, instead I kept glaring at the wall, “H-honey, please,” She whined, “I take it back.”
“Good,” I gave her a kiss like giving an animal a treat after doing a trick, “Don’t we need to go shower?”
“Y-yes, of course.”
I sat in the living room, staring at the TV as I waited for lunch. As always, my mind wandered. It wandered to Morrigan mostly as I thought of her body and the way she swayed her hips when she walked or how she shook her rear to tease and entice me. The way her eyes glowed in the dark and the anger that they expressed so vividly when I upset her. The way she laughed and cried when we cuddled and just talked late into the night. The way the water flowed down her perfect breasts and down her soft belly. The food she cooked that made my stomach rumble just thinking about it. I thought of how much I loved her, something impossible to quantify.
I was torn violently from the pleasant, green colored visions in my head as my phone started to buzz. I pulled it out of my pocket and checked the number. I didn’t recognize it so I set the phone down and went back to daydreaming. I brought the ice cold cup of water to my lips and blinked at the TV playing some commercials in between reruns of some new mamano comedy skit show. My phone started to buzz again. I groaned and silenced the call. I turned back the TV, now too aggravated to just daydream again. A third call. I rolled my eyes and picked it up, “Hello?” I growled.
“Sweet Mother, Anon. Took you long enough to pick up,” A feminine voice growled back. It was somewhat familiar and nostalgic as if I knew this woman since childhood.
I took a moment to collect myself and respond, “Who is this?”
“Amanda. Amanda Dawn. Can I teleport over now?”
“How did you get this number?” I answered her question with another question.
“Look, dude, when your great, great... Great grandmother is the ruler of the world you can get your hands on anything you want. I don’t like to talk about it. Can I head over now?”
I couldn’t even process what she had told me, “Yeah, whatever do it.”
“Okay, your TV is on right?”
“Y-yes.”
“Okay, radical,” The phone hung up. My TV made a horrid scraping noise before turning completely blue. I was too stunned to even scream as three bags were tossed through. A woman climbed through, gracefully stepping onto the hardwood floor. She coughed and breathed heavily, “Mother...” She panted, “That was more difficult than it should have been.”
I blinked at Amanda. Just like in the photos I had seen, she had white hair, silvery grey horns and red eyes with black sclera . She dressed modestly in jeans and a black Metalica shirt with torn jeans and red shoes. She had a tail, a long silvery tail with a heart at the end, “Hey,” I scratched my head awkwardly.
“Yo! Anon! Good to see ya, kid,” She approached me like I was some kind of long lost friend as she put out her hand to shake. I took it thoughtlessly as she grabbed my hand, pulled herself towards me and patted my back like we were frat bros, “Damn, man. The air smells GOOD here. The air back homr still needs to be cleaned up a bit more. But man I can smell the mountains even inside.”
“Heh, yeah,” I felt completely at ease as if I had known this woman forever.
“Wanna show me to my room?”
“Morrigan will hear us go to the basement. She’s working right now so I don’t want to surprise her yet.”
“Ah, fair,” The confidence and jovial attitude suddenly dropped off as she glanced around, “Nice place.”
I nodded, “Its cozy. So, uh, what are you planning on doing now?”
“I was hoping to talk to your wife-- Morrigan, right? I need some inspiration before I start writing some songs.”
“Well, make yourself at home, Amanda. If you need anything, ask me, please,” I sat back down on my old couch and turned off the TV. I watched as the demon woman stepped over to the book shelf. She glanced over the DVDs with a disinterested glance. She turned to the CDs and ran a finger over them.
She scratched her chin as she removed a CD from the shelf, “Man. She must be a fan,” Amanda murmured, “This album was soooo bad,” She showed me a CD with a cartoony tree and campfire on the front. It had her name on the front, ‘Flaming Forest Songs.’ She opened it up and examined the CD, “I kinda regret getting these printed.”
“How did you get so many CDs made in such a short period of time after going through the portals?”
“I had been writing music back home. They got around through word of mouth as bards traded music. I still had all the sheet music on me and my husband, bless him, convinced me to get some CDs made for fun. Don’t get me wrong, dude. I was having fun. But my experimentation with metal and rap in this shit... Great Mother, its so bad.”
I shrugged, “I don’t think I’ve listened to it. Morrigan is a little shy about her music.”
“Good. I don’t need you to think I’m a bad musician too.”
“But I’ve heard a bunch of music you’ve written and that stuff was good!”
“Yeah, yeah. Thanks. Oh! She’s got--” She gasped, “Damn THIS one's good,” She flashed me a copy of another CD with a white cover and a black silhouette of a woman sitting on a cliff with an instrument in hand. She sighed happily, “Sorry. I’m just wandering down memory lane.”
“Hey, do what you want.”
“Darling~” Morrigan called as she entered the living room from her parlor downstairs. She removed her hat and let her snake hair down, “What are we--” She looked up at the demon woman on the other side of the room that was still looking through CDs, her back to us, “Darling. Who is that?” She asked me with worry in her voice.
“Honey, what are you talking about?” I joked with an obviously goofy voice.
“Darling!” She gripped my shoulders in a panic.
Amanda turned around with an assuring smile on her face. She was holding another CD case in her hand. This case had a photo of herself on the front with a smug grin on her face. Amanda was copying the look on her own face. Morrigan just stared at her, mouth slightly agape, completely mystified and confused, “Are you alright, Morrigan?” I asked, getting up from the couch.
“I-is that...?” She wouldn’t even look at me.
“Morrigan, right? Good to see you !” Amanda put down the CD and approached Morrigan with an arm outstretched and a friendly smile on her face. Morrigan nervously took her hand and was pulled into another frat hug like I was. Morrigan was held a bit longer than I was. Amanda held her at arms length, taking in the look of my wife, “Such pretty scales,” She complimented gently.
“You really think so?” Morrigan nervously stroked her hair, “Thank you, Amanda.”
Amanda collapsed onto the couch, “I-- I need to take a break,” Her cheerful tone was completely gone. Morrigan sat next to her, trying to offer some kind of support to the exhausted artist.
“Hey, I’ll start lunch,” I offered.
“Anon, that’s my job,” Morrigan protested.
“Oh, you don’t need to feed me, bro,” Amanda grunted, obviously drained from her teleportation.
“Stop using your charm magic, you are just hurting yourself now,” Morrigan warned. Amanda nodded and leaned on the arm rest of the couch, “Take a nap if you need to, I will help my husband prepare lunch,” The demon woman merely nodded and closed her eyes, taking a pillow that Morrigan offered her with a silent thanks.
Morrigan pulled me to the kitchen and grabbed my shoulders, “How?” She asked in a hushed voice, “How did you get Amanda Dawn in THIS house?”
“I just reached out on social media and she asked if she could come here to get away from home and write music,” I shrugged.
Morrigan stared at me, “Okay, darling. Funny. Now please, how?” She faked a tiny bit of a chuckle.
“I offered her a three way with the two of us,” I said sarcastically, “I’m telling you the truth. She said she wanted to come out here and asked if I’d house her. I said yes thinking you two might get along or you would at least enjoy meeting her.”
“I hope I do get along with her,” Morrigan grinned. She looked incredibly happy.
“Well... Did you like the surprise?”
“Yes, darling. Thank you,” She hugged me tight and kissed me on the cheek, “What do famous songwriters like for lunch?” Morrigan wondered aloud.
