Work's Done

Showing off the chunk of forest they’d set aside for lumber had been a far quieter affair than showing off the mine. It had been a bit awkward needing to obscure how large Pruzonia really was and its true nature. The roundabout way didn’t seem to bother Elena, but the large woman was hard to get a read on. She kept quiet save for asking a question now and again about the condition of the land, local fauna and other such things.

‘It’s a bit disconcerting for someone so big to be so quiet,’ John thought to himself as Verida showed Elena out, returning the lumberjack to the parking lot outside of Estelle and Nephele’s. It was a far safer entrance point than his home or the original spot in the woods.

“We need to think about a better ‘main’ entrance,” Vivian said. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to have everyone go to the witches’ parking lot. Would draw attention once we get a lot of traffic and we don’t want to make their place the front lines of anything.”

“I think we might have a hard time making a new path,” John remarked. “We only made the two extra ones thanks to our strong connections to the locations we picked. A new one would probably need a lot more work to get, well, working.”

“Not to mention the other requirements we needed to meet,” Senka added with a sly smirk. “Can’t imagine it would be any easier to do it in an unfamiliar location.”

“At least this time the flashing would be contained in the relationship, assuming that Nephele isn’t involved,” Vivian muttered.

“Wait, you think we could pull it off?” John asked.

“I know they said the personal connection is important, but it should be possible to forge a Pathway without one. It will just be harder without the established build up,” the redhead mused.

“We can pick Estelle’s brain about it when she gets back,” John said. “But probably after we see if we can salvage the plan we had for the day. You have any ideas pop into your head?”

“Nothing too concrete,” Vivian admitted with a shake of her head. “I only have so much brain power and was focused on the pitch. But I got a bit of inspiration.”

“Inspiration?” Aeolia echoed as she came flying in from the gate.

“About the thing we were going to do today,” Senka answered, keeping things vague as everyone began to return from the mine.

“Ah, yes, the thing.” Aeolia smirked, then changed topic, “Other business go well?”

“Pretty much,” Vivian replied. “Met with the woman running the whole outfit and the head lumberjack and showed her the plot of land. She seemed satisfied, so now we’re just waiting for the call. Thinking it went well.”

“Sounds like you guys are going to be busy.” Tok loudly laughed as he approached.

“It’s a living.” John grinned at the dwarf.

“Speaking of living,” Fel interjected. “I think we need to discuss terms.”

“Let’s adjourn to the office then,” Vivian said. “I’m sure there’s a few things we’ll need to hammer out.”

“Aye.” Fel nodded, taking a tablet from one of his men before following Vivian inside.

“Oh, can I get anyone a drink or snack?” Anita suddenly asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

“If you’re offering, I wouldn’t mind a be-” Tok began before one of the miners flicked a rock at his head.

“If you have some water, that’d be nice,” the same miner interjected. The rest of the group chimed in with similar requests.

“Okay!” Anita cheerfully nodded then skipped after Vivian and Fel, heading for the kitchen of the hall.

“What was that for?” Tok asked as he rubbed his head.

“No drinking on the job, kid,” the other dwarf said. “There’s enough cultural bleed making folks think all we do is drink ale and break rocks. No need to live up to that sort of thing.”

“Plus, getting drunk on the job is a bad look too,” another chimed in.

“We don’t have any beer or the like here anyway,” John said to defuse the situation. “Not really a thing we do.”

A look crossed Tok’s face and John felt a cold sensation run down his spine.

“Sounds like you just haven’t had a good drink yet,” Tok said.

“More like he’s never drunk at all,” Beth revealed, a grin on her face.

“You’re one to talk, lightweight,” Aeolia joked.

Beth’s face heated up. “That was one time.”

“It was the only time,” Senka corrected.

A smile grew on Tok’s face. “You know, after yesterday and all the business stuff today, unwinding sounds like it might be what the doctor ordered.”

“I don’t think…” John began to protest, old introvert habits coming to the fore.

“I think that sounds like a wonderful idea,” Senka interrupted. “Something a little more mundane to help ground us could be helpful in getting our heads straight. Got a lot to worry about, after all.”

John could feel her intent. She felt that giving them a release, something closer to normal than fighting some generational war or blood sacrificing cultists, would help refresh their minds and let them more easily think up ways to find the demigoddess Gep’kes Ani spoke of.

“A bit of a night out does sound fun,” Estelle remarked. “Haven’t had one in a while and it’d be nice to have a nice group date.”

