IncInc -CH2- (Patreon)

Stretching his entire body, from his wings to his arms, Sam felt… amazing.

It’d been so long since he slept on the prime that he’d forgotten what it was like to feed naturally all night long.

With a yawn, he snapped his wings back down to his back and shook himself out.

Though sleeping on a couch isn’t the greatest. It’ll do for now though I suppose.

Walking into the attached kitchen to the living room, Sam began to hunt around for the one thing he knew almost all Humans had, and apparently needed.

“Ah, there you are,” Sam muttered. Walking over to the coffee maker, he peered at it. It was one of the newer ones.

He’d seen people use one, but of course he’d never had the opportunity.

Yet.

Pulling open the top by the lever, Sam found that there was an old coffee pod there.

Ah-hah.

Looking to the lid, he matched it to a duplicate in the little metal carousel next to the machine.

In no time at all, he had the machine dispensing a legal stimulant most Humans needed.

Nodding his head, Sam leaned up against the counter and thought.

His chores for the day were simple things.

First, establish myself at Abigail’s job. That shouldn’t be too hard. A little magic and illusion work.

After that we’ll need… well, I’ll need some new clothes. Especially if I’m expected to start showing up at a job.

Or a car, even.

Sam grimaced and looked down at himself. What he was wearing right now was technically nothing. His clothes were a construct he’d made and simply kept putting back on over and over.

It was just one of the many things he’d done to preserve energy.

For new clothes, we’ll need money, or a way to pay for things.

And unfortunately… until I have some starting funds, I won’t be able to head out to the old manse and dig up my back-up gold.

Ah… how far I’ve fallen. I couldn’t even talk a young human woman into sleeping with me.

The door to the only bedroom opened, and Abigail peeked out from the doorway.

She looked to be in a bathrobe, and her hair was wet.

“Good morning, Abby,” Sam said with a wave of his hand when her eyes landed on him.

“It wasn’t a dream,” Abigail muttered, staring at him.

“No. Nor was it a drunken hallucination or drugs,” Sam said, grinning wider.

“I… I don’t… it was all real,” Abigail said.

“Yes. Why, were you expecting it wasn’t?” Sam said. Then he gestured at the coffee cup sitting under the maker. “I made you some coffee. Though you’ll need to flavor it to your liking. You Humans seem to have as many preferences as there are stars in the sky.”

Abigail looked to the indicated coffee machine and the mug with steam wafting out the top of it.

“I was a little tipsy last night,” Abigail said, finally leaving her bedroom and walking over.

“Really? I honestly couldn’t tell. You just seemed a little boring and short tempered to me,” Sam said. “I mean really, there was no reason to not have sex and you just turned me down outright.”

Abigail watched Sam closely as she went about finishing the cup of coffee.

“Sex isn’t as casual as you make it out to be,” Abigail said finally. “Especially with a Demon.”

“It’s as casual as you want it to be. And I’m not a Demon, thank you very much. Nor am I a Devil, or a Fallen One, or whatever cute names you and your kind assign to people of that nature,” Sam said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “I’m a Extra-Planar Lord who happens to be an Incubus.”

“Extra-Planar Lord,” Abigail repeated, taking a sip of her coffee.

“Yes. Think of it as… a king. Though I must confess, my kingdom was ransacked and I was forced to flee to a new plane. I’ve been reduced to starting over once again,” Sam said. Then he shrugged his shoulders. “Truth be told, I deserved it. I shouldn’t have trusted them. Especially with my plane. Live and learn though.”

“Just like that?” Abigail asked.

“Just like that. Besides, it’ll be fun to start over again. Especially with the blood of my darling little Alisa. She was a memorable one,” Sam said nodding his head. “Anyways. Sex. Can we?”

Abigail took in a breath, and then held it. Then let it out in a breath.

“Sam. I’m not into casual sex. Okay? Sorry. I’m not exactly a prim-little ninny, but I’m just not going to jump in bed because I have a hot guy in my kitchen,” Abigail said. “Can we talk about something else? Like how you’re going to help me?”

Sam rolled his eyes and shrugged a shoulder.

