business here." I was about to back away when I saw glistening fronds emerge from between the girl's legs’ gelatinous appendages that looked like something you'd find on a sea creature. They wrapped themselves around his head and pulled him back to where his mouth could get on with its work.
"Don't mind him," the girl said. "He thinks he's dangerous. Most men do. They learn."
I tried not to stare at the tentacles that bound him, tried not to think where they had come from.
"Sorry," I said. "I just needed to step out a little."
She tilted her head, though whether it was to get a clearer look at me or an involuntary sexual twitch I couldn't rightly say.
"You getting yourself in trouble?" she asked. "Smells like it... I can pick up the scent of most men, you smell kind of... funky."
"I've been travelling," I said. Now mortally embarrassed that I was somehow still con ducting a conversation with this girl in the circumstances.
"I don't mean that," she said. "There's something different about you. This place is filled with either those who are dead or those who were never mortal in the first place. Somehow you're neither. It's interesting."
"Oh," I replied, "right... that will be... yeah... I had a bit of bad luck at cards."
The bald-headed man tried to yank his face free from its work again. "God damn it!" he slurred."Will you just fuck off?" The tentacles pulled him back and, after mumbling a few more indistinguishable threats, he fell silent again.
"Sorry," she said, "a girl's got to feed when she can."
"Feed. Right. I'll just..." I pointed back the way I had come. "I'll see you again I'm sure," she said, leaning her head back and closing her eyes, "look after yourself strange man."
2.
T HE OLD MAN found me at the front of the boat, while I was trying to roll a cigarette. The boat kept rocking and I tried not to imagine it was being pushed upwards by the hundreds of panicked hands beneath us.
"Don't go running off like that," he said, "not here."
"Why? Not as if anything life-threatening is going to happen to me is it?"
He looked pained at that but I'll admit I didn't altogether care. I was feeling sore.
I was also feeling confused. I'll be honest with you, I had been unsettled by what Agrat had said, of course I had, but the idea of immortality still didn't seem all that bad. I had spent the last few days being in almost constant fear of my life, the idea that I wouldn't need to do that anymore was a relief.
Of course, right then, I hadn't really had time for the wider ramifications to sink in. In fact, none of it really had. I was a simple boy who was way out of his depth and just doing his best to keep his head above water.
"I'll do my best to think of a way around your debt," he said, "but to do that I'll need to get over my own current situation. Which means we still need Agrat and what she can offer me."
"Which is? I figure you can start playing a little straighter with me, what's so special about Agrat?"
"She's a powerful figure but one that doesn't hold allegiance to the Powers that Be."
"I'm guessing that we're talking about..."
"I told you before, don't say His name." "Right, yeah... So what can she do for you."
"She can remove my Non Grata status. As it stands I can barely exist here. Nobody can see me or hear me."
"You say that like it's a bad thing."
"How would you feel if your identity was removed? That's my curse. I have no name and no presence here. I can't interact with anyone except through a mortal like you."
"You pissed him off, yes?"
"That's one way of putting it. He made it so that I could never come home because he saw me as a threat. I was exiled to walk the mortal world, invisible to any of my own kind."
"Having spent a little time with your own kind, did you ever think that maybe wasn't such a great loss?"
"I am who I am, and I want to go home. Agrat can help with that. But she'll only do it if she's forced to do so. We need to have something she wants, we need to be able
"Don't mind him," the girl said. "He thinks he's dangerous. Most men do. They learn."
I tried not to stare at the tentacles that bound him, tried not to think where they had come from.
"Sorry," I said. "I just needed to step out a little."
She tilted her head, though whether it was to get a clearer look at me or an involuntary sexual twitch I couldn't rightly say.
"You getting yourself in trouble?" she asked. "Smells like it... I can pick up the scent of most men, you smell kind of... funky."
"I've been travelling," I said. Now mortally embarrassed that I was somehow still con ducting a conversation with this girl in the circumstances.
"I don't mean that," she said. "There's something different about you. This place is filled with either those who are dead or those who were never mortal in the first place. Somehow you're neither. It's interesting."
"Oh," I replied, "right... that will be... yeah... I had a bit of bad luck at cards."
The bald-headed man tried to yank his face free from its work again. "God damn it!" he slurred."Will you just fuck off?" The tentacles pulled him back and, after mumbling a few more indistinguishable threats, he fell silent again.
"Sorry," she said, "a girl's got to feed when she can."
"Feed. Right. I'll just..." I pointed back the way I had come. "I'll see you again I'm sure," she said, leaning her head back and closing her eyes, "look after yourself strange man."
2.
T HE OLD MAN found me at the front of the boat, while I was trying to roll a cigarette. The boat kept rocking and I tried not to imagine it was being pushed upwards by the hundreds of panicked hands beneath us.
"Don't go running off like that," he said, "not here."
"Why? Not as if anything life-threatening is going to happen to me is it?"
He looked pained at that but I'll admit I didn't altogether care. I was feeling sore.
I was also feeling confused. I'll be honest with you, I had been unsettled by what Agrat had said, of course I had, but the idea of immortality still didn't seem all that bad. I had spent the last few days being in almost constant fear of my life, the idea that I wouldn't need to do that anymore was a relief.
Of course, right then, I hadn't really had time for the wider ramifications to sink in. In fact, none of it really had. I was a simple boy who was way out of his depth and just doing his best to keep his head above water.
"I'll do my best to think of a way around your debt," he said, "but to do that I'll need to get over my own current situation. Which means we still need Agrat and what she can offer me."
"Which is? I figure you can start playing a little straighter with me, what's so special about Agrat?"
"She's a powerful figure but one that doesn't hold allegiance to the Powers that Be."
"I'm guessing that we're talking about..."
"I told you before, don't say His name." "Right, yeah... So what can she do for you."
"She can remove my Non Grata status. As it stands I can barely exist here. Nobody can see me or hear me."
"You say that like it's a bad thing."
"How would you feel if your identity was removed? That's my curse. I have no name and no presence here. I can't interact with anyone except through a mortal like you."
"You pissed him off, yes?"
"That's one way of putting it. He made it so that I could never come home because he saw me as a threat. I was exiled to walk the mortal world, invisible to any of my own kind."
"Having spent a little time with your own kind, did you ever think that maybe wasn't such a great loss?"
"I am who I am, and I want to go home. Agrat can help with that. But she'll only do it if she's forced to do so. We need to have something she wants, we need to be able
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