carl@fire

Annie wrote another note on a quiz where Susan had nearly gotten the correct answer but had overlooked the nuance. Full credit since it was obvious she'd at least read the material, and a note explaining the answer she'd wanted. Susan, like many of her students, was from what used to be the middle class of the country, now sunken firmly into the upper reaches of poverty; she was a good student, but it was so difficult for the girl to remain focused on academics when she was only able to bring in a lunch three days each week, her sustenance at home being similarly unreliable despite the too-common obesity which implied otherwise.

That was the story for more and more kids these days, and there was only so much Annie herself could do besides try to instill within them the drive and skills they would need to someday struggle free of the financial hole they'd been born into, just as she had. Marrying Carl, who now could easily provide for the family even if she chose not to work, had surely helped her with that, but she could just barely manage to survive and provide for her girls even without him—one of her longest term goals that she'd managed to achieve through her continued activism in the AFT, which had, after many, many years, finally led to somewhat increased wages for teachers.

Her thoughts turned again to her husband. I thought Friday would give him a chance to unwind, but then all this other bullshit keeps cropping up. She frowned. It was fine for him to be this Carl when we were younger and the girls needed more constant attention, but I