Volume 1 - Harpy Heaven, Chapter 6 - Getting Fresh

“Wake up, Haru!” Yuisu shouted from the doorway. This was her third attempt to get Haru up and it looked like she’d have to resort to drastic measures. She approached Haru’s pillow-nest and said, “Come on. We need to get going to the grocery store, since we don’t even have enough to eat for breakfast.”

Haru was curled in up in the center of her nest of blankets and pillows, wearing only underwear and a tank top, as per usual. She was adorable like that, and a bit sexy, so Yuisu felt a little guilty disturbing her.

She grabbed Haru under both arms and started to pull her towards the door. Haru was surprisingly light for her size and Yuisu got her mostly out of the nest before she started to wake and struggle. In her half-asleep state, she latched her talons onto the futon that formed the floor of her nest. Soon it was being dragged along too.

“Haru, we need to go buy food, since you ate all the meat in the house. Would you rather starve?”

That finally got through. “We woulda been jus’ fine if I was any good as a hunter,” she mumbled as she fought off a yawn and sat up. “I was out all last night and couldn’t catch a single thing.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself. It’s the middle of winter and most things are hibernating. And besides, you don’t need to hunt for ALL our meat. This is what grocery stores are for!” Yuisu reached for Haru’s clothes dresser. “Let’s get some pants on you and get going.”

Haru pushed Yuisu towards the door. “I can dress myself. At least give me that much independence today,” she said with a smirk.

Haru and Yuisu climbed into the front of Yuisu’s little red two-seater truck. It was a bit tight for Haru’s wings but much better than riding outside in the truck bed. The sky was clear and the snow on the road was mostly melted away, so the drive to town was uneventful. The red pickup pulled up at the grocery store at nine o’clock on the dot.

Haru got out of the truck and stretched out to her full five-yard wingspan. The few people milling around the parking lot had already started to stare.

Yuisu waited for Haru to finish stretching and started towards the grocery entrance. “Sorry about the gawkers, Haru. Most people up here have probably only seen liminals on TV, or not at all. Country folk are pretty polite though, so I doubt we’ll have any problems.”

As expected, people were polite. Perhaps excessively so. The store’s staff were practically falling over themselves making sure Haru’s every need was met. The government requirements for stores to start accommodating extraspecies visitors were clearly on their minds.

Everything went smoothly until Yuisu pushed her cart up next to the meat counter and peered into the refrigerated case.

“What is that awful smell?” Haru’s face scrunched up in displeasure, then she gasped. “It’s that meat! You can’t actually be considering buying any of that!”

Yuisu stepped back, startled. “Why? It all looks fine to me, and I bet they just put it out an hour ago.”

“It isn’t even close to fresh! Who knows when that animal was killed.” She scoffed. “Judging by the smell, two-weeks ago and in another country. Ugh.”

Other shoppers had started to gather around and murmur. The employee behind the counter was particularly flustered and kept opening and closing his mouth, unsure of what to do. He couldn’t risk further upsetting this extraspecies woman, but he needed to assure the other customers that the meat was safe to buy.

Yuisu saw all of this and pulled Haru into a huddle. She whispered, “Calm down, Haru. You’re upsetting people. This kind of meat is normal for humans, but we won’t buy it if you don’t want it.”

“Ugh, really? Human culture is bizarre… So where can we get good meat then, miss Yuisu?”

“Let’s just finish with our other groceries and then we’ll go to a real butcher’s shop.” She turned and addressed the gathered crowd. “Sorry everyone. Just a bit of culture shock, just like that time I tried to get good seafood in the United States.” A few people nodded or laughed knowingly and the crowd dispersed.

Yuisu grabbed the last few non-meat things on her grocery list and made for the front of the store. The checker was strangely clumsy as he scanned their items. Yuisu noticed his eyes constantly flicking up at Haru, then back down at his hands. His forehead was dripping sweat and his hands were shaking. Yuisu elbowed Haru and whispered, “The poor guy is gonna have a meltdown. Say something to him. Show him you’re just a girl.”

Haru smiled widely and cleared her throat. The checker, Yamada according to his name tag, slowly raised his eyes and looked at Haru.

“I don’t bite, you know,” she cooed. Then she reached out and ran a feather down the side of his face. “Unless you want me to…”

Yamada’s face went pure red and he swallowed audibly.

Yuisu elbowed Haru again, harder. “Not helping!” she hissed. Then she bowed her head at Yamada and apologized, “Sorry about my friend. Ignore her.”

The poor boy managed to stumble through the rest of the transaction without so much as looking at Haru again. Only when they were on their way out of the store did he look up, just in time to see Haru’s head turned all the way around and looking straight back at him. She gave him a smile, a little wave, and a wiggle of her hips.

The butcher shop was less than five minutes from the grocery store, on the side of town closer to home. As they parked the truck, a furry-eared man exited the store with a large brown-paper-wrapped bundle under one arm. He called out, “Thanks again, Sam! Seeya next week!” and climbed into a car of his own. Yuisu guessed he was a kobold, especially since he was out on his own. The kobold society had integrated far faster than most liminals and got some special privileges from human governments. Their wealth of natural resources seemed to play a large part in that.

Haru stepped into the shop and immediately noticed how different things were from the grocery store. All kinds of meat lined the walls, but every cut of meat was fresh and pristine.

“Welcome to my shop.” WHAM! “The name’s Sam.” WHAM! “What can I do for you ladies?” A bulky bald man spoke to them from the back of the room, in between chopping into a large slab of meat with a cleaver. WHAM!

Yuisu stepped closer to the counter that ran across the room, separating the customers from the butcher’s block. “We came to check out your selection. Haru here”—she gestured at Haru—“wasn’t satisfied with the quality of meat at the grocery.”

“Ha ha ha!” His laugh practically shook the room. “Of course not.” He grinned at Haru. “I bet you see right through all those nitrites and preservatives they use to make crappy meat seem fresh. A real predator, in tune with nature, knows best.”

Haru actually blushed a bit at the compliment and she approached the counter too. “I can already tell your quality is far better here. Got any cuts you’d recommend today?”

Twenty minutes of chatting later, Yuisu and Haru said goodbye to Sam. They bought enough beef and lamb for a week’s meals, and at a great price too. As Yuisu started the truck she said, “You really hit it off with that butcher.”

“Well, yeah. We have shared interests after all.”

Yuisu turned the truck onto the dirt road that lead home. “And what about the guy at the grocery store? You flirted with him, and I didn’t see any signs of shared interests…”

Haru tilted her head, wondering where Yuisu was driving the conversation. “Yeah, so? I’m an equal opportunity tease.” Haru narrowed her eyes. “What are you getting at, miss Yuisu?”

Yuisu sighed. “Alright, I’m just going to be blunt, and you already know where I stand. Are you attracted to guys or girls?”

“It’s not that simple. Unless it’s mating season, I don’t really have much, you know, drive.” She turned away and looked out the passenger window. “But I do prefer the company of girls… year round.”