“She’s just a person like you or me, Morrigan. What are you hungry for?”
“But she’s...” Morrigan paused for a moment, “I... Just a person...” She stared at the window out at the cloudy sky.
“I’m gonna throw some fries in the oven. We can have grilled cheese or something,” I chuckled.
“Anon?” Morrigan grabbed my arm gently, still looking completely mystified, “Do you really think I am just as good as her?”
“Of course. What would make her any better than you? You’re just as talented if not more, even if its in a different field,” I told her as I pulled out a tray and tore a bag of steak fries open and dumped it onto the metal tray. Morrigan put her hands on her cheeks, obviously blushing, “Hey, I’ve got a question for you. You mentioned magic when talking to Amanda. How do you know about that stuff?”
“I know about her species’ innate abilities. I also have learned a few about magic, despite not being a caster myself, from a powerful cat witch that I have been cutting the hair of for some time. It is all she talks about.”
“Neat. Well, we got half an hour till these are done. How about we let our guest rest while we go play a quick round of something upstairs?”
Morrigan shook her head and took me by the wrist. She brought me up to our bedroom and pushed me against the wall. Her snake tail coiled around my ankles and wrists, holding me still while her hands wandered up and down my body, “If we want our guest to recover, we need to put some mana in the air, darling,” I gave her a confused look and was about to ask her what she meant, she shut me up by pressing her lips against mine before switching to french kissing, her long tongue teasingly playing with my much less dexterous tongue. She rubbed my quickly erect little trooper as it stood at attention. She had gotten good at this, making me squirm and moan as her hands moved up and down my body. My pants were removed and she stroked me gently as her own clothing was removed. Morrigan’s breasts and hips had both gotten larger. She also seemed to have gotten a bit taller as when she fucked me her head was a little above mine rather than about eye level with each other. Her pussy quickly enveloped my cock down to the hilt and she started to move her hips back and forth as she slammed hard against me. Her arms wrapped around my head and held them against her breasts. She skillfully milked me, quickly bringing me to orgasm. She orgasmed as well as her body mimicked mine. Morrigan moaned quietly as my own moans were muffled by her luxurious, pillowy breasts. She untied me, her body leaving mine as I slid to the floor, panting heavily, “Good boy~” She praised as she leaned down and petted my hair, “Clean yourself up, darling. Lunch should be ready soon.”
I returned to the kitchen after having wiped myself down and changing clothes. Morrigan gave me a kiss on the cheek and handed me a grilled cheese with fries stacked on the plate. Amanda was still sleepy but she sat across from Morrigan and to my right at our little round table. Amanda stared at the floor where Mrs. Whiskers meowed at her, begging for food, “Cute cat,” She commented.
“She's quite loving. At least to my Anon. Unfortunately she does not love me ever since I changed into this form,” Morrigan sighed.
“I thought I sensed that on you,” Amanda nodded. I felt a chill down my spine as a ghostly whisper echoed throughout the room. I glanced around at the closed windows, confused, “Something wrong, dude?”
I scratched my head, “I thought I heard--”
There was a chilling moan from the living room as a woman rose from the floor. Willow stretched and looked around, “Morrigan! Where are you?” She whined.
“Willow, I am over here,” Morrigan waved at her.
“Can I rest here for a time? I was at the--” Willow turned and looked at the confused Amanda, “You have a lilim here and you are feeding her grilled cheese?” She gave me a disgusted look.
My heart jumped, “A l-lilim?”
Willow ignored me and turned to Morrigan, chewing her out, “Did you tell the other girls that you found a lilim!?”
Morrigan shifted nervously, “Willow--”
“Morrigan, you all finally have a chance! There is a LILIM at YOUR dining room table!” Willow kept going.
I got distracted by Amanda’s exasperated, blank look. She glanced at me, almost angry or disappointed, ‘What?’ I mouthed. She looked away from me and back towards her food.
“You can get your hair back!” Willow was pestering Morrigan still.
“Willow,” Morrigan hissed, “Stop trying to force my guest into this.”
Willow folded her arms and huffed as her blue flames increased in intensity, “What will the girls say when they find out?”
“Willow,” Morrigan’s snake hair hissed this time with her, “She just got here. Leave her alone. I will talk to the other girls later.”
Willow grimaced, “Anon, I am going to go play your Xbox.”
“Willow--” I glared at her.
“Ooooh noooo, I cannot heaaar yoooou,” She made a ghostly noise and waved her arms at me as she started to float up and through the ceiling.
I slumped my shoulders and shook my head. Morrigan nervously glanced at me then to Amanda, “I must apologize for my friend.”
“Did you really not know?” Amanda turned to me, still angry. I started to stammer unsure of what she was talking about, “You really had no idea I was a lilim?” I shook my head silently. Her glare softened as she turned back to the table then down to Mrs. Whiskers, still staring up at her with a hungry look, “You really just happened to reach out to me because of my music, huh?” She closed her eyes and picked at her food.
I turned to my guilty looking wife, “Morrigan. Should we tell our guest what that was about?”
She nodded slowly, “Amanda, I hope you do not hate us for this. Anon had no idea when he invited you here nor did I have any intentions of thrusting this upon you, but knowing Willow’s big mouth you may have a visitor or three here,” Morrigan began to explain. Amanda looked curious as she folded her arms and sat back, “As I mentioned, I used to be a human. For the longest time I loathed this snake form that I had been...”
“Gifted, as She would put it,” Amanda finished the sentence for her.
“Yes, well, my friends still hate their bodies. I have learned to love it thanks to this one here,” She put a hand on mine, “We hatched the plan a few years ago to find a lilim to change our forms, even if slightly.”
“Thank you for your honesty... But I’m not sure if I can do it,” Amanda spoke quietly and as if she regretted everything, “I am not a skilled caster like my siblings, cousins, mother, aunts, grandmothers or whoever else are,” The resentment was palpable in her speech, “I’d bet that cat witch you were whispering about earlier could help you more than I could.”
Morrigan frowned, “No need to beat yourself up, Amanda. I am very happy you even came here. Like I said, I am happy with myself now.”
“But those other girls are not. I’m expected to help people and monsters and all I can do is write shitty music,” Amanda looked up at Morrigan, ‘I’m sorry. I’m sitting in front of the first fan of my music I can recall meeting and I’m venting and whining like a little baby.”
“Sounds like you need a vacation,” I commented.
“I think you’re right, bro. Perhaps I should start acting like this is a vacation.”
Morrigan smiled, “I know its your magic doing it, but this feeling like you are an old friend is wonderful. Stay as long as you need to. We do not need the basement for anything.”
“Thank you. I feel like you two would offer the room to me even if my magic was not affecting you both,” Amanda stood from the table, “May I do the dishes before I go hide myself in my room to rest before wandering around town?”
Morrigan shook her head, “Alexandria should be around soon to tidy up. Before you ask, she should not bother you with talks of changing her form,” Amanda tried to protest.
“I gotta head out soon. I’ll see you both later,” I stood and stretched.
“Where ya headed, dude?” Amanda asked.
“Bar. Meeting with a friend to get my ass kicked at a card game.”
“Drinks any good?”
“They’re fine. Bar food is great though. That hellhound behind the grill must be using some kind of magic.”
“Have fun, darling!” Morrigan called as I grabbed my messenger bag and coat. Before I out the door she quickly kissed me goodbye.
“Mountain. Tap two. Dragon Fodder. Swing with three goblins,” I mumbled to Max.
