Vol.4 Ch.9 – Party Member Get!
Chapter 9: Party Member Get!
“What was a lot?” Elaine asked, concern in her voice. Had the girl overdone it with her power?
“That spell,” Mare said. “It was a lot of information, all at once. A bit much for a human brain.”
“So you know,” Elaine said. She didn't really like it spread around that she was no longer truly human but there was another piece of information she was far more protective of.
“I learned a lot,” Mare said softly. “Not all of it by choice.”
“What does that even mean?” Elaine asked. Of course she didn't know about what Mare had seen, whom Mare had met, so she didn't think much of the little pause the girl gave before replying:
“Some memories have a... pull to them. They suck me in if I get close to them. Sometimes they're good memories, sometimes they... aren't. Luckily for me, your memories are a much nicer place to be in than Aurora's were.”
“I can imagine,” Elaine said. She didn't even want to know what Aurora had been through. She would listen if the girl opened up to her but she would also be happy to never learn about it.
“Can I join your team?” Mare suddenly blurted out.
Elaine blinked rapidly. She had never heard Mare speak so fast before. And also, what? Had she heard her correctly? Yes, the girl was lonely, but... “Why would you even want to?”
“You know who my Awakener is, right?”
“Alejandro,” Elaine said. “He's a great guy.” She paused. “Isn't he?”
“He is,” Mare said. “But if you know him then I won't have to explain to you why my Bond Level is lagging behind, right?”
Elaine nodded. Alejandro was gay. Not 'A Girl's Gay Best Friend' kind of gay, either. Alejandro had had bad experiences with women not accepting who and what he was. And so, with two boyfriends to keep him busy, there was every chance he didn't pay attention to his female Shard Bearers as much as he should have. Combine that with an introvert like Mare and you had a recipe for disaster. “What's your Bond Level?”
“Four.”
Elaine winced. Yeah. That was bad. But there was another issue. “What is it you're expecting out of this switch?”
“Pardon?”
“Why do you want to join us?” Elaine clarified. “Do you just want an Awakener who won't neglect you? Or do you want more?”
Mare hesitated a moment before replying: “There is no chance of 'more' happening with Alejandro. But there might, with you. I find you attractive, Elaine, if that's what you're asking.”
The girl was laying all her cards down on the table, holding nothing back. Elaine had thought she'd known how she felt about Mare but she wasn't so sure anymore. The girl was beautiful, frail and willowy but with a gorgeous face framed by luscious dark curls, and the sweater she wore looked like it could slip off one shoulder at any point, teasing with the possibility. And, now that she had a moment to think, she could smell the littlest bit of arousal from the girl.
Had she seen something inside Elaine's memories that had made her aroused? Did she know? She'd clearly been considering this request before she'd known so this wasn't like it had been with Cassie. The girl had been interested in her before digging through her memories. And even after doing so, after possibly finding the thing Elaine hadn't wanted her to find, she was still interested.
Could she afford another girlfriend? Could she afford another platonic squad member, one who might be a liability at her low Bond Level? And, of course, could the Project afford to have a Shard Bearer held back this much?
“I'm not gonna promise you anything beyond letting you join our team,” Elaine finally said. “We'll have to see if we click or not. But what I will promise is that I'll do my best not to neglect you like Alejandro did.” And not like the way I neglected Abigail, she tried her best not to think.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” the girl rushed out and the way she seemed so shocked at the gesture of kindness broke Elaine's heart a little.
But she didn't let it show. She smiled at Mare, then made to get up.
“Please don't go yet,” the girl said quietly.
Elaine swallowed. Fuck. She was powerless against that tone of voice. And so she laid back down, wrapped an arm around Mare, respectfully high up on her waist, and pulled her close. The girl practically melted into her, as if nobody had hugged her in years. She knew she had to get back to her room soon, if only so she could get out of the date clothes she wore. But just for a moment, she could be there for Mare.
**
Jeanne was pulled out of the pleasant haze of Rachel tickling her inner thighs when she realized that the humming sound she was hearing came from her CARD.
Angels and demons, just like the residents of Base 15, wore CARDs. The devices had, after all, been invented in Heaven and thanks to various circumstances that Jeanne didn't like to think about much, ones that had to do with the storied past of Lucifer, the design had been adopted by Hell as well. The damn things were just too useful. Communication through planes of existence, access to vast networks of information entirely independent of pesky mortal signals and yet able to connect to the mortal internet as well, and last but not least capable of interfacing with all the wondrous technology Heaven and Hell had come up with over the centuries. After all, all great scientists who died went to either one of these afterlives and so geniuses like Leonardo da Vinci and madmen like Josef Mengele were free to continue their work undisturbed, creating ever greater wonders.
Right after the Invasion, when Heaven and Hell had briefed what was left of the mortal authorities on their existence they had claimed that their technology was about a century ahead of anything the mortals had. Jeanne was fairly certain that had been untrue, that their technology was at most a couple decades ahead of Earth, but the incorporation of magic into technology was something the mortals likely wouldn't have grasped for quite a while. Now though, that the existence of magic had been proven beyond the shadow of a doubt, Jeanne was sure the mortals would be catching up to Heaven and Hell within a decade. Or they might, if the Invasion was ever beaten back.
