Succubi - Ch.14 - Curious (Patreon)

In retrospect, having already established that my two favourite foods were chicken nuggets and pizza, it probably came as no surprise to anyone at all that sushi totally wasn't my thing.

Ethan was really good about it, and he did his best to get me to like it. He knew the Japanese names for all the different things, and I tried to stay open-minded and stuff. And I really did try things, I didn't just turn my nose up because it looked weird.

But yeah. No. It didn't turn out so good. I didn't even know how to use chopsticks. The food was way out of my league. 

It was ok though, the place also served cooked food and he ordered me some shrimp tempura and chicken teriyaki which I did enjoy. The waiter even brought me a fork.

And Ethan got to eat all the stuff that involved fish eggs and raw seafood, which was fine because he liked that sort of thing. So we both had a good meal and neither of us went hungry.

Still, he seemed really upset and kept apologizing as if it was his fault that I had the food preferences of a twelve-year-old. And I kept telling him it was ok and I had fun and even if I didn't like the maggy-row or the hammy-chee or whatever it was called. I liked the deep-fried shrimps and the chicken in sauce, and I enjoyed spending time with him.

After we got the food all sorted out we got back to talking about normal stuff. I found out Ethan had a part-time job at the mall across from my apartment building. He worked in the food court, at a place that specialized in french-fries and poutine.

When he asked if I was working I froze up for a second or two. I didn't want to tell him about the cam-girl stuff, I thought that might freak him out a little too much. Plus I hadn't actually done that since that whole Verothilas thing started, it was almost two and a half months since my last photo shoot or video. 

And with Sue's big bed in my bedroom I didn't have anywhere to set up the lights and tripod, so I couldn't really do any more shooting anyways. So I basically couldn't get back at it until we moved into Susan's house and maybe set up one of the smaller bedrooms as a set.

So I told him I wasn't working at the moment, and we just left it at that.

When the bill came he tried to pay it but I insisted it was my turn since he paid for our coffee. 

Ethan protested that coffee didn't count because it was just coffee but I overruled him and said he could get dinner next time. That led to some awkwardness about the whole 'next time' concept, like yes I already assumed we'd have a second date.

With coffee and dinner out of the way, we were both sort of stumped about what to do next.

He was reluctant to take me over to his place to hang out or watch TV, he didn't say why but I figured it's because he lived with his folks. Like I could totally get that, I loved my mom but I really didn't want to take Ethan over to her place to hang out.

And I didn't want to bring him back to my place, since it was a little crowded and he might feel weird meeting my girlfriends. Especially since he knew Melissa took one of his friends out last night. 

If it wasn't so cold out I would have suggested we just go for a walk or something, like if there was a park nearby that might be nice. But it was too frigid for that kind of thing.

Neither of us felt like seeing a movie, neither of us were serious drinkers so we didn't want to go to a bar. 

So in the end we didn't go anywhere, we just sat there at the table for another hour talking and trying to figure out where we should go. Now and then the waiter gave us an impatient look but I kept pretending I didn't see him.

Eventually we ran out of things to talk about. I didn't really want the date to end so early, and I got the feeling Ethan didn't either, but it felt like we were running out of options. And to be honest it was only supposed to be coffee, we'd stretched a one-hour coffee date into something like four hours with coffee, dinner, and lots of conversation.

So the date came to an end, but we made some vague plans to do something again soon. We'd probably see each other at college during the week, or if not we had each other's contact info and all that stuff.

Before we got up from the table I carefully put on that poofy toque Sue loaned me. Even though my horns were invisible they were still there and putting a hat on over them meant getting it just right so they weren't obviously poking up through it or whatever.

I wasn't really thinking about it as I did it, and I didn't have a mirror in front of me so I was doing it by feel. As I finished I realized Ethan was watching. He had a sort of odd expression on his face, like obviously he could tell there was something unusual going on with my head and he was trying to figure out what it was.

After a few more seconds Ethan finally commented, "That was kind of a strange way to put on a hat."

"Uh..." I had no idea how to respond. As usual I couldn't come up with anything creative on the spot. But the truth was pretty unbelievable so I decided to go with that, but sort of like it was a joke. 

I smiled and said, "I'm half demon, but my horns are invisible right now? So as not to scare the humans? And my horns get really cold outside this time of year, so I need the hat to keep them warm. But putting the hat on over my horns means I have to make sure it's on right so they're not noticeable."

