Hellacious Hospitality Ch. 10

"Aila likes Rara's music!"

"So, uh, yeah...umm, thanks for noticing..." So unlike earlier. Without whatever righteous anger it was powering her, she turned soft and meek. Or maybe after venting so much of it, she hadn't been prepared to talk on such amicable terms. Honestly, he could relate. It made him cringe, realizing how edgy he'd used to be.

"How'd you get into piano? Who's your favorite composer?" He didn't really have much of a clue about any of that stuff, but something in his gut told him he was making headway with this subject.

"I think I've always loved music. I like the way it resonates with me, the way a good song sends shivers all the way down the length of my spine. I don't know if there was a specific song that caught my attention, or if it was all because of my sister." He noticed her finding her pace now, settling on a topic she was passionate about. She became more animated as she talked, arms no longer crossed tightly over her chest, but gesticulating freely and openly. Probably by accident, she allowed the shadows to fall away from her face slightly, revealing a sharp jawline. Distinguished, but feminine.

"Oh?"

"She's got a marvelous singing voice, once she gets going. You should hear it some... wait, no, moving on..." She curiously clapped a hand over Aila's mouth. "Aunt Lessie was quick to encourage my interests. Mom never really had the ear for it. Every December, she'd bring me a new instrument to try."

"Santa Caeli, huh? Do I maybe sense some saucy cosplay in the future?"

"If you're a good boy from now until Christmas, maybe we'll talk." Her idea of "good" was assuredly far removed from the real St. Nick's.

"Hey, why do the girls call you 'Lessie' anyways?"

"Oh, that? Well..." she fidgeted about uncomfortably.

"Ah, whatever. We can save that story for another time. You've already laid a number on us. You deserve a break. Anyway, where were we?"

"Well, I'm honestly grateful that she didn't give up on me. I was terrible. Just horrible racket after racket. Poor Aila squawked and complained, having to listen to me 'practice' all the time. Honestly, looking back on it, that was probably a failure on all our parts. It's not like there was anyone to give me lessons."

"But finally, I'm sure to everyone's relief, there came this great, beautiful monstrosity. Took me a while to not be intimidated by it. But compared to the horns or strings, I didn't have to have perfect breath control, or know where and how to pluck the chords. Just perfect sound, every time. And the wonderful reverberations it sends through the ground, oh! And the..." Her rapid pace accelerated further, devolving into incomprehensible chatter as she started going on about her influences and music theory and all sorts of things that flew straight over his head. She was like an entirely different person. Caeli caught his eye with a dazzling smile, encouraging him to keep it going.

"Sounds like you were a natural-born Beethoven then." He finally found a break in her spiel to interject. He would've been happy to let her talk more, but it would've been rude to let her prattle on without realizing that she'd lost her audience. Even Caeli and Elena had glazed looks in their eyes, staring in wonder at her drastic personality transformation.

"Haha! Turns out it's in my bones. Almost literally. Not sure if you know this, but snakes 'hear' through vibrations in the ground. A trait shared with lamia, so it turns out."

"You're self-taught, then? That's... actually amazing. Not that I can call myself an expert, but from what I heard from your skills, you'd easily have the making of a top world talent. A few more years, and some formal lessons, easy."

"Please don't toy with me like that. You and I both know that would never work out." She gestured toward her long, unmistakable tail.

"I... sorry, I guess I got carried away there."

"I can see why Auntie is so smitten with you, though. I almost believed you, for a second..." Only just now realizing that her hood had fallen askew, she pulled it even further over her face while peering at him side-ward. Interestingly, this was the first time he was able to look into her eyes, without feeling a paralyzing chill.

"Wa~agh! Aila is bored! Rara talk too much! When does playtime start! Aila was promised play - ack!" So engrossed in the conversation, Merah had forgotten to keep her sister occupied, and she was getting fussy and unruly again. She was only barely able to wrestle the bird-girl down before she managed to fly away, out of reach. The two tumbled about viciously, but in an oddly practiced sort of way, as if they'd done so countless times before.

Benson felt he should step in to help break the fight off, but Caeli stopped him, pointing to Aila's razor talons that kicked about in the frenzy. "Best not. Those two are always like this. Merah can handle. You, on the other hand, I don't think requiring stitches was the way you planned on ending this night."

