Chapter Text
“C’mon… lousy… you’ve got to be kidding me.”
The table I was wiping down was nearly spotless save for a single stubborn gunk of melted nacho cheese. I reached for the plastic spray bottle hooked to my belt and blasted the offending food item with more sprays than I’d used for the rest of the table.
I eyed it with contempt as I waited for the chemical to do its thing.
Fridays were usually like this at Kahunas Flame. A massive throng of people arriving at suppertime followed by a second wave of late diners and then smaller parties trickling in randomly afterwards. Appetizers were half off for diners with a party greater than four. So a lot of nachos went out. The kitchen was closing up in less than an hour, followed by the bar shortly after. So there wasn’t much time left before I was free for the weekend.
The booths were almost empty. They were probably the best aspect of the place aside from the bar, which was crafted from driftwood and volcanic stone harvested one island over. All the booths were lined with plush cushions in sunset tones that curved along the walls. Each one had a carved wooden relief on the wall etched with island motifs and subtle Pokémon silhouettes: A dancing Oricorio here, a lounging Alolan Raichu there, all four Tapus and so on… from before they evolved into anthros. One of the largest booths at the end cap was usually set aside for employees to take their breaks in. It took forever to clean as well. We all tried to keep customers out of it unless they had a big enough party.
I finished scrubbing the table, pocketing the tip left for me on the table. With the recent population boom the boss was thankfully looking into lightening the workload by hiring new staff. Including anthros.
And right on time there he was, Kaleo, the boss. A ruddy-faced man with sandy blonde hair in his 50s that looked like he belonged in a beach hammock and not managing a big restaurant. He was strolling over to me the way a car salesman does.
“Heeeeey champ, a party of 3 was just seated and they need a waiter.”
“Allikeaue can take them? That’s on her side, yeah?" I said, checking my Pokegear for the time.
“She had to cut out early. Something to do with her kid so I let her split,” Kaleo shrugged, looking non-plussed about it. “Can you cover?”
I sighed, looking away from him, then stood straight and glanced around the restaurant. Nobody in sight. They must have been on the other side of the bar in one of the smaller booths.
“You takin’ in people this late for hot food, boss?” I said, hoping to weasel my way out of waiting for one more table.
“Were it one person I’d turn them away, but it’s three and they’re ordering drinks, plus they asked about appetizers. It’s a good ticket. Good tips,” he suggested, giving me a wry grin.
I stuffed the bills I’d collected during my shift into my pocket. I’d nearly made a hundred. This table would push that over the edge for me…
“Alright, I’ll take it,” I said finally, pulling out my pad and pencil. One more table.
“Good man,” Kaleo replied, patting me on the shoulder before retreating to the bar.
I walked over with a casual stride. Wasn’t a big party. That’s good. I should be out at closing time. I turned the corner with my courtesy smile on and spotted the sole occupied booth in the row.
Three anthro girls sat together in the booth.
I was accustomed to the new anthro population since the evolution event. Seeing them around the island. Though I wasn’t a trainer I still could parse the native population pretty well. Some of the mainland ones too. I recognized one of them right away as a Bellossom girl, with the two large colorful flowers perched atop her leafy hair, green skin, and leafy skirt - she was chatting amicably with her friends, who were still poring through the menu as I approached. The other two girls I couldn’t figure out yet. The Bellossom girl turned to look at me as I approached.
“Figure it out ladies, our waiter is here,” she said with a chuckle, leaning back into the plush booth.
“Hi, welcome to Kahuna Flame, Alola’s finest steakhouse & cocktail lounge! I’ll be your server for the evening,” I said plainly, flipping open my pad. “Can I start you girls off with some drinks?”
“One sour berry cider for me,” said the Bellossom girl confidently, looking up at me with a warm smile. She was cute, like many of the anthro girls I’d seen, with big, deep blue eyes and a smattering of freckles on her face. She reclined back a bit in her seat, her sandals falling to the floor with a gentle flop as she slipped out of them to prop her legs up on the booth cushion opposite her, where her friend was still chewing her cheek on what to get.
“Just pick something, Sophie. We’re lucky to be seated here at all this late,” chastised the Bellossom girl.
“Hold on a sec!” protested Sophie, who had tilted the menu down to cast her friend a grumpy frown. “I want to pick my own thing instead of just getting what you get here.”
“But you always like what I get.”
Sophie huffed. “I had a berry smoothie hours ago, Juniper. I don’t want to double up on the same kind of thing!”
I took a pause to scribble down the order for the Bellossom girl, giving her friend Sophie a little more time to figure it out on her own. And time for me to figure out what she was. Deep blue skin, a shock of white hair done up in twintails, and piercing red-yellow-blue eyes that were notably glowing in the low light. In the glow of the harsher iridescent lamp, I could see the menu through her fingers. She was ghost-type for sure. I realized that both her and Juniper were dressed in the exact same outfit, a floral tube top with a matching floral red sachong. I wondered if they were just getting off a work shift. Or were grabbing some food and drinks before starting one.
I cleared my throat preparing to get into the stock suggestion speech I had memorized. Hopefully this would spur them to pick something.