Max shook out his cloak and adjusted his hood as he scratched his chin, “No blockers,” He grumbled, not wanting to sacrifice his few creatures. He knew me well enough to know that I had some sort of trick up my sleeve. We went back and forth as I quickly built up a red rush deck and flooded the board with cheap creatures and damaging spells. Max hardly had the time to build up his mill deck. I took a win and let out a sigh of relief. Max grumbled, “I’m taking this deck apart.”
“Aw. Come on, you just need more practice. Gonna get us both another drink, right?”
Max looked towards the bar. He stared, unable to look away from the bar. I watched as terror spread across his face. Before I could ask him what was up, four figures walked up to the table, “Hey boys~” Amanda laughed, pulling her sunglasses down. She was wearing a hood over her horns and a pair of sunglasses hid her face.
“Thats him?” Willow asked disappointedly as she stared at Max. Alexandria’s many mouths indistinctly gibbered excitedly.
“Scoot over, darling,” Morrigan demanded as she pushed me deeper into the booth. She leaned up against me as Amanda took the spot on her other side. Alexandria trapped Max in the booth by sitting right next to him. Willow just floated nearby, sipping wine out of a fancy glass.
“How are ya, Max?” Amanda asked.
Her charms weren’t working on him, “Stay away from me l-lilim,” Max shook in fear.
Amanda’s shoulders slumped, “I’ll try to forget you said that,” She muttered under her breath.
“A-and you!” He pointed a finger at Alexandria. Her eyes lit up in excitement as the finger got less than a foot from her face, “I c-cast... Sh-shock!” Max couldn’t utter the magic words correctly as the fear made him stutter and shake. A wizard needed to keep his emotions in check when casting. Alexandria leaned forwards and put his outstretched finger in her mouth, licking it suggestively. They stared into each other's eyes, both of their faces blushing. Max looked at me, a mixture of horror and arousal on his face.
“Looks like you two are connecting!” Morrigan clasped her hands together.
“Take your new girl home, Max,” Willow commanded.
“B-but I’m so close to my wizardry,” Max protested.
“I can wait,” Alexandria held his palm against the side of her face. The goo of her body covered his hand and held it against her face. Max shifted uncomfortably and took a sip of his drink. Alexandria’s eyes were glued to her supposed partner's eyes. She rested her head on his shoulder and released his hand. Ooze wrapped around his arm, holding him still.
“Just let her be your maid until you are ready for something more,” Amanda told him. There was a flash in her eyes.
Max nodded, a dull look in his eyes, “Y-yes. I suppose I should. A faithful eldritch maid is just what a wizard like me needs.”
Alexandria swooned for him, “Mastah, we should be getting home~ I am sure your home could use a good deep clean~”
Max nodded his head and started packing up his cards. I was sad to see him go, afraid I was going to lose another friend to their monster wife, “You will see him again, darling,” Morrigan whispered as if sensing my worry, “Do not fret,” I nodded and looked down at my own cards, sorting through them to be sure I don’t take any of his cards home.
Amanda grabbed a few cards and sorted through them, “This game any fun?”
“I can’t recommend getting into it,” I shrugged.
“Darling, can I buy you another drink?” Morrigan asked, hugging my arm as the new couple left hand in hand.
“No thanks. I don’t want to get hammered before four in the afternoon.”
“Well that’s one couple down,” Amanda commented, moving to the other side of the booth followed by Willow, “Gotta find her a man now.”
“Oh?” I folded my arms.
“Well, like I said I want to help people any way I can. From what little Morrigan told me and what some magic said he sounded like a good match for the shoggoth. I’m struggling to figure something out for her, though.”
“What about a man that’s already dead?” Morrigan proposed.
Willow shuddered, “I-I do not know. It feels wrong to do that.”
“But you’re a ghost? You could get with another ghost,” I was just throwing out ideas and hoping they worked.
“The man you get is going to spend the rest of his days in that cage body of yours. Might as well pick one that is already dead, hm?” Amanda put it lightly and casually as if this was a normal occurrence for her.
“There's an apparently haunted theater downtown,” I proposed.
“Sounds like a fun trip! Come on, finish that drink and let's get out of here,” Amanda smiled. Morrigan quickly agreed and Willow reluctantly nodded.
I led the three to the old theater. I had only ever been there a handful of times as a child. Amanda finished conjuring a short spell then stretched. I looked up at the stained glass windows and felt a chill down my spine, “I can hear them,” Willow whispered. Amanda frowned and stared up as well. Morrigan grabbed my arm and shook with fear.
I tried the door and frowned as the door resisted my tugs, “Locked,” I announced, turning to the three women that followed me there. The old theater’s front doors wouldn’t budge for me. Willow had a blank look on her face as she drifted forwards and phased through the door.
“Hold on,” Amanda pushed me aside and waved a finger over the lock. I heard the lock’s tumblers rattle and groan as the doors were unlocked for us.
“Are you sure this is fine?” I asked quietly.
Amanda and Morrigan both turned to me with incredulous glances, “I am one of the descendants of the world's ruler. I could do what I want, Anon,” Amanda pushed the door open and Morrigan followed her. I rolled my eyes and followed.
Willow was floating towards the theater, her fiery lower body was bright with passion as she kept lazily hovering onwards as if in a trance. She phased through another wall and the three of us unlocked a thick wooden door to enter the main theater. We stood before row and rows of plush red chairs all pointed towards the main stage. It was completely dark as no windows let sunlight into the room. I saw Willow standing before the stage, staring at some unseen person. I took a step down the aisle before a hand was put on my shoulder. I turned back to Morrigan, her beautiful red eyes staring at me in the dark. She silently shook her head and led me to a chair at the very back. The three of us sat and stared. Amanda and Morrigan had looks of wonder and amazement as the willowisp got on stage as if pulled up by some unseen partner. I watched as the form of a man began to appear as they danced together. A blue, spectral form of a man in a nice suit danced with Willow. They said nothing and danced together in a musicless, dark room. As they finished their dance, they turned and bowed to an almost empty audience. The two started to speak to each other quietly as if nothing had just happened. I could hardly hear their introductions to one another. Morrigan took me by the wrist and led me out of the theater. We started the walk back home.
“That music,” She murmured.
“So haunting yet romantic!” Amanda commented.
“I-I couldn’t hear anything,” I frowned.
“I am sorry, darling,” Morrigan frowned.
“Its okay. I’m just glad that she finally looked somewhat happy.”
“As am I. I plan to go out for the evening, I hope you do not mind,” Amanda sheepishly told us.
Morrigan smiled warmly, “Oh, take your rest. Dinner will hopefully be ready by seven. If you are not back at that time, feel free to eat anything from the fridge.”
I woke up alone in bed on a sunny Saturday morning. No sounds of guitar strings or sleeping medusas graced my ears. I rolled off the mattresses on the floor and stood up, throwing a shirt on from my closet. I checked my phone for messaged to see a string I didn’t respond to from Max, ‘Yo dude,’ The first one read, ‘Does anal count as sex for wizardry?’ Four hours later he sent another, ‘I guess it counted. At least I don’t have to live in this god forsaken swamp any more.’
I chuckled and quickly wished him well and congratulated him. I found Morrigan and Amanda around the dining room table along with an exhausted Pricilla. She perked up when she saw me, “Anon! Look!” She held up a white binder stuffed thick with pages of paper. She had written, ‘Love Story Ultra’ on the front.
