Tusktaker's Secret Part 4

Saturday rolled around and it was finally time for the big date. Thomas had planned to talk Lorka to the art gallery around 4 and then get something to eat at a café or something afterwards. Thomas popped open his closet and pulled out his suit and some formal wear. He didn’t wear them often. Sometimes he would attend social events with his mom so he was lucky enough to have one on hand. They hadn’t been to one together in a long time. Ever since his dad had passed she’d been so busy with her job. He was grateful for a roof over his head and just about anything he could ask for. But he still missed his Mom.

He sighed as he finished putting on his clothes and doing his tie. He never got the damn thing right on the first time. Still, he had to admit he looked good. Sure he was short, but the suit was tailored fit. Hopefully, it would impress Lorka.
She lived in a decent sized area that was a little less affluent than his own neighborhood. There were a lot of different races of humans and monsters around, mingling in the streets or talking while taking care of their lawns. She lived in a smaller one story house. When he got to her place, he parked the car and walked to the door. Hopefully, she had something prepared for the event. He didn’t give her much notice.
*Ding Dong*
“Thomas! Good to see you! How do I look?”
By the grace of god, he was able to keep his jaw from dropping. She was wearing what appeared to be an Orcish equivalent of a cocktail dress. It was woven from some kind of black animal hide, with the hem of the dress stopping just short of her knees. Fur lined the edges of the dress. A small bone fetish was woven into the center of the chest, keeping the bust of the dress firmly wrapped around Lorka’s body and giving Thomas a very generous view of the contours of her breasts. Three leather straps on her hips allowed a small amount of her muscular flesh to show through. Just enough to be provocative, but not enough to be scandalous. Really, that described the whole outfit. Her tangled, wild hair was tamed into a respectable style, with her braids woven into a plated braid draped over her right shoulder. Finally, her bright red eyes showed through a small pair of dainty glasses.  She looked…ravishing.
Thomas tried to say something for a couple seconds, but he couldn’t really find the words.
Lorka grinned as she looked at the disbelief on his face. “I know right? Mom helped me put this together.”
“I see what you mean.”
“Hmmmm?”
“About knowing when I’d be on a date with you. You look really good. I kinda feel underdressed now.”
She laughed and gave him a playful tap on the shoulder. “You look great too. That suit looks very handsome on you.”
Lorka took his arm in hers and walked with him to the car. “C’mon, we don’t want to be late! I can’t wait to check out the exhibits!”
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


The drive to the art gallery allowed Thomas some time to regain his composure. They chatted for a bit, discussing some of the different books they had been sharing. Lorka toyed with her braid while she regarded him, her eyes gleaming with mischief while he tried to pay attention to the road. She must love seeing him this flustered. “You know honestly, I didn’t know you wore glasses.” Thomas mused.
“Ah, I guess you wouldn’t know. I’m nearsighted. I usually wear contacts, but mom thought this would complete the outfit. Make me look a bit classier. Plus I don’t think anyone would recognize me like this.”
I’m sure they wouldn’t, Thomas thought to himself. “Ah here we are. Looks like this place is going to be packed.  ”
Lorka nodded. “I just hope I fit in.”
Thomas reached over and squeezed her hand. “I’m sure you will.”
Thomas pulled in to a parking space. After the two got out of the car, Thomas offered his arm to Lorka. She pulled her arm through his and the two walked together into the gallery. Thomas handed a Kikimora attendant their tickets. “Thank you; enjoy your stay at the gallery. If you have any questions, our curator can help you.” It was a pretty beautiful place. A large contingent of humans and monster lined the interior, all wearing some form of formal attire. A couple patrons gave Thomas and Lorka some odd looks. He wasn’t sure if it was because they thought it was out of place to see an orc in an art gallery or because they just looked like an odd couple.
“Thomas,” Lorka whispered, “Is it me…or are people staring at us?” She tightened her grip on Thomas and pulled him closer. Poor thing, she must feel self-conscious.
 “I don’t think they’re staring at us… I think they’re staring at you.”
“Why?”
He gave her a mischievous grin. “Why wouldn’t they? You’re the prettiest girl here.” Lorka nudged him in the side with her elbow and grumbled something in Orcish under her breath. All the same though, he noticed her smiling out of the corner of his eyes.

