On the Line (Alternate Places Book 3) (3 page)

Blaine leaned forward onto the table top and began trying to
send actual Alede codes, a subtle lick of the lips that most people would have
missed completely, a brush of his hand, as if moving hair out of his eyes, even
though his hair in this form was actually far too short to warrant the move.
Kate responded appropriately each time, giving the right counter sign. If
either of them had any doubts that she was what she'd hinted to them with all
the Hartley references, they got it now, she realized. So she gave them both a
smile, as a reward. It had taken them long enough to catch on that she almost
worried she was going to have to yell it to them across the table, possibly
while removing her clothes and dancing. Sure, that sounded
fun
, but it
would draw a
little
more attention to her than she really wanted at the
moment. She had to fight to keep a wicked smile from her lips, so that the
twins wouldn't think she was making fun of them.

Part of that was honestly just her, she knew. Alede got
better at controlling how much energy they leaked out by accident as they got
older. As a rule anyway. Some never bothered to learn much control at all, and
could end up hundreds or even thousands of years old, still leaking like a
teen. Others worked hard at it and could seem far older than they otherwise
would have because of their self discipline. As well fed, thanks to Zack, as
she found herself
and
as well trained, she hardly
felt
like an
Alede at all anymore. Still, the signs and signals, the code phrases and hints
she'd given them
should
have been enough. They were designed for
situations like this, after all. Made up so that you could start a dialogue with
someone that might not normally be able to tell who or what you were for some
reason. Like that they were very young and new to the world, she tried to keep
in mind, and prone to making simple mistakes. They were kids, they were
supposed to make a mess of things. Really it's probably why their parent had
sent them to Human college anyway. To get a chance to learn how to navigate in
the real world without a net, but in a place that was, in the main, still
reasonably safe.

Blaine stepped up and started then, apologizing for his
lapse.

“I'm so sorry I didn't recognize you right off! I guess I was
distracted by all the pretty people in the room with us... You know how that is
though, right?” He cast his gaze around the room, not laying claim to anyone
specifically, but indicating that what they could see was part of his normal
hunting ground. Britney did the same.

“Of course in a place like this there are plenty of cuties to
go around, don't you think?” He added, clearly suggesting that sharing the
campus shouldn't be a problem, even with three of them working it constantly.

Kate winced. The boy had been
so
blatant that his
clumsiness embarrassed her just a little. It would have been one thing if they
were sitting around having this chat in private, but divvying up the people
around them where they could hear, and some of them were
obviously
listening in, was really just not smooth. As if to prove the point, Don sighed
hugely and stared at his roommate, head shaking slightly in displeasure. If she
could read the slightly sour look on his face right.

“That may be true for you three, but
I
can't even get
a date on this campus. I mean, these two,” Don didn't point, using his head to
gesture at the twins instead. “Seem intent on sleeping with everyone on the
grounds before the end of term. Except for
me
, of course... which, by
the way Blaine, I want to thank you for again, but Brit... I mean you could at
least
pretend
to find me marginally interesting, you know?”

Kate noticed Britney stiffen a bit there, pulling her lips
into her mouth in a way that looked anything but sexy, when he mentioned all
that. As Kate watched, a small film of tears entered the other girl's eyes,
though she blinked it away almost instantly.
So
, Kate thought, not only
was this something that the other girl had
noticed
, but something that
actually bothered her.

“Look, Don...” The girl started, Don just threw his hand out
and laughed, if a little hollowly.

“Don't worry about it, just sour grapes on my part... you
know. I'll be fine, I just need to get better looking or something. Probably a
better personality, too. My current Eeyore line isn't going to draw a lot of
women to my door. You know-
thanks for noticing me
...” He said the last
line in a funny sounding voice. Deep and sad sounding. Kate noticed a girl nearby
wince a little in sympathy at the words as if she recognized it from somewhere.

He left unsaid that if that line
did
work, the girls
would still probably have slept with his roommate instead of him. That probably
would have happened even if Blaine
hadn't
been an Alede, looking the way
he did. Young girls almost always claimed they
wanted
prince charming,
but if the frog was good looking enough they'd instantly hop into bed with him,
no matter how much better off they would be with the prince. It wasn't the shallowness
that was the problem. Not for Don.

No, if Blaine had been an ordinary guy, even one willing to
sleep with his friend's girls or boys, the other fellow would have at least had
a
chance
. After all, a regular human guy would get
tired
some
time. He would have
slept at night,
and three or four times a day would
have tapped him out as far as sex went. Also, realistically speaking, Don would
have been competing with a ten,
not
a fourteen, that being about how
attractive the other guy was to most women, once they got hit by his energy
field.

Just to make things worse, Blaine
had
to sleep with
the girls that came into his life. The guys too for the most part, if he could.
Harvesting energy required full time work for most Alede. If they missed a day,
things got hard on them, depending how much energy they'd started with. For
most of their kind, starvation was never more than two or three days away, even
during a good week. Like a Human with water.

Kate knew that
she
could go longer than that, up to
ten days, starting from a full charge, because of her ability to not leak
energy and prevent herself from burning it off like the others did, but as far
as she knew, in the whole world there were only about half a dozen of her people
that could do the same thing. Most of them well over a thousand years old.

 A negotiation for resources and territory had to take place
however, that was the tradition. Still they had time to deal with Don's
situation first, at least a little. After all, it clearly made his friends sad
that they couldn't be more for him, for whatever reason that was.

