Drummer Boy - Down to Earth Ch. 04

5 Days Earlier

Jason awoke with a start, immediately suspicious. He didn't remember much of the dream, but what he did remember put him on guard.

He needn't have worried. Jason was still under the covers, and seemingly unmolested. Pearl, or rather the lump of blankets that represented her, was in the same position he'd remembered from the night before, snoozing softly.

That calmed Jason's nerves somewhat, and with that calm came the familiar post-ambien fog. Looking over at the clock, he saw that it was half-past eight. Telly was probably back already, but he had no idea if Granny had already returned from ... wherever.

Still, laying around in bed wasn't his style. Time to get the day going.

Seeing no reason to wake Pearl, Jason got out of bed as gently as possible. He had the most durable case of morning wood in history, and his dick caught on the covers repeatedly, finally springing free to bob clumsily before him.

Really wish I could do something about that, Jason thought.

Coincidentally, Pearl gave a loud, snorty snore at that very moment.

"Appreciate the enthusiasm," Jason muttered.

He pulled on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt and went into the kitchen. Once there, he discovered that Granny had in fact returned. She was laid out on the couch, sleeping, still dressed in the same clothes she'd worn out yesterday.

Jason breathed a sigh of relief. All demons present and accounted for. He went into the kitchen and got to work.

Half an hour later, Pearl came out of the bedroom, yawning and stretching.

Pearl sniffed. "What smells so good?" she said.

"Breakfast," Jason said. He had already finished most of his, and sat at the little kitchen island, reading a copy of the most recent Chronicle. "Come get some."

"With an invitation like that..." Pearl said. "Is there any -"

"Butter, yes," Jason said. "But you have to promise to put it on things, instead of eating it straight. Trust me, it works better that way."

"We'll see," Pearl said. She sat down on the stool next to Jason and he forked food onto her plate. Scrambled eggs with cheese and salsa, fried mushrooms and some sausage patties. He poured her a glass of apple juice, and put some bagels in the toaster. Pearl jumped when they popped out a minute later, all crispy.

"Allow me to butter your bagel," Jason said, smiling.

"Hey, I'm supposed to be the bad one, remember?" retorted Pearl.

"See, you have to butter it up while it's still hot," Jason said, getting into it, "that way it gets all melty and soaks in real good."

"What's got into you?" Pearl said.

"Just shut up and put it in your mouth," said Jason.

"You're a bad man," Pearl said, but took a tentative bite anyway, which elicited a little squeal of approval.

After her initial reticence, Pearl did enjoy the buttered bagel, and that seemed to open the floodgates of hunger within her. She commenced to wolfing down everything on her plate.

Jason watched her eat, and remarked to himself, not for the first time, that she was kind of cute like this. Her hair all big and fucked up from sleeping, naked and chowing down with gleeful abandon on food she'd never tasted before, she seemed more like a big kid than the sexy, murderous vamp she usually presented. If he'd only met her today, he'd never have suspected that she was anything but an innocent, possibly sheltered woman coming out of her shell for the first time.

He watched her eat in silence, and Pearl filled that silence by noisily scarfing away. She didn't seem to be all that familiar with forks, so she clanged around a lot.

Eventually, Jason heard Granny stir awake. He'd made enough for three people, and fortunately Pearl hadn't yet eaten into what was intended to be Granny's share.

Granny awoke a bit more together than Pearl had. She simply stood up, looked toward the kitchen and said, "Good morning Jason, Purleen."

"Morning, Granny!" Pearl said. "Jason made breakfast for me!"

"For us," Jason corrected. "Have some. I made sure Pearl didn't eat yours."

"That's very kind of you. I shall," Granny said. She sat across the island from the two of them while Jason put food onto her plate.

"Thank you, Jason," Granny said. "And before I forget," she placed a folded stack of bills, mostly twenties it seemed, onto the table. "That is for you."

"Thank you," Jason said, trying to keep the wariness out of his voice. Thumbing through it, it looked to be around seven hundred dollars.

"Okay, I gotta ask," Jason said. "Where is this money coming from?"

"From my customers," Granny said. In stark contrast to Pearl, she ate her food with precision, as if she were dining in the fanciest of restaurants.

"Granny," Jason said, "who are your customers? What are you doing for them? Why are you getting so much money and why are you giving it to me?"

Granny lay her fork down on her plate, and looked around briefly. Jason guessed correctly that she wanted a napkin, so he pulled a paper towel off the roll and handed it to her. Granny wiped her mouth and folded the paper towel into quarters, placing it down next to the plate.