“You must have not slept for a few days,” I sighed.
“Right! No sleep! Your encouragement helped me finish what I had already started,” She downed a cup of coffee and went for another, “I wrote about one of those magical girls, like in anime, fighting crime at night and fighting for love during the day! And she's in high school!”
“Now what?”
“I go get it published, right?”
“Well, its not that easy. You should maybe get it edited or join one of those clubs or groups that share their writing,” I suggested as I was handed a cup of coffee by my wife.
Pricilla didn’t look interested. Amanda spoke up, “I’m sure there's another lonely person in one of those, specifically a man, that might be interested in you,” She gave the gazer a wink as her eyes sparkled.
Pricilla looked at the binder in her hands. She sucked in her cheeks and nodded hesitantly, “I-I guess I should try.”
“What’s the worst that could happen?” Morrigan smiled.
“That he thinks I am gross,” She picked at the blackish ooze that covered parts of her ashen skin.
“You’re all there to get better at writing. I’m sure you’ll make at least one friend,” I gave her a reassuring smile.
Pricilla looked at me and smiled back, “Alright. I will look into it. Morrigan, can I take a nap here?”
“Go ahead,” Morrigan nodded. Pricilla took her book with her and trudged upstairs, “How did you sleep, darling?”
“No nightmares,” I shrugged.
“That’s good!”
“Were you haunted at some point, Anon?” Amanda asked.
I sighed, “I had nightmares constantly after the portals opened of being chased by a woman in the dark. She would always eventually catch me and crush and or suffocate me to death. The way she glared at me with red eyes and cackled and hissed is forever burned into my mind.”
“Sweet Mother, Anon... And you married the girl that could DO that to you?”
“Oh and I did! I did do it to him!” Morrigan laughed like a madwoman, “Darling, I am sure you remember that!”
I shuddered, “Y-yeah. I remember,” Amanda looked mortified.
“I thought I had killed him!” She was still laughing, “I had drugged him that night and took him to his bed and he started to have one of those night terrors. I coiled around him tightly and tried to keep him still as he cried. Then his back popped incredibly loud and he went limp!” She demonstrated by coiling around my torso and giving me a squeeze and twisted me slightly. My back popped loudly on command, “See!?”
“You cried so much,” I wheezed.
“Mhm... But I still got you in the end,” She sighed happily as the memories came flooding back to her.
“You two are so strange. And very cute,” Amanda chuckled, “I have been away from my husband for less than 24 hours and I already miss him.”
“You should have brought him with you!” Morrigan frowned.
“Can’t. He’s a very busy guy,” Amanda frowned.
“Amanda, weird question, but why do you use contractions? No other monster girl I’ve met does. You even say ‘dude’ and ‘guy.’ Morrigan has only ever called me dude as a joke,” I asked out of curiosity.
“I’ve been looking into your world for a handful of years. I may be 472 or so years old but I wanted to be ‘hip’ and ‘cool,’” She laughed, “I wanted to come here and make fresh music with cool new words... I haven’t been able to write a new song in years. Being in this world has not helped one bit.”
“Well...” My shoulders slumped, “Hopefully you get that muse back. Since I got with Morrigan my desire to explore my hobbies has come back.”
“What’s your story, Anon? Morrigan already talked about herself.”
I glanced at Morrigan as she glanced at her phone with a confused stare. She was typing into her phone as I spoke, “Not much to say. I’m just a tech guy that is into some nerd hobbies. My friends since middle and high school all vanished a while ago. I’ve only got Max now, really.”
Amanda scratched her chin. She stood and looked out the window, “I’m gonna go do some writing,” She grabbed the acoustic guitar that she had left sitting on the couch last night. She started humming a song, “I’m gonna go hang out on the roof.”
Morrigan turned to me with a loving, sultry expression, “Darling? I hope you didn’t have plans today.”
“What are your plans then?” I asked.
“A lot of cuddling~” She took me by the wrist and dragged me to the office. I was thrown onto the loveseat just before the snake woman coiled around me. She pulled out the DS I had loaned her and rested her head on my shoulder. She leaned over and kissed me on the neck before turning her attention to her game.
Morrigan’s hand brushed my cheek. My eyes opened slowly to see the gazer standing over me. My wife was still sitting on my lap, “Anon, could you walk Pricilla home? It is dark out.”
I turned to my wife and nodded, “What time is it?” I asked.
“A little after seven, darling,” She informed me. I glanced out the window at the dark sky, “Pricilla is just a little nervous walking home on her own this late at night.”
“Understandable,” I sat up, “Wouldn’t want anyone to steal your life’s work, right?”
“Right!” Pricilla nodded with a little sparkle in her numerous eyes.
I stretched, grabbed my shoes and coat and quickly got ready to leave. Amanda was sitting on the couch with her instrument at her side and papers scattered all over the coffee table, “Hey,” She greeted with a glance to the three of us.
“Christ, what’s all this?” I asked.
“Song writing,” She grunted, scooping up the papers seemingly at random, “Going out?”
“Anon is walking Pricilla home. I will be starting dinner soon as well,” Morrigan explained.
“Hey, I’ll tag along, if that’s fine. I need to stretch these legs.”
“Of course! You should meet Delaney! She would be so mad if I did not introduce you two,” Pricilla told Amanda.
Morrigan waved us off as we walked out into the cold night. The streetlights overhead glowed a bright yellow, illuminating the sidewalk as we went. Pricilla walked to the side of me, “I looked up some of those writing clubs. There is one at that new local book store.”
“You gonna go?” I asked, still staring forward.
“Do... Do you think I should?”
“Yeah you might as well.”
“Okay. Thank you for pushing me to finish that book. I was more than halfway done and I couldn’t get myself to finish it.”
“Just pass that onto someone else that needs that little push.”
“I will. Thank you,” Pricilla smiled and fell silent as she stomped down the street. I looked around at the streets and noted how much they had changed. All the little stores had changed from faceless liquor stores and convenience stores to extravagant instrument shops with the windows full of exotic instruments I couldn’t pronounce the names of, stores full of magic trinkets and spellbooks, clothing stores for every kind of mamano and even candy and sweets shops full of flavors I could never name. My mouth salivated as I looked at bright colored boxed sweets. The one thing Morrigan could never get right were sweets. Everything else she made was more than satisfactory, but she tried to make everything she could from scratch. I rubbed my chin and glanced in a potion store. The undead woman behind the counter stared at us with cold, unblinking eyes. I shuddered and hurried past.
“I love this town,” Amanda muttered, “If I lived here I could just walk everywhere. I do not enjoy driving.”
“Then move here,” I shrugged.
“Maybe I will, Anon. Perhaps you and my husband could form a band with Max.”
“I have no musical talent. No artistic talent at all.”
“Oh, I’m sure you could learn!”
I gave her an apologetic smile and kept walking. A few minutes later, we had arrived at Pricilla’s home. She led us inside and disappeared into another room. Amanda removed her hood and tinted glasses, preparing herself for meeting another person. I had gotten to the point where I could sense her magic in the air whenever she switched on her natural magic.
I heard tiny clacks on the tile as a nervous spider woman poked her head around the corner, “H-Hello, ma’am,” Delaney showed her entire form as she squeezed through the door frame. She quickly went into a bow before the lilim.
“Oh, come on, just shake my hand,” Amanda chuckled.
