Disclaimer: I do not own Daily life with Monster Girls.

Chapter 12: Errands day: Part Two

"We need to find something that all four of us can do." Jack groaned with his head on the table.

He had, somehow, helped solve all three crossword puzzles simultaneously and managed to keep his sanity. With all three of them vying for his attention and answers to their clues constantly, he was sorely tempted to throw his arms in the air and say "Fuck it, I'm out."

But he didn't. He stayed in the trenches like a good soldier and prayed to whatever deity would hear his mental pleas for mercy. He got a headache and a dry mouth for his efforts.

"I think I saw a couple games stores on the list you showed me. Would those help?" Sula asked.

Jack pivoted his head to try to face her."Yes."

"You ah, little tuckered out there, champ?" Syleris tittered.

Jack tried to glare at the harpy but his head hurt too much.

"We didn't ride you too hard, did we?" Tetra grinned.

Jack placed his hands on the table and pushed himself up. He tried to frown at her but didn't quite have the energy.

"You can uh...take another minute to rest Jack." Sula offered coyly. "We'll be here when you're ready again."

Jack blamed it on the mental exhaustion afterwards, but he gave in and let himself be part of the joke. He crossed his arms and breathed out. "I think I did pretty well for myself. Keeping up with three monster girls at the same time."

Syleris choked back a chortle. Sula held a hand to her mouth.

Tetra snickered. "Indeed. Not bad for your first time."

Jack glowered at her.

"With monster girls." She quipped.

Jack tried to keep his serious expression but Syleris was on the verge of losing it. Sula was trying to use both hands to contain her own laughter. Tetra's snicker stretched into a full grin.

Jack chortled just a little bit. And that's all it took to break the dam.

"Amana, your face." Syleris yelped "Aha ha ha ha ha!" She crossed a wing over her eyes and leaned back. Her other wing slapped the table.

Sula placed her hands on her chest, closed her eyes and just let her laughter out from her belly.

Tetra looked over at her fellow monsters girls and shook her head while giggling.

Jack shook his head and laughed a little as well but his headache suddenly flared up. "Ugh ow." He placed his face back on the table and rubbed his temples with his fingers. His homestays laughed harder at his pain.

"Couldn't..hehe.. keep it...hehehe.. up..." The arachne tried one more jab through her gigging but lost it as well. "Ahahahaha!"

Jack tried not to laugh into the table while attempting to rub the ache away. When he could manage, he breathed out without giggling (finally) and lifted his head. He waited for the girls to quiet down a bit. He noticed that they were attracting some attention but no one approached them.

He took another breath, cleared his throat and then held up a finger. "New rule: Only one guest per puzzle at a time."

Syleris snickered. "Hear that? Jack can handle playing with only one of us."

The other two chuckled.

Jack held his head steady and tried keep his expression neutral. "That's why I have suggested we get a game we all can play."

Tetra leaned forward. "Oh? You think some toy is gonna satisfy all three of us?"

He sucked in a breath and let it out slowly. "I am willing to hear input from all of you on which game to purchase."

"We get to choose?" Sula piped up with an evil smile. "You sure you're prepared for that?"

"I say we get something competitive." Tetra advised. "See which one of us he can last the longest with."

He swallowed and barely maintained his composure. "It will be a cooperative game we all can participate in."

"Ooh, ooh. Are we gonna take turns cooperating with you Jack?" Syleris asked excitedly.

He closed his eyes. "Yes, it will likely be a turn-based game."

"I call first." Sula folded her arms and postured confidently. "I'll try not win before you two get a turn." She grinned evilly again. "Though that will probably be up to Jack."

"Oh godz dammit." He half-shouted and slammed a fist on the table. "You three are the worst."

His homestays burst out laughing again. He stood and threw up his hands. "That's it. I'm out."

He turned and started walking away.

"Where you going Jack?" Syleris laughed. "We wanna play some more."

"I'm.." He glanced around. "I'm going to the restroom. I'll be right back."

"Don't take too long." Tetra warned. "We might get bored and leave without you."

He whirled and pointed a finger at them. "You can't drive and I'll report you all as runaways."

"Ooooh, he'll report us." Tetra mocked. "Guess they'll have to send MON after us."

"Yep." Syleris nodded. "They'll catch us and send us back to our residence."

"Where we can play with our host all over again." Sula concluded.

Jack blinked. There was a scary amount of logic in their scenario. He dropped his arm. "Gods damn it."

They laughed again. Jack turned and shuffled toward the restroom shaking his head. "Why me? Why me?"

You volunteered for this, remember?

He deliberately did not hurry while freshening up. This gave his mind time to work through the various fantasies that flashed through his imagination. He tried not to linger on any particular one, but it was really difficult when all three were so beautiful in their own fashion.

He shook his head and slapped the heel of his hand on his temple, trying to physically remove the 'bad thoughts'.

They aren't 'bad'. Just illegal.

"Yeah." He sighed. "They'll change the law someday."

He exited the restroom and was mildly reassured that his homestays hadn't abandoned him.

"Someday."

He walked over and put his hands on the cart. "Alright who wants to do some more shopping?"

"Oh I do." Syleris raised her hand. "This is fun."

"Shall we go to the games store?" Tetra suggested. The other two snickered.

Jack closed his eyes and breathed out. "Actually I'd like to stop by one place." Sula gave him a curious glance. "Don't worry it's on the way."

He led them up to the top floor and toward a specialty shop.

"Teavana?" Sula raised an eyebrow. "Is that supposed to be clever?"

Jack snorted. "I guess. I've noticed that puns are a necessary evil of American advertising."

Syleris shook her head. "I don't get it. How's it a pun?"

Tetra pointed at the shop sign. "This is a portmanteau of tea and nirvana."

The harpy blinked. "I understood 'tea'"

Jack cleared his throat. "A portmanteau is a blending of two or more words. Like brunch or spork."

Syleris' eyes pivoted up in thought. "Okay, I think I get that." Her gaze set at Jack. "So what's nerve-whatever."

Jack held up a finger. "Nirvana, spelled with an 'I', is a concept from eastern philosophy. It's supposed to be a state of being that is pure happiness, or to be free from all needs." He tapped that finger on his chin. "It's supposed to be an end goal for a person's life."

The harpy contemplated that for a few moments. "So...you become happy. And then what?"

Jack shrugged. "Don't know. I've never achieved it myself. Don't know anybody personally who has."

Syleris glanced upward in thought and frowned. "Sounds boring."

Jack chuckled. "Yeah, there are countless statues of the one man who supposedly achieved nirvana. Most of them depict him sitting down with a content expression."

The harpy shut her eyes and shook her head. "Sitting doesn't make me happy." She folded her wings. "Running makes me happy." She opened her eyes and raised a wing-hand. "And sex. Sex makes me happy."

Jack gave her a chagrined glare. She ignored him and started listing off the various activities and items that make her 'happy'. "...eating good food, beating my nest-mates in a race, finding something really interesting to read..."

Jack raised a hand and was going to try to interrupt her but Tetra placed a hand on his shoulder. He craned his head up to her mildly amused face. "What?"

"Let her be, I'll watch and make sure she doesn't get into any trouble." She offered.

Jack rattled his head in confusion. "You're not coming in?"

She gave him a more serious look. "I'm not a day-drinker Jack." His confusion intensified. "Did you already forget?"

Jack shook his head some more. "Forget what?" He waved toward the tea shop. "There's no alcohol in their tea. There's a good amount of caff-" He blinked and tilted his head back in realization. "Caffeine. That's why you only got a water at the restaurant."

He closed his eyes and nodded and grimaced for a moment. He took a breath. "I did forget." He looked back up at the arachne. "I'm sorry."

Tetra smiled and shook her head. "How did I get so lucky?" She mused.

Jack shrugged. "I'd wait til the other three liminals move in before making that judgment."

She smirked. "They'll see how fortunate they are, in time."

He gave her a skeptical look. "Yeesh. When did you get so sappy?"

She barked a laugh. "I suppose it's that characteristic of your father that you shared with us."

