"That was very kind of you."
Maki was reclining on the long backless lounge when I swaggered back to the living room, dressed in a conservative calf-length skirt and a white long-sleeved blouse with frilly lace cuffs and collar. It was still pleasantly disconcerting to see her so relaxed; I was glad to see the gains from last night weren't temporary.
"Hm?"
"Giving her that money. You have no shortage of problems that could be helped with money yourself."
"Ah. Marianne has three children," I said, holding up three fingers for emphasis. "Two thousand dollars will go a lot further for her. I can punch my way out of my problems."
"To be clear, I fully approve. I was merely commenting." She gave me an approving, proud smile. "Marianne told me you saved her daughter from being mugged. It's quite novel for me, you know, to be around a real hero. Running around, saving damsels – Why, I might swoon," she added dryly.
I meandered to the kitchen to put on another pot of coffee. "Picked the right place, think that's technically a fainting couch."
"It's a chaise lounge, James; a fainting couch has a partial back. I can't believe how little knowledge or control you had over these furnishings."
"Me and you both," I grumbled to myself. "Oh god," I slapped my forehead and full body cringed, "I just remembered your mom saw the bowl get knocked over."
Maki broke into a fit of laughter. "Jade eggs and golden cherries! What were you thinking?" I groaned. "If it makes you feel better, my mother is utterly charmed by you and is more than willing to ignore a few idiosyncrasies. Besides, everyone knows powerful martial artists can get a little…peculiar."
We passed some time on inconsequential matters; I'd call it small talk, but Maki had an encyclopedic knowledge of seemingly endless topics that lent depth to the conversations. I was happy to let her lead, and she seemed to enjoy the opportunity to show off. Maki hadn't spent a willing moment talking with a friend about anything and everything since Ken died, and I could tell that it was doing her some good.
I scratched one of the ghostly white marks on my side. There was a phantom itch traveling through the roadmap of freshly healed scars left behind from the fight. We were on the couch together now; she'd gotten up and pressed herself to my side the moment I sat down. Maki drank her coffee like a college student, which is to say continuously. I was up and down as I refilled our cups, enjoying the sight of her curled up on the couch like a pleased cat and how she perked up as I brought her more of her precious caffeine.
"It won't be too stressful on your end, don't worry. You'll be made to feel at home, and everyone will be on their best behavior for you. I will be interrogated after the fact by one to three curious family members at a time for days to weeks after you leave. But," she shrugged, "if you want the time off to recover mentally, I think you should take it."
"I'd love to meet your family, it's not that. It's just, ah, how do I explain this…Every time I leave the house, I feel like there's around a thirty percent chance something…" I struggled to describe it. How could I explain random and planned encounters without mentioning the Producers? "It's like I'm cursed to just constantly be going through crazy ass bullshit on a semi-regular basis for the amusement of some ephemeral, undefinable Audience that I can't perceive and yet am certain is watching me at all times. Which is why I was kind of hoping for the weekend off. Just chilling inside, maybe training in the backyard, but definitely not checking my phone, not investigating strange sounds at night, et cetera, et cetera."
A shadow fell over her face. She grieved for me; I suspected she thought I was going insane, being mentally affected by 'domain' in the same way a Kami might. I didn't know how to feel about that. "That sounds horrible, I'm so sorry."
"Nah, it's cool. It helps me get stronger faster." I flexed my bicep for emphasis. "I'm just hoping for a day or two down to catch my breath, is all."
"I meant the feeling of being watched and judged. I think I'd lose my mind."
I chuckled. Half of me knew and felt the same, even as my other half reveled in the feeling. "You get used to it," I said honestly. Maki was still frowning. I smiled, going so far as to roll a Charisma check to alleviate whatever pity she was currently feeling for me. "It actually scratches an itch for me. I love performing and I don't get that many opportunities to do so."
She gave a little laugh and shook her head. "Right, that follows. It takes all kinds, I guess. Not for me though, that's for certain, even if meant all the power in the world. The thought of being observed constantly, even in my own home—" she shuddered.
I hid my expression behind my coffee mug, and we passed into an amiable silence together. I was glad to learn that we were already in the phase of a relationship where silence could be both comfortable and welcome.