Delaney graciously shook her hand, “Can I get you anything? Do you need any clothing? I make my highest quality items with real spider silk. Very nice. B-but I am sure you already know that, your grace. I--”
“Hey, hey. Calm down. I’m just a person like you or even Anon here. I’d love to see your work sometime.”
Delaneys face lit up a little bit, “Th-thank you. But is it not blasphemous for me to put you on the same level as someone like myself? Or even Anon?”
Amanda took a deep breath as she tried not to get frustrated, “Its okay. Calm down.”
Delaney nodded quickly, “A-alright. If you get the chance, please stop by and browse my wares.”
“I will. I will most likely be going back home in a few days, but I suspect I shall return soon.”
“Any luck finding a man?” I asked Delaney.
She sadly shook her head, “I know the two of you have been helping the other girls but I believe I am beyond salvation.”
“No one is beyond salvation,” Amanda hissed, “I will help find you a man.”
“Y-you will? My lady I could not accept such--”
“As the descendant of your ruler you shall do as I have commanded.”
“Y-yes, my lady.”
“Good. Now, where have you looked for a man?”
Delaney tapped her fingers together idly, “U-uh... T-the supermarket... The liquor store... The store I work at...”
Amanda shook her head, “Is that it? You are a supreme hunter, able to lay a trap and spring it on potential unsuspecting mates. Why have you not stalked dark alleys?”
“My lady, I do not want you to think that I would spurn the gifts of The Mother--”
“I know you and your friends have felt cursed by these gifts,” Amanda spoke softly and carefully, “I cannot completely change your form on my own, friend. But, I will help you find happiness.”
“Th-thank you,” Delaney looked like she was going to cry.
“Hmm... Anon,” Amanda turned to me, “Do you have any locations where we could search for a partner for our spider friend here?”
I scratched my chin, “I’ve been thinking about it. There are exotic pet expos that happen every few months. There are a lot of spiders there. I have no idea what these expos look like now with monsters being around.”
“I like that idea. I’m sure you could find a man there that likes your spider body,” Amanda nodded her head in satisfaction.
“That is not what I want!” Delaney was taken aback by our suggestion, “I do not want to be FETISHIZED for this body. I want a man that likes ME, not what I am!”
I hung my head. Amanda would not give up, “Have you tried just talking to people?”
“B-but the man is supposed to initiate conversation between a man and woman,” Delaney frowned.
“Monsters seem to be the ones to take the initiative now,” I told her from first hand experience.
“Could you help her with online dating? Perhaps that would be easier,” Amanda continued speaking calmly, her magic obviously waning.
“M-maybe. I would like a bit of time to consider my options,” Delaney sighed.
“If you need support, just turn to your friends. I’ll be seeing you,” Amanda turned to leave. I followed her back out into the dark night. She put her hood back on and started to slowly walk. I followed her as she took an alternative route back to my home. Amanda glanced at me from behind her tinted glasses, “Anon,” She called out to me as she started into a local park, slowing to look at the calm pond.
“What’s up?” I asked as we walked onto a small bridge and leaned up against the railing.
“I wanted to thank you.”
“For?”
“You helped me help those girls. I have this innate desire-- no, NEED to help people. I don’t think I could have helped them myself to the same degree.”
“You’re not giving yourself enough credit,” I chuckled, “I’m just some guy.”
“You and your wife also helped me. I feel like I’ve gotten my desire to write music back. I wrote, like, three songs so far that I am actually happy with,” She smiled at me, “Well, I wanted to do something for you. I already have a plan for Morrigan, but what do I give you, the man who already has everything?”
“You’ll do anything?”
“Yes.”
I almost immediately responded, “I want you to give Morrigan her hair back. That’s what I want.”
She slumped her shoulders, “You could ask for anything for yourself... Yet you choose to further help that woman. She’s a lucky girl,” She sighed and looked at me, “I’ll make some calls. Just don’t tell her. I’m still not sure I can do it.”
I nodded, “Thank you.”
“But still, what do YOU want?”
“I just want to make Morrigan happy,” I looked at Amanda. She didn’t seem to accept that answer. I thought for a few moments, “Can I cash this in later?”
She rolled her eyes, “Yeah, sure,” She huffed a little bit, “Come on, your wife is making dinner and I’m starving.”
I tiptoed into my bedroom and shined the dull flashlight at the ceiling. Morrigan was lying in bed, seemingly asleep. I walked towards her quietly and put a hand on her shoulder. She turned to me, eyes half closed. She smiled, “Darling?”
“Ssssh,” I kissed her on the forehead, “Sleep now, honey.”
She nodded and drifted back off to sleep. I glanced at the clock, 11 PM on Sunday. Amanda and I had done nothing but research and prepare for this moment today. It had been difficult to keep Morrigan off of our plan. I didn’t know why I liked to surprise her so much. Maybe it was because of how happy she looked when I gave her a nice surprise. Amanda tapped me on the shoulder and motioned for me to step back. She produced a piece of paper and glanced at the letters. I put out my hand and let her gently carve a rune into the back. I put my hand on my wife’s head and turned to Amanda. She started to whisper the magic words as the air became filled with an indescribable sweet smell that made my head hurt. I felt the stamina being sapped from my body as the still lying snakes slowly began to turn to stone. I watched as they fell off my wife’s scalp. I quickly collected them and put them in a small cardboard box. I stopped myself from rubbing her now bald head. Amanda put a hand on my head and her other on the head of my wife. She continued to utter magic words. My head itched horribly as my hair receded into my scalp. I watched in amazement as the hair began to grow on Morrigan’s head. It was the same color as mine as it grew to a short length. I frowned at Amanda. She held up one finger and grabbed a second, smaller page. She touched the hair again and said two words. Morrigan’s hair faded to a black color and grew to a long, messy pixie cut. Amanda nodded in satisfaction and suddenly began to pant. She looked exhausted. I nonverbally tried to offer her some help. She pushed my hand away and pointed at Morrigan. I got changed and got in bed with my wife. I ran my fingers through her soft hair and closed my own eyes, falling asleep quickly as the exhaustion from sacrificing my own energy hit me.
There was a shriek early in the morning. I leapt up, heart pounding as I looked around the dark room. A light came from the bathroom. I stumbled over to the door, crashing into the dresser as I hurried. I threw the door open and looked at a startled Morrigan. She touched the mirror then her own cheek. She was in a stupor as she reached up on top of her head nervously and ran her fingers through her hair. She tugged at her hair as she tested if it was real. I slowly approached her, “Honey?” I called out to her.
She turned to me and tilted her head, “Darling? What happened to your hair? What happened to my hair?” She breathed, still confused, “I must be dreaming... I must be dreaming...”
I put a hand on her shoulder, “Honey. Calm down,” I spoke firmly and calmly.
She looked up at me. The red glow was gone from her eyes. She couldn’t stop herself from crying as she stared into my eyes, “D-darling... Thank you,” She sobbed as she wrapped herself around me. I caressed her hair and hugged her tightly, “It-- It feels so good when you pet me now,” She wailed, “I love you so much,” She sniffled.
“Shh,” I whispered, “I love you too.”
She continued to hug me as she kept her face pressed to my shoulder, “Darling... How?”
“I don’t understand the magic behind it. We were able to remove the snakes and give you my hair. I’m sorry its not very long,” I explained.
“It could be the buzz cut you have now and I would be profusely happy,” She wiped her eyes, “I love you. Thank you for not giving up on the dreams that I already had.”
