Disclaimer: I do not own Daily Life with Monster Girls
Also, This chapter has a bit of a formatting issue. You'll see it when you get to it.
Chapter 5. Day one. Part one
"So you understand your position?" The stern faced woman asked as Jack slid into the passenger seat of the hummer. He always found such vehicles to be too cumbersome and bulky for civilian use. But a civilian wasn't utilizing this vehicle was she?
Jack glanced over at Agent Magnus. If he had to use only two words to describe a person he'd use the phrase 'grim determination' for the woman behind the wheel.
Clad in black military fatigues and combat boots, she looked more like a black ops merc than a law enforcement officer. Granted, she was responsible for enforcing laws that applied to some of the most dangerous species on the planet. But did she have to dress like she was ready to jump into a fire fight or slit someone's throat all the time?
"I'm the host for two liminals. My job is to see to their needs, learn as much as I can about them and their culture while acclimating them to human society as best as I can." Jack answered confidently.
The agent gave have him a look over. Jack noticed that her short auburn hair had a pushed up pixie style to it. Her brown eyes scanned for something. Jack couldn't tell what.
"You sound like you believe you can do that."
Jack blinked as she started the hummer and focused ahead. The hell did she mean by that?
He decided to make a light joke out of it. If just to stave off her somber mood from himself. "Well I better have. I didn't quit my job just to laze around all day."
She grunted as she pulled out of the driveway.
"So, how far we going?" Jack asked.
"Ten point seven kilometers." She answered mundanely.
Jack stared at the agent for a second trying to find any clues to her emotionless attitude. And trying to convert kilometers to miles in his head. He couldn't figure out the agent's mood and his brain was hurting from failing to compute a ratio he couldn't remember. Stupid stubborn American education system.
He drew out his little notebook and added a reminder to ask Smythe about Magnus later. He flipped to the front of his pad and reviewed his previous writings.
Outside the window something caught his eye. They had just passed an old video rental store long since gone out of business. Its gaudy orange sign still stood outside the entrance. The store itself was gutted and vacant. Like a concrete and metal carcass slowly decaying off the side of the road.
"Huh. We're actually near my old neighborhood." He turned his head toward the agent and hooked a thumb behind himself. "I used to bike down to that old rental store when I was a kid."
"Mmhm."
"So where'd you grow up?"
Her stern expression softened a small degree as she glanced at Jack. He still couldn't discern anything from it. She faced back to the road and simply stated. "Vancouver."
Jack smiled. More out of getting a personal answer than what the answer actually meant. "Canada. Cool." Jack nodded. "Never been there myself." An odd bit of Vancouver trivia popped in his head. "You ever worked for any of the TV studios there?"
She turned back to Jack and raised an eyebrow. "You'd make a good stunt double, or maybe a supporting guest star in some action series."
Her eyes swiveled toward the road then back at him. "Or maybe." He raised a finger. "You could be a consultant on liminals and MON when they make shows and movies about them."
She snorted and shook her head. A trace of a grin creeped onto her face. Jack's face brightened at her response. She refocused on driving and didn't say anything.
Jack faced forward himself. Disappointed that he hadn't gotten more of a reaction out of her.
"Maybe some day."
Jack whipped his head back toward her. She was still facing ahead but he could just imagine a small smile accompanying her words.
He nodded and laughed inwardly. His mind went blank however, when she turned right into his old neighborhood. The exact road his parent's would take when returning from a trip.
"Uh.. are we actually..?" His mind freaked as she turned onto his street.
No, no way. It can't be.
And yet it was. Barely anything had changed. The Carltons single story ranch on the corner. Mrs Kenly's two story dogtrot across the way. Mr. Davila's- wait what the?
Where there should have been another single story ranch, was the wing of a mansion.
Magnus slowed the hummer to avoid running over a pair of children playing in the road. Jack ignored that and focused on the modern monster that had displaced a quarter of his cul-de-sac. Where there should have been three ranch houses spaced up the shallow hill was a magnificent white bricked structure sprawling over three lots.
"You have got to be shitting me."
Magnus pulled into a spacious underground garage and set the hummer in park. Jack couldn't move. He could barely think. All that went through his mind was 'my home is gone'.
"You weren't supposed to be assigned here."
Jack started at the voice right next to him. His mind had pushed 'awareness of Magnus presence' out to make room for the beautiful horror that had torn up and replaced his childhood abode.