Against his better judgment, he turned away from that writhing mass of scales and feathers.

"Y'know..." He tried his best to muster his best nonchalant, casual tone, to mask the prickliness of the question he was about to ask. With all the revealing and deeply personal stories that had been relayed over this evening, there was an idea slowly bubbling up in the back of his mind. "Since this has all turned into a big bonding moment, I kinda feel like Syl should be here too. Maybe a chance to clear the air between you two. Any chance of inviting her to this impromptu shindig?"

Interestingly, Caeli didn't seem the least bit surprised by the suggestion. "Despite my misgivings, I have been thinking about her ever since your encounter, trying to reach out again. I'm not lying when I say she's an elusive one. She seems to come and go as she pleases. I haven't seen sign of her for a while now."

"Oh well, can't force her."

"Who's Syl?" Somehow, that line of conversation carried through that wild brawl in the background. A pause, as Elena and Merah asked the question near-simultaneously.

"Oh, man, you guys don't know?" Maybe it made sense for Elena not to know, if Caeli thought she could save face from the shame this story caused her. That Merah didn't know her either was a bit of a surprise. "Not to alarm you girls, but there's a ghost roaming these halls." He said, in his best spooky voice.

Benson wasn't quite sure what he was expecting with that awful delivery, but dead silence was not the reaction he was hoping for. He'd been brushing up on his conversational skills, but maybe his dramatic flare still had room for improvement.

"I suppose you would have found out sooner or later, my sweet Elena." Caeli stepped in, to fill in the blanks. "You and I have had a good number of talks over my insecurities. Of course, you were the source of one of them. But Syl was actually the 'first'."

"Wait, the fuck? You had sex with a ghost?"

An uneasy grin crept upon his face, but it was quickly erased by the look of horror he read on Caeli's, her delicate pale skin somehow blanching even whiter. Puzzlement ensued instead. Why would she react that way? She knows this story already.

"Sex. Sex! Aila likes sex! Is time for fun, like Ellie promised?"

"No... Elena, you didn't...?"

"Hey, birdbrain! Stop! Let go. Let go!" There was a loud tearing sound, followed by a piercing shriek.

Aila had somehow managed to break away from Merah's coils, diving headfirst into Elena's arms and nuzzling affectionately into her chest with wanton abandon. She giggled and cooed happily as Elena was all too eager to oblige her playfulness, planting eskimo kisses on her nose as she started to get undressed, letting her overshirt slide to the ground.

His ears rang with that shrill, yet strangely melodic laughter, as he felt his vision cloud. Not from tiredness. Something warm and hazy welling up within, clogging his senses with a pleasant sweetness.

"Tsk. She doesn't even realize what she's done," Merah muttered under her breath behind him. He turned to help her off the floor, but she was already up. What met his eyes paralyzed him in place, and it wasn't her steely glare.

In their scuffle, Aila must have slashed open her shawl. As Merah rose to height, the tattered garment slipped away from her shoulders without her notice, her attention fully on her out-of-control sister. He tried to avert his eyes out of politeness, but that fog in his brain glued his eyes to the stunningly beautiful creature before him. A physical form nearly a match for even Caeli's perfect body. Copper skin blended seamlessly into coral-red scales around her waist, but every part of her anatomy taut and sinuous. Heavy breasts, pleasingly round, a perfect fit on her powerful frame. The distinguished sharpness of her face was fully revealed, but it also held a beguiling youthfulness. Despite not being blood-related, she still resembled her sister in one distinct way. Her silken hair was silver-white, streaked with rose, cascading down her back, no longer constrained by her hood.

Time seemed to flow agonizingly slowly. The panting breath that escaped her lips. The stiffening of her nipples to the cool air. The straining of his own cock in the confines of his pants. The darting of her eyes as they met his and then quickly away. The deep red color that bloomed across her cheeks. Each action in painful slow motion.

"Of all the accursed... I-ignore me!" She cried out with a breathy gasp. She flinched, half turning away, but not covering up. "You have to split them up, or there'll be no going back for you, human!"

