Volume 7 - Clutching Coils, Chapter 40 - Ragnarok Now

"If you'll just sign here, here, and… here," the surveyor said as he pointed at the form on the clipboard.

Yuisu looked at the man with an entirely baffled expression. "If I sign that, you'll do… what?" She had opened the door to find a two man surveying crew on her porch, complete with construction helmets, but they had yet to explain why they were there.

"We'll start surveying, of course. We've gotta wrap up our work quickly so the other crews can come in and do their parts of the build. And don't worry about money, miss. It's all been paid up-front by Agent Will."

At the mention that name, Yuisu tensed up and clenched her jaw, but she tried very hard to be patient with the surveyor. It isn't this guy's fault that Agent Will dropped some sort of construction project on me out of nowhere…

She took a deep breath, then said, "Sorry for all the questions, but I'm still fuzzy on the details." Understatement of the century. I have no effing clue what's going on. She forced a smile and asked, "Can you just tell me what is being built and where?"

The man shrugged and smiled. "Oh, sure thing, miss. It'll be some sort of outbuilding, next to your hot spring. Pretty big, but I ain't sure of the internal construction. We just do surveying, you see." He looked at his watch, then said, "A work crew is scheduled to show up in a few hours and clear the trees and level the area, and I think another team is actually breaking ground on construction tomorrow."

Yuisu was struggling to process all of the news. Why is Agent Will paying for a new building on my land? We already have two open guest rooms for more homestays. Yuisu cringed at the thought of more guests. It had been less than a week since Froze and Kehp had left, and she was enjoying the relative calm of having a 'mere' four monstergirls in the house.

The surveyor fidgeted with his pen and clipboard, unsure what to do about the zoned-out woman in front of him. "Uh, miss? Can you sign this? We really are on a short timetable."

Yuisu shook herself back to reality. "Oh, sorry. Got lost in thought there for a second." She took the clipboard and quickly signed her name on all the indicated lines. As the surveyor thanked her and started away, Yuisu was struck by a thought. What if Agent Will is just adding more facilities to the hot spring? I told him about my eventual plans for a resort up here. Could this be Agent Will's way of thanking me for putting up with his crap?

After three days of constant construction on the mysterious building, Yuisu and the other girls were beyond curious. They had tried to get ahold of Agent Will, but he wasn't answering his phone, so he was probably out of town again. When a brand new crew of workers pulled into the driveway in a truck loaded with tools, Yuisu questioned the crew leader about what the end result would be.

The dark skinned man shook his head. "I've got no idea. We're just here to install the plumbing."

Yuisu couldn't help but frown. "Aww, thanks anyway." I guess we know it will have plumbing now. Yay?

The man paused in thought, then added, "I guess one thing of note is that we're supposed to tap into that hot spring and pipe the hot water through the floor as a form of radiant heating. Pretty clever idea, but hardly seems worth the cost." He shrugged. "Well, I ain't gonna tell the people paying me how to spend their money."

As the man walked away towards the fenced off construction site, Yuisu ran inside to tell the other girls. They gathered in the living room and she filled them in on the one new clue: the hot-water floor heating.

The tendril over Quess's head wiggled as she thought, sending her generous bosom jiggling. "Hmm. That may be an even bigger clue that we first thought. That radiant heating system would keep that building toasty warm even in the winter. What kind of liminal would need a very warm home year-round?"

"A cold-blooded one," Haru answered. She snuggled up against Yuisu with one wing around her shoulders. "They'd have a terrible time up here in the mountains normally. Even with the heater going in the house, it can get pretty chilly."

Yuisu nodded. "Good point. Agent Will must be sending a cold-blooded liminal to live here. A lizardman, or a lami—"

Mara interrupted. "Forget about all that stuff! What about the hot spring?! They're stealing the water to heat this new building, right?"

"Calm down, Mara," Tsuen said, setting a hand lovingly on Mara's head. "I'm sure there's more than enough hot water for both. A lot of the hot water was going to waste anyway."

Haru raised a wing. "I've got another piece of info for us. I flew over the construction site today, and it is bigger than I was expecting."

Yuisu turned her head and looked up at Haru's face. "Just how big is it?"

"Hmm, about 40 by 60 feet, I'd guess. And the roof looked tall too, so I'm guessing pretty high ceilings. My guess is that a very large reptilian liminal is coming to live with us."

Tsuen went stiff and a shiver ran down her body. Mara peered up at her and asked, "Are you okay, Tsuen?"