“At the ready we have some specials tonight: Wishiwashi Shoal Shots are three different shots of persim berry, coconut, and apricot liquor. The Tapu Tiki Twist is a house mix of sitrus juice, spiced rum, Iapapa purée, and a dash of cinnamon in a carved tiki glass with a flaming lum on top. If you want something that looks as interesting as it tastes there’s the Alolan Exeggutor Colada which has aguav liqueur, coconut cream, and pinap juice served in a tall glass topped with a palm frond garnish,” I paused for a breath, “with the whole drink having been infused with edible glitter. Our last offer is called a Shiny Tropius Nectar which is a golden Iapapa and pecha daiquiri with a hint of vanilla, served in a chilled mago leaf cup.”
I got a round of Oooo’s from the table.
I looked towards the girl sitting in the middle of the booth, seated between the other two, who hadn’t looked up nor said a word this whole time. Unlike Sophie, she had the menu propped up to obscure her face, though I could see what looked like a mess of bright red hair and two stark white horns rising up on either side of her head.
“Sally. Pick something already,” Juniper reached over to tap the top of the menu.
“I don’t know what I want to eat yet!”
“You’re not supposed to! He’s taking drinks first!” chastised Sophie.
“Sophie’s right, just pick something!” cut in Juniper.
Sally muttered something in response that I couldn’t hear, and her friends sighed.
“It’s her first time here,” Sophie explained, picking up the dessert specials leaflet with disinterest. “She needs a minute.”
“So what’s the occasion?” I asked, flipping my notepad closed for the moment.
“As of todaaay, we are all officially employed,” declared Sophie, looking rather pleased with herself. “Two sexy hot tub spa restaurant servers and one greasy boat mechanic.”
“Congratulations!” I exclaimed, putting my best earnest face on. I’d known that finding jobs varied from easy to impossible depending on the anthro seeking them. Many were still unemployed even months after evolving.
“May I ask which restaurant? I know there’s two on this island.” I continued.
“Alola Soak & Savor,” said Sophie proudly, gesturing to Juniper. “On the island's north side. I was able to sweet talk my manager into hiring Juniper-Lynn for the day shift.”
“Tch,” went Juniper, sticking out her tongue. “It wasn’t like you had to twist his arm or anything.”
“Well it wasn’t instant. Buuuut after I talked you up and showed him a picture of you he was totally on-board hiring Juney.”
“Okay. Soph. You need to show me what photo of me that was, because there aren't a lot of good ones of me,” Juniper said icily, “and it’s weird I have to ask you twice.”
“Well it was a pretty great picture,” replied Sophie, grinning devilishly.
Juniper sat up a bit, “What do you mean?!”
Sophie laughed, poking both of her cheeks with her index fingers coupled with a big smile.
“SOPHIE?!”
My attention shifted to their friend Sally, who shot up a hand behind her open menu. I put my pencil to my pad and gave her my attention.
“Okay! Hi. I’ll have one Palm Jungle IPA with a glass of mago pinap soda please,” she said, dropping her menu, revealing her face while the other two girls bickered over each other.
Unlike the other two girls, Sally was not dressed in a floral outfit - instead, wearing a jet black tank top. It was a sharp contrast to her body, which was a bright white on her entire chest area leading up to her face and large horns. From the shoulders down to her fingers her skin was a dark blue-grey, and her eyes were even more striking than her friend, bearing black sclera with glowing aquamarine-white pupils. If not for her cute, almost embarrassed little smile she might have a frightening visage.
Each of them had curvy, attractive figures, I had to admit to myself. A commonality among anthro women. In their skimpy outfits each one was baring a generous amount of cleavage. Sally definitely had the most to show compared to the other two. Like any pro waiter, I saw, but did not stare. Though I was tempted to be more obvious. Anthro women generally seemed to like the attention.
“-delete it from your phone forever,” I heard Juniper snap, as my attention returned to the table conversation I had been tuning out while eyeballing Sally.
“Okay fine! You’re so dramatic!” Sophie snickered, tapping rapidly on her smartphone screen, followed by holding her arm over the table to Juniper, who nodded with a huff in satisfaction.
“So… I’ll be back in a minute-?”
“We’ll have two deluxe sampler combos, no double ups, so we get one of each kind of appetizer,” Sophie said, waving a finger in the air. All but one of the menus floated off the table at her invisible command. I gingerly took them and slotted them under my left arm. “My drink is going to be the Alolan Exeggutor Colada please.”
“We’ll keep this one in case we’re still hungry,” she added, flicking the remaining menu with her finger.
I scribbled down on my pad the last order. “Okay, I will be back shortly with your drinks, then your food!”
Without a moment to spare I power walked over to the kitchen. With how little time was left for operating hours I hoped my manager at least gave our cook the heads up. Really didn’t need to get into an argument with the man today.
I dinged the bell and held the order card up in the kitchen window. Our chef, Mako, wordlessly snatched it from me. He studied it for a brief moment, then furrowed his brow in a way I’ve only ever seen top Pokémon professors do on TV. He looked at me with great intensity and woe on his face.
“I’m going to kill myself.”
“It’s appetizers, Mako.” I said flatly.
Mako sneered at the paper. “Appetizers now. But then what? Three cooked meals and then I’m late for my movie.”
“It’s just two samplers. Not complicated.”
“Two samplers. Not complicated,” he repeated at me, sounding terse. “Who’s this for?”
“The party of three on booth 11, section A.”
“For who?” he asked.
“Three anthro girls. Short. Skinny. They don’t look like they can put away much,” I said, hoping he wouldn’t just declare the kitchen closed.
“They cute?”
After a moment's thought I smiled and nodded my head. “Yeah, they’re pretty cute for anthro girls.”
