Cambrian
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The Grimoire's Chosen Ch. 5 (Worm)
🕑 Added 2024-05-02 15:40:16 +0000 UTCA/N: Jason makes his call, finishes up his last shift, talks to Taylor, and has his first tutoring session with Vicky.
-x-X-x-
In the end, the first thing Jason does in the morning is call Crystal. He doesn’t bother wasting time waiting for them to see each other at the University.
“Mm… yes?”
“I need to know one final thing before I say yes, Crystal. I need to know exactly what sort of compensation I’m looking at.”
“Oh! Of course!”
Crystal proceeds to rattle off a number that Jason has to be careful not to react to. But… yeah, it’s a lot of money. An exorbitant amount of money, and all for the work of just a month as well. He could… well, he could make that sort of money really last if he was careful, and that was without taking into account his ever-evolving powers.
Nodding to himself, Jason bites the bullet.
“Alright, I’m in. I’ll tutor Vicky for the next month.”
“Great! Can you start tonight?”
Jason pulls the phone away from his ear for a second and gives it a look even though he knows Crystal won’t see it. Or perhaps because he knows Crystal won’t see it. Still, he can’t help some of the irritation leaking into his voice.
“No. You did say you could give me a couple days, yeah? I need to give notice to my job this morning and then work tonight’s shift. I can start tomorrow though.”
“A-Aha, right… sorry, of course. No problem! Tomorrow is just fine!”
At least Crystal sounded contrite. As much as Jason liked Crystal Pelham, it was obvious she’d grown up with a bit of a silver spoon in her mouth. He’d be surprised if she’d ever had to even work a minimum wage job… or any job at all for that matter. Between her hero work and her studying, she probably hadn’t had the time… but it wasn’t like people like Jason necessarily had the time either. They were forced to make the time, even at the detriment of other things.
Even still, Jason didn’t let it get to him. In fact…
“Alright then. And thank you for this, Crystal. From the bottom of my heart, I appreciate this opportunity.”
“Y-Yeah! No problem!”
If Jason could do an amazing job tutoring Vicky, get her through her exam into BBU, and then spend the rest of the year not only knocking his studies out of the park but also wowing Carol Dallon with his TA abilities, that internship at Carol’s law firm was all but in the bag. And from there, the sky was the limit even if his strange powers literally never gave him another good pull again.
Though… speaking of which, Jason moves from his bed to his closet and starts emptying it out. Using the powers of the Transformation Pendant, he puts on his all of his clothes one set of clothing at a time before pushing them into the Transformation Pendant itself using him in just a pair of his socks and a birthday suit as the baseline. Soon enough and he has every last piece of clothing he owns in the Transformation Pendant’s liminal space, and he can feel them in his mind’s eyes, switching between outfits as will.
It’s a heady feeling, and one that buoys Jason even as he goes through his day. Letting corporate know that he’s no longer going to be working at their coffee shop after today goes about as well as expected. They don’t even bother asking him for two weeks or what he’s leaving them for. They know it’s a dead end job just as much as he does and he’s been enough of a model employee that all they really do is make sure he knows where to leave the keys and what not when he locks up for the final time tonight.
After that, Jason’s day goes… rather well. It feels surreal going to work for the last time. He also notices that his powers don’t activate again as the hours drag on. Not that he’s overly worried about it. Even with just Flash Air, Keen Eye, and the Transformation Pendant alone, Jason is already feeling like a proper parahuman.
He even finds himself better at mixing the drinks with Keen Eye, able to literally pinpoint the amount of things he’s putting into the cup with one hundred percent accuracy. Not exactly the most spectacular use of his powers maybe, but it’s exciting for him still at least at this point. And it’ll never get old too either, because this will be the first and last day where he’ll be using Keen Eye to mix drinks for people.
There’s just one thing Jason feels like he has to do as the day comes to an end and he and Taylor begin closing up shop. Even if it’s awkward, even if it’s uncomfortable… there’s no world in which he’s just going to ghost Taylor especially after what happened between them. So…
“Hey Taylor, got something I need to talk to you about.”
