Chapter 7
Mark was working one of the registers and waved at me as I walked into McDougall's. "Hey Vincent, you're early today?"
I shrugged. "Five minutes isn't all that early, I just wanted some ffffffff-" I held off on saying what I originally intended to when Mark gave me a stern look. "-ffffriggin soda before my shift. How you doin' today?"
He sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "Oh, you know, living the dream."
I chuckled. "Nightmares are dreams too, you know."
A slight smirk crossed his pudgy face. "Exactly."
After grabbing a cup full of Bepsi-cola and clocking in, I said hi to Tay and Carlos. Ash was gone today for his dentist appointment or whatever.
It had been a few days since I.A. Day and my new working relationship with Tay was like night and day. It was funny how I used to dread coming to work and standing near her, but now I was almost happy to see her. The first night we didn't really talk much, but yesterday I tried making small talk to her and she was receptive to it. Today, she was being more friendly to me than I had ever seen her be to anyone. She was still an asshole of course, but it was more in a funny way than a way that pissed me off. She had really lightened up.
"…Aight, what would you do if you woke up one day and you had legs?" I asked as I boxed two medium fries.
Tay rolled her eyes and didn't look at me. Choosing to focus on assembling sandwiches instead. "I'd probably kill myself."
I chuckled. "C'mon don't be like that. You can't just kill yourself, that's cheating."
She looked over her shoulder and smirked at me. "Suicide is always an option, the sooner you realize that, the better, dipshit."
"Why are you so scared of having legs?" I gestured down to my feet and around the kitchen. "All your coworkers have legs and we manage just fine."
"I…" She looked back at her work, wrapping a sandwich and passing it down the line. "It… just seems like it would be hard to keep your balance. Most of my weight is on the floor, so even if someone tackled me I'd still be on my feet… I mean, my body."
I threw two baskets of fries in the fryers. "Oh, so you think it's impressive I can walk without falling over?"
She snorted. "Don't put words in my mouth, dipshit. I'll admit I'm always impressed when you manage to finish a shift without burning yourself." She looked at my legs as I walked over to the order bagging area. "I just… think it'd be hard to get over the whole thing where you lift your leg to take a step. I don't have to lift up anything to move."
I looked down at that part of her snake-like body that touched the ground. "Yea, I could see that bein' hard with all the slithering you do. Now that I think about it, I 'spose you don't wear shoes either—"
She interrupted me with a laugh. "Well yeah. I've seen these tail sock things for sale before, but I never liked the feel of them rubbing my scales..."
I raised an eyebrow, matching it with a smirk. "So you're just raw-dogging this greasy ass floor with your belly all day long?!"
"Eh…" Her hood widened. My comment had made her speechless for a few moments. Her eyes darted around searching for an explanation somewhere on the steel counters around her. "Uh, it's not exactly that. What you called my belly is more like the bottom of your foot."
"So, you're basically going around baref—"
She held up a hand to stop me. "Look, dipshit, you're not a viper, so I don't expect you to understand. I know that doesn't make it much better. It sucks. Sometimes the grease gets in between my scales and it's hard to dig out." The weird look I gave her seemed to only make her more uncomfortable. She itched her face and it almost looked like she was trying to hide it. "I wash the part of my body that touches the floor every day…"
She sighed. "Can we just go back to talking about the leg thing?"
"Sure. Uh, before we got off topic I was gonna say. If you woke up with legs one day, I could teach you how to walk."
She looked happier now that we got off the topic of her greasy foot-belly and scoffed. "No offense, but if that ever did happen, I'd trust a video tutorial more."
I pointed at her. "Aha, so that's what you would do if you woke up with legs."
"No. Remember? I said I would kill myself."
"Ok, well, suicide isn't an escape because in this case after you die you become a purgatory ghost and you still have legs."
She shook her head and chuckled to herself. "Fine, I guess I'd call out of work for a month, learn how to walk, and buy a pair of shoes."
"See, was that so hard?"
She tapped her chin. "Alright. It's your turn, dipshit. Hmmmmmm…" she suddenly got a devilish grin on her face. "What would you do if you woke up and your dick fell off?"
I stopped what I was doing and turned to face her. "Like my entire dick?"
"Yes."
"Am I bleeding to death? Do I have some kind of disease?"
"No, no blood, it just fell off."
"Uhh, I guess I'd try to get it reattached or get a new one grown at a gene clinic."
She put her hands on her hips. "Not possible, the gene clinic and the hospital got destroyed by sinkholes."
"Can I still piss?"
She nodded. "You can, but it's hard to aim."
I thought for a minute. "I'd have to find a girlfriend with no pussy then. Or one that doesn't care if I have a dick."
She laughed. "What the hell? You're so fucking weird."
It wasn't the first time I had made her laugh, but it felt amazing considering until a few days ago all I had ever gotten from her was hatred.
"Really? I'm weird for thinking of how to deal with your weird ass scenario? Does a motherfucker not deserve love just 'cuz he's missing his dick?"
Her laughter got louder for a moment before she silenced it. "Ugh, see this is why I can't talk to you. I forgot what order I was making."
I looked at the order list. "Well, I need a McSquichy fish sandwich with double cheese and ketchup."
A spark of realization formed in her eyes. "Oh shit, you're right. I can't believe I forgot that - getting ketchup with fish is disgusting."
I chuckled. "Sometimes we gotta commit a few war crimes in here if the customer wants it. We're just following orders." I watched for her reaction
She chuckled nervously and prepared the sandwich.
I still wasn't fully convinced she didn't work for a blacksite. I mean how does a rumor like that even start? Surely there was some truth to it? If we were ever gonna be anywhere close to being friends I had to know that. If she did do something and it wasn't that bad… If she apologized for it, I might be able to look past it. But, if she actually helped melt billions of people, could I be friends with her? Didn't all the advent staff help do that technically? Any contribution to the Advent regime was a contribution to their goals...
The shitty diversity video floated to the front of my mind as I packed up an order and handed it out the door.
What if she didn't have a choice?
What if she had no control over her actions?
Could I still forgive her?
I turned to look over my shoulder at her. She continued to work, oblivious to my thoughts and my staring. She turned around. Our eyes met for a moment. The side of her mouth curved into a smirk and we both turned back to our work.
And what about Thorn? The advice she gave to me was good. She seems like a good person. But what did she do for Advent? Could I ever fully trust either of them? Tay at least couldn't read my mind. I was safe to think whatever I wanted around her. But Thorn…
What if I saw something suspicious, heard something, and she got it out of my head? What if she already knows I'm suspicious?
