Bloodlines Ch.02

Garth moved inside, his eyes wide as he gazed around the room. "Just leave your coat behind the counter for now, I'll show you the back room later." Jeff beckoned for him to join him. "Why don't you spend a couple of hours getting to know the place, it's usually quiet in the morning anyway. Once Dave gets here at noon, we can grab some lunch and I'll fill you in on the details. Sound ok?" Garth nodded distractedly as he looked around the shop, eyes wide. Starting from the front of the shop, there were seven aisles, each with two shelves, packed with any imaginable sex toy Garth had ever heard about, and plenty he had not. A full two rows were packed with what he could only describe as torture devices; restraints, manacles, whips, canes and all kinds of spiky, unpleasant-looking steel hardware. In the middle of the shop was an open area with mannequins displaying select pieces of clothing, all of it revealing one way or another. In addition there was a section of furniture, though odd looking as it had lots of metal rings, pegs and weird shapes. Garth could only guess at their function, though obviously something kinky.

As he walked around, marveling and blushing, constantly adjusting his lurching cock, he was struck by the obvious quality of it all. Everything was packaged in expensive looking boxes, many of the price tags making his eyes bulge; this was not some dirty back-street porn shop catering to the local perverts, these were items of quality, the craftsmanship plain as a polished steel dildo. Two hours flew by as he wandered around, looking and trying to not blush too much.

At noon, a young man in his late twenties walked into the store, going straight behind the counter. Jeff waved him over, and Garth joined them. "Dave, meet Garth, my nephew. He'll be our new shop assistant." Dave met his eyes and nodded amiably, a pleasant if noncommittal smile as he greeted Garth. "Dave, would you mind the shop for a half hour while we grab some lunch and go through some details?" Dave nodded affirmative, obviously not a man of many words. "He's a quiet type until you get to know him, but I'm sure you'll get along." Jeff said in a half-whisper.

He showed Garth to a door behind the counter. It led to a hallway that ran the length of the shop, six doors in a row. "The first door is the restroom, it's not open to customers usually, but exceptions can be made if you deem it necessary." Garth nodded.

"Next is the storage, it goes quite a way back, you'll get to know it soon enough, though.

This is the break room." Jeff opened the third door with a key, indicating Garth should enter. The remaining three doors seemed to be heavier than the first three; the last one had a plaque reading Private, in bold letters.

The break room was a small windowless room with bright, warm light. A small dining table sat next to a kitchenette and a long sofa against the opposite wall, all in all a typical break room; functional and pleasant in a utilitarian way, with no wasted space.

Jeff opened the small fridge and got out a few bottles of sparkling water and a cling film-covered tray of small sandwiches. "I get these from a local cafe, they're quite good." Realizing he was hungry, Garth helped himself to a sandwich, closing his eyes and enjoying the taste. They ate in silence for a few minutes, not wanting to speak with their mouths full.

"So what do you think?" Jeff asked once they had sated their immediate hunger.

"Well, I can see why you were never a popular topic around the house," Garth said dryly.

"Oh, I'm sure your mother made her best effort to keep it quiet, but it wasn't all black and white. After all, your father came by several times to buy, things. But I guess you don't want to hear about that." Garth recoiled a little at the thought of his parents having sex. Logically he knew they must have, but that just was not something he wanted to consider. As he shook his head, Jeff chuckled at the look of aversion on his face. "We'll cure you of your puritan heritage soon enough, I think," He said with a smile.

"So, here's the deal." Jeff began, leaning a little forward. "I want you to tap into your power at all times in the shop. After all, practice makes perfect. For time being, though, don't influence on anyone's emotions, we'll get to that in due time. For now, you need to learn how to single out an individual well enough that you'll be able to do it without conscious thought. Read the customers' emotions and soon you'll be able to feel how your sales pitch is most likely to succeed." Garth marveled at the idea, no wonder his uncle seemed to being doing well for himself; knowing exactly how your customers reacted and reading their unspoken emotions was indeed a potent tool in a sale.

"Every now and then there will be a repeat customer, and quite a few of them know what I can do. I'll see if I can't get some of them to agree to be test subjects for you. I'll let you know when that happens. I also, sometimes 'help' my customers overcome inhibitions in order to make them more amenable to buying what many consider to be taboo items. Keep your senses on the alert if you see me with a customer, watch what I do and we can start practicing based on that."

