Children of a Lesser God

Chapter 223: The Lion, The Witch, And The Audacity Of This ...

Laz just casually walked in to the guys side and headed for a change of clothes and a quick shower. Some people might lament having lost, but as far as Laz was concerned, it just meant he had a lot to learn. He never thought of himself as unbeatable. And besides, while he was nestled away in another realm for a year, everyone else kept growing and getting stronger.

'I wonder just what I'm going to run into here,' Laz thought to himself. He really had no idea if this was the place that it was suggested he go to, it was only a guess. But since he was here, he figured he would enjoy himself, if only for a while.

'I've still got to try to get in touch with the girls. It's been so long. Maybe I can find that website Vivi had set up...?' Although Laz thought about it, he knew that part of what kept it safe was keeping it hidden. This was part of the reason Laz hadn't done anything towards finding them. In face, now that Laz was on his own, although he felt free, he also felt alone. There was also the issue of his parents that he hadn't forgotten. Yumi was suppose to be looking for them, but since he had finished employing her as she had concluded they weren't in D.C., it was all left up in the air now.

'I don't even know what I'm suppose to find.'

Since Laz had showered earlier, this was just a quick rinse off. As Laz finished up, Benny and Eddy were talking about breakfast while Abraham was still waking up. Normally, he would have been up super early, but the booze had really done a number on him. As Laz walked into his room, he noticed that Abraham had draped the blankets over himself and was saying over and over how he wasn't going to drink again and it looked so easy when other people did it and a whole bunch of stuff Laz didn't understand.

Taking a bottle of water out from his pouch but looking like he had grabbed it from his backpack, Laz passed it over to Abraham who had finally snapped out of his daze.

"Oh. Thanks." Abraham looked a bit better after taking a drink of water.

"Alright. Here's some info for you. One, they are never drinking for real in shows and movies. Two, if you are going to drink, make sure to do so with food in your stomach and mix in water throughout the night. That way it will flush your system a bit."

"Are these tricks everyone knows?"

"Everyone who's ever regularly drunk, yeah."

"Oh."

"Anyway, you hungry? The guys were talking about getting delivery."

"Isn't that a waste of money? I mean, can't we just go and get something? Or even go shopping for food and bring it here to make it? There is a kitchen after all."

"I think... that between the two of them, cooking was never an option. And I only know how to cook simple things."

"Really? My mom and sister taught me how to cook. Best way to a man's or woman's heart is through their stomach they used to say."

"I always thought it was through the fourth and fifth rib?" Laz asked.

"What? How is that...?"

"Nothing. Don't ever change. Ok, well, you can wow us with your cooking soon, for today is a day of indulgence and we are ordering out. Come on, let's go see where we are ordering from."

"Oh. OK..."

"Something wrong?" Laz asked, wondering why he seemed a bit down.

"Well. To be honest, I don't have a lot of money. That's why I wanted to cook for myself. You can get a lot more when you cook for yourself than you get by ordering out.".

"Ah. That makes sense. But, Since we are already doing this, don't worry about the money. I've got you covered."

"But. No. I can't just," Abraham was about to decline.

"Enough. It was probably more expensive than you thought to go out and drink, hence why you're low on funds, right?" Laz had made a guess.

"Well... yeah. I can't believe that a small shot can cost like eight dollars."

"Welcome to the grown up world. Sucks right?"

Abraham didn't have a reply to that.

"Alright. You can pay me back later."

Although it was a quick interaction, it made Abraham's positivity for Laz go up a bit. Abraham had been worried that he wasn't going to be able to relate to others being so far away form home and all. But luckily he had met a nice person like Laz.

After that, the guys got ordered from a local diner and got some regular breakfast sort of dishes, mostly at the recommendation from Benny and Eddy. Laz, who came form up north, didn't exactly understand everything on the menu while Abraham wasn't used to ordering out. Either way, the food was hot when it arrived since the place was just down the street.

Eddy pulled out a gaming system which hooked up to the TV ok and the guys just decided to waste a day in the house, relaxing and talking. Normally, guys wouldn't do this. Especially since there was always something to do. But as Benny put it, 'you've got to build a relationship with your bunk mates,' and apparently, this was the way to do it.

As the guys relaxed, even Laz got in on playing. It had been a while since he had done anything so normal like waste a day. It was pretty fun. At one point, he and Eddy headed out to a store Eddy knew and they picked up a bunch of micro brews and brought them back along with some pizza. The furnishings in the living room were pretty decent for four guys and none of them had any complaints.

And ironically, the only time they thought about the girls next door was when they saw them all leave at one portion of the night later on. They all looked pretty dressed up and although Madison was dragging Steph, Angie and Julia looked excited. Laz didn't bother looking, trusting just what Benny who was by the window, told them. It was simply a brief interlude to their night and no one thought anything of it.

Just when things were winding down, sometime around one am, and Benny, Abraham and Eddy were trying to figure out just how much they had drunk, Laz got a message.

:Get outside. I need your help.:

'What the hell is this now?' Laz thought to himself while dragging his lazy body off the chair and walking to the door.

"What's up?" Benny asked as he was grabbing some water.

"Nothing, jut figured I would get some air."

