“I was trapped over there for a year,” Vicky started defensively. “We kind of got our funding cut off. I mean, the host agency helped us with food and housing and everything but . . .”
“But what?” Veronica asked.
“Well, you know how a lot of places, especially the vampire provinces, feel about same-sex encounters, so finding . . . companionship . . . wasn’t always easy.”
Veronica flopped back in the comfort of the sofa and covered her face. “PLEASE don’t tell me you spent money allocated to you by the government on prostitutes!”
“Absolutely not!” Vicky said. “I spent the government’s money on my troupe. I spent my OWN money on prostitutes. That’s why I’m broke. I was impressed to find they even had prostitutes over there, and oh my GOD are they expensive!”
Veronica was going to respond, but Eliza had fallen off the couch and was laughing her head off. “You’re not helping,” Veronica said to her guffawing girlfriend.
————- —————
That evening . . .
————- —————
“I can’t believe they’re making me do their shopping,” Vicky mumbled as she wandered through the grocery store with Terillia in tow. “I feel like a maid!”
Terillia was absolutely fascinated by her surroundings and was barely listening to what her compatriot had been saying. She had traveled around Earth for a month before the dimensional portal closed but had been restricted in her movements until being called up by Eliza and Valar to make war. She had taken in a lot of “tourist” sights, but hadn’t really experienced much of “normal” Earth culture. And she was amazed at the random variety of things that humans tended to ingest. Succubae had fairly basic diets of meat and assorted vegetables that could be grown at higher altitudes. Anything else was considered a delicacy. Vicky had to literally drag the young succubus out of the candy section before something bad happened.
Vicky was actually a bit amused by Terillia’s antics. It was a lot like shopping with a very shapely five-year old at times. Some people stopped and stared at the succubus, but most had seen stranger sights than a winged woman with pale, bluish skin wandering through a grocery store. Vicky was just happy that Eliza owned a transport big enough to carry a couple of trolls if necessary, so transporting the Mistress of the Enormous Wingspan wasn’t so tough. Eliza had thought it might be nice for the youngest member of the team to start to develop a feel for her surroundings, so she had been sent along with Vicky. Vicky thought Veronica’s desire to keep the “emotional” winged creature as far away from Eliza as possible MIGHT have had something to do with it.
“I’m honored to be allowed to help,” Terillia said as she examined a large bag of marshmallows.
“You might want to put those back,” Vicky said. “They’ll go straight to your hips.”
Terillia looked confused and placed the bag next to her slender hips. “So they’re a garment then?”
Vicky started to speak but noticed a shy smile on Terillia’s face. “So you CAN make jokes?” she said.
Terillia let out a short, high-pitched noise which was the succubae equivalent of laughter. “I’m . . . still not very confident in my English,” she said, looking around.
“Here,” Vicky said, handing the girl a bag of beef-jerky. “This is mostly protein and almost no fat.”
“Thank you,” Terillia said, looking at the bag hungrily.
“No problem. We’ll pick you up a diet soda on the way out.”
“What is it like?” Terillia asked suddenly. “Having a sister?”
“Kind of difficult question. For me, I can’t imagine what it would be like NOT to have one. It’s like . . . imagine your closest friend sharing the same blood as you. You miss your friends? You’re aerie?”
“Yes . . . and no. I . . . I did not have many friends. At an early age, they all . . . lost themselves in the community. I never did. I always felt like . . . like an outsider.” Terillia stopped and blushed. “I am sorry. I barely know you . . .”
“It’s okay. Listening is something I CAN do.”
Terillia smiled. “So why do you see this outing as punishment? Don’t you like to shop?”
“Normally, I love to. Maybe I love shopping too much. But I’m broke, so I’m sort of relegated to running errands because my sister’s too nice to kick me out on my ass.” Vicky went on to explain her financial woes. Succubae were somewhat used to stream-of-consciousness expression, so Vicky didn’t feel any obligation to hold anything back.
“You . . . you paid for . . . physical relations?” Terillia asked at last. There was no hint of the amusement or disgust often associated with such an admission.
“You know how homosexuals are seen on Terra in most places. It was the fastest, easiest way to . . . well, get off.” Vicky noticed that Terillia was looking very nervous.
“You . . . you are very attractive. I find it hard to believe that you would need to resort to such a thing as payment.”
