Kay_Ship

  Chapter 32 – Hospitality

  “I have no idea why they are shunned from normal para society. Having interacted with them and seen them amongst each other, they are perfectly nice and normal people.” – Jay lying to one of his peers.

  “This is nice.” Kristi said as she looked around Kurt’s living room.

  Val and Kristi had just returned from the order, beating Kurt who should be home any minute. They had made quite a ruckus as Val all but dragged her friend through the halls of the order back through the door and into the hub. The blush of embarrassment was only just beginning to fade from her face.

  “It is, He built it himself.” Val said, proudly supplying the little fact. “Actually, when I got here, he hadn’t even finished the wiring yet. It was the first thing on his list, and he finished it within an hour of us getting back.”

  “So, Jay really just brought you through a portal and dropped you with a complete stranger?” Kristi asked, still not believing it happened.

  “Oh, yeah that was kinda scary.” Val admitted. “I was on the verge of having a panic attack, but the way Kurt acted, understanding but also commiserating, it really helped. Plus, the few hours in the car on the way here were filled with chitchat as we got to know each other.”

  Kristi was just about to ask where the man in question was when they saw and heard the car pulling in. Val skipped to the door and went outside as Kurt backed the car into the garage. She naturally left Kristi to her own devices, awkwardly standing in a stranger’s house while they brought in dinner.

  She really didn’t like the position Val had left her in and was starting to reconsider the whole ordeal when the front door opened, and she panicked. Not knowing what to do she stood up from her seat at the kitchen isnd to greet her host. Then she realized she didn’t know what to do with her hands. Was he a hugger? Handshake? No contact? Then her time was up as the man entered and looked right at her.

  “Oh, hey. You must be Kristi.” Kurt said, giving her his best friendly smile as he set the bags of food on the counter. Val followed behind with the things he got at the liquor store, peeking into the bags to see what he bought.

  “Hi-tings… ah. Kristi…must nice… Kurt” She fumbled her way through a greeting, squeaking out the st part while trying to both bow and hold her hand out for a handshake.

  Kurt didn’t ugh or say anything about it, he just walked over and grabbed her hand with both of his, giving a firm and comforting squeeze. “Good to meet you. Hope you’re hungry.” Then he turned away, completely ignoring her slip-ups.

  Kristi wanted to protest, pointing out that he didn’t even comment on her spluttering but then thought better of it. She looked to Val who just smiled at her before helping Kurt by getting ptes out of cabinets.

  “Can… can I help?” She asked while feeling particurly useless.

  “Sure.” Kurt said, noticing her perk up. “Can you empty those bags out? I would say just set everything on the counter near the fridge. Thanks, Kristi.”

  She immediately moved off to unload a perplexing variety of alcohol and ingredients. “Pnning a party?” She asked, trying to do something with the nervous energy.

  “Well, I didn’t know what you like, and I just looked up something I wanted to try.” Kurt answered. “I was going to make a mixed drink called a French Seventy-Five. Want to try?”

  Before Kristi could answer, Val piped in from the pantry. “Or we have wine. And beer, lots of beer. OH! And whiskey.”

  “Um, ah…I…” She stumbled over the choices and trying to find the least intrusive option.

  Kurt smiled and began carrying food to the table. He called over his shoulder as he passed her. “I’m having a seventy-five. I’ll make one fore you too.”

  “Me too.” Val said as she passed by with a bowl of sad. “Come on, sit down.”

  The girls sat at the table while Kurt busied himself with the drinks. He had to reference his phone a couple times to make sure he got the measurements right but eventually he had three gsses of slightly cloudy beverage.

  While he mixed the drinks, Kurt tried to pce what Kristi was. He knew from Val that she was a mix of something, but she wasn’t specific. He also knew that she was descended from something predatory with scales, obvious from the green ptes running down her neck along with her fang like canines. It was the other half that reminded him of something that was just on the edge of his memory.

  He also knew that she had a tail. He had gotten a good look at her when she turned around and noticed the slightly thicker seam and double belt loops in the back center of her jeans. That also reminded him that whatever she was, it was strong. He noted her accent was strange, not the way she pronounced words but the cadence to her speech seemed off.

