[DCI] Chapter 88 - Citizen's Intervention (Patreon)

After spending a few more minutes idly lying on the bed, I pushed myself off and slid my phone into my pocket. Even though I’d told Briar that there wasn’t much cleaning needed at my place thanks to the constant presence of three ladies, I still took a good look at the apartment. For some reason, it felt slightly inadequate to host someone of her importance. But, it would have to do until we designed something new, for which her cooperation was necessary.

Finishing my quick survey, I walked up to the girls. Shuri sat in my comfy desk chair with Levia by her side. Aisha was present too, however, she kept her distance from the red-skinned princess, trying to act like whatever was going on didn’t interest her much, contrary to the glances she kept shooting at the monitor. The other two were in their own little world, exchanging comments and ideas without a break. Their artisanal minds had achieved perfect harmony.

No wonder my warrior mate felt somewhat left out.

I showed behind her and surprised Aisha with a hug. As she glanced back at me, I stole her luscious lips for a soft kiss and she purred in satisfaction. But, when she tried to slide my hands through her collar and under her top, I swatted at her playfully.

“Be mindful,” I rebuked the frivolous drakan. “How is it going here?”

She let out a quiet whimper of disappointment and sighed quietly. “I’ve lost them three minutes in. They do respond to me but it feels like talking to that AI of yours. Soulless.”

Chuckling a bit, I scratched under her chin, evoking a pleased hum from the draconic female. “Geniuses at work do be like that. You have no idea how tough it was to talk to my team of programmers when they were keyed in. I hope you weren’t only giving Shuri shit?”

Aisha scoffed to the side. “Of course not. I promised to be better, didn’t I? So… Maybe once or twice… When I was getting a bit annoyed at being ignored…”

Shaking my head, I offered her one more kiss. “Let’s see if I can get through to them.”

The fact that neither Shuri nor Levia noticed our exchange was telling enough. Taking a peek at the screen, I confirmed that my smart Witch had introduced the Armorer to the basics as requested. They were currently exploring the available traditional furnaces clearly not from Earth.

Changing my spot, I slid my head between theirs and threw my arms over their shoulders, deciding to go for drastic measures. My plan worked as both girls were drawn out of their musings and turned to me rather perplexed as to how and why I had gotten there.

“Did you come up with anything interesting?” I asked, glancing between them.

“The catalog is vast. We still have a lot of options to explore,” Levia replied calmly. “But, Shuri came to the conclusion that she would like to utilize modern technology in her forge even if it takes her a while to learn how to use it properly.”

“I would also need a few devices, contraptions, and appliances I’m used to,” the princess added hesitantly. “If that would be okay?”

“Whatever you need to conduct and develop your craft, you can get,” I assured her with a polite smile. “So, none of the presets caught your eye, huh?”

“There were no perfect combinations like in the case of my workshop, unfortunately,” the clever Witch replied. “They are either completely modern or traditional when it comes to forges. The only old-fashioned parts are like anvils and molds.”

“I picked a few things that should mix well and fit in the forge chamber,” Shuri said, navigating to the list of favorite products. “It takes a while for me to understand the descriptions of the technologically advanced ones so I’m sorry for taking so long and being too indecisive.”

“All good.” I ruffled through her hair on instinct before remembering myself and hastily taking my hand away. “We could always pick a modern preset with a good combination of equipment and then customize it ourselves, adding whatever you need from back home.”

Her gaze hung on my palm for a moment before she met my eyes again. “Wouldn’t that be a waste? We would have to remove some of the already paid-for parts.”

“Don’t worry about money. First try to build something you feel is worthy of your talents.” I winked at her. “If it ends up over the budget, we will scale it down from that point. This is an investment. I already took a similar gamble with Levia and it paid out better than well. If not for some things she made in her workshop, we wouldn’t be here today.”

“You are overpraising me, Master.” The elf in question glanced aside with her elegant cheeks assuming a darker shade.

