Gourmet Deviled Egg

Chapter 9 - Only a matter of Slime

Finding out that I didn’t actively need sleep as long as I performed certain adult activities to recharge was fun. Just to make sure I was in the mood properly, I had gone for an R rated series from ten years ago. Somebody had used the aesthetic of Disney’s Treasure Planet and turned it into a lesbian pirates adventure series with steamy s*x scenes and heart wrenching emotional moments that left me bawling.  I managed to get halfway through the series before the sun came up. While I was sure proper sleep would do me good, I was nowhere near mentally ready to face my dreams, afraid they’d twist into nightmares. Why couldn’t it have stayed nice and peaceful and heartwarming?

Especially the part with Mom. How unquestioningly supportive of dream-me she was. It did make me wonder how she would have reacted to having a succubus for a child... Would she be fine? Would she be scared? Would she disown me, leaving me to face Dad like this? She had no real choice in my staying with him.  In me having to face his scorn, his berating of me and my choices, his disappointment at not meeting his expectations. I really hoped Dad would never find out. Well, he never visited me. He’d watched me get the apartment, and then he’d left. I hadn’t even seen him for the holidays. Mostly out of choice, partially because he didn’t celebrate them. So being alone with him would be just as awkward and nerve wracking as spending my tweens and teens around him. 

I got off my chair and stretched, and stopped dead in my tracks. One part of my brain figured Peter should show his face around the Question, to not make Olivia worry about his state. Another part of my brain was painfully aware of the discomfort wearing his skin brought. And that part of my brain was desperately trying to dissuade me from it. Luckily, there was one tiny brain cell that pointed out I was still stuck looking like a succubus and thus realistically had no real option of going outside like Lily often. All parts of my brain got sad about that fact. I got sad about that fact. 

But I couldn’t allow myself to feel sad about it. Those feelings and thoughts were what had brought on the nightmare. And if Dad ever found out about them, he might try and reenact it. Keyword being try. I was definitely sure he had no access to magic whatsoever. And even then, you couldn’t use magic to mind-control someone. Could you? I figured the local spellcaster might know about that possibility. I sighed, braced myself, and transformed into my human form. The itch was immediate. The deep sense of loss that struck me hit me like a freight train. I just needed to handle it for like twenty, thirty minutes tops, then I would be back inside and able to lounge as Lily in my underwear. I quickly got dressed, and went downstairs.

 The moment I reached the ground floor, I sharply knocked on Leonard’s door. He looked ragged when he opened it, as if he just got out of the shock that Ayano caused him. “Oh, hey, guymode now?” Leonard scratched his desperate attempt at facial hair, and I sighed. 

“I need to show Olivia that this me is… alive, I guess. Plus, I don’t really have a way of hiding the demonic part.” I grabbed my wrist. “Hey, so, I’ve been thinking over some stuff--”

“And you want me to call you Lily all the time and use she/her pronouns for you?” Leonard interrupted me, I blinked in stunned confusion at him for that. 

“What? No, that’s not what I’ve been thinking over. It’s not like I could think it over, or that it was an actual option for me, or that now that you’ve said it out loud it sounds weirdly appealing.”

“So I should do it?” 

“I… I will… I will get back to you on that, but currently the answer is ‘no, I can’t.’ That’s not what I’ve been mulling over. I’ve had my Dad on my mind lately. And after last night I have a magic related question.” Leonard nodded, indicating for me to continue. “Can magic do mind control?” 

“Why did your thoughts about your Dad lead you to that question?” Leonard finally let me inside, so I beelined it for my favorite seat. Leonard, on the other hand, laid down on a resting couch, like those you see in therapist offices.

“Doesn’t the person in therapy usually lay down on those?” I chuckled a bit at my deflect. 

“Depends on the doc. Freud was the one who came up with the unequal position, like confessing to a patriarchal figure. Some sit with you, some lay with you, others let you choose. Anyways, please answer my question.” I hummed at his reply, a hum of ‘the more you know’. 