Mako laughed, pinning the order slip onto the wall near him. “Anthro girls are strange, bro. They got too many extra things on them. Too many arms. Legs. Wings. Tails…”
“Tell me about it. Two of these girls have glowing eyes,” I added.
“Oh yeah bro? Dark types?” Mako asked, putting on some fresh gloves as he popped open the freezer.
“Not too sure aside from the Bellossom girl,” I admitted. “Can’t mistake one of those even after evolving…”
“Hold on bro,” Mako grabbed the slip of paper I’d provided, tore it in half, and presented it to me.
“Don’t you got to get them drinks?”
“Oh… shit, yeah. My bad Mako,” I sheepishly took the drinks order from him.
“Should have all these ready in 10,” he said as I hustled away to fulfill the drinks order.
I popped over to the bar, where my coworker, Anakoni was busying himself watching a video on his Pokegear.
“Whip together a couple of these?” I asked, plopping the paper down.
“Sure bud. Staying late?”
“Bossman asked me to wait one last table. Other side of the bar,” I explained, leaning my elbow against the bar top and taking a breather. It was a long day. We had been so busy I had to forego a fifteen minute break just to keep up with restaurant flow.
“Hey, can I ask you for help figuring out my table?”
“Shoot,” he said, placing glasses on the counter.
“I’m waiting on three anthros. One, I know what she is. But I can’t figure the other two. I think they’re dark or ghosts but I’m not sure.”
“Describe them best you can,” he said, twisting open a bottle of flavored fruit syrup.
“First one. Deep blue skin all over. Maybe purplish? White hair. No claws or anything. Eyes are blue red yellow and glowing,” I recalled, trying to think if I’d missed anything on her. “Her eyes kind of remind me of a lava lamp that’s just been powered on.”
Anakoni paused. “Did she have really thick black eyeliner around her eyes?
“I couldn’t tell,” I admitted with a casual shrug as he poured the first drink together.
“Sounds like a Shuppet girl. Those are native to Hoenn or Sinnoh. I can’t remember which off the top of my head. Describe the other?”
“Red-head. Two thick white horns growing out of her head. Face going down to her chest is sheet of paper white. Arms are deep blue grey. The uh, normally white part of the eyes are black with glowing bluish pupils. Brightly glowing.”
Anakoni paused during mixing his second drink. I waited patiently as he squeezed his eyes shut in thought. He was really good at remembering all the different kinds of Pokémon before the evolution event changed most of them into anthros. I was never a trainer or had been that in depth on them myself.
Finally, he sighed and shrugged, resuming shaking the mixer.
“I don’t know that one. Usually, I do. But I’m drawing a blank. No large snout or claws or wings?”
I shook my head.
“Couldn’t tell you.”
He handed me the drinks on a tray with a couple cocktail napkins with a small sigh.
“Sorry bud, it’s rough going for Pokémon trivia experts when there aren’t really Pokémon anymore. Maybe she’ll tell you if you ask?”
I picked the tray up with one hand. “I’m asking you because I didn’t want to ask her.”
He shrugged, “Does it hurt to ask or something?”
“Some of them behave... odd if you can’t tell,” I said, recalling an anthro woman I’d encountered last week who was very colorful who found my inability to identify her an affront. In my defense, I couldn’t tell she used to be a local Muk since I’d never seen one in this area prior. She didn’t even stink horribly.
“Is she acting funny?”
“Kind of hiding herself with the menu. One of those. I might see you soon for refills.”
“Tell them to fire away. Bars empty.” He returned his attention to his phone.
I strolled briskly towards my table, rounding the corner with my practiced pace and-"
“OH!”
-lightly collided with one of the girls from my booth.
"Sorry!!"
“It’s alright,” I assured her, “none of the drinks were spilled.”
It was Sally. The girl had been checking her phone while walking about. I hadn’t realized she was so short, looking up at me with her glowing eyes and a very obvious blush on her face. The way she staggered back was very dramatic - I hadn’t budged back much at all while she nearly fell on her ass.
“Uhm. Can you tell me where the restroom is, please? I wanted to wash my hands before eating,” she said pensively, casting her gaze away from mine.
“Sure!” I said brightly. I swiveled on my heels and pointed opposite of where I was walking. “Make a right down there, and then the ladies room is the second door on the left!”
“Thank you!” Sally replied, as I moved out of her way. As she walked down the hall I stole a moment to look her over. A long, thick tail the same color as her dark grey body snaked out under her shirt, deforming the top of her white capris in the familiar way most tailed anthros wearing pants for human women did so. The tail bobbed back and forth, the tip of it nearly semi transparent, though that may have been a trick of the light as my eyes traveled down her plump calves as she turned the corner.
After she slipped away I resumed heading to the table. Had to stay focused. The two girls were in Sally's vacant spot, posing for a picture together as a pink smartphone floated a couple feet above them. The flash went off as I approached.
“Perfect! Send me that last one!” Sophie said, the two girls shuffling back to their original positions.
Juniper greeted me with an excited little clap.
“Food’s cooking ladies. Just checking in with you while the drinks are being made. Any entree ideas?”
No’s from everyone at the table. I excused myself. Hopefully the platters were ready.
The two giggled after I turned my back to them and headed to the kitchen. I leaned against the wall and peeked into the window, where Mako had his back turned to me on the other side of the room, the sound of the deep fryers bubbling filling the air. Two large black platters rested near him, half filled with tasty looking food.
“Yo,” said a voice behind me. I glanced over my shoulder to see Anakoni approaching me, a grin on his face.
