Author's Note:
Hey there. It's, uh... Been a while, hasn't it..? Sorry about that. Mental health has been kinda kicking my ass - and last time, I came back a bit too soon, without actually fixing the issues with my writing habits that caused me to burn out in the first place. This time, while writing is going a lot slower than I'd like, it is going - consistent progress is being made, and I've already written another chapter! (Not quite the next chapter, though. It's devoted to Devilla and Lucy, because I'm swapping back and forth between the two scenes in order to keep my motivation fresh. But still! Progress is being made!)
As for this chapter, and why I included "13.5 redux," - well, those who read the original might notice that it starts off pretty damn similarly, and there's a pretty good reason for that. See, I came up with a bunch of plans while I was burned out, and trying to figure what direction I wanted to take the story. Then I threw away all those plans and started over, because trying to make plans while burned out, without having read my own work over in the longest time, was an absolutely terrible idea. (Seriously. Things almost got dark. Or... Well, darker than I want. I prefer comedy and drama in balance, and that wasn't it.) All that said, though, this interlude shifted from plot relevant to plot crucial in both iterations of my plans. It's undergone a lot of changes, too, so it's basically a whole new chapter that happens to share a couple of the same notes.
Fair warning, this chapter is a bit short compared to my normal chapters - though shorter still leaves it at around 3k in terms of wordcount. That's probably going to be the norm, as I'll be chopping up scenes to get more frequent releases and maybe even get to the point of having a backlog and schedule at some point.
Separate Super Important Note on Terminology:
I don't remember whether I've managed to explain this in story, as of yet, but since having two mothers is the default among demons I decided that there should be a default term for the one who didn't give birth - I went with "Dam." Of course, there's a lot of variation on how people say it, or whether they say it at all - just as human children may call their parents "Mom," or "Mother," or "Mama," and so on. But if you say "my dam" everyone will know which parent you're referring to. (Remember, demons aren't restricted by species when having children, but they'll always be the same species of whoever birthed them. That's the main reason why it's traditionally delineated by "gave birth" and "didn't.")
***
Abigail
"I'll alert General Yara of your arrival. I'm sure she'll call for you, soon." The dryad gave me a curtsy, lifting her skirt up just a
little bit
higher than she needed to - high enough to let peek at her green panties and dark thighs. And they were
nice
thighs, too. If I wasn't so damn stressed out, I'd have taken her up on the offer and flashed her back without a second thought. Sadly, I wasn't even sure I could make it through the meeting, let alone an after-work hookup. I still checked her out, though - just to let her know it was a "me" thing, y'know? Not that I really needed an excuse to take in the view.
If she was disappointed, I guess she was too much of a professional to show it. She just gave me a smile and turned towards the door. As for me? The moment she was out of sight, I shuffled my way over to the waiting room couch and
flopped.
Face against the cushions, body limp, and 'professionalism' told to fuck off for a bit. I had a few minutes,
max
, before Yara sent her secretary back to get us, and I wanted to squeeze every single second of relaxation I could get out of it.
"Maid shouldn't let guard down."
"I thought guarding me was
your
job," I replied, lifting my head a little to glare at the speaker. The horned wolf in maid's clothing had her arms crossed and her eyes narrowed at me, in a pretty good imitation of the pre-lecture look I'd occasionally use on Devilla. Of course, it lost a lot of its power when it came from the girl who'd put me in this state to begin with. "Just warn me when someone comes to get us, alright?"
"Maid is the one who always says act proper."
"And you're the one who only listens when it suits her," I snapped back, letting my head drop back down. I knew from past annoyances that a mouthful of cushioning wouldn't stop her from hearing me. "Do you even know what 'proper' means?"
"Expected thing." Bailey growled. "Know words, Maid. Not
dumb.
Grammar just too confusing."
"I never said you were dumb," I replied, rolling my eyes. Not that she could even see it, what with me being face down. "Look, I don't know what it was like in the wild, but growling at people isn't 'proper.' Referring to people by their jobs, instead of their name isn't... Well, okay, that one's maybe a tiny bit more complicated, but you could at least try! The other maids don't exactly like being called 'Servant,' you know!"
Bailey didn't answer me right away. Unless glaring counts? Because she was probably doing that. The whole "can't see someone's eyes if they're face down on a pillow" thing worked both ways, though, so at least I got to enjoy a few seconds of relaxing silence, either way. Not that it did me much good, in the end.
"Maid right that this not wild," Bailey eventually replied, speaking slowly. Carefully, even. "People hurt with mouth here, but not teeth. People say what they not mean, and act like they not say. And have weird names. Lots and lots of weird names. Hard to remember, harder to say, impossible to understand. But jobs different. They tell things - let everyone know where everyone stands. Queen in charge, Maid with Queen, I help Queen. Maid important to Queen, so I guard Maid. It simple. But not easy. Still hard to understand. To be understa...stood. Especially when Maid not
try.
"
I grimaced. Honestly, this was
not
a conversation I wanted to be having right now. But it wasn't like I could actually say so. I mean, that little speech of hers was more than I'd ever heard Bailey say in one sitting - hell, by word count alone, it might've been more than I'd ever heard from her,
period.
And, as much as I hated to admit it, she maybe, sort of, kinda had a point about me not making an effort to understand her side of things. I mean, in my defense, even Devilla couldn't figure out what was going on in her head half the time, and that was with literal mind reading in the mix. And I didn't exactly regret telling her off for baring her teeth at people, instead of sitting her down and asking her why. But excuses weren't going to get us anywhere, so...
"Alright, fine," I sighed, forcing myself to sit up. "Consider this me trying. But you've got to do your part, too! You've gone from stubborn to sulky since Devilla left, and I wanna know why." I could deal with her constant glaring, and judgy grumbling. I wouldn't have lasted a week working for Devilla, if I couldn't handle at least that much. But it was different when it was coming from someone who insisted on sticking to me like glue!
Bailey frowned, furrowing her brow - or more like the area around her horn, I guess - and staring into my eyes. I have no clue what the hell she was looking for, let alone how she planned to find it - succubi eyes aren't exactly expressive, what with being pitch black and all - but I still made a point of meeting her gaze. I figured it was the thought that counted.
Even if some of my thoughts
were
drifting over to the realization that I could be rolling my completely uncovered eyes even now, and she
still
wouldn't be able to tell, facedown or not. When the hell did I start thinking of visible eye parts as the default? Maybe I needed to spend more time hanging out with other succubi.
