A Young Griff's Life with Monster Girls
Chapter 3
…
"I don't understand, what's the problem with Papi's host family?" Aegon asked Smith as she led over for a private chat, passing his documents with practised ease.
"Problem?" Smith raised a curious eyebrow.
"Yes. You came all this way prepared with the documents, so there's obviously a problem with Papi's family," Aegon pointed out.
"Well, I wouldn't call it a 'problem' per sé. Papi's host family has a very needy lamia homestay, and they're getting tired of running around after a runaway like Papi," Smith said tiredly while Aegon wondered if neediness was a trait common to most lamia. "Harpies a liminal species that love to roam free, and additionally, they aren't too bright which makes them difficult homestays," she added.
Aegon looked over at the two liminals and wondered just how he was going to deal with all this when Smith spoke again. "Now, if my math is correct, you have a few spare rooms in your house already, don't you?" she asked.
"You would know, you've been over often enough," Aegon said dryly and Smith gave a sly smile and said, "Then that shouldn't be a problem."
"Right, but in the meantime, don't go dropping anymore homestays on me," Aegon said sternly. "I've now got enough on my plate as it is," he added jerking a thumb over to Papi and Miia. Papi was eating sandwich after sandwich from the picnic basket whilst Miia laughed at the gluttonous Harpy.
"So I see," Smith chuckled as if she knew some joke he didn't. Aegon sighed tiredly before walking back over to Miia and Papi.
"Let's go, you two. Time to head home," the Valyrian said to the two liminals.
…
Papi fell in love with the house immediately, dragging Aegon and Miia around as soon as they walked in the door to get a tour of the place. She dragged them through the dining hall and attached kitchen, up the stairs into Aegon's room which was fairly Spartan in comparison to Miia's room where everything was in a state of organised chaos with clothes strewn everywhere except the drawers and closet. After that, there was a quick tour of the bathroom then the spare room which would become Papi's.
"Papi's new bed!" the Harpy cried happily as she bounced on the large mattress and revelled in the softness of the sheets.
"I've spoken with Papi's former host family, and they're happy to send over her things tomorrow," Smith said poking her head in the door, her phone to her ear.
"My thanks. I'll call you if there's anything else," Aegon replied when he felt a tugging at his sleeve and looked to see Papi looking up at him.
"Do you have video games?" Papi asked looking owlishly at him. "Papi loves videogames," she said. Aegon shook his head and Papi looked disheartened.
"Tell you what: we'll go on the computer after you get cleaned up and we'll find something," Aegon then said to her. Papi perked up immediately and engulfed Aegon in a feathery hug.
"Yay! Mister Aegon is super nice!" she declared loudly. "Papi loves Mister Aegon!"
Aegon smiled and ruffled her hair gently. Smith gave a cooing sound and Miia had a pleasant smile on her lips. Aegon then took Papi to the bathroom to wash up. Miia watched them leave and gave a dreamy sigh, obviously lost in a daydream of her Darling.
"I'm surprised you're taking this rather well, Miia," Smith remarked. "Isn't what Papi doing bothering you?" she asked.
"Please! Papi is a child," Miia said confidently. "I refuse to be jealous of a child." She sounded miff. "Darling is a good and wonderful man who takes of those entrusted to him, and besides…"
Miia smiled haughtily and said, "Papi has the figure of a child, and Darling wouldn't find that type sexy. She's no competition for me whatsoever!" she declared with an evil laugh.
"Oh, Papi may look like a child, but she's the same age as you," Smith said slyly.
Smith almost broke into peals of laughter at seeing the expression on Miia's face and wished she had a camera to capture the moment.
"R-Really?!" Miia spat out incredulously.
"Yeah," Smith giggled. "Harpies stop growing after they hit puberty in order to remain light to fly," she said and with that Miia launched herself in the direction of the bathroom.
…
Meanwhile in the bathroom, Aegon was helping Papi remove her tank top and averted his eyes to give her some privacy. "Mister Aegon is very nice taking care of Papi," the Harpy stated cheerfully. "Will you be Papi's husband?" she asked suddenly causing Aegon to glance at her.
"Erm, I'll-" Aegon was part way through saying "I'll think about," when Miia barged into the room, nearly blowing the door off its hinges, a look of icy fury on her face.