“Don't worry Don. Things like this have a habit of working
themselves out, you know? I mean, this is one of the top party schools in the
country, even though
party
seems to mean drunken stumbling around in the
snow here... Still, there are a lot of girls in this place that came looking
for a good time, and you're good looking enough to give it to them. Guys too,
if you're into that. I do both myself, but I mainly like guys.” She added the
last line in particular, because the girl with the tan jacket seemed to be
hanging on every word she said. Lines of interest, a deep blue color, coming
off of her and hitting everyone at the table, especially her and Britney. Don
got one too, even if it wasn't
as
strong. Even if she didn't need to
feed like the others did, sex was still
fun
and the girl looked pretty
cute. Her face, heart shaped and a little soft, framed by golden blonde curls,
reminded her a little bit of a porcelain doll. Not classically good looking,
but other people would notice her when she walked down the street.

With a force of will, she brought her attention back to the
table. Don sat with his eyes downcast, not saying anything. Britney looked at
him with a combination of longing, and oddly,
shame
. The blonde Succubus
didn't share why this was with her, so Kate dropped the subject, figuring she
could see if she could help with it later.

“Anyway,
I'm
not here for the cuties. I
actually
came to get an education, as odd as that sounds for someone from our family.”
She directed this to the people across the table. Don gently nodding at her, as
if letting her know that he
got
it and that she didn't have to make up
excuses as to why she wouldn't be interested in him. She reached over and took
his hand, causing him to sit up a bit straighter. “I may have room for one or
two
in my schedule though...”

Blaine smiled, and Britney didn't, though she nodded somberly
at Kate. This seemed like a solution to a problem that they'd all been worried
about, apparently. She'd have to get one or both of them alone so they could discuss
it more clearly before she did anything. She didn't want to step on toes if she
didn't have to and given everything, as long as they weren't abusing the boy on
purpose, she
didn't
have to.

They worked out, a little slowly, that she'd be fine sharing
the campus with them and that she didn't have anyone that she needed to
specifically call dibs on here yet. They both gave signs that they
did
have some people, though neither indicated their friend as being one of them.
She put her hand out again, touching Don's arm, getting a brief smile and nod
from them both, meaning they were fine with her picking him up. Britney
hesitated and added something, making sure that Blaine didn't see it for some
reason, reaching across her body, she grabbed her lower arm, three fingers
raised and stroked slowly down toward her hand, the signal for “go gently with
this one”. No threat implied, just a request. Making sure her friend wouldn't
be hurt or used and tossed aside.
Interesting
. Kate winked at the girl,
which Blaine saw but didn't understand, having missed the sign his twin had
tossed her.

The Incubus went quiet for a bit, since they'd pretty much
covered the socially required portion of the day's events. Kate was about to
beg off and go back to her room, to get some real food, when he spoke again, a
bit hesitantly.

“Kate... I can't remember clearly, but at the reunion, you
mentioned that you practiced martial arts still, right?” This didn't come out
as a threat, it was more like he wanted something from her.

“Uh, yeah. I still practice when I can, you know, family
tradition and all. How about you?” She looked around the table, the Alede both
nodding at her, Don lifting his right hand and making a waggling motion, indicating
“kind of”.

It turned out that Blaine
loved
martial arts and
wanted to be an academy level instructor some day. Kate felt impressed, since
saying that out loud to another Alede was basically like a Human man saying he
was training to be a green beret or navy seal. More impressive, he didn't
bother trying to claim he'd already
reached
that level, just that he
wanted
to. To her mind that meant serious intent. Anyone could brag, but not everyone
would be willing to back it up with work.

Hesitantly, almost shyly, he worked his way around to asking
her something. It wasn't clear exactly what he wanted to her at first. Don finally
laughed and told her flat out. Apparently, once he got over feeling like the
world was going to dump on him again, he was really helpful. Sort of funny too.

“He wants you to come spar with us. I think is the point
here. A
sad
day for me, since I'll no doubt have my butt handed to me by
two hot girls
and
a pretty boy at the same time, but you know, you
should come and hang with us. After all, being their cousin you may be the only
girl on campus I can try to get to go out with me without them stealing you away.”
He flashed her a smile, then blushed, realizing how forward he'd just been.

A feeling of excitement washed over her. Not because of Don.
She'd already made up her mind to sleep with him, as long as no one objected. No,
the idea of actually getting to practice something other than solo forms,
that
thrilled her. She'd intended to find the local martial arts club, but had kind
of dreaded it, since most of the people involved in that would probably kind of
suck. These two would have at least had ten years of regular training though
and if Blaine wasn't full of hot air, he might even be pretty good.

“I'd love to!” She almost cried then, unexpectedly. She
locked it down, controlling her tear ducts like she'd learned to over the last
few months. The invitation into their lives had been unexpected. The social
rules said they needed to try and get along, sure, but to be invited to do
something with them that didn't even involve sex,
that
was huge. Blaine
practically glowed at her from across the table, looking interested enough in
her that Don reached over, took her hand and actually growled at the other man.

“Mine. Back off you!” He made little shewing motions with his
free hand, getting a laugh from everyone at the table, which he joined in on,
letting go of her arm after a few seconds.

They told her that they'd go right after dinner the next
night, since they could meet there and go directly to the gym they used.

Britney looked a little worried for a second, a line actually
forming between her eyebrows.

"You should wear sweats or something. We don't wear
traditional garb to practice in here."

Kate smiled, getting one in return, that seemed relieved even
before she spoke.

"That makes sense. I do have several pair of sweats for
working out in. It was what I wore when working with Master Wu-Li. He's
progressive that way." She cleared her throat. "I had some private
lessons, after I finished school." Sure that made it sound to Don like she
had lessons after class each day, but Blaine got the idea. She was into the
topic enough that she hadn't just stopped when most people did.