  Kurt also noted her figure. She had little bust but was stacked everywhere else, being clearly very fit. He would describe her as having ‘powerful thighs’. The thought made him snicker to himself as he approached the table. It was a slight bancing act with the three rocks gsses, but he managed and set them down in front of each of them.

  “What’s so funny?” Val asked, her head slightly tilted and one ear flicking as he brushed past her.

  “Hmm? Oh, it’s a Monty Python reference.” Seeing her confusion, he was forced to eborate. “British humor from a few decades ago.” He held up a gss in a toast, but Val beat him to it.

  “Welcome Kristi. To friends and food.”

  “Friends and food.” Kurt echoed and took a sip of his drink. He let it sit on his tongue for a moment to savor the fvor. The gin mixed well with the champagne but still offered a distinct and crisp taste that was backed up by the carbonation.

  “Mmm. This is really good.” Kristi said, immediately taking another sip. “What is in here?”

  Kurt listed off the ingredients. “Gin, champagne, lemon juice and simple syrup. I also picked up an aged rum to try something ter on, but I am not sure how it will turn out.”

  “I am sure it will be fine.” Val said and patted his hand. “Come on, Kristi, dig in.”

  They began with a sad which was probably not very healthy given how much dressing was on it, but it was more for taste than for digestive benefit. The pasta was a massive portion of chicken scampi that they all tore into with gusto. For once, Kurt had some competition for the title of biggest eater with Kristi putting down three helpings before he made it through two.

  “You have a lovely home, Kurt. Val said you built it yourself?” Kristi said, making conversation between bites.

  “Mhm. Well, I had some help too. The foundations were set and poured by the company I bought things through, and I had a hand with the HVAC, plumbing and electric rough in.”

  “Stop being humble.” Val groaned from where she sat back, hands on her stomach like she was pregnant. “Remember that Mark and Hailey told me all about it.”

  Kurt smirked over at her before continuing. “Yeah, alright. Anyway, it took me about a year and a half to build it all. I was living in another city and driving up here on weekends to work on it.”

  “Still, it’s impressive to be literally sitting in what you built with your own hands.” Kristi was giving him a lot of credit.

  Val decided to interject again. “Yup, its all enchanted too.” She said before taking a sip of her almost empty drink.

  Kristi’s eyes widened. “You are an enchanter?” then she looked to Val. “You didn’t say he was an enchanter with the guild.”

  “Ah, I’m not with the guild. Other than one thing, I haven’t sold any enchantments or enchanted items.” Kurt corrected.

  “Yeah, you just give them out like free samples.” Val teased. “How many of your friends are walking around with rings now?”

  Kurt shot her a look to knock it off. Based on how Val rolled her eyes, he doubted it worked. “So, Kristi, what’s your story? How did you get tied up with the order?”

  Kristi looked between Kurt and Val. “She didn’t tell you?”

  Val took a pull from her drink, finishing it off and getting up to rinse the gss. “Not my story to tell.”

  “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” Kurt offered, trying to be polite to the nervous woman.

  “No, no. Its fine.” Kristi said, patting the air with her hands. “I guess it kinda started because my mom is still on horde arrest and no mentors would take me. I couldn’t stay in the horde because, well…” She waved her hands at herself. “Look at me.”

  “Umm, what?” Kurt said, seriously not getting it.

  “I don’t exactly fit in.” Kristi said.

  Kurt stood and started picking up the ptes, Val got the picture and helped while Kristi looked slightly confused before grabbing dishes and following along. They quickly stacked ptes and leftovers before he asked his next question.

  “Want another or to try something different?” Kurt asked while pointing to her gss.

  “Umm, whatever you are having?” Kristi hedged. Val just fished out a bottle of beer from the fridge.

  “Want to fill me in on why you don’t fit in?” Kurt asked while cracking open the bottle of rum. “I know nothing about you, not even species. Though I have my guesses.” He made a mental note that he really needed to start wearing his identify ring.

  Looking at him like he was crazy, Kristi began to eborate. “Well, my mom is a dragon newt.” She pointed to the scales on her neck. “My father was an angel, well, a type of angel anyway.”

  “Oh, that’s an odd mix. How did they meet?” Kurt was immediately curious and paused with his hand halfway to the club soda. “Ah, if its not to personal.”

