Interlude - Not-So-Plain-Jane - Part A

  Sundays were weird. They were either an absolute drag that just went on forever, or they were too damned exciting for her tastes.

  That was mostly up to her clientele, of course. She couldn't settle for a little boutique two blocks off of the main fashion district of Fortress ENE, selling her clothes at the kind of price that would make a normal person wince and which would barely cover rent.

  That kind of dream was for stupider, more naive fashionistas and designers.

  Jane wasn't that. She'd like to think that she was far from stupid (depending on the time and circumstance) and she sure as she wasn't naive.

  So she ran Full-Auto Stranger-Danger out of an old warehouse behind a cheap fast food joint and sold guns, ammo, and fashion.

  It paid the bills.

  It attracted a particular sort of client as well.

  Strangely enough, there was an overlap in the venn diagram between people who needed a gun and didn't want questions asked, and people who cared about how they looked. She happened to like those clients the best, which is why she perked up when her favourite beanstalk entered her shop just as she was giving one of her regulars an earful for being a dumbass.

  She might've put on a bit more of a show, for the lady.

  Once her clients skittered out of the shop, tails between their legs, she grinned, wide and toothy and real, and turned her attention onto Beanstalk the way one of those fancy corpo laser implements might turn its beams onto a homeless person. "Hey baby," she said. "Come here for my company or my... expertease?"

  Beanstalk's face--crap, she had to learn the woman's name. It was the least she could do if she intended to strap her to her bed and fuck her silly--contorted in disgust for a moment. "And I thought you were above puns," she said.

  Jane laughed. "I'm above anything if the price is right," she said.

  Beanstalk shook her head, and Jane took a moment to eye her up and down... for fashion, that was. Beanstalk had a nice figure on her. Taller than average, though not super tall. She was what, five ten? Nearly six feet, but not there yet. If Beanstalk was a man, her dating profile would say six feet.

  She was on the thinner side, like a 2000s anorexic goth girl brought into the current, with artfully messy shorter hair and piercing eyes and nice tits.

  It was a good combination. Jane could work with that. The ass was flat though, which was a crying shame.

  "You're eyeing me strangely," Beanstalk said.

  "I'm objectifying you with my gaze," Jane said. "Can you feel it?"

  Beanstalk laughed, shaking her head. "Never change, Jane," she said.

  "I don't plan on it," she replied before leaning on her counter. She did it in a way that would show off some of her best assets, and only smile wider as she noticed Beanstalk's eyes lingering. "So, came here to gaze upon my fertile form?"

  "No," Beanstalk said. "This is probably my last run at something. Uh... nevermind that. Look, I've got a list of gear I need, and someone that'll be coming here that needs a costume."

  "A costume?" Jane asked.

  She pushed the horny away, locked it up, then focused back on work. Unfortunately, the box she put the horny in had holes and it'd leak right out, but it was the best she could do.

  Beanstalk nodded, then stretched a little, rocking up onto her toes. She didn't even seem to notice what she was doing, or the way it made her shirt lift to expose a slip of tummy. The harlot. "Mmm, yeah. Look, it's kind of complicated, and I need you to promise me that you won't go blabbing about her or... like, feel her up or anything?"

  "I can't promise that, but I can do my best," Jane said. "You've got me curious, Beanstalk, what's this about?"

  "Right. So, long story short, there's a portal that'll pop into existence in town. Don't ask me how I know. I want to nab it, but doing it solo is risky. It's a D-ranker, and while I'm pretty good, I'm not that good yet."

  "Alright, and you want to grab it as Dea--as your super cool alter-ego?" Jane asked.

  A big part of her felt that what Beanstalk was doing was kind of silly. Heroes didn't exist. If they did, a lot more CEOs would trip out of their penthouse windows and maybe the world would be a better place.

  Another, bigger part of Jane, loved it.

  It meant costuming. Practical costuming, and she was the one in charge of it. Plus, Beanstalk was hot and a fantastic canvas for her to try new things on.

  "Pretty much. My friend needs something similar to what I have. Ideally something that establishes a group identity of sorts?" Beanstalk said. "I was thinking matching hats."

  Oh, oh yes. "This is gonna be kind of expensive, you know. And you're only giving me a few hours to do this?"

  Beanstalk nodded. "Don't worry too much about price. Within reason. Ah, and I need some guns. A couple of good rifles. Semi-auto, decently large calibre, and ammo for the guns I normally carry."

  "Mhm, yeah, sure," Jane said. She didn't care about the guns, she cared about the fashion part. "So, where's this friend of yours? I need to know what I'm working with, here."

  The 'friend' arrived a minute later, and Jane found herself salivating.