"Darling, out. I'll take it from here," she said icily and she all but threw Aegon out of the bathroom and slammed the door behind him. Aegon could then hear Miia coldly scolding Papi, but he couldn't quite hear what she was saying. Entering the kitchen, Aegon found Smith holding her belly, laughing her head off.
"What was that all about?" Aegon asked Smith who wiped her eyes and replied, "Oh, nothing. I just informed Miia that Papi is the same age as her, even if she doesn't look it."
"Oh… wait, what?!"
…
The next day Aegon was out shopping. This morning had been hectic as he, Miia and Papi headed into the city to a videogame store to buy Papi a gaming console and a mountain of games. Then once they got home, Aegon spent an hour setting up the console and entertaining Papi, before he finally managed to get out of the house to do some grocery shopping.
The local supermarket was having a sale and he was determined to buy what he could, now that he had two liminals to feed. After buying a mountain of food and other sundries, Aegon left the grocery store and began the trek back home. As he walked down the alleyway on the route home, Aegon neared an intersection when the sudden sound of something quite familiar to him rang in his ears. Then something barrelled into Aegon and sent him sprawling to the ground, also scattering his groceries. Rubbing his aching head & back and looking at his scattered groceries with dismay, Aegon turned to look at whomever had crashed into and yell at them to watch where they were going, but he stopped dead when he saw who or what had crashed into him.
"Oh, happy day! Are you the one destined to be my master?" asked a tall gorgeous young woman with pale skin, deep blue eyes and long golden blonde hair done in a ponytail. She was also quite stacked in the chest department and Aegon found himself glued to them momentarily but as he looked at the rest of her, he realised two things.
A: she had the ears of a horse, and B: where her waist ended was the body of a horse covered in a large black skirt.
"Uhh…" was all Aegon could say to this woman as he vaguely recalled the species she was. A Centaur if he was correct, a Centauride to be precise.
"Might you be the one destined to be my master?" the centauride asked him eagerly.
"Destined to be your master?" Aegon said in confusion.
"Indeed. I read up on Japan's customs and learned that you crashed into someone, they were your destiny," the centauride said brightly. She looked at Aegon hopefully. "Are you my destiny?" she asked him.
"I think you may have read the wrong book on Japan's customs," Aegon told her as he stood up. "And it's rather rude to not introduce yourself," he then said.
"Forgive me! I am Centorea Shianus! A proud member of the mighty centaur race!" the centauride declared proudly drawing forth a sword from her… waist? Or at least the part where her human half met her equine half?
"A pleasure to meet you, Lady Centorea. My name is Aegon Targaryen," Aegon said to her. "So, what are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be with your host family?" he asked.
"I am out searching for my host family," Centorea informed him.
"Searching? Have you lost them?" Aegon asked.
"No! What I mean to say is that I am searching for the one who will be my host family," Centora replied.
"Oh… and you believe crashing into someone will reveal the one to you?" Aegon asked.
"Is that not how it works?" Centorea said.
"I don't think so," Aegon said shaking his head in response.
"Oh, I knew I should've put toast in my mouth!" Centorea exclaimed looking annoyed.
"Well, in any case, I think there's someone I should call about this," Aegon muttered as he took out the cellphone and dialled in Smith's number. If anyone could explain this, it would be her.
A moment later, Smith explained the situation to Aegon. "Centaurs are treated a little differently when it comes to host families, Darling-kun," she said to him over the phone. "They actively go out to search for a host family rather than be assigned one at random."
"And the whole bit about crashing into someone?" Aegon asked.
"No idea. I suspect Miss Shianus was reading a romance manga to learn that."
Aegon glanced back at Centorea who was waiting patiently for him to finish. "Well, what do I do about this, then?" Aegon asked Smith.
"Hmm… well you could always…" Smith began.
"Smith… no…" Aegon said but Smith continued. "…take Centorea into your home~?" she said slyly.
"I told you not to drop anymore homestays on me, didn't I?" Aegon said exasperatedly.
"Technically, I didn't drop this one on you. She crashed into you," Smith replied cheekily.
"Even so, I have my hands full already!" Aegon growled through the phone.