He managed to wrench his view from one enticing sight to the next, as he watched the now-topless Elena licking Aila's slender belly, and pulling the girl's top aside to play with her small, peaked nipples. Every musical whimper out of the petite girl's mouth seemed to amplify the raging heat in his loins. He glanced back as he heard Merah grunt, only to watch her furiously knead her own breasts. Even through her own unquenchable arousal, she managed to throw a hardened look in his direction, putting him back on task.

He saw Caeli move, and he willed his body to follow her lead. With a swift tackle, he managed to sweep Elena from atop Aila's body. Caeli was quick to take her place, pinning the bird girl down, planting a kiss firmly on her lips, while her horns swiftly extended from her forehead, glowing brilliantly.

Aila's body melted into that tender kiss, pressing into the succubus' body needily, before suddenly going limp.

The fog in his head lifted in turn. Regaining his senses, he found himself laying on top of the prone Elena, his cock somehow out of his pants, and already pressed up against her naked slit beneath her skirt. He hastily tucked himself back in, not particularly concerned with how she pouted at his withdrawal.

He turned to see Merah forcefully push Caeli aside to collect her sister. All that libidinous energy drained away, Aila looked so peaceful sleeping soundly in the cradle of Merah's strong arms. He found where the remains of her cloak had fallen, and draped it over her bare shoulders. Her eyes met his, welling with intensity, but not open hostility, as before. She nodded, barely perceptible over the more visible shiver that rippled through her body when he accidentally brushed against her skin.

Instead, the full fury he expected to receive was aimed solely in Caeli and Elena's direction.

"You really think this is going to work out for you? You could barely even handle her. Too weak, too soft. You think you can do everything, but you fail at what's most important when it really counts. You regale us with tales of your so-called altruism, but really, you're just a slave to your own wanton nature."

Caeli extended her hand to interject, but was frozen in place by the withering glare aimed in her direction. She stood there, speechless, in the middle of the room, watching helplessly as Merah turned away. In the end, she was allowed to leave, with her sister in tow, with nary a whisper to stop her. Any attempt to connect with her had surely been dashed, having brought her such shame.

Once she'd vanished into the elevator, Caeli's legs buckled beneath her, suddenly kneeling on the ground in a growing puddle of her own cum and urine, all of her strength and willpower finally breaking down. Her face flushed red with burning humiliation.

"What the hell was that?" The anger rose quickly in his voice. If only for a very brief moment, he'd never felt so helplessly lacking command over his own body, and whatever had happened, he didn't like it.

"A mistake..." Caeli replied, finding it hard to look him in the eyes. Full of guilt, and self-doubt. "I thought I could have it both ways, and in doing so, I've failed you all."

"I thought we've moved past this, now. Speak to me. Don't give me that cryptic bullcrap!" It was never a good sign when she started an explanation that way.

"I ignored Merah's warnings, ignored the signs. I've been living so high on cloud nine recently, I thought nothing could go wrong. That if everybody could meet you two on the same level as I have, then everything would turn out fine. I clearly have much still to learn. Gods know whether they'll all continue to give me that chance..." She was still tiptoeing around the heart of the question.

"Why. Why don't you trust me enough to speak up?" He was trying to be as patient as possible, but his irritability was leaking through. His fingers tensed and jaw clenched.

"I trust you. I trust you all too much. And that's why I'm afraid, because I've betrayed that trust." She forced herself to meet his eyes, but could bare to hold her gaze for a few scant moments. "I've always tired to make it clear that your presence here is a matter of your own free will. But after what just happened here, you were so very close to having that choice stripped away from you. I know how you are. You would have felt obligated to stay."

"And why would that be?"

"Because Aila's in heat. If things had gotten just a little more out-of-hand, she could have made you a husband, and a father."

"What!? I mean, fuck, I thought you said that wasn't even possible. So are you saying that I've been really going around, knocking all you girls up?"

"What? No. I'm sorry. I believe what I told you is that demi don't get pregnant 'in that way'. Inherently magical beings like myself and Iara, there's zero risk at all. The faeries as well. The magic that permeates our beings is essentially toxic to your fragile sperm cells, and our reproductive cycles, if they exist at all, are a fair sight more complicated aside. But for the beast races like Aila and Merah, they're closer to you, and the fauna they resemble, in how they procreate. Perhaps, in some point in their ancient history, they were indeed beasts who strove to be more like humans and evolved in kind."