"I shall answer the last first," Granny said. "I owe my life to you." She reached up to her neck, lightly touching the white scar that encircled it. "As such, while on this plane your needs are mine to fulfil. I must and will service you in any way you desire."

"Oh," Jason said.

"I can tell from your reaction that this is news to you," Granny said, "which means that Pearl has not done as she was told."

"You said," Pearl said, "to tell him as much as was necessary. It just never came up."

"Purleen, I shall not quibble with you," Granny said. "In fact, I had counted on the possibility that my child would be remiss in her duties, and so this much I had prepared myself to explain."

"So, you'll do anything I ask?" Jason said. "Like, anything?"

"I'm not your puppet, if that's what you're implying," Granny said. "Think of it as a boon of well-being. Our phrase for it is ska-masz. If I can put your mind, your spirit, or your body at ease, I must take that initiative."

At the mention of putting Jason's body "at ease", the part of his body in most need of easing stiffened and jumped mightily. Pearl didn't even pretend not to notice. She reached over and began to pet Jason's penis, as if it were a nervous housecat.

"Down in front, big fella," Pearl said. "I know you'd love to have all that Granny to yourself..."

"Really not helping, Pearl," Jason said.

"...but we all know the story by now," Pearl continued sadly.

"Indeed," Granny said. "I dare not give your body the comfort it craves. But in my opinion, your spirit and mind can be eased by the application of currency, thereby giving you the freedom to explore your options in the immediate future. Hence, all the currencies that I earn are yours."

This immediately gave Jason an uneasy feeling. He was thinking of a word that started with "pros" and rhymed with "constitution".

"Granny," he said tentatively, "you're not ... you know ... having sex for money, are you?"

Granny arched an eyebrow at him. "Certainly not!" she said. "Aside from the fact that the touch of, if I may be so frank, my sumptuous demon flesh would force a normal human male to orgasm himself into a forceful, and quite fatal, ejaculatory oblivion ... I simply could not stoop so low as to consort with beasts."

"Okay," Jason said. "So what are you doing then? Why the big secret?"

"That, my dear human, falls under the aegis of easing your mind and spirit," Granny said. "In that regard, it is better, at least for now, that you do not know."

"I'm not feeling very eased," Jason said.

"Tell me about it," Pearl said breathily. She was still stroking his dick through his sweats. "Nothing easy about this. I'd say it's very, very hard."

"Pearl," said Jason and Granny at the same time, and in almost the same exasperated tone of voice.

Pearl "humphed", and removed her hand, and stuffed almost an entire buttered bagel into her mouth. God, she could fit a lot in that big mouth of hers.

"So," Granny said, "I have many hours until I must return to work. How shall we fill this time?"

"About that," Jason said. He looked around the table. Granny was still wearing the clothes she'd pilfered from his closet, while Pearl was completely naked.

"You gals need some clothes of your own," Jason said. "You're absolutely destroying my t-shirts."

"Aw, you know you love it," Pearl interjected, still chewing on bagel.

"Jason makes a fair point," Granny said. "We shall need both suitable outerwear and appropriate undergarments." Pearl shot a quizzical look at Granny, who responded by saying, "Those are support garments which both shape the female figure and prevent uncomfortable body movements."

"Like armor?" Pearl said.

"A bit," Granny said. "Whether the humans think of it as such or not, it is akin to armor for their sexuality."

Jason simply shook his head and continued. "For the regular clothes, we should be able to pick up some decent stuff at Wal-Mart or something," he said.

"And for the undergarments," said Granny, "I know of a place."

* * *

"Petticoat Faire," Jason said, pronouncing the words displayed over the entrance in red plastic letters.

"It doesn't look like much," Pearl said.

"A co-worker gave me the recommendation," Granny said. "She was quite effusive."

Petticoat Faire was an intimate clothing store, known to cater to the larger-busted woman, or any patron who needed what would be considered "specialty" apparel. Jason had known of its existence for a while but had never been here before. Part of it was because he'd never had a partner who really needed their services. The other part was that he always felt like a creeper going into women's-only stores, even when he was with a girlfriend.

They entered through the glass front doors to find a rather pleasant-looking clothing store, tastefully appointed with fashionable women's clothing. No effort was made to disguise or otherwise mitigate the nature of the store, which showcased women's intimate wear. They were surrounded by displays of bustiers, corsets, panties and a good selection of various outergarments, designed for larger women.

