Cursing Cutey

In a dark room, Bea sat with her eyes closed amongst several other people. She focused her energy, slowly emitting a purple glow around her.

"Alright, Bea," one of the girls around her whispered. "You've got your aura going. Now, spread your energy outward and light the candles with the flame of your soul." Bea concentrated harder and slowly spread her aura outward, but it stopped short of the candles. With a small grunt, she pushed her aura further outward so that it touched the candles.

"It's not working, Mary," another girl said quietly. "Are you sure a purple aura is going to light candles?"

"Shut up and give her a chance!" Mary whispered harshly. "Okay, Bea. Intensify your spirit." The purple light grew brighter, but the candles remained unaffected. "Search deep within yourself. Feel it out."

"Use the force," one of the guys chuckled.

"Cut it out, Luc!" Mary chided.

"Sorry, couldn't resist." Bea began to weaken and her aura began to wane. Then she felt a foreign energy within herself. It was different from her. Then she heard a voice identical to her own.

"Let me show you how it's done," the voice said in her mind. Then, it felt as if Bea had lost control of her body to another presence. Suddenly, her aura turned a fiery red-orange.

"How did she do that?" one of the girls asked.

"Is it me or did it just get hotter in here?" Luc asked.

"You bet it did." The words came from Bea's lips but she herself had not willed them to speak. Nor had she intended to curl them into a smile. She became frightened and recaptured control, dissipating the aura instantly. Whatever that presence was, it had not only lit the candles, but also made a complete circle of fire around her.

"Way to go Bea," Luc said, patting her on the back. "Didn't know ya had it in ya."

"Neither did I," Bea said, panting.

"That's enough for today," Mary said, extinguishing the flames with a wave of her hand. "This meeting's over." Everybody got up to leave while Mary stood in front of Bea, who was still panting. After everyone left, Mary snapped her fingers to turn on the light. Mary was a darkly tanned newman with bob-cut hair that faded from red, to purple, to pink. She wore a black tank top, with bare midriff, and a black dress. She had several interesting tattoos on her body, including a black dragon that coiled around her right arm.

"I didn't make that fire," Bea said, steadying her breath.

"I know," Mary said, crouching down and holding Bea's chin. "But whatever made that fire was inside of you."

"Is it still there?" Bea asked as Mary looked into her eyes.

"I don't sense anything out of the ordinary," Mary said, feeling her forehead. "I guess it just possessed you for a second and then went off. It didn't seem to be anything evil."

"Thanks, Mary," Bea said, standing up. Mary slapped a charm onto her forehead and splashed her with water.

"Just checking," Mary grinned stupidly.

"Mary!" a human woman called from the doorway, tapping her foot. She wore a blue dress, had lighter skin, and light purple hair. "Did you start a fire in one of your meetings again?"

"No, Mom!" Mary said quickly. "It wasn't me! It was her!" She looked to where Bea had been just in time to see the remnants of a disappearing Ryuker portal.

"Don't try to blame this rubbish on one of your blasted spirit friends, young lady!" her mother yelled, tapping her foot faster. "It's a good thing Cutey is on a date."

Indeed, Cutey, better known as Q, was on a date with Ace at a restaurant. They were eating lunch and Ace was listening intently to Q's life story/rant. He was wearing a red shirt and brown pants. She wore a yellow jacket and a blue skirt, a much more tasteful outfit than her Hunewearl costume.

"So your real name's Cutey?" Ace asked, chuckling.

"That's right, asswhipe," she said, blushing. "I don't give a shit if people know that stupid-ass name. Just don't fucking call me that."

"Pair it up with your last name and it's pretty interesting," Ace snickered.

"Yeah, yeah, Cutey Honey," Q said, smirking.

"So, do you still regret me asking you out?" Ace asked.

"Can't say I do," she shrugged. "You're a real mother-fucking charmer, y'know that, assface? I came here knowing that all you wanted was to…to…" She uncomfortably clipped her sentence and tried to reword it, mindful of the other customers staring at her.

"Get into your pants," Ace finished for her, smiling amiably. "Don't mind all those other people."

"It's not that fu…fu…easy," she stumbled, struggling to avoid the worst words.

"Well, we're finished eating here anyway," he said, getting up and leaving Meseta. "Just let 'er rip." Q blushed deeply and looked around at the people glancing at her. As they walked to the exit of the restaurant, she covered her mouth and muffled out an incoherent stream of swears. Nearly everyone in the restaurant gasped at what they heard, while Ace kept on a friendly, if slightly embarrassed smile. When they made it out, Q let out a heavy sigh of frustration.

