Taran Moonspeaker sighed as he popped his latest audit into the tube. He'd never really understood how that worked, beyond "Air elementals" , but he had other things to worry about. Such as the stares up at him from his co-workers. Or the stack of audits
left
for today. Or the fact that his quill was running out of ink, which meant talking to the tight fisted Mister Swift. It was at times like these that he wondered how the hell he'd gotten this job in the first place, as Swift, Maer, and Phillips was run by, and indeed staffed by, Goblins, with only one exception. Him.
So he rightfully felt out of place, his skills with numbers notwithstanding. He ran a hand through his short, spiky blonde hair, and sighed. This would be -
"Mister Moonspeaker to Miss Maer's office. Repeat, Mister Moonspeaker to Miss Maer's office."
Oh, Daran's tits, it's the performance review.
Nobody liked performance reviews, and yet... Efficiency was the lifeblood of any bank, and the reviews, as such, were
ordeals
. Every mistake questioned, thought over, and
judged
. Groaning, he stood up, and started walking woodenly to the office, grimacing at the odd titter of amusement behind him as he went.
One day, I shall apply to another bank. There's not much that's worth this...
Still, it only took a short time to reach the dark, teak door he knew so well. Employees shuddered when they heard Miss Maer's name, and it was with good reason. She was a
very
harsh taskmaster. Steeling himself, he knocked, twice.
"Why
Mister
Moonspeaker! Punctual as always!
Get in here
..." He opened the door, and reflected on how quickly her mood could change. "Mister Moonshadow", said so
cheerily
, and by the time she'd finished her sentence, it was a low growl, promising all kinds of damnation. He stepped into the office, and closed the door behind him, considering Miss Maer as he did so.
Like all Goblins, Miss Maer came to his chest, as he did to humans, her bright red hair tied in a severe bun, and her half rims constantly sat lower than the bridge of her nose, seemingly to accentuate her almost perpetual glare. She dressed the same as the rest of the staff, a grey striped jacket, black trousers, white shirt, black tie, the only difference being her chain smoking. Smoking was not allowed on the floor. Only managers smoked, and of those, Miss Maer was the only one who used that privilege.
"Sit down, Mister Moonshadow." Her voice cracked like a whip, and Taran hurried to comply. For a moment, she contemplatively puffed, looking sidelong at him, and then she stubbed her cigarette, leaned forward, and scowled. "You, Mister Moonshadow, have had
quite
the shoddy month." Taran opened his mouth, but she silenced him with a wave of her hand. "Oh, no
mistakes
, we can never find fault with you there, and this is why we normally forgive being a
little
far behind.
But
..." She let that hang in the air for a moment, building the dread Taran felt in his gut. "...You haven't
been
a little far behind, have you?"
"No, Miss Maer." He hung his head.
"In fact, it would be fair to say that you have been a
lot
behind,
wouldn't it
,
Mister
Moonshadow?"
His head could droop no further, but he still tried, and his voice was small. "Yes, Miss Maer, I've failed to fill my quota five days out of seven." It was best to be honest, even if it hurt. Because being verbally flayed, the words dissected until the inner ghastliness was revealed, hurt that much
more
. But she wasn't done.
"And is there any particular
reason
you've been behind, considering this is, even for you, somewhat of an outlier?" The sweetness in her voice was back, but it was poisoned, false. This sweetness normally preceded a temper tantrum, and... She'd
seen
her temper, and had no desire to be on the receiving end. But, equally...
He blushed "I've... I've been seeing an alchemist for some sensitive problems, and the side effects have... Made me somewhat muzzy. I've had to take more time to account for errors as a result, Miss Maer." Even with his head bowed in shame, he could see one of her eyebrows raise, and he blushed even harder.
"A problem of a sensitive nature, you say?
Well
, that's
quite
the predicament. Is it, perhaps, a long prescription?" That sweetness hadn't left her tone, and he gulped.
"Ahhh... Uhhh... Yes, Miss Maer. Anything up to six months, he said." He wanted to curl into himself and vanish, because he
knew
what was coming next. She wouldn't let this go, because the choices were letting a drop in efficiency go... Or letting
him
go.
Miss Maer tapped her chin. "Anything up to six months... Goodness me, that would add up to a
lot
of lost time..." Lighting up another cigarette, she inhaled... And exhaled. And inhaled... And exhaled. Taran started sweating, and, in the middle of an exhale, she nodded to herself. "Well,
Mister
Moonshadow, obviously, while we would not
normally
enquire about problems of a personal nature, this most definitely impacts your work, so..." Her tone and gaze both hardened, and that whip-like tone returned "...Out with it. Tell me what it is."
He felt like a small animal facing a tiger. A small animal, who... "I... I can't seem to orgasm, Miss Maer, and without that release, I-" He looked up in shock as he was interrupted, not by anger, but by Miss Maer throwing her head back and
laughing
, pounding the desk as she did so, hunched over. Briefly, he felt a flash of anger. This was a legitima-
Performance Review. Shut up and put up.
She managed to recover in fairly short order, but a sly, sarcastic smile still remained as she raised the cigarette to her lips and started puffing again. "Poor little boy can't cum, and he's thinking all sorts of thoughts... Probably about his co-workers, if I'm any judge. You never
tell
anyone, but oh,
they've
told
me
... They're quite amused at you,
Mister
Moonshadow. You're a skinny little thing, and honestly?" She leaned her head forward. "We'd
break
you. We like it hard, and you... Well..." She left the thought unspoken, and Taran thought he was in the clear. But he was to be disabused of that fond notion.
"You're a good
worker
, but by Erieth, Mister Moonshadow, you are such a
worm
. Cowardly... You've had abuses
heaped
upon you by co-workers, and not a single word, just 'Yes, sir or ma'am, No, sir or ma'am,
Three bags full, Sir or ma'am
...Even now, if I told you I wanted you packed and ready to be escorted off the premises in two minutes, you'd leap to com-
Sit back down!
"
Taran blushed. He had, without thinking, taken the implied statement as a
command
. And... She was right. Even through his shame, he had to admit she was-
"Well, Mister Moonshadow, now that we have confirmed you are a coward, a lustful little shit who can't even crank one out successfully, I ask myself:
What should we do about that, to get you back up to speed, Hrm?
Tell me
,
Mister
Moonshadow... Have you thought about
me
that way?" She wasn't smiling, and her glare held the promise of impending, messy death whatever he said. His face felt like Daran's fires were caressing his face, and he simply... N
odded.
He couldn't trust himself to speak.
"Oh, no,
Mister
Moonshadow.
Answer
me.
Verbally
." He winced, but...
"Yes, Miss Maer... I've... Thought about you. At night." Having sinned, he looked down, and awaited the inevitable judgement.
But it didn't come. Instead, he heard her heels on the floorboards, as she rounded the desk, and her stockinged feet crossed in front of him as she sat. He looked up, and she was looking down at him, her cigarette between her lips. With her other leg, she reached out, and prodded her heel into his crotch, rubbing it around as she smoked, painfully digging here and there. And... He couldn't help himself. He groaned. And she grinned.
"Oh, you
are
pathetic. One little rub, and you're already as hard as you're probably going to get.