“Hey,”
“Saw those chicks over at your table. Man they are HOT. Were you downplaying that on purpose? Can’t have them all for yourself!”
He punctuated that with a gentle elbow to my side. I snickered at his enthusiasm.
“So which one are you hooking up with?” he leaned against the wall.
“What? None of them?” I said firmly.
Anakoni scoffed. “Come onnn, if I weren’t engaged I’d be talking up those chicks in a heartbeat. They’re so perfect…”
“What’s so special about them over human girls? Anthros are not all perfect.” I said, checking my gear for the time.
“They might as well be!” replied Anakoni. “Can’t get sick. Don’t carry or transmit anything. Can’t get pregnant by accident. Put out like you wouldn’t be-lieve when it comes to us guys. And I don’t know if you noticed, but almost all of them have bods that put normal women to shame.”
“Is all of that true? The first part of what you said?” I clarified, already aware of the anthro population's promiscuity towards humans.
“Saw it on the news. They don’t carry anything so everyone does it raw with the anthros,” he coupled that with a lewd hand expression that almost had me roll my eyes.
“Are you done mixing my drinks yet?” I said pointedly.
“Aaand one beer,” said Anakoni, plopping the can onto my tray with the other two mixed drinks. “Let me know if they want more.”
“Sure man,” I grabbed the drinks board and hoisted it up, walking to the booth. Anakoni had a few good points. I’d disregarded the Pokémon anthro evolution thing as some kind of temporary thing, like a Mega Evolution, that it would wear off after a while and the populations shouldn’t be too alarmed or too eager to settle into the new paradigm. A few Pokémon professors held this view, but they were the minority opinion, and only growing smaller as the weeks changed to months without any of the newly evolved anthros reverting back to feral forms.
Plus… I was single… and many of them weren’t afraid to talk me up, but I’d refrained from engaging in a meaningful relationship with one based on this theory they could all at any minute revert to being ferals again. With my luck it would happen to me mid-coitus.
I cleared those thoughts as I approached the table. Juniper was standing next to the booth as her friend Sally sidled in, her thick tail bent in a U-shape and snaking under the table out of sight. Juniper caught my approach and flicked her head, one of the big green leaves sprouting from her head bobbing out of her eyeline. I glanced at her sarong where I spotted her natural grass skirt of alternating green-yellow leaves encircling her waist. They were short, too, exposing a tantalizing amount of her upper thighs.
As I reached the table Juniper sat herself down with a pleased look on her face. I approached gracefully.
“Here you are. Sour berry cider. Alolan cocktail. Beer and soda.”
“That drink looks amazing! Ahh!” Sophie exclaimed, sitting up in her seat as I set the fancy cocktails down. I provided straws and small napkins as well.
“And the beer…” I said, placing it on a coaster where Sally was seated. “I’ll be back with your appetizers shortly. Ladies.”
The trio thanked me one by one as I passed glasses around.
“If you need anything else from me, just wave me over and let me know!” I said warmly, slipping the now entry tray under my arm.
Sophie took a long, slow sip of her drink, then nodded over to Juniper-Lynn across the table with a knowing look.
“Actually… me and the girls wanted to ask you a question, if you can help with that…” Juniper said coyly.
“Shoot,” I folded my arms, looking down at her expectantly.
“Can you guess what we are?” she asked, playing with the end of the long dangling leaf like it were a lock of hair.
“Hmm…” I rubbed my chin, “You all look like good tippers to me.”
Sally snorted into her drink. Sophie grinned ear to ear and rested her hand against her cheek, propping her head up on one elbow.
“Noooo,” Juniper smiled, picking up her glass to gently swirl the drink. “What we are, or what we used to be, I guess.”
“Well, you’re a Bellossom.”
Juniper nodded, taking a sip from her glass. “Yeah, I’m easy.”
“And your friend Sophie…”
The ghost girl fluttered her eyes at me, pursing her lips slightly as I focused my attention on her.
“Is," I drew the syllable out for dramatic effect, "a... Shuppet.”
“That’s right! Wow! Humans never get that so fast! One more guess for my friend Sally!” she exclaimed, looking genuinely pleased. Then, she glanced at her right to the redhead, who seemed to shrink in her seat a little bit. Undeterred, Sophie slid down the cushion to put an arm around Sally so quickly the girl nearly spilled her drink. “Guess for her!”
“What do you think Sally used to be…?” Juniper said in a bit of a sing-songy voice.
I paused for a moment. Looking her over, much more directly like this, still wasn’t ringing a bell. I looked over her shock of red hair, set between the large white horns on her head, and her pale face trying to find a clue. Naturally, I got to scope out her bust. While hers wasn’t the largest of the three (Sophie had her beat) she more than generously filled out that top, baring several inches of tight, white cleavage framed against her dark skin and jet black clothing. Her glowing eyes bounced about between her friends nervously, put on the spot as she was, but I held my gaze to try and make an earnest guess.
I was under the impression that she’d gone through this little guessing game before.
Right as I was about to give up I noticed a subtle movement at the crown of her head. There was a faint, undulating whisp emanating there, in the same manner of her tail. Semi-transparent. Wavy.
I pointed a finger back and forth between Sally and Sophie. “You’re both ghosts?”
“Sally's only half-ghost,” Juniper chimed in. Sally tilted her head to give a sharp look at Juniper and I caught a spot of red on one of her horns. Silhouetted against her horn, I realized it was in the unmistakable shape of a leaf. It clicked.