Maki broke it with a chagrinned and embarrassed smile. "I folded immediately to Marianne, you know? I didn't realize that you had kept her out of the Underworld, my apologies. When I met her at the door, I saw the scrubs and immediately said, 'Ah, you must be James' neighbor, the nurse. He's alright, don't worry.' Marianne leaped on that and asked me why you'd mentioned your neighbor was a nurse, why would you not be alright, and, well, she's a very sharp woman."
The miko blushed. Clearing her throat, she continued, "She has a tone and a look she gives you when asking questions. I felt compelled to answer truthfully as if I had to justify my actions from some never verbalized accusation."
"The Look! Surely, your mom had it as well. That was The Look in the hands of a widowed mother of three and lifelong Harbor Hill resident."
"Formidable. But regardless, I must own the mistake of letting her into the Underworld."
I scoffed. I couldn't see what she was so worried about. "Don't worry about it. Marianne's a big girl, she'll be fine."
Maki shook her head, annoyed. "Sometimes I forget how little formal training you have. James, being open to the spiritual side of the world invites ill spirits and malignant energies, and one can't ever be completely closed off if they are awake to the existence of the dark powers."
"Oh please, as if being ignorant of the dangers is much safer. There's a ghost that crawls into people's windows and drowns their newborn babies. I mean, what the fuck."
"Which is why there's a common superstition to keep the windows closed when it's raining if there's an infant in the home. There's a middle ground that most people exist in, one that Marianne existed in prior to me dragging her out from that safety."
I disagreed with the idea that there was safety in ignorance but arguing it with Maki would be like headbutting falling bricks for the next however long it would take.
"Whatever. What's done is done. She's a close friend, a neighbor, and my occasional trauma nurse, I'm sure she would have found out eventually. I'm glad you were the one explaining things and not me. Speaking of, if you wouldn't mind staying late, there's someone else I'd like you to meet. My senior student, Annie is supposed to be by after work to train and film, but while I have you, I could use an expert opinion on what's going on with her."
I gave Maki a thorough rundown of how I'd unlocked Annie's Qi and the changes I'd noticed in her body and Qi network. Her eyes lit up when I described the extent of my training and teaching ability, but she stayed focused on the topic at hand, quiet save for when she asked for clarification.
Articulating responses to her questions was helping me get a better grasp of what was happening, once more proving that I'd been right to trust her. The value of having a sounding board alone was invaluable. "No, whatever's going on with her is totally unlike what's happening to me. My body is being affected by the incredible amount of Qi I have; Annie only has a moderate amount more than an average person. Her body and Qi are being transformed at a deeper, more fundamental level, one that I'm not sure where to begin looking for and probably couldn't identify if I found it."
"Hmm. Nothing immediately leaps to mind. I'll try to read her energy and if I take the time to prepare a few talismans, I should be able to tell if she's not fully human any longer and potentially what type of entity she's becoming. Anything more than that will require research and preparation, but we'll have a starting ground."
"Thanks, feel free to summon whatever Kami you need through the shrine in the meditation chamber." I watched her closely as I mentioned the chamber. Maki was the most inquisitive and perceptive person I knew, and yet the sudden addition of a working shrine and Zen Garden to my apartment had sparked only passing interest in her. The Producers were flexing their muscles.
She nodded. "I'll try to get as much as I can without calling on outside help. Am I to take it from your tone that you want to be cautious about how you proceed with this?"
"Yes, extremely. Annie is being changed at the genetic level – I want to be as delicate as possible. I'll be biting the bullet and giving my mother a call as well, but I don't expect she'll be able to give me much. Li-Family Eagle Style has no famous spiritual techniques; there are three unofficial 'paths' different family members tend to go down with the Art, bodyguard, assassin, or brawler – not a wizard amongst us. But maybe she'll have heard about something similar before, Ma's been around for a minute."
Maki shifted her weight slightly, pulling her legs under her and turning slightly towards me. There was less contact, but it was suddenly less familial and much more intimate. Before her touch had reminded me of being cuddled up with my sister, watching a movie in the wintertime – not so much anymore. She rested her elbow on my shoulder and began playing with the hair on the back of my head.