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  She didn't recognize the woman, but like... there was this expression about how money talked and wealth whispered? And the woman that showed up was whispering sweet nothings into Jane's ears like top-quality ASMR.

  Tall, though a bit shorter than Beanstalk, pretty rounded features, lots of curves, ample... everything, and long blonde hair that Jane would literally kill to have.

  Like damn, that hair was fantastic, and it was very well maintained.

  The woman, Fran according to Beanstalk, was well dressed too. It was off the rack clothing, but the rack it came from was the sort only found in boutiques that selected their customers. Her shoes were custom fitted AntithesisSkin specials, and her blouse was a Brocc&Bunch. She was pretty sure that the skirt Fran here was wearing was from a designer called Ivil Antagonista from Spain as well, but it could have been an expensive copycat.

  The clothes was one thing, the cyberware another. Those pretty eyes were Orchid Lux, worth more than what Jane brought home in six months.

  This lady was loaded.

  And somehow Beanstalk had banged.

  Oh, no one was spilling anything, but Jane knew. When Beanstalk wasn't looking, there was a conflicted, almost shy expression on Fran's face, and the way she shifted her hips, girl was still sore.

  Jane wanted to whistle and hive-five, but she was a professional.

  "Alright, let's see what we're working with, yeah?"

  Fran was a gem. "So," Jane said the moment she and Fran were alone in a little changing room to one side, basically just a stand-up shower curtain she'd bought online this week. If she was gonna have cuties changing in her shop, she might as well prep for it a little. "You and Beanstalk?"

  Fran stiffened slightly, but she was too much of a lady to blush. "I wouldn't know what you're talking about," she said. "And... Beanstalk? What kind of name is that?"

  "Well, she's a little on the tall side, if you hadn't noticed," Jane said with her favourite panty-wetting shit-eating grin. That same grin had unlocked a few doors for her already. "But it's mostly a joke. She's a little too curvy for a beanstalk, but the name's stuck."

  "Have you known her for long?" Fran asked.

  "I'm her number one supplier of toys," Jane replied. She wiggled her eyebrows. "Ah, but I mostly just gear her up. I've only been working with her for a couple of weeks, but they've been memorable."

  "I see," Fran said. "She seems to trust you a lot."

  Well, if that didn't warm Jane's little heart up, nothing would. "Aww, she said that?"

  "Implied it, mostly," Fran said.

  "Well, shucks. Maybe I ought to give her a discount one of these days." A little one.

  She had Fran try on a few things, but it was clear that if Jane wanted to have her newest customers looking like badasses, she'd need to step up her game and buy some new stuff. For now, though, she had a look in mind.

  Fran was a surprisingly good listener, and had a good head for fashion on her shoulder. "Ah, I see. You're using the poncho to break the line of our form?"

  "Mhm!" Jane replied. "But see, it's also more of a cape in some ways? So it masks without masking too much. Like... c'mon girl, you have assets that ought not be hidden. But if we don't have a choice about it, we can at least hint, yeah? Trust me, people go gaga for the mysterious look."

  For the hair, the simplest solution was a larger hat, something Fran could bundle her locks into. She tied them into a few buns, then tucked that under a few caps. Jane ended up settling on this old navy officer's hat that she'd dyed a darker colour one day and slapped a little tin pin on the front. It was a skull, but like... that was cool as fuck, no?

  "That looks good," Beanstalk said as she stood there and took Fran in.

  "You don't look surprised," Jane said. She was pretty proud of herself. The outfit came together well. Maybe the knee and elbow pads could use some improvement, but that was something for later. She could only do miracles.

  Beanstalk nodded. "It'll do. How do you feel about it, Fran? Can you move around well? It's not limiting your motions?"

  They chatted for a bit, Beanstalk grabbed some guns, seeming to know what she was looking for, then she paid Jane out, but not before Jane got a question in. "Where is this portal, anyway?"

  "Why do you need to know?" Beanstalk asked, but the teasing tone made it a bit less of a mean retort than it could have been.

  "Hey, gotta look up the feeds, see what people think of my designs, you know?" Jane asked. "Critisicm is important for an artist to improve."

  "Sure, sure," Beanstalk said. "By one of the food courts, you know..." she gave Jane a vague description of the location, and that was enough for Jane to know where she meant.

  A few minutes later, both of them were off, and Jane found herself staring after them.

  Beanstalk was... strange. She was definitely up to something, but like... it didn't seem all bad? Jane was willing to work with her some more, at least.

  But that didn't mean she wasn't curious. And she did know where they were headed to.

  What was the point of being her own boss if she couldn't call a day off once in a while?

  ***