“Oh! Phantump!”
Sophie clapped her hands together and squealed out in surprise. Juniper tilted her head back with a groan, and Sally, released from her friend's grip, immediately returned to her drink, her pale white face nearly as scarlet as her leafy hair.
“Pay up, bitch!” Sophie said with a smug grin.
Juniper reached into her cleavage and dug out a collection of crumpled up bills, tossing them lightly across the table.
“I usually never lose that bet,” said Juniper with a soft smile, returning to her cocktail. “How’d you know?”
“I watched a TV special while aboard one of the island ferries once that covered ghosts of the mainland. It was pretty thorough,” I shrugged.
“Usually humans can’t tell because Sally is ‘shiny’ which throws them off!” Sophie said, counting her winnings.
“Most people are used to seeing brown and green,” I agreed. I was no expert, but I was somewhat thrown by the striking colors of her body.
DING DING!
I excused myself from the table as the girls broke into hushed tittering. The chef was leaning on the order window with his eyes locked to mine as I approached.
“They order anything else?” he asked as I neared.
“Nothing yet.”
Mako grunted. “I padded out the appetizer trays with extra everything,” he pulled himself back, and planted the two platters on the ledge, “maybe they fill up on this and just ask for desserts over dinner. Make my life a little easier.”
‘Will bring up… the dessert specials when I get… over there,” I said, balancing the trays best as I could.
“Good. I’m going to start cleaning up,” he wiped his brow with a rag and disappeared back into the kitchen.
Walking back to the table I heard a chorus of giggling and tittering about. They fell to hushed whispers as I approached, and the girls cleared the table's center of condiments, shakers and menus for me.
“Platter one aaaand… platter two,” I set them down with a loud clank, the assortment of freshly cooked foods still sizzling out of the fryer. “Dig in! Call me if you need anything!”
“Kay,” they all said in near unison. I departed briskly back to the bar. Anakoni was busy cleaning the countertop. I hopped on a stool and planted my arms next to where he was wiping.
“How’s it going?” I asked.
Anakoni twisted the towel into a narrow tube and whapped my elbow with it. I chuckled and lifted my arms out the way.
“Where’s the boss?” I asked.
“Cut out like 15 minutes ago with some of the other staff. I’ll be gone soon too,” he said, squirting a glob of pink liquid soap into his rag.
“You pick out one of those girls to take home yet?”
“I’m sure that’s what you’ve been thinking about,” I retorted with a snort.
“Nah no way! I wouldn’t settle for only picking out just one,” he shot me a crude grin. “There’s enough Anakoni to go around for the three of them.”
“Hah-hah,” I said derisively.
Anakoni shut his eyes and smiled. “Hey, it’s not out of the realm of possibility.”
“Pfft.”
“Hey, but if you had to pick just one. Which? Just humor me,” he pressed, moving further down the bartop.
I thought about it for a minute. Cycling the trio of girls in my head. They were all attractive in their own ways, curvy, busty, cute faces and voices, but as I focused my thoughts I found myself drawn to the quietest of the three, Sally. Something about her cute blushy face, striking appearance and expressions circled my thoughts heavier than the other two.
“The redhead,” I said firmly, “how about you if you could only have one?”
“Ah, the bellossom girl,” he said without missing a beat.
“Really?”
“I could stare into those baby blue eyes of hers all day,” he said thoughtfully, then added with a sly grin. “And keep my hands on those hips allllll night.”
At that I couldn’t help break into a snicker.
“What? Those hips don’t lie,” he finished wiping down the end of the counter, tossing the rag into a small red pail.
We continued chatting amicably for the next ten minutes, talking about random shit: overseas news, neighboring island events, hottest anthro girl you’d seen, the local supermodel who Anakoni swears winked at him 3 weeks ago when he’d crossed paths with her in the city. During his well-rehearsed recountment of that moment I glanced over at the booth to see if my table needed anything. Juniper was holding a loaded potato skin in one hand, speaking eagerly with Sophie, who was nursing her jumbo cocktail glass. Sally was busily texting away on her smartphone, the light blue of the screen illuminating her features, and as I stared her bright eyes glanced up and met mine.
I nodded my head upwards, acknowledging I noticed her, but instead of beckoning me over for a refill she gave me a dainty little wave with her fingers and smiled warmly at me.
I smiled back at her and resumed listening to Anakoni and his rambling story about how he almost could have gotten with that dragon girl. My table would be fine for another few minutes.
I strolled over to the table once Anakoni popped open his register to start counting his drawer. The platters were mostly empty, save for the parmesan coated fried mushrooms which looked virtually untouched. I knew for a fact those were only on the platter because we can’t entice customers to try them as a solo dish.
“So," I paused, giving them a moment, "how was it? Everything good?”
“One hundred percent.”
“It was excellent!”
“Tastiest appetizers ever!”
The plates and most of the drinks were empty. I pulled out my pad and pencil, “Interested in any refills? Desserts?”
“We’ll just have the check,” said Juniper, popping a berry from her drink into her mouth.
“Great! I’ll be right back with the check!” I did a heel turn and made for the register, stopping at the kitchen window to alert Mako there were no further orders. He nodded, locked up the dessert fridge, and started unbuttoning his apron. I punched in their orders, grabbed the slips of paper the printer spat out and a pen, and walked back over to the table.
I slowed on my approach. Only one girl was still seated at the booth.
Sally peered up at me from her smartphone, putting it away as I approached. She had shifted into the spot her friend Sophie had been sitting.