"Alright. Sure thing man." And Benny didn't think anything more of it.

As Laz walked outside, he used his sense to scan down the street. Sure enough, the girls were down a ways while having been joined by a group of guys. It was easy to tell that the girls didn't want anything to do with the guys and that they wouldn't leave, insisting on bringing them to their door, something that none of them wanted since that would just cause more problems later.

Seeing Laz show up on the street, Julia quickly told him,

:Drive these bastards away, now...:

'This fucking...whatever. She wants to play?'

"Hey ladies. Your back. How were your gains?" Laz said as though he was ignoring the guys surrounding them.

The girls, except for Julia, had a questioning look on their faces. Noticing this, Laz continued,

"Oh? I see. You even brought some back with you. Alight boys. My girls here don't work for free. These three are three hundred an hour," Laz said while pointing at Madison, Angie and Steph.

"But for that one, you can have a discount. You might want to consider wrapping it up though. It would be a pity if it fell off simply because you wanted to go raw for a cheap thrill," Laz finished up while pointing at Julia.

Although it took a minute for what he said to sink in, pretty soon everyone's faces were plastered with anger. Julia's head actually looked like it was about to explode, only the action of her rage filled breathing seemed to keep enough air going in to cool it off.

"WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?"

"Wow! I didn't think you guys were this stupid. Look, if you broke bitches can't pay, then fuck off. I'm trying to run a business here. Alright girls, lets go to the motel. I will find you some proper toms tonight who can not only pay, but can also tip for good service."

With barely more than a word, Laz strolled right past the circle of guys and spread his arms over the three girls shoulders while simply ignoring Julia and proceeded to walk away.

"HOLD THE FUCK UP."

"What? There a problem?"

This group wasn't a bunch of bad guys, if anything, they were like a bunch of drunk college guys out for a good time. Laz's group would have looked the same, except this group was bigger.

"You're not just going to take them and walk away. They invited us here."

"OH, Really? Isn't that interesting. You have no idea how this works, do you? Well, it's fine. But look, good service doesn't come cheap and just because you meet a girl at a bar doesn't mean she's asking you to come home with her. Doesn't matter what you take her flirting as." Laz already figured out what went down. The girls were having a good time, chatting it up and this group of idiots got the wrong idea. Just from what he knew from their brief meeting, neither Angie, Steph or Madison was the type to just go out, get trashed and then bring a guy home. Laz might be wrong, but it wasn't in their character.

And who knew about Julia.

"You think you can just take them and walk away?"

"Does it seem like I'm forcing them? Right girls?"

"No." Angie said in her soft voice.

"Fuck all of you," Steph commented while staring at the group behind her and snuggling in closer to Laz.

"I'd much rather be with him," Madison commented last while holding Laz's hand.

"See? Now scram, go. Shoo." Laz said while using his one slightly free hand to send them off.

It's hard to tell who snapped first, but suddenly, three of the guys charged forward, fired up off of being drunk and intent on giving Laz a beating. Laz just slightly pushed the girls forward a bit and stepped back, spinning enough to deflect the punch, tripping the bastard and sending him into a wooden fence. The other two were dealt with just as quickly, both landing in a pile along with the first guy. Even if they were sober, they wouldn't have been a challenge.

Julia, who was now standing beside the girls, didn't even flinch, but the other girls couldn't help but have a sparkle in their eyes. Even if Laz was being mean with his words, he was still like a knight in shinning armor, coming forward to save them.

As for the rest of the guys, all five of them, seeing that Laz had basically knocked out their buddies without even breaking a sweat, they calmed down enough to quickly apologize. They then dragged their friends up and started walking in the other direction. It was easy for Laz to tell that once the first three were dealt with, the wolf pack was pacified.

No harm, no foul.

"Thank you."

"That was awesome."

"Are you intentionally brushing you hand against my chest?" Madison asked as Laz had once again grabbed on to the three of them until the guys were out of sight. He just happened to miss her hand.

"Totally accidental," Laz said, while thinking 'worth it.'

"Oh come off it. I did you a favor so stop steaming over it," Laz commented, seeing Julia's angered face.

"How did you know we were out here?" Steph asked.

"No idea. Just figured it would come out for some air and here you were." After a bit more friendly chat, laughter and thank you's, the girls finally went their way inside while Laz entered back on his side.

:I'm going to pay you back for this insult,: Julia's spiritual voice came over from the other side.

:Right. Right. I'll be waiting.: Laz couldn't help but poke fun at her. It wasn't that he thought she was a bad person, she was just unreasonable. She could have totally ditched that pack of guys, she just didn't want to reveal herself.

Seeing as how the other guys had already retired to be, Laz did the same. Laying down, he couldn't help but smile at the gentle sounds of Abraham snoring.

'This really is a fun place to be,' Laz thought, Just as he drifted off, his felt like his entire body went limp and light.

His eyes shot open, only to find himself within a slightly familiar courtyard, resting on a massive branch of a tree for a floor with a wildly hot and exotic girl sitting at a white table not too far from him. Although Laz didn't really understand if her facial features conveyed feelings in the same way as humans, he kind of thought she looked like she was really going to kill him.

Seeing this scene, Laz suddenly got the feeling that his headaches of the night were only just beginning.