“Going to go to work with you, then take your car. I have some chores I need to get done today in preparation. Either by the end of today, or the start of next week, we can begin working toward getting you better situated,” Sam said. “Though I’ll warn you now. I’m not big on giving you something you can’t handle without me. That’s just poor etiquette.”

“Handle without you?” Abigail asked. “Ah. In other words, getting more a nuclear physicist job wouldn’t be in my best interest.”

“Just so!” Sam said with a nod.

She seemed much more expressive this morning, and looked to be far more intelligent than Sam had originally thought.

“Right. Well, I’m going to go get dressed,” Abigail said and started walking back to her bedroom.

“Great,” Sam said, following her. “You can tell me more about your debt and your job.”

“I need to get dressed, Sam,” Abigail said.

“I heard you,” Sam said.

Standing behind the door, Abigail gave him a smile, and shut it in his face.

Clicking his tongue, Sam turned and leaned up against the door-frame. “Fine.”

Definitely need to hunt tonight. I wonder if there’s a bar or something nearby.

Or one of those new night-club things. Haven’t been to one of those.

Ugh. Definitely need new clothes for something like that though.

Suppose I could rob some people tonight, too.

Hm. Then again… do people even carry cash anymore?

This world is so much more complicated than it used to be. I miss just crushing someones head in and taking their things.

***

Driving didn’t look half as hard as Sam thought it would be. It seemed to be a lot like riding a horse, but considerably less difficult.

The fact that the car couldn’t throw you if something jumped out of a bush was a good example of that.

Pulling the vehicle up to a large single story building, Abigail pulled them into a parking lot. Wheeling them around to the back of the lot she eased her car into a parking space and gave him a concerned look. 

“You’re just… going to go do some chores? You’ll pick me up at six?” Abigail asked for perhaps the third time.

Intelligent, yes. Determined, certainly.

Paranoid? Oh my twisting nether, yes.

“Abigail,” Sam said, making firm eye contact with her. “If I’m going to do this, I need to feed, get information, and figure out where I’m at and what I’m working with.

“Unless you wanna have a quick go right here in the car, then I need to prepare for a night out tonight.”

Abigail blinked slowly, staring at him.

“You feed on sex,” she said.

“Yes, as I’m sure Alisa said in her journal. I fed off her daily,” Sam said. “So, unless you wanna hop in the back with me, or just lean your seat back, I need to hunt tonight. That means prep-work.

“Yes. I’ll pick you up at six, but I’ll need the car after that.”

Abigail was chewing at her lower lip.

“Does it hurt? To be fed off of?” Abigail asked.

“No.I just feed off the energy generated by an orgasm. The more intense of an orgasm I provoke, the more I can feed,” Sam said. “It’s really rather simple.”

Abigail glanced at the dash-clock and then opened her car door.

“Pick me up at six. I’ll meet you right here in the parking lot. Just park somewhere out over this way,” Abigail said. “Oh, and no one can see your wings, right? I mean… is it an… illusion… thing?”

Sam gave her a brilliant smile.

“Only you can see me as I truly am because of our contract. Everyone else will just see me as Human,” Sam said.

Nodding her head, Abigail got out of the car, and started off for the building.

Getting out as well, Sam moved over to the driver’s side door and watched Abigail go to work.

He’d need to know more about her, and her job. He hadn’t become an Extra-Planar Lord just because he completed contracts to the minimum degree.

He’d always delivered on his contracts, and then some. The best way to get more summoners, was to make sure every contract was executed perfectly.

Letting out a short breath Sam felt a momentary flutter of anger. Anger at all that he’d lost.

And crushed it mercilessly.

He’d raged for years by himself.

Endlessly.

There was nothing left for him down that path. He’d meant what he said earlier. He looked forward to the opportunity to proving himself again.

Abigail entered the front door of the building, and vanished inside.

Leaning down into the car, Sam flipped the key into the off position, and pocketed it.

Might as well learn a few things now.

Folding his hands together behind his back, Sam began wandering over to the front door. He wasn’t in a rush, and to be honest, he didn’t want to run into Abigail in the front lobby either.

That’d just be awkward.

Sam was able to read the name of the company painted onto the glass door now.

Fail Safe Optics.