"I think that's all we need to cover for now, I'm a big fan of learning by doing. Let's go out front and I'll show you how to ring up sales and what's where out there. You finished eating?" Garth nodded, wiping away a few crumbs and downing the rest of the water. "I have a small problem though, Uncle. I don't have any herb; the box you gave me is in my other jacket at home." "No worries, I have plenty, just take what you need from my stash for now, I'll show you how to get your own in time." Jeff locked the door to the break room behind them, indicating Garth should go on ahead.

They spent the next ten minutes going over the basics of how to check the price on an item by scanning the barcode, registering a sale, deleting it again and finally how to ring it up and choose payment method, usually cash, though some select customers apparently had tabs, kept in a small black book.

Jeff opened the top drawer, pulling out a key attached via a short chain to a huge black dildo. "This is the key to the bathroom in case a customer needs to use it." He waggled the appendage, making it flop back and forth. "This is just to make sure they don't forget the key in their pocket." Garth grinned, imagining someone walking out the front door with it sticking out of a pocket. "I'll get you your own key for the toilet, storage and break room later today." "What about the other doors?" Garth asked. Jeff tapped the side of his nose. "All in due time, I'll show you when you've had time to settle in, so to speak."

"As for herb," Jeff opened the second drawer from the bottom; it was filled by small Ziploc bags with white capsules and vials of powder. "These are capsules I have a local pharmacy make for me. Each has enough St. Johnswort powder to last about four hours of continuous use unless you surge it. They dissolve in the stomach, though it takes a few minutes; so if you want immediate access to it, swallow a pinch of powder as well. Here," He handed Garth two capsules, nodding towards a small fridge with bottled water. "That should last you well into the afternoon, start burning as soon as you feel it, should only be about five minutes at most." Just then, Dave walked back to the counter, joining them. He saw the open drawer and arched an eyebrow at Jeff in question. Jeff smiled proudly, "Yep, he's like me. Guess you're outnumbered now." Dave nodded at Garth, obvious respect in his voice. "Cool, man." Garth nodded back and smiled, not sure what to say.

"Why don't you go back out and hit the shelves for a while, Garth. Just spend some time memorizing what's where, and if you see anything out of place or anything, make sure it's all nice and tidy. We usually get more customers in the afternoon, se we should be seeing more traffic from now on. Usually peaks around five on weekdays, lots of husbands shopping on their way home or to a mistress. Rule number one is to always be polite and never ask questions unless the customer initiates it."

Garth wandered around the shop, looking at shelves, straightening the odd item here and there, blushing a little at some, confused by others. He was standing in what he had jokingly dubbed the torture chamber, inspecting what looked like a meat hook with a bulbous end. No idea what it was for, he was turning it over in his hand when a high-pitched voice broke him out of his pondering.

"Excuse me?" Behind him was a short girl around his own age. A cute, doll-like face with just a little too much makeup looked questioningly at him. Her long platinum blond hair was tied in two pigtails, reinforcing the doll-like look. "Yes, how may I help you?" Garth said as he tried not to look too much at her broad hips or quite large tits. "Could you show me the butt plugs please?" Her straightforward tone took him by surprise. "Ehm, yes, right this way!" I hope, he mentally added.

"You see, my boyfriend got me a gift," She began as they walked. "He bought a butt plug for my birthday, and it's just too big for me! I used lots of lube and tried stretching with several fingers first, but I just couldn't get it in. I don't want to hurt his feelings by trading it, so I figured it was better if I got a set of smaller ones to train with." Garth almost stumbled in shock at her quite graphic description. He tried not to imagine her stuffing her own ass with her fingers. He failed miserably, and by the time they were at the correct shelf, he had to angle away from her a little to hide the bulge in his pants. She pointed at the biggest Njoy butt plug, a massive plug the size of a lime made of solid steel. "That's the one he got me. It's just too big, yet." Garth stared in shock at the plug, then at her. That was supposed to go up her butt? It looked way too big for that.