"Goddamnit, I fucking hate this fucking shitty…" She clipped her speech again. "Shoulda' fucking took the goddamn shitty pill…dammit."

"That wouldn't be any fun," Ace said, putting his arm around her shoulder. "That would've made things a little too easy. I like to earn my rewards. And I was counting on you being a challenge." She took a breath and calmed herself.

"Damn straight," she sighed. "But damn are you trying. About how long does it take your ass to…uh…screw a girl after you first met the bitch?"

"Hmm," he thought. "Well, let's see. I usually aim for about one day. Some girls just refuse to do anything on the first date, y'know? In spring, it usually takes me a few minutes."

"You asshole," she laughed. "Those were newearls."

"Yeah, I guess that doesn't count," he grinned. "But what I'm really proud of is that I actually got two lesbians. I'm pretty sure the first one was a little drunk, but she was Dezoran so it balances out."

"And the second?" she asked.

"Ellen," Ace beamed. "You may know her as L."

"Oh my fucking god!" she laughed. "You're serious? The bitch had to be wasted."

"It almost ended up like that," Ace said, looking up in thought. "It took me a long time to even get her on a date. I had to pay her just to get started. After like a week of dates, I started dressing more feminine. A week or two later, I was in full drag with fake boobs and everything. She started drinking and I took her home. Apparently, she was wasted enough to want me, but besides a little touching and kissing, I didn't let anything else happen. The next day I convinced her to just try it."

"C'mon, there had to be more to it than that," Q said, intrigued. "That bitch doesn't just agree to shit like that."

"Yeah," Ace nodded. "I promised her that if she didn't like it, I'd pay her two grand."

"Pretty fucking confident," Q said, smirking. "So what happened?"

"Let's just say I got worried that I had overdone it," Ace said cryptically. Q gave him a questioning look. "She couldn't stop screaming for about five minutes. And then, for another few minutes, she couldn't say anything better than what you said on the way out of the restaurant. I got really worried, but my gut told me that it was a good thing when she wouldn't let go of me for twenty minutes."

"So, she's not really a lesbian anymore, is she?" Q asked, mouthing out swear words silently.

"That's the thing," Ace said, frowning. "She got really depressed afterwards. And since I'm not the type of guy who just sleeps with a girl and leaves forever, I helped convince her that she was still a lesbian since I had offered so much money and I was still in drag."

"And here I thought you were the fuck 'em and leave 'em type," Q said, blushing at her own words.

"I kinda am," Ace said truthfully. "I'm not ready for any mono…mono…"

"Monogamous relationships," Q offered.

"Thanks," he said. "My point is that most of my dates end up as friends, but I still sleep with most of them every now and then. And I have a lot of friends. I know all the girls at Regalia."

"Y'know," Q smirked, "it's nice that you're telling me all this shit beforehand, but it's not really helping your chances."

"Like I said," Ace smirked back, "I like a challenge. And judging from your lack of swears, I'd say I'm winning." Q blushed as he squeezed her against his side.

"Oh shit, he's right!" Q thought.

"Just to feed my ego," Ace continued, "I'll even tell you my strategy as we go. I've already fed you and had a heart-to-heart. Next, I'm going to butter you up with a little shopping and treat you to some massage therapy at the Jutto Spa."

"Aw damn!" Q cursed to herself. "He's got his shit lined up pretty fucking solid."

"I've had plenty of experience," Ace said confidently. "Don't feel pressured in any way. Just enjoy the date. My strategy is always to make friends first."

"Careful," she said. "You might get stuck in the friend zone."

"That's the point," he chuckled. A yellow cab suddenly landed in front of them. The cab driver popped her head out, grinning.

"I'm not late am I, Ace?" she asked, wiping her long green bangs out of her face.

"You're right on time," he smiled back. "Q, this is Alcippe. Alcippe, this is my date."

"Hi…bitch," Q said, smiling nervously.

"Just ignore the cursing," Ace said, as they got into the hover car.

"Whatever you say," Alcippe shrugged. "Shopping center, right?"

"Right."

"You had this shit planned out this fucking much?" Q asked, astonished that the cab was pretty clean.

"Yep," Ace said as the cab lifted off. "I got a few of my friends to help me out. Aclippe is one of my friends."

"So you two…?" Q began uncomfortably.

"Hell yeah, we did," Aclippe said. "Girl, you won't be regrettin' this. I promised Ace I wouldn't give anything away, but I've never heard of any woman who didn't like spending a little time with him. He's not the smartest or richest guy around, but he's good to his friends. Real good."

"First recommendation, complete," Ace said, lounging back.