Jack blinked and assumed a neutral expression. Tetra poked a thumb at her chest and then a claw at his. "I didn't I realize I could have so much in common with a human."

Jack nodded his head lightly. "You told me your mother was a bi-eeeeaaad, not nice person." Jack caught himself midway through the insult. Tetra lowered her eyelids a hair. Jack swallowed. "She was uh, verbally abusive too?"

Tetra held his gaze a bit then closed her eyes slowly. "Among other things." She stepped back once and reopened her eyes. Jack could have sworn he saw a hurt in those solid red orbs.

"I did say I'd talk to you about it that first night." He reminded her. "Offer still stands."

"I know." She answered. "And we will. When the time is right."

"Alright." He put a hand on the side of his head again. "Ugh, headache is flaring up. I really need some tea."

He turned away and joined Sula in the tea shop. "Oh Jack." The lamia lifted a sample cup that had some dark brownish liquid substance. "Try this."

He grasped the cup and sipped it. "Wow, that is strong and kinda fruity." He looked over at the dispenser for a label. "What is it?"

"Black Dragon tea." She announced with a bit of zeal.

Jack nodded and finished off the sample. The ache in his temples eased off. "Oh that's good. Gonna need some more."

"Can we get a can to brew at home?" She asked.

"Sure." He nodded. "But did you try any of the others?"

She frowned. "I did, but they were like drinking bad tasting water." She pointed at the Black Dragon dispenser again. "That's the only one strong enough that I could really enjoy."

Jack shook his head lightly. "'Bad tasting water.'" He looked up at the lamia. "That was my first reaction to tea back when I was a kid. Never really appreciated it until my college years." He walked up to the counter and ordered two small drinks of tea and a can. He sipped on the straw while making his way out and let the caffeine content ease the headache some more. "Mmm."

Somehow, Syleris was still listing off the things that make her happy. Jack glanced up at Tetra who just shrugged in response.

"Hey. Syleris." He called. She continued looking upward and naming things. "We're going to the games store now."

The harpy darted her eyes at Jack. "Oh, playing games is on my list." She strode forward a few steps. "Let's go. I wanna try to get this nerva thing."

"That's not-" Jack started then shook his head. "Nevermind." He sighed and fast-walked up to her. "Do you even know where your going?"

She nodded. "I memorized the map coordinates for all the shops and their names." She looked over at him. "We're going to Global Gamers right?"

Jack held up a hand and tried to counter. But he didn't have anything to go on. He breathed out and just nodded. "Sheesh, you're gonna know this place better than I do."

She giggled and pointed her wing-hand almost due north. "It's over that way." Jack nodded in agreement and kept pace with her.

After a few steps she halted suddenly. Jack stopped and turned back to her. "What's up?" The harpy just stared ahead. He was going to ask again when the other two liminals started staring in the same direction.

Jack looked between all of them. "Ladies? Something wrong?"

The harpy raised her wing ahead of her. "What is that place?"

Jack furrowed his eyebrows and turned toward where she was pointing. His eyes widened in panic. He turned around swiftly and crossed his arms. "No."

Tetra and Sula gave him toothy grins. "No." He insisted.

They advanced a few steps. Jack held his ground. "No. We are not going in there."

A few seconds later...

"God dammit."

He glared at the ceiling from his bench and attempted to keep his eyes from wandering.

"Come on Jack. Don't be like that." Syleris chastised him. "I'm experiencing a new aspect of American culture here."

"Well I'm afraid I'm not familiar with this 'aspect'. So we should just go." He grumbled back.

"So you need to learn about this too." Tetra pointed out. "If we are to fully understand American society our host should know as much as possible as well."

Jack swiveled his head and studied a very interesting seam in the ceiling tiles. "I don't care. I don't belong here."

"Oh but you do, Jack." Sula implored sweetly. "We can't leave our host while outside the residence remember? You had to come with us."

Jack's eyes hardened. "You kidnapped me."

"Mmm." Tetra tapped a claw on her chin. "I like to think of it as helping you enforce the law."

He finally faced his homestay directly. "How the hell do you figure that?"

The arachne shrugged a shoulder. "Well our harpy friend was going to run away." She grinned. "We had to take you with us to keep her from escaping into..." She turned toward Syleris. "What was this place's name again?"

"Victoria's Secret." The harpy announced proudly.

"Right." Tetra acknowledged by waving a claw. "Well, we caught her, so now...we can shop some more." She grinned at him again.

Jack grumbled and stared at the floor. At this point, if he wanted to get out of the lingerie shop he'd have to somehow escape from all three of them...yeeeeah, not going to happen.

"Why are so upset Jack?" Sula asked earnestly. "I thought you said you were comfortable being in a women's clothing store."

He held his arms closer to himself. "Alice never dragged me in here. 'Cause she's my friend and understood that I wouldn't want to go in here."

"Hmmph. Well I think she did you a disservice then." Sula stated. "You are handling all our laundry already Jack. What's wrong with being in a store where they sell them."

He took a harsh long breath. "Because it's implied that the guys that walk in here with girls are sleeping together." He spelled out. "Alice never gave me the impression that she wanted to sleep with me, so she never brought me here." He looked up at the lamia seriously. "She'd bring Alec sometimes and I would shop somewhere else 'til they got done." He stood up and uncrossed his arms. "I respected their privacy because I am their friend." He pointed at her. "I'd like to think that I am your friend as well."

She blinked a few times. "This is really confusing." She held out one hand. "A human host and a liminal can live in a 'private residence' and not be intimate with each other." She held out her other hand. "But if those same two go into a public store, then they are considered to be sleeping together?"

Jack considered the logic of her question a few moments. "It depends on the store."

She glanced upward for a second. "So, you and I being in the tea shop is not considered to be intimacy related." She looked back at Jack. "But being in here with the three of us means you're sleeping with all of us?"

Jack nodded. "That's the impression we're sending, yes."

She planted fists at her waist and frowned. "Well, that's just ludicrous." He blinked and rattled his head. "I would never cheat on my husbands." She smiled a second. "No offense to you."

He blinked a couple more times. "Uh, none taken."

She folded her arms and frowned again. "Why do you think I'm in here?"

He made a show of looking around. "To get some lingerie."

"Yes." She placed a hand on her chest. "To wear for my husbands."

Jack felt like an utter fool. "Oh, right." He dipped his head.

"I'm going to go back to the island at some point." She picked up a bra that was black and lacy. "And I'm going to have to make up a lot of lost time. So I'm going to get a few gifts from America for them."

Tetra snickered. "Don't you mean you'll be the gift from America?"

Sula laughed good-naturedly. "I suppose I will. Do you two see any American flag bras around?"

So all that joking earlier was just banter.

Jack chuckled once to himself.

Of course it was.

He snorted and shook his head. "I'm probably going to regret asking this but..." He looked over at Tetra and Syleris. "What are you two in here for?"

The arachne examined the stitching on a bra that looked fairly complicated. "I find some human styles of clothing quite fascinating."

"You'll need some more 'samples', I assume." Jack stated,

"Hmm." She smirked. "You assume correctly."

"I think this one looks cute." Syleris placed an orange bra over her shirt. "Don't you think it looks cute?" She asked no one in particular.

Jack closed his eyes deliberately and sighed while sitting back down. "Just let me know when you're ready to buy." He slipped out his phone and checked the local news sites. "I'll be here." Trying to not be a total perv.

An unfamiliar female voice cleared her throat. Jack looked up at a sharply dressed businesswoman. Her dark hair was bound up in a bun. Her blue eyes regarded Jack and his homestays critically. "If I may suggest..." She waved a hand toward a rear section of the shop. "We carry lingerie specifically for lamias over there."

Sula's eyes lit up. "Oh good." She replaced the item she was perusing and slithered in the direction the business lady indicated.

"As for you." The lady pointed at Syleris. "We received a shipment of snap-on products last night. I believe Kymberly..." She pointed at a younger but similarly business dressed woman near the counter. "...stocked those up this morning."

"Oh cool." Syleris turned and made her way over to 'Kimberly'.