“I love you too. We need to get ready, right, honey?”
She shook her head, “Please, do you need to go to work?” She whined.
“You have work to do as well, honey. I’ll be home before you know it. Aren’t you cutting Amanda’s hair today and doing her nails?”
Morrigan nodded, “Just hurry home after work? Okay?”
“I will. Don’t brag too much about your hair today, alright?”
She nodded, “Come bathe with me, darling. Let me bask in your warmth and love for a moment longer,” She smiled sweetly at me but I could see something else in those eyes of hers. She had looked at me before with love in her eyes, but this was something different. She clung to me tighter as she expected me to nod my head. I knew she would rape me on the spot if I said no. I nodded and let her drag me to the tub. Her hips were already pressing against mine as she used her tail to turn the water on.
She was soaked through her underwear and it was starting to soak through mine. Her underwear was just a little patch of cloth worn over her womanly parts. She peeled off her underwear and bra then quickly tore my shorts off. She stroked my shaft and invaded my mouth with her tongue. She slipped into the hot bath water and beckoned for me to come to her. I did as she silently commanded and got on top of her. Her tail coiled around me and forced my cock inside of her. She instantly started breathing heavily as she held me still. Her entire body quivered as she moved her hips back and forth. I was on top of her but she was in complete control. My hands were bound behind my back and hips were kept as still as they could be with Morrigan slamming herself against me. She smiled at me before pulling me close with her arms and kissing me on the lips again. She held onto me and just stared into my eyes as her hips expertly milked my shaft. I let out a loud moan as I blew my load inside of her. She kissed me again and slowly uncoiled around me, “Your turn, darling,” She grinned, “Take the lead.”
I nodded and started gently thrusting my hips, trying to get the rhythm of it. I grabbed her breasts and rubbed them, eager to listen to her moan. I got exactly what I wanted as she threw her head back, her lips curled back into a smile as she moaned loudly. My body took control and I started to thrust harder and faster. Morrigan threw her arms around me, clinging to me and raking her claws across my back. It stung horribly but the hurt only made me harder. Her body shuddered as she orgasmed. Involuntarily, her entire snake body wrapped around me and gave me a squeeze as if her life depended on it. Her hips got to work again as she took control back from me, “Come on, Anon. I want to have your children. We are going to be such a wonderful family,” She chuckled as I came again. She pet my head as every last drop was milked from me, “Good boy~” I went limp in her arms, “Let us get you cleaned up, darling. Just relax. I will take care of you,” I nodded, leaned back, and closed my eyes as her delicate hands gently scrubbed my body, “I love you,” She whispered.
“I love you too,” I groaned, hips and body aching.
“Here you are,” Amanda handed a thin wrapped package to Morrigan.
“You did not have to bring me anything, Amanda,” Morrigan graciously took the package.
“I thought you would want it as soon as possible,” She shrugged.
Morrigan tore open the packaging and gasped loudly, “You actually did it!” It was a CD and vinyl record of a new album Amanda had in the works called: ‘The Woman With Snake Hair.’ Three songs on the album were about Morrigan. The rest were other people’s local love stories.
Morrigan put a hand on her pregnant belly as she handed the items to me, “Thank you,” She grinned. A few other people sat around the room, Alexandria and Max stood together in the corner whispering to each other. Pricilla and her husband, another writer, sat on the other couch with Amanda and her husband. Willow and her ghostly husband, a singer from the early 1900’s, floated near the ceiling. Delaney, recently having turned into a papillion after being forced through a metamorphosis by lilim magic.
The other people in the room started conversing with each other. I turned to Morrigan, “Enjoying your birthday, honey?”
“Of course, darling. It is more than I could have ever asked for,” She gave me a big smile and brushed her mid-back length hair over her shoulder.
I leaned in and kissed her on the cheek, “Here. Just a little gift for you.”
She took the tiny package from me, “Darling, you did not need to,” She quickly tore the packaging apart to reveal a small felt box. She opened it up and gasped again, “Darling!” She held the ring I had bought for her in two fingers before quickly slipping it on. It was a simple silver band with a few diamonds in it.
“I hope you like it.”
“I love it!” She grinned, “I love you.”
“I love you too. Are you ready for cake?”
“Yes! The birthday girl demands cake!”

Stone Sisters

November 1st, 2020

“Do I have to, Tera?”
“Cleo, I paid A LOT for these!”
Cleo frowned and stroked her snake hair. They hissed nervously at her friend as she held up the article of clothing for her, “I-I don’t know...”
Tera stomped her clawed foot and flapped her grey wings, “Come on! If it goes bad tonight, we can burn em! Promise!” She put the leather jacket in her friend’s arms.
Cleo’s long snake body curled underneath herself, “I-I was going to put all these bows on my snakes, I wanted to dress cute!”
Tera growled, “Cute isn’t working! Cute doesn't bring boys back to your place!” She throws the leather jacket on, it had holes in the back specifically for her wings, “Leather jackets, we’re cool now!”
“Stone Sisters?” Cleo’s jaw dropped as she read the back, “Here to kick ass and make the bed rock. No. I can’t wear this.”
“Aaaaand here’s your aviators!” The gargoyle handed the medusa a pair of reflective aviators, “I didn’t get any small ones for the snakes. Sorry.”
“What am I expected to wear with this?” The two girls were still in their sleep clothes.
“I know EXACTLY what we’re wearing!” Tera grabbed some clothes for the both of them. Matching outfits. Underneath the leather jacket they would wear only skin tight athletic shorts, bike shorts. But for Cleo, it was a matching skin tight nylon skirt. To cover their breasts they would wear black crop tops.
Cleo merely starts shaking her head in shock, “No, no no--”
“Yes, yes yes!” Tera shut her up, “Come on! Do it for me! I’m gonna go shower, we don’t have a lot of moonlight to burn!”
The medusa sighed, “Alright. I will. For you. I’ll go clean myself up as well.”
“Yesssss! Thank you, thank you, thank you! You won’t regret this!”
Cleo stared at herself in the mirror. She was in her new ‘cool’ uniform. She had snakes for hair of course, they, along with the scales of her snake body, were a light grey color. She looked, well, fine in the athletic clothes and leather jacket, albeit a bit uncomfortable. She tied a single black bow to one of her snakes. The snake’s black eyes stared into her red eyes as she examined the bow. Cleo tried to style the snakes, contemplating pulling them back in a ponytail or into twin tails. Maybe she should move them all over to one side of her head. She shook her head and just left them down.
“A bow? Really?” Tera groaned, “Here's a necklace,” She put a little chain around Cleo’s neck and then one on herself. She reached up to remove the little bow in the snake hair but the snake pulled itself away with a warning hiss.
“Can I keep it, please?”
“Fiiiiiiine,” The gargoyle groaned, “Put one in my hair,” The medusa nodded and put a black bow in her dark black hair. Tera had dark grey skin like concrete that was actually really soft and warm. She definitely wore the clothes much better than Cleo, at least in Cleo’s eyes. The bike shorts formed to fit her nice butt quite well. She filled the shirt much less than Cleo did, but everyone was more into butts now. Tera had a short tail and a pair of large leathery wings. Tera smiled at Cleo, “Lookin’ cool, best friend!”
“T-thanks...” Cleo blushes.
Tera gives her an expectant look, “You’re supposed to say I’m cool too!” Tera groans.
“You look cool,” Cleo adds quietly.