"You really buried the lede, there..."

"I'm really sorry... I thought... I always imagined I would be by your side, to introduce you properly as these things arose. That whole thing, with Aila, that really caught me unawares. Her bloodline makes her somewhat tricky to handle."

"And what would that be, exactly?"

"I trust you've heard of sirens?"

"Goddamn it. I always thought they were fish. Y'know, like mermaids? I might've been more on-guard had I suspected. I just thought she was more like, um, what were the bird women again? Harpies?"

"A common misconception. Especially ever since that darling cartoon red-head captured hearts and imaginations. You were half right otherwise. Mythology ascribes the term 'harpy' to the ugly bird crones, but who among mortals doesn't lose a touch of their beauty over a hundred years of age?"

"So, what you're saying is, a 'voice so beautiful it causes sailors to dash their ships against ocean rocks in pursuit' is literally a mating call so potent that it incites all who hear it into an uncontrolled, orgiastic frenzy?"

"For all intents and purposes."

"And you didn't think that having her running wild was a massive red flag, why!?"

"Because she's not always like that. It's only a small window during the year that her kind are inclined to such frenzies. We're always so careful to have her abstain from sexual stimulus around this time. It's been an easy instinct to avoid with her, normally learned through flock behaviour."

Benson massaged his eyelids that were suddenly heavy and tired. He knew exactly where the misstep had been.

"Elena..." he scolded gruffly, sternly.

She was lost in her own little world. Having been rebuffed by him earlier, she'd turned to Caeli for affection, clambering all over her, nibbling at her ears, tugging at the open collar of her blazer. There was a vacant, glazed look in her eyes, still under the effects of Aila's spell.

"Elena, what did you do?"

She giggled obliviously, and Caeli just sat there, letting her, wallowing in her self-defeat too much to even register the attention, even as a slender hand slipped under the front waistband of her skirt.

With neither woman in a particularly responsive state, his temper got the better of him.

He strode forward, full of anger, and slapped her clean across the cheek.

"Elena! God-fucking damnit! Get a hold of yourself!"

The shock and pain bringing clarity, she looked to him with a hurt expression. But as she slowly regained her full senses, that expression was joined with unease and regret, as she withdrew her groping hands.

"Have you no shame? She was just a fucking kid!"

"Not from my perspective. I mean, who am I to know who's 15 or 150 in this place? She was eager to learn, and you know me. I was all too happy to teach. When in Rome, right?"

"This place isn't your personal playground! It's dangerous!"

"That little sweetheart? You can't be serious! Besides, isn't that what you've been doing all this time? Going with your gut? Your girlfriend trusts mine."

Caeli twisted her neck to look up at her with a sad expression, silently telling her otherwise.

Benson pinched his nose in exasperation. She wasn't entirely wrong on that last count, which made a proper rebuttal difficult. He knew he was ultimately right, but the ability to turn reason to words failed him. He growled in a dark way that made her wince.

"Elena, just go home."

"What? I - "

"Just go. There's a lot that needs fixing, and you can't be here to cause any more distractions."

"But, I..." Words failed her. She made a big show of gathering up her clothes in an indignant huff, and stomping off. But her shoulders gradually sagged, and when she turned to give one last glance behind her before vanishing into a portal, her bright green eyes were quivering.

"I'm going, too." he said, holding Caeli's hand as she remained on the floor, disheveled and undignified. "Your responsibility right now is with them, not me."

As he headed towards the main doors, Xochitl made an appearance, no doubt to make some snide remark. "Zip it, bitch. Or weed killer will be too merciful for you." Even in her silence, he could feel her silently mocking him. Mocking all of them.

"Ben, wait!" Caeli's voice finally returned to her, but much too late. A cool air rushed through the grand foyer as the doors slammed shut behind him.

*****

He took the long way home, but that suited him just fine. It gave him time to stew.

He'd never taken the opportunity to establish a portal link back home. Something about that had seemed too easy, too convenient, and putting that temptation out of mind served as the last bastion of "normalcy" in his life. He'd briefly wondered what that meant about him, unable to make even that small commitment, despite how much of a no-brainer it seemed.