And, of course, bras. Oh, so many bras.

There were a few other customers there, idly browsing the displays, possessed of breasts ranging from merely "large" to "really, really big", although Pearl and Granny were, even here, still the most generously busted women in the room.

And there was Jason, the only male in the store. Despite the knowledge that he was there with purpose, he still felt self-conscious.

A young girl with medium-length brown hair hustled up from behind the counter to greet them. She was, surprisingly, not very busty at all.

"Howdy y'all!" she said, with just a trace of North Texas accent in her voice. "My name's Klarissa. What can I do for y'all today?"

"We shall require appropriate undergarments for daily wear," Granny said.

"Sure thing, ma'am!" Klarissa said brightly. "Is it gonna be the both of y'all, then?"

More like the four of them, Jason thought, suppressing a giggle. Then he checked himself: that kind of schoolboy bullshit was why men were frowned upon in stores like this.

"Yep!" Pearl said, answering Klarissa's question with matching enthusiasm. "Can we just pick some stuff out or what?"

"Well, you could," Klarissa said, "but can I ask if y'all know y'all's sizes?"

"That is information I do not have," Granny said. "I trust you can assist?"

"Sure can!" Klarissa said. "We know that a lot of our customers have been walking around in the wrong bras for most of their lives, so we offer free sizing, to get you a good, comfortable fit."

"Excellent," Granny said. "When can we start?"

"Well, I'm free now," Klarissa said, "So who'd like to go first?"

Before Granny or Pearl could volunteer, a husky female voice came from the dressing rooms at the back of the store.

"Why don't you take the more petite one, Klarissa? I'll be free in a minute."

The speaker was an older woman, perhaps in her late fifties or early sixties. She was short and very round, and would have been completely spherical if not for the quite prominent breasts that projected, shelf-like, from her torso. She had mostly gray hair, with a few threads of its original black woven intermittently throughout, all gelled smartly into place. A somewhat jowly face was set off by a pair of ornate glasses, complete with silver chains. All that, plus a decidedly swarthy complexion gave the woman the look of what Jason's Mexican friends called a tia, or auntie.

"Well, there ya go!" Klarissa said. "Leanne will be right with you," she said to Granny. Then turning to Pearl, she said, "If you'll just follow me ... I didn't get y'all's name?"

"It's Pearl," Pearl said, "Like in -" Pearl was saying, as the pair disappeared into one of the fitting rooms.

The door made a *dong* sound as Leanne's customer exited. "Well, well," Leanne said, coming from around the register, and eyeing Granny sharply. "You're certainly in the right place."

"I was led to believe that this shop was the finest place for the garments I require," Granny said.

"Oh it is," Leanne said, "Arnie gave me the heads up on ya."

"Arnie?" Jason said.

"My employer," Granny said curtly.

"Well, come on back, folks," Leanne said, "and let's get to know each other better."

"Both of us?" Jason said. "I figured I'd just wait out here."

"In most cases, yes," Leanne said. "We got a special waiting room for the menfolk. But I can tell this is a special case. Come on, now."

Jason turned a questioning look at Granny, but Granny was already following Leanne into one of the fitting rooms. Jason shrugged and did the same.

The fitting room looked like a fancy tea parlor, but just big enough for three people. Four, if they were friendly. There was a three-part full-body mirror, two elegant chairs with finely-carved armrests, and bright drapes on the walls.

Leanne clicked the door closed behind them. Turning around to face Granny she said, "Alright, let's get down to business."

Leanne reached into a pocket on her apron and pulled out a long string of measuring tape.

"What did you mean by 'reacquainted?" Granny asked. "Have we met?"

"In a manner of speaking," Leanne said.

"And what manner, specifically?" Granny said.

"We'll get there, don't worry," said Leanne. "But first and foremost, I got a job to do. So let me do it, and we'll talk along the way. Afterward, everyone can walk away with big smiles on their face. Especially you, sour-puss," she said with a nod to Granny. "Now, take off that awful shirt and make a 'T'."

Granny lifted her shirt up and off, allowing her immense breasts their freedom. She held her arms straight out. Leanne gave a low whistle and stretched out her measuring tape.

"Gol-ly," Leanne said, appraising Granny's bosom. She was barely eye level with Granny's large, dark areolae.

"I remember those days," Leanne said. She wrapped the tape around Granny's back and breasts, measuring them at their fullest part. There wasn't much tape left over.