"Ehm... Well... Ah..." He stammered a little. "I suppose we could try to find some smaller ones that you could try..." He trailed off, looking back and forth along the shelf.

"Might I make a suggestion?" Jeff's deep baritone came from behind. At a look from his uncle, Garth tapped his power, having forgotten all about it. There were only a few other people present, making the two of them easy to pick out with his sense. Determination and Curiosity wafted from her, undertones of Lust, Desire, Apprehension and a host of others underneath. His uncle was all Confidence, almost as if he was feeling a single emotion. This was his place where he reigned supreme, almost like a predator in a way.

Immediately a multitude of tiny ripples wafted from him, nudging ever so slightly at her. Trust, Adventurousness, Courage and a host of other tiny manipulations. The changes in her were tiny, a slight widening of the eyes, back straightening just a hair, posture a tad more provocative. Garth was humbled; here was a master at work; dozens if tiny adjustments at once, each on its own almost unnoticable, but the sum more and more obvious. Jeff smiled warmly, her mouth opening slightly, two small nubs poking through her top. "I think this is what you want," He said, stretching past her, his arm just grazing her hip, making her jump a little.

He brought out a straight metal rod about twenty five centimeters long. All along its length were metal bulbs of increasing size like a series of butt plugs set end to end. The last one, closest to a ring at the end was almost as large as the plug she had indicated. It looked to be a single piece, polished to a mirror finish. "Use plenty of lube and start slow, give your sphincter time to adjust and I guarantee you'll be taking the whole length in no time. When you can comfortably take all of it you'll be ready for the plug."

Garth was shocked at his uncle's dirty talk, all delivered in a perfectly natural tone as if discussing how to tie shoe laces or something trivial. All the while he influenced her increasingly, Lust and Arousal prominent now. Garth was sure she would notice his manipulations by now, but she was buying it all, the sale was no longer in question. His uncle was now just sealing the deal and having a little fun with her, likely for Garth's benefit he figured. He watched as Jeff pulled quite strongly on her Arousal as he leaned in, voice lowering conspiratoriously. "If you have problems getting it in, try lying on your back, knees pulled up. Then masturbate until you are close to orgasm and hold off as you push it inside slowly." He made a slight thrusting motion towards her with the rod, almost touching her stomach. "I guarantee you'll have the orgasm of your life when the last bulb goes in." Her knees shivered as she no doubt saw it in her mind, her tongue wetting her lips.

Jeff straightened, a pointed look at Garth, as if saying 'Did you see what I did there?' He eased up on the influence as he led her towards the counter, her knees oddly pressed together as she walked. "Do you have enough lube?" He asked. She nodded distractedly. "Very well, so just the rod then," He said with a slight question. She nodded, biting her lip. He smiled and scanned the barcode on the box, wiping the rod down with a soft cloth before putting it inside. As he put the box into a nondescript black bag, he grabbed a handful of small tubes from a bowl on the counter. "Flavored lube, for your boyfriend," He said with a wink. She blushed slightly, handing over the money and accepting the bag. As she walked out the door, Jeff leaned over to Garth and spoke in a half-whisper. "I hope she makes it home before she tries it, did you see how her emotions flared at the end?" Garth nodded. "That was all her, I all but stopped pulling once I saw the sale was made. She's a firecracker that one; her boyfriend won't know what hit him." He elbowed Garth in the side to emphasize the joke. Garth grinned sheepishly in response.

"You'll get over it. Once you've been here a while and met more customers you'll start to realize they're just people, and it's just sex. There really is nothing to be ashamed of; it's all a matter of taste in the end. Some people like apples, others like to drink pee. It's just how the world is. As for us, I trust you watched closely?" He nodded, still a little awed at his uncle's prowess.

"I did, that was amazing!" His uncle actually seemed a little embarrassed by the praise. "It's really not that hard when you've had time to practice; I'm sure you'll make me look like a novice in a matter of months. But, there's another lesson here, can you guess what?" Garth searched his mind, coming up blank, which bothered him a little. He shook his head eventually. "Almost as important as knowing how much and which emotions to nudge, is to know when not to. Emotions are living things, and while it's true that we can modulate any pre-existing emotion or feeling at will, creating a realistic response quite often means letting it grow on its own, even if that takes longer. As I said, patience is very much a virtue."