“Stuck you with the check?” I smiled warmly.
Sally loosed an airy little laugh, her long tail flicking upwards, “They’ve already sent me what they owe.”
“Good!" I said brightly, as she handed me her charge card, our fingers lightly brushing together as I accepted it. As I completed the payment with my device I glanced at the table. One of the skinnier empty drink glasses had been filled with crumpled dollar bills, stabbed through with one of the umbrella garnishes. Cute.
“And we’re all finished, you have a great rest of your night,” I handed her the receipt, and she pensively rolled it up into a tight tube, stuffing it between her stark white cleavage.
“Thank you!” she said quickly, hopping out of her seat to make for the door. I followed her departure, watching her tail wagging to and fro as she left, her hips swaying in that hypnotic fashion women with her figure do. I exhaled a breath I didn’t realize I was holding in when the door shut behind her.
Maybe I did need to get back into the dating game…
After I’d finished cleaning up the tablet I worked quickly with Anakoni to finish closing the restaurant, hitting lights, doing the register, printing out the day's take and other minor tasks. Both he and the chef had parked out behind the restaurant which left me to handle the front door -which was fine, as I’d parked out front anyway in a spot that was technically not a real parking space. The owner had set up a few of these phantom parking spots just for the sake of employees running short on time. Good man he was.
After I’d changed out of my uniform to my street clothes I threw open the front door, punched in the alarm, and locked the door. Once I’d heard the triple chime from inside I stashed the key in my pocket. I turned around and stretched.
Sweet freedom.
The night breeze blew through my hair. It was warm, but not hot. Perfect weather. I hit the remote start on my car to get the engine warmed up. Pulling out my phone, I slowly walked forwards and to the left where there was some outdoor seating. Big, soft sofas, wicker benches and plush armchairs meant as a waiting area and not for dining. I was so absorbed in checking my feeds I almost didn’t notice there was someone lounging on one of the cushioned rockers.
“Oh… hey!”
It was Sally. The girl was sitting cross legged in one of the larger chairs, sandals laying in a small pile in front of her on the wooden floor.
“Hi,” I replied, somewhat surprised at her presence. I’d thought she was long gone ten minutes ago. “You good?”
“The drink was a bit stronger than I was used to. I'm kind of a lightweight,” she said sheepishly, tilting her head to the side. “Just catching a breather. It’s nice out.”
I leaned against the wooden railing near her, but not too close to where I was on top of the girl. I was keenly aware of how much shorter she was than me and didn’t want to come across weird.
“I don’t think the beer you ordered was too strong. Though I’ll admit I don’t drink that brand,” I mused, still kind of idly playing with my phone.
“My friends got me to try their drinks. When I told them they were tasty I kind of kept having more of it,” she admitted. I noticed her cheeks were somewhat flushed while she spoke. Sally was so cute. Her voice had a tinge of raspiness to it that came through more when she raised her pitch. Earlier inside I hadn’t really picked up on it among the chatter between her two friends.
I cast a glance around the lot. Aside from my idling sedan the area was empty.
“You waiting for your friends to come pick you up?” I asked, deciding to put my phone away.
“Those two are long gone. We got a lift here from some local dude. I’ll float home once I feel a bit better,” Sally said, arching her back, stretching her arms high above her head and squeezing her eyes shut. I spotted the pink edge of the receipt paper peeking out of her pale bosom. I really needed to stop stealing glances at her-
Wait. What did she say?
“Float?” I asked as she finished her stretch with a deep sigh.
Sally smiled at me proudly. “Yeah! Check this out.”
With a practiced motion Sally swung her legs out straight, holding them tightly together, and she gripped both sides of her shorts with her hands.
Instantly her legs cleanly transitioned into a long ghostly tail. It was twice as long as her legs were, and the tail extended out clean through the wooden railing into a semi transparent wisp similar to the other wispy parts of her. I’d never seen anything like it before and was vaguely aware of my mouth hanging open. After a couple more seconds her ghostly tail morphed back to the shape of her legs. Her usual tail flopped back into place.
“Impressed?” she asked me.
“Wow!” I blurted out, still in awe at what I’d seen.
“One of those things I can do that Sophie can’t,” Sally said proudly, adjusting her shorts and pulling them back down to mid-thigh.
“Really cool!
“Thanks!”
The conversation dipped for a moment. Silence filled the crisp night air while I turned over my head about what to say next. Before the silence could become awkward I sprang another question unto her.
“How long are you going to wait here?”
Sally shrugged, “About 10 minutes-ish. Is that cool? I heard the alarm beeping in there so if it’s not then-”
“No worries! The porch is fine. Actually, mind if I sit? Been on my feet all day,” I gestured to the open cushion next to her.
“Oh! Yeah! It’s cool. After all, you work here so of course it’s cool,” Sally tittered out a nervous giggle, leaning back and propping a leg up on the railing herself. My eyes flitted down the curves of her thigh to the gentle swell of her calf. She was very shapely… something said about her earlier crossed my mind.
“So you’re a boat mechanic?”
“Huh?” Sally cast a quizzical look at me, then flopped her head back. “Oh right. I forgot Soph said that.”
“She called you greasy. Hard to forget that word when it’s not in the restaurant business.”
“Tch. Sophie…” the ghost girl rolled her glowing blue eyes. “Honestly it’s a cool job. I like boats. I like being on boats, and fixing them isn’t too bad. Like, for a human, it’s a big pain in the ass. Engine access. Disassembly and re-assembly. It takes forever. Well, for a human. Being able to phase my arms and stuff through steel to pop a hose or gear into place makes a lot of the slow jobs really quick. Almost easy. Sometimes it’s just that.”