Sam opened the door and walked inside.

The lobby was a large open layout decorated with display cases full of glasses, and the odd marketing piece.

“Hello,” said a young woman behind the front desk. She was dressed in a similar business casual look to what Abigail had been wearing.

“Ah, hello. I’m here for my interview,” Sam said walking up to the desk.

“Inter… interview?” asked the woman, her eyes meeting Sam’s and becoming stuck there.

“That’s right. My interview. I’m here for the open position,” Sam said, snaring the woman with just his Incubus magic. It was the least essence expensive of his options. “The HR recruiter told me to be here at nine am sharp.”

“Matthew… Matthew said to be here at nine am sharp,” said the woman. Her tone was neutral and flat. It was as if the life had been sucked out of her. “That’s right. You’re here for the manager position.”

“That’s right. Matthew asked me here to interview for the manager’s position. Could you let him know I’m here?” Sam asked, smiling at the woman. She was completely in his thrall.

And to think I even had a thought about the fact that I might be rusty. She’s completely mine.

It’s like she had no defenses at all.

Picking up the phone next to her, the woman dialed a number without looking. She was still staring at Sam.

“Hey Matt, your nine o’clock is here,” she said lifelessly. There was a response Sam couldn’t hear. “Yes you do. He’s here for the manager position. Recruiting sent him over.”

There was a longer response this time.

“They did. He’s here for the manager position. Recruiting sent him over,” the woman said. “Okay, I’ll let him know.”

Hanging up the phone, the woman blinked once with her vacant gaze still only for Sam.

“Matt’s not taking interviews today,” she said.

“Sure he is. You just need to take me to his office. He’s just so busy he can’t come get me,” Sam said, pushing just a tiny bit on the woman’s psyche with his own.

“Oh. Yes. That’s right. I need to escort you to Matt’s office,” said the woman, standing up. “He’s just too busy to come get you.”

Sam nodded his head and got behind the woman as she began leading him down the hall. It was the first time she’d broken eye contact with him since he’d walked in.

“What’s your name?” Sam asked.

“It’s Lauren,” said the woman.

“Lauren, are you seeing anyone?”

“I have a boyfriend.”

“Ah, that’s a pity,” Sam said, and meant it. When he was much younger, he hadn’t cared if those he hunted were in relationships or not. It meant little to him.

It wasn’t until he’d spent a decade on a mortal lower plane that he understood how terrible that could be to people.

Lauren knocked on the closed door to an office, and then simply opened it.

“Hi Matt, I brought your nine o’clock over for you,” Lauren said as Sam walked into the office.

“What? I don’t have-you, get out. Get out of my office,” said a man sitting behind a desk.

He was probably in his thirties with short brown hair combed in what Sam could only think of as looking like a leather cap. He had blue eyes, and looked to be on the fairer side in the looks department.

“Sorry, Lauren, seems Matt wants you to get out,” Sam said, looking to the woman. “He’s clearly in a bad mood. It’s alright though. You dropped me off for my interview, and you’re going to go back to your duties now.”

“Hey, who are you? What are you-Lauren? Where are you going?” said the man Sam assumed was Matt.

“Of course. See you later, Matt,” Lauren said, closing the door.

“Wonderful,” Sam said, and took a seat in front of Matt. Staring at the man’s face, Sam waited until he made eyecontact with him.

Instantly, Sam snared the man and brought him into a similar compulsion he’d put on Lauren.

“You… what… what are you,” Matt said, his worlds trailing off toward neutrality and no emotion. “You’re my nine o’clock interview?”

“I sure am. I’m here for the manager position,” Sam said, smiling.

“Oh. We already hired someone for that. We just haven’t announced it,” Matt said, staring blankly at Sam.

“That’s a problem. Hm. What other open positions do you have?” Sam asked.

“We’re going to open a supervisor’s role tomorrow. I’m going to use it to hire a friend, but not interview anyone for it,” Matt said.

“That’s not very fair of you Matt. That’s very nepotistic,” Sam said. “ But that’s ok. Because you’re going to hire me for the supervisor role instead.”

“You’re right. I’m not very fair. But I’m going to hire you for the role,” Matt said.

