Figleaf Leatherwors

Chapter 5

I

t'd started as soon as the noble left and Emory knew the moment his father's eyes settled on him they were going to be having a Conversation. Keline found her work suddenly more interesting when Emory's father asked him to talk in the office- Emory didn't blame her, it'd been his idea after all. Still, closing the door behind him there was a longing there for someone to speak for him; maybe it was a vain hope that someone else out there saw what he did, someone that his father

would

listen to.

He braced himself against the door with his hands clasped behind his back while his father half-sat on the old desk that held all their tax documents and the main ledgers. Unlike Emory, he clasped his hands in front of him with his thumbs massaging each other. They stood in that unpleasant silence for nearly a minute before he leaned back with a long inhale and sighed it out. "She knows you broke the Guild's rules..."

Emory said nothing. It wasn't invited.

"My father loved the Guild, swore by it. Every other day he'd close up shop and go down, set up a booth and spend the whole day there talking to the others about this'n that." He plumped his cheek briefly. "Said that you couldn't get richer than having good people 'round you. No greater treasure than friends and no brighter gleam than gold earned helping other businesses...

"Now me, I used t'think he was a fool. You saw how little business flows down from the upper deck, trades people don't go to the Guildhall t'find what they need- they come to your shop. I tried to tell him 'bout that, about how you didn't go to the Guildhall when you needed medicine, you went to the apothecary."

The older man stood slowly and slipped his hands behind him, chin raised as he looked to Emory. "Soon as he let me run the shop by m'self, I completely ignored the Guild and went all in on going 'round to businesses and getting them to come to us for their needs. I cut our prices a little bit, worked well into the night. And at first it worked, we made lots of coin. I was so proud of myself that I showed him the ledger, beaming smile and fulla spice and sting- mostly cause I hadn't slept in two days." He smirked.

"He took it, he hummed and hawed, told me how very impressive it was. And I asked him why he'd never done it....y'know what he told me?"

Emory shook his head.

"He said, 'n I'll never forget this, he said: 'I can sell you a coat once and it can be the nicest coat in the world but in a couple months you're gonna forget who sold it to you. You know you got a deal, you don't care how long and hard I worked on it and by the end of the transaction you'll never think about it outside of what it can do for you.' At first I thought it was stupid- why wouldn't they come back? I'd given them what they wanted."

The man crossed his arms and slumped back against the desk looking to Emory. "I ran myself ragged trying to keep up with demand, I oversold my time and undervalued it beat for beat- took me a full year to clear the back log. And you know how many people came back or recommended us to someone else? Five. Five people outta the hundreds of things I sold....it took me a long time to admit my father mighta known what he was doing where I had a lot to learn."

Emory opened his mouth to speak, his father held up a hand.

"After he died I started the warranty, hired more folks and took a slightly lower income. Whatchya call it....we....iterated. Did things a little different and it's been working well for us. We got people that come back, people that trust our name and we do it again and again regular as the sun's risin." He pushed off the desk and closed in on Emory. "We do it

honestly

, and we do it with complete faith and trust in each other....them in us and us in each other. Right?"

"Yes, sir..."

"So I can trust that you went to the Tapestry before the Guild?"

Emory glanced away. His father stood back, lower lip pushed forward.

"Was it your idea or Kel's?"

"Mine, sir."

He sighed softly. "Thought I raised you better than that..."

"You did, sir."

"You sure? Are you gonna try and convince me I can still trust your word as a man?"

Emory exhaled sharply through his nose. Was there ever a time he'd been trusted that way? He met his father's gaze. Somehow they'd wound up repeating history and now that they both knew it, neither of them could deny it. He

wanted

to tell his father about the absurdity of comparing them and trying to say they were all that different. "I brought us new business..."

Great job. That was

so

helpful. Stupid brain.

"You did, and you broke the rules of the Guild to get it here....I didn't want to do it to her face, but we

have

to go to the Guild and make this right. You know what they'd do if they found out?"

Emory swallowed. "M- may I ask what the order is?"

The older man studied him for a moment as if pondering his worthiness for such information. "Fifteen suits of armor and a couple sets of belts n' frogs. Whatever belt you showed her did something for her." Was that pride in his voice?