“Huh, cool. Never knew that. Dad never sent me to one. Even though I definitely needed counseling after Mom passed. He has huge expectations for me, and a specific idea of how I should be, that I’m honestly not meeting right now, but he’s decided to let me -- in his eyes -- fail, so as to see the error, quote unquote, of my ways. So I’m wondering, if he had access to mind control magic, would he have been able to mold me with it?” I turned to Leonard, who rubbed his face, sighing, mouthing something that looked like ‘f*****g dads and the bullshit they cause their kids’.

“Humans don’t have access to mind control magic; the mind is sacred, anyone who attempted to figure it out got offed. The CIA used to have a magic division, before it got wiped out of existence for their attempts at it.” Leonard straightened himself out to continue explaining. “When it comes to the nonhuman groups, well… Demons can intensify emotions, but not make you have different ones. The Fae don’t mind-control you, they trick you with illusions and rules they don’t reveal or establish until it’s too late. So manipulation, not magic.” He pointed upwards, laughing a bit. “Funnily enough, Angels are the only ones capable of proper mind control. And even then, only over full humans, and it’s more like piloting a drone than molding your mind. For everyone else, they’re like an annoying voice in the head. It’s hilarious that Demons and Fae both ask for consent in their own ways, one directly, one while hiding details. But Angels can just make you do what they want without care. Pretty scary stuff.” I nodded to reply to Leonard. 

“Alright, yeah, that uhm, that kinda helps ease my mind. You want anything from The Question or should I just get the craving stuff and my usual?” I got off the chair and moved to the door. 

“Uggggghhhhh... cheeseburger. Just get me a burger. I’ve tried the revived McDonald’s ones. Not sure what the hype about it was, they were pretty bland.” I finger gunned and clicked at Leonard and left to grab the grub. 

He had definitely ordered the burger to flex on me with his lactose tolerance. Little greasy bastard... Sighing, I entered the apartment complex, lunch in hand, and heard a weird noise coming from the basement apartment. Against my better judgement, I walked down the stairs and looked around, not really seeing anything that could have made the noise. It had sounded like someone had slowed down audio of sneakers skidding across the floor, and added an underwater effect. It was on my third pass when my eye and ear caught the source. And upon seeing it, I turned around and booked it to Leonard’s, rushing through his door and into his apartment. 

“Slime downstairs. Slime in the basement. Person-sized slime down there.” I was bracing against the door. Leonard walked over and took the bag of food I was holding. Zero reaction. As if he hadn’t heard me freak out. But the moment he was looking through the bag, it hit him. His expression went from ‘oh hey cool food’ to ‘wait what the f**k a SLIME in the BASEMENT???’ in such a perfect way, I wished I had it recorded to point to the exact frame his brain pumped the brakes. He put the food down on, ironically, a stack of recipe books and jumped to his laptop. 

“Okay, alright, okay, yeah, there is one. Slime ancestor. So. Basement got hit too, I guess?” He turned to me, dazed eyes, shaking his head to calm down.

“Basement got hit too. I hope they’re not a bad slime.” I relaxed a bit, letting the tension leave my body. 

“Why would you think they’re a bad slime?” Leonard shot a questioning glance at me as I rolled my eyes. 

“Dragon Quest Reference. Classic JRPG. Grandmas had an NES, somehow still working after all this time. Anyways, that’s irrelevant, there’s a slime in the basement, I get to be Lily again!” I sounded more excited than I probably should have been. I caught Leonard smiling at that, just a little bit. “What?”

“So are you going to answer my proposition now or?” I shot him a dirty look that I hoped clearly communicated we were not going to talk about it. He shrugged. “I mean, the slime has been there for three days now, I think it can stick around long enough for us to eat.” He picked the bag of food again, cleared out a proper table, and put it down on it. I rolled my eyes, chugged my coffee, and joined him.