Ugh, why do I want to date aliens? Normal guys who are only into human women don't have to deal with questions like this… I blame all those visual novels I played after work when I was in high school. Fucking Josh sold me that stupid flash drive filled with hundreds of them. I didn't know what I was getting into at the time. It was just supposed to have a metric shitton of games on it, I didn't know it also had VN's on there…
My shift was getting busy, I didn't have much time to think after the start. Once it had gotten dark out, the amount of orders died down somewhat, but after Mark went into his office I was doing two people's jobs at the front. Taking orders, taking money, putting lids on drinks, making fries, bagging food, and handing it out the window.
Tay looked over at me a few times, a glint of concern in her eyes after Mark had gone to his office. After the fourth look I got from her, she said something. "I can take over fries if you're struggling."
I was in the middle of taking an order and bagging one, so I didn't fully process what she said. "…a Mcdougall crispy deluxe meal, three medium fries, large sweetest tea, two McCheeseyEasy burger meals, both with a medium citrus Spritze Ditzy. That'll be 435.78 at the second window. Thank you."
"Hey," Tay said in an agitated tone.
"Huh?" I mumbled in my drained and hyperfocused state.
"Do - you - want me to take over fries?"
"Huh? No. I got it. I'm fine."
She crossed her arms and chuckled. "No, you aren't, you're drowning. I can tell."
I tried to muster up as much life into my face as I could. "No, really, I'm fine."
She had the same look on her face that my Ma did when I would try to go into work sick. "Don't be a hero, dipshit. I'm gonna take over fries." She slithered up to the fry station and dropped two baskets in the oil. "You don't owe me anything for this, by the way. I was doing fries and grill just fine before you started, so don't get any retarded ideas thinking I like you or something."
I shrugged. "Aight. If you really wanna, I won't stop you."
Her eyes darted from my face to the bag in my hands. "You should hand that out the window."
"Huh?" I looked down at the bag in my hands. "Oh, yea."
With Tay's help, I wasn't feeling as overwhelmed as before. It took some of the weight off my back so I could focus on taking orders and bagging them.
I was counting the minutes to when I could close the indoor dining room, so I would have one less thing to worry about…
But right before it was time for that, a man burst into the dining room.
He was wearing a balaclava, dressed in all black. A striped tracksuit, boots, even went as far as wearing leather gloves that were black too.
He pulled something out of his jacket pocket and pointed it at me...
My heart stopped, I felt like I couldn't breathe.
What is that?! Who is this?!
"I'm robbing this BITCH! So put yo greasy ass hands UP!" I could tell from his outfit and tone that this probably wasn't a joke.
But the thing he was pointing at me was a joke. It vaguely looked like an Xcom Laser pistol. If it was, it looked so fucked up it might've been used during Advent's initial invasion decades ago. Fished from God knows where and repaired with whatever was lying around. It was held together with duct tape, bad welds, and metal brackets screwed into the outside. The pièce de résistance of crackhead engineering. I wouldn't be shocked if this asshole had repaired it himself.
But, it was a gun.
A gun that could function enough to kill someone; Kill me.
A real gun.
A real gun that this guy was pointing at my chest while fingering the trigger.
My voice barely squeaked out as I put my hands up. "Y-you're robbing us?"
He walked up to the register and put both his hands on the counter, making sure I got a good look at his laser gun. Then he leaned over the register and got close enough to my face that I could smell the cigarettes and booze on his breath. "Yea, that's right, nigga."
At this point, I was all but pissing myself. "B-But, we don't keep money in the registers? E-everything's electronic."
He pointed the gun at me again. "Are you gettin' smart with me?!"
I shook my head. "No, sir. I just don't know what you want. D-do you want burgers? We'll make you as many as you want."
He sucked air in through his teeth and tsked."Oh my Gawd." He backed off from the counter and paced in front of it. "I 'din come for no fuckin' san'wiches. I'm here for the muthafucking gold. What else would I steal, you retarded ass mother fucker?"
Gold? At McDougall's? This guy is fucking insane!
I heard Tay behind me. "Vincent? What's going on?" Her voice was shaky, fearful. The fact she used my actual name caught me off guard.
The robber got a wild look in his eye and pointed his gun at Tay. "Hol, up snake bitch. Don't move."
A moment of relief cut through all my fear like a laser blast. Oh, he is so fucked. The moment Tay has a chance she's gonna go in for the kill. He doesn't stand a chance. She could probably dodge a shot from that piece of shit gun and get him right now if it didn't blow up in his hands when he pulled the trigger.
Tay's eyes widened and she held her hands up; I swear I could almost see them shaking a little bit. Her tongue was flicking out slowly.
"Ha, yea! Maybe you dumbass mother-FUCKERS will think twice before filling a nigga's burger with fucking PICKLES and giving him NO MEAT! I - HATE - PICKLES!"
Tay glanced at me for half a second. I expected to see anger in her eyes, and I did, but it was buried under a pile of… fear? I couldn't believe this was the same guy we gave the McPickler to. Did that really piss him off enough to rob our store?! I don't really remember what that guy looked like.
The robber noticed her looking at me.
"Ah, y'all know who did it, don't ya?"
Neither Tay nor I said anything.
He frowned. "You know what, I respect neither of you snitchin'. I don't give a fuck who did it, this place sucks! I'd burn it to the ground if I had the time, but I'll settle for stealing yo gold! Now tell me where it is!"
Tay didn't say anything. I didn't want to piss this guy off, so I stepped in. "W-we d-don't know where the gold is. But… our manager might?"
He nodded. "Uh-huh. And where is his bitch ass?"
"T-The office."
He nodded. "Aight, take me back there, we'll 'ax his ass then." The robber walked around the side of the counter, keeping the gun pointed at us. "You two face away from me, lead me to the office. Don't try anything or I'll cap both of y'alls asses."
We did as he said.
As Tay slithered and I walked, something was weighing on my conscience, so I whispered to Tay. "If we die, I just wanted you to know, I'm sorry I touched your snitty." Oh merciful God, why did I say SNITTY of all things?
Tay looked both scared and bewildered, but she managed to squeak out. "I forgive you."
"Shut up you two! No talkin'!" We reached the end of the kitchen. "Stand by that sink and don't try nothin'. If I hear the cops or see you callin' 'em y'all are dead."
Tay and I went over to the sink behind the manager's office and stood by it. I turned to look at the robber. He had turned his back to us.
This was it, this was Tay's chance to catch him off guard.
I turned back to see what she would do.
I couldn't believe what I saw. Her hands were clasped together, her head bowed. You'd have thought she was praying if her eyes weren't wide open. She was just… staring at the floor and not moving.
Why isn't she doing anything? What's going on?
I heard yelling come from the manager's office. He was no doubt demanding to get this gold. I peeked in through the office door's window and I saw the guy waving his gun around.
I couldn't make out much of their conversation through the door, but I was able to read Mark's lips. He said something to the effect of "you don't want to do this."
Then the robber pointed the gun at him. Mark stood up and opened up the safe.