Lorka pulled Thomas from painting to painting, giving little comments on the artwork as they examined them. He was happy she was enjoying   herself.  “Man, this place is great! Look at all these paintings...Owfff!” Lorka’s excitability got the better of her as she bumped into a vampire standing near here. “Oh, I’m sorry about that! I didn’t see you there.”
The vampire snorted as she adjusted the glass of blood in her hand. “It’s all right. It’s to be expected of someone of your…disposition. “She gave Lorka a dismissive wave.
Lorka planted her feet firmly, her small purse clutched in her hand. “Excuse me? What’s that supposed to mean?”
The vampire’s lips curved into a sneer. “What it means, dear, is an oaf should understand her place.”
Lorka’s teeth ground together and her muscles tensed. Oh crap, last thing we need is a fight in the middle of an art gallery, Thomas thought. He needed to defuse the situation as fast as he could.

Luckily, a Wight standing nearby interrupted before the two could say anything else “Vani, I hope you aren’t causing trouble. There’s no reason to be rude, we are all patrons of the arts here.”
Vani narrowed her eyes. “She bumped into me. I could have spilled blood on this new dress!”
The Wight put a hand on her shoulder. She still kept her decorum but her tone was firm. “But she didn’t, and she apologized. You are being very rude.  I do not tolerate rudeness in my gallery. So let it go. I would rather not have you spoil a perfectly good evening.”
Vani grumbled but didn’t say another word as she disappeared in the crowd.
Tessa sighed as she adjusted her glasses “I apologize for her lack of tact. It appears some immortals forget their manners after a few centuries. I’m Tessa Reinhart, the curator of the gallery. Please, let me show you around the gallery as an apology for my friend’s rudeness.”

Tessa took them through the sections of the gallery, adding to details of the little stories behind the paintings and their artists. The paints ranged the gamut, from beautiful sunny fields painted by yuki-onna to inari scroll brushworks. There were a couple Cheshire Cat Escher prints that caused headaches if you attempted to make sense of them.  One set was a series of paintings by a Jabberwocky with the main focus of the works being **handholding and affectionate love between two consenting adults**. They might have been a bit too lewd because both Lorka and Tessa moved past them rather quickly. A couple paintings were featured by an Oomukade artist, with lots of surreal imagery and strange depictions of birth, death, and rebirth, as the insect woman in the painting found her body transformed into different shapes before turning into a butterfly made of shimmering light.
“Hmmm, Ms. Lorka. I think you’ll enjoy this one especially.”
She pulled them in front of a beautiful, large canvas painting of a large group of different animals spread throughout as series of massive rolling plains while an Orcish warrior reclines against a tree in the foreground.  The details were immaculately painted, from the scales on the back of each dire lizard to the clouds that seemed to move lazily in the sky above to the immense amount of effort out into the orc warriors tribal clothing, strong life-like muscles, and his content expression.
“Wow, these are amazing. Lorka said in a hushed whisper.
“Indeed, the painter is quite exceptional. Her name is Nier’da Irontusk. She’s an orcess from a longline of blacksmiths. She’s been featured at this gallery a number of times for her landscape paintings.”
“An orc did this?”
“Yes. I’m ashamed to admit I was somewhat happy to see you here with your friend. I thought you would appreciate the attention to detail and lifelike quality of the work. The orc warrior was modeled after her husband. All of the clothing and tattoos are tattoos from the Scale Tracker clan. Quite impressive, yes?”
Lorka nodded, her eyes stilled fixed on the painting.
Tessa smiled and draped her shift around her waist. “Sadly, I must cut our time together short. I’m sure I need to watch Vani and make sure she isn’t troubling the other guests. If you two would ever like to come by again for another tour, don’t hesitate to call.”
Thomas and Lorka thanked her for her time and Tessa gracefully drifted back into the crowd of people, patrons shooting her a smile or a wave as she moved past them.