“I have to disagree there,” Aisha chimed in with a grin. “The stimulants saved our asses. Though, mine still feels a tad sore from the aftereffects.”

I jabbed her with my elbow and she snickered to herself. “Anyway, we are having someone over in an hour or so. An old acquaintance. She dabbles in architecture and design so I’m hoping we can refurbish this place a little and make it more comfortable for our numbers.”

“We need a bigger bed!” the horny Berserker exclaimed in glee. “And shower too! Perhaps a pool we can all soak together and have some fun in!”

It was obvious what kind of fun she had in mind but Shuri remained fairly oblivious, thankfully.

“We have amassed a small fortune so we might as well go all out,” I agreed. “Fifty thousand most likely won’t get us a fortress but a few more rooms should be good. But, it won’t happen unless we get Briar on our side. So, you better be on your best behavior. Put some decent clothes on that stop your nipples from poking through the material for once.”

Aisha giggled impishly and sauntered away while pushing her chest even more outwards to emphasize the pointy tips.

Maybe I should send her out somewhere for the time being?

We all changed into something more proper while discussing options for our restructured home. Time flew like crazy and I soon received a message from our guest that she would be arriving in five minutes or so. That was nice of her. I appreciated the heads-up, even if we were ready. It showed that she was considerate rather than arrogant.

As the doorbell rang, I patted out my patterned shirt and dark jeans before turning to Aisha and gesturing between our eyes to remind my naughty mate that I would be watching her. She faked a hurt expression while crossing her legs but I could see her tail smacking the bed excitedly as she sat atop it.

Since we were expecting, I twisted the lock right away and opened the door to greet our new associate.

Only to freeze in place.

“Hello, Mr. King.” Briar offered me a refined smile as her gaze roved over my features. “I’m glad to see you still nailing the business casual style to the letter. Not many decide to dress up for house visits. You are just as I remember from our fleeting meetings. Though, you seem to appear more… remarkable? Do you work out more now?”

I wished I could respond with similar compliments, commenting on a few minuscule but positive changes she had gone through since our last conversation, but that was straight-up impossible.

These changes were not even close to trivial.

What stood before me was a woman about as tall as I recalled, and that was where the similarities ended. Sure, I could spot the matching facial characteristics such as the sharp angles to her jaw and cheeks or the general position of her striking eyes and elegant nose, but as the image of the blond-haired goth girl that had burned into my memory overlapped with the current one, there were a few quite critical issues to be addressed.

To start with, she was no longer a blonde as her luscious hair boasted a spectacular midnight black shade. Its left side combed to the back and over her ear, while the right hung over part of her face, obstructing her cheek and a small percent of her eye. The rest flowed gorgeously behind her back to around her waist while also spilling slightly onto her shoulders.

And before I forgot, that ear had just slightly sharpened edges, ending up in a pointy tip.

I would like to say that it was the most noticeable thing out of everything, but that was just like a drop in the ocean.

Because what else would you call it when her very skin was of such dark gray carnation it would make her almost fully invisible at night? Combined with her iconic deep black lipstick and a hint of eyeshadow, it created a picture of an exotic oddity. Not to mention her eyes. Pure black sclera with almost glowing scarlet irises. Like two red moons in a starless sky.

She wore a rather professional and respectful getup consisting of a dark crimson jacket with an open front that was fastened at the bottom end with a thick belt. Underneath that and visible through the gap was a dark, comfy turtleneck sweater with vertical seams. The set was completed with tight-fitting black leather pants that hugged her slender legs and slim waist rather finely. Her shoes were simple but graceful high heels with full coverage from the tip to her ankle.

“Is something the matter?” Briar tilted her head slightly, definitely catching me staring. “Did I mess up my lipstick again?”

As her equally dark tongue flicked over her lip to check, I spotted one very elongated fang before it hid again behind those plump curtains.

“No, it’s fine, just the way I remember.” I offered her a slightly awkward smile. “Though, my memory is clearly much inferior to yours as it seems that the rest isn’t as accurate as I thought it would be. My apologies for spacing out.”