Looking at him like a deer caught in the headlights, the tall dark-haired young woman swallows thickly.
“Um… y-yeah?”
Jason lets out a sigh, deciding to just rip off the Band-Aid.
“Today… today is my last day working here, Taylor. I quit this morning and this is my last shift.”
Taylor chokes on her own spit at that, turning to face him completely.
“W-What?! Why? Don’t… don’t you have to give your two weeks a-at least?”
“For a place like this? Nah, fuck that and fuck them. They didn’t even bother to ask when I told them either. They know the score. I did tell them that you were probably the best one to replace me though, in the event that you stick around. Whether they listen or not… well, I wouldn’t count on it but at least I tried.”
Mouth opening and closing, Taylor looks like she doesn’t know what to say. Stepping over to her, Jason puts his hands on her shoulders.
“This isn’t your fault, Taylor. This isn’t because of what happened between us, alright? I know it seems a little too coincidental, but it’s the truth. I’ve received a frankly insane offer to tutor a rich girl for the next month and they’re paying me enough money that I’ll be set for the rest of this year at least.”
That gets an owlish blink from Taylor, who tilts her head to the side.
“What… how much money?”
Jason tells her and Taylor gapes at him for a brief second before finally reacting.
“That’s double what we’d make HERE in a year! And for one month?!”
Slowly nodding, Jason winces, half-expecting Taylor to blow up at the unfairness of it all. And if she does, he’ll understand, really he will. Because it’s not fair. He’s getting this offer because he knows Crystal. And it’s only happening because Vicky is getting a chance nobody else gets through Carol being her mom. Life is so rarely fair and-
“Of course you had to take it! You’d be an idiot not to!”
Wait, what? Jason stares at Taylor for a moment, pulled out of his own spiraling thoughts.
“You… you’re not mad? I could have tried to make everything work. I could have tried to stick with this job, and college, and done the tutoring on top of all of that…”
But Taylor just scoffs.
“For what? This job sucks out the soul. If you don’t have to do it, if you don’t have to waste your time here, then you shouldn’t. Full stop.”
Damn, that was surprisingly mature of the young woman. Of course, a moment later and Taylor suddenly looks incredibly self-conscious.
“B-Besides… you said the decision has nothing to do with me, r-right? So… you won’t have any problem meeting up sometimes for study sessions of our own… yeah?”
The funny thing is, that was exactly what Jason had intended to suggest to Taylor so long as he could get through to her that this wasn’t because of her. He feels a little guilty now for assuming she would be unreasonable about all of this, but he’s also impressed by her maturity. All the same, the way Taylor says ‘study sessions’ and the way Jason was thinking of them are clearly… two very different things. Not that he’s about to turn her down.
“Heh. Yeah Taylor, I’d love to ‘study’ with you some more.”
Taylor’s face is bright red as he matches her tone for tone. But she doesn’t back down from the sudden flirting. Instead, she escalates things by stepping forward and wrapping her arms around his neck.
“Then… maybe we could do some studying right here, right now. Last chance to fuck me on that counter where we both have to deal with sociopaths wearing human skin day in and day out.”
Well now, that certainly wasn’t an offer Jason could see himself refusing. Letting out a lustful growl, he grabs Taylor up, his hands digging into her ass cheeks as he walks her out of the back of the coffee shop and into the front. The blinds are closed, the door is locked, and the lights are pretty much all off save for the emergency ones that always stay on.
Jason and Taylor fumble with one another’s clothes and soon enough he’s lifting her up onto the counter in question and does exactly what she suggested. His cock, rock hard thanks to some stroking from the tall young woman, slides right into Taylor’s wet sex, causing her to moan into his ear as she clings to him for dear life.
He fucks her rather deeply, pounding into her hard and fast and making Taylor shudders and quiver under him. As he thrusts in and out of her, Taylor’s long legs come up to wrap around his waist, holding him in place as she looks him in the eye.
“I’m going to hold you to your words, Jason. We’re friends, right? So don’t you dare abandon me.”