“Thanks for bringing me here Thomas. This place was wonderful. I wish I had the words to…”
“Articulate?”
“Yeah, articulate what I felt. These paintings are amazing.”
“Except for that Cheshire cat one. I swear I was going to lose my lunch. I’ve never felt dizzy because of a painting.”
“Really? I thought those Jabberwocky paintings were worse. They were a bit…explicit.” She shuddered.
Thomas slid his hands around her, locking their fingers together. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. C’mon, let’s get headed to that café I told you about. We can talk there.” Lorka and Thomas quietly walked out of the gallery hand in hand to his car.

Tessa smiled as she saw the young couple leave. “Ah new love. I remember when Sean and I were like that.”
Vani stood beside her, sniffing the blood in her wine. “Sickening aren’t they?”
Tessa rolled her eyes. “And you wonder why you’re still single?”
She shrugged. “I’d rather be single and happy than trapped and miserable.”
“Oh, I’m sure you would be the miserable one, Vani.  Come now, let’s rejoin the rest of the patrons, we have guests to entertain!”
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“I’m telling you Lovecraft’s a genius!” Thomas exclaimed.
Lorka rolled her eyes. “And I’m telling you he had good ideas but his stuff is waaaay overrated.
“Bullshit, he defined an entire new genre of horror!”
“If by horror you mean long winded speeches about ‘things man was never meant to see’. The man almost never describes any of the monsters meant to scare us. ”
“That’s because nothing is scarier than the unknown!”
“Oh please, that’s such a cop-out. And what about his prose? I have to break out a dictionary and translate anything I read. It’s like he’s just spits out ten dollar words to prove how smart he is. There’s no…what’s an English word for ‘to the point’?”
“Conciseness?”
“Thank you; there’s no conciseness to his work!”
“Well to be fair, he never claimed to be a good writer, he always considered himself an amateur…but he had some really great ideas and he’s a cultural icon! You’re just frustrated with his prose; you aren’t even giving him a chance!”
In their heated discussion, neither Lorka nor Thomas noted the timid weresheep waitress standing near the table. They had been at the café for a little while, but every time she came by to take their order they were so busy talking she was afraid to interrupt.
“…Excuse me. Uhm, excuse me?” she said, finally raising her voice higher than a murmur.
Both Lorka and Thomas stopped talking and looked up at her.
The weresheep held a menu over the lower part of her face and averted her gaze. “I’m…here to take your orders” she mumbled.
Thomas’s mind finally registered her presence. “Oh. Oh! I’m so sorry! We just got caught up in our conversation!” Lorka and Thomas gave her their orders and the sheep girl timidly trudged off to the kitchen.
“I feel kinda rude now.” Lorka muttered.
“Eh don’t worry about it. We were having fun. Anyway, I wanted to ask you something.  You really seemed to like that painting. What did you like about it?”
“Hmmm, that’s a good question. It felt…freeing I guess? It’s the first time I’ve seen any Orcish art that wasn’t about a battle or great hunt.  What’s really awesome is the artist. She came from the Iron Tusk Clan, but she became a painter. How cool is that? Most orcs from Iron Tusk are trained to be blacksmiths first and are lucky to have time to do anything else. ”

“Huh. I don’t know much about orc clans. What clan does your family belong to?”
“Two different ones, actually. Mom is from the Bitter Leaf Clan. They’re a more spiritual clan. Lots of shamanistic stuff and lore keeping. Dad’s a Tusk Taker. They mostly are known for hunting and trophy taking. You ever watch that movie Predator?
Thomas gave her a look of incredulity.
Lorka rolled her eyes “Right. Forgot who I was talking to. Kinda like that but with less fancy gear. Tusk Takers usually hunt in groups of five and work together to bring a target down. We’ve been hunting together for a while. Not my favorite thing to do. But it makes him happy. ”
“That’s funny. Dad and I used to hunt when I was back in middle school.”
“Oh what did you hunt? Rabbits? ” she teased.
Thomas rolled his eyes. “Ha ha. For your information, I wasn’t bad with a bow. I bagged a buck once with dad.”
“Why’d you stop?”
“It was kinda something Dad and I did together. When he passed, I didn’t really have a reason to continue.”
“Oh my…your dad is gone? I’m so sorry...”
“Don’t worry about it. You didn’t know. It happened a while ago. Not something I really like to talk about.” He shifted his hands nervously. Time to steer this conversation back on track.
“So wait, your parents are from two different clans? How does that work?”
“It happens a lot more in the last couple of decades. Dad didn’t think he would ever marry a Bitter Leaf …but Mom’s pretty convincing when she wants something.”
“Guess you got that from her.” He teased.
Lorka smiled. “Yeah. Guess I did.”

