The pipes leaked.
Raven saw the drips from his cupboard underneath his sink. He sighed and rubbed his forehead.
"Thank goodness I didn't unpack anything under there yet," Raven said with a shake of his head. He heard a meow and saw his grey tabby saunter over. At the sight of the small pool forming under the sink, the cat walked over and started to lick up the water.
"Damnit, Gravy, no," Raven said, moving the meowing cat from the water. "I don't know where that water has been."
Raven sighed and put the cat down by his food bowl. He grabbed a can of food and that stopped Gravy from moving anywhere near the puddle.
"Okay, one emergency down," Raven said, turning back to the puddle. "One to go."
He opened the cupboard doors. More water flowed out. Raven chuckled.
"And I just had to leave my tools in storage."
Gravy meowed. Raven turned, his long, black hair falling in his eyes. He smiled, the apartment light reflecting off his lip ring. "Yeah, I know. Still."
He got to his feet. Walked over and collected the bucket he used to mop the floors the other day. He placed it under the sink and grabbed his cell phone.
"Time to call someone to fix these leaks."
***
A knock at the door made Gravy jump and run. Raven walked to the door and nodded at Gravy.
"If they came this quick I may--"
He stopped as he opened the door.
There, stood a woman. A young woman. Maybe nineteen. Blonde hair. Skinny frame. Wearing a work belt that hung off her slender waist and threatened to fall to her knees. She carried a toolbox that looked like it weighed as much as she did.
She looked more like a model playing a repairperson than a real one.
"Name's Lucy," she said in a thick southern accent, walking inside. "You uh, Crow or something?"
"Raven. Parents were wannabe mystics," Raven said, closing the door behind her. "And you are the maintenance person?"
"Niece of," Lucy said, whistling at the bucket underneath the sink. "My uncle's out drunk. So I figured I would come and help him out."
Raven raised an eyebrow of concern, looking at Gravy. Gravy meowed.
"Cute cat," Lucy said, squatting in front of the sink. Raven tried not to notice the very firm ass of Lucy in the jean shorts.
"So, the maintenance man here, your Uncle..."
"Aw, he's not so bad. Most of the time. He just won at the slots the other day and partied a little too hard. He's a good man."
"And you---you know what you're doing?"
Lucy rolled her eyes and took out a wrench. "Nah, I just picked up all these heavy tools today and thought I'd fuck around in a cute guy's apartment. See what I can break."
Raven chuckled. "Okay, okay, I give. I didn't mean what I said."
"Then say what you mean, Mister. I learned under my Uncle for years. Probably can fix this stuff better than he can," Lucy said, leaning down under the pipe. "Ah. Yeah, I can fix this."
Raven watched the spitfire of a woman work. Something dragged across his mind. A half-smile appeared on his lips. Gravy shot him a knowing, disapproving look.
"Cute guy, hmm."
Lucy chuckled. "Quick on the pickup, aren't you? If you haven't noticed, this city isn't that large. Someone of your look doesn't usually last long here."
"My look?"
"The whole goth thing."
"It's not really goth, more--"
"I like the lip ring."
Raven touched the lip ring. "Oh. Well, thank you."
"You wanna fuck after this?"
Gravy meowed and left the room. Raven choked on his saliva. "Excuse me?"
"I'll clean up. What? You're cute, I know you're staring at my ass. Why not?"
Raven said a silent prayer of gratitude to the cosmic energy above. "I'm not staring at your ass."
Lucy shook her ass, drawing his attention. "You sure are now."
"You are straight-forward."
"Ain't got time to be anything but," Lucy said, reaching in and grabbing a few more tools. "In life, you take a chance."
Raven sat against the cupboards and slid down, sitting beside Lucy. "I like your attitude."
"Why did you move to a small city like this?"
"I wanted a change of pace."
"That gothic lifestyle getting boring?"
"I'm not a goth."
"You are here. Most men here spit, wear plaid and try to make up for their shortcomings with lift-kits."
"Sounds like you don't belong in this city either."
"This city wears on you. Life gets boring here. Hey! Do you have any of those cool goth sex clubs where you come from? Like that kinky stuff? You into that?"
Raven laughed. "You are something else."
"Ah, so you are."
Raven narrowed his eyes. He felt something primal stirring inside of him. He bit his lip, trying to hold it back. However, the energy off this woman kept taunting him. He took a deep breath.
"I'm into a lot of things," Raven said, his voice becoming lower, slower, and full of bass, "I'll be happy to tell you about one of them. Hypnosis. Ever heard of it?"
"Yeah, saw some videos on it or something."
"It's really good for concentration. Such as what you are doing right now. Concentrating on fixing my pipes. Hearing the drip, drip, drip of the water. You can hear it, can't you? Drip, drip, drip. If you listen enough. If you just relax, as you are doing right now, and listen. Hear the drip, drip, drip."
"Yeah," Lucy said, her voice with enough softness to excite Raven.
"Just listen to the drip, drip, drip of the water. So calming. Drip, drip, drip. Nothing else in the world matters. Drip, drip, drip. Very calming, very peaceful to listen to the drip, drip, drip. Each drip relaxing you more and more. Each drip relaxing you more and more."
"Relax," Lucy said.
"Feeling relaxed, aren't you? Each drip relaxing you. Making it harder to think. Your thoughts are like those pipes, every drip you relax. Every drip your mind loses more and more of your thoughts. Until you are staring in the dark, only listening to the drip, drip, drip."
He waited a few seconds. He heard a wrench slip out of her hands and clang to the ground. He listened to her small, short breathes. It aroused him. He took a calming breath.
"Good girl, good girl. Now, think of you as the pipes. The dripping. The wetness. That's you. You are wet. Aroused. Every drip makes you more aroused. Every drip makes you more wet. Drip, drip, drip. You can't stop it. Can't fix it. Every drip makes you more aroused. More aroused. Until you are dripping down your legs. Dripping in wetness."
He listened as her breathing grew ragged. He watched her body shake. Raven gulped, trying to keep his raging erection under control.
"More and more aroused. Can't fight it. Have to be aroused. Wet. Dripping. Drip. Drip. Drip."
He watched the floor. Heard small squeaks and moans come from her lips.
And, then.
One small drop. From her leg.
Something in Raven growled. He composed himself.
"Listen, now," he said, moving behind Lucy. "You will come out of the trance when I snap my fingers. You will be so aroused you can barely think. You will fix the pipes. Nothing matters but getting those pipes fixed. The closer you are to fixing the pipes, the closer you will come to an orgasm. However, when you fix the pipes you will be unable to orgasm. Nothing but me snapping my fingers and saying 'Leaky pipes' will make you orgasm. No matter what. I will awaken you from your trance right now."