"W- we..."

"Hm?"

"We-

I

broke the rules of the Guild, but her servant went along with it- Kel and I were fooling around and got her attention by making some off collar remarks, I offered the belt as compensation and she brought me to her mistress. S- she came here, neither of them is going to tell the Guild about-"

"You can't know that, Emory. Them parasites are always out for what they can get for free."

"I think they're in a hurry. They couldn't find what they needed at the Guild and they don't seem to come to the shops directly, they're probably not locals. Or they don't get out much....we can

do

this. We can make it fast. Uh- sir."

Emory's father studied him for a moment longer and sighed again, exasperated. "You don't know what you're talking about. If the Guild finds out we're-"

"We can have the first batch done in a week, I can work nights- I

will

work nights. We can break up the work into segments and have Tila do the assembly. Have one of us making armor while everyone else is handling the normal work, we can divide their share of priority jobs; and once those are done we can put more hands on it. We can make it work..."

The man cant his head back slightly, glanced at the ceiling for a moment. Emory could just imagine the water wheel in his head running with the river of possibilities. They both loved solving problems and by now he was realizing how far they could go on this kind of order. All Emory had to do was keep pace and provide solutions and

hope

his father took him seriously. "I'll think it over."

It was about as much of a victory as he could hope for. Emory went with it. "Yes, sir..."

*

Lunch time had a kind of unofficial starting ceremony that everyone had agreed upon but nobody could remember starting, like the vestiges of some forgotten religion centered around food and good company. They'd locked the door and hung a wreath of tibrith flowers to signal their supposed observation of the Sagarian hour. Tila and Morin both took the break time as an excuse to run errands or relax outside of the shop.

Sure, it was little blasphemous to the Fates, but none of them had shown up pounding on the door demanding they all lay down and take a nap for an hour, so as far as Emory was concerned they were probably in the clear. Emory was finishing up laying out the plates when his father flicked the edge of the table to get his attention."How're you on work?"

"Uh, six small repairs left for today. I gave some to Kel so we can finish faster. We have to get some custom stuff for the new client."

His father's brow creased momentarily. Custom orders with other vendors usually meant someone was paying good money- and he hadn't seen the order yet. Because Emory was too much of a coward to write one for this order until he had made damn sure this was going through. His father would've hounded him relentlessly if he knew how much money was being offered, and it was bad enough Emory had to worry about what might happen to the shop dealing with a daemon anyway.

"You got payment up front, right?"

"Yes, sir." Emory smiled wanly. It had to have looked confident because his father simply nodded.

Keline brought out some glasses and a small keg of beer which she propped on the other table. "Party time."

"Have a seat, kiddo, I'll get this." Emory's dad hefted the keg to tap it. "Sounds like you two are going to be working tonight. Don't do anything you'll regret in nine months, huh?"

Emory almost asked if that was how he wound up being brought into existence, but he'd made that mistake. Once.

By contrast Keline was chuckling. "You'd think an apothecary's daughter knows a thing or two about keeping that kind of thing under control." She glanced briefly to Emory as if punctuating the point.

"Don't tempt fate until you're ready, that's all I ask."

"Dad..."

"No buts."

Kel leaned over, whispered. "Pretty sure butts are all you're into, right?"

"Has its appeal," Emory agreed.

She smiled wryly. Her gaze then turned to Emory's father, not realizing she'd left her hand within easy flicking range. "I'm pretty sure that's Emory's whole th-- ow!" Kel rubbed her forefingers, whining. "Owowowow. Jerk."

"Now look, there's no shame in appreciating someone's curves." The older man leaned against the opposite table with his big arms crossed. "No disrespect, Kel, but it runs in the family. A healthy appreciation for whatchya can wrap your hands around and the kind of firmness that gets pliable in your hands is something y'should worship rightly.

"Means the person you're with is comfortable and warm to ya. So you treat 'em right, you do your duty to 'em and you appreciate every second you're together." He huffed, rubbed at the scar above his right eye. "Sorry, Kel. Probably don't need t'hear that from some old man."

Keline shrugged and snatched a beer for herself. "One day, mister Rismane, I'm gonna find a person that shares your philosophy in my own age group. Which'll be great, because I have a lot of ass I want worshiped."