The weresheep girl finally came back with their order and set a small plate of food and some coffee down in front of them. Both of them ate in relative silence. Lorka seemed distracted. Thomas couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Something was bothering her.
“What’s the matter? Is the food bad?”
She rested her chin on her hand. “Oh no, it’s fine. Just thinking.”
“About what? You seem kinda sad.”
She looked at him for a moment, almost as though she wasn’t sure of what to say. “…I’m not happy, Thomas.”
Thomas sighed and slid down in his seat. “Man…here I was thinking this was going well...”
“No, you’ve been the most fun I’ve had in a long time!  It’s just…I don’t like having to hide most of this from everyone else I know. It makes me tired. Especially my dad. I can handle my friends not knowing about all this. But’s he’s my dad, he’s supposed to accept me, right?”
“I wish it was that easy. My dad and I didn’t see much eye to eye either. He always wanted me to be more outdoorsy. I just… wasn’t. We loved each other, but it got hard at times to be around one another.  I wish I could say everything would be all sunshine and happiness if we just understood each other. It’s not always that simple.”
Lorka was quiet for a moment. She was looking down at her coffee.
Jesus Christ, she didn’t need to hear all of that. “I’m sorry! Sometimes I’m too blunt. That’s what Mom says anyway. It’s probably why I don’t have many friends.”
She waved her hand. “No, you’re right. It’s not easy to hear. But you’re right.”
“I still shouldn’t have put it like that. “
“Aru’ka, you said what you felt without sugar coating it. That’s a very orcy thing to do. Don’t beat yourself up.”
“If that’s the truth, if orcs appreciate honesty, do you think talking to your dad about how you really feel would change things? “
She shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. Sounds silly, but I’m afraid of what he’d think.  How do you tell your dad, ‘Sorry dad, I like humie things more than most orc things. I don’t like spending all my time hunting or fighting for dominance. Maybe we could take a break from all that and go watch an opera or something?’ ”
 “I don’t know what to tell you there. I wish I had some easy answer. What’s about college?  We only have a year left. Do you know what you want to do career wise?”
 “Mom just wants me to be successful. Dad says I have to do something that requires me to use my hands and not just sit at a desk all day.”
“What do you want to do?”
Lorka looked pensive. “I honestly don’t know. I could go into a science field. Mom would be proud if I could go into pharmacology or chemistry. Dad would probably be less thrilled.” She sighed. “I don’t know. It’s just been rough, y’know?”
Thomas put a hand over Lorka’s “I’m sorry things got so heavy. I know you just wanted to have a good time.”
She smiled again. “I don’t know what you are talking about, Aru’ka. I needed this. It feels good to let all this out. Besides, I’ve had a very fun time tonight.”
“Enough to go out with me again? Maybe on a more permanent basis?”
Lorka leaned forward to say something, but the weresheep waitress picked the “perfect” time to rush over with the check. First time Thomas had seen her move with anything approaching urgency. “You guys better go quick, the news said there is a flash flood warning in effect!” Thomas and Lorka looked outside as rain started to splatter over the restaurants windows. It looked a storm was starting to pick up.
They quickly paid their tab and ran to the car. They were only outside for a couple of seconds, but the rain had soaked through their clothes.
“It’s coming down thick.” Thomas shivered. “This is bad.”
Lorka’s phone buzzed and she looked and she “I just got a text from Mom. She said it’s really bad in our area. A powerline got knocked out. She said we should stay somewhere else until they can get it cleared up.”
“I guess you’re sleeping at my place. It’s a lot closer anyway. C’mon, we can get a fresh change of clothes there.”
 They pulled out of the parking lot and into the stormy night.