Garth nodded attentively, seeing the obvious truth in his uncle's words.

The rest of the day became a blur of action as the afternoon rush started. Garth traced the customer's emotions as they came and went, a wide range displaying itself, and while this seemed natural in itself, he did wonder at times. Why would the man buying a huge strap-on dildo be so Angry? Or the woman who only bought a pack of condoms who was so Embarrassed, why was that? By six in the afternoon, Garth was hardly able to stand upright; how could there be so many people buying sex-things on a perfectly ordinary weekday?

"I think it's well past time for you to go home," Jeff told him. "You look ready to drop if you don't mind me saying. Eat and drink well, go to bed early and all will be well tomorrow. It gets easier, trust me."

"I have lectures tomorrow; I can't be here until after two."

"No problem, Dave has the early shift anyway, and then we can close up together. In any case, the repeat customers usually choose to shop in the evening. On Thursdays I keep the shop open 'till ten, just for their sake." Garth got the impression there was more to that statement, though nothing more came.

Garth all but stumbled into his apartment, a paper bag of some takeaway in hand. Just kicking off his shoes and dropping the jacket by the door, he stumbled over to the sofa and fell rather than sat.

Half an hour and a double portion of egg-fried rice later, he was feeling almost human again. As he stood to grab a beer from the fridge, he looked across the courtyard at his neighbor's apartment. Just then, she pulled the curtains open, meeting Garth's eyes. She froze like a deer caught in the headlights of a car for a few seconds. Garth imagined he could hear her yelp as she jumped back and hurriedly drew the curtains closed again. Strange.

On a hunch, he tapped his power, questing out in her direction to see what he could glean. Mortification. Embarrassment. Excitement. Humiliation. Arousal? Garth was stunned. Who was this girl? Had he caused that reaction just by being seen by her? He did not even know her name, not to mention anything about her either. She had looked to be a little older than himself, maybe twenty five or so. Short, dark hair in a fashionable haircut had framed a cute face, not quite pretty but definitely not unpleasant to look at. He had been unable to tell much about her body, other than that she was of medium height, maybe on the tall side. Shaking his head, he got his beer and turned the TV on, zoning out to a sitcom of some sort. The curtains remained closed the rest of the evening.

"And so, we can deduce that intrinsic motivation always will be more potent than extrinsic, as clearly demonstrated by..." Garth zoned Professor Sands out again. This particular lecture in the Morals and Ethics class was exceptionally boring, though Garth wondered what the professor would think of his Neuropathy and its impact on motivation. Promoted by the thought he tapped his power, deciding to spend the rest of the mandatory lecture doing something worthwhile instead. The sea of emotions spread out before him, the collected pool of two hundred students' worth of hormonal emotions churning all around him.

What seemed chaotic and random at first eventually started resolving to his mind's eye. He quickly realized there was a spatial component, as he had noticed at the library and the bar the other night. Seeing Erica's cum-streaked face in a mental flash made his cock jump in his pants. 'Down boy, not now!' He thought to himself.

As he applied the spatial context, he found it easier to begin separating emotions by people, or at least to a degree. The couple three rows down who were talking with their heads together pulsed with Love, Affection, Desire and just barely contained Arousal. No points for guessing what they would be doing once class was over. Same for the girl to his right who was taking notes at a furious pace; she was all Attention, Focus and Concentration. He kept trying to pin emotions to people based on spatial and visual clues, at times closing his eyes to try and reverse the process; finding emotions and then seeking out the owner. As he did this he came across a patch of emotions that was slightly familiar in an odd way, somewhere behind him, to the right.

He opened his eyes and turned slowly to appear casual. Garth froze, dropping his power in panic; it was her! The girl from the library! No wonder he had thought she looked familiar; she was taking the same class as him! He realized he was staring because she met his eyes and arched an eyebrow in a silent 'What!?' There was no recognition, no outrage, nothing; she had no idea who he was. Mouthing 'Sorry' and shrugging he turned back to face the professor as he began to wrap the lecture up. Questing out again, he felt for her patch, breathing a sigh of relief to find it the same, save for a streak of Annoyance.