An afordable alternative

There were three people in the room: one was a woman with auburn hair gathered in a ponytail which took long breaths of her cigarette while displaying an evident animosity in her eyes. Another was the man, to refer to him in a manner of speech, whose numbers in that surface that was supposed to be a face drifted in consonance to produce various expressions. But the last individual was not someone they could see, although its presence was easily felt. It was an unparallel tension that threatened to choke the others. However, that tension seemed to favour the woman, as it flew from her as a dark aura invading the room.
“I don’t even know how you managed to find me” Finally said Calvina Anderson after lighting a new cigarette, the third one she had started since their unusual meeting took place “Can’t you catch the indirect? If I make it difficult to be found maybe it’s because I don’t want to be bothered, is that too much for that empty brain of yours, DJ?” She asked raising an eyebrow as she spat those two last letters with acid scorn.
“Glad seeing you to” Said the thing self-called Divjustice, imitating the gesture by raising a one in his face acting as an eyebrow.
The two stared at each other intensely. Truth be told, the tension of this situation found its origin in the woman, who teasingly sat with her legs crossed. The man would never understand why she showed that contempt to him, considering he would like to go along with her.
“So” Inquired the internet diva the moment after the tapped the tip of her cigarette over the ashtray “In which way you want me to waste my time?” She did not look at him, instead she studied with faked interest the polish over her nails.
“Actually” Said DJ puffing his chest “A bro’s birthday is coming soon and I thought about giving him a little present”
“That’s thoughtful of you” Interrupted Calvina, in the least interested.
“Anyway” Continued the man after this unexpected intrusion “I was thinking you could help me with that” A cold piercing gaze from a pair of violet eyes made him shudder “Don’t look at me like that, I got a job and I can pay” The expression in Calvina’s face took a subtle change. Searching in the endless abyss his pockets were, he procured a messy piece of paper which he handed to the woman “I want you to find these women and do something with them. A video or a photo shooting, like you usually do”
Calvina accepted the paper, her eyes shifted as she read the insecure handwriting scribbled over it. Her lips opened and closed as she pronounced the names on it. Once she was done, she stared at him
“I’ll need a moment to give you a proper invoice” She said, without further ado the woman got on her feet and abandoned the room with silent steps, despite of the sturdy boots she was wearing.

Some minutes after, Calvina returned with two noticeable changes on her being: the first one was a folder where she held the full breakdown on the task she had been requested. The other could be seen by glancing downwards her lean body. Her bare feet were visible for DJ to be tease with their mere presence. The woman knew the effect those caused on him and crossed her legs, dangling the toes on the right foot as she sat. Despite the tantalizing image, he had more pressing matters to attend and shifted his focus on the final price Calvina was asking for in exchange of her services.
His wallet felt a sharp pain almost as if it was part of his physical body. The numbers in his face took all kind of shapes driven by stupor, never in his life had he seen so many zeros together!
“Didn’t you say you could pay?” Asked Calvina rotating her ankle, which allowed a full view of her creamy sole.
“B...b...but” DJ was speechless. The woman seemed amused at his reaction.
“Surprised? Two of these women are dangerous, not only that, they apparently come from two alternative distant futures. And let’s not talk about the third one, an entity like that made out of pure data? I can hack a pc or two, but that’s ludicrous. Controlling that thing would be hard. And about the last two...” Her face took a sullen change “You should know I don’t work with little girls”.
“But the present...” The colour on his skin was replaced with an unhealthy nuclear tone of white.
Calvina smiled, it was a cunning smirk that only appeared when she was the one with the upper hand, something that happened most of the time. She planted both of her feet on a stool nearby, offering a complete display of her soles as a result.
“Maybe we could come up with a more affordable alternative” With the corner of her eyes, she spied a hand slipping to reach at her tantalizing soles. Her smile turned wider when she saw the man’s disappointed expression after she pulled those desired objects out of his reach.