I couldn't believe my eyes, inside the safe there was what looked like gold bullion.
Wait so the gold is real… Why does a fast food joint store gold?! Is this a bank?
I wanted to keep watching, but I heard a thud come from where Tay was.
My heart sank into the pit of my stomach.
I made it back to the dish sink so fast everything was a blur.
Tay… my enemy, my former enemy. She really made me nervous at times. I never really knew what she might do. Her past was a mystery to me. What she was capable of, I had no idea. She never had any issues threatening violence against people.
No matter what she said, or how friendly we were, in the back of my mind I always saw her as a war criminal. An alien capable of committing atrocities, a murderer. If you held a gun to my head, I'd have said I was more scared of her than any robber…
The monster I had feared was curled up practically into a ball and sitting hunched over on the ground.
Her breaths were fast and hiss-like. Her tongue, normally kept under control, was flicking out wildly. Her hood was spread so wide it looked painful.
I looked deep into her eyes and found nothing. Her eyes were vacant, far beyond being caught up in thinking. Tay just wasn't there.
She wasn't lying on the floor like this. She was gonna save us, save the restaurant. Save McDougalls.
"Tay? Are you alright?"
She didn't respond. She held onto her tail and rocked back and forth.
I touched her shoulder. "Tay? Tay?! Are you having a heart attack? Do you need to go to the hospital?"
She continued to stare at the floor. Nonsensical mumbles escaped her lips.
"Tay… please! Are you there? Come back. What's going on!"
She shook her head. Muttering words to herself, two stood out to me. "P-panic attack."
Panic attack? I had a vague idea, but I didn't really know what the hell that was. I figured she was just scared of the robber killing us.
I sat down next to her on the floor and tried to talk to her. "Uhh, hey, eh, everything is gonna be ok. He's gonna get what he came for and he's gonna leave. You heard him say he doesn't want to see any cops. He's gonna leave us alone and get out as fast as he can."
She nodded along with me and gradually her sharp breaths became more deep and intentional. Her rocking slowed.
I didn't even know what I was saying at this point, I was just saying whatever I could to help her to stop thinking about what was happening.
I lightly patted her on the back. "We're gonna be alright. You know what, we're gonna be so alright, that after this is over we're gonna hang out. We're gonna have a lot of fun. When this is over... we'll go to the mall and get some sandwiches, I promise. Wouldn't that be fun?"
She snorted at what I said. Almost like a chuckle.
"He's not gonna hurt us. I-I won't let him hurt you. He's just gonna leave. He doesn't care about us. Don't worry about him, just breathe. I'll worry about him for you."
I kept saying things to try and calm her down, and I think it was working. She scooted close enough to me that our hips were touching.
After about five minutes the door to the manager's office opened.
In those moments I prayed he would just run out the front door… and he did. That was the last I saw of him.
Eventually, Mark stepped out of the office, beads of sweat dotted all over his red face. He rubbed the back of his head as he looked around the room. "Where's Carlos?"
"Out on break," Tay answered abruptly without looking up.
He nodded. "Are you two alright?" His eyes were filled with sympathy.
We both mumbled "yes" in unison.
"I'm sorry you both had to go through that. But you handled it well. This was the best thing you could have done. I'm closing down McDougalls for the night, you both can go home. I'll tell Carlos what happened when he gets back and send him home too."
"Shouldn't we call the cops?" I asked.
Mark's eyes went wide. "NO, DON'T call the cops…" he paused to collect himself for a moment. "Don't worry about anything, I'll take care of it. You two just go home and get some rest. You've been through a lot."
Why is he so adamant about us not calling them?
Tay looked up from her arms. "What about the dishes?"
"I'll take care of closing down the store for the night. I'll get Carlos to help me."
That seemed to be enough for Tay, she stood up from her coils, and I stood up too. We both got our stuff from our lockers and made our way into the lobby.
After we left McDougalls, we both stood in the parking lot looking at each other for a few minutes. Neither of us had fully processed what had happened yet.
I asked Tay. "Are you ok to wal… slither home on your own?"
The blank expression she had been wearing since she sat by the sink suddenly shattered and some emotions came through. "Yes… I should be fine…" She looked down at the concrete.
"Are you doing, ok?" I asked. "Your panic attack, I mean is it… fixed?"
A slight smile appeared on her scaly lips when I said fixed. "I'm better now… I just need to relax for a while." She tilted her head up to see me, but she seemed... distant, like she was somewhere else.
I put my hands in my pockets as a brisk breeze blew by. "Good. I was really starting to worry about you back there."
She looked away from me and her tongue flicked out. "O-oh... I'll, uh... I'll be fine." She stumbled over her words and quickly turned the subject to me. "Ar-are you, ok?"
I nodded. "I'm alive, traumatized, but alive. I can't complain."
She chortled at my joke. "That's good..."
"Yea..."
An air of uncomfortable silence hung between us. We were standing only a few feet away from each other, but it felt like there was a gap as big as the rising sun.
Tay looked like she wanted to say something, but the words were caught in her throat. Maybe... maybe I wanted to say something to her, but nothing came to mind. It was exactly like when we watched the fireworks together, except this time there was no one to interrupt us.
She shook her head, slightly, knocking loose whatever she was thinking. "Have a good morning, Vince."
I nodded once, "You too, Tay."
We parted ways, and I began my journey home, my thoughts racing over what I had witnessed.
What happened tonight? What was that shit where she was cowering in fear? Isn't she a soldier? Hasn't she been in much worse situations than some crackhead robbing the store? She fought in the war... She's fought Xcom, rebels. That's gotta be terrifying. She must have... even if she wasn't a blacksite guard, right? Maybe she's just luring me into a false sense of security… Could it be PTSD? Like maybe she's got bad memories from the war? I know after coming out of that mind control shit, a lot of the aliens remembered what they did.
I was almost certain she wasn't a black site guard at this point, but seeing her get so scared during the robbery raised more questions. I needed to consult the boys.
0-
When I woke up in the afternoon, I got online. My friends couldn't believe what had happened. Dan, of course, pointed out the joint was in a new development area, so it'd be an easy place to rob and make a getaway. "But how did he know how there was gold there?" he mused. "And why were they storing gold there?" I didn't have an answer, but I wondered the same thing.
All hell broke loose when I mentioned I was pretty sure that guy robbed the place because I gave him only pickles when he asked for no pickles. "You don't mess with a man's burger. That's sacred." Josh had said.
Ray was much more interested in Tay, dismissing the robbery with: "That's New Chicago for ya. Wannabe gangbangers on every street corner. But what's all this about Tay cowering? Fuck that guy, dude you handled that like a champ."
Josh echoed his sentiments. "You were acting like a total chad! Like some kinda sigma-chad hybrid! A new stage in evolution."