He’s a little taken aback by the intensity in Taylor’s voice, but he figures he knows where it’s coming from all the same. He doesn’t have to be a genius or some sort of private investigator to realize Taylor hasn’t had an easy life… or all that many friends either. The fact that she thought she needed to offer him her body in the first place just as a ‘thank you’ showed that much.
Still, Jason just smiles at her and leans forward, answering Taylor’s words with a kiss. Of course, that’s when his power finally decides to activate after being dormant all day.
Ding!
Creative Solutions – Modus – 600 Points
Whether you choose the path of Dark or Primal Magic, or both, a great wizard is not one who bludgeons the world with his power, but one who has the perfect tool for any situation, and failing that can adapt their spells to match. Your creativity in using spells for new things, and setting up situations where they can be used to greatest effect, is outstanding.
You now have 500 Points saved up!
… Huh. On the one hand, it sounded cool. On the other hand, it sounded incredibly vague. But in the end, it didn’t matter one way or another, did it? He couldn’t even afford it. Which was strange, because the ‘power’ description didn’t sound like it was worth six hundred points. But maybe he was misjudging the depths of it. Either way…
Pass.
It was also a bit strange that his power made him manually pass on things he couldn’t even buy. One would think it would be intuitive enough to either only offer him things he COULD buy, or at least automatically tell him he couldn’t buy it anyways. But Jason puts that out of his mind for now and focuses on Taylor and her moans, making sure that their last time in the coffee shop together is as memorable as possible for the gorgeous, leggy young coed.
-x-X-x-
The next day, with the sun slowly starting to set in the distance, Jason finds himself outside of Victoria Dallon’s apartment, feeling a little nervous. He’s brought his laptop and a spiral notebook, expecting for today to be mostly about figuring out where Vicky was most rusty and trying to create a gameplan that worked for both of them.
In the end, there wasn’t much Jason could do but step forward and knock… so that’s what he does.
“Coming!”
He assumes it’s Vicky who he hears through the door, because otherwise he’s come to the wrong apartment. Fortunately, when the door opens Jason can immediately see the resemblance between not just Vicky and Crystal, but also Vicky and Carol. Oh yeah, and the beautiful bombshell of a blonde is also floating about six inches off the ground as well.
“You must be Jason! Come in!”
Vicky’s presence washes over him like a wave and Jason finds himself entering her apartment and moving to her tempo as she closes the door behind him and then flits off. He looks around the place but… it’s not really anything out of the ordinary for a young woman living alone. Except, of course, for the professionally made Glory Girl Costume just draped over the couch like it’d been peeled off and then forgotten about.
Jason is tempted to walk over and touch it to see if it’s really real… but he has the good sense to stop himself from doing that, knowing just how creepy it would be. In the end, he was here to do a job.
“So, Ms. Dallon… I thought maybe we could start by going over the subjects you think you’re weakest on so we can shore up those deficiencies first and foremost…”
“Yeah, let’s not though, alright?”
Wait, what?
Vicky floats back over to him, crossing her arms over her chest and giving him a broad smile.
“Crystal said you were cool so I’m just going to be upfront with you, alright? I know you’re getting paid a ton of money for this… but I also know you’re not going to lose out on that money if I fail the exam my mom’s set up for me. Here’s the deal… I’m not going to college. No way, no how.”
Jason’s mouth opens and closes wordlessly at that, completely caught off guard. Vicky just sighs and flicks her hair back over her shoulder.
“Look, it’s pretty simple. Mom wants me to go to college. I don’t want to go to college. So I’ve been working pretty hard for the past year to separate myself from New Wave however I can. And I succeeded too, see? I’ve got a sponsor who will be bankrolling my hero work as Glory Girl starting next month. They’ll pay for everything and I won’t owe my mom anything anymore. I promised her I’d take the exam at the end of the month, but I’m not planning on passing it. And when I fail and she cuts me off, I’ll be ready to land on my feet. I just need this month to finish getting everything ready.”
Smiling sweetly down at him, the floating heroine clasps her hands in front of her, which of course has the added benefit of pushing her tits together and up a bit.