He looked at me sort of funny and asked, "Half demon? And you have horns? Uh... Anything else I should know about?"

"I have a tail too," I replied in a slightly silly, cheerful tone. "I've been keeping it hidden under my skirt though, so it doesn't get cold."

He stared at me for a few more seconds, then just shook his head and put on his coat without saying another word.

I got my coat on as well, and slung my purse over my arm.

Home was in the same direction for both of us so we got back on the bus together, but his stop was much closer. We said our goodbyes on the bus, and I watched as he got off and headed away. He lived in the same neighbourhood as Susan's place, so I was already familiar with the area.

About fifteen minutes later I was home, and both Melissa and Susan were on me with questions as soon as I was in the door.

"How did it go?" Melissa asked. "You were gone a long time for coffee, what did you two do?"

Susan added, "What was he like? Did you have a good time?"

I smiled, "Give me a minute, I just got here!"

My girlfriends waited impatiently while I put my coat away and got into something more comfortable. I cancelled the spell on my bits and finally emerged from my room wearing just a pair of leggings and a tunic top. Then I got a vodka cooler and joined them on the sofa.

After a sip of my drink I told them, "Ok, so he was nice. He's shy. He's in the arts program like us, but he's doing drawing and painting? And some creative writing. Oh and he has a part time job at the mall across the street, slinging fries in the food court. We spent an hour at the coffee place, then we went to a little sushi restaurant that he liked."

Susan and Melissa both stared at me, and Sue half-demanded "He got you to eat sushi?!"

I blushed, "He got me to try sushi. It really wasn't my thing, but the place had cooked food too? So he had sushi and I had deep fried shrimp and some chicken thing. It was good. Anyways, we spent a few hours there just talking more and stuff. Then it was over and we both went home."

"Are you going to see him again?" Melissa asked. "Did you make more plans?"

I shrugged, "We didn't make plans for another date. But we talked about making plans for another date. We'll probably run into each other on campus or something right? Or we can text or whatever. We'll see."

Both my girlfriends seemed a little disappointed. I figured compared to one of their 'dates' mine was extremely quiet and boring. 

Even so, Melissa gave me a smile and said "Still, you asked a boy out on a date. And it sounded like you had a good time? That's kind of wild, all things considered."

"Yeah," I blushed again. "Actually about that? I might be totally wrong about this, but I'm not entirely sure he's a boy."

Susan frowned, "What do you mean?"

"It's just a feeling I got? But uh, yeah. I got a feeling he might be a trans girl. Either an egg, or maybe closeted."

Before either of them could respond I asked, "Lily are you there? You'd know for sure, right? You can tell from his soul?"

Lily replied "I'm here Mara. And you're correct, that is something I can tell when I see someone. That's how I knew about you, and that's how I knew about Melissa."

"So what can you tell me about Ethan?" I asked. 

She hesitated a moment, then answered "I'm not going to tell you. If you recall, I didn't tell you about Melissa either. I prompted you to talk to her. If Ethan is trans, that is something he will have to share with you himself when he is ready."

I frowned, then just nodded "Ok Lily. That's a good point."

Of course, if I got more 'feelings' from him next time we were together, that might help me figure it out. Or at least it might make it easier for me to start approaching the topic with him. Like if I knew he was in the closet I could sort of drop hints it was safe to come out to me. Or if he was an egg, I maybe I could guide him towards some self-discovery somehow.

Melissa and Susan were still waiting for me to relay Lily's answer, which I passed on to them.

"Yeah, good point," Melissa sighed. "That sort of thing is extremely private and personal."

Sue asked me "What makes you think he's trans?"

That led me to blush again, and I had a couple gulps of my cooler before I told her the same stuff I told Melissa the other night, about me getting those intuition things about people. 

"It's not like reading minds," I added, "And I don't get it at all for you two, or Lily. But it works on regular humans I guess? That's why my mood's been messed up this week, I was having a lot of trouble dealing with it at school."

"You're doing a lot better now," Melissa observed. "I think you really turned it around yesterday afternoon."

I smiled, "I guess. I got a little bit of confidence, and it's gone a long way."

She smiled back, "And all it took was asking a boy out on a date. Who knew?"

Susan suppressed a giggle while I just blushed.