The lady put a dark red painted fingernail on her chin and hummed. "Arachne...arachne. I don't believe I have anything specifically for arachne."

Tetra held up a hand. "I'm not here to wear anything. I just want to collect samples of human sewing techniques."

The lady blinked once. "Oh, in that case..." She tapped her finger a few more times while looking intently around the store. "May I presume the more complicated the design the more interested you are?"

Tetra grinned sharply. "Precisely."

"Excellent." She stated and pointed toward a further section of the shop. "The first that come to my mind are over there." Tetra nodded appreciably and scuttled in the indicated direction.

The lady spun on her heel and faced Jack. "First time in here?"

He smirked ruefully. "Was I that obvious?"

She smirked back. "A few men that come in here with a woman are usually uncomfortable." She folded her arms. "But you seem to be handling it well."

He shrugged. "Thanks." She stared at him a moment. "Something wrong?"

"Are you a host?" She asked.

Jack stood up and nodded. "Yes, I am their host."

She hesitated a moment. "I feel it is my civic duty to ask..are you sleeping with any of them?"

Jack narrowed his eyes. "I don't see how that's any business of yours." She continued to stare at him impassively. "But the answer is 'no'"

"Oh good." She smiled warmly. "I hate having to report someone for breaking that ill-conceived law."

Jack blinked a couple times. "You've... reported people for breaking the no-sex law with liminals?"

"Technically, it's called the Prohibition on Sexual Relations Clause." She held up a finger. "And yes, I've asked that very same question to hosts of liminals who enter my shop." She shook her head slowly and sighed. "A few are all too eager to admit their exploits."

Jack blinked some more. "That's not exactly a good business model."

It was her turn to smirk ruefully. "No it isn't. I was instructed by the agency to ask that question."

Jack frowned deeply. "That's over-reaching, especially for them."

She nodded. "I agree. Though I hear that the Clause will be amended soon. And maybe I won't have to ask that ridiculous question ever again." She sneered.

His frown subsided. "Yeah I was just reading about that." He waved his phone. "Something about marriages and the like."

She nodded. "One can only hope."

Jack replaced the phone to his pocket and held out his hand. "I'm sorry, I should have introduced myself. My name's Jack."

The business lady smiled and shook his hand. "You may call me Ms. Clancy." She tapped a nail on her chin after they let go. "I have to ask, Jack..."

"Why I'm hosting three liminals?" He stressed the number.

She narrowed her eyes a bit. "Yes."

He waved a hand. "It's a long story."

She tapped her finger some more. "I have seen many liminals in this mall. But never more than two to a group."

He sighed. "The coordinator judged me to be a good host for multiple liminals. He made an offer, and I accepted."

Her finger stopped tapping. "Smythe's no fool."

Jack tilted his head at the mention of the the agent's name.

"He takes his job very seriously." She paused and shrugged one shoulder. "Mostly seriously."

He smiled lightly. "Yeah, I've seen a bit of his not-so-serious side."

Ms. Clancy didn't move for a whole ten seconds. It was making Jack a mite uncomfortable.

"Umm." He stated. "Was there something else you wanted to talk about?"

"My apologies Jack." She closed her eyes and shook her head a bit. "I was trying to perceive what the Exchange sees in you."

He lowered his eyebrows a hair. She swallowed. "With the recent uptick in customers in the past few years this company has expanded its product lines and locations."

Jack nodded lightly. "Business is good."

She nodded back. "Exceptionally. But any perceptive businesswoman knows that good fortune does not last forever. It must be cultivated and protected."

"Thus..." He mused. "Your concern for my homestays."

"Yes." She folded her arms. "After the reveal and the Exchange Act passed, demand for clothing and other products skyrocketed." Her finger started tapping against her chin again. "But opinions could change. All it takes is one bad incident to sour relations." She inclined her head. "Smythe is taking quite a risk with you."

"You don't know the half of it." Jack sighed. "If you want, you could ask my homestays about me."

Her eyes flashed. "Really?"

He nodded. "I probably should make some quote about who best evaluates a person. Himself, his friends, or his enemies." Jack shrugged. "I don't have any enemies for you to ask, and I'm not in the mood to explain myself." He sat back down and tapped his phone. "So you'll have to settle with their opinions." He motioned his chin toward Tetra at the counter.

"Hmmm." Ms. Clancy rubbed her chin. "I think I might." She dropped her hand and smirked. "But I don't think I'll find out anymore than I already have."

Jack raised an eyebrow at her as she turned away. He shook his head after a moment and focused on his phone.

"Hey Jack. I think I'm ready." Sula announced from across the shop.

He sighed, pocketed his device and strode over to her. Sula was clutching a few ,ah, boldly designed bras and an equal number of triangular cloths that matched their color. Jack inclined his head to the side a few degrees.

The cloths didn't have any straps or strings that would hold them on her person. He'd seen similar ones separated from her basket when he'd pick up her dirty laundry, but he didn't ask and left them to her.

He figured discretion was the better part of valor and kept his theories to himself.

"They're panties, Jack."

He blinked and rattled his head then gave her an inquisitive look, like he hadn't heard her. "Hmm? What'd you say?"

The echidna lowered her eyebrows. "Panties." She repeated. "Girls wear them."

He looked to the side then back to her. "Okay." He nodded his head a bit. "I knew that."

She rolled her eyes then slapped one of the cloths onto her elbow and then removed her hand. The cloth piece stayed in place as she wiggled her arm.

Jack leaned his head back. "Ohhh. That's how those wo-" He coughed. "I mean, yeah, stick-on panties how else would that work?"

She closed her eyes and shook her head. "Jaaack." She growled lowly.

He hunched his shoulders and dipped his head. "Yeah I, didn't really know what they were."

She opened her eyes and glared at him. He smiled sheepishly and tried to look as apologetic as possible.

"You know you can ask questions if you don't know about something." She stated with a hint of exasperation. "That's kinda the whole point of the Exchange." She waved one hand.

"I...I wasn't going ask you about something private like that." He defended.

Her glare intensified. "You had no idea what they were. How would you know if it was private?"

He raised a hand and tried to form words. "I...ah...uh.."

She narrowed her eyes. "You assumed."

He dropped his arm and sucked in a breath through his teeth. Then he nodded and breathed out. She sighed heavily.

"This is how misunderstandings start, Jack." She lectured. "People assuming things about other people."

"You're right." He dipped his head. "You're absolutely right. I'm sorry."

"Avoiding subjects because you think they'll offend me is rude by itself." She stated. "If you do ask about something I don't want to talk about, I'll let you know."

"What if I...uh." Jack protested but quickly lost steam under her scrutinizing glare.

"I have some pretty thick scales Jack." She noted. "It takes a lot to get under them."

She transferred all the underwear to one hand and placed the other on his shoulder. "Besides, I think we know each well enough that when we do ask something offensive, it's out of curiosity not meanness."

Jack exhaled out his nose and nodded. "Don't attribute to malice that which is easily explained by stupidity." He looked back up at her. "Or curiosity."

She smiled a bit. "Was that another quote?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "You added the curiosity part."

She giggled. "Papa Callum would say 'cock-up, not conspiracy' when things would go wrong." She dropped her hand from his shoulder. "He was usually right."

Jack hummed. "I hadn't heard it put like that before." He thought about the phrase a little more deeply. "Plus it'd probably be hard to keep a conspiracy on a island village wouldn't it?"

"You don't know my husband Joseph." Sula smirked and held up one claw. "I should tell you about the Great Pasta Pandemonium Plot sometime."

Jack rattled his head. "The what?"

She chuckled. "Ask me later." The lamia turned and slithered toward the counter. Jack followed and tried to puzzle out...whatever she was talking about.

He and Sula joined their other two roommates. Jack took a look at the rest of the products he'd be purchasing for them today. Syleris' collection were colorful and had practical methods of donning them. The term 'sports bra' came to mind. Tetra's selections on the other hand...

Jack swallowed and averted his eyes. If he thought that Sula's new underwear was bold, then Tetra's was deliberately scandalous. A decently attractive woman wearing any of them could destroy a shy clergyman's inhibitions at thirty paces. Jack felt like he should turn himself in just for looking at them.