John’s earlier thoughts on love hit him with full force. Could he deny Estelle’s or Senka’s or any of the girls’ desires to have a fun night out? No, he couldn’t.

“You’ve got a place in mind?” John asked Tok. “Somewhere that isn’t likely to drag us into another messy situation?”

He was still wary about getting into more trouble.

“Well, I think Goe knows a place that’s not a hive of scum and villainy." Tok grinned. “Not too loud either and has a good number of other things to do besides music if that’s what floats your boat.”

He added that last bit as he turned towards Lita, who jumped a little from the sudden attention.

“W-what? I d-dont…” she began to protest.

“Come on, Li, after yesterday, I think living a little is in order,” Tok argued. “Just once to try it, okay?”

Lita’s nervous eyes flitted between Tok and John before she nodded timidly.

“I’ll c-come,” she said, pointedly avoiding looking at John or any of the girls.

“Great!” Tok loudly cheered, pulling out his phone. “I’m going to call Goe and get the details. Hang on.”

As Tok moved away from the group to make his call, John noticed that Kiera looked a bit unsure. She sensed his gaze upon her and she shifted a bit.

“Are we sure this is a good idea?” the shapeshifter asked quietly. “There are a lot of p-people who want to hurt us out there?”

“Turtleing up isn’t exactly our style,” Aeolia said. “It’s not like we hid away after other setbacks. Phantom Reach being out there didn’t stop us from going to the mall.”

“Living in fear is a victory our enemies can only gain by us allowing them,” Senka added, laying a reassuring hand on Kiera’s shoulder. “As long as we stick together, I think we’ll be fine.”

“And it’s not like there’s a history of us getting ambushed,” Beth chimed in. “The two times it happened had a lot of build up to them. It’s not like they can just whip up ambushes on the fly all the time.”

Kiera nodded, and John wondered how much she remembered of Bill’s planning before that Sunday attack. Harker had mentioned seeing some of that when using the tracking machine.

“I think that’s what Tok’s trying to do,” John said. “He doesn’t want to live in fear, only doing things that have some way to enhance our ability to defend ourselves.”

“Living in fear of the other shoe dropping sounds like a great way to waste energy worrying,” Estelle remarked.

“Got the place!” Tok called over to them from where he moved to call Goe with some amount of privacy. “Hope you’re all ready to party!”

“I’m not ready to party!” Lita fretted as she paced in her room, freshly washed and in a simple bathrobe. Why had she let Tok talk her into this? She didn’t do clubs! Her idea of a fun time was painting while listening to some random video or soundtrack, not overly loud bass pretending to be music with tons of people mashing into each other.

“I should just say I started to feel sick,” she muttered, still pacing. She looked to the table with her art supplies and minis sitting in the corner. “I’ve got those Intercessors to finish. And I should touch up U-1’s paint after yesterday.”

Despite her words, she kept looking at her closet, where a number of clothes sat long unused, calling to her like a siren song. Several in her mind’s eye prompted the question, ‘Would John like seeing me in this?’

“Why am I getting so worked up over him?” she whined, hands going up to her hair and frantically running through her short curls. “I barely know him! I mean, yeah, he’s heroic and his magic is interesting and he’s got a Stargate network in a Kingdom he’s like a leader of, and he’s pretty nice, but that’s not enough to just fall head over heels, right? Besides, he’s involved with all those other girls and doesn’t really need someone like me.”

Despite her attempts to deny her attraction, she couldn’t help but feel a bit wanting a part of that lifestyle. She couldn’t say such desires hadn’t crossed her mind when it came to romantic partnerships. Many would find her choice in literature and other forms of entertainment shocking given her shy disposition, but she couldn’t help it. Being desired just scratched an itch in her brain, a particularly lewd one at that.

“But that’s all just fantasy,” she protested against herself, her pacing increasing in speed a bit, as if speed would push the notion from her head. “I’m not anything special.”

Her pacing brought her in line with the mirror affixed to the back of her door and she couldn’t help but look at her unadorned backside. The old ache of abandonment burned in her chest and she looked away, trying to banish the feeling.

Her pity party was interrupted by a knock on the door, causing her to jump.

“Hey, Lita?” Goe’s voice came from the other side of the door. “You pick out an outfit yet?”

“Um,” Lita stammered.

“I thought so,” Goe remarked in a sad tone. “I’m coming in.”

The dwarf gave Lita a long moment to protest, and when none came, she opened the door. Goe had traded her usual kimono for a purple blouse and tight black jeans. Lita felt a pang of jealousy over how well Goe looked and a growing feeling of inadequacy over her own chances of looking anywhere close as good.