I really didn't know what had come over me during the robbery. I was scared outta my mind, but somehow I kept it together and everything turned out alright. My friends agreed with me that there was no way she was some kind of elite Advent soldier.
Ray was incessant about Tay, though. "She was all shy after you totally saved her. She fuckin' wants the D, bro. You gotta talk to her."
Maybe Dan had started to rub off on me, but I didn't know if I agreed with Ray. Tay's never seen me that way, I mean she calls me dipshit all the time. Never mind the fact I'm basically dating Thorn. She's just more anti-social than me, probably wanted to say thanksand didn't know how to.
I would find my answer at work today.
The day started off strange. I have worked closely with Tay for months, I knew what was normal for her. And, strangely, she seemed slightly chipper today. After a fucked up experience you'd assume she would be worse off. I definitely wasn't feeling better than usual today.
She just had this slight grin almost imperceptibly stretching the corners of her mouth. As soon as I passed by to put my stuff in my locker, she slipped in a: "Heyyy~, dipshit." With a polite tone. She scrunched up one of her eyes after the words left her lips, as though she was as weirded out by how she said that as I was.
Course, Ash and Carlos asked me about what happened during the robbery and asked if I was alright.
"Dude, that's crazy. You did the right thing though. Me, I might've tried to tackle him when his back was turned." Ash boasted. "What did Tay do? Did she try to attack him?"
I shook my head and shrugged. "No, she cowered in the corner the whole time... Speakin' of that. Does she seem off today, to you guys?"
Ash raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
I glanced at the floor. "I don't know... She almost seems glad."
"Maybe she, like, won the lottery, or something." Carlos chipped in.
Ash shook his head at Carlos' response. "She probably got a good sleep and is happy that the robber is long gone."
I scratched my chin. "She's been a lot friendlier to me since I.A. day. We were shooting the shit yesterday, but this seems..."
Ash looked at me like I had just shot his mother. "You're what? You - and - Tay? Dude? Are you guys friends? After all that shit?"
Carlos mumbled. "Santa Maria." Under his breath.
I looked back at Tay for a few moments. She caught my eye, waved at me, and went back to work. I turned back to Ash and Carlos and shrugged my shoulders. "I… guess so?"
Carlos itched the short, greasy black hair on his head. "I thought you two hated each other? Like, you know, hated - hated."
"We did, but now we don't."
Carlos squinted. "So now you're best friends with Diablo's serpent?"
I held my hands up. "Woah, woah. We're not best friends. We're really not that close. I didn't know you hated her so much?"
He crossed his arms. "I stay out of her way. I tolerate her, that doesn't mean I like her." He eyed the dishwashing sink in the back of the kitchen and put in one of his wireless earbuds. "I'll pray for your safety, pendejo."
After that, he slipped back into the kitchen. Ash looked just as surprised by what Carlos said. "I don't know about all that, dude. But, you gotta be careful around her. I mean, like, dude, it'syour life, but if you listened to me once in a while—"
I leaned in close to Ash and whispered. "Look, man. I don't know much, but she's probably just freaked out after the robbery. I mean look at her, she seems off. Like she's in lala land." As I said that, Tay began to quietly sing to herself as she flipped a burger. Then she tossed the spatula in the air and caught it. "She wouldn't act like this if you gave her ten million x-credits. The robbery must have scared her so bad she broke."
Ash quietly watched Tay for a few moments. "I think you're right, dude... I mean, I guess this isn't so bad. It's better than you guys fighting all the time. I still wouldn't trust her."
Tay pulled the grill press down with her tail but stopped halfway because she suddenly realized she had left the spatula on the grill.
I chuckled. "I don't think I need to worry that much…"
The whole shift Tay was like that. Slightly off, distracted.
She completely messed up two orders in a row and I had to talk to her.
"Tay, are you alright?"
She whipped around to face me, almost dropping a spatula in the process. She quickly tried to compose herself. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why ask?"
I couldn't look her in the eye. "You know why. You've messed up two orders. I've never seen you mess up one order."
She looked worried for a moment. "I won't mess up anymore. Just give them an extra fry for the wait, they won't mind."
I shrugged. "Alright, if you say so."
Tay didn't mess up any more orders, but she still seemed distracted. I found her taking a nap in the breakroom when she went ten minutes over her break.
I meant to ask Mark about what had happened after he presumably called the police, like if we needed to give them a statement or something, but he managed to slip out before I could ask. I'd have to wait until Monday to get an answer.
Eventually, I took my lunch break and while I was eating Tay slithered into the break room.
She watched me take a bite of my burger. "You like it?"
I looked down at my half-eaten burger. What did she do to this? Suddenly, I lost my appetite. "Yea, it's fine. Why do you wanna know? Did you spit in it?"
She chortled. "No, nothing like that... Just... wanted to know if you liked it." She had that distant look on her face again. She was thinking about something.
She slithered into the room fully and closed the door with her tail. Her bifurcated tongue slipped out between her lips rapidly, as though she were trying to catch snowflakes with it.
I sighed and put down the burger. "Alright, out with it."
She cocked her head, my voice had pulled her back to planet Earth. "W-what do you mean?"
I sat back in my plastic chair, leaning my head back into my clasped hands. "Look... you've been acting weird since the robbery. You clearly want to say something, so say it. Can't be anything worse than what you've—"
"Did you mean what you said?" She suddenly spat out at me with a flick of her tongue.
I looked into her blue eyes. She seemed happy, but also as shocked at those words as me. "What? Just now?"
She slashed a clawed finger through the air. "N-no. Yesterday. During the... robbery."
I couldn't tell what her intentions were. "Oh, about touching your titty?"
The back of my head suddenly became itchy. "Yea, if I'm bein' honest that's kinda been weighing on me for a while." She looked like she wanted to interrupt me, but she allowed me to keep talking. "I wanted to apologize for it a while ago. Now that we're not fighting so much… I don't know, I just don't want you to think I did it on purpose."
A smirk appeared on her face and she crossed her arms. She seemed less nervous now. "I always knew that was an accident, dipshit."
"Y-you did?"
She snorted. "Please. If a pervert like you had actually wanted to grope me you would have gone for a whole handful, not a poke. If you'd actually tried to cop a feel I would have bitten your hand." Some of her usual self came out with that.
"Oh. Uhhh…"
She cocked her head and was at a loss for words. "Look…" Her eyes drifted down to her hands as she tapped her claws together. "I-I meant did you mean all that stuff you were saying about going to the mall and stuff." Suddenly, her eyes darted to mine. "Do you actually... wanna hang out… with me..?"
I looked away from her. "Uhhhhh…"
She sighed. "It's fine." Her tone was sharp, she sounded offended. "I get it. You were just trying to calm me down. You don't have to. It's fine."
I forced myself to look back at her. "No, I… You just caught me off guard, is all. I'm still a little wigged out from the robbery… You actually want to hang out with me?"