“It’s alright.” She placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder, her scarlet eyes not leaving mine for a second. “I did alter my hairstyle a bit and people say it frames my face differently now. Besides, all you’ve seen of me was in the company shirt and skirt.”

“Can’t deny that.” I chuckled lightly and gestured inside, feeling a weird tingle at the back of my head. “Come in and make yourself at home. I think we should catch up a little before getting to business.”

“A good idea.” Briar nodded elegantly and crossed the doorstep.

Now that I had an idea of what she was, she didn’t need an explicit invitation to come in, right?

I followed after her as she moved through the entrance corridor and suddenly paused at the cusp of it, where it opened into the main area of the apartment just past the bathroom and kitchen, her gaze locking on Aisha, who was still on the bed. My mate’s brows rose in surprise and she shot me a sly grin while I glared at her intensely.

“Hi there.” She waved at the newcomer, both of them clearly recognizing each other’s origins. “I heard you can help Lucas with some renovations? This place is getting a little cramped so we would be really grateful for your assistance. I’m Aisha, by the way.”

Well, that was better than I had expected.

Briar examined the smirking woman for quite a while and I could almost see the gears in her head turning before she finally replied. “That’s correct. I’ll be working in a new environment but I’ll do my best to meet the expectations.”

“Great!” My draconic lover jumped to her feet, her magnificent tail making a snapping sound behind her back. “I can already tell we’ll be getting along really well.”

The dark-skinned lady reluctantly accepted her handshake and flinched lightly at another voice appearing next to her.

“Would you like something to drink?” my elf girlfriend calmly offered, walking into her sight from the kitchen complex. “I am Levia. And the girl in front of the computer is Shuri. She is still browsing through appliances but will let you switch with her whenever you wish to.”

The oni princess courteously lowered her head towards us before returning her attention to the screen.

Our guest seemed slightly taken aback as her eyes jumped between the three ladies. Before I could inject myself into the conversation again, Aisha stretched and sauntered towards the kitchen.

“We could also grab a snack while we discuss the details.” The Berserker opened the fridge to investigate its contents. “We’ll have to order something most likely. I haven’t had a steak in a while. Speaking of which, how do you like them?”

Briar followed her with her sharp gaze. “Medium-rare.”

“Huh. I would have assumed rare.” My mate turned back to us. “How much blood?”

“Excuse me?” The designer frowned. “Why would I want blood in my steak?”

“Oh, you are one of those who tolerate only the cleanest stuff straight from the source?” Aisha daintily covered her lips. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend.”

“What are you talking about?” Briar’s fingers slowly tightened into fists as her gaze gained a bit more intensity while flicking briefly to me.

“It is considered well-mannered to offer the best for a guest,” Levia stated, looking up at her. “I am afraid we will not be able to meet your dietary needs with our current supplies, unfortunately. The same situation concerns the drinks we can present. Only the common ones are at hand unless we perhaps ask Lucas to volun—”

“Enough!” She was cut off by Briar, who lightly pushed my Witch away, sending her stumbling over the foot of the bed and onto the covers.

Aisha tensed immediately and was about to lunge over the half-wall separating the kitchen from the main room when she met the dark woman’s eyes, which glowed brighter than before. My usually unstoppable Berserker halted in her tracks, her eyelashes fluttering in mild confusion. Shuri fell out of the chair from the unexpected development as she took action and reached for the bracer she always kept under her sleeve no matter what.

“Stop that,” I spoke gravely while letting my aura spill into the room.

Briar flinched and her head snapped to me, her eyes widening in mild shock at my extended arm with a kitchen knife hovering above my palm as it spun slowly while aimed towards her. Her scarlet irises faded back to their previous level and Aisha stumbled with a groan, shaking her head. She scowled and prepared herself to continue the previously interrupted movement alongside now fully armored Shuri and Levia holding a shining card between her slender fingers.