Vicky wasn’t sure if she was being criticized or complimented. “I normally don’t, at least here on Earth. Hell, I can usually get plenty!” Vicky realized that she had just basically admitted to being a whore. “Not that I sleep around . . .” She stopped and realized she should probably quit while she wasn’t too far behind.
“How . . . how do you know if someone is interested in . . . becoming physical?” Terillia asked.
“It depends on . . .” Vicky stopped. “Terillia are you . . . I mean, have you ever . . .” She didn’t actually need a response. Terillia’s sudden flush told the whole story. “You’re a virgin?” Vicky wasn’t sure why she was surprised. Terillia was barely of legal age for her own people, which was about the same as for humans. “Is that why you came to Earth? Because . . .”
“While such relations are more . . . more acceptable where I come from . . . I understood that it is more common here and . . . and I was afraid to ask anyone . . .” Terillia appeared to be on the verge of panic. “Please don’t tell anyone. I do not wish for Eliza to know that I am so weak.”
“You’re not weak,” Vicky said, stroking the girl’s hair feathers and trying to comfort her. “You’re just young. Hell, I think you’re attractive!” she said before realizing how it might be taken.
“Really?” Terillia said, suddenly focused again. “You are attracted to me?”
Vicky found herself in a quandary. “Uhm, yes. But I’m not coming on to you or anything. I’m just saying that I would . . . Hey, could you grab those pretzels?” she asked, desperate to change the conversation and buy herself some breathing room.
———– —————
An hour later . . .
———– —————
Vicky almost bolted from the transport with the first bag of groceries into the main house. “Food out front! Help required!” she shouted. Dennis and Wyrm both got up to help bring stuff in and she felt a sense of relief. Terillia had been STARING at her every since their conversation earlier and Vicky was feeling very nervous. It wasn’t like she hadn’t been attracted to the young succubus. She had been telling the truth about that. She just wasn’t sure it would be appropriate. And despite wanting sex like an alley cat in heat, she did have SOME morals.
Veronica wandered in, dressed in her running clothes and sweating slightly. Eliza followed right behind her. Apparently they had been running around the mountains again.
“Hey Sis! Get everything on the list?”
After making sure Terillia wasn’t around, Vicky grabbed her sister’s arm and drug her back outside and quickly relayed the conversation she had endured with Terillia. By the end of it, Veronica was grinning from ear to ear.
“Man, you work quick don’t ya?”
“C’mon Veronica, this is serious! What do I do?”
“Do you WANT to sleep with her?” Veronica was usually the one who needed advice. Vicky usually was the carefree one. To have the roles reversed was a thing of beauty.
“Yes! I mean no! I mean . . . God, I don’t know! She’s so young . . .”
“She’s old enough to know what she wants,” Veronica said smugly, “and she’s old enough to carry through with it. And when did you have a problem with age. When you were younger than her, you were sleeping with our math teacher!”
“Hmm, Ms. Lewinski,” Vicky remembered fondly. “She gave me an ‘A’.”
“And it was the only one you got in high school. Listen, I think it’s cool that you don’t want to take advantage of her, so I’m going to leave it up to you. Just don’t go stringing the girl along. That would probably do more damage than rejection.” Veronica wandered back inside. At least this was going to give the succubus something to think about besides shoving her tongue down Eliza’s throat.
————— ————–
A few hours later . . .
————— ————–
Everyone had gone to bed except for Eliza and Veronica, who had taken off for another run. The two of them had a disgusting amount of energy, so they were constantly coming up with new races and contests to push their Hybrid bodies to the limit.
Vicky was curled up on the couch in the main house, reading a book and sipping on some hot tea. Then she looked up and saw Terillia perched on the back of the sofa. Vicky spit her tea out in surprise and fell onto the floor.
“Don’t sneak up on me like that!” she exclaimed. Vicky couldn’t help but notice how . . . little . . . Terillia was wearing. It looked like a piece of cloth attached only by strings around the neck and waist so as to not to interfere with those wings. She was also wearing a fairly miniscule thong. Her dark blue head feathers (which closely resembled short, slightly spiked hair unless you took a closer look) were flattened against her skull and those deep, dark amber eyes, which were larger than any human eyes, were staring directly at Vicky’s eyes. She had the look of a runner preparing for a big race, and Vicky got the feeling that she was the one being chased.