"What? Don't you want to do the noble thing and take Centorea into your home?" Smith shot back. Aegon sighed tiredly and cursed silently, his gallant nature nudging him to do the right thing.
"I'll call you later," Aegon said and he could practically hear Smith's smug grin through the phone as he hung up. Looking at Centorea he said to her, "Miss Smith's already explained it to me, and since you already found me, I suppose I could give this a try," he said with a strained smile.
"Thank you, Master! I hope to serve you well!" Centorea gushed.
"Alright, first thing: don't call me 'master', you're not my slave," Aegon said to her. "Just call me Aegon, or Egg if you prefer," he added.
"Yes, maste- I mean, Aegon!" Centorea said.
Then some loud voices broke into the air. "Hey! Look at the freaky horse-lady!" Aegon and Centorea looked over to see a man and woman, both wearing clothing akin to a biker gang's outfit, laughing and pointing at them. Or rather, pointing and laughing at Centorea, making rude remarks to her.
"Look at her! How can she go around places looking like that?" jeered the man while the woman beside him laughed raucously. "And look at her huge tits!" the man added with a leering grin.
"Insolent wretches!" Centorea spat as she prepared to draw her sword. Aegon quickly stood in front of her.
"Lady Centorea, you can't!" the Valyrian told her.
"Why not?" Centorea demanded.
"It's against the law for liminals to attack humans," Aegon reminded her. "If you attack them, no matter good the reason, you'll be tried and sent home to your people. Do you really want that?" he asked her.
"Am I to let those ignorant wretches get away with insulting me?" Centorea said sulkily.
"No. Let me deal with them," Aegon said. "Give me your sword," he requested. Surprised, Centorea handed over her sword to Aegon. Quickly examining it, Aegon noted that it wasn't a battle-ready blade, but no-one else besides him and Centorea knew that. With a nod, Aegon turned around and walked over to the jeering and taunting couple, dragging the tip of Centorea's swords along the ground.
The racist couple's taunts and jeers died as they saw Aegon walking towards them with a large sword in his hand. Stopping within a blade's length of the couple, Aegon looked at the couple before speaking.
"So… you think it's funny to make fun of those who are different from you?" he asked them in a quiet icy voice as he hefted the sword in his hands, slowly raising it towards the man's throat, the tip just an inch away.
The racist man tried to say something, but he couldn't find the words to say what he wanted. Sweat was pouring off his brow and his girlfriend was quaking in her boots.
"Liminals may be forbidden from attacking humans, but I am not bound by such a law, and seeing as you two bigots are need of a lesson in manners, then I am obligated to teach you it," Aegon said coldly.
"You can't… we'll…" the racist man tried to say.
"You'll what?" Aegon asked him. "I despise people like you; people who will taunt and jeer and bully others, but when faced with a real man, they piss their breeches," he said.
"So, are you going to be a real man? Or are you going to stand there like the coward you are?"
The racist man trembled in his boots and the stench of urine and faeces soaked the air before he spun around and fled with his girlfriend running beside him.
"Hmph, that's what I thought," Aegon remarked, his nose wrinkling at the lingering stench the man's piss left behind. Walking back to Centorea, Aegon handed her back her sword. "There, easily done," he said to her.
Centorea's eyes sparkled with awe and admiration; she had truly found a master worth serving, not to mention he was quite handsome as well.
…
Walking back home with Centorea in tow, Aegon was greeted by Miia and Papi. "Darling! I was so worried!" Miia cried as she engulfed Aegon in a bone-crushing hug, but she suddenly noticed Centorea standing behind Aegon. Her eyes narrowing, she hissed out, "And who is this, Darling?"
"Miia, this is Centorea Shianus, she'll be staying with us," Aegon said to the Lamia awkwardly.
"Staying with us?" Miia echoed, glaring at Centorea darkly, seeing another rival for her darling's heart.
"Erm… yes… it's a little complicated," Aegon said in a small voice. "But I'm sure we'll all get along just fine," he added.
Looking at Centorea, Aegon said, "Lady Centorea, this is Miia and Papi. They're homestays like you," he explained to her.
"A pleasure to meet you both, Miia and Papi," Centorea said politely. "I hope that I won't be too much of a bother," she added.
"Right~," Miia muttered. "And how did you meet Darling?" she asked pointedly.