“Stand down,” I ordered them softly and they looked at me for confirmation, ceasing their combined assault but remaining alert.

“You…” Briar straightened up from her previously hunched and battle-ready pose, staring at me with a disoriented expression.

“Aren’t an uninitiated?” I raised a brow at her, figuring out what was going through her mind. “A certain organization scouted me out.”

Seeing that she had no intention of throwing hands anymore, my companions withdrew their weapons or techniques but still pretty much surrounded the woman.

“But, you’ve never shown any signs back at work,” she said, paying much more attention to me now as if trying to break her memories down into the tiniest details.

“It’s recent. A month or so.” I shrugged, flicking my wrist and sending the knife back into the opened drawer. “Still getting used to everything. Especially the presence of so many unique races on Earth. I get that they might have said something offensive in your culture and perhaps I should have intervened earlier, but was that really a reason to get violent?”

“I too would like to understand why I have been attacked out of the blue.” Levia’s serene face was slightly firmer as she looked up at the tall lady. “If Lucas had not stopped us in time with a well-placed order, you might have ended up severely wounded.”

Briar looked somewhat troubled as she glanced between the trio and then me, inhaling softly. “A misunderstanding. I hadn’t noticed that he was aware, though now that I look closely, the faint feeling I got at the doorstep should have been enough to tip me off. I assumed that he is being… exploited.”

“Exploited?” Shuri frowned deeply. “What?”

“I saw three non-humans casually hanging around in the apartment. While it’s not exactly rare for uninitiated humans to interact or be friends with other races without knowing, we usually like to err on the side of caution. No one wants to be blamed for an accidental initiation since memory alteration isn’t failproof,” our guest explained, slowly coming back to her refined manner. “There are cases where certain individuals abuse their talents for their own gain, ignoring societal rules. I started suspecting that this was such a situation and Lucas was being taken advantage of. When the elf suggested taking his blood, I kind of snapped as it pointed out significant mistreatment going above just leeching off his assets.”

The four of us exchanged glances before I swiped a hand down my face.

“So, let me get this straight. You thought I was their ensnared sugar daddy and tried to take them down on your own?” I asked and she gave a light nod. “Well, no matter what, I think I should thank you for doing it for my sake, but was going against three opponents smart, instead of, I don’t know, submitting a report to PARSEC after you left?”

“I’m fairly sure you managed to guess already but I’m a vampire,” Briar answered, displaying her pointy fangs through an eerie smile. “We aren’t unkillable, but few enjoy facing opponents with considerable regeneration capabilities. I was confident against three typical female immigrants who came up with this loathsome method, but it seems they are something more. That armor looked like trouble, the card made the hairs at the back of my neck rise, and the drakan didn’t immediately fall under my command.”

“So that’s how it feels to resist a mental attack.” Aisha hummed, rubbing her eyes. “Wasn’t I supposed to be immune to Mind Control while next to you?”

“You used something similar on me, didn’t you?” I pointed out at the vampire woman.

“Charm. Just to reassure you a little in case there were troubles with my concealment since you looked confused, which is one of the tells when the veil is struggling. But it looks like you completely shrugged it off,” Briar replied with a hint of curiosity or perhaps wonder. “I hit her with full power, though.”

“Well, that’s your answer then, Aisha.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “I don’t think it falls under Mind Control exactly so you still had to fight it back while my mental defenses are high enough to reduce it to a prickle of pain instead.”

“You even sensed the spell?” The vampire lady blinked at me in clear surprise. “What kind of ancient wizard lineage do you hail from? Normally, if it fails, it simply slips around the target like smoke against a pillar.”

“Fairly sure I’m just a plain old human.” I smirked. “Wouldn’t you have noticed something like that when we were coworkers? Apologies if that’s an offensive question or a racist assumption.”