“Exactly. Go ahead and start pushing everything through the system for me,” Sam said.

“I’ll start pushing everything through for you,” Matt said. “I’ll need your ID, so-”

“I don’t have any of those. But I gave them to you and you lost them. So you’ll put me through anyways while you try to find them,” Sam said.

“Right. I’m sorry I lost your ID. I’ll get this all taken care of while I try to find them,” Matt said.

“Great, great. Now. What’s my pay?” Sam asked.

“Pay starts at fifty-six thousand a year, and-”

“What’s the maximum a supervisor can make?” Sam asked, interrupting the man.

“Seventy thousand is what we pay-”

“I’ll take seventy-thousand. You’ll need to pay me with checks since you lost my ID,” Sam said.

“Okay. Seventy-thousand, cashable check,” Matt repeated.

“Now, let’s work out the details, Matt,” Sam said, smiling.

***

Standing outside the lobby door, Sam smiled and waved at a rather pretty lady leaving the building. She was dressed well, a good figure, and a rather pretty face with dark-brown eyes and brown hair.

He was five minutes early, but he’d completed everything he’d needed to get done today.

Unfortunately it’d left him starving.

Right now, every woman looked like a walking feast to him and it was somewhat difficult to not hit them with a charm and drag them behind a building.

The pretty lady tripped as she stepped off the curb and had to break eye contact with him.

“What are you doing?! Why are you here!?”

Turning, Sam found Abigail standing at the door. Her face was bright red and she looked appalled.

“Why, waiting for you of course,” Sam said easily as Abigail walked up to him. “You said to pick you up at six, I’m picking you up at six.”

A number of people walked out the door, ever single one of them stopping to look at Abigail and Sam.

“No!” Abigail hissed. “I said to… I said to meet me in the car, in the parking lot. Not here!”

“Ah, my apologies then. Shall we go? I’d like to hear about your day, eat dinner, and make plans,” Sam said. He didn’t understand the problem, but he was happy to figure it out.

Communication was the basis of any relationship in Sam’s point of view.

“Shut up!” Abigail said, grabbing his arm and dragging him into the parking lot.

Sam shrugged his shoulders. He was perfectly happy not talking as he was talking. After being alone for so long he’d learned to tolerate almost anything.

“I parked where you told me to,” Sam said.

Abigail didn’t say anything, she just growled under her breath, hustling him along.

They walked by the pretty lady Sam had seen earlier.

“H-hello,” she said to Sam, ignoring Abigail.

“Hi there,” Sam said, waving a hand at her. Then he turned and offered Abigail the keys as they got closer to her car.

Maybe I can feed from her later.

Abigail angrily took the keys from Sam’s hand and opened the driver’s side door. “Get in!”

Getting into the car, Sam was confused by this point. Abigail was acting much like some of his contracts had that he’d spent some time with.

But only after usually the’d started sleeping together.

“What’s the problem?” Sam asked. “We’re not sleeping together, and I need to feed. She seemed perfectly willing.”

“Yeah. No. I mean… ugh,” Abigail said, starting the car. “People think I don’t have a boyfriend.”

“Okay?” Sam asked.

“And they’re going to think you’re my boyfriend now,” Abigail said.

“Well, tell them I’m not. Simple as that,” Sam said. “Anyways. How was work? Anything interesting?”

“No. Just… work. Ya know?” Abigail said, buckling her seatbelt. Sighing she put her face in her hands. “Another day answering calls and listening to rich assholes complain that their three hundred dollar sunglasses broke.”

“I could see how that’s frustrating,” Sam said.

It wasn’t a new complaint. He’d heard it throughout the ages and on different planes.

Life was much the same in every corner of the galaxy. It just wore different disguises.

“How was your day?” Abigail asked.

“Good. I got a job by the way. I even managed to talk them into letting me start immediately. I start tomorrow,” Sam said. “I also have a driver’s license, social security card, birth-certificate, credit-card incoming, and a bank account now.”

“You… did all that in one day? How?” Abigail asked, starting the car and putting it into reverse.

“Magic,” Sam said. “Alright. Let’s go home, have dinner, and then I’ll go find a meal for myself.”