"She ran into me. Literally, and was convinced that I was her destiny," Aegon quickly said before Centorea could say anything.
"Destiny, huh?" Miia remarked as her glare intensified at Centorea who shuffled on the spot, her ears twitching slightly.
Papi then chose to speak, "Hello, Miss Horse-lady! I'm Papi!" she said exuberantly.
"A pleasure to meet you, Papi," Centorea replied to the Harpy. "It's nice to meet you," she then said.
"Do you play videogames?" Papi asked innocently.
"Um… no, I've never played videogames," Centorea confessed.
"That's okay! Papi can teach you!" Papi offered.
"Erm… thank you, Papi, I appreciate it," Centorea said with a smile.
"Shall we adjourn indoors?" Aegon suggested and everyone went inside. Aegon put the groceries away while Papi showed Centorea around the house, with the exception of the upstairs portion of the house, due to the stairs not being made for centaurs.
Miia took this moment to speak to Aegon. "Darling, why must you attract so many women to you?" she lamented.
"My personal charm?" Aegon said sarcastically as he put the groceries away.
"I'm serious, Darling! Having Papi here is bad enough! Now that Horsewoman?!" Miia exclaimed.
"Her name is Centorea, Miia, and she's just like you as a homestay, wanting to experience human society and Japan," Aegon told the Lamia.
Miia pouted before saying, "You have a kind heart, Darling, no wonder why I love you so," she said.
Aegon sighed, when the phone suddenly rang. Answering it, Aegon wasn't too surprised to hear Smith's voice on the other end.
"Darling? How are things?" asked the honey sweet voice of Smith.
"Just showing Centorea around the house, with the exception of upstairs," Aegon replied.
"Well, you'll be pleased to know that since Centorea is staying with you, your house will renovated to accommodate Centorea, and you'll have some paperwork to fill out as well," Smith said.
"Oh, goody…"
"I'll also drop by soon to drop off the paperwork and see how everyone is doing," Smith then said.
"I'll get the kettle ready," Aegon muttered dryly and was greeted with Smith's laughter as she hung up.
Setting the phone in its cradle, Aegon rubbed the back of his head and prepared to get a pot of instant coffee ready.
Within half an hour, the doorbell rang and Aegon opened to reveal Smith, and she was accompanied by four other people, all of them liminals.
"Darling, is that coffee I smell?" Smith asked airily as she breezed past Aegon.
"You didn't say you were bringing company," Aegon said faintly.
"Didn't I? I'm sure I did," Smith said faux-innocently.
"You didn't," Aegon told her.
"Oh! Well, I hope you don't mind," Smith said with a disarming grin. "Darling, these are the girls of MON-Squad, Monster Operations and Neutralisation Squad," she explained.
"Hey, Boss said you're a mean cook," said the first liminal; she had stitches all over her body and parts of her body were of different skin tones indicating they weren't original. "Name's Zombina," she added sticking out a hand to shake. Aegon shook it and almost immediately, the hand of Zombina came off. Aegon stared at the detached limb and looked at Zombina who broke into peals of laughter. "Sorry about that!" she laughed. "Stitches tend to come undone often," she explained as she took back her detached hand with her other hand.
"Zombina's a zombie, so word of advice, don't let her bite you," Smith told Aegon. "And we also have Manako. Say hello, Manako."
The next liminal was a petite young woman with a large eye indicating she was a cyclops, a Mono-Eye to be precise. She looked up at Aegon timidly and gave a quiet hello, Aegon smiled at her kindly which the Mono-Eye blush and look away.
"Next we Doppel, our shapeshifter." A petite young woman who was practically naked were it not for her long grey hair floating about her, covering the naughty bits. She had golden yellow eyes and she looked at Aegon with a mischievous smile before her features and appearance changed to that of Aegon precisely with the exception of the eyes which still retained their golden yellow colour.
"Hi there!" Doppel-Aegon greeted Aegon with a smile.
"Fascinating, you can copy people precisely?" Aegon asked her.
Doppel-Aegon laughed and said, "Well, I'd have to get a real good look at someone to get everything right." She then shifted back into her regular form.
"Hmmm reminds me of the stories of the Faceless Men of Braavos," Aegon muttered.