"I'm not sure I take your meaning," Granny said. "What days?"

"Oh, y'know," Leanne said casually, measuring Granny again, this time around the back and lower ribcage, omitting the girth of her breasts by the expedient of lifting up the generous mammaries. "Young and gorgeous ... and full of magic."

Jason tensed. Granny tensed.

Very carefully, Granny spoke her next words. "Should I know you?" she said.

"Probably," Leanne said.

"You have touched my flesh," Granny said, "and did not climax."

"You think you're such hot stuff?" Leanne said. "Now stop talking and hold still, dear. You're messin' up my numbers." Aside to Jason, "She's a wordy one, ain't she?"

"Always," Jason said. He wasn't sure exactly what to make of this woman, whether she was a threat or not, but he found he liked her, in a motherly sort of way. The fact that she seemed to know the kind of person she was dealing with, and wasn't the least bit scared, was a big plus.

"See, the things of it is," Leanne said, continuing to traverse Granny's body with her measuring tape, "I'm always willing to help out a fellow ex-pat, regardless of how she got here from there."

"And where do you think there is?" Granny said. But Jason noticed that she said it curtly, using as little breath as possible, minimizing her words so as not to disrupt Leanne's work.

"Oh, I think you know, Garanetta," Leanne said. "And I think your man-friend does too."

Granny stared down, hard into Leanne's face. "I am afraid you have me at a loss," she said. "You know my name. You intimate my true nature. You have touched my flesh, and not succumbed to lust."

"What can I say?" Leanne said, not breaking eye contact. "I'm one-of-a-kind."

"Are we going to have trouble?" Granny said.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Leanne said, chuckling.

"Then I demand that you explain yourself!" Granny said. "Who are you?"

Leanne smiled. "Well, first, lemme ask ya this," she said. "Didja come here on purpose or by accident?"

Granny frowned. "That is a complicated -"

"Bup bup bup bup!" Leanne said, cutting Granny off. "Demon-folk," she said with a sigh. Then she turned to Jason. "Never can give a straight answer, amiright?"

"To be fair," Jason said, "you're not giving away much either."

"And what's that tellya?" Leanne said. She raised an eyebrow at him, and for a split-second, Jason could see the tiniest spark of yellow dancing around in the eyes of the shopkeeper.

"Enough!" Granny said. "Answer me or I shall be forced to -"

"Oh, honey," Leanne said, "you don't need to take that tone. Lemme make it easier for ya. Tell me, think back ... do you remember Zuli?"

"Grand Mother Zuli?! I do," Granny said, her eyes narrowed almost to slits, "but how do you know that name?"

"What do you remember about her?" Leanne said.

Granny appeared to be lost in a memory. "Crafty, she was," Granny said. "And ruthless. I learned much from her, as I suckled from her bosom."

Leanne sighed. "And such a bosom," she said wistfully. Then, returning to the present. "Zuli had a defender, her personal bodyguard."

"Anali. Yes," Granny said, with reverence in her voice. "Her power and ferocity in the arts of combat was peerless, matched only by the wisdom of Zuli's shrewd tactical leadership." Then she paused. "Surely you aren't implying -"

"Implying nothing!" Leanne said, drawing herself up to her full sixty-one inches of height. "Right now you're getting your titties sized up by none other than Anali, Defender of the Grand Wingmother!" Then, less grandly, "Well, former, anyway."

Granny looked confused. "But you died!" she said. "A glorious sacrifice, avenging the death of Wingmother Zuli!"

"That's the story, innit?" Leanne said. "Bend over, dear. Put your hands on the back of that chair if you need support."

Granny did so, and Leanne continued, measuring as she did talked. "What you don't know is that Zuli and me, well, it wasn't always strictly business. We shared adventures, for sure, but more than that. A lot more."

"Impossible!" Granny said. "Demons do not have such urges."

"Oh, come off it, girl," Leanne said, "you know that's not true, and I know you know that's true. Otherwise why would you have this very tasty pet of yours?"

"He's not my pet," Granny protested.

"I'm not anyone's pet!" Jason protested.

"Really?" Leanne said to Granny. "So what is he to you?"

Granny audibly and visibly groaned. "I owe him ska-masz," she said.

Leanne snorted. "We'll see how that goes," she said. "Regardless, it's clear that our kind do have those urges. And when two with those kind of urges discover them in each other ... well, we get to indulging those urges."