He retrieved his wallet and handed over the card. Kymberly took it and swiped it through the reader. After a moment she handed it back.

"You three behave yourselves now." Ms. Clancy commented from behind the counter.

Tetra leaned forward while placing a hand on his far shoulder. "Oh, we'll be good." Her other arm extended and retrieved her bag. Jack caught a slight grin on her face out the corner of his eye. He stood still for a second and breathed out once slowly.

"Doing alright there, Jack?" Ms. Clancy asked.

He closed his eyes briefly and nodded exaggeratedly. "I'm fine, totally fine." He turned around and walked back toward the bench. "I'm cool, I'm calm." He retrieved his and Sula's tea and wheeled the cart over to his homestays. They deposited their newest items and Jack lead them out of the shop. "Totally fine."

He casually sipped on his tea. Letting the cool substance distract his thoughts.

"Games store?"

Jack nodded his head and focused on Syleris. "Yes, games store." He answered. "Lead the way."

The harpy turned on her talons and marched ahead. Jack and the others followed. Inside, Jack parked the cart near the counter and nodded at the attendant.

"Hello." He said and eyed the three girls around Jack. "What can I get for you today?"

"We need a couple co-op games for four or more players." Jack explained.

"Four player co-op? Right over here." He walked around the counter. " I have several recommendations."

After some discussion, and a few more innuendos, they picked up Pandemic and Eldritch Horror. As they were heading back to the counter Jack passed by a box he hadn't seen yet. His eyes lit up. "Oh we gotta get this too."

The attendant gave Jack a curious look then nodded. "Ah right, the latest expansion." He glanced upwards briefly. "I'd forgotten about that one." He looked back at Jack. "You have the base game and the previous expansions then?"

Jack nodded enthusiastically. "Oh yeah, Sentinels of the Multiverse is my personal favorite."

The attendant held up a finger. "I must warn you. The new boss is hella difficult."

"Noted." Jack smirked. "He shall be defeated like all the rest."

The attendant chuckled. "Good luck."

Jack grinned fiercely. "I don't need luck." He jabbed a thumb at his homestays. "I've got monster girls."

The attendant whipped his head back and roared in laughter. "That you do sir. That you do." Jack placed the games carefully on the cart. "You have a good day then." He waved them goodbye.

Outside the shop, Tetra shot Jack an accusatory look. He faced back at her with a bit of concern. "What?"

"You have monster girls." She stated pointedly.

He leaned his head back a few degrees. "I meant that I'd be playing with monster girls on my team." He held up a hand. "Like I said, these are coop games."

She smirked. "Just so we're clear on that."

Jack sighed. "Alright. Is there any other place you girls want to visit before we go?"

The arachne and harpy shrugged. Sula nodded. "I think we are good, Jack. Thank you for taking us."

"On to the next stop." He announced and headed for the exit nearest their van. Half-way through the atrium Jack spotted a woman in a long light green dress that had brown horns with black tips growing out of her head.

Her red eyes flashed in recognition and she started jogging toward Jack. Her footsteps sounded louder and a bit more clipped than they should have. He took a step back and held up his arms to defend himself but she blew past him and glomped into Sula.

The lamia recovered and hugged the woman back with a joyful screech. "Gylinnis! Tha e air a bhith cho fada." TR/: "It's been so long!"

"Tha e math a bhith gad fhaicinn Sula." TR/: "It's great to see you Sula." She answered back. Jack turned around. He wasn't sure what to make of them. They soundly like they were excited to see each other. He noted that the woman's feet were actually hooves on the end of a pair of thin legs with thick gray fur. The two of them held each other and jabbered in some language that Jack figured was from Ireland or Scotland.

"Uh...someone wanna explain what's going on?" He asked and looked over at his other homestays.

Before either could answer someone cleared their throat loudly behind them all. Jack and co. each did an about face and saw an elderly gentlman and a slightly shorter but just as elderly woman.

The man was dressed in a button up longsleeve light blue shirt and brown slacks. The woman wore a long faded yellow skirt and a short sleeved white blouse. The man stepped forward and inclined his head.

"Gylinnis." He spoke in a deep kindly voice. "Would you like to introduce us to your friends?"

The woman in the green dress let go of Sula and backed up a couple steps. "Oh sorry, Mr. Bryne." She waved a hand toward the lamia. "This is Sula, a friend I made at the Exchange before I moved in with you." She pointed at Jack with a curious look. "And I have no idea who these three are."

Jack took the unorthodox cue and waved. "Hello. My name's Jack." He stepped to one side and held a hand out to the arachne to his left. "This is Tetra." She nodded lightly but didn't say anything.

He turned toward the harpy to his right. "And this is Syleris."

Said harpy stepped forward and waved. "Hello."

Mr. Bryne held out his hand toward Jack. "My name's Patrick, but you youngsters can call me Mr. Bryne." Jack took his hand and shook. To their mild suprise the old man offered his hand to Sula, Syleris and Tetra.

"Good to meet you all." He stepped back once. "And this lovely ray of sunshine is Mary."

The older woman waved. "Hello."

"So." Gylinnis turned back to Sula. "You got a host?" She asked excitedly.

The lamia nodded. "Yes." She indicated Jack with her hand. "This young man was kind enough to accept me." She gave him a small smile, which he returned. "And it's worked out so far."

"Oh I'm so happy for you." She wrapped Sula in another hug. "I was so worried you wouldn't find someone that would take you in."

Sula nodded and looked downward for a bit. "Yeah it was discouraging for a while." She perked back up. "But it was worth it."

Jack scratched the back of his scalp and wanted to say something self-deprecating. But he just dipped his head and mumbled.

Mary shook her head. "You're too modest, young man." He blinked and looked up at her. "You took in three liminals. That's not something just anyone can say."

Jack smiled a bit. "I guess." Tetra placed a hand lightly on his shoulder. Syleris nodded adn stepped closer to him. "It's worked out so far."

Mary continued. "We might have taken in Gylinnis' friend ourselves but..."

"One is enough for us. Thank you very much." Patrick insisted while raising a finger. Gylinnis giggled nervously.

Sula looked over at her friend. "Gylinnis." She chided. "You haven't been making too much trouble for your hosts, have you?"

Gylinnis pressed her lips together and her cheeks reddened a shade or two. "Maybe just a teensy bit."

"Ugh." Sula lightly slapped a hand on her friend's shoulder. "I don't know what you've been up to, young lady." She raised a claw in her friend's face. "But you better respect your gracious elders."

Gylinnis nodded sheepishly. "Yes ma'am."

Jack suppressed a chuckle. Seeing Sula acting like a disciplinary mother figure was kinda entertaining. Makes sense though. Since she has kids of her own.

"Well." Patrick stated. "It was nice to meet you and your homestays young man. But we should get to shopping."

"Indeed." Mary nodded.

Jack was about to wave goodbye when Gylinnis piped up.

"Um. If it's not too much trouble." She gazed at Jack directly. "I would like to spend more time with Sula." She glanced at the lamia briefly. "If you wouldn't mind."

"Sure, why not." Jack agreed.

Gylinnis hugged Jack. "Oh thank you." He bristled a bit, not expecting the sudden affection. He looked over at Sula who just shook her head.

"Aye, that's our Gylinnis." Patrick noted. "She's a hugger."

"Oh my." Gylinnis backed off almost as quickly. "I'm sorry."

Jack held up a hand. "I'm fine, I'm fine." He swallowed once. "I suppose I should get your host's number then."

"Oh, of course." Gylinnis clasped her hands together and looked over at Mary. The elderly woman took out a flip phone and walked up to Jack. They exchanged numbers and each group bid the other farewell.

On the way to the van Jack slowed a bit to keep pace with Sula.

"So...that was nice." He said.

"Mmm." She nodded. "I honestly didn't think I'd see her again after she got accepted. I'll admit I might have forgotten about her." She glanced down briefly. "But I'm glad we got to see each other again."

"So..you're okay with me inviting them over sometime, right?" She gave him a curious look. "I mean I probably shouldn't presume that you would want to see her."

