The Accidental Necromancer
Late Night Visitor

I spent the rest of the evening working hard. Not wanting to risk another Kathy encounter with Valeria, I moved all the things in from the van myself. After that, though, I had plenty of help. Xyla stayed outside in the forest, as usual, but the other three all helped me move furniture around. Getting the larger pieces down the ladder was tricky, but with one person guiding from below, and some rope tied around each piece from above, we managed to do it safely.

I decided to leave the couch upstairs, because having seen me bring it into the house, Kathy was sure to look for it. I’d buy another one for the crypt, maybe, because honestly I had more use for one there.

I was used to doing everything myself. Sometimes a girlfriend helped me move things, and once in a great while a girlfriend’s boyfriend helped too.

Everyone pitching in made me feel almost like I had a family.

It reduced the clutter, too. The laptop was off the coffin table, making it a better gathering spot. It sat on the desk next to the coffee maker, and so did the charging station. Not perfect, because I had visions of coffee spilling on the laptop, but better. Valeria’s clothes, including the ones I’d bought for her, now had a drawer to go into, as did the ones I’d loaned Talos and the things from his backpack.

Valeria and I did most of the work. Once Gren got hold of the clothes, she started trying them on and modeling them. With her taking her clothes on and off, Talos was distracted. Well, whatever.

“Do you think this dresser would go better over there?” I asked Valeria.

“Sure,” she said. So we moved it, but it partially covered Flaming June. It would have been easier to move the poster, but Valeria thought it looked nice where it was, so we moved the heavy dresser again.

By nine o’clock I was bushed. I went upstairs with Valeria to see if the air mattresses had arrived yet, and they had. Rather than going back down and changing yet again, I showed her how to use the pump, and let her and Gren take care of it. I got ready for bed, kind of wishing I had company, knowing I could have it if I wanted it, and yet mostly just wanting to sleep. I was still getting used to the idea of Gren “moving in,” and having her sleep on Earth, in my bed, would feel like another relationship step I wasn’t sure I was ready for.

Someone knocked on my door. Three guesses, I thought, and the first two don’t count. I was still wearing my bathrobe. I put my jeans back on, went downstairs, looked at the peephole, and had my expectations confirmed.

“Hi Kathy,” I said, after opening the door.

What I hadn’t noticed through the peephole was that she was wearing a very short and rather low-cut cocktail dress, and heels, and her lips were bright red again. She had a bottle in her hand.

“Hi Abel,” she purred. “Mind if I come in?”

Had I locked the basement door? Yes, I had. The keys were in the bathrobe pocket, and I remembered using them. “Um, sure, what’s up?”

“I was lonely. Do you ever get lonely?” She brushed against me as she entered.

“Sure.” Just not recently.

“I just wanted someone to hang out with.”

“To talk?”

“And other things.” She handed me the bottle. “I keep drinking your liquor, I thought I should contribute.”

“Martell XO. Nice.” And a fancy, stylish bottle, too. I assumed it was good, it said extra fine, and I didn’t want to seem ignorant.

“Wait until you taste it.”

“I was just about to go to bed,” I said.

“I won’t hold you up for long,” Kathy said. She went to my kitchen, and got out some plastic cups, putting two inches of brandy in each cup. Well, I’d sleep well, anyway. “Almost a sin to drink this out of plastic. But here’s to sin.”

I clunked glasses with her. Real glass did make a better sound. I sipped.

I’d love to tell you I could tell the difference between it and any other brandy. It wasn’t quite the same, but I couldn’t describe exactly how it was better.

“Good stuff, huh?”

“Amazing,” I agreed.

“Do you like my dress?”

“It’s lovely. And you’re lovely in it.”

She held her glass out to the side, and got well within my personal space. “I’m glad you think so, Abel. You know the best way to taste fine brandy like this?”

“With Cointreau in a sidecar?” I asked, wondering if that made me a barbarian.