  Kristi shrugged. “Well, our mistress is a dragon, a wyrm by the way, and my mom was one of the dragon newt horde guards she made. My bastard of a father wormed his way into my moms good graces and seduced her. It was on one of their little trysts that he attempted to sneak into the horde and steal a book. My mother caught him in the act, figured out his true intentions then killed him.”

  “Fucking brutal.” Kurt commented after pouring a little club soda over the rum, he tasted it and decided to add another ounce of rum to the mix. “Then what happened?”

  “Well, that angel was connected and despite him attempting to steal, they found my mothers ah, methods, to be excessive. Quote ‘intentionally meant to cause undue suffering before death’. She got sentenced to jail time, but it was negotiated to be served as a form of house arrest and she is stuck in the horde for another hundred and fifty years.” Kristi was telling the tale like it was a book report, no interest in the subject.

  “Anyway, after it was all said and done, she was pregnant, and I came along. Spent my first fifty or so years in the horde then was essentially politely shunned out due to my mixed bloodline.” She defted a little as she got to this part. “Turns out our mistress had no need of a quarter dragon that was technically half angelic. I couldn’t just go out into the world since I don’t have illusions strong enough to hide my scales.”

  Val picked up where Kristi trailed off. “Well, Jay happened to hear and invited her into the program. We went through basic training and all that together.” She rubbed Kristi’s shoulder as she talked. “Been friends ever since.”

  Kurt slid a rum and soda over to Kristi who took a sip then quickly took another, licking her plump lips in appreciation. “So, you are trying to join a team or are you on one?” he asked, happy that she seemed to like the simple cocktail.

  “No, I gave up. Interviewed with a couple people but the rejection hurts. Not a great feeling to have happen all the time.”

  Both Val and Kurt shared a look before he nodded, and she broached the subject. “Hey, you got a safety standdown for the next week and Kurt and I have the next two days off, how about you stay over? Get out of the order for a bit and kick it with us.”

  She looked genuinely surprised at the sudden offer. “Really? You wouldn’t mind? Not like I can go out or anything but if you have the room…”

  “Fine by me.” Kurt answered with a shrug which got a fist pump from Val. “Why couldn’t you go out?”

  “I can’t hide my scales, and everyone would know I am para and that will cause problems. I managed to learn how to hide my tail but that’s it. I have tried every illusion spell I know, and nothing works, the draconic side it too powerful and my magic is focused on other things more than illusions.”

  Val once more gave Kurt a look. He scratched at his chin and thought for a moment. “I might have something, but we will have to see if I can super charge by changing materials.”

  Kristi was looking back and forth between them again. She wasn’t quite sure what they were talking about but before she could ask, Kurt snapped his fingers like an idea suddenly came to him.

  “Shit, almost forgot.” He trotted out to the car and came back with a small wood box. “I picked up a couple cigars. Don’t suppose you would want one?” He held out the box to the girls.

  Sniffing the one opened tube, Val passed but Kristi seemed intrigued. They decided to take their drinks and conversation to the porch since cigar smoke was a little more fragrant than the hookah. Kurt cut and lit one, appreciating his selection before handing it over to Kristi for a taste.

  She once more sniffed at it then imitated what Kurt did. Immediately her eyes brightened, and he could see a smile peek out a little from behind the cloud of smoke. “This is delicious!” She quickly decred and took another puff.

  Laughing a little, Kurt opened another tube and repeated his lighting process. “Go ahead and keep that one then. I got a box incase Val took a liking to these like she did the Hookah.”

  “I think I need to talk to Na about that.” Val admitted. “Maybe she can help me pick out the good stuff.” She did sniff at the smoke a little and didn’t seem to mind it much.

  “Who is Na?” Kristi asked, her voice a little deeper from the smoke.

  “My buddies’ girlfriend.” Kurt answered. “She’s a Jinn, he is a dwarf, they are weird together.”

  Kristi snorted. “A figurative gold digger and an actual gold digger.”

  They ughed at the stereotype and the way she summed it up. Kristi ended up asking about how Kurt was liking the order but quickly stopped when she found he barely had any orientation yet since they got interrupted the st time.