"Of course I'd want to see her." She sounded somewhat baffled. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Ah nevermind." He waved a hand. "Forget I said anything."

She raised one eyebrow. "Okay..."

Jack exhaled once. "By the way..." Sula glanced back at him. "What is she?"

The lamia smirked. "I was wondering when you'd ask me that."

"Yeah, I didn't recognize her species and I didn't..." Jack stopped himself, realizing that he'd made the same mistake twice. "I didn't want to be rude and ask her what she was..." He dipped his head.

Her smirk stayed in place. "You're learning." She lightly jabbed his shoulder. "Don't feel too bad about that one though, I had to ask her myself to find out."

He looked up at Sula in amazement. "Really?" She nodded.

"I didn't recognize her species either Jack." Tetra admitted.

"Neither did I." Syleris added.

"Really?" Jack looked back at his other two homestays, then back to Sula. "So what is she?"

"She is a Glaistig, sometimes called a Green Lady." The lamia answered.

"Huh." Was all he could say.

"Hmm." Tetra mused. "From Scotland or Ireland?"

Sula turned back to her. "Scotland and parts of Wales."

"Interesting..." The arachne placed a claw on her chin and pondered while following.

They reached the van and clambered in. Sula and Tetra were discussing various rare liminals they encountered or heard about, while Jack helped strap them in. He closed up the back and he and Syleris placed the items they purchased on the floor of back seat.

"More tunes?" She asked as she slid into the passenger seat.

"Yeah." Jack told her. "But we'll keep the volume a bit lower, I don't want to interrupt them." He thumbed at the rear of the vehicle.

The harpy shrugged. "Whatever."

Jack fired off a quick text and then started the engine. Halfway through the trip he got a reply notification.

"Oh." Syleris interrupted her singing and picked up the phone.

"Can you read that?" Jack asked. "I'm kinda busy."

"Yeah sure." She replied. "Kay, kay, boxes out. You owe us.." She tilted her head to the side. "pie zzzuh?"

"Pizza." Jack corrected. "It's a human food. I'll order some when we're back home."

"Okay." She chirped and replaced the phone. She resumed her singing.

Ten minutes later Jack was carefully reversing the van into a driveway. He checked his mirrors to make sure he wouldn't hit his friends' cars or his own. Then he set it in park and shut off the engine.

"We're here." He announced and rotated back to see his passengers. "Remember these guys are my friends and they don't have much experience with liminals. So if they say something stupid, let me know. "

Tetra and Sula nodded while unbuckling themselves. Syleris did the same and hopped out the door. Jack retrieved his phone and sent a one word text to Tom's phone. Then he got out and used his key fob to unlock his black Prius.

"Probably not going to get much use out of it now." He said to himself. "Ah well." He turned back to the house and joined his homestays outside the front door.

Ronnie opened it from his side and waved to Jack. "Hey." He wore a dark brown t-shirt and tan cargo pants.

"Hey Ron." Jack waved back. He turned and pointed at each monster girl behind him. "This is Sula, Tetra and Syleris." They each waved back but didn't say anything.

"Not very talkative are they?" Tom noted as he walked up next to Ronnie. He still had a lumberjack beard and wore a white t-shirt and jeans.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Whatever man. Let's just get my stuff outta here and back to my new place."

"Ah." Tom held up a finger. "One thing." He turned around picked up a large yellow envelope. "You had this delivered here."

Jack took the package and scrutinized its return address. "Oh duh." He slapped his fore head. "I ordered this and didn't update the address." He turned around and showed Tetra the package. "It's those balloons I got for you."

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh joy."

Over the next hour the three humans and three liminals loaded boxes of Jack's stuff into his Prius. Whatever couldn't fit in there they placed in the van.

"Alright, that should be it." Jack unhooked his fob and tossed it to Ronnie. "I know you prefer stick shift, weirdo that you are." Ronnie grinned lopsidedly. "But I trust you a little more with driving my car than Tom. " He glanced at his other friend. "No offense Tom."

"None taken." He shrugged. "I'm kinda stoked to see your new place finally."

Jack grinned. "Yeah it's pretty sweet. Anyways, you both got the address?" His friends nodded. "Then I'll see you there."

Jack double checked Tetra and Sula's straps then mounted the driver's seat and started the engine. He took his time navigating back to the mansion. Being careful not to make any sharp turns that might shift around a box of his stuff.

"So your friends seem nice enough." Syleris commented while turning the music down. "They didn't freak out or stare at us or anything." She folded her arms and muttered darkly. "Not like some humans at that mall."

Jack nodded. "I prepared them ahead of time. Sent our selfies and excerpts of species files to both of them. Talked to them about what kind of behavior to expect." He sighed. "As for the folks that stared at us...well." He tried to think of some clever or philosophical quote, but he couldn't safely do that while trying to drive. "I really have no excuse for them." He said.

She dipped her chin to her chest. "Humans still don't really like us, huh."

Jack blinked and looked over at Syleris. He tried to read her face but her wild hair practically engulfed her whole head. "Mamma warned me there'd be days like this."

He glanced at the road and back to her. "That made you uncomfortable huh?"

She nodded.

He sighed. "I'm sorry about that."

She shook her head. "Not your fault Jack."

"Yeah I know." He said and faced forward. "That made me nervous as well." He slowed the van as he made a turn onto the highway. "I was worried some shops wouldn't let us in or some idiot would harass one of you or something."

"They were probably intimidated by all three of us walking together." Syleris suggested bitterly.

Jack glanced at her briefly. "Yeah...maybe. If you want..we can about it later tonight or something."

She didn't move. "Yeah...maybe later."

He tapped the garage door opener hooked onto the flip down visor when they approached the mansion. As the large door retracted Jack narrowed his eyes.

"Reggie's still here?" The harpy asked.

Jack scanned the garage for a large enough space to park. It was a bit difficult with all the company trucks taking up space. "Apparently." He commented when he finally found a suitable spot. He shut off the engine and turned back to Sula and Tetra. "Can one of you find out what Reggie's still doing here?"

Sula raised her hand after unbuckling herself. "I will, Jack."

He nodded at her then opened his door and hopped out. He walked over to where his human friends parked.

"Duude this place is huge." Tom exclaimed as he exited his car. "And what's with all the trucks?"

"I'm a little fuzzy on that myself." Jack replied and walked up to Ronnie.

"Uh you got company man?" Ronnie asked while offering the key fob.

Jack took it and slipped it in his pocket. "Kinda. These guys work on the house to make it ready for the home-stays..." Jack tilted his head back as it hit him. "I'm getting a new homestay."

Both of them blinked. "What? Like right now?" Tom asked.

Jack shrugged. "Maybe. Definitely by tomorrow." He shook his head. "Anyways, come on, I wanna at least get the van unloaded."

Sula returned in the midst of the unloading of Jack's stuff. "Sooo...Smythe called Reggie and told them to fix up another room. "

"For another guest." Jack nodded. "Where at?"

Sula raised a hand casually. "The basement apparently." She picked up a box. "He wants to talk to you when you have time." She turned and slithered back into the house.

Jack grimaced a bit. "I should deal with that now." He faced his remaining home-stays and his two friends. "Can you guys get my stuff to my room? I'm going to see what Reggie wants, then order pizza."

"I want supreme." Ronnie interjected.

Jack waved him off. "Yeah, yeah I know what you guys like." He walked into the kitchen and made his way to the basement. As he approached he heard lots of voices and the cacophony of heavy materials being worked on.

"Reggie!" He called as he descended the stairs. "What gives man? If you wanted to stay over I'd have gotten out the ping pong table and beer and-" Jack let his joke die when he reached the bottom.

Reggie's crew were not only fixing up a room directly beneath the gym but also laying down hardwood and lighting for... something else on the other end of the basement.

"Funny you should mention ping pong." Reggie remarked as he walked up to Jack. He pointed at the crewman laying down hardwood flooring. "This is going to be an open rec room."

Jack blinked. "Oh...cool." He faced Reggie. "I thought I was just getting a new homestay."