“Better. Come on! Come on! Come on!” The gargoyle grabbed her friend by the hand and pulled the quickly slithering snake out the door of their apartment, “Ready to get out there and ROCK, stone sister!?”
“I-I guess so,” Cleo stammered as she was dragged into the elevator. She dragged her entire 12 feet of snake body into the elevator as her friend held it open. The elevator rumbled down to the first floor as generic pop music played. Tera swung her body from side to side as she moved along to the music. Her little grey tail swung from side to side as she shook her hips. Cleo found herself moving slightly to the rhythm as well.
“Gotta keep that energy up for the night! You me, a couple of boys and some drinks! We’re gonna have a lot of fun tonight!”
“Y-yeah!” Admittedly, some of Tera’s enthusiasm was rubbing off on her.
“Lets walk tonight, I need a drink or three.”
“Please don’t. You know what happens when you drink.”
“Yeah I turn myself to stone as a joke... Or something. Or I fly...”
“Or you ditch me and you call me crying in the rain at four in the morning to come get you!” Cleo angrily reminded her, still upset about that horrible, horrible night.
Tera frowned and stepped out as the door dinged. Cleo quickly slithered out of the elevator and into the hallway, still looking cross at her friend, “I said I was sorry,” Tera grumbled.
Cleo sighed, “Come on, we’re going to go have fun tonight, remember? Sorry I snapped at you... Best friend.”
Tera smiled back, “Yeah, come on. We’re not coming back empty handed tonight! We’re gonna be BIGGER and BOULDER than any other night tonight!”
The two friends hit up their first bar of the night. A small, quaint little joint run by a hellhound and her husband. Both girls got non alcoholic drinks and Tera paid for them both immediately. Two Shirley Temples. Could be passed off as alcoholic when in a pinch. Cleo crept over to the usual booth in the corner. Tera got to work immediately, “Hey, handsome,” She said as she slid up to a man at the counter, “Lookin’ for a girl to ROCK your world tonight?” The man scowled at her before moving further down the bar. She sighed, her tail and wings slouching before she retreated to her friend at the booth, “Didn’t even humor me. Your turn,” Tera’s sad frown turned into an excited smile.
“O-okay...” Cleo took a drink before getting up and picking out a target. A single lonely looking man drinking at the bar. She slithered up after calming her snake hair down, “H-hi,” Cleo put on the most confident smile she could fake, “Want me to make you rock hard tonight?” She flashed a bit of magic in her red, petrifying eyes. The man looked up at the snakes on Cleo’s head, turned pale and scurried away without a word. Both Cleo and Tera sighed painfully, “Sorry,” Neither were sure if Cleo’s apology was to her friend or herself.
“No being sorry! Look, a group of three!” Tera only gave the three young men a moment long enough to order a round of drinks before dragging her snake friend over to the three. Tera opened her mouth to speak but caught a glimpse of two men’s left hands. They both had wedding rings. She shoved her friend onto a bar stool two seats away from them and took a seat one chair away.
“Wh-what is it?” Cleo asked quietly.
Tera turned and silently used two fingers and tapped them to her right cheek. Then she used her other hand and tapped the left cheek with one finger. Cleo nodded back, understanding. Both pretended to sip on their drinks as they listened in on the mens’ conversations.
“Man, thats a nasty bruise,” One grunted.
The second glanced at his arm, “Eh, just sword training. Not like she’s beating me. She’s a samurai so she takes it really seriously. How’s the range?”
The third gagged on his liquor, “Fine... Fine... Wife’s being really hands on with it, which is helpful. Hey... Is your wife still gonna put that rune on my back?”
The first friend nodded, “She’s still gathering materials. Your request is kinda odd. And then there’s...”
Cleo and Tera both tuned it out. They turned to each other with downtrodden expressions and three fingers on their right cheek. Cleo formed both her hands into fists and clapped them together lightly once, one on top of the other, before turning both into finger guns and gesturing towards the door with a quizzical expression. Tera nodded, “Yeah, come on. Let’s rock and roll on outta here.”
“Yeah, me and my buddy are in a rock band together,” Tera grinned, “G-get it? Rock? Because I’m a gargoyle?” She raised her eyebrows at the guy, “What about that word, gargoyle? Gargle? Wanna find out if I can garg-oyle cock well, big boy?”
“I, uh, have to go to the bathroom,” He got up and walked out the door of the tiny bar.
“I guess he didn’t get it. But I nailed that delivery...” Tera shrugged. She turned the corner to watch her snake haired friend put the charms on another man.
“I-I said I like a guy with a chiseled jaw,” Cleo smiled weakly as the man she was talking to ignored her, “How a-about a drink? O-on the rocks?”
She glanced at Tera. The gargoyle blinked hard and shook her head. Cleo sighed, defeated and got down from the bar without another word. The two friends slid into a booth, “No luck?” Tera asked with a stony expression.
Stone faced, Cleo shook her head, “None at all. I’m not really feeling this anymore, Tera,” Her heart was starting to sink like a rock because of these failures.
“Hey, hey, come on. The night is still young! Look, the club, people go there to hook up. Maybe we can make a friend or two!”
“I... I don’t know...”
“Look at me,” The gargoyle grabbed her friend’s face and forced her to look into her eyes, “You’ve got medusa energy right now, right?” Cleo looks confused but nods, “I need you to drop that and start with the seduce-ah energy, alright?”
With resteeled resolve, she nodded, “Alright. Lets go.”
The disastrous duo, their failures not eroding their spirits, made their way to a club. Tera bounced to the beat of the loud dance music while Cleo tried to use her snake hair to block out some of the sound. She tried to keep her snake tail underneath herself the best she could so it wouldn’t be tread on. Despite being a big noodle of muscles, the scales did little to protect her. They didn’t do much other than look pretty. Tera was more than happy to take up more space than she really needed. She uncurled her wings to flaunt the somewhat large and muscular things. The two girls approached the bar and got a pair of hardly alcoholic drinks. Tera does her best to show off her cool new jacket and ass in form fitting shorts to anyone behind her. She immediately turned to the man next to her and tried to lay on her rocky, feminine charm, “Hey there, big man. I won’t take you for granite like other girls.”
With a groan, the man turned to the enthusiastic gargoyle, “Not interested, thanks,” He mumbled before stepping away.
Cleo smiled at a man a bit further down the bar who nervously avoided eye contact. She frowned and turned back to Tera, “See anything?”
Tera winked and pointed to two guys sitting at a booth in the back. Neither looked like they were having that good of a time. She put two fingers on her left cheek and an excited smile on her face, “Okay, okay... I’ll strut over there and chat them up. I’ll wave you over or come get you, alright? I’ve gotta hype my girl up.”
Cleo nodded and turned back to her drink. She glanced over her shoulder to see the conversation looking like it was going alright. There was a noise behind her, maybe a snicker or a giggle. She turned around and was face to face with four massive mamano, “Stone Sisters?” One laughed, a hellhound.
“What, is that a gang? You steppin’ on our turf?” The second, an amazonian growls. Cleo starts to sweat and stammer, making three of the girls laugh.
“Maybe we should take her out back and show her what we do with other gangs?” A kakuen grins as she cracks her knuckles.
The dark valkyrie chuckles, “There's only one of her, hardly fair.”
“You fuckin’ with my friend?” Cleo heard a growl behind the girls. They turn to face Tera. Tera isn’t the biggest of mamano, standing at a little under six feet. All of the girls in this other leather jacket and chain wearing gang were taller than her.