"But then you volunteered for six liminals." She opened her door and hopped out the side.
"I.." Jack sat there in the leather seat and stared at the blank wall. A wall that his memory insisted shouldn't exist. Inside a house that shouldn't exist.
Jack's door opened suddenly. He instinctively reached out for it. He missed and leaned over the side. He panicked for a second bracing his arms in front of him, then his seat belt caught and held him in place.
"You all right?" Magnus asked.
"I..I don't know." Jack leaned back and undid his seat belt. He held one hand on the door and slid onto the concrete floor. He stared at his feet for a second then looked back up at the agent in front of him. "This shouldn't be here."
She blinked once and for a second Jack could have sworn her eyes were, mournful. "Come on. Monica should be done with the security systems and safety checks by now."
Jack followed her listlessly. He gazed around the garage. He noted a pair of double doors at the far end. The agent walked to a really wide concrete staircase on the left side. Each step was easily six feet wide and maybe two feet thick. Parallel to the steps was a shallow ramp with a metal hand rail.
The top of the stairs led into a spacious kitchen. Jack would have tried to study it further but he spotted two people at the small breakfast table.
Tetra and Sula were glaring at each other. Jack blinked and tried to discern what would be causing any animosity between them. "Uh, ladies..."
Neither of them looked in his direction. Jack scanned each intently trying to find the source of the tension. Both of them seemed relaxed, or at least far as Jack knew about arachne and echidna body language they looked relaxed. But their faces had matching determined expressions.
Jack was about to try to interrupt again when Tetra uttered something at Sula. Sula tilted her head to the side and answered back with a similar sounding phrase. Jack didn't understand either statement they made.
He blinked a few times in confusion. Magnus leaned down toward his ear. "It's alright. They're just playing a game." Although Jack was focused on the verbal conflict across the room, he could've sworn he'd heard a hint of amusement in the agent's voice.
"What kind of game?" Jack asked. The agent placed a hand lightly on his shoulder. "Shush, just watch."
Sula closed her eyes for a moment then opened them up and said something in a language he didn't recognize. One of Tetra's eyes twitched. She answered back in what Jack assumed was the same language.
"Impressive." Magnus said lowly. "I think that was Basque."
"Bask?" Jack said a little too loudly.
Both liminals turned toward them. Sula waved at them. "Oh, hi Jack. Hi Agent Magnus. Welcome."
Tetra's eyes widened and she smiled sharply. "Ha. Va parlar anglès de nou. Jo guanyo!"
TR/: You spoke English again. I win!
Sula's expression soured. "I wasn't speaking to you. That doesn't count."
Tetra kept her smile. Sula's eyes widened in horror. "Oh goddess dammit!" She pounded a fist on the table. "You cheated!"
Tetra closed her eyes briefly and shook her head. Sula folded her arms and pouted. "Cheater." Tetra merely shrugged, clearly content with her victory.
Jack just stared at them clueless. He scratched the back of his head. "I'm sorry, I'm completely lost. What are you two doing?"
"Just a harmless contest." Tetra assured him while waving a hand in the air. "Nothing to fret over."
Magnus cleared her throat. "They were playing a language matching game." She explained. "One person says something in one language and the opponent has to answer back. Each side takes turns in a new language until one answers back in the wrong language or fails to start with a new one."
"Huh." Jack thought about the concept for a few seconds. "A polyglottal proving. What do you use as a referee? Google translate?"
Despite her sour mood Sula giggled. Tetra shook her head. "No. If there are any disputes we just move on to another language and continue. Stopping and researching every nuance of a given phrase is almost as exhausting as learning a new language on its own. Not really worth the time."
Jack thought that was pretty lackadaisical, but didn't question it further. "Okay but uh... it doesn't seem to be all that harmless to Sula."
The echidna shrugged. "Oh, I'll be fine. Once I think up a good way to get even with this cheater." She hooked a clawed thumb at Tetra and grinned.
Tetra put a hand over her heart. "I did not cheat. I'm allowed to say anything when initiating the next round." She rotated her wrist and pointed a claw at Sula. "You failed to answer me back in Catalan."
Sula scrunched her face and stuck her forked tongue out. "Encara ets un tramposo."
TR/: You are still a cheater.
Tetra grinned back "Glutton za kaznu, zar ne?"
TR/: Glutton for punishment, aren't you?