Night was about to fall when a tired Erin arrived the Applebaum manor. Her hands trembled, her slim arms were not strong enough to carry the bags full of goods she brought from the convenience store.
“I got such nice deals” Though the blonde happy “The mistress may be rich but I’m sure she’ll love to see the bargain I found” She nodded, it was usual for her to be asked to go making errands, but Agatha, the housekeeper was ill that day. More than once the girl had taken the long walk to the store. At first it was kind of embarrassing to appear in those businesses wearing her maid uniform. But the locals ended up knowing her and, probably due to her amiable nature, offering him the best deals. Considering the manor’s emplacement though, the nearest civilised building required for her to at least endeavour in walks that almost reached the hour.
“I should get a driving license one of these days” Said the girl to herself.
She finally arrived to the imposing, yet somehow humble entrance and managed to reach for the keys.
Silence took a hold of the main hall, which struck Erin as odd. Because of this she almost dropped her bags when she crossed with her employer in the kitchen.
“Erin, my dear, I didn’t hear you enter” Said the mystifying beauty with blue eyes and ebony hair.
“I’m home!” Said Erin with enthusiasm “Miss Beatrice, you would not believe how nice the storekeeper was: when he knew about Agatha being not in her best condition he gave me a whole chicken for free, saying that some soup would surely help her” Spoke the girl aloud leaving the items she bought in the kitchen’s specific place.
Something caught her attention however.
“Miss Beatrice, if I may ask: why are you holding that?” Asked Erin politely pointing at the tray the woman she worked for held in her hands, donned in silk crimson gloves.
“This? Turns out we got a visit” Replied the woman amused “Since Agatha is in no condition to tend this guest and you were out I thought I could play the part of the nice host and offer some tea and cookies” Replied Beatrice clearly enjoying herself.
“Oh my goodness!” Said a mortified Erin “That is my job, I’m so sorry for making you do this in my absence!”
“Don’t worry, my dear” Said the woman patting the girl’s head, something which made the blonde turn red “It feels refreshing to work on the house from time to time. Besides, it’s not often we have guest, let alone people asking for you” The raven-haired beauty gave her an intriguing smile that gave a bad feeling to Erin.
“Whatever you mean by that?” Asked the girl cautiously.
“Finish arranging the goods and you can come meet us” Beatrice paused to nibble at a round ginger biscuit with dignified elegance “You should have told me sooner you have friends this nice. She is quite entertaining to talk with”.

Erin had never worked faster in her life. Her skin and blood were frozen. She did not know many people she could refer as friends, and those who were somehow close to her...They could make her whole life crumble.
“Please don’t let it be Calvina, and if she is don’t let her start tickling the mistress!” Prayed the girl internally to however might be listening. Her anxiety the more she came close to the dining hall.
“And then she says: ‘This world is crazy. What would happen if we crossed now?’.So I told her that she would be run over by a car, to that she comments: ‘Wait, so that's why I almost got run over six times today!’ ,can you believe that?” Asked a voice that was awfully familiar to Erin.
“Oh my! Did something happen to that poor thing?” Commented the mistress who seemed engaged in the story.
“Nia!” Erin could wait no more “What are you doing here!?”
A gleaming honest smile welcomed her.
“Miss Greenharp is quite enthralling, why have you never spoken to me about her?” Inquired Beatrice after taking a sip of her steaming cup of tea.
“Because...I don’t like to mix my everyday life with my work...” Managed to explain the girl somehow, who only had accusing eyes for the green-haired girl smiling at her. She approached took her by the arm “Unfortunately she has to leave now!” The last word had an special emphasis.
“Erin, My dear, why don’t you leave early today? After all, your friend came to pick you up, wouldn’t it be impolite to make a fine lady like her waiting?” Asked Beatrice enjoying the display of youthfulness in front of her.
“Thank you very much, Bea!” Said Nia, this time being the one pulling at the surprised Erin “If there’s more tasty cookies you’ll see me around some other day!”
“Why of course, feel free to visit, I’ll look forward to listen to the end of that story” Replied the woman giggling.

