Page 109 of Changeling
Jim flashed a smile that Nathan had thought was only a Grier trait forhim, but apparently Jim knew how to turn on the charmtoo. It made Nathan smirk to himself as they made their way across the bar.
The twins were everything Sasha had said as they came into closer view—blonde, blue eyed, svelte and busty as anything, and as different as two women with the same face could be. The one who had waved them over wore her hair long and wavy down her back. She was wearing a slinky pink dress with a short black jacket. She had one of those blinding smiles as if she loved everyone and everything and wanted the whole wide world to know it.
Her sister merely smirked a little as they approached, more subtle and laid back. Her hair was short and mussed with gel so that it framed her head and face at sharp angles. There was a streak of royal blue in a chunk of her bangs that reminded Nathan of Wade’s purple. She was also in tight black jeans, a red midriff cutoff tank, and a black leather jacket that was and was not like her sister’s cotton one. One look at each of them said pretty much everything about their personalities.
“Sasha!” the long-haired one squealed once they reached the table, throwing herself into his arms so that he had no choice but to lift her from the floor and spin. “Oh my god! You’re gorgeous! Not that that wasn’t the most obvious thing back in the day, buthoney. You are just hot. Ooo! And these are your boys, right?” she said, bouncing just as easily away from Sasha toward Jim and Nathan. “I’m Attoinette.”
Nathan wasn’t entirely sure if he should hug the girl or hold out a hand, so he left that decision up to Jim who, high on energy or not, went with the handshake.
“As in ‘let them eat cake’?” Jim asked as they shook.
The succubus giggled, grabbing Nathan’s hand next, which she surprised him with considering her firm and very strong grip. “No ‘N’. Just ‘AT’. Attoinette. Atty’s fine though. Come sit down.”
Sasha was already wrapped around the other sister. When they parted, she took the initiative to hold out a hand for Jim and Nathan. Her grip was even tighter. “Epica,” she said with that same half-smile. “Eppy will do. Jim and…Nathan, right?” Her eyes surveyed both of them with a brief but encompassing head to toe scan. Both sisters had the same tone and general quality to their voices, but something in Epica’s carried more depth.
The five of them settled in at the table, which seemed most suited for four chairs, but the girls had already procured a fifth. They fit Sasha in between them leaving Jim and Nathan to sit next to each other. Nathan was surprised that Jim sat next to Epica instead of Attoinette, seeing as how the sweet and bouncy seemed more his type. Epica looked like she could probably kick Nathan’s ass at pool, and kick his ass in general too.
“Got a couple pitchers of Blue Moon on the way, if that’s okay with you boys?” Epica said. “Of course we could always grab some shots first to start the night right.” She leaned forward a little as she gauged Sasha and then the brothers for their reactions, her cleavage becoming just a bit more pronounced over the top of her tight tank.
Nathan spotted a little blue star tattoo on the fleshy part of her right breast.
“Depends on the shots,” Jim said almost coyly, “and who’s buying.”
Epica’s sideways grin widened. “We’ll cover first round, and first shots, but that means we get to choose what, eh, Atty?”
“Rules are rules,” Attoinette answered sweetly.
“We’re looking to hear all about what you boys have been up to,” Epica went on, casting her eyes at each of them in turn. But, Nathan noticed, landing finally on Jim beside her. “Let’s see how…loosewe can get those tongues of yours.” She winked and got up from the table again, heading toward the bar.
Nathan couldn’t help elbowing Jim a little, to which Jim actually allowed a small grin. “So,” Nathan started in, looking to Attoinette, “what were you fine ladies doing in town? Gotta say this is much better company than we probably would have had otherwise.” Attoinette’s dress wasn’t quite as low cut as her sister’s top, but Nathan couldn’t help wondering if there was a tattoo hiding under there too.
“Mutual quarry,” Attoinette said. “Talked to Cam the other day and said where we were headed. He mentioned you guys were heading here too. Everything go okay with your, umm…hunt?” She said the word as if it was some dangerous thing that shouldn’t be spoken aloud, but her smile never wavered. “Must have been something big. Looks like you needed a quickie before coming here,” she giggled, elbowing Sasha much as Nathan had just elbowed Jim. “You’re so totally glowing.”
A blush spread over Sasha’s cheeks, something Nathan saw so seldom, he wondered if he imagined it. “Atty,” he said chidingly. “Actually, itwaskind of big, but it went well. Jim and I are a little…I guess you could say, buzzed. Long story.”
Attoinette turned her head curiously to Jim. Her brow furrowed for a moment like she was trying to see something that wasn’t visibly there. “Hmm. You’re a changeling, right?”
“I hope that doesn’t…frighten you,” Jim said, reverted to his usual self for a moment.
Attoinette laughed full breadth and said, “You kidding me? Honey, you may be a lot of things, but scary isn’t one of them. Cam and Charis are enough for us to believe that. We heard all about Pittsburgh, and Charis liked you from the start. Just go ahead and forget all about Lindsey. I’ll admit, the idea of changelings can be kinda scary on their own, but you aren’t. It was never really about being scared, Sash,” she said with a frown as she turned to the redhead, hugging Sasha’s arm with sudden fervor. “You know that, right?”
Sasha smiled at her. “I’m just ready to put it all behind me, Atty. Figured tonight would be a great start. Fun and mayhem and everything else. We are so ready for that.”
“So,” Nathan said, returning the conversation to Attoinette, “you said ‘mutual quarry’ brought you two here? What, you and your sister do a little double-teaming on occasion?” He leered suggestively as he said it, expecting a jab or kick from Jim at his inappropriateness, or maybe a sharp look from Sasha.
But no reprimand came as Attoinette responded quite innocently with, “Of course. Don’t you?”
Somehow Nathan managed quite impressively to choke on his lack of drink, and he and Jim simultaneously inched their stools farther apart.
“Oh, oops,” Attoinette giggled. “Guess not. Obviously I can see that Jim doesn’t have any pheromones on him or anything, but I thought maybe that was just because he’s a changeling. And since you boys have been hanging out with an incubus for so long, I guess we thought maybe you didn’t care as much about those silly human boundaries.” She waved her hand dismissively.
Nathan held his tongue from explaining that it was more that the thought of Jim in any way sexual made him feel like he was about to throw up. He realized the double standard, of course, of finding it hot that the twins enjoyed joint sexual acts, and he was fine with that—with the double standard.
Sasha looked halfway to horrified and very apologetic. Thankfully, they were all saved from further embarrassing ideas as Epica returned with a small tray of shots.
“Quick and dirty, kids,” she grinned as she passed the shots around the table.
It was a three layered shot with a sheen of green to it, the top layer obviously being crème de menthe. At the group’s curiouslooks—save Attoinette who was beaming—Epica rolled her eyes and smacked Sasha in the shoulder.