The big man nodded. "You are, but I had a full-sized crew here and only needed about a third of them to prepare the Yuki-Onna's room." Jack nodded lightly in comprehension. "So I authorized the rec room renovations."

Jack glanced at the foreman. "The gym's done right?"

"Oh yeah. That's been ready for hours." He waved a hand. "Let me know if your guests need anything adjusted or added."

Jack narrowed his eyes. "Shouldn't that already be taken care of?"

Reggie snorted. "They're monsters Jack. They uh..tend to treat workout equipment kinda roughly."

"Oh right." Jack shut his eyes and rattled his head for a moment. "And Sula's going to practice her boxing in there." He nodded some more. "Something is going to get wrecked."

"Inevitably." Reggie reflected.

"Alright." Jack observed the crew as they went about their business. "I'm going to order pizza for my girls, did you guys need anything?"

Reggie smiled. "Thanks for the offer Mr. Keysman but we got that covered."

"Thought I'd ask." Jack commented. "Um..how long do ya think this'll..."

"Another few hours." Reggie informed. "We got food on the way and your guest's room is going to be as ready as we can make it on such short notice."

"You think it'll work?" Jack asked.

The big man just breathed out. "I'll be here tomorrow."

"To see if it worked." Jack concluded after a moment. "Alright I'll leave you to it."

Reggie nodded at Jack as he ascended the stairs. Jack brought up his Grubhub app and selected a local pizza joint. He made sure to update his current address.

He made a fairly random selection of six or so large pizzas that were heavy on the meat toppings and one supreme. After confirming his order he reflected on the high possibility that three attractive women were probably going to out eat three grown men and still be fit and attractive afterwards. He chuckled to himself and walked back to the garage.

The van was cleared out by the time he got back and Ronnie and Tom were working on unloading the Prius. Jack directed the rest of his stuff to his room. He'd organize and set it up later. When that was all done they decided to retire to the front room and wait for the delivery.

"Hang on, I'll be right back." Tom announced before he sat down. Jack gave him a curious look as he departed toward the garage but didn't comment.

"Okay so, If I remember correctly..." Ronnie raised a finger and pointed it at the lamia. "you are Su..."

"Sula." She finished for him.

"Sula." He repeated and nodded. He pointed at the arachne. "Tetra?"

She closed all six of her eyes and nodded. "Correct."

Ronnie smiled and pointed at Syleris. "And I'm sorry but I don't remember your name."

"Syleris." The harpy supplied and placed a wing-hand on her chest.

"Okay." Ronnie pointed at all three of them and announced their names correctly in one go. "Got it."

"Hey so." Jack interjected. "What's Tom doing?"

"Getting his WiiU." Ronnie replied.

Jack's eyes shot up. "Oh perfect." He glanced over at his homestays. "You girls'll like this."

As promised, Tom returned with a small gym bag full of electronic devices and controllers. The three girls just watched while the guys fiddled with the big flatscreen and discussed how'd they would break in the newbies. A couple moments later the TV lit up with a colorful title proudly reading Super Smash Bros.

"What is this?" Sula asked. Her golden eyes darted between the screen and the guys.

"This." Jack twirled around and brandished two controllers. "Is Smash Bros."

Each of the monster girls looked at them like they were possessed.

"We'll teach you." Jack approached Tetra and handed her a controller. By previous agreement Ronnie crossed over to Syleris and Tom joined Sula on her couch.

Jack figured that coddling his homestays was not the best approach so he set up an eight man free for all on Big Battlefield, the last two characters being controlled by A.I. Might as well throw them into the deep end like everyone else who'd been introduced to this game series had done. What single player mode?

The girls floundered at first, but quickly picked up the basic mechanics. Soon enough they were wailing on each other with electronic abandon. He was a little worried when Syleris' Captain Falcon knocked out Sula's Jigglypuff so hard that it flew into the screen. The echidna glared at the harpy who just giggled and stuck her tongue out.

"Just a game girls, just a game." Jack reminded them gently. Sula took a slow breath and focused back on the TV. Although Jack could've sworn he heard her swear virtual vengeance on the plucky harpy.

Jack stuck with his usual bevy of sword wielding characters. He'd always liked Link and was fond of Marth and Roy when they debuted in Melee. He didn't have a clue who they were at the time, but they looked amazingly badass compared to Yoshi and the rest of the cutesy Mario gang.

Tom preferred the heavier characters like Ganandorf and King Dedede. Ronnie ,for some odd reason, selected random and dealt with whatever the game gave him.

Sula tried Charizard out but the lack of speed was not to her taste and she found more success with faster characters. Syleris almost exclusively played Captain Falcon. She almost won the first round with that character and had been a perennial if semi-predictable pain in everyone else's ass the rest of the time. She did try Falco, once.

Tetra seemed to pick her characters based on how provocative their outfits were. So she flipped between Bayonetta and Zero Suit Samus. She did try Sheik at least once after Tom mentioned that Zelda and she were (spoiler alert) the same character. And she seemed to be impressed with Solid Snake when Ronnie won a round with him.

"You know who'd be a great addition to the new Smash Bros?" Tom asked.

"Who?" Jack replied while keeping his Ike in close with Sula's Pikachu.

"Doomguy." Tom announced.

Jack's eyes widened. "Oh hell's yeah. All those ridiculous guns and he already has a double jump."

Tom nodded. "Yep, the BFG would be his ulti."

"Who are you talking about?" Sula asked.

"Doomguy." Jack answered. "He's from another game series. I'll set up my PC and show you girls later."

"Have you seen the trailers for Doom Eternal?" Ronnie asked.

Jack shook his head. "Nah, been kinda busy."

"They added a hookshot to the super shotgun."

"Oh damn."

"Guess what else they gave him." Ronnie continued.

"What?"

He grinned. "A lightsaber."

Jack rattled his head and stared at his friend. "What? A freakin lightsaber! Seriously?"

"Yep, right at the end of the video too."

"What's a lightsaber?" Syleris asked.

All three guys stopped what they were doing and stared at the harpy. She looked back at them in complete confusion. "What? What'd I say?"

"Wow." Tom commented. "They really are isolated."

Jack shook his head. "Can't be. It's the biggest IP in the world." He turned his head toward Sula. "You've heard of lightsabers and Star Wars right?"

She hunched her shoulders slowly. "Maybe..."

Jack glanced up at Tetra. She shook her head.

He faced forward. "Unbelievable." He nodded firmly. "Alright. When the pizza arrives I'll set up the old VHS player."

"You still have one of those?" Tom asked.

"Yep." Jack nodded. "And the whole pre-special edition trilogy."

"Mmm." Ronnie nodded approvingly. "Han shot first."

"Han shot first." Jack repeated like a mantra.

"Han, who's Han?" Syleris darted her eyes at the three humans.

Jack sighed. "Know what." He set his controller down and stood up. "I'm going to get it all out now and dust it off." He turned to Tetra. "You good on your own here?"

She gave a confident smirk. "I think I can manage."

"Good." He nodded. "Pizza's all paid for when it gets here." He exited the den and went upstairs to his room. He rummaged through his boxes while mumbling. "Never seen Star Wars...unbelievable."

A few minutes later he returned triumphantly, VHS/DVD combo player under one arm and an original trilogy box in his other hand. The doorbell rang as he set them down by the flatscreen.

Ronnie got up and answered it. "Uh dude." He called from the doorway. "This guy doesn't have pizza."

Jack looked over with a frown. "He says he has a bunch of pasta dishes for like, thirty people."

"Oh." Jack grunted. "That's for Reggie's crew." He crossed over and took the first foil tray. "Can one of you girls let Reggie know his food's here?"

"I'm on it Jack." Sula volunteered and left the room. Jack, Ronnie and the delivery guy set out the pasta dishes in the big dining hall.

As soon as Jack set down the last tray the doorbell rang again. "Now, that's our pizza." He turned and called toward the front room. "You got that Tom?"

"Yeah, I got it." He answered back.

Jack walked into the kitchen and retrieved six plates. "Just bring 'em in here."