"Faceless Men? Who are they?" Doppel asked in interest.
"An order of assassins who can reputedly change their entire appearance to that of someone else," replied Aegon before he looked at the last liminal and had top crane his neck up to look at her face.
"And lastly, we have Tionishia," Smith told Aegon as he looked at the last liminal.
"Hi there! It's nice to meet you!" Tionishia said exuberantly as she suddenly glomped Aegon, pressing him into her obscenely large breasts which Aegon noted were larger than Centorea's. Aegon's mind was then filled with a warm dull haze and he felt more relaxed and lethargic. He did not even register the sounds of voices calling out to him.
"Darling!?"
Aegon was then wrenched out of Tionishia's embrace and he found himself in Miia's embrace. "Who are these women, Darling?!" the Lamia demanded. Aegon was still too dazed to even respond. "What have you done to my Darling?!" Miia yelled at Smith and the MON girls.
"Calm yourself, Miia, no harm done," Smith said smoothly. "Now, I don't know about you, but I could do with some dinner," she added. "You wouldn't mind, would you Darling?" she asked Aegon who had recovered a little.
"Huh? Oh… sure…" Aegon mumbled as he stumbled off.
Aegon prepared dinner for everyone and to his consternation, all the food he had bought earlier today was used up. He sighed dejectedly, knowing his budget was going to take a real hit if Smith and those MON girls were going to keep coming over for dinner. He didn't want to be rude and forbid Smith from coming over, and it wasn't like he could anyway, but he would have to ask Smith how he was going to budget everything for food costs. His finances were strained as they were.
"Something wrong, Darling?" Smith suddenly asked him. Aegon sighed and turned around to look at Smith and reply.
"All the food I bought today was used. I was going to attempt to make themlast for the next week," he said and he looked at Smith pointedly and added, "And you saw fit to arrive and clean out my pantry."
"Darling, can you blame us? You cook so wonderfully," Smith said silkily.
"You can't flatter your way out of this, Smith," Aegon said coldly which Smith blush a little. "How am I going to be able to keep up with the food costs if you start coming over every night for breakfast, lunch or dinner?"
"Oh, didn't I tell you this? We can reimburse you for the any expenses you need," Smith said with a smile.
"You did not as a point of fact," Aegon said dryly. "I wonder if your superiors are aware of how neglectful you are at your job?" he mused with a slight curl of his lips.
"Don't be like that, Aegon~," Smith giggled although a spark of panic was in her eyes as she did. "So long as you keep the receipts for any expenses you make for your homestays and justify them, we can help cover the costs," she said.
"See that you do, Ms Smith. Or else I'll be having a word with your superiors," Aegon replied sternly.
"Darling!" Miia came crashing in, her eyes sparkling at Aegon and Smith. "What are you doing?! Why aren't you out here with us?" she whined.
"I'll be there in a moment, Miia," Aegon smiled at her reassuringly.
"You better! I don't trust that sneaky witch around you!" Miia groused as she shot Smith a glare. Smith played it off with a laugh as Miia headed back into the living room where the sounds of a game was being made.
"Miia's becoming quite attached to you, isn't she?" Smith said to Aegon.
"I have not done anything with Miia or Papi. Nor will I do anything with Centorea," Aegon said firmly.
"Well, that may be subject to change," Smith tittered slyly.
"What?" Aegon looked at Smith, wondering what she was on about.
"It hasn't been finalised yet, but some rules about the Interspecies Bill are being changed," Smith replied. "And my superiors are quite interested in your very nature and how it would interact with Liminal species," she said with a teasing grin.
"I'd rather not be a guinea pig for whatever skulduggery you're cooking up, Smith," Aegon grunted.
"Well, it hasn't been finalised yet, so we may not see any change, but don't bet on that," Smith said as she then headed out of the kitchen into the living room.
Aegon rested his head against the wall and thumped it a couple of times. "Curse that conniving witch. What did I do to deserve this?" he asked himself as he headed into the living room where he found Papi playing a racing car game with Tioshina and the others all cheering for either Papi or Tioshina.
Taking a moment to relax, Aegon watched as everyone had a rousing good time. Moments like this made it worth it in the end.
…
TO BE CONTINUED…