Sally punctuated that by lifting her arm up for me and showing her hand going nearly fully transparent, then more solid as the transparency traveled down her forearm while her hand resumed its more opaque state.
I made an interested hum and nodded my head. I didn't want to sound like a kid ooing and ahhing at her.
“And other times?”
“Other times, the part is broken and we have to wait on replacements to ship, which takes forever,” Sophie blew a raspberry. “I could be the world's fastest boat mechanic and still have most of my work stuck because stores don’t have parts.”
I nodded emphatically. “Sounds like the kind of problem that kills your workday."
“That, plus my paycheck, since I’m only paid for the work I do,” she grumbled. “Some days they don’t have work for me so I’m just… wandering around the beach.”
I held my tongue as she muttered something about harnesses or wiring.
“But hey, at least it beats out working at a dumb restaurant,” she said quickly.
“Ouch.”
Sally snorted, staring into the sky for another couple seconds, then gasped and whipped her head to me, her eyes tiny white pinpricks
“Omigosh! I didn’t mean it like that!” she belted out fast as she could, apologetically holding up her hands.
“It’s cool! I’m not actually upset at you,” I assured her with a wide grin. My current job wasn’t a cakewalk but it wasn’t torturous either.
“You sure?” she asked me, her eyes studying my face.
“One Hundo Percent.”
Sally exhaled, slumping back in her chair. “Sorry… I can get a little wound up. Still not totally used to this.. talking with humans thing. Sometimes I say the wrong thing or misunderstand…”
I watched her long tail flick upwards sharply at her last word, then slowly fall back down to its prior state, nearly grazing the floor.
“Can I ask you something?”
“G’head,” answered Sally.
“How come you don’t work with your friends? Instead of being a boat mechanic. I’ve never been one but it seems like the kind of job where you’re either alone or talking to upset customers or managers,” I asked, folding my leg to a more comfortable position.
No response for a couple seconds. I silently played with my shoelaces while I waited.
“Sophie… is nice,” Sally sounded like she was chewing those words, “but she does kind of get on my nerves. You don’t know her, but she’s like, very bossy, and on top of you… and she does this thing where she says the wrong thing to you or in front of you, but does it on purpose, to like, provoke. To just see a reaction. Sometimes she denies that she knows what she said wasn’t right but other times she’ll just admit it. And I don’t want to be around somebody for seven to nine hours who’s like that…”
Sophie paused, glancing over to see if I was listening.
“She’s okay in like, short bursts, or a few hours. I can handle that much of her. But I don’t have many friends yet, and I feel like, if I worked with her, then eventually I would have one less when I really need one….”
The anthro population was so new that I frequently forgot they all used to be feral creatures not too long ago. They all behaved so naturally. Well, most of them here on Alola did at least. There were some crazy stories coming in overseas about the reformation of organized gangs like Rocket.
“What about your other friend? Uh, Juney?” I said with a wince, hoping that was her name.
“I don’t really know her too well. Sophie met her a month ago when she was interviewing for a nightclub job. They hit it off pretty well. Honestly, Sophie is great at making friends - making connections with people."
Sally flicked her tail into the air again. “Her friends have to be everyone else’s friends sooo…. I’m friends with Juniper now. But only because of Sophie making it happen. Which… I don’t know. I like her. I think she’s cool. She’s like me more than some other Pokemon. We all kind of share typing between us. Is it weird that it being forced bothers me a little even despite all of that? Am I being weird about it?”
I heard a buzzing sound followed by a digital bell chime. Sally pulled her phone from one of her pockets, briefly checked the screen, then put it away silently.
Not knowing what to say to all that I held my tongue.
Eventually, Sally looked up at me with her glowing baby blues. “Sorry for trauma dumping all that onto you. You don’t need that.”
“Nah it’s cool. Besides, traumadumping is more serious than that. You’re just venting. Everyone needs to vent sometimes. Especially if it's about friends you can’t vent to,” I offered, hoping she’d feel less pensive about it.
“Okay,” she replied, looking relieved. Her face broke into a small, cute smile.
That whole time however I had been leaning on my right arm. To prevent it from fully falling asleep I stretched both arms out high above my head. After feeling both come back to life I dropped them to my side. Because I wasn’t paying attention, I dropped my left hand right on top of Sally's tail.
“Ooh! My bad!” I said, pulling my hand away.
“S’fine. It’s just my tail. It doesn’t do anything,” she said plainly, looking at it and making the length of it lift up off the bench. The width of it leading to her lower back was thicker than my forearm - roughly comparable to the size of a 1 liter bottle of sodapop.
I watched as her tail rose high into the air above me, then flopped back into the spot where I had touched it.
“Still not used to anthros with tails. I wasn’t sure if touching one was like… taboo? Or something?” I admitted, not really sure where I was getting that from. It made sense before I said it out loud.
“It’s not a big deal. It’s like the part of me I worry the least about being touched since it’s so big and long and sticks out of me the way it does,” Sally said casually, wiggling it around for me, then deliberately pressing it against my leg. “You can touch it. Everyone wants to because of how it fades.”
I gave Sally one more look just to be sure and with her approving nod, I did as she asked and rested my hand on it.
