Chapter#02

"I love flowers!" Naia hopped up and down, her breasts jiggling pleasantly beneath her gown.

"I also bought you this." He held up the small jewelry box. Opening the lid revealed a small pendant on a silver chain. "It isn't anything special, but it reminded me of you."

"For me?" Naia stared at it, stunned.

"Yeah." Mike lifted the chain and showed her the pendant. In the sun's light, it reflected several different colors. "This is abalone jewelry, it's made from a shell."

"It's beautiful!" Naia turned around, lifting up her hair. Mike fastened it around her neck, taking in her scent while leaning against her. She lifted the pendant to inspect it. "I love it."

"I hoped you would." Mike kissed her gently on the neck. The fountain swelled with water, briefly overflowing on every side.

"Remind me to thank you properly later." Naia pressed her ass into him. "I'm afraid if I take you now, Tink will get angry that you are avoiding work."

"You're one thousand percent correct," Mike said, remembering Tink had bitten him yesterday for surfing the internet on his phone instead of bringing her a box of screws from the garage. "I'll see you tonight."

Naia blew him a kiss, and he walked back through the house to the kitchen, grabbing a couple more items. On the front deck, he turned right and made his way to the porch swing. Sitting quietly on the swing was Cecilia. She wore a pretty white dress with simple black shoes, and her white, sightless eyes stared out into eternity.

"You brought me something?" Cecilia asked.

"I did." Mike held up the large cushion. "Well, it's more for me." Kneeling beside her, he detached the old, ratty cushion from the swing. Cecilia vanished when he pulled it away, and reappeared on top of the new one once he had it tied in place. "This way, I can sit and visit with you for a little longer. The old one was starting to hurt my back."

"Oh, to be alive," the banshee said, touching the new cushion with ethereal fingers. "Sit with me tonight?"

"You can count on it." The first time Mike met Cecilia, she had scared the crap out of him. Now he spent his evenings visiting with her in one way or another. Mike sat on the new cushion, swinging gently a few times. "Oh man, that is so much better."

"I'm glad." Cecilia faded from sight, but the swing kept moving even after Mike got up. Walking into the yard, he looked up at the roof. "Abella?"

The gargoyle appeared in the sky, circling briefly before touching down. Her wings closed around her body, forming a hooded cloak."Yes?"

Mike handed her an iPad. "I got this for you. It has access to Prime Video, N*****x, and Hulu."

"Are those magic words?" Abella asked, inspecting the the screen in her hands. Mike had purchased a protective case for it, the kind that was meant for little kids. He figured the extra wide handles would keep Abella from accidentally cracking the screen. Touching one of the apps on the tablet, her eyes grew wide as the screen flashed, the app now open.

"No, let me show you." Mike instructed her in the usage of the tablet. Abella didn't need sleep, so spent her hours watching TV through the back window of the house. She watched in fascination as Mike explained how to order up the different shows and movies with the touch of a finger.

"This little screen is like magic!" the gargoyle declared, holding it up against the sky.

"And you can take it anywhere. Just don't let it get wet, and if that little battery picture in the corner gets empty, I can plug it in for you." Mike suspected this would happen most nights - the thing only had a battery life of ten hours and it might be worth it to have Tink build Abella a docking station.

Back in the kitchen, Mike looked at the rest of the contents. He had ordered a few power tools for Tink - the little goblin was doing most of her work by hand, and he knew that she could work a lot faster with a few extra modern conveniences.

The last item was in a small jewelry box. As he picked it up, he ran his fingers over the top, wondering if he would even see her. Shaking his head, he stuck the box in a kitchen drawer that contained a bunch of keys, scissors, and tape.

A thud on the wall brought his attention to the giant collection of vines that had framed the window looking out into the back. Smiling, he walked to the fridge and opened it, pulling out a plate with a five pound roll of raw beef that had defrosted overnight. He unwrapped it, tossing the plastic wrapper in the trash can beneath the sink.

Opening the kitchen window, he handed the meat to the hungry vines that waited, watching the Mandragora drag away its snack. Ever since it had eaten the witch last week, the plant had been very docile with him, acting like a puppy dog that followed him around whenever he was out back. The vines would slither around him like snakes, eagerly awaiting a gentle pat or even a rub. Mike felt ridiculous scratching a leafy vine as thick as his wrist, but the plant seemed to like it.

Mike grabbed a pair of orange sodas from the fridge and some plated sandwiches he had made earlier. Walking out front, he approached the goblin from behind. She was bent over, trying to get a stubborn board to lay where she wanted it. He gave her butt a playful slap, which caused her to drop the board on the deck with a clatter.

"Break time," he announced. Tink looked at him, then back at the board, coming to a decision over what was truly important to her. Licking her lips, she followed Mike to the front steps of the house, sitting next to him with her sandwich clutched in both of her little hands.