"Kaznit ću ti, varalicu." Sula retorted.
TR/: I'll punish you, cheater.
Jack held up a hand. "Ladies. If we could postpone the battle of wits...for a little while."
Both glanced over at Jack then back at each other. They each nodded lightly at the same time. "Very well." Tetra acknowledged. "Game held on account of host."
"Perfect timing." A new voice announced.
A six and half foot tall woman with blond hair stood in the kitchen's other entrance. She had shed her flak jacket in exchange for a rugged set of green overalls and a white t-shirt. As she stepped in she removed a plastic safety goggle protecting her single large green eye. Jack recognized her as the cyclops from MON.
"Everything good?" Magnus asked her.
"Yep. As much as I can without the heavy stuff." The cyclops nodded. "Ready for your tour?"
A biting need to snap and yell 'This is my house I don't need a tour!' floated at the front of Jack's mind. Instead he coughed into his fist. "Yes, a tour would be nice. Lead the way please." Each of the monster girls in the room took note of his lack of enthusiasm. Unbeknownst to Jack, Agent Magnus gave a little shake of her head.
Monica turned back toward the other room. "Okay well. If you all will follow me."
Jack should have been excited or something. But all he could think was 'this was my home.'
He lingered behind the rest of the group and tried to learn where the essential rooms were. Bathroom, pantry, his bed etc. As he followed behind he tried to picture where he would have been if the original house was still here. Houses actually.
Jack grimaced at the thought. How did they acquire all three properties? How had they demolished everything and built the whole complex in so little time? And why did Smythe assign me here? Wasn't there someplace not here that I could have hosted?
"Okay, that concludes our tour." Monica announced. Jack blinked and found himself walking into the kitchen again. He closed his eyes and shook his head. He tried to recall what the rest of the house looked like, but all of it was blank.
When he opened his eyes again he saw that all four women were looking at him. He just stared ahead and said nothing.
"Well if that's all. I think we'll be going." The cyclops said uneasily. She turned and exited out the door to the garage.
Agent Magnus lingered and stared at Jack. "Are you going to be alright?" Jack looked up at her and nodded lethargically a few times.
As she turned to leave, Jack could just catch her mutter 'that bastard' under her breath.
Silence lingered after the door closed behind her. A car engine roared and tires screeched. The noise from the hummer eventually faded away. Jack and his two guests stood apart from each other, not saying a thing.
"Okay Jack." Tetra inclined her head toward him, her tone insistent. "You really need to talk to us."
"Yeah." Sula almost wailed. "You look so sad, or angry or something. What's wrong?"
Jack held up one hand to assuage their concern. "I'm.. really sorry girls. I.." He swallowed and stared back at the floor.
"If you're getting cold feet about this thing..." Tetra started to say.
"No." Jack whipped his head back up at them. "I still want to be your host." He looked them each in the eyes. Well, Tetra's largest eyes. "I am your host." He insisted.
The arachne folded her arms in front of her chest. "Alright." She didn't quite sound convinced nor assured. "Then if you'd care to explain..."
Jack glanced down again. "I..this place it's, it's not..."
Sula tilted her head. "Not what? Not good enough?"
"It's not supposed to be here!" Jack snapped. Both liminals blinked and backed away from the distraught human.
"Oh god I'm sorry, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean." Jack held his hands out apologetically. "I need, I just need..." Suddenly his stomach growled fiercely. He sighed "I need some breakfast." He put his arms down. "Mind if I make some eggs for us?"
"I suppose." Tetra murmured after a beat.
"I-if you're up for it." Sula appealed.
Jack nodded and let out a breath. He opened the fridge and located every ingredient he felt comfortable enough to prepare along side the eggs. "This won't take long. I promise."
He pulled out a frying pan and turned the knob on the stove. He unfolded the wrapping around a stick of butter and sliced off a good chuck to place in the pan. He was about to crack open the first egg when Tetra put an arm on his shoulder. Jack froze and waited.
"Will you promise to tell us what's bothering you so much?"
Jack placed the egg back into the carton and turned around to face them. Sula's eyes were wide with concern. Tetra's had a degree of wariness. "Yes I will." He hooked a thumb back at the stove. "I just need something simple to occupy my mind, while I...try to calm down."
Tetra withdrew her hand. "Very well."
Sula nodded lightly. "Just don't burn them okay?"
Jack nodded back. "I won't. Thank you for your patience."
