Entertaining Intimacies
13 September, 1994
Roanapur
U.G. Pork
8:57 A.M.
Harry approached U.G. Pork, relaxation filling his every step. Saturday afternoon with Zara had been full of delightful torment; much kissing was had, but little more than that. Sunday had Harry working on his broom project, as well as going over the runes to enchant something to move without needing a magical constantly there. In the evening, Eva had come by since the GoofFest was always slow, and they didn't leave Harry's room until almost midnight.
Harry had to admit that he was picking up skills far faster than he'd expected, given that he'd had to liberally use Silencing Charms on every wall, as Eva had been practically climbing the walls in pleasure. She'd been very vocal.
Walking up the back stairs, he rang the bell at the door. A few minutes later, the door cracked open, and Harry saw a dark grey eye over bags. "Morning, Sawyer. How're you doing?"
The door opened further, and Harry entered the cool living room. Sawyer slouched towards the kitchen in the back, wearing a fluffy, dark blue bathrobe and gleamingly white bunny slippers. She emerged with two mugs of coffee, handing one to Harry as she curled up in a chair.
"Too early?" Sawyer nodded, sipping at her mug. "I brought pastries," Harry continued, setting the bag on the coffee table.
Ten minutes, two cups of coffee, and four cream horns later, Sawyer pulled up what she called a Magic Slate. Scribbling swiftly, she held it up. Harry read, 'Was out late on a job. Lots of jobs lately; haven't been available when you call.'
"I get it," Harry replied, nodding. "Work, then fun. It's too bad that you've been working so much lately, though. I'd been really hoping that we could talk, get to know each other, that stuff."
'Same here. I hear you are dating now. Confusion on the street as to who.'
Harry flushed a little before he admitted, "It's three girls, actually. I met them a couple of weeks ago on the beach, we all hit it off, and we've been going out and doing stuff. I didn't realize that they were dating me until Zara told me on Saturday. Somehow, they're all okay with sharing me. And we're not exclusive, which is messing with my head."
Sawyer threw her head back, silently howling in laughter. Getting herself under control, she wrote, 'That's hilarious. Getting any out of it?'
"A gentleman never kisses and tells."
'So there's kissing...', she wrote back with a smirk.
Harry sighed. "Yes, there's kissing. I really don't know what to make of it, so I'm just going along with the deal. They have their work and side-jobs, and they felt it unfair to restrict me to just them."
'The male dream. You're living it. Don't fuck it up.'
"Oh, I'll fuck something up; it's just a matter of time," Harry admitted. "But for now, I have three girlfriends while I'm in town. And that'll probably last until about mid-October; that's when Hong Kong will open up for me."
'Sounds like things are going your way. Good on you! So what brings you to the edge of the city?'
"I was hoping to either get some advice, or hire you for a long-term job." Sawyer quirked an eyebrow, motioning for him to continue as she nibbled at another pastry. Harry pulled out a stack of photos, saying, "On Yamatai, we had to work around a thousand years of corpses. The local natives just piled them into various corners, and the island itself has preservation magics run completely through it. The corpses don't rot, just dehydrate. I was hoping that you would have an idea on what to do with it all."
Sawyer leaned forward to sift through the pictures, inadvertantly giving Harry a momentary glimpse of her modest breasts. Sitting up, she rifled through the pictures, writing down something on a notepad.
Finally, she wrote out, 'This is a big project. Too big for me. I can, however, sell you the services of one of my disposal teams that works large projects.'
"That sounds great!" Harry enthused.
'It would take a while, probably four or five months. Less if you have some advanced way of getting chipped and ground flesh into the soil', she scribbled out. 'But that is a lot of fertilizer. A thousand years of corpses adds up. Any extra that can't be handled' Sawyer paused for a moment, then resumed. 'Is there a large place for a burn pit?'
Harry considered that, and then remembered what Lara had told him. "Not exactly, but there's at least one underground lava field."
Wiping the slate clean again, she wrote, 'Perfect. The overrun can be dealt with that way.'