She rolled her eyes. "Do I really have to spell it out for you?"
My heart rate went up. I felt almost possessed by a force I didn't understand. "Yea. I mean no. I mean…" I paused for a moment. "If you want to hang out at the mall, I'm down."
There was a pleased glint in her eye. "Ok, how about Saturday afternoon? Sound good?"
"Tomorrow?"
"Is that an issue?"
"I, uh... Nooo?"
"Great." She held out a white scaly hand. "Give me your phone. I'll put in my number."
I opened the contact app and handed my phone to her. After a few seconds, she handed it back to me and I had a new contact. She had put black hearts and skull emojis around her name.
She handed me her phone with a smirk. "Alright, now put in your number."
I couldn't help but notice she had already put "Dipshit" in the contact name, and that she didn't type anything up before she handed it to me. Did she plan this? I changed it to Vince and put in my phone number. She didn't make any comments when I handed it back to her, but I knew she would change it back to dipshit later.
She wiggled her clawed fingers at me. "Enjoy the rest of your break, dipshit."
I waved. "Yea, bye."
The rest of my shift was relatively normal. Tay seemed more focused after our conversation.
As I walked home, the connotations of what I just agreed to hit me in waves.
Why on God's green earth does she want to hang out with me? Right after the store got robbed! I mean I'm the one that brought it up first I guess. But we hated each other just two weeks ago, now she wants to be friends. I don't know, this is all moving so fast.
I stopped at a crosswalk. Wait, is this a date? Or are we just hanging out with friends? I went on a date with Thorn though, I was dating her. Am I dating Thorn? Am I cheating on her?
The sign turned green to tell me I could cross. I guess it was just one date and we weren't really boyfriend and girlfriend. But it still doesn't feel right… We haven't even texted much since that first date, I haven't planned a second one with her yet and now I'm hanging out with Tay.
Shit, and we're going to the mall. Thorn works at the mall! She's gonna see us together! And she's gonna hate me…
Eugh! Why did I agree to this? Why did Tay want this?
I stopped at the front of my house and looked at the door.
Maybe I just need to relax. Maybe Tay doesn't give a shit about Hot Topic, so we can avoid it. We're just hanging out as friends. Going to the mall isn't romantic. She's never shown any interest in me romantically, I mean she still calls me a dipshit. She doesn't like me like that. And I don't like her like that.
I scratched my head, as I opened the front door to my house and walked inside. Maybe she just wants someone to talk to about what happened. Since I was there during the robbery…
I couldn't shake the feeling that this was all an act. No doubt, I'd find that out tomorrow.
0-
I wanted to call it off so bad. When I wanted to call off the date with Thorn I was just nervous, but this time I could lose Thorn if she even catches a glimpse of us. This was on a whole 'nother level.
Ray responded in the way I expected: "Ah, you sly dawg, I told you. Save some extraterrestrial puss for the rest of us." Josh had similar sentiments. The only person that actually had something to offer was Dan and he pretty much agreed with me: "If you're hanging out as friends, you're not cheating on Thorn if you consider her to be your future girlfriend. But be careful."
The conversation made me feel a little better, but I had no idea what to expect. I mean, hanging out with Tay? That's not something I ever imagined myself doing.
Why do I keep getting into situations like this?! Maybe I should tell her I'm sick? No, that wouldn't work. No matter what excuse I come up with she'll know it's a lie.
A conflicting thought emerged. So what if she knows it's a lie, why does it matter, I don't owe her anything. But maybe canceling this'll lead to us being enemies again…
It's just one time. Can I really just ditch her like that? Maybe she really needs someone to talk to. Can I really accept feeling like shit for the whole weekend over just a few hours? If she wants to take it further I can just say no.
And besides, we're friends now, I guess. It might actually be a good time…
I had a hard time deciding what to wear to the mall that she couldn't bully me for. Eventually, I decided on jeans and a red-plaid fleece button-up. Relatively normal, and it was a chilly day.
When I got to Water Tower Place I had to park my rusty charger far from the entrance.
There's a shitton of people here today. Hopefully, I don't run into Thorn. If I'm lucky, she won't even be working.
I looked at my messages with her. She hasn't texted me for like four days. Maybe I should text her after this.
My phone pinged and I saw I had a message from Tay. It read: I'm hanging out in the lobby. U here?
Ye, just parked. C u soon
As I stepped out of my car the grey bricks of the mall loomed ahead. I couldn't help but imagine it as a monolithic tombstone to my love life. If I somehow fucked up things with Thorn because of this, I don't think there's any hope for me in the girlfriend department.
Maybe Thorn would understand. She could easily read my mind and see this obviously isn't a date. I just need to relax.
I took a deep breath and walked across the parking lot to the entrance. People filtered in and out of the automatic doors at a steady pace. I joined the flow inward.
I looked around the lobby and started to pull out my phone. How hard is it to find a white snake... NO FUCKING WAY!
There, standing in front of the tiered fountain and the escalators, was a white and grey viper. She was dressed like she had just slithered out of a fucking vampire rave.
Is that really Tay? If so, I was seeing more of her scaly skin than I ever expected to.
Her massive chest was covered by this tight skimpy glossy black tube top that had a ripped texture at the bottom. I couldn't see any cleavage, but her shoulders and her clavicles were prominently displayed. There were no bra straps, but I could already tell she wasn't wearing one from the slight sag her heaving tits had. It didn't leave much to the imagination.
My eyes traced down her exposed midriff of scaled plates until I reached her hips. She was wearing a black skirt made of the same material as the top. It appeared to be held in place by two offset black studded leather belts that crossed over each other, forming an x in the middle of her pelvis. The skirt transitioned into a sort of pantyhose that ended a foot above where her body touched the floor. On her arms were fingerless pantyhose gloves that stopped just short of her armpits. Around her wrists, she wore two black studded leather bracelets that matched the belts she wore.
She looked annoyed and was staring down at her phone.
Holy shit! Is this a dream? This is like some dumb shit right outta one of my visual novels. I couldn't believe what my eyes were seeing. That couldn't be her! Why is she dressed like this?! My heart was beating faster now than when that robber pointed a fucking gun at my head. She... She's so bad... she's so fucking hot I want to kill myself... God, why? Why did she have to be so damn sexy... If I was in a cartoon, my fucking eyes would have popped out of their god-damn sockets. Insta-fackin-boner. Down boy, down.
I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down. I don't know if she's here to just hang out as friends... dressed like that. Or, maybe she is? I suddenly realized how little I knew about Tay when I came face to face with her dressed like she worked at Count Dracula's strip club. Is this how she dresses outside of work, normally?
There was only one way to find out. It took a solid minute for me to collect myself, steel my nerves, and walk over.
I waved to her as I got closer and she locked eyes with me. "H-h-h-h-hey, Tay. H-how's it goin'?"
