Children of a Lesser God

Laz visited Heaven or Hell and gave Freya the information. She wasn't keen about meeting at the shop, but she let it go since it really was the closest to where they were headed. And she couldn't help but admit the Vodun had a lot more places to use that her with just her restaurant, no matter how special it was.

After being promised that her people would be there in time and chatting a bit, Laz left. Freya wanted some info as to what occurred in her office, especially about that strange, strength enhancing mist, but Laz didn't really want to talk about that. He was a bit curious about why Freya herself wasn't coming, but when he thought more about it, he knew that if something happened, she had to at least be there to take care of her people.

Returning back to the apartment, Laz noticed that everyone was out again. Benny and Eddy had been frequently taking the girls to go partying so this wasn't a surprise. As far as they were concerned, being here and not living it up wasn't an option.

Abraham was out back with Julia when Laz walked back there.

Looking at them, Laz had a strange sense of deja vu. Julia was currently instructing Abraham on different ways of exercising his body and telling him how his fitness would improve and what he could do to increase the workout what he reached certain milestones. She then went through some simple fighting maneuvers and stances, to give Abraham more of a feel for what was good and what was bad. Seeing this, Laz couldn't help but think about his past.

Before he knew it, he had a few tears in his eyes as he asked himself, 'had it really been that long?'

Once they were done, they noticed that Laz was looking on. Julia had been so engrossed with teaching Abraham that she failed to notice him while Abraham's eyes hadn't left her figure at all.

Even though the memories assaulted Laz, he didn't fail to notice that there was something going on there.

'So Julia is into younger men while Abraham likes the strong, older woman type? Well... Abraham is a bit short and kind of skinny for his age... I wonder what that reminds me of.... oh well,"

"Laz!" They both said at the same time while turning slightly red. Laz couldn't help but chuckle at this as he sat down on the steps and laughed.

"No no. Go on. Don't let me ruin the mood you to have going," Laz said with a smile.

"We're not..."

"It's not like that...."

Neither of them could express their words properly making Laz laugh harder.

"You seem pretty smug for someone who hasn't been able to beat me outright," Julia finally said, collecting herself.

"You've got skill, I'll give you that. But if it comes to strength, do you really stand a chance?" Laz asked, still smiling. He had laid his arms on his knees and hand his hands supporting his head with a rather innocent look. Julia really wanted to hit him, but knew that it was no use.

"I umm... I should go. I'm sure you two have lots to do..." Abraham had turned shy once he noticed Laz show up. Laz couldn't help but wonder what was up with that.

"It's fine. No worries. I'm just stopping by to ask your big sister here to contact some people and then I will be on my way," Laz said, stopping Abraham from leaving.

"What people?" Julia asked.

"We've set a time and meeting place. So for those who want to join the mission, they need to be there on time. If they are late, they are out."

"You got everyone's agreement?" Julia asked, surprised..

"You didn't think I could?"

"No. No I didn't," She replied as a matter of fact.

"Well, surprise. I did," Laz replied with a smug look.

"Sigh."

Laz gave Julia the info and she said she would tell the Foundation Realm members to be there if they wanted to go. Thinking to himself, Laz couldn't help but ask,

"Do you think that girl Remi will go?"

"Remi? I don't know really. I will let her know, but since she usually does whatever she wants, unless you said something to her, I'm not sure she would even bother," Julia said, thinking about the most mysterious member of their group.

"Alright. No problem. I was just curious. Anyway, you two kids have fun. I have a date," Laz said, getting up and heading back inside.

"Wait a second," Abraham said, telling Julia he would be right back.

"Yo?" Laz said, wondering what he was going to say.

"Is there... nothing going on between you and Julia?" Abraham asked as they walked into their bedroom.

"Nope. Nothing. Just business."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah little bro. Honestly speaking, the last thing I want right now is to get entangled with another girl. And why would you think there was something going on between us anyway?" Laz asked, curious.

"Well, you know. I just... You always... you and her in the mornings... and there is sometimes little clothes..." Abraham stuttered on his words, not really sure what he was trying to say.

Laz was tempted to laugh, but then decided it was better not to.

Instead, Laz put his hands on Abrahams shoulders and sat him down on his bed while Laz sat down on his bed. This caused Abraham to stop talking at look up at this new friend of his.

"Do you like her?" Laz asked.

"Well, I mean, we only just really started getting to know each other today and only just really met like two weeks ago..."

"Stop. Stop. Enough." Laz said, forcefully.

"Do you like her, yes or no?"

"Yes?"

"Good. Then go for it."

"Go for it?"

"Yeah man. Ask her out. Go do something together. Spend some time together. Make a date. Blah blah blah. Doesn't matter, but if you like her, do something about it."

"oo.. ok... yeah. Yeah, you're right. I should. I should asked her soon..."

"No. Now. Go now. Go out tonight. Go out to eat. Get some coffee... stay away from bars. It's still early enough to hit up a coffee house. NO NIGHT CLUBS."

"Ok. Yeah. Ok... RIght, that place over on..."

"Sure. Whatever. Doesn't matter. Look, two more pieces of advice. Number one. Talk and listen. Hear what she is saying and respond back. Give and take. It's all about give and take."

"OK. I can do that."

"Good. Also, don't talk about any ex's or bring up anything about past girlfriends."