Tsuen's voice went low and quiet. "Are, are there any, uh, dinosaur liminals? What if it's a carnivorous dinosaur, like... " She swallowed hard. "… a tyrannosaurus rex." She hid her face in her hands and leaned against Mara for comfort.

"Calm down, Tsuen," Mara said, echoing Tsuen's words from a moment ago. She gently patted Tsuen's side and continued, "The new houseguest isn't going to hurt you. Me and Haru and Froze are carnivores, and we never once tried to eat you."

A few days of fast-tracked construction later, the new building was complete, but no one had arrived to live in it.

All of the girls were on their way up the wooden walkway to the hot spring when Yuisu stopped at the entrance. "You know what?" Yuisu asked rhetorically. "It's my property, so I'm going to go ahead and take a look around inside that new building. Anyone want to join me?"

"Ooh, me, me!" Mara cheered, bouncing around on her eight springy legs.

Haru was also very curious, and Tsuen and Quess decided to join too. There was a new addition onto the wooden walkway and they followed that a short distance uphill to the new building.

The log-sided building was tucked behind some trees and its construction had cut into the hillside a bit, so it didn't look very big from the front. Yuisu opened the massive door and turned on the lights and the other four followed her in. Everything was new and clean and it still smelled faintly of fresh paint.

The front door opened into a simple kitchenette and three double-wide doorways split off from there. Everything was very spacious, so even a very large liminal would be able to move around easily.

Haru looked around with wide eyes, impressed by how well constructed it all was considering it had been built in just a couple weeks. "This sure makes the work we did on our wooden path look pitiful in comparison. Those construction crews sure did an amazing job."

Mara opened the first door, which happened to be the bathroom, and peered inside. "Wowww, this place is huge," she called back to the other girls. "It's got a big shower and a toilet that looks like it could withstand an elephant."

Tsuen glanced over the kitchenette, but it was pretty sparse, with little more than a fridge and a microwave. The building was clearly not meant to operate on its own, but it would be a convenient haven for a large liminal to relax in.

The whole group looked into the last two rooms, which were identical bedrooms. The ceilings were over twelve feet high and the rooms were huge and open. Each one was furnished with a large chest of drawers and a very massive and sturdy bed. Mara immediately climbed on the bed and started to bounce.

Yuisu shrugged. "Well, that's that. It looks like Agent Will decided we needed to be ready for up to two big extraspecies guests. I'll keep trying to get ahold of him, but until I do, let's just leave this house alone." With the last few words, Yuisu cast a glare at Mara, who was still jumping on the bed.

"Aww, fun ruiner," Mara whined, then leapt from the bed and landed solidly on the floor.

All five women made their way back down to the hot spring, where they stripped and sunk into the relaxing heat of the water. Being a slime, Quess couldn't hold herself together in that much water, so she just relaxed in the steamy air, enjoying the company and the scenery. The night air was cool and the sky was clear and dark, with thousands of stars sparkling high overhead.

In typical fashion, Haru and Yuisu went together to the far side of the crescent shaped pool. The hot spring usually put Yuisu in a lovey mood, and the other girls had learned to leave the lovebirds be when they snuck off like that. Quess could enjoy the pheromones and tantric energy from where she was, anyway.

Mara paddled up to Tsuen and snuggled against her. They'd been dating for a couple months now, but they were usually pretty private about their relationship. Mara's brash personality had forced Tsuen to open up a bit, and in turn Tsuen had helped Mara overcome her fear of the outdoors. Mara still didn't like the open sky, but if she could hold onto Tsuen, she felt safe.

Tsuen rested an arm on Mara's shoulders. The little arachne had cuddled up against Tsuen and seemed to be trying to hold on with as many legs as possible. "You're a cutie, Mara."

Mara grinned up at the centaur. "And you're a beauty," she said as she eyed Tsuen's toned stomach and bare breasts. Mara didn't have much in the chest department, but she sure did love other boobs. She wiggled her fingers and reached teasingly for Tsuen's breasts, but Tsuen brushed her hands aside with a giggle.

"Not now, Mara. Let's just relax for a while."

Mara nodded but kept smiling. 'Not now' totally means 'later'. I'm gonna get some fondlin' tonight! she thought as she leaned her head back against the soft brown fur of Tsuen's side.

Mara was still riled up, but she didn't want to annoy Tsuen by being too grabby. Instead, she started a conversation. "We should come up with a name for that new building, so we can distinguish between it and the old house. Maybe 'The Mansion', or 'Hot Spring House'."

While they talked, a dark shape rose over the fence that lined the uphill side of the hot spring.