"Sounds like I was right to come to you," Harry stated, relief filling his voice. Sawyer nodded, leaning forward once more to lay the pictures down, As she shifted, Harry not only got another peek at her breasts, but her legs had parted enough for him to see all the way up under the robe. Eyes flicking aside, he asked, "So, now we negotiate over their prices? Especially since they won't be here to work for you."
Sawyer nodded, writing, 'We can do that later. Right now, I want to ask a favor of you. Italians hired me for a cleanup job from last night; they called this morning. Still fresh, but a big job. Would you help me?'
"I think I can do that," Harry replied, mentally going over his schedule. "I don't have anything going on today. The girlfriends are all working, Lotton is working with Yakumo, and I don't have to be at the clinic until tomorrow. So yeah, whenever you're ready."
Ten hours later, Harry and Sawyer dragged themselves into her apartment above U.G. Pork. After putting Sawyer in her chair, Harry himself dropped onto the couch, groaning. "That... was awful."
"It was," Sawyer agreed, her ultravoice crackling to life. "Far more than... those Dagos let on. I'll be charging... them more for this."
"Good. Fuck, how many bodies were in there?"
"Seventy-three. Plus cleanup for... blood, fluids, and smell. Total replacement... of the interior. I am not... a decorator."
"That's no joke," Harry groaned, finally sitting up properly. His wrists burned from all of the magic that he used to vanish more bodily fluids than he knew existed in a body, and his back and legs ached from having to manually haul the corpses; apparently Sawyer had her hands in a lot of businesses, including a fertilizer facility that supplied local rice fields.
"If you want... you can shower and sack out here," Sawyer suggested. "It's a long... ways back to... the docklands."
"I don't want to be a bother," Harry admitted, "but I think I'll take you up on the offer. Thank you, Sawyer. Where is the spare bedroom?"
Sawyer gestured at a side door, and Harry dragged himself through to the attached bathroom. Barely noticing, he simply scrubbed himself down and, after packing his magically cleaned clothes into his pack, he slumped off to the rather large bed. Harry never noticed the mannequin in the corner with nails imbedded in it's head.
Letting the stress out of his spine, he sighed in comfort, his mind waking up a little as the little aches and pains eased. In the back of his hearing he barely registered the shower running again.
A few minutes later, he felt the bed shift a little. His eyes now adjusted, he saw Sawyer slipping under the blanket to cuddle up against him.
"Sawyer," he murmured, "I thought you were going to your bedroom?"
Her lips brushed his ear, and in the softest of breathy whispers, she said, "Silly Harry. This is my bedroom. I want to. Do you?" she asked, slender fingers caressing his anatomy.
Harry's response was to turn his head and gently kiss her.
-----
"Sawyer! Is you awake?" came the shouted question that echoed around the apartment.
A few minutes later, Shenhua watched as Sawyer limped into the living room, past her for the kitchen as the coffee maker was started. "Holy shit, what the fuck happened to you?" came Revy's voice.
A single finger was the only response as Sawyer waited for enough coffee to filter to pour herself a cup. Finally, she sat at the kitchen table, only to blink at the two covered plates and the note. Reading it, a gentle smile formed on her face before it slipped off to glance up at the two people in her apartment. Pulling up her ultravoice, she asked, "Shenhua, I gave you... a key. Why did you... Bring in Two-Hands?"
"We have job for Triad," Shenhua answered. "Idiots trying to jump turf, Mr. Chang paying to put fear into hearts. We think you might want in."
Sawyer's eyes flickered over to Revy, who said, "Yeah, apparently Chang and Balalaika got together and decided to deal with the shithead who don't know how it works. Get graphic with it, public message to all the little retards looking to grow."
Sawyer nodded, pulling a cover off of a plate. Instantly, the aroma of a hot, freshly cooked omelette filled the room. At their confused (and amazed) expressions, she slid the note across the table to Revy.
Dear Sawyer,
I didn't mean to have to leave early, but I got a message on my pager from my banker about something important. I went ahead and made you breakfast. They're under stasis charms, and all you have to do is uncover them to break it. It should keep everything fresh until you wake up.