  Val ended up stepping back inside to shower while Kurt and Kristi kept chatting. They found that there was a lot they had in common besides being genetic oddities. Kristi also liked to tinker but didn’t get the opportunity to do so very often given her living situation. They also shared a love of weaponry that was beyond curiosity and straight into technical data.

  “So, you are on a response team now?” Kurt asked after they had a brief argument about rates of fire and employment of light machineguns.

  Kristi nodded. “Yes, our team was the ones that set up the ritual circle for that car the other day.” She then noticed her cigar had run out and dropped it into the ash tray. “It’s ok, I guess. They treat me well enough on the job but never really beyond that.”

  “Then why do you stay?” He was genuinely curious as to the reason since she didn’t exactly seem happy with her situation.

  “Where else am I to go?” She leaned back in her chair, staring out over the field around the house. “I can’t go home, can’t really go to another realm. I have literally zero chance of blending in anywhere.” She shrugged. “So, I stay with the order. As long as I am there, I at least have a roof over my head and food to eat.”

  Kurt stood up, offering her a hand which she took, slightly befuddled expression on her face. Her turned to walk inside since the sun had set and mosquitoes were about to come out in force. “Well, you can always come hang out with us if you want.”

  “You better pitch in for food if you always eat like you did today.” Val said, as they walked into the kitchen, she had overheard them while tidying up a little. “Your turn.” She said to Kurt.

  He took the que to give them some room and went to wash off after the rather long and strenuous day. He did pick up on some muted conversation as he moved from the bedroom to the bathroom but ignored it. In his opinion, if they wanted to talk without him, it was none of his concern.

  After once more rinsing out a startling amount of dust from his skin and hair, Kurt returned to the kitchen to see the girls moved to the living room. He decided to grab another drink before joining them.

  “I thought you went to shower?” Kristi said, looking at him strangely since he was completely dry. “Or did you just run the water without getting under all the way?”

  “Oh, right, you haven’t seen it yet.” Val said. “We have a rock.”

  Kristi gave her a lot of side eye. “A… rock?”

  Nodding, Val eborated. “Yeah, Kurt enchanted it to dry you off when you push a little mana into it.” She was attempting to pantomime something, but it just looked like she was feeling up an invisible person. “The whole shower is amazing; you should really try it.”

  Suddenly shy again, Kristi looked away and blushed. “Well, I don’t really know…”

  “You are staying the night if I have to have you shackled here.” Val said coldly. “Its not good to stay cooped up in the order for too long. Take it from me, I was nervous when Jay just vanished without me…”

  “Still a dick move.” Kurt commented before taking a sip from his gss.

  Val shot him a look. “But after a few hours of just being in a different setting I noticed how suffocating it was.” She reached out and took Kristi’s hand. “Trust me, hang out for a few days and just be somewhere different. Let your tail out while you’re at it.”

  Apparently, Kristi took that literally and reached behind her, shifting in her seat. The sound of Velcro separating was followed by a nervous gnce from her at Kurt. He just shrugged, not caring what features she exposed, though he was curious about some of them.

  Taking a deep breath, Kristi leaned forward and suddenly there was a tail sticking out from behind her. It was thick and covered in green scales, its underside a much paler color, closer to her skin tone. The whole appendage was about as long as she was tall and appeared nimble to boot.

  “See?” Val said with an eyebrow raised. “We don’t care and just want you to be comfortable. Right Kurt?”

  “Hmm? Oh, yeah, what ever floats your boat. I honestly don’t care.” He had been slightly distracted, his mind wandering to the logistics of certain clothes when there was a fifth limb to account for.

  “Something on your mind?” Kristi asked, a little hesitation in her voice.

  Kurt then remembered there was company. “Oh, just that tailors are probably raking in the cash from the paranormal community.” He pointed at her tail then Val’s. “I don’t think you can just buy pants like that at Walmart.”

  Kristi seemed to visibly rex after a few minutes of casual conversation but had taken to resting her tail on her p. It was like she didn’t want it to be in the way of anything but that was odd since she was on a couch by herself. Still, she did seem to be more comfortable as the night wore on, acting like she was actually with friends rather than just being tolerated.

  Kay_Ship