"How about, 'the cabin', since it's got that log-themed siding on the outside?" Quess suggested. "And the main house can just be 'the house'."

Higher and higher the shadow loomed, unnoticed by everyone against the dark backdrop of trees and the cabin's roof.

Tsuen nodded appreciatively. "I like that. It's simple and easy to remember," she said, then she saw something out of the corner of her eye: a sparkle of light in the darkness. Tsuen turned and saw the vague outline of a shadowy figure.

She immediately assumed the worst: a monster coming to eat her alive. With growing terror, Tsuen's eyes drifted upward until they reached the top of the shadow, then she held her arms to her chest and screamed.

Over ten feet in the air, glinting red eyes looked out from under two large curved horns. Sharp black claws grasped the top of the fence and the creature started to advance over the barrier.

"It's a, it's a, ah, ahhhhh!" Tsuen screamed incomprehensibly. Her terrified mind was convinced the approaching creature was some sort of centaur-eating dinosaur, with a name like Carnivorasaurus or Terrorsaurus Cen.

Mara still hadn't seen the shadowy monster and had no idea what Tsuen was screaming about. She just looked up at Tsuen with a puzzled and concerned expression.

Between fight or flight, Tsuen heavily favored the latter, so she turned on the spot and started to flee. However, she could never leave Mara behind. She'd be a bite-sized snack to the monster, after all.

Without a word, Tsuen grabbed Mara, holding her tight with both arms, then scrambled out of the pool. With a thunderous clattering of hoofsteps on wood, Tsuen bolted down the path towards the house, running at full speed with a thoroughly confused arachne pinned between her breasts.

Back at the hot spring, Haru and Yuisu broke off their makeout session and looked around in confusion. Quess had seen everything but was having difficulty finding the words to start explaining. The impending monstrosity that had scared Tsuen continued to creep over the fence and into the light.

As the warm glow of the lamps fell on the creature, its true nature was revealed. It was a woman, judging by the absolutely massive breasts nearly spilling out of her strained black top. The revealing bra-like top was held up by beaded straps and decorated with shiny medallions hanging along the underside. Strings of pearls and beads ran down her bare stomach and connected to a beaded sarong that barely covered her wide hips.

Her arms and the rest of her upper body came into view, revealing long black claw-like fingernails and purple scales that covered the backs of her hands and arms. She had long purple hair that almost hid her long pointed ears and the scales on her cheeks. However, it did not hide the eight-inch grey horns rising from the top of her head.

The woman lowered herself smoothly to the wooden deck as her scale-covered lower body continued to slide over the fence. Her snake-like tail poured into the fenced area foot after foot, yard after yard, as if she were endless. She started talking before the rest of her even arrived. In a sultry, mature voice, she said, "Hello. I rang the doorbell for a few minutes, but no one responded, so I came looking for you. I am sorry if I spooked anyone."

Yuisu stood up from the water, entirely forgetting that she was naked. She was focused more on her host duties than on personal appearances. "Hello. I'm Yuisu, the Exchange Program Host here. I assume you're moving in?"

The woman didn't seem affected by Yuisu's nudity. She slithered forward and offered her hand. "Correct. My name is Iormu. It's nice to meet you."

Yuisu took the hand in hers just as she realized she was naked, and just as her eyes fell on Iormu's insanely huge breasts. Holy mammaries, Batman. Those are each bigger than my head! She blinked a few times, then forced her eyes back to Iormu's face. "Your name's 'Your-mu'?"

The serpent woman nodded. "Correct, like in Jormungand, but spelled with an 'I'."

Haru tilted her head a full 90 degrees and blurted, "Huh?" She had no idea what a Jormungand was, how it was spelled, or what letter you could possibly replace with an 'I' to make it sound like 'Your-mu'.

Iormu sighed like she'd had this conversation many times before. "Jormungand, the extra-species race, is named after the mythical World Serpent Jormungandr." She shook her head lightly. "I'd thought since Froze had stayed here, you'd know about Norse myth and liminals."

Haru still looked confused, but she lit up at the mention of Froze's name. She asked Iormu, "You know Froze? Are you from Canada too?"

"Yes, I know Froze, but no, I'm not from Canada." Instead of elaborating one where she was from like everyone expected, Iormu turned her deep red eyes to Yuisu. "When I mentioned I was looking for a host family, she recommended you, Yuisu."

"Oh, that's great!" Yuisu said. When Iormu made no effort to continue her introduction, Yuisu thought, This lady doesn't seem eager to open up, but I guess she'll have plenty of time for that later. She put on a smile and said, "Welcome to the family, Iormu!"