She put her phone in a small black purse and smirked. "I was beginning to wonder if you'd show up."
I shrugged, trying to keep it together now that I was only two feet away from all her hotness. "I... Why wouldn't I? I said I would."
She nodded. "Oh, I don't know. Most humans would be too scared to hang out with a viper. Seems you're a man of your word though."
I couldn't help but notice she was intentionally making herself taller than usual. Is she trying to intimidate me? Why? There was something that needed to be addressed. "So, are you..."
She cocked her head. "Am I what?"
"Y-your outfit... Are you goth or somethin'?" Fuck! Why am I stuttering?! Keep it together man!
She looked down at her outfit and back up to me. "Do I really need to answer that?"
"I- it's just... You know, I've never seen you outside of work."
She rolled her reptilian eyes. "Yes, I am." She chortled. "I should've known you'd need me to tell you that, dipshit. Should I ask you why you're dressed like a lumberjack?"
A glint of wicked delight showed in her eyes. She's enjoying how much I am squirming. God, this is so embarrassing. Flannels are perfectly normal and she still thought up a comment. I can't let that slide. "Look, typically when people come to hang out dressed like Dracula's concubine, it's Halloween."
She put her hands on her hips. "So, you don't like my outfit? Does it bother you?" Her tone was accusatory.
I averted my eyes for a moment. "I didn't say that..." She has no idea how horny I am right now? Suppose I should consider that a blessing. "You just... surprised me, is all. You, uh, never really talk about what you do outside of work. I never would have guessed."
My response seemed to satisfy her. She rolled her eyes. "I don't see the point in talking about my life to people I barely know. It's none of their business."
Her outfit had riled me up, and things came out of my mouth that I never thought I'd have the balls to say. "So, since you invited me out and you're showing me you're goth, does that mean I'm your friend?"
My question had silenced her, her hood extended wider than normal. "I-eeeh— Hmmmmm. Maybe... We'll see..." she mused. "But, that's not important. What we should be talking about is what we're going to do today."
That is a good question. As I thought for a few moments I noticed how many stares Tay and I were getting. Humans have adjusted to seeing aliens in public, but vipers were uncommon in this city and to top it off she was barely wearing clothes.
Tay answered for me. "Want to go over to Hot Topic?"
My heart stopped. Fuck. She IS goth. OF COURSE she wants to go. Maybe I could convince her not to. "H-hot Topic? Uhhh, why?"
She shrugged. "To look around. What, you've never just looked in stores before?"
"I don't know. Hot Topic doesn't really have much I'm interested in." Will it work?
Tay scratched her chin with a claw. "Hmmmm, how about this: we go to Hot Topic and then we can go to a store you want to? We'll switch, go back and forth."
Fuck! That's perfectly reasonable, and so unlike her. If I try to disagree I'll look suspicious. "I, uhhh, sure."
"Great. Come on."
We're still just friends. Maybe Thorn's not working, and if she is maybe she won't care.
Tay reached down and grabbed my hand, slithering towards the escalator, pulling me with.
I'm doomed. I'm marching to my doom and there's nothing I can do.
But the hand-holding is nice...
I must have been making a weird face because Tay seemed to revel in it. "Don't like holding hands? I thought this was the sort of thing a pervert like you would be into?" Her smirk was impish.
Her smooth scales were soft to the touch and her claws lightly scraped against my wrist. I'm such a mess. Why is she doing this? "Heh-huuuuuuu... Uhhh..."
Her hood tightened up a little, she almost looked concerned. "I-I can let go if—"
"NO, uhhh, it's fine. I don't mind."
Her trademark smirk returned. "I thought so."
It was interesting to see how she rode the escalator, she had to curve her body back and forth pressing down on five steps with sections of her body to hold herself up.
When we got to the top she arched her spine over the lip to keep her tail from getting caught in the steps.
It wasn't a long walk to get to Hot Topic and the whole time I was trying to wrack my brain to come up with some kind of an excuse to not go in.
Only when I saw the blood-red sign looming ahead, did a brilliant idea cross my mind. I made a groaning noise which caught her attention. "Sorry, Tay. I gotta, uhh, take a shit. Just wait for me by the bathroom if you get done before me."
She let go of my hand and raised an eyebrow. "Okay."
Yes. Perfect. I'm safe. I ran a little faster towards the bathroom than I had intended, but maybe that made it more believable.
I just hid in one of the stalls and scrolled on #Chan for ten minutes, until I was certain she would be done.
Sure enough, when I walked out of the bathroom, Tay was waiting for me. She was scrolling on her phone, leaning up against a pillar. She closed her eyes for a few moments and shook herself awake.
I waved at her. "Hey, sorry for the wait. When you gotta go, you gotta go."
She looked up from her phone. "No worries. I was only out here for a few minutes."
I sighed. "Guess I gotta decide where to go next—"
Tay waggled a clawed finger at me. "No, no, no. That doesn't count. You didn't go in there with me. So that means we're gonna go to another store that I want to."
I wasn't gonna argue with her. It was only by the skin of my teeth that I didn't go into Hot Topic. "Ok. You got somethin' in mind?"
She nodded. "Yeah, there's this cool store I go into all the time."
"You gonna tell me what it is?"
She smirked. "No, I want it to be a surprise."
"Okay?"
I couldn't help but feel like there was something - off - about all of this. She was being even nicer than yesterday
She grabbed my hand again and led me down the mall until we reached a store called Esmerelda's Mystic Illuminations, the sign seemed to be hand-painted and it was written in green cursive on a piece of old wood. It was dimly lit on the inside, much like Hot Topic, but I could see various weird things in the window. Candles, crystals, fake skulls, black silk fabrics.
"Tay, what is this place?"
She winked at me. "You'll find out when we go inside."
She grabbed my hand and slithered forward, pulling me in with her.
The inside was much like the display. Wood shelves stacked with all kinds of mystical crap. It was hazy on the inside and my nose was assaulted by the stinging aromas of burning was like we had stepped into Lathar the Wizard's shop in Elder Scrolls 7, Skyrim 2.
"Why is it so smoky here? This has gotta be breaking the fire code." I punctuated my comment with a few coughs.
Tay let go of my hand and began confidently browsing the shelves. A translucent skull on a top shelf caught my attention. As I inspected it a shadow seemed to move behind it. Suddenly I got the sense that Tay and I weren't alone in here.
A honeyed feminine voice flowed out from across the room. "The smoke you smell is sage. It dispels negative energies and spirits. And, I can assure you, everything is up to code here."
The source of the voice was an olive-skinned woman standing behind a counter at the back end of the store. It was hazy and dark enough that I could only make out her thick black hair and some aquiline features.
The woman turned her attention to Tay. "Hello, sweetie. It's been a while since I've seen you grace my store... And with a boy in tow, no less. You've been busy?"