“Thank f**k the fight with Victor didn’t tear you up. And neither did the washing machine. Phew.” I was putting on the peach colored combo outfit. The relief that washed over me as I did so could be measured with a geiger counter, considering all the joy I was radiating. And know what? I was going to allow myself to feel happy. I didn’t get to do it for nine years, I had a lot of catching up on that to do. Skipping down the stairs, I joined Leonard down in the basement. He had already caught a glimpse of our victim.  

“Oh. There they are. They look like spilled jello, you got scared of that?” Leonard teased, and I punched him in the arm. 

“I didn’t get scared, I got surprised. You didn’t experience the horror games and movies I did as a kid. Which I shouldn’t have experienced as a kid; what the hell, Grandma?!” I breathed out. The slime had scooted closer to us. I think it was looking at us? It was hard to tell when it had no eyes. “Hi there,” I waved towards it. “Sorry about the state you’re in; he’s the i***t who caused it.” I gestured to Leonard, who awkwardly waved. “And we’re gonna help fix it.” The slime jiggled somehow, still spread out like a spill on the floor. 

“Hello. I think you should be able to change your shape, become more solid and such, with a clear enough image. Could you try?” Leonard’s poor attempt at explaining didn’t seem to click with the puddle of goo in front of us. Or it seemed to at first. After an awkward silence, the slime seemed to start coalescing into a more recognizable shape. Turning from a puddle on the ground, into a pink blob with cat ears and a tail out of slime.  

“Nya!” was the first thing they said with their mouth. “Meow. Nya. Purrrrr.” They were just making cat noises and bouncing around now, giggling. 

“Are you okay?” I had to ask, to be sure. They bent over a bit in response, probably nodding. “So we can help you out if you want, get a human form back.” At this point, they jumped up, and changed shape in the air within seconds, going from a simple blob to a cat girl made out of goopy pink slime. 

“Ooooooh! Show show show show!!” They were very close to my face, before jumping back a bit. “Oh right oops, personal space. I don’t quite care about being human again, but if you got more magic, I wanna see!” Their enthusiasm at the prospect was intoxicating. 

“Alright, sure, you gummy cat or whatever you wanna be. I’m Lily, this here’s Leonard, he’s the one with the magic know-how.” I pointed towards me and then towards our local source of magic, whose hand the slime cat girl quickly grabbed and started shaking. 

“Nice to meet you! I’m Félicie! Please tell me more about magic.” She stopped shaking his hand and was just holding it , her… okay I guess those count as eyes. Her eyes sparkling with curiosity. And I thought I was the anime one with the fire fists.

“Okay, sure. Just, we need to go to my apartment first. So I can summon your ancestor for them to unlock all your abilities.” Leonard was definitely blushing and trying to look away. Did somebody have a crush?

“Ohmygod, Leonard, you furry weeb, she’s a dream come true for you isn’t she,” I teased him, sticking my tongue out at him and winking as he got even more flustered. 

“Sh-shut up! I’m not a furry weeb!” he desperately tried to lie. I saw your commissions folder, Leonard. There was not a single image in that folder that wouldn’t label you a furry weeb. 

“And I’m not into men, so he doesn’t have a chance anyway.” Félicie winked towards me and I had to hold back a snort. “But okay, Demon Summoning! Gosh, I’m excited to see it. Please tell me you got something on magic I could read or watch!” She let go of Leonard’s hand, as we started making our way up the stairs. “Gonna become a cat girl witch and help eggs hatch!” Félicie pumped her fists in the air, before reverting to the blob form. Leonard shot a quick glance towards me and then towards her. I wondered why he’d do that, what reason he’d have to look at me in the context of eggs. I was fairly sure succubi didn’t hatch. 

“Good luck with that,” he said as we walked into his apartment, Félicie immediately used the opportunity to jump into the stacks of books, probably to look for stuff. Good luck with what, Leonard? 

“Oh wow, you got the graphic novel version of Mice Tea? I love that story! Can I borrow it?” Félicie hopped up to be visible from the stacks of books, holding the one she mentioned with a little appendage, kind of like a nub of slime sticking out from her. It was hard to see from afar, but the little blob paw had beans on it. Cute.