"Very sensible. I must say, James, this is a side of you I wasn't sure you possessed. Deliberate, thorough, risk-averse – these were qualities I thought I would have to wring out of you."
"Wring out of me, eh?" I wagged my brows at her.
She was too smug to be offended. "It does seem to have worked this time. Why not again?"
"Woah, hang on." I raised a finger in objection. "As much as I'd love to incentivize this line of thinking, you did not fuck me reasonable. I'm always capable of reason, it's just sometimes the situation doesn't call for it."
"Preposterous."
"Agree to disagree. But regardless, last night was a wake-up call. I need to include prep time when I'm thinking about doing these big stunts in the future. It was pure luck the Tigers had a distillery there. Now, if I had known it was there, I could have gone for it intentionally, maybe even set up for the kill." I shrugged dismissively. "It is what it is, but for next time, you'll be happy to know that my more patient half is awake and active."
"And are you going to be listening to this better half?" Her voice dripped skepticism.
I shook my head. "It's deeper than that. You see, there are two wolves inside me. These wolves, they're the kind that if they were walking in a forest, one wolf," I raised my left arm, "he'd be all nonchalant and say, 'Hey, I'm going to walk on this nice path, because it's way more convenient and faster. I don't care if anyone sees me because I'm cool as hell, and I'd beat 'em up if they had a problem.' Then there's this other wolf," I raised my right arm, "and he doesn't even have to think about it, he's happily slinking unseen through the bushes, loving that no one's looking at him. He's like, 'Why would I walk on the path, I'm a wolf. I'm just as capable of moving around through the brambles, and it's way safer, and I'm not sure it's a given that it's faster to take the human paths to begin with. Can we please be normal for once?'"
Maki grabbed my right wrist and gently put it down. "James, there is not a 'normal' wolf inside you, to use the terminology of this extraordinary metaphor."
"You would naturally believe that, because that wolf was asleep, you see."
She narrowed her eyes. "You deliberately picked the most boyishly stupid way to frame this as you could, didn't you?"
"You know, Maki," I said seriously, "some say there are two wolves inside all of us."
"Oh god," she groaned. I started giggling.
To put it in terms without using the extremely helpful and self-explanatory wolf analogy, last night had finally given me enough information about this world and Black Harbor that I could begin to engage with the situation as Alan. When I got here, though the city may have appeared recognizably modern and American at first, all the important deciding factors about my day-to-day life did not make any sense to half of me, at all. Thrust into the life of a fighting game DLC character, the part of me that had lived into his early thirties without getting into a single fight was left standing off to the side, hands on his hips, shaking his head at everything in baffled alarm.
I already had a decent picture of the martial side of the Underworld from my memories and secondhand information. Last night had only been a small subsection of the broader supernatural world, but it was enough to work with. I got to see a little mortal magic in action, learned more than perhaps I'd have preferred about what ghosts and gods were capable of, and finally got an idea of what a Lesser Evil could be – Jesus Christ, what a sick joke that was.
Still, I now had enough information to actually engage with the world using the memories and expectations of my past life. I was no longer fumbling in the dark, forced to fly by the seat of my pants. I could begin to be more methodical about my high-action hijinks.
"Regardless of the number of feral animals inside you or their individual personalities, I wanted to say that I've noticed the positive changes in you," said Maki, continuing to play with my hair. Her other hand had moved to my abs, fingers stroking the defined channels between the muscles. "I'm also pleasantly surprised by how open you've been. Thank you, sincerely, for your trust. The image you project fooled me into expecting more senseless machismo out of you. I thought you'd be hiding more from me, foolishly trying to shoulder your burdens alone out of pride and bravado."
My first reaction was to bristle, but I did portray myself as a himbo, and pointlessly rejecting a hyper-competent genius's help would be fantastically stupid, so I took it as a complement of my acting skills instead.
"Nah, my shits all kinds of fucked." I paused to savor Maki's long, tired blink. "But for real, I can't afford to be a cool noir badass." Plus, I'd have to start smoking cigarettes for the aesthetic, and I hated the smell they left behind. "And frankly, the reason I'm brash and bold has nothing to do with being a man and everything to do with being an action hero – an archetype for everyone no matter sex, gender, race, nationality, or species for that matter! Let's be honest, everyone on the planet would watch an Air-Bud-style Taken-esque movie with a literal dog and/or cat in the Liam Neeson role. No voiceovers, either, just think, it may be the perfect—" I gasped.