Either way, she shook herself out of it and answered the call. Immediately a small window opened in the upper right corner of her vision, showing a breathtakingly gorgeous blonde with braided bangs.
“Kaja?” she asked in shock. Jeanne hadn't heard from 'Radiant Prism' Kaja in months, pretty much since the moment she'd been sent to Base 15. Which was a shame, because out of all the proteges, the direct understudies of the Angel Lords, Kaja was probably the one she liked the most. Although that didn't really say much, considering charmers like Remiel and that bucket full of sunshine named Omega, who was coincidentally Kaja's partner. Although, to be fair, before Jeanne had gotten to know Rachel she hadn't exactly been a barrel of laughs to be around.
“Hey Jeanne,” Kaja said. Jeanne knew that Kaja wasn't exactly as bubbly as she acted but what was hiding underneath that wasn't mean-spirited. “You're looking happy. Something good happen to you? The Apocalypse bringing out the best in people?”
Jeanne chuckled despite herself, then the laugh got stuck in her throat when Rachel spread her legs apart and started nibbling on her thigh. “Cut it out, I'm taking a call,” she hissed.
“Oh?” Kaja asked. “Am I interrupting? Did you find yourself one of them, what are they called again? Awakened?”
“Awakeners,” Jeanne corrected. “And no, none—“ She sucked in a breath when Rachel bit her thigh. “Seriously, it's business. It's Kaja.”
“Oh, the Radiant Prism?” Rachel asked. “Three double wings in one conversation, that doesn't happen every day.” Both the Arch Fiends of Hell and the Cherubim of Heaven had two pairs of wings each in their higher forms, though Jeanne couldn't say she'd ever heard it described as 'double wings' before.
“Oh,” Kaja asked and Jeanne did her best not to flinch, “you found yourself someone with two wings? Who is it?”
“Take a guess, Radiant Prism,” Rachel said smugly, then went back to kissing and licking Jeanne's thighs.
“Hmm,” Kaja said, exaggeratedly tapping a finger to her lip, “I doubt we sent another Protege to this project so, who from Downbelow is stationed there again...” Her eyes widened. “Oh!”
Jeanne squeezed her eyes shut.
“Good on you for thawing out our ice queen, Rachel,” Kaja said, honest joy for a friend in her voice.
“I thought you were the ice queen, Radiant Prism,” Rachel replied.
Kaja's lips thinned. “Well, I try not to be.”
That really wasn't a conversation they should be having in this situation, Jeanne thought. “Why did you call me, Kaja?”
“Can't I just want to catch up?” Kaja asked.
“There's a war on,” a rumbling voice said, coming from somewhere behind Kaja. Omega. Speak of the grumpy angel.
“Right right,” Kaja said, then got serious. “We were ordered to assist you when you guys go liberate Buffalo.”
“Even now you're being delegated to kill Necromancers?” Rachel asked.
“It's what we do,” Kaja replied. The bubbly act was completely gone now and she just sounded resigned.
“Necromancers are beacons,” Omega said, not elaborating further. Thankfully everyone present knew what he'd meant. Any idiot could summon Outsiders but Necromancers could do so reliably and safely since they were as much part of the Outside as they were part of Creation. Who knew, taking out the Necromancer might even stop the Invasion cold, at least in this part of the world. Jeanne didn't think it would be that easy but the possibility alone would explain why Heaven would send their heavy hitters for this small scale operation.
“So, when can we expect you?” Jeanne asked.
“When you prepare to march, we come,” Omega said, then added derisively: “Devil fucker.”
“Fuck off you self-righteous limp—“ Rachel began but Jeanne shushed her, then said, in as cold a voice as she could manage:
“You do not get to judge me, Omega. There is only one we are accountable to and you are not Him.”
There was a long pause before he said: “You are right. That was out of line. I apologize.”
“We're wound up pretty tight,” Kaja said soothingly. “Things have been hard lately.”
And the fact that Omega didn't even try to contradict Kaja told Jeanne all she needed to know. He was a self-righteous prick but he usually wasn't judgmental. It spoke to just how much pressure he was under.
They ended the call after Kaja made sure to exchange a few more pleasantries with Jeanne and, once Jeanne had hung up, Rachel said:
“So you're a devil fucker now, are you?”
“Apparently,” Jeanne said.
Rachel grinned, then knelt between Jeanne's legs, the flesh of her crotch already changing shape. “Want to earn that title?”
“You're insatiable,” Jeanne said.
“Is that a no?”
Jeanne smiled. “No.”
**
Elaine woke up in a bed with an unfamiliar smell. It wasn't an unpleasant smell but it certainly didn't smell like her bedroom. What was slightly less pleasant was the feeling of waking up in street clothes. Huh, she could have sworn she'd thought about taking those off before going to bed.
Her eyes flew open. Ah crap, she'd fallen asleep in Mare's room. Her new team member, if Alejandro didn't raise a stink about it. It didn't really fall under poaching when the other Awakener hadn't and would never show interest in the girl, did it?
And then Elaine's gaze landed on said girl and all thoughts of Alejandro fled her brain.
The girl was dancing, languid and sensual. And she wore nothing but underwear.