James let out a breath, having succeeded in quieting his mind and the woman’s as well. He walked to her, his entourage of husks trailing behind him. The German shepherd, finally separated from Sam, followed too. When James reached the blonde woman, he placed his hand directly on her head and spoke calmly, “Go inside. Go back to bed. Forget everything that happened this morning.”
When he released her, the woman finished the step she had been frozen in and strolled inside. James knew his order would be obeyed; he’d never before been so confident in his magic.
“BORK BORK!”
James looked down at the woman’s dog. The shepherd was wagging its tail and looking up at him with big eyes. James chuckled before speaking to the dog in the manner one speaks to dogs, “I don’t have to wipe your memory do I, boy? No I don’t. No I don’t.” He scratched the animal behind the ears before turning and walking back toward the gate.
After ordering the husks to stay where they were and not move a muscle, James made his way back to the coffee shop. He hopped in his new car and drove back to Claire and Sam. Careful to usher the nude pair into the car without being seen, he realized he didn’t have enough seats in the coupe for all three of them. This problem was solved by Claire sitting on Sam’s lap. Although it was a nice day, James put the convertible top up in order to avoid any unwanted attention.
“I need a safe place to hide these two while I figure out how to turn them back to normal…” James mumbled to himself. He was feeling more confident than before in his ability to revert the husks, now that he’d unlocked more of his magical power. But he still wasn’t quite sure how he was going to fix the pair, nor did he have the time to work on that at the moment; he needed to pick up Ashley from the airport. With no better ideas regarding what to do with Claire and Sam in the meantime, James drove home.
While driving, James updated Lilith on the situation. She was pleased to hear that the husks were under control, and proud of her agent for managing his magic so well on his own. She mentioned something about having to reward him later, and James couldn’t help but smile at the implication.
A few minutes later, James was herding the husks into his house. He was relieved to see Mark was still asleep on the couch. It made sneaking the pair into James’ room easier. He issued a magical command to Claire and Sam to not leave the room or make any noise. James turned to leave again when something occurred to him.
“Uh, Lilith?” he spoke mentally.
“Yes, James?” Lilith answered.
“Do… uh, do husks need to eat, or anything…? Do I need to put down some newspaper in my bedroom?” James asked, worrying about his security deposit.
A mirthful laugh echoed through his head in response. “No, James. They don’t need to eat, or anything. They’re sustained entirely by sexual energy; it should be safe to leave them alone for a while. Just be sure they won’t get out again.”
“Can do,” responded James. He locked the door behind him and returned to the living room.
Looking at his roommate snoozing on the sofa, James decided it was time for a little more memory manipulation. He walked over to Mark quietly, and gently placed his palm over his forehead. He needed to ensure that Mark forgot some of the more supernatural details of the night before. But unlike the woman from earlier, James didn’t want to completely erase a block of memory; he didn’t see any reason for either he or Mark to forget their tryst.
Aware that changing his friend’s memories would require more finesse and control, James took a deep breath and plunged back into the river of magic that moved beneath the surface. Using that power, he peered into his roommate’s mind and began carefully adjusting Mark’s perceptions of the last 12 hours. He was careful not to use more magic than necessary, having learned the hard way how overwhelming that power could be. After several minutes of painstaking, methodical editing of his friend’s memories, James was satisfied with his work. Mark’s recollection of the night before was now far more vanilla, no horns or wings included.
Pulling away from his inner font of magic, James opened his eyes. “There,” he thought, “that ought to do it.”
“Um. Good morning.”
James looked down and saw that Mark had woken up. “Shit,” he cursed inwardly.
“H-hey,” James replied awkwardly.
“Whatcha doing?” Mark asked, rolling his eyes up toward his brow. James realized he still had his hand on the other man’s forehead.
“Uh, nothing. Just… checking for a fever,” James supplied an improvised excuse. “You’re good though!” He removed his hand from Mark’s head.
“Oh. Well, thanks,” responded the thin man, now moving to sit up. “Are you all right?” he asked James, raising a concerned eyebrow.
James wondered what he meant. Shit, had he missed something in his memories? “What… what do you mean?”
“It’s just… last night,” Mark said, “That was a little out of character; I didn’t know you swang both ways.”
“Oh.” James breathed a sigh of relief inwardly. He hadn’t missed anything, Mark was just concerned. “Yeah… I suppose a little experimentation never hurt anyone, right?” James answered. “Though, probably shouldn’t mention last night to David or anyone.”
Mark chuckled, “Yeah, best to be discreet. I’m glad you’re okay; I wouldn’t want anything to become weird between us.”
Grinning, James replied, “We’re good, dude.” He offered a fist bump to the other man, “I’ve gotta go pick up my sister from the airport; we can talk later though.”
Mark returned the fist bump, “Cool. I’ll see you later, bro.”
James left the house and got back in his car. The sun was well on the way to its zenith, and the autumn air was warming considerably. Taking advantage of the nice day and his new ride, James put the top down on his car and took off for the airport.
He made good time on the highway, unsurprising given the speed and power of Lilith’s gift. Once he arrived at the terminal, he found a parking spot out front where he could watch baggage claim.
The airport was relatively empty compared to the usual hecticness of the week; James supposed people just didn’t travel as much on Sundays. Still, there were plenty of travelers walking around, and James had time to people-watch while he waited for Ashley. Most of the passers-by were businessmen and women, flying in for an early start on a long week or coming home after one such week. There was the occasional family or couple that looked to be traveling for pleasure, but for the most part it was all business.
James enjoyed staring at the more attractive travelers, almost as much as he enjoyed the stares he was getting himself. A young stud in a bright red sports car? Yeah, that was getting the juices flowing for quite a few people. If they weren’t looks of interest or outright lust, he was receiving looks of open envy. When James caught the eye of a pretty young flight attendant in a tight skirt, he gave her a quick wink. The woman blushed immediately and chewed her lip as she walked by, eyes on James. Her instant arousal was obvious, and if he didn’t have to sit and wait for his sister, James may have seized the opportunity the woman’s lust presented.