The old man snorted into a laugh.

A knock came from the door.

She

had arrived.

Lindress was taller than her daughter by a head, and her long ears didn't have the slightly rounded points of human blood, either. She was draped in a thick traveler's cloak it was hard to see what she'd chosen to wear today but already Emory's heart was pounding. He swallowed hard- the game had already begun and she was playing a bold opening move. She'd chosen a green bow to tame her chestnut mane for the day, but her ears poked out between the waterfall she'd made of her hair behind them. With her thin rimmed glasses and sharp features she looked scholarly and regal.

Keline let her in and took the picnic basket her mom had brought.

"Good afternoon, everyone." She said in that lilting purr of hers. "What are we discussing today?"

"Ass worship," Keline said bluntly.

Lindress's eyes fixed right on Emory like a focused beam of light. "Is that right?" A bold opening move and a killer follow up- was she trying to get them caught? "What brought this on?"

Emory's father ran a hand through his hair. He was blushing faintly. "I might've hinted that it was a trait of the family to be, ah- devotees of the female form. Speaking of, can I take your cloak?"

"Always the gentleman," Lindress smiled half playfully. As her cloak parted Emory's heart dropped into his stomach as the full shape of her glory was revealed: green dress. Flesh. Lacing that strained to contain her ample chest and two thin strips of brown ribbon trailed down either side of her cleavage to join the matching skirt. Her smile was demure, patient and warm. Maternal, but by all the Fates was that a thin cover for an avatar of lust.

Emory tried to feign disinterest, to string her on that little bit. To show that he had some self-control, that her thigh high stockings couldn't, in fact, draw his attention no matter how hard she tried. But all it took was a single step for her to completely shatter any illusions of control he might've enjoyed. There was no world in which seeing her lush form move didn't spark a deep desire to hold her, to feel her thick legs hot against him and the rush of her pulse against his lips.

He'd already lost this game and they both knew it. Emory hung his head in recognition of her divine superiority. Her gold bangles clattered lightly against the table as she sat across from him.

"Your hair looks lovely like that," Emory's dad said by way of conversation. In so doing, he secured a donation to the Fates' temple for reading Emory's mind.

"Why thank you. It only took me an hour and a half to get it right this time." She had a strange undercurrent of irritation. "I do love taking care of it."

Kel murmured in elven, "

probably should've spent that time getting dressed. You've got the whole melon patch on display.

" Lindress, of course, ignored this.

His dad chuckled as he took a seat beside him. "Still not used to seeing it long- it's nice, don't get me wrong. But that 'experiment' of yours has been going on for, what a year and a half now? Whatever happened to the Lindy we knew and loved?"

As Lindress broke bread- another tradition they'd never really established but still repeated- she shrugged causing her cleavage to swell in an intoxicating way. He was also beginning to notice a faint scent of orchids coming from her. Fates Weave she was coming on strong today. "I could say the same about your wrinkles, Ris. I wouldn't, because that would be cruel, but things change....and this experiment has been..." She seemed to mull it over.

Longer and longer.

Emory's heart clenched.

"Enjoyable." It wasn't exactly an admission of undying love, but it was a damn sight better than it had been. A strange surge of pride bloomed inside Emory at the idea of 'enjoyable' in lieu of 'just a phase' or a breathless secret. Progress! "Yes, very enjoyable."

Keline gave her a dubious look then suddenly found more interest in the potato salad when her mom returned it. Did she know about them? No. No, it couldn't be...

Emory fixed a plate for himself, daring a quick glance to Lindress's chest and the little treasures that might've hid between her dress's lacing. It'd be just her style. "How is business today?"

"Good! Good, I'm consistently surprised how many headaches have been going around lately. I think with Silis closing down I am getting his old customers..."

"It happens," Emory's dad offered. "Sadly, humans don't age like fine wine."

"They are no less full bodied, hm? But how are things here?"

"Steady, got a custom order though so now we need t'make a bunch of requests from the Guild. Got a big order and a small one-- what was it for, Em?" He looked to Emory quizzically.

Emory hadn't even realized his father didn't know about it! Son of a bitch. He looked at Lindress with widening eyes and the sudden sinking realization of what he had to say. Or maybe what he could get away with saying if he framed it right. He swallowed. "A gorget."