-Harry
"Yeah, that's Harry," Revy admitted, passing the note to Shenhua. "He's a considerate little fucker. What did I say?" Revy asked in response to Sawyer's silent giggling.
"I think I know," Shenhua commented slyly. "I think Sawyer broke herself off a piece." Sawyer blushed, nodding as she worked her way through the omelette. "No, yes? Oh, spill!," Shenhua cajoled.
"No kidding," Revy added in. "I know he's been dating those three girls, but you too? The fuck?"
Sawyer smirked as she devoured the last of the omelette. Turning slightly, she opened a drawer and pulled out a tape measure. Setting it down, she drew it out, then tapped the 7, followed by the 14
"Wait..." Shenhua began trying to work out what Sawyer was saying. "He... Harry seven inches?!" Sawyer nodded, still smirking.
"And he's fourteen years old," Revy stated, filling in the rest of the message. "How the fuck is he that hung at his age?"
Sawyer just shrugged before pulling up her ultravoice. "He is a very... fast learner. And he can... speak to snakes."
Revy blinked at that blankly, until Shenhua erupted in laughter. "Oh, is too good! Snake speakers vibrate tongue to speak with them! So," she continued with a sly note in her voice, "Sawyer have a very good time last night."
Sawyer only nodded, as she pulled the cover off of the second plate to reveal a stack of fluffy waffles with whipped cream and raspberry sauce.
-----
Meanwhile, halfway across the city, Harry stepped into the Embassy. He'd hated having to seemingly run out on Sawyer after their night together, but he wasn't about to keep Slipshard waiting.
"Mister Potter," Slipshard ground out, already seated in the board room. "Timely, good. I don't have a lot of time, so let's work through this quickly.
"First, Morgan called about your discussion. I see no issues with any of that, with the possible exception of you meeting the two groups in Japan alone. Unfortunately, it cannot be helped if you want them to take you seriously; if you were to show up with a security retinue, they could construe that as a sign of weakness or insecurity," Slipshard admitted. "Nothing to be done about that.
"Next, all of the various investments are back in order, including the ones that were behind. Your coffers are overflowing. One question: what do you want to do about Games Workshop?"
Harry paused, considering it. "Buy it out. If you can put Ron Weasely in contact with Gobrot, I'd appreciate it. Ron's trying to animate the figurines like Wizard's Chess pieces, and Gobrot's sandbox would be ideal for that sort of play. If we basically do the buyout that the management was going to do, we have full control. And if Ron's concept comes out right, that's an in to the magical market."
"Understood. Next is your order," Slipshard stated, pulling out two lengths of polished, red wood. "One wand, thirteen and three-quarter inches, red cypress and basilisk horn. One magical rod, carved to resemble a fighting cane, red cypress and paired cores of basilisk heartstring as well as human. Potter," Slipshard asked guardedly, "are you sure about this combination?"
"Absolutely. The basilisk heartstring provides the power, and the human heartstring is from Himiko. The red cypress is directly from Yamatai. It should all work flawlessly."
"If it gets out that you're using human heartstring, no matter the source, things will get very bad very quickly."
"Which is why I'll mostly be using the wand until I get everything set up," Harry replied, picking up the wand. Instantly, he felt the thrum of barely contained power almost vibrating deep within it. Picking up the rod, he could feel the two cores almost arguing, until Harry channeled his magic into it. Almost at once, the two cores melded, working in perfect harmony. "They're perfect," Harry admitted. "I'll have to get new holsters, but please thank the wand maker for me in a tangible way."
"I won't," Slipshard stated. At Harry's raised eyebrows, Slipshard continued, "These two already cost you nearly a thousand Galleons. The wand maker claimed it was because of the difficulty of the design you insisted on. Personally, I think he was inflating his price."
"Ah. Got it."
"Next. Jurgens' report on the communications bunker is promising for the long term. She also has been looking into proper repairs of the bunker complexes themselves; apparently that area is know for weak hurricanes. She already has the portkey issues resolved, so there's that. Is there anything on your end?"