It was warm, dark and smooth. I couldn't feel any odd bumps or hairs. Weirdly it reminded me of the armrest of a high quality leather couch. One that was brand new and yet to be worn out.
“What’s it like having a tail?” I asked, not really intending it to be a question directed at her. I just kind of said it.
“Annoying. I knock over things sometimes. Certain chairs are a pain to sit in. Makes finding pants a chore. Sometimes it gets caught in a door,” Sally dryly rattled off her list of anatomical related complaints with a wiggle of her fingers. “It’s a part of me I care for the least.”
“There’s a girl in town. Anthro girl who took over one of the boutique clothing stores who I think makes custom clothing for anthros. You ever seen her?” I asked, still exploring her tail. It narrowed the closer my hand traveled to its tip, and I was mesmerized by the way her tail lowered in opacity the farther down it went.
“No. But I know where that is,” she exhaled slowly, eyes fluttering shut. “It’s called Keckler something. Always packed. Availability never. So I just go to the thrift stores or the market on Sunday like everyone else… does…”
My fingers made it all the way to her tail tip, which was nearly fully transparent. I held it up with one hand, gently rubbing it between my thumb and forefinger.
“Mmm… that feels good,” she coo’d softly.
I snapped out of my fascinated rubbing to look over at her face. There was an unmistakable look of bliss on her face. I paused, and Sally opened her eyes with an embarrassed grin.
“Nobody pets your tail like that?” I asked her, letting her tail go. The last quarter end of it waggled steady in the air.
Sally laughed softly. “No. Are you jealous of my tail? Wishing you had one now?”
“Not in the restaurant business. I’d be knocking over waiters day by day until I was fired,” I joked, placing my hands together on my lap. I didn’t know where else to put them, but part of me was getting ideas.
“Are any of your human friends envious of your tail?” I followed up.
“Mmmhh,” Sally tilted her head. “I don’t have any human friends. Right now I’ve got two anthro friends.”
I nodded. “The friends who ditched you earlier, right.”
Sally snickered. “They’re both going to work. Well, Sophie is. Juney is just going there to hang out with Soph.”
“Honestly? I’m surprised you only have two friends. You’re very sweet,” I complimented her.
“Thank you, you’re sweet too,” she replied warmly, shifting in her seat. Was she moving closer to me? “I feel like it’s more difficult to make friends compared to other anthro girls. I’ve got kind of a scary face.”
It didn’t look scary right now with her timid smile and blushed cheeks. I sidled closer to her, my upper leg pressing against her tail, which had stopped its wagging with my movement.
“Do you… feel better?” I asked, my voice low.
“Yes… a lot better…” she inched closer, her face close to mine now. “You really know how to make a girl feel… liked…”
I leaned into her, my lips meeting hers, head tilted just so to meet her comfortably. Our kiss was soft, tender, and not at all alien or weird. It was very much like kissing any other woman I could remember in the past. The closeness granted me a chance to pick up what I thought to be her natural scent, a crisp, saccharine aroma I smelled once on a visit to the mainland where the leaves change and fall to the ground.
After a delicate few more seconds, we parted from the kiss. I hadn’t even noticed her hand resting on my shoulder, her touch was so light. I looked into her glowing blue-white eyes, her open just slightly, panting softly, face a mad blush.
“I’m… not sure what came over me there I…” she stammered with a gasp.
“Don’t,” I caressed her arm, skin smooth like her tail. “I wanted to as well..” I really didn’t know what else to say.
Sally bit her lip, looking at me with an expression I couldn’t quite read, and brought her other hand up to my face, slowly at first, as if unsure of her action, before resting it on my cheek.
“In that case…” she said carefully, “I wouldn’t mind doing that again…”
We leaned into each other again, closer this time, her chest heaving against her tight black top as my chest compressed gently into hers, tilting her head and shutting her eyes as I went to meet her once again.
BZZZZZZZT!! BZZZZZZZZZT!!!
DING!
“Damnit…” she whispered, inches away from another kiss. Sally exhaled as she pulled away, digging out her phone to check the screen. She made a small frustrated little groan before stowing it away.
“I have to go,” she breathed, looking like every ounce of her was fighting to say anything else. “But… I want to see you again. If that’s cool.”
“When are you free again?” I asked.
“One week from today,” she said unhappily, shoulders sagging. “But if you’re free tomorrow in the afternoon… come visit me down by Pier 11 where the bigger yachts are parked. Moored. I’ll be done working around that time. We can hang out.”
My heart skipped a beat when she said that. “I’ll swing by to meet you there.”
“Awesome!” she said, pulling her sandals off and holding them together in one hand. I stood up, letting her walk past me. “If you can’t find me, ask Blonde Ron where I am and he’ll point you to a boat.”
“Gotcha,” I said earnestly. Holy shit I landed a date! “I’ll see you then!” I said, reaching for my car keys in my pocket. I didn’t feel them. I checked my other pocket and didn’t feel them either.
“See you!” she smiled, stepping away from the porch.
I looked away from her wondering where they went, actually looking at my pants pocket before pausing. The chair. My keys probably slipped into the cushions. I walked over, pulled up the one I had been sitting on, and promptly spotted the black rectangle. I could probably give her a ride home or to wherever.
“Hey Sally would you be…” I trailed off, turning around and not seeing her walking down the parking lot. I stared, confused, then some movement above me caught my eye.
I spotted Sally up in the night sky, her silhouette crossing the full moon, a dark ghostly shape floating away from me.
Clarity hit me like a brick. I was going on a date with a ghost tomorrow?