He helped Tom place the pizza boxes on the counter and stove. Syleris wandered in, sniffing the air."What is that? It smells real good."

Jack smiled and handed her a plate with two slices. The harpy scooped up one of them and took a bite. "Mmmm." Her eyes closed as she chewed. "What are these red things?" She asked.

"Pepperoni." He answered.

"Oh, I've had this." Sula exclaimed as she entered the kitchen. "Papa John and Mama Lysa would bake these." She took a plate of her own and selected a slice from one of the meat heavy pizzas. "Mmm. Just like at home."

Jack smiled. "Glad you girls like it."

Tetra also selected a piece from a box. She took a bite and nodded her head slowly. "Hmm, this one has some...fruit on it?"

"Yep." Jack confirmed. "That one's called Hawaiian."

"What makes it Hawaiian? That's a state, right?" She asked. "It didn't come from there."

Jack chuckled. "No it didn't." He scratched the back of his head. "Most pizzas are named after the toppings they have." He pointed at the one he gave to Syleris. "Like, that one's just called pepperoni pizza." He pointed at the one Sula took a slice from. "That one is called a meatza. 'Cause it's got at least four or more meat toppings and nothing else."

Syleris giggled. "Meatza. I like that."

He pointed at the Hawaiian. "Normally that'd just be called, bacon, Canadian bacon and pineapple. But folks just call it Hawaiian for short." He shrugged. "Maybe it was invented there. I'm not sure."

Sula cut a particularly long piece of melted mozzarella from her slice with a claw. "What's the difference between bacon and Canadian bacon?"

"Well Canadian bacon is a kind of ham here in the States." Jack explained. "But when it's a topping on pizza, it's Canadian bacon."

She blinked a couple times while holding the slice near her mouth. "That, makes no sense."

He smirked. "Welcome to the U.S."

The workmen and women from downstairs set up around the large dining table in the next room and started chowing down. Reginald looked a bit concerned and walked up to Jack. "Are you okay with my crew up here? We can take it somewhere else.."

He waved off the foreman's misgivings. "Nah, your guys can be the first to eat in there. They've earned it."

"They certainly have." Reggie nodded. "Appreciated Mr. Keysman."

After dinner, Jack finished setting up the VHS and slid in the tape for "A New Hope." As he suspected, it needed to be rewound. He picked up the appropriate controller and pressed the button.

Yeesh, when's the last time I had to do this?

"Man I haven't sat and watched the original in like, a decade at least." Ronnie noted as he planted himself on a chair.

Jack nodded. "Me either."

Tetra cantered into the front room followed by the other homestays and Tom.

"Ready for this?" Jack asked after they situated themselves. He got five nods. "Alright. Let's do this."

As the crawl proceeded up the screen Jack got a little chill. He was back in his aunt's house, six years old and watching it for the first time.

When the scene played where Luke returns to the Lars farm, to discover that his aunt and uncle had been murdered by the Empire, Jack was taken back three months ago. He was standing alone in the hospital. On the other side of the glass. Watching doctors failing to revive his mother.

He swallowed. His breathing got heavier. He shut his eyes. The John Williams theme played loud in his ears.

He gasped when he felt something around his arms. He looked up and saw Tetra, sidling nearer to him from her ottoman. She put her arms around him and whispered in his ear. "We can stop this if you want."

"No." He immediately replied. "Just let it play."

He leaned back. Tried to match her steady breathing with his own. By the time Luke and the rest of the rebel pilots launched from Yavin four, Jack's emotions had mellowed, brightened up even. He sat forward and did his best to enjoy the climax and finale of the film. It wasn't too hard, it was Star Wars after all.

As the credits rolled, Jack got up and hit the lights. "I'll be right back." He made his way to the bathroom and cleaned up his face.

"So. Did you girls like it?" He asked when he reentered the room.

"Yeah." Syleris nodded her head. "Those space jets were really cool." She spread her wings out and ran in a little circle around the room. "Veeeuum, pew pew!"

The guys chuckled at her enthusiasm.

"I liked Princess Leia." Sula said. "She wasn't some helpless damsel the whole time. When she needed to, she picked up a gun and blasted her captors and found a way out, helped them all escape."

"Yeah she's pretty kick-ass." Ronnie agreed.

"I think..." Tetra tapped a claw against her cheek. "My favorite part was when the villain...Darth Vader?" She looked at Jack for confirmation. He nodded, acknowledging she got the name right. "I liked when he used, the Force, to..discipline that whiny officer. Really established him as someone to be feared, even by his own allies and minions."

She held her hand up and mimicked the infamous character's Force Choke ability. "'I find your lack of faith, disturbing.'" She quoted.

Sula rolled her eyes. "Of course you would like the villain." She accused.

Tetra grinned. "A great villain is needed in a great story. Otherwise, the hero has no great challenge to overcome."

"Hmmph." Sula folded her arms. "I think you just liked him cause of all the black he wore."

Tetra nodded her head side to side. "I did like that cape."

Jack chuckled. "We'll have to watch the other two later then."

"We can't watch them now?" Syleris whined.

He held up a hand. "I need to clean up and get some sleep soon. We got another homestay coming. Probably tomorrow."

"Fine." She folded her wings. "There better be more space jets."

Jack shook his head. "There are." He assured her. "You taking your stuff?" He directed that question at Tom.

His friend nodded. "Yep, I'll bring it over again sometime. Make a whole day of it."

"Sounds good." Jack replied. "I'll walk you guys out."

The three men crossed the kitchen and descended the stairs into the garage. They stood outside Tom's car and discussed when they might see each other again. They decided to wait until the weekends, when Tom and Ronnie were off work, to try another visit.

Jack waved his friends goodbye and walked back into the house. He tossed the empty pizza boxes and consolidated the leftovers into the last one. After placing it in the fridge he went back to the front room to find Syleris fiddling with one of the controllers.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"I wanna play more games like the one your friend brought but I don't know how." She answered.

"Oh. Give me a minute. I'll set up my Xbox again and you can play whatever games I got."

"Okay, thanks."

He rearranged the cords behind the flatscreen and handed her the correct controller. "So where did Sula and Tetra go?"

"Sula went to the gym." She waved a wing toward the back of the house. "Tetra went upstairs."

Jack nodded. "Alright. I'm going to check on Reggie, then those two, and probably call it a night."

"'Kay."

He smirked. "Don't stay up too late."

She waved a wing dismissively. "Whatever."

He shook his head and turned around. Reggie and his crew were approaching down the hall.

"Hey." Jack called. "All done? Heading out?"

"For tonight." The big man replied. "I'll be here tomorrow for an on-site inspection."

"What time do you think?" Jack asked.

He shook his head, "Don't know. Smythe tends to do things on his own schedule."

Jack smiled ruefully. "Yeah he does." He held out his hand. "See you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow." Reggie affirmed and completed the handshake.

Jack back tracked through the front room and crossed over to the other hallway. He entered the gym and spotted Sula over by a heavy bag. She was thoroughly laying into the poor thing, knocking it around. Her long blonde hair swayed back and forth with each strike.

She noticed him approach and grabbed the heavy bag to keep it from swinging. "Oh Jack, you're here. Good." She wiped a little sweat off her face with her scaled arm. "You mind holding this in place? Reggie forgot to anchor this thing to the ground." He nodded and leaned into the bag opposite Sula and braced his arms and legs.

She threw a quick combination followed by a hook. Jack's eyes widened as he felt the muffled impacts of her fists through the heavy bag. He kept on losing ground after each of her more powerful punches, requiring him to constantly regain his footing on the mat.

Jesus she's strong.

He noticed her jaw was making some sort of biting motion. Like she was trying to envenom someone.

Is she angry about something?

He decided to risk a question. "Uh Sula?"

She ignored him and continued to punish the bag.

"Are you...upset about something?"

Her eyes intensified and she threw a nasty series of heavy body blows into the bag. Jack was losing ground faster than his feet could keep up. "Sula." He yelped in panic.

She bellowed and threw a straight right, as if she were trying to puncture the bag all the way through. The impact knocked into Jack and he fell backward on his butt.