Atoms collided within my mind, triggering a perfect nuclear cascade. My pupils dilated, continuing past the physical bounds of my eyeballs and skull, and maybe even dimension, as I had the greatest idea I'd ever had in either of my two lives.
I said with total clarity, "I must teach a cat martial arts. It will be the most viral video of all time." If it worked, I might be able to find everyone without the tournament! Victor at the very least would be sure to find me. The man loved cat videos – but then, who didn't?
Oh, and I'd have a weapon against that fucking rat!
"And there it is…" Maki sighed and swung her leg over mine so that she was straddling me and settled herself down in my lap. She nestled her hips as close as possible, only several layers of dress and underwear keeping our sexes apart. "I was waiting for the impulsiveness to return. You are what you are, James Li."
"Hey! This is a moment of genuine brilliance—"
Maki put a finger across my lips. "More brilliant than establishing proper defenses against the multitude of physical and supernatural threats that are being levied against you as we speak?"
"I could do both…"
"Can you? Researching sex magic with me, cleaning up Harbor Hill, and training your senior student are all disparate goals but they work towards the same purpose, developing your strength and making you and those you care for safer. How does making a series of JinJin videos training a cat in kung fu play into those goals?"
I frowned. There was little point in defending the idea from Maki, I could tell she wouldn't be moved by it. Annie on the other hand would be sure to see the genius of the plan. I couldn't wait to tell her about it.
"Yes, actually. For reasons I can't get into, I do need to become famous, and the sooner, the better." Even one more Player Character in my life would radically improve our chances of survival.
She nodded. "That's in keeping with several of my assumptions. However, you can't become famous if you're locked in a dungeon somewhere being milked for your seed or stuffed in a concrete drum at the bottom of the Beagle River. So again, I ask, can you really do both?"
Maki may have had something there, I reluctantly admitted to myself. To let me use Cultivator of Men on animals, at minimum, I would have to buy five or six Dice into the Animal Handling Skill and at least one of its minor feats, and that was the best-case scenario. I would likely need much more; I was already planning on investing in teaching and training, but realistically, I was looking at somewhere between two and four hundred Experience on top of that if I wanted to apply it to animals.
"Fuck. I might not." I bonelessly sagged into the couch with a petulant groan. "Ughhhh, fine – I'm not giving up on it yet, but at the very least I'll concede that teaching a cat kung fu will require more planning on my part."
"Good." She leaned forward and captured my lips with a kiss, passionate, though without tongue, and much more intimate than I'd been expecting. She must have read my surprise; pulling away, she clarified, "As your partner, I must incentivize responsible decisions with positive reward mechanisms. The literature quite conclusively supports rewards over punishments and incentives over threats."
"Easy there, Pavlov. You can't train me like a puppy. This dog don't bark, it bites."
Maki slid her hands under my pecs and thumbed my nipples with a challenging grin. "We'll see. When does your senior student get off from work?"
"Around eight tonight. How long do you think it'll take for you to get ready for her?"
She cooed and tightened her thighs around my hips. "Oooh, such a sexy question about scheduling," she said in a ridiculous, airy tone. "I love a reliable lover. We have at least an hour for me to spoil you senseless and make my appreciation known."
"This is how I imagine autistic train guys sext." Maki flicked my nose. "Ow! It was a compliment! Everyone loves autistic train guys, so wholesome." I mean, I wouldn't want to be cornered by one at a party, but she didn't need to know that.
She crossed her arms and tossed her hair. "Here I was, all excited to show off my growing sexual competencies, but if you'd rather joke around…"
"Woah! Let's not get carried away." I lowered my voice into something deep and husky, "You know, I've been thinking about opening a high-yield savings account at a local credit union."
Maki laughed before kissing me again. Her tongue darted out as she pulled away, cheekily licking the tip of mine. Desire surged in me at the gesture, completely unrelated to any artificial lust from erotic sorcery this time – I just found it impossibly cute and striking coming from Maki of all people. "Good, puppy. See, you can be trained after all."