The hellhound let out a boisterous laugh, “Ooooh, what? You gonna protect your friend, little girl? Know what we do with girls like you? We--”
Tera shut her up by punching her full force in the stomach. It felt like all the music stopped as the commotion started. Cleo grabbed her drink and dumped it on the amazonian’s back. She turned, enraged, only to get turned to stone temporarily by Cleo’s bright red eyes and hissing snake hair. The kakuen caught a glimpse of it and was also partially turned to stone from the waist down. She shouted in fear at her own situation as Tera got decked in the nose by the dark valkyrie. The ferocious gargoyle lashed out with her claws and tore the valkyrie’s jacket to shreds. Security stepped in, some massive onis, and broke up the fight as the two girls continued to shout vile obscenities at each other. Tera got thrown out by one of the oni as Cleo was told to leave as well. The medusa left, not looking to get manhandled. She mercifully unfroze the other girls before she left.
Tera picked herself up and wiped herself off. She had a few bloody scrapes on her knees and a massive grin on her face, “Good thing I came to your rescue! Right!?” She laughs.
“Let's go home already, this nights been a disaster,” Cleo whined.
Tera glanced back at the club, “Hey, we better dip, those other girls are probably looking for us.”
“Finally, a good idea,” Cleo sighed in relief.
“Come on, let's go to that arcade bar and actually drink a little.”
“No!” Cleo groaned
Tera looked shocked, “What are you talking about? This has been great!”
“No it hasn’t!” Cleo groaned, “No one has been receptive of us at all! The ice cold shoulder--”
“Stone cold shoulder,” Tera whined.
“No more puns! This isn’t working! Your nose is gushing blood!”
“Oh, I must look cool as hell! Rugged and shit!” Tera grabbed her phone and tried to get a look at herself, “Shit, I am cool looking!”
“Tera,” Cleo pleaded quietly.
She sighed, “Okay, we’ll go home. But that arcade bar is on the way and I know you love a few of those machines. I just want a shot before we go home.”
Cleo nodded, giving in, “I wouldn’t mind playing a round or two of Galaga.”
“Heeey!” Tera hugged her friend, “That's my girl! Remember, seduce-ah.”
“What about those two guys you talked to?”
Tera wretched, “They were alps. Fresh ones. Don’t even ask what line I used on them. Glad I offended them at least. Come on, I need to get away from this place.”
Cleo didn’t have any intentions of putting on the charms like Tera had kept telling her. She gladly put a few quarters in the dusty Galaga machine and started playing. The familiar jingle and the scrolling stars made her smile a little. Probably the most she had smiled tonight, “Here,” Tera handed her friend a margarita, “Sorry that tonight hasn’t gone super well.”
The medusa shook her head. She held the margarita in one hand, held the joystick in the other and pressed the buttons with her tail, “Not your fault. Its been exciting at least.”
“Yeah, but I liked that club. Can’t go back there for a few months,” The gargoyle slumped as she sat on the disused Street Fighter Two bench. She wrapped her wings around herself as a cloak, “Not a lot of boys here either,” She shrugged, “Guess we’re done here whenever you wanna go.”
“What happened to your energy?” Cleo asked as she played her game.
“Eh, just a little sad my plan didn’t work at all. We can still burn these if you want,” Tera sighed sadly.
“No, I kinda wanna keep mine. Its comfortable at least. Maybe we can try again some other night?”
Tera smiled, “You’re just saying that to make me smile. Its working.”
Both girls turn as they hear a polite coughing near them. Two men, about Tera and Cleo’s age stand with drinks in their hands, “You guys using the S F Two cabinet?”
“Huh?” Tera gave them a confused look.
“They want to play the game you’re leaning on, Tera,” Cleo giggled.
“Oh. Shit, sorry,” Tera hopped up and tucked her wings against her backs.
“Stone Sisters?” One of the men asks with an inquisitive eyebrow raise.
“Kick ass and make the bed rock,” The two men chuckled at each other, “I like it.”
Tera’s mouth was agape as she stared at the two cute boys that actually LIKED her stupid jacket, ‘This is it,’ she told herself, “You boys come here often?” She asked as she leaned on the Tempest cabinet.
“Oh, just to play a little bit of Street Fighter together,” One chuckles a little nervously.
Cleo abandoned her Galaga game to stand on the other side of the SF2 cabinet. The two girls did their usual checks, they seemed polite enough, were cute, definitely friends... She looked up at Tera, both ‘Stone Sisters’ had the two fingers on their left cheeks. Neither man had wedding bands and there wasn’t the scent of another mamano in the air on them. Tera went first, “You guys looking for some ladies to make your beds ROCK tonight?” She asked with a smug and playful tone.
“I-I’ll keep you rock hard all night, honey,” Cleo smiled.
Neither girl knew how to respond as both men seemed to be pretty receptive to their jokes. They even smiled back at them and chuckled, “Have you two been rehearsing this?” One teased, “Or do you start every night with a clean slate?”
Tera’s eyes grew wide as she realised that he actually made a pun back. She started to stammer and sweat, she had never gotten this far, “I’ve never had someone joke back with me, maybe we should take a photo? Ya know, for the sentimental value.”
Tera looked at Cleo to tag her in. Cleo shook the frozen, stony expression off of her face, “J-Just poke me with a stick and water comes out...?” She blushed after she spouted the first thing that came to mind. The boys and Tera found it kind of funny at least.
“How about we get you boys numbers? Its getting pretty late for us,” Tera asked.
“Only if you promise us more rock puns in the future,” The first one nodded. Cleo hastily wrote down their names and numbers on a crumpled up piece of paper from her bag. Tera was right, exhaustion was beginning to sneak up on her and her eyelids were growing heavy, “We’d offer you girls some drinks, on the rocks, if you were looking to stay longer.”
The two girls look at eachother, and despite the weariness, nod at one another, “Yeah, I’d love a drink,” Tera smiled as she stretched.
“Same here, please,” Cleo smiled as well.
Cleo and Tera lay on Cleo’s massive mat that she slept on. They stared at the ceiling, back in their sleeping clothes. They kept passing the paper with the names and numbers back and forth. Both just stared in stunned awe at the paper, “I can’t believe it,” Cleo muttered under her breath.
“Two cute boys to go on double dates with,” Tera sighed dreamily, “Which one are you gonna coil up with?”
“I don’t even care which one I get. They’re both so cute. They’re both pretty sweet too.”
Tera looked at her best friend, “Yeah. Probably better to let them pick. Think they’ll pick which girl they like after our first date?”
“Don’t rush them!”
“I won’t!” Tera laughs, “We need more rock puns. Think they’d wanna join our rock band?”
“We don’t even have instruments,” Cleo reminded her.
“But you sing really well! That's one instrument.”
The medusa yawned, “Alright, friend. Go to sleep.”
“Alright, alright, good night,” She rolled over and fluffed her pillow before trying to sleep face down.
“Go sleep in your own bed!” Cleo fruitlessly tries to shove her more muscular friend from the bed. Tera started to snore loudly. Cleo frowned, unsure if her friend was faking it or not. She shrugged and pulled the heated blanket around herself. She glanced at her gargoyle friend and sighed quietly. Using only her tail she threw a mundane, soft blanket over her friend and moved away from her, “Good night,” Cleo mumbled before she drifted off to sleep.