He turned back to the stove and focused entirely on making eggs, ham and cheese on toasted English muffins. He made a mental note to prepare a double portion for each of his guests. Monster girls do tend to eat a lot.
Jack fired off two sandwiches and placed them on small saucers. He set one each in front of them then darted back to the stove to resume cooking. Normally he'd wait until they'd had their first bite and said whether they liked it. But Jack's mind was too preoccupied to bother with quality control at the moment. He just had to hope he was making them well enough.
"Um" Sula's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Could I have some juice?"
"Oh right." Jack slapped his forehead with his palm and started opening cupboards with the other until he located the cups. He placed three on the table and then opened the fridge. He grabbed three cartons labeled juice and set them next to the glasses. "Here. You can serve yourself right?" Before either could answer he returned to the frying pan and scooped out another egg.
Jack fried the last of the eggs and finally joined his guests for a late breakfast. Despite the relative silence, Jack felt the tension in the room ease off as each sandwich was devoured. Sula made a few satisfied humming noises. Tetra seemed to enjoy the meal as well, but was more muted with her compliments.
After the final bite, Jack washed it down with the last gulp of grape juice in his cup.
"My parents died." He uttered without preamble. He placed his cup on the table and stared at the bottom of it. "Stupid car accident." He continued. "Some asshole ran a red light and smashed his Firebird into my dad's car. Driver side, head-on."
He folded his arms and adjusted his posture. "The idiot was thrown and died instantly. Dad died pretty fast too." Jack tried to keep his voice neutral, clinical. Like he was reading off the ingredients of cereal. "Mom might have been alright if a semi hadn't been right next to her door. The impact shoved the sedan under the trailer which crushed the roof. The paramedics said she was unconscious while she bled out."
Jack breathed in and out slowly. "Painless. That's the word they kept using. The cops, the medics, the lawyer. Painless." He reached out and grasped his empty cup. "Matt and Isaac came back from California for the funeral. All of dad's brothers and most of mom's side too. Friends. Friends of friends."
"Afterwards, we settled their accounts. Split what was left of the life insurance three ways. Everything except the house."
He tilted the cup on its side, idly trying to find a perfect angle that it could balance on without support. "It was all payed for, but it needed a lot of work. None of us wanted to pool in and hire a flipper or whatever we needed to get it to sell fast. So my brothers went back to California and left it up to me."
Jack lifted his finger off the cup, which promptly fell on its side and rolled toward the edge. He caught it and set it back on the table. "I couldn't pay the taxes, if I wanted to move back in. Which would have felt wrong anyways. And taking out a big enough loan to fix it up myself was out of the question."
"So I donated it to the Exchange."
Jack looked up at Sula. Her golden eyes were misty, her lips pressed. "That's what I was taking to agent Smythe that day. The deed and other documentation for the property."
He looked over at Tetra. She half hid her face behind the fuchsia side of her hair. Jack couldn't be sure but he suspected that she might be a little misty eyed as well. Jack didn't actually know if spiders could cry, but maybe he would find out today. "I couldn't hold onto it. So I figured it would do some good for someone else that needed it. I didn't want any money for it either. That would have felt wrong too."
"One last act of generosity inspired by my mom and dad." He stated wistfully. "And I'm living in it."
He noticed both of them look at him curiously.
He looked up and waved an arm, trying to encompass the whole house. "I grew up here. This is my neighborhood, my street." Sula put a hand near her mouth. Jack stood up and faced one of the walls behind him. "The house I grew up in. That I donated. Used to be right there." He pointed at a blank spot toward an adjoining room. He could just see it in his mind. The old living room, the couch, the dining table that held tens of thousands of home cooked meals.
"I'm pretty sure we're standing where my neighbor, Mr. Davila's place used to be. On the far side was Mrs. Viven's house."
He turned back to his house guests. "And they knocked it all down! Ripped it apart and built this over it!" Jack didn't mean to let rage leak into his voice. But his emotions were too raw. He'd been suppressing them for long enough today. They needed an outlet.
Rage contorted his features. He knew his behavior would upset them, but at the moment he couldn't care about that. He needed to vent. Needed someone to yell at.
A small voice in his mind kept telling him to be mad at Smythe. To save his anger for the man actually responsible. His rage made a more persuasive counter argument. The little voice told him not to unleash his anger near two people he was supposed to care for.
To care for.
