An uncontrolled sob burst from Ulysses. He tried to stop it but he couldn't. Her lip curled as she stepped from his neck and strode away, snapping her glamor back into place. He turned his head to watch her open the door. He willed his troops to fall upon her and tear her to shreds. Instead Camila's wretched pet Valkyrie stood there calmly waiting for her master. His eyes widened as he took in the carnage she stood in. The carpet was soaked in the blood of his warriors but the tall blond didn't appear to have a scratch on her. However, she was wearing splashes of blood from her victims.
"Are we done here?" Sigrid asked with a bored tone.
Camila glanced over her shoulder at the broken man on the floor.
"Yes," she said turning away with a cold finality.
He shuddered and closed his eyes. Broken.
Camila and Sigrid took the elevator down, wiping the blood from their shoes off on the cheap carpet.
When they stepped out they saw Mr. Duncan leaning against the wall waiting for them. He had more than a little blood on him. He took in the streaks on Sigrid and Camila's spotless attire. He had a few cloaks over his arm. He dropped one and handed the other to Sigrid before donning the last one himself. He listened to his earpiece then nodded. They left the building, crossed to the limo and headed back to the office.
"Any trouble on your end?" Camila asked the Security Chief.
"None at all. Set off an EMP in their Security Office. Blew all their surveillance equipment. Set off another in their server room. They're done."
"Resistance?"
"Ten of those shadowy goons about eight regular ghouls with guns, knives and clubs. Took a minute or two."
Camila looked at Sigrid.
"Twenty-six of his shadow troops. Twenty-eight seconds." She smiled at the Security Chief who tipped his head to her with a wicked grin.
"Ulysses shouldn't give us any more trouble. Continue to keep an eye out for him just in case but we should be fine."
The limo took them down into the garage as the extra discretion was warranted due to the condition of their clothing. There was a small gym in the basement with locker rooms and showers.
Camila cleaned her shoes and went back to her office. Sigrid and Duncan required more thorough cleaning. Their clothes went into the incinerator with the cloaks and they put on the spare outfits they kept in their lockers before heading back to their regular jobs.
Like regular people do.
As Stanley arrived home he saw a familiar figure trying to navigate her grocery buggy through the front door. He reached out and held the door open for her and she glanced back at him, a wide smile appearing on her face.
"Hey stranger! So you moved in after all! Stanley, right?" she chirped happily. She continued into the lobby and he followed.
"Hi Sandy! Yeah, I moved in a couple of days after we met," he said.
"And you haven't come to visit!?!" she said in mock outrage.
"I did mention I just started a new job and that's been consuming my every waking moment," he explained with a grin.
"Even after work?" she said fixing her eye on him accusingly.
He patted the side of his laptop case. "I bring the work home with me."
She looked at him with wide eyes. "Wow, you didn't get a new job, you've become a slave! Listen I'm a nurse so I do twelve hour shifts but at least they give me time off once in a while to recuperate."
"It's only this crazy right now because I'm working on an enormous project with a limited time frame. It will settle down in a few weeks."
"A few weeks? If you don't get down-time you'll burn out and that won't help you or your company. You don't work on the weekends, do you?" she gasped.
"Well, I had a lot to do so I did work during the last one," he answered awkwardly.
She put a hand to her forehead. "I'm sorry Stanley. Don't mind me. I just get a little overexcited when I see someone in danger."
"It's ok, really. I'll be fine. I'll take some time off this weekend... uh, what day is it?" he asked.
She gave him a concerned look. "Thursday."
"Ah, well, I'll take a day off this weekend... maybe."
She frowned and turned for the elevators as he followed. "If you do let me know. I have a bunch of friends coming over this Saturday evening around 7pm for a casual little get together. We throw on a bad movie and critique it for fun. It's always a blast. You're welcome to join us."
She pushed 4 and he pushed 9. "Unit 901, right?" she asked.
He nodded. "Unit 404," he said and received a smile for remembering. Her eyes were just a little bluer than Marisa's, which seemed impossible until he was looking into them.