“No, you are right. We do possess a plethora of abilities related to blood, depending on one’s lineage and other factors. I do dabble in it quite a bit so I should have, colloquially speaking, sniffed you out when you were close.” Briar stroked her chin ponderingly, most likely replaying our run-ins in her head. “How then?”

“Isn’t there another possibility?” I spread my arms invitingly and she squinted lightly, peering right at me with all the focus she could muster. “I’m a Defender.”

Honestly, I hadn’t expected to ever see this elegant woman drop her jaw in pure astonishment but that was exactly what happened.

“You are a Defender?” Her graceful voice actually rose in volume. “And they…”

I nodded with a proud smile as her eyes skipped to the women and Briar shuddered.

“Oh, Sweet Progenitor…” She let out a heavy sigh with a hand over her heart. “I almost died, didn’t I?”

“I mean, I haven’t yet fought against a vampire so I can’t exactly tell,” I said, taking a peek at my comrades. “How difficult would it be to actually defeat you for real?”

“What are your Classes?” Briar turned so she could face them as well as me.

“Annihilation Berserker.” Aisha grinned at her, flexing her bicep.

“Witch.” Levia offered a delicate nod while creating a glowing purple sigil above her palm.

“Armorer.” Shuri displayed her folded bracer.

“Two close-combat fighters and one offensive support. The curses and hexes would be a pain combined with the limited space. Depending on her level, she could even completely nullify my regeneration. I would most likely be forced to flee before the two melee combatants restrained me,” Briar summed up, finding my eyes again. “And you?”

“Overlord,” I shared, saving the rest of it for myself.

I didn’t know people of such deep carnations could pale, but her gray skin actually brightened a little.

“A suicide…” she muttered in disbelief. “If what I read in my family libraries is not an overstatement, I might have been the one ending up mentally dominated…”

“That’s… scary,” I admitted. “Thankfully, I’m low level so you don’t have to worry. And so are they. These ladies are my Subordinates and we started out not that long ago as I have said. So, in the end, your exploitation theory might be reversed instead.”

My little joke failed to fully defuse the tension. But, before I could attempt to salvage this unfortunate situation more, my draconic mate did something that surprised everyone, including me.

“I’m sorry,” Aisha apologized, and judging by her uncertain expression, she truly meant it. “If I hadn't decided to tease you, this would have all turned out differently. Noticing your surprised expression, I wanted to see how you would react if I talked openly about this. Levia just tried to be nice so don’t blame her.”

Color me impressed.

Things really were changing.

“I’m not exactly innocent here either,” I said and stepped up to her.

Sliding my palm over her scaly cheek, I pressed a soft kiss into her lips, confusing Aisha a tiny bit, but she didn’t fight it, receiving the brief peck appreciatively. I didn’t care that others stared. If I didn’t reward her for trying to be better right now, I would feel bad.

Withdrawing shortly after, I faced the rest of the girls. “My brain was still stuck trying to compile the two versions of Briar into one and I reacted too late, letting things escalate. I should have thought that instead of assuming I’m one of the integrated after seeing the ladies, you could have possibly picked a different explanation. I failed as a host and an old acquaintance.”

Briar showed a genuine smile as she met my gaze with those piercing scarlet eyes. “I jumped to conclusions too quickly. I might be a little bit oversensitive to these things due to how many normal humans approach me because of our natural racial charm. I’ve known female vampires who abused it heavily. So, let’s agree that we could all have handled this situation better and let bygones be bygones. With initial introductions behind us, should we talk some business for a change of pace?”

“Gladly.” I bowed politely. “So, about the drinks? Is soda alright or should I…?”

She rolled her eyes at me. “I don’t bite on the first date.”

The girls chuckled and I laughed quietly too, leading us to the kitchen table.

I should think of a way of making my involvement with the supernatural more recognizable in the future. Wouldn’t always have time to pull up the magical ID.

★━━━━━━━━━━━━Author's Notes━━━━━━━━━━━━★

Dunno if or when we get her art so here are a few refs. Hairstyle, Skin Shade, Partial Clothes.