“Have you lost your freaking mind?” Erin was about to explode “Bea? Really? How can you be so familiar with the mistress? You can’t just come at my job like that! What if they find out that you are...”.
“Not human?” For once, Erin was surprised to hear seriousness in Nia’s voice.
The two girls remained silent, the one wearing green had her eyes pasted in Erin, who had changed into her usual pale yellow attire and was unable to return the gesture.
“You know that’s not what bothers me about you, in fact you are more human than many people I've known...” Said Erin in a low voice “The problem is that I don’t want to be associated with people obsessed in tickling. I could lose my job because of that” Nia’s countenance brightened.
“I don’t think it would be a problem. Your boss was very interested when I told her I was tickled by a weird girl at an anime convention. I think she’s curious, if you know what I mean...” Added the green-haired cross-breed with a hand over her mouth and glancing sideways all the time.
“Misstress Beatrice? That’s impossible! She...” Erin did not want to continue with that conversation, the reminiscence of a time on which she asked for a foot massage raised her suspicions. It must be a coincidence, nothing more.
“Anyway, why did you come? I told you to stay at home when I’m working” Asked the girl with scorn in her voice.
“I wanted to surprise you” She offered a paper bag the blonde had not noticed until that moment “Tada!”
With suspicion, Erin examined the contents of the bag. Her eyes opened wide at the revelation.
“This is the cutest thing ever!” Said the girl squealing like a child: in her hands the softest and most realistic cat cub plush she had ever seen seemed to purr at her as if it was alive.
“Where did you get it?” Erin was a loss of words.
“One of Calvina’s friends gave it to me. I wanted to get two, you know so we could be matched, but one was already exhausting enough” Erin looked at the girl with different eyes. She did not fully understand her words yet she was able to realise the effort she had put into it.
“Why?” Was the only word she could muster.
“Happy birthday!” Shouted Nia raising both arms in the air. To this, Erin chuckled “Something funny?”
“Silly Nia... It was a month ago...” Replied Erin, the tone of her voice and the smile in her face were those of a person who was grateful for the gesture.
“I knew, this is my present for next birthday. You are very important to me, so I want to be the first one to give you a gift!” Explained Nia, showing her pride and affection.
Erin sighed, Nia could be a bother sometimes, but she was a nice girl after all.
“Say...Are you hungry?” Nia’s jades shone magnificently at Erin’s words “I fell like inviting you to dinner”.