“No, Abel. Off a woman’s lips. Try it.”

And she kissed me.

I had to admit I preferred that to having my brandy straight. I wrapped my arm around her waist and held her, while she showed me what brandy tasted like off a woman’s tongue, too. I wondered if I was letting things get out of control, but after I’d responded to the kiss, it felt rude to push her away.

And part of me didn’t want to, even if I wondered about her motives. She was so hot and cold. Well, maybe all I had to do was wait for her to go cold again.

But she didn’t. We sat on my new couch, and she told me about her work. She asked about mine, but in a polite way, not pushing, and less about what I was doing and more about why I enjoyed the work of refurbishing houses. She sounded interested in me without seeming nosy, for a change.

We drank the brandy. I half expected her to pour some more, but she didn’t. Instead she said, “Abel, may I sleep with you tonight?”

I smiled. “Just sleep?” I didn’t know what her answer was going to be, or what answer I wanted her to give.

I had plenty in my life.

“And cuddle,” she said.

I didn’t see the harm. “Okay,” I said.

So we went to bed. I undressed with my back to her. “Going commando, hmm?”

Because I was going up and down the ladder, yes. Underwear that didn’t fit was a pain in the ass. Or at least awkward and annoying. I put some on now, though.

I turned around to find her naked. She had a cute little blonde landing strip above her pussy, small pink nipples, and a taut, athletic stomach. Her dress lay on the dresser, with her purse on top of that.

“I don’t usually wear anything to bed,” she said.

“I thought from the other night that you usually wore matching bra and panties, a negligee, and high heels.”

“Only when I’m trying to seduce the man next door,” she said.

“And that’s not what you’re trying to do now?”

“Maybe,” she said. “But I don’t want to go all the way. I just want to get to know you better. Does that make me a tease?”

It probably did in some people’s book, but not mine. “No. I appreciate the clear boundaries. And I’m very tired from working hard.”

“You had a lot to lug in,” she said, moving to me and feeling up my biceps.

“Yeah.”

“I’m glad you got the couch.”

I smiled.

We got into bed, and cuddled for a while, as platonically as two people could when they were both adults and only one of them was wearing underwear.

“Abel, may I go down on you?”

I was surprised. “Um.”

“Please? I want to do it for me, really. It’s been so long. I want to see that I still know how. You don’t have to do anything. No reciprocation needed – or even wanted, really. Not tonight. Maybe some other time. I just – it will help me feel like a woman.”

It had been the second time recently that a woman had offered to do all the work. My cock liked the idea. I was trying to figure out how it would backfire on me. The fact was, when I left the crypt I’d been a bit horny. I didn’t want to fuck Gren in front of Valeria. I didn’t quite want to take Gren up to Earth, either, partly because I liked my relationship with her the way it was, as Abby, and maybe partly because I was in the habit of thinking that Valeria and Talos needed watching.

Anyway, even though I wasn’t sure it was the best idea in the world, I let her do what she wanted to do.

She was damn good at it, and I told her so. It was weird to have her thank me afterward, but some women really enjoy giving head, and I was sleepy.

I woke up when the first light of day seeped through the curtains. I reached over and found that I was alone. Kathy had probably gone home to get ready for work. Her dress and her purse gone, and there was no note. We’d talk later, I guess.

Well, I might as well get on with my day, too. I put on my robe and a pair of jeans, thought about making coffee upstairs, decided against it, and instead filled a bowl with Honey Nut Cheerios and milk and put a spoon in it. Walking to the basement, I held it in one hand as I reached for my keys.

They weren’t there.

Had I left them somewhere? I looked around the obvious places, but I couldn’t find them. Finally, a dark thought taking form in my head, I tried the basement door.

It wasn’t locked.

My cereal forgotten, I hurried into the basement.

There was a small automatic pistol on the jigsaw puzzle. I picked it up. It was a .22 or .25, the kind of weapon they sold to women for self-defense because it fits easily in a purse.