"One thing. I want to hire Frederica Sawyer's corpse cleanup crew to work on Yamatai. According to her, they are fantastic at large-scale cleanup and disposal, as well as turning most of the corpses into fertilizer. She can be contacted through U.G. Pork."
Slipshard grunted, noting that down. "I'll have our people at HSBC run that up, as well as the standard contract limiters."
"I'm pretty sure that's all from my end."
"Damn," Slipshard muttered. "Apologies, Mr. Potter, but I forgot that Healer Morgan wants to meet with you. Your inability to return to Britain in a timely manner threw off her scheduled checkup of you on the potion. So she'll want to come here. Is that fine with you?"
"I think so," Harry answered uncertainly. "I didn't know she wanted a checkup, but it makes sense."
"Alright. Sign here, here, here... and there. I'll get everything underway. Always a pleasure working with you, young man."
That afternoon, he returned to the clinic, where Gurrimurra promptly told him to grab his bag for a house call. Come sundown, Harry just let Urara in to his apartment and sat. Slowly, she drew out of him what had happened.
Harry admitted that he had no idea that there were that many sexually transmitted diseases in the world, much less in Roanapur. Thankfully, Urara was more than happy to take Harry's mind off of his fresh trauma by teaching him all about the many aspects of pole dancing.
A few hours later, a meeting was held at U.G. Pork. Shenhua and Sawyer were shuffling a bit, but Lotton was bright-eyed, watching Harry sit down, laying down a packet.
"Two hours ago, Green Tooth Johnny called me with a job," Harry began, pulling papers out of the packet. "A month ago, I middle-manned a job from him through the Lagoon Crew, and his pay was solid. This job has a payday of eighty grand, American. It's a kidnapping."
"I not normally do kidnap," Shenhua admitted. "Not sure why I should do."
"I thought of you three and your particular skills. Add me, and the equation gets far more in our favor," Harry stated, passing out the pages. "This guy is about to get shipped to the Hague to testify on most of the criminal organizations in this region. The groups apparently got together and offered a bounty on him. Eighty is for him alive, forty dead. They want to see what he knows before they dispose of him.
"He's in Northern Thailand right now, with a security detail," Harry continued, pointing at the pages. "Twenty men, all locals. Armed with pistols and submachine guns, apparently without long range support. They're holed up in a hotel just outside of Sukhothai, which is pretty sparsely populated.
"So, what do you three think?" Harry asked, looking up.
"Twenty with automatics isn't too hard," Shenhua admitted, looking over the floorplan. Close quarters, that favors me and Sawyer. Lotton?"
"We'll have to approach on foot," he replied, going over the city maps, "and have a vehicle ready to go. Portkeys would only alert the local magical Thai, so it's conventional means. It's probably best to be covert; twenty people with submachine guns on alert won't help us. Sawyer?"
"Cull the herd. Reduce from outside... before moving inwards. Maybe a rifle with... a silencer. Once done... walls are no trouble. Harry?"
"Sleeping charms, stunners, invisibility spells. Consider how much worse it'd be if the guy they're guarding just vanishes," Harry stated, his mind rolling at full speed. "Apparation to get him out side-along, invisibility spells on all of us to get in close, and then extract to the vehicle. Drive away with the guy tied up in the back. Well?"
"I'm seeing," Lotton murmured. "Harry makes us all invisible, we all sneak in as Harry's backup while he does the snatch. Silencing charms will hide the report of the teleport. We make our way out from there."
"Actually," Harry spoke up, moving the paperwork around, "I can make a short-range portkey out of about anything. We sneak in, grab the guy, portkey to the vehicle, drop the spent thing, like a branch, drive away. It'll take a while for the magicals to figure out that a portkey went off, and they'll be more likely to be looking a lot further than a few blocks away for the exit point. A few miles down the road, and we activate a bunch of portkeys, completely muddy the trail, while we take the real portkey to the other side of Roanapur. I unshrink the car, and we drive in to the dropoff."
All three of them nodded at Harry's plan. Getting up, they went to the car for a long drive.