“What a lovely sight” Said a voice preceding a patting over her shoulder. Erin did not expect this and choked from the glass of wine she was drinking.
“Calvina?! What? How?” The blonde was speechless to see the auburn-haired woman.
“Hi Calvi!” Said Nia, since when she had gotten that habit of coming up with nicknames for people? “I’m on a date with little Erin, can you please come later?” The aforementioned glared at her.
“This is not a date! I’m just thanking you for the plush!” Explained a blushing blonde.
“Did you have fun with Zoe and perversion?” Asked Calvina taking a seat despite nobody offering her one.
“It was a bit intense, in the end I only managed to get one instead of the two I had planned” Replied Nia frowning.
“I should let them play with me one of these days” Commented the woman.
"Oh! What's with the highlights?" Asked Nia holding a lock of crimson hair that mingled with the internet diva's usual auburn hair.
"I had them for Hallowen, but they haven't gone away, I'm thinking about keeping them. A change is always welcomed, don't you think?" The woman took a breath of her cigarette and looked at Erin “You seem tense. I’m not going to jump at you like lioness or something. What happened on Halloween make us even, I don’t have the urge to have revenge” Erin did not seem convinced though, judging from her defensive stance “Really, calm down. In all honesty, it was interesting to see you have grown a pair. Besides, I didn’t know you could be that sadistic” Calvina laughed, a sound that made Erin remember the night when both her and the cross-breed had been feeding a pack of hungry goats with the soles of their ticklish feet, all at her mercy.
“I’m not like you I just...” Wanted to reply the girl.
“Owe me a favour. If you wanted to tickle me you could have just said it. Setting people up is not nice, I do it constantly so I know what I’m saying. Anyway” She looked at the two girls, on the one hand Nia was expectant, knowing that something fantastic would happen if Calvina is around and, on the other, Erin was suspicious, knowing that something horrible would happen if Calvina was around “I have a job for the two of us. It’s just a photo shoot, but I need three models” She moved the cutlery and dishes the diners were using to place three boxes “We are going to wear these costumes”.
Nia examined hers with curiosity.
“What a cool cape, and the hat is cute too!”
Erin, on her end turned red when she realised the revealing cleavage her outfit would have.
“I’m not wearing this! Who do you take me for?”
“I take you for someone who owes me” Explained Calvina “I told you, if you ever want revenge on me just say so. I’ll be happy to let your frustration go. Besides, I need to record a few new videos with me as the ticklee. Do you understand how annoying it is for you to torture both Nia and I and not have it recorded? What a waste”
“Sucks to be you I guess” Replied Erin, surprised at her own rudeness.
“No, little Erin, it sucks to be you” Said Calvina with a predatory smile “From my point of view, you are doing this you want it or not. Unless you want either of these things happening: 1-your mistress wakes up with her feet in stocks and yours truly tickles her until she passes out. All the while she wears a blindfold and she only hears your voice” To give more emphasis to her point she imitated the blonde’s timbre "Oh, is the mistress ticklish? Your feet are gorgeous, don't mind if I lick them for a while? Crying already? But I have more toys to use" Erin went pale upon listening to her own voice saying that. Calvina cleared her throat an continued “Or 2- your employers see this”
Without further explanation, Calvina took her mobile phone and played a video that made Erin’s breath disappear.
“How did you?” She said somehow as she recognised herself mercilessly tickling the restrained feet of Nia and the diva.
“That place was too good to miss the chance. I imagined I could have one of you tickled for a Halloween special there. I didn’t expect I would be one of the main stars though” She noticed the sweat in the blonde's face “Being faced with that side of you is unsettling, right? Even I was surprised at it. Most of my pleas are real, the rest were just to encourage you. Anyway, I haven’t uploaded this video because I know it would make more harm than good to you should anyone see it” She crossed her hands and smiled warmly “You are my friend after all, I’m not that cold despite what you might think”
“Fine, I’ll wear this... But only because nobody would recognise me...” Finally conceded the blonde, unsure of what to feel about Calvina anymore.

Days later, in a distant country were paellas are everyday mandatory meal and flamenco is a customary discipline taught in every school. Mixmariobros opened his post box unable to predict what he would find inside: it was an envelope with a DVD inside.
“I didn’t ask for this, I hope nobody wants to make me pay for it later” He thought before inserting the disc in his computer.
It’s contents made his mind be blown away in an instant.


Belated B-day gift for my bro :iconmismariobros: for being an amazing pal during all this time! Here we got my main three gals dressed as one of his favourite waifu candidates; from left to right: Calvina as Nu-13, Nia as Ramlethal Valentine (who is smiling because she snuck her tail to tickle Erin's unsuspecting feet) and Erin as Lilihtmon.

Calvina Anderson, Nia Greenharp and Erin Codemi are copyrighted by me.
Nu-13 and Ramlethal Valentine are copyrighted by Arc System Works.
Lilithmon is copyrighted by Bandai/Toei animation.

Funfacts:
-The events mentioned in this story refer to fav.me/d98zzr1 by , fav.me/d9fyb4i  by  and fav.me/d9f13c4 .
-I wanted to watch "Digimon Adventure Tri" the day after it was released, instead I did the initial sketch for this. I hope he had in mind this gigantic sacrifice I made!
-I'm thinking about making Calvina's highlights a permanent thing, what do you guys think?
-At first I was thinking on drawing the actual characters Mix loves, more exactly Ram and Nu, but then I thought about how to make things a bit more original by making my characters cosplay as them.
-Is there any relation to why my girls are dressed as the characters they are imitating? Not teally, Erin is the opposite of Lilihtmon, Nia, is too good-natured to relate with the apathic Ramlethal, and Calvina can be cunning but she's not a bipolar psychopath such as Nu.
-To those wondering what those Nanoha and Fate dolls are doing there, it's because "Nanoha Strikers" is Mix's favourite anime. If he says otherwise, he's liying an going all tsundere with you. XD
-Stereotypes in the story? How come?