"I don't have any real... like... girl friends.... I mean, I did go out on a couple of dates."

"Ok. Don't mention any of those."

"Right..."

"Good. You're set."

"Ok. So I should..."

"Yes. Right now."

"What if she says no?"

"Then she says no, doesn't she?"

"But..."

"GO." Laz literally pushed Abraham out the door and closed it behind him. He then went over to his suitcase and started going through it. Although he kept most things in the little storage pouch he always carried on him, he did keep most of his clothes in this suitcase since he had to make things look realistic.

After browsing a while, Laz figured out he had no idea what to wear. Malene always had a sense of style and he had no clue about any of that. In the past, it was always Vivi telling him what to wear so although he wanted to look good tonight, he didn't really know how.

"Well, I mean, I guess it doesn't matter too much considering we will be spending the night in her room..."

Still though, considering the key card that Malene had given him, Laz thought that the place sounded pretty nice so he decided on some nice pants and a silk shirt. He had never thought he would wear it, but Vivi had said it would look good on him so he kept it.

Just as he had stripped and was down to his underwear, the door swung open and in walked an excited Abraham.

"She said yes!!" He said before noticing that Laz was almost completely naked.

"Good for you little brother. I told you it would be fine." Laz said while searching for some socks.

"Oh my god..." Abraham was an innocent kind of guy to begin with, although it wasn't like he was completely green. Despite this, whenever a sex scene came on tv, he still had a tendency to cover his face and get a little red. His shyness was one of the reasons he had decided to take this job offer in a city and get himself some experience. His hope was that he could be as calm and collected as his heroes on the shows he liked to watch.

But seeing Laz standing there as though nothing was wrong while his man hood seemed like it was a large snake trying it's best to escape was not something he had expected.

"What's up?" Laz asked, totally clueless.

"You're... you.... is... is that... normal?" Abraham asked, pointing to Laz's boxer briefs.

"Normal? Oh. Yeah. No. This... Don't worry about this ok. Remember something. It's not about how big you are, it's about what you do with it that counts. And besides which, despite what you see on porn..."

"I don't watch porn."

"Well you fucking should bud. Listen, pleasing a girl is more than just taking a big hunk of meat and stabbing her with it. You need to know what parts of a woman are those sensitive zones. Some places are the same on every women, but others differ. So if and when you get to that point with Julia, do some exploring and see what works..."

"You... You really think I will get that far?" Abraham asked, both excited and worried.

"She seems to really be into this innocent, little brother thing you got going on. So sure. Maybe not tonight, maybe not tomorrow, but who knows? Anyway, watch some porn asap and get yourself armed for the battle."

"Sex is a battle?"

"Everything with a woman is a battle. Make sure you come armed and ready for the pain, cause it will be painful. One way or another," Laz said as he finally pulled on his pants and buttoned up his shirt.

"So what about you?"

"I'm about to go wage a war. If I don't come back, just know that I died happy," Laz said with a grin as he walked out of the room.

Having done everything he had intended to do with information relaying, it was time to go meet up with Malene.

Finding the hotel was pretty easy but standing at the entranceway, Laz couldn't help but freeze up a little.

The place was rather grand and luxurious and not a place that Laz felt comfortable. The last time he had seen something like this, he had ended up in a fighting ring being a betting object for bored, rich kids.

Shaking his head, he let go of those memories, opened the door and walked inside. He was no longer the same kid he was back then.

He quickly went over to the front desk, showed the room key and got directions to the elevator. Strangely enough, the floor he needed to go to couldn't even be accessed without the room key in his possession.

"Penthouse huh? Seems like she is doing good for herself." Laz was currently in an apartment with three other guys while on a work arrangement. It wasn't like he didn't have money, but that was all the savings he had and he wasn't sure when more would come. Besides, once you started living the high life like that, people started noticing. When you lived at the bottom of the barrel, you were mostly ignored.

On the top floor of the grand building, the elevator opened to reveal a large and nicely furnished entryway. Walking inside a bit more, Laz realized that there was no hallway. The elevator led directly to the penthouse suite.

Like a country boy in a museum for the first time, Laz looked around in amazement at the paintings, antique furnishings, and decorative items like vases and candles.

"Are you just going to stand there and gawk or are you going to come in and eat?" Laz heard Malene's voice and decided to pick up the pace.

"How did you know I was here?" Laz asked as he finally saw her standing out on the open terreace with a large meal already served.

"You couldn't have actually gotten up here without the visitors key card unless I allowed it, so of course I knew you were here." She said with a smile. Her lovely turquoise dress accented her small yet sexy frame nicely as she stared at him.

Walking up to her, Laz was about to hug her in his arms when he noticed something weird.

"Wait... why are there three place settings?" He noticed the table had three places laid out which didn't make sense.

"That's because I have a surprise for you," Marlene said with a smile.

"And what's that?" Laz asked with a half amused and half serious grin. After all, this surprise seemed like it was going to ruin his night with her if it was going to be present as well.

"That would be me baby," a familiar voice came out from another room, causing Laz to turn.

He finally laid eyes on the owner of the voice, only to see Ruby standing there in almost the exact same dress that Malene was wearing.

Laz's eyes went from one girl to the other before gulping silently.

Looks like he wasn't getting any sleep tonight.