"A lot has been happening, Essy." Tay slithered up to the counter. They spoke in hushed tones.
I figured she wanted privacy so I wandered around the front of the store.
"Come on over boy! Don't be shy. Let me get a good look at you." Esmerelda called out.
Tay was leaning over the counter. Both of them turned their heads when I shuffled over.
As I got closer I caught sight of the middle-aged Esmerelda's almost glowing hazel eyes. She looked distinctly Mediterranean, but I couldn't guess her ethnicity. The black dress she wore cloaked most of her figure. "So, Tay here tells me you're Italian."
I nodded. "Yea. My family came over from the Abruzzo region to the US a long time ago."
She grinned. "Oh, you're south Italian, me too. My family immigrated from Sicily before the War for Independence."
She's Sicilian?! Of course, I should have known with all this fake magic shit. My dad told me all about them. They're what gave South Italians a bad name. I faked a smile. "That's cool."
"It's always interesting when you run into people with a similar heritage to you." I had to resist the urge to correct her. "North Italians can be so snobbish and prejudiced... But, enough about that history." She leaned over the counter. "I like you, Vincent. Tay was - telling me all about you."
I cast a glance at Tay, she shrugged her shoulders in response.
"The past can often tell you much about the present, and your present has threads set in motion that can reveal the future. Do you think about the future much, Vincent?"
I chuckled. "Honestly, yea, like all the time."
"What about your past, your present?"
"Sometimes?"
She pursed her lips and tilted her head. "Do you worry about the future?"
"I guess about as much as anyone else does. Most of it is out of my control."
"What would you say if I told you that you have so much more control over your future than you believe?"
I rolled my eyes. "Alright. What are you getting at?"
In the blink of an eye, she fanned out a deck of cards on the table. The backs were intricately detailed, like fancy purple rug patterns. "I can tell you your future..." She let her reveal float in the air for a few moments. "Not your whole future, mind you, but a specific aspect of it." Her eyes darted between me and Tay. "For example, if you two have a future together."
I was preparing myself to say no to this bullshit, but Tay beat me to it.
"Oh, no, that's fine, Essy. Heh, we don't need to do that." Tay tapped her claws together and seemed on edge.
She seemed confused. "Are you sure? I wouldn't charge you for it."
"No, really, it's fine."
Esmerelda pushed her cards back into a deck and seemed disappointed. "Ok, if you want to leave things a mystery, I understand."
Does Tay really believe the random Sicilian broad has magic powers?
Tay relaxed after she let up. "Thank you."
"Can I interest you in anything of the physical world? Some incense, lotions, or crystals perhaps?"
"Just looking around."
"Of course. Take your time."
Tay and I wandered around the shop for a few more minutes before saying our goodbyes to Esmerelda.
Once we got far from her store I couldn't help but bully Tay a little.
"You don't really believe that chick could see the future, do you?"
Her face tensed up. "Dipshit... You do know how many humans and non-humans have psychic powers, don't you?"
Shit, she's right. "W-well, uh, well I've never heard of anyone being able to see the future. Sure flinging shit around with your mind I understand. But, if she could really see the future, why was she surprised to see you?"
She rolled her eyes. "Her powers don't work like that. You heard her, it's - specific things. It has to be condensed down to a single question."
"Oo-kay."
I decided to take Tay over to the used game store I liked to check out once in a while. Only after we entered did I realize how bad of an idea it was. A lot of guys who played games were cool and the guy who ran the store was chill. But, a lot of these guys were also shut-ins. For some of them, they made no effort to hide this was the closest they had ever been to a half-naked woman in real life. At least they kept their distance and the owner had sprayed some air freshener.
Tay's indifference to all the stares she had been getting was impressive. She genuinely seemed to not give a fuck about what most people thought of her. I was starting to really envy her in that way.
The inside of the game store was pretty standard. Few guys wandering around, and a dude working the register. Shelves full of games burned onto CDs. Some of the disk boxes had art, others just had the game's name written on them in marker. Copyright laws became a thing of the past after The War of Independence. No one cared to enforce them anymore, so most physical media stores produced their own copies of things. There were signs all over the store saying "We pay x-credits, or shillings, for original copies of games and movies", advertising that.
I cleared my throat. "...as a result of the collapse that came with The War of Independence, companies producing new games are few and far between. So most people either play burned games on modern fabricated video game multiconsoles, or play games on the PC from an online game database subscription, or a free game database." I gestured to the blank box I was holding that had Super Dario 64 written on it.
Tay snickered to herself. "You are such a fucking nerd."
I was so used to her calling me dipshit, that nerd didn't bother me in the slightest. "Yea, well I'm sure you knew what you were getting into. I know you've heard me and Ash talk."
She shrugged. "Sometimes. Occasionally, it sounded interesting, but most of the time when you were discussing that build shit or whatever it was. It sounded so boring."
"Oh that, yea. It's how you build your character for a playthrough." I set the game on a shelf. "Have you ever played any video games before?"
She shook her head. "Not really. My roommate plays them sometimes, but I've never tried them myself."
"Wellllll, if you ever get interested, we could play them together, or I could get you set up." I can't believe I just said that. What is going on with me today? Where is this rizz coming from?
She crossed her arms. "Seems like a lot to learn, I don't know if—"
"I get it. But honestly, there are so many different types of games out there. There's bound to be one you like. Tell ya what. I have a multiconsole at home. Pick out a game you like, I'll buy it and we can play it sometime."
She snorted. "Bold. What exactly makes you think I'd want to play a video game with you?"
Shit. Maybe I came off too strong. "Eh, uh, I mean, you can say no, but I'm kinda having fun. Wouldn't mind hanging out like this again. Figured the feeling was mutual."
She shrugged her shoulders. "Not the most fun I've ever had, but I'm not hating it so far. Alright, I'll pick something out, but don't expect me to come over."
She started thumbing through games, reading the info on the backs of them. I did the same.
I felt her tail rub against my ankle when she wanted to get my attention.
She was holding a box that said Mass Effect 1. "Is this one any good?" She asked.
"Oh yea, that's a fun one. It's Sci-fi. You run around and shoot at evil robots and aliens. The story's good, and you have a squad of guys to interact with. Haven't played it for a while, and I don't own it on multiconsole. Not a bad choice."
She stared at it for a few moments. "Ok, I choose this one."
I took it from her and bought it. Burned games were always cheap.
We wandered around the mall for a couple more hours, making small talk. I was having fun, and she was responding, I was just getting the feeling there was another reason why we were here. She was holding back, not really letting herself enjoy the mall, and not telling me much about herself.
Eventually, we both got hungry, so we went to the food court. We both got sub sandwiches. Well, I got one, Tay got three.