"Saturday, two days from now. 7PM. Open invitation to unwind!"
He grinned as she got off the elevator. "Got it."
"Be there!" she blurted as the door closed.
He really did like her but Sigrid's words about relationships returned to him. Still, she said he could be friends with humans and Sandy did say there was going to be a number of her friends there. He decided he would go to her party.
He got off the elevator and walked to his door. He took a deep breath as tonight he was going to have to fire Yuko if she couldn't prove his safety with her. He certainly couldn't think of a way. He opened the door and immediately stopped in the threshold. The lighting in his condo was... different. The wood floors absolutely gleamed and there was a new woven mat by the front door. In the living room all the hand me down furniture was gone and in its place was new furniture that had a distinctive Japanese style! He looked down and saw Yuko kneeling on the floor wearing a traditional kimono.
"Welcome home Stanley-san!" Yuko said, not yet looking at him. She reached out, pulled his shoes off, and set them on the new mat.
He closed the door behind himself. "What-"
She looked up at him finally and her smile slipped into a worried look. "Are you not pleased? Are you not happy to see me?"
He finally managed to look away from the changes she'd made to his condo to really look at her. She looked... truly lovely. He felt a tugging sensation drawing him closer to her and her smile began to reappear.
Stanley closed his eyes and shook his head to clear the fog that was forming there. He felt himself re-center and he opened his eyes to see the surprised expression on Yuko's lovely features.
"Yes, I'm happy to see you. You look very pretty in your kimono," he mumbled as he walked past her down the hall into his living room. His head jerked left as he saw his bedroom had been transformed as well. He took a few strides to stop in the doorway. "Where's my bed!" he barked. There were mats covering the entire bedroom floor and what looked like a futon was in the center of the room where his bed once stood. The room was beautiful but... his bed! He didn't own any of the furniture that was now missing. VRL paid for his new bed and he understood it was very expensive.
He looked back at Yuko who was standing in the middle of the living room wearing an almost panicked expression.
"I don't understand! Why are you acting like this?" she moaned.
He shook his head. "Acting like what?"
"You should be in love with me!" she wailed and dropped to her knees as the tears began.
Again he felt the tug and he knelt down to lift her from the floor. Once more he gently lifted her tear stained face with his hands.
Then she was kissing him and he was on his back and her mouth was so sweet and... what the fuck just happened?!?
Stanley pushed her face from his, his wet fingers tingling madly as his head spun. She opened her eyes to blink at him in confusion and need, her body writhing over his.
"Why are you stopping? We both want this!" she asked plaintively.
"Yuko...-san, I just spoke with you for the first time today. I shouldn't be feeling this way. I-" he stopped and looked at his hands. Why were they tingling so much? Her... tears? His mind flashed back to earlier this morning when he brushed her tears away with his thumbs. They tingled then. Something in her tears?
"What have you done to me?" he growled, suddenly feeling manipulated. His anger flushed away the lust and need which had threatened to overwhelm his mind.
She blinked at him. "We are bound. You are mine and I am yours. Why do you fight it?"
"I didn't ask to be bound, to anyone. Is it your tears?" he asked sternly.
She nodded holding his eyes with her dark pools of... whoa! His mind was still reeling with the chemical intoxicant from her tears.
Her body felt way too good on his and he was showing his appreciation. She felt it and smiled as she doubled her efforts to grind against him. Her face was showing she was more than a little excited too.
"We- we can't do this! We- wait a minute! Is this your answer to being allowed to stay?"
She continued to squirm against him but from the way she dipped her eyes and her frozen expression he knew he'd guessed correctly. "If I fall in love with you- no, wait, if I'm forced to fall in love with you, then I won't fire you and you get to stay and party with your friends?"
She was pouting now but her eyes were glazed as her grinding continued. It felt good for him too but he wanted his answer.
Stanley suddenly rolled over and she was under his body now. The pressure on her sensitive bits increased but he stopped moving and her desperation increased.
"I'd like an answer please," he asked as calmly as he could.
She gasped and tried to move but he held her still. He wasn't very strong in his human form but he had enough leverage to do this.