He held on to that thought. He's suppose to care for two liminals, not whine like a bitch about things he can't control.
He gripped the chair in front of him. Squeezing the carved wood until it hurt. He wanted to crush it in his hands and howl his fury. Instead he let out a breathe and relaxed. Then he noticed something wet on his fingers.
Jack brought his hands near his face to inspect them. His vision blurred and he blinked. He felt more wetness on his cheeks. "Shit."
He wiped his face on his sleeve. "Damn it. I'm sorry. I'm..." He paused and took a few seconds to steady his breathing. "I.. I need some air." He strode over toward the garage door. He grasped the handle when something gripped his other arm.
He panicked as something dark and large rushed at him. He tried to backpedal and escape, but something hard held his arms in place. A moment later something just a tough hooked around his legs as well, pinning him in place.
"Don't leave like this." He heard Tetra whisper near his ear.
Jack stopped struggling at her words. He stopped thinking. He just felt her embracing him. He sensed something moving behind him for a moment, and then another pair of arms snaked around his torso.
"It's alright, it's alright." Sula whispered over and over from just behind him.
He couldn't take it. He cried. He was so angry before but, now he just cried.
They went on like that for a while. Jack couldn't recall how long. He'd lost track of time. There was only their embrace and the sense of being wanted, comforted. Like he'd hadn't known before in a long long time.
"Ok girls." He reached back as far as his restrained arms allowed and tapped Sula's sides. He craned his head up as much as he could. "This is great and all. But I'd really like to breathe now."
Sula backed off first. Tetra held on a second longer. Then seemingly against her own will, she unwrapped her pedipalps from his legs and withdrew a few inches. Her hands never broke contact and were resting on each of his shoulders.
Huh, they can cry.
Jack reached up and brushed her cheek lightly. Her skin was so soft. Such a contrast to the hard chitin that covered most of her body. There was probably a metaphor in there.
"Thank you, both, for that." Jack turned his head toward where he thought Sula was. He tried to keep both their faces in his field of vision. "I..I really needed that." He turned back and looked right at the arachne in front of him. "Really, really needed that."
Tetra smirked, but not in her usual mischievous, haughty way. "You're quite welcome Jack."
He nodded in acceptance and placed a hand on each of hers. "But I really do want to get some air."
Tetra blinked and her face went back to neutral. Her eyes bore into his. He could just feel her claws curl into his shoulders. Jack reached up her arms and gripped them firmly for a second. "I promise I'll come back."
She closed her eyes, then let go. Jack breathed out and then left through the garage.
"So um." Sula began hesitantly. "May I ask what that was about?"
Tetra looked up at Sula. The lamia made a gripping gesture with her hands, mimicking the motion Tetra did with Jack just a moment before.
She swallowed and coughed. "Um... perhaps another time." Tetra turned back toward the kitchen. "C'mon we should clean up. The least we could do for making us breakfast."
Sula joined her at the sink bringing the rest of the glasses. "Are you going to tell him at least?"
Tetra darted a glance at her housemate. The lamia was eyeing her while drying off a plate. "I might." She admitted. "If he earns it."
"Earns it?" Sula frowned in confusion.
The arachne smirked. "Part of my arrangement with our host. If he wants something from me. He has to earn it."
Sula placed the last dry plate back in the cupboard then faced her housemate with her arms crossed. "Is that a part of your 'game'?"
Tetra matched the lamia's crossed arm stance. "Why yes. Yes it is." She cocked her head to the side and grinned. "Speaking of games...Zatím jsme ještě nedokončili."
TR/: We have not finished yet.
Sula snorted and answered back with a toothy grin. "Ne, samozřejmě že ne. Budeme pokračovat?"
TR/: No of course not. Shall we continue?
She paused a moment to consider her next tactic. "Oder würdest du lieber aufgeben?"
TR/: Or would you rather surrender?
"Niemals aufgeben!" Tetra declared.
TR/: Never surrender!
A/N: The translations from English to the various other languages are just made with Google translate. If you run the terms I've copy-pasted here through Google translate's auto detect feature the phrases aren't exact. So I just typed in the wording I wanted the characters to say. I promise this is the only time I'll do this to the extent here. I've more than likely butchered Catalan, Croatian, Czech and German here but it's the best I can do.
If anyone knows a better way to put in 'subtitles' or has a better translation of any phrase I have here PM me please.
Thanks for reading. Review and comment please.