"Oof." He scooted in reverse a couple feet to avoid the swinging bag. "What the hell?!" Sula was just standing there, hands at her side, staring at the ground.

"Sula. Talk to me." He pleaded. "I need to know what's upsetting you." He got up on his feet and held out his hands. "I can only help you if you tell me."

She took a slow breath but didn't look up.

I'm going to have to guess and pick this one out.

"Was it.." He recalled that Syleris wasn't happy about something earlier. "Was it the people at the mall? The ones that stared at us."

Her head swayed a little.

"Was it...Tetra or Syleris? Did they do something?"

Her head kept swaying.

"Is it your friend? Glin something?"

"Gylinnis." She corrected in a dull tone.

Jack blinked. "Did she do something?"

She breathed out. "No. It's me Jack."

He looked at her askance. "Did you do something?"

"No." She shook her head. "But seeing her..." She lifted her head a degree. "Seeing her, brought it all back."

He waited a beat. "Brought what back?"

She waved an arm. "My time waiting for a host." She finally looked up and faced him. "Gylinnis arrived at Smythe's office a day after I did." She smiled a bit. "She had so much energy. We became fast friends."

Her eyes stared back at the floor. "But she was accepted by a family in less than a week." She shook her head. "I hadn't seen or heard from her since."

She took another slow breath. "Then more girls came, more liminals. They would be taken in and I..I wouldn't." She shut her eyes.

Oh gods.

She sniffed. "Then Smythe tried assigning me to households that said they were willing to host a lamia. But when they found out I was an echidna..." Her face crumpled and tears started streaming down her cheeks.

"They threw me out!" She sobbed. "Every single one of them."

Jack darted forward and hugged her fiercely. "That's over now." He said in as reassuring voice as he could. "It's over. It's okay."

"And I just smiled and tried to be nice." She wailed. "I was being as nice as I could. But all they saw were my venom and claws. That's all I was to them."

"You are so much more than that Sula." Jack said confidently. "I knew that after the first day I met you. You are so much more."

She cried into his shoulder and hugged him back.

"That's over now." Jack soothed. "You're here. I accept you."

"I wanted to curse myself for being born this way." She muttered into his shirt.

He broke the hug and clasped her arms. She raised her head in surprise and stared into his eyes. "No Sula. Never. Never ever think that. Never say that."

She gaped breathlessly.

"I want to hear you say it." He commanded. "Say 'I will never think that way.'"

She swallowed. "I will never think that way."

"Again."

"I will never think that way."

"Louder."

She closed her mouth and breathed out. "I will never think that way!"

He held her arms a moment more then nodded satisfactorily. "Good." He hugged her again. "You are a very beautiful, very strong, young woman. You are a mother and a fighter. You are an echidna lamia and my friend." He paused a beat. "You were right earlier. I am the luckiest man on earth because I am hosting you."

"Oh Jack." She laughed. "You really mean that?"

"Yes."

They held each other until she cried herself out. They held each other after that. He didn't want to, but Jack felt he should take a step back. Sula loosened her arms a bit and then they parted.

"I'm here for you Sula." Jack said. "Cause we're family."

She smiled tiredly. "I know Jack. Thank you."

"It's getting late."

"It is." She looked back at the heavy bag. "You mind holding it again? I wanna finish up my set. I haven't been able to do it in months."

He nodded. "Can do." Jack braced his arms against the bag. "Just... try not to knock me over this time."

Sula chuckled once. "Yeah Jack. I'll try."

Her blows were more subdued in power this time around, but she kept a quick steady pace. Soon enough she backed away and started flexing her fingers.

"Done?" He asked.

"Yeah. For tonight." She replied. "Thank you Jack." She looked at him directly and smiled. "Thank you so much, Jack."

He smiled and nodded. "You're quite welcome Sula."

She snorted and held up a claw. "That's Tetra's line."

He shrugged. "Felt right to say."

She lowered her hand. "Speaking of her. You might want to see how she's doing."

Jack breathed out and nodded again. "Yeah."

"I heard a bit of you talking to Syleris about those people that stared at us." She said. "Tetra might be feeling the same way."

"Might be." Jack agreed.

He left the gym and proceeded up the stairs. He paused at the second floor and considered going directly to bed right then and there. Do not pass go. Do not collect two hundred dollars.

Then he took one more step. And one more step, and one more. And he found himself closer to the top of the stairs than the bottom.

Might as well.

He completed the rest of the ascension and knocked lightly on her door. "Tetra, you still up?" He heard some floorboards creaking on the other side. "Tetra?"

The door clicked and opened a hair. "Jack. Did you need something?" She asked.

"I just wanted to see how you're doing." He replied.

"I'm..fine Jack."

He tilted his head a bit. "Okay, but Syleris was uncomfortable about all the people that were staring at us in the mall and Sula...was upset for...other reasons."

The arachne paused a moment. "I could tell." A beat. "You spoke with them?"

"Yep." He nodded.

She blinked once. Then blinked again. "Alright. I suppose we should. You did come up all this way."

Jack gave her an odd look.

"Just give me a minute please." She closed the door.

He breathed out and tapped his foot.

"Okay. Come on in." She called.

He gripped the handle and turned it. He was about to take a step inside but he stopped himself. "You don't have a trap right here do you?"

She giggled lightly. "No Jack. No traps tonight."

He opened the door the rest of the way. He was prepared to look away in case she was naked again but Tetra had one of her typical crop tops on. Revealing but better than nothing.

Her room's windows were still curtained but with the lights on he could see a collection of items around her room. They reminded Jack of Sula's mini-museum just presented differently. Stackeded in a couple corners rather than displayed.

"So." She interrupted his observations. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Um...well." He started awkwardly. "Did the people who stared at us upset you?"

She waved a hand. "I expected as much. I was more impressed that the shops were so accommodating."

"That was pretty cool." He nodded. "But it didn't hurt? The people."

She shook her head. "Like I told you, arachne are taught to expect rejection and fear." She flexed one hand. "It doesn't make us immune to the emotional effects." She sighed. "And it's still galling to have to put up with." She pointed a claw at Jack. "But we take the good with the bad."

He snorted. "Alright. If you're okay then I won't bother you anymore tonight." He turned back to the door.

"You're not bothering me Jack." She stated. He turned around. "Don't you want to ask me about anything else?" He furrowed his eyebrows. "My special little project perhaps?"

Jack shook his head lightly. "No...I trust you Tetra. If I need to know something you'll let me know."

She smiled. "I will ask you to invite Mrs. Tam and her children over when I'm ready."

Jack glanced to the side and nodded. "I have her number. I can do that." He faced her directly. "Anything else?"

"Would you like to talk about my father a little?"

He froze a moment. "Um.. yeah. I-if you're willing."

She waved a claw and a pair of wheeled cushioned stools rolled toward each of them. Jack could just make out the thread attached to the one rolling toward him. He stopped it with his foot and sat down.

"I told you that I never knew my father." She began. "But I do know about him, and what happened to him."

Jack leaned back a few degrees. "What happened to him?" He echoed.

"Yes." She nodded. "He died, Jack."

He breathed out. "I'm sorry." He took a few moments and remembered something she said earlier today. "'So much in common.'" He looked up at her. "That's what you meant as well. We both have dead parents."

She nodded slowly. "Yes."

"Okay." He rocked his head back and forth. "Was that all you wanted to say?"

"For tonight, yes"

Jack stood up. "Then, good night Tetra." He waved and turned back to the door. "See you in the morning."

"Oh, I just remembered." She announced.

Jack rolled his head back and turned one more time to face her. "What isMMPFFH!"

In less than a blink of an eye she crossed the distance between them and kissed him. Hard.

A/N: Dramatic emotional cliffhanger, Bwahahaha!

Yeah so, gonna have to add Romance back to the tags on this. Tetra threatened to tear up her contract (and my spleen) if I didn't write that last part in. She's so demanding, but so much fun to write for. Please forgive my weakness.

Also, Over One Hundred followers! Wow!

I really didn't expect anything like that for this. It is humbling and encouraging. Thank you all very much.

Anyways, comment and review please.