Keline burst out laughing. "A gorget?! Were we talking about the same thing, because I distinctly remember a collar."

"Now hold on--"

"A collar?" Lindress looked to her daughter.

"Yep! Like the kind that goes around your throat? And then there are the cuffs....got some for the wrists and the uh- the legs."

Heat rose to a sweltering burn across Emory's features as he slumped back in his chair while every set of eyes locked on to him. Some childish part of him wanted to hide under the table, to wish it all away. He'd have settled for an abrupt heart attack and a merciful death.

"Damn shame, that." Emory's father mused, spearing a load of potato salad with his utensil. "She was a beautiful woman. Strange clothes, and tall as a mountain, but damn beautiful- give this old heart a flutter, it did." He added that last part with a drawl and a half-smile.

"Like you need another horse in your stable, Ris," Lindress chided.

Keline's eyes brightened, she locked them on Emory. He knew the look. He tried to cut her off before the stupid shit started but she rolled right over him with a raised voice. "And then! Then! Get this-" she kept going until he gave up. "She was hitting on him harder than the wall behind the dart board at the Drunken Swan! She was all touchy, 'ohh, I love broad shoulders!' and it was just a tragedy in motion, let me tell you."

Emory's father looked at him with no small amount of disappointment. Then cuffed him upside the head lightly. "Are ya stupid?"

Keline cackled.

"Ris," Lindress said with soft disappointment. "Strong women can be intimidating, even if the Fates insist everyone's the same in different ways, it can be too much for some young men to handle."

Almost like she was punctuating the point she leaned forward, her bounty pushed up against the lip of the table and for a moment even Emory's father's gaze drifted. It was Emory who got the real prize- and torture- though: a delicate foot brushed up against his knee. Eased in between his legs. Pushed right up against his cock, Lindress smiled tenderly, teasing little circles with her foot. "Perfectly natural."

"I guess, but....you shouldda seen her, Lindy."

"Mmm, now there's an idea." Lindress arched a brow. Her foot sculpted around Emory's hardening member and she massaged this way and that to tease it out ever more. "Mmm, yes. Why not invite her over for dinner at my place?"

Emory's father scoffed lightly. "You're gonna soften him up, Lindy."

"Oh, I doubt that." She said with a gentle push against his cock. "I expect stiff resistance, actually."

"He's gotta learn how to do this stuff on his own."

Keline found interest in her lunch by way of avoiding uncomfortable topics. She always did this crap when it came to what was best for Emory; of course if anyone dared mention her name, she'd fight like a badger.

"I think that your son might surprise you, Ris." Lindress was massaging again, stroking now with the heel of her foot to the ball along the full length of his shaft. She wore the most docile smile but the amusement in her eyes was infinitely palpable. "Sometimes it just takes a little gentility to get things going, and then you step back and let the creativity flow. What do you think, Emory?"

How much did he say? What

could

he have said? Glys was beautiful and terrifying- strong and hard as iron. The way her eyes were framed by her hair so bright and sharp could've cut through all his bullshit....and then there was the subtle promise in her words; an uncomplicated life was what she lead. Lindress might've liked uncomplicated, Emory might have, too. But there was the fact she was a daemon. He didn't know enough about the type of daemon she was, nor what it'd mean, nor even how safe it'd be...

But looking into Lindress's eyes the thought of disappointing her for even a second felt wrong somehow, and Glys had shown such respect and care in their interaction. Maybe dinner wouldn't be so bad.

Emory cleared his throat, clenched his thighs just a little bit. He was rewarded with the top of Lindress's foot massaging the head of his member. They smiled at one another in their private way and he said confidently: "I'll ask her next time I see her. Sure you're okay with it?"

"I am assuredly positive." Her foot rubbed upward, stroking. "You'll let me know before it happens, I hope?"

Almost

. He almost spoke without thinking:

"You never want me to do that any other time."

The sound of Keline laughing kept him grounded. He would be damned if he was going to spoil their game.

"Great idea!" Keline chirped. "Just no unicorn burgers, I was crapping rainbows for a week and the whole place reeked of hopes and dreams."