Goe didn’t slow as she shut the door behind her and marched to the closet, throwing it open with little care.

“I know this isn’t your idea of a good time,” Goe said. “But I also know you want to spend time with John and his women.”

“W-what are you t-talking about?” Lita tried to deflect but a flat look from Goe made her shrink back.

“I know which way my sister's heart moves,” Goe remarked. “You're not as subtle as you think.”

Goe continued to rifle through Lita's closet. “I know there's no one here that strikes your fancy. And I want you to be happy, so I'm going to help you shoot your shot.”

“You, you're okay with it?” Lita asked timidly.

“Can't say the idea of being in a relationship with a few folks at once hasn't crossed my mind,” Goe revealed. “Not as many as our forest dwelling friends, but you know the saying. ‘I've got two arms for a reason.’”

Lita hadn’t known Goe had such thoughts, but prying into the romantic interests of her family and friends wasn’t something she wanted to do.

“Y-you think they’d w-want me?” she asked.

“I think they’d be dumb to not.” Goe smirked. “You got on well with that witch, right?”

“Estelle,” Lita muttered, her cheeks growing warm as she remembered the praise the witch gave her over her control of the camera drones.

“Then you’ve already got a foot in the door,” Goe said as she grabbed a pair of cream colored pants and threw them towards Lita’s bed after a moment of consideration.

“I, um, talked to John about sci-fi before having to direct the scouting machines,” Lita muttered.

“See, you’ve got stuff in common,” Goe said. “First step, done. Now you’ve got to keep their attention. And this should help with that.”

Goe turned around dramatically, a light green top in her hands. Lita flushed as she imagined it on her. Her exposed shoulder and upper back stood out in her mind’s eye, as did how tightly it would cling to her breasts. She glanced over to the pants Goe had thrown on her bed, and she added them to the mental outfit.

“Are, are you sure that’s appropriate?” she asked.

“We’re going to a dance club,” Goe answered in a flat voice. “There’s going to be a lot more people with less on. I’d go as far as saying we’d be the most modestly dressed there.”

Lita shifted a bit and Goe threw out the final weapon in her arsenal.

“And I’m sure you’ll still turn the heads you want turned in these pants,” she said with a grin, reaching over to grab the noted article. “Come on, go get changed!”

Goe shoved the clothes into Lita’s arms and ushered her into her en-suite bathroom for privacy. For a moment, Lita fiddled with the fabric, waffling on if she was going to actually change. She hadn’t really worn these as the tight pants and top were outside of her modest tastes, but if Goe thought it would help draw their attention…

‘What am I even thinking!?’ she questioned herself, shaking her head. ‘They wouldn’t want someone like me.’

Still, Goe’s optimism was a light her pessimism couldn’t douse and she set the clothes down on the counter and took off her robe. She let out a small gasp when she saw the underwear Goe had picked out without her knowing.

It was a pink set with delicate white lace tracing the contours. While it wasn’t a particularly racy cut, it was far more daring than her normal, plain choice of under garments.

‘Where did she even find these?’ she wondered as she eyed the underwear. A part of her wanted to throw back on her robe and grab something more sensible, Goe’s reaction be damned, but she found that part far quieter than it would have been a few days ago.

Swallowing her lingering doubts, Lita slipped on the underwear and quickly donned her selected attire. Then she looked into the bathroom mirror. She almost didn’t recognize the woman staring back at her. She shifted in place as she adjusted her top, the hem falling short of hiding her midriff. She tugged at the hem of the top fruitlessly.

Lita chewed her lip, old insecurities welling up. Before she could work up the courage to protest Goe’s choices, a knock rapped against the bathroom door.

“You dressed yet, Lita?” Goe asked and Lita jumped.

“Um, almost,” she said. “Um, Goe? Are you sure about all this? I think the underwear’s a bit, um, much.”

“Think of them like a good luck charm,” Goe remarked and Lita could envision her winking. “You can’t tell me you didn’t think you looked good in them.”

Lita didn’t have the heart to tell Goe she had sped through dressing once they were on. But she didn’t think she looked good in anything. Instead, she let out a small sound of agreement, just loud enough for Goe to hear her. Sometimes it was easier to just agree.

Taking one final glance in the mirror and feeling a lead weight settle into her guts, Lita stepped back into the bedroom. Goe looked at her and smiled.

“You look ready to knock them dead,” she said so assuredly Lita wished she could believe it. “Let’s get this party started!”