Today was such a boring, monotonous, and utterly dull day. The tedium of working this dead-end job was only offset by the fact that it actually paid remarkably well, despite the amount that the store owner skimmed off the top. Of course, the store owner couldn’t skim that much, mostly because her previous attempts had resulted in a few close calls. She was already on thin ice, and giving in to her greed nearly sank her.

Still, though, today was just another day of manning the cash register and taking orders from random people. Sure, this was the best place in the city to get some decent food that was not only fast but also tasty (if you actually ate the stuff this place served, which she had never done), but in the end, it was, to her, just a meaningless job. She was half sure that they were spiking the meals with something, but it may have also been because of the utter moron that was in charge of making the food. Despite the utter lunacy of that person, they were apparently an utter savant when it came to making fast food.

Maybe that was the ‘secret formula’ that the store owner kept bragging about. Not an actual recipe, but an employment contract. But even still, the idiot couldn’t man a register and the owner was too miserly to bother firing Squidellda and getting someone else. Besides, there was nobody around willing to earn that little money doing such a dead-end job. Everyone else in Racerback Reef was in a very different industry, and it was one that Squidellda simply wasn’t interested in joining.

Still, though, while she didn’t earn the riches that raiding and capturing men provided, that didn’t matter to the octopus Naga. This job paid enough for her to indulge her hobbies and gave her enough free time to have more than a few hours each day to just do what she wanted. Plus, Ms. Shrymp did give them an unusual number of random free days. Maybe she wasn’t as miserly as she first appeared?

Anyway, today was a boring day, just like most others. The usual customers had come in, had their usual meals, and now there was a bit of downtime. She had already scrubbed the front of house spotless, as there was nothing better to do, and she had now begun to read a newspaper that had been specially treated so it wouldn’t fall apart here under the waves.

“Hey Squidellda!”

A voice that, to her, was like nails on a chalkboard echoed out from the back of house. Damn it, what did she want now?! That weirdo was one of the freaks who, despite technically being a Naga was actually more humanoid in appearance. No long, snake-like tail, no tentacles, nothing; just two hideous human-like legs with webbed flippers at the end.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

And to make matters worse, she actually wore clothing more suited for a stuck-up surfacer than someone down here in the deep. And her name! Completely absurd and didn’t do her appearance any justice! A Naga like everyone else, but with a name like that?! Absurd!

“What is it, Spongette?”

“I heard that Ms. Shrymp is gonna be bringing in a new guy for a special meal! We need to start preparing!”

Ugh! It would probably be just another nobody. Ms. Shrymp was still a miser, despite the occasional bit of charity, and as such she never managed to sink her claws into any man who got brought down here save for those who everyone else had essentially just gotten tired of. That did mean that she had a massive number of guys back home, and from the rumors around the city, she made full use of them, both in her own personal way and to earn a bit of extra money.

Still, she had been ordered to close up a little earlier than usual today, so maybe this guy would be something special? No, probably not. I mean, how hot could someone that she got a hold of be? The others had all been, well, normal at best. Tonight she would just have to deal with another random guy who got snatched up and had already been through the wringer so many times that he was likely to be utterly broken.

…

She was sweating bullets. Or at least she would if she could. She had grossly underestimated the amount of money that Ms. Shrymp had at her disposal. Obviously, this guy was not only a fresh capture, but he was not normal by any sense of the imagination. In fact, she had only one thing to say mentally once she laid her eyes on him.

“Oh, no! He’s HOT!”

For so long, she had refused to even try to indulge in her desires with a captured man. After all, she could do just fine with a few toys, now couldn’t she? And all the men that she had seen up till this point had been, well, decent in appearance at best. This guy, though? To put it into context, it was like someone who had only seen the baseline average adult human male saw a supermodel that was also a star athlete for the first time.

She was honestly glad that she was underwater, or she would have worried that she … well, that doesn’t bear thinking about. Now she was just envious; how could an old bag like her be allowed such a nice guy?! Damn the rich! She would need to reconsider her position on not going raiding if that fine specimen had others like him out there. Maybe a vacation was in order? Go around, see the sights, experience the local ‘delicacies'.

Supposedly the coast of Anglond was nice this time of year. A nice, burly fisherman, pulling her up from the depths… Nah, that wouldn’t happen. Life wasn’t a porno, after all. She honestly couldn’t expect anything that crazy, but then again Spongette did somehow manage to get into some pretty strange situations and some damn odd adventures.

Maybe she should try and get out of her comfort zone a bit? Yeah, that would do. She heard that there was an opening for an artist as well as for a musician in the upcoming raids on the south of Arcfira. Maybe a bit of fun down there could be had, and all in exchange for some ‘services being rendered’. And she did need more people to relate to…