We found an empty table out of the way and sat down. I glanced up at Tay as I took the first bite of my Italian sub. I couldn't hide that I was interested in how she'd eat because she really didn't have teeth to chew with. Our sandwiches were a foot long, cut into halves.
She picked up half of her hot Italian beef sandwich and examined it. After a few tongue flicks, she unhinged her jaw and shoved the whole fucking thing down her gullet. She spent the next minute shifting her jaw to swallow it down. It was interesting. I was so entranced watching her eat, that I didn't realize I had stopped eating.
I wish she'd swallow my hot Italian beef like...
My thought was cut short by her giggling. "You alright, dipshit?"
Heat rushed to my cheeks. "Oh, uh, yea. Sorry. I've, uhm, never seen a viper eat before."
She tilted her head. "Does it bother you?" Her tone was accusatory.
"No, not really. It, uh, it's... efficient."
"Hmmmm." She wiped some grease off her scaly lips with a napkin. "Now you've got me thinking. Maybe a weirdo nerd like you is actually perverted enough to get turned on watching me eat." She wasn't being playful, this question was just as accusatory.
She's onto me! "Course not. I'm not that weird."
There was a look in her eye that suggested she didn't believe me. "If you say so. You better finish your sandwich before it gets cold."
"Right."
As we ate our food, a few things stood out in my mind. She'd accuse me of being prejudiced against her once in a while. A few jabs have been thrown at me by her for being a pervert, despite showing up to the mall dressed like that. Then there was some kind of invisible elephant in the room that she refused to bring up. She clearly brought me here for a reason, but couldn't bring it up.
Maybe I'd have to.
I cleared my throat once she had completely gotten down one of her half sandwiches. "Tay, I've, uh, had a lot of fun with you today, but there's something you're not telling me."
She visibly winced. "W-what are you saying?"
I sighed. "It's just, why now? I know I'm not good with people, so before the robbery, I never imagined we'd ever hang out like this. And after I don't know, something's changed. It feels like you want to talk to me about - something, but I don't know what it is."
"Oh..." She wiped her face off and looked down at the table. "I... really thought I was doing a good job hiding that."
"We - don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."
"No, I'm glad you brought it up. I need to get this off my chest. I just... I fucked up, Vince. The robbery..." Her face scrunched up. "I was useless that whole time. I didn't do fucking anything. I was being such a little bitch…"
"If anything, he was the little bitch. I mean who robs a store because of a pickle sandwich? That wacko could have come in and got a free sandwich if it bothered him so much when he got it."
"I guess…" she sighed. "You're younger than me and you handled it so calmly. You did everything, I was just dead weight. Even now you had to say something so I would even talk about it. I'm such a coward. I could've killed that guy, I should have killed that guy."
"Why didn't you?"
She rested her head on her hands. "I... I've never killed anyone before. The thought of squeezing the life out of him was terrifying. And what if I messed up? I could have died. So, I did nothing. I sat in a corner and cried."
My hand made it halfway to patting her on the shoulder before I retracted it. "You shouldn't be so hard on yourself. You work at a burger joint. Killing crackheads isn't in the job description. It's not something you could've been ready for."
She tilted her head slightly to peer at me. "But you handled it so well, you didn't look scared at all. I don't know what I would have done, what would have happened if you weren't there."
I chuckled. "Don't let me fool you, I was scared out of my mind. Fuck, when that guy pointed his gun at me I nearly pissed myself."
She sighed. "I thought I was gonna die that night, I thought we were both gonna die."
"But hey, we didn't. And, I made good on my promise."
"Yeah, I guess. Just… why us? That guy could have robbed anywhere, why did it have to be our McDougalls?" Her voice was breathy, she sounded tired.
"That's just the way she fuckin' goes sometimes… Have you been sleeping ok since the robbery?"
"Not really. I'm so tired, it's probably the reason why I'm even talking about this."
"Jeez, I'm sorry. Is there something I can do?"
She chortled. "Not really, but talking about it is making me feel a little better."
It was strange, I felt a warmth welling inside me. I was actually helping someone. "Tay, I... I don't know if you have anyone to talk to about this, but you can talk to me anytime you need to. At work or outside of it, I'll listen, you won't be bothering me."
She forced her eyes under her arm and groaned. "I can't believe I'm actually considering this."
"You've already got my number. It's too late for regrets." She didn't respond. "I'll admit it's nice to talk to you about it. It fucked me up too. I've told everyone I could about it, but they weren't there so they don't really get it."
Her head poked out of her arms. "Right!? No one gets it. I've talked to my friends, but it hasn't made me feel any better..."
"That guy is long gone, Tay. You'll never see him again. He doesn't know us, he doesn't know where we live. The cops'll catch him and he'll go to jail."
"I know, I know... It's just..."
"Just, what?"
A sigh escaped her. "Nothing."
"It'll take time to get over it. You know, when something bad happens to you the pain doesn't go away after a few days. It's normal to feel that way."
She was quiet for a bit. "Can we talk about something else?"
"Sure, whatever you want..."
We talked some more and finished our food. We had hung out for hours at this point and it was getting time for us to go home. We had walked all the way to my car but hadn't separated yet.
"...are you sure you don't need a ride?"
"I'll be fine, my friends are picking me up for a concert soon."
"Oh, alright, cool. What band is it?"
She cast her eyes downward. "Thank you."
"What? Is that the band name… Uh, yea. Yea, no problem."
"Dipshit… that's a terrible band name." She chuckled for a moment, then looked up at me. "Thank you, so much."
Her tail was coiled up and she rubbed her arm. She had followed me this far, and after everything she'd been through, maybe she needed something else…
Something she could never bring herself to ask for…
I took a step forward. Her eyes analyzed me with a mixture of surprise and interest.
Perhaps the horny had forced me to overcome my social anxiety, or maybe wanting to help her did. Maybe it was a mixture of the two, I couldn't tell the difference at this point.
This is it, no going back.
I opened my arms wide, closed my eyes, and hugged her tightly.
After I got over the initial shock of skin-to-skin contact and her big tits pressing into my chest, I started to come to my senses.
Her arms hung limply at her side. Time slowed. Moments passed that felt like hours.
Did I misread the situation?
She isn't trying to escape.
I felt her wrap one of her arms behind my back. Relief washed over me when she leaned into the hug.
She sniffled.
I ignored it. Jeez, she really did need this. Maybe we both needed this.
She wrapped her other arm behind my back and hugged me much tighter than I had hugged her.
Two hugs in the same month!? Score!
Eventually, we let go of each other and backed away. Tay practically covered her face and wiped at it.
I spoke after she finished rubbing her eyes. "I-I meant what I said about calling me. Try to take care of yourself, you know, get some sleep tonight."
She stuck her split-tongue out and winked. "I can't promise anything."
Tay waved to me as I drove off. I had a lot to think about tonight.