“All I need you to do is come here every day and say you were tutoring me. We can do other stuff instead like watch TV, or you can get your own schoolwork done, or whatever. Maybe sometimes I’ll go out and patrol in disguise or whatever. And at the end of the month, you and I are both happy with the outcome. Sound good?”
No… no it did not sound good. Vicky was asking him to lie to her mother. To tell Carol fucking Dallon of all people that he’d tried his best but her daughter just wasn’t smart enough. Clearly, Vicky was smart enough. She just had her own ideas on what her future should look like and wasn’t willing to just sit down and tell her mom that outright. Or at least wasn’t willing to do so yet.
Suddenly, Jason was beginning to regret taking this job. Fuck him, he almost wished he was back in the coffee shop right now, rather than in Vicky Dallon’s apartment facing down the blonde herself as she asked him to lie to her terrifying mother for her.
What the fuck was he supposed to do?!
-x-X-x-
A/N: Will try to keep this up to date at the end of every chapter, get on me if I forget please. Though if it gets too out of hand, might have to change it at some point.
Jason's current banked points:
500 Celestial Points
Jason's current powers:
Flash Air (Gained in Chapter 1)
Transformation Pendant (Gained in Chapter 4)
Keen Eye (Gained in Chapter 4)
Comments
Alun Lewis
Three thoughts about stuff that happened in this chapter: 1) Really glad that Taylor took Jason's announcement of quitting the coffee shop for the job of tutoring Vicky well. As someone who works a soul-draining food service job, I definitely agree with the attitudes expressed by Jason & Taylor on being loyal to uncaring corporate masters. However, I am a tad disappointed that Taylor & Jason's first time wasn't explored in more detail...or that, due to a gap in the shop's privacy blinds, Emma Barnes got a free show after deciding to stop by at close to take the opportunity to harass Taylor while she walks home from work 😉 2) I really am curious to see how an overdraft or layaway system would work for Celestial Grimoire perks, since the constant teases of neat powers or resources that aren't immediately affordable or seemingly practical for Jason's current situation hint at Jason eventually needing to go into debt to have a really useful capability on tap; 3) Vicky's revelation about having a sponsor apparently lined up to allow her to hero full-time, along with the intention of purposefully failing the BBU entrance exam, smells like a massive pile of cow manure. Jason REALLY needs to politely point out some hard truths to Vicky and make it clear he just quit his non-TA job to tutor her..a job he'll have to go back to in order to be able to live when Vicky's mother both demands he refund every... single... penny he was paid to get Vicky ready for university and blocks him from ever getting a job in his desired job field out of spite. Along with adking pointed questions about how much Vicky really knows about her proposed sugar momma or daddy.
Colin Peden
Damn, I missed this chapter coming out and missed getting s chance to vote. Not that it matters, what I was going to vote for won. Good chapter Cambrian, I am really interested in how both next chapter and the story as a whole will progress. I am just sad that Jason never used Flash Air to drop coffee on the bitch from a few chapters ago.
Person123
I like Nanaya's response and would like to add that he can also lay a bit of a guilt trip going over the fact he just quit his job for this and that failing this could cause him to not get his internship opportunity with Carol. Her plan could completely fuck his future prospects.
kksssss
There should be another option
Phraxius
I don't think a scheme to make her a sex slave is likely to happen or succeed... but something shady and insidious? Someone using an intermediary to get her to do their dirty work by, say, pointing her at rival criminals? Or perhaps using her to get intel on other heroes? That seems probable. Of course, it could just be a soda company that wants a photogenic hero in their ads, lmao.
Aliumas147
So dose no one question "sponsor" part. It is SUS as hell. It is either her mom scheming or someone is trying to make her his slave. Cleaning streets from crimes at night and sucking D at day. Or am I f*** in the head too much that first think comes to minds is "I smell scam".
LordMarksman
I agree with number 2, but I wouldn't use an authoritive tone both because she's old enough to be talked to like an adult and also because no need to outright antagonize her thus create negative impression. I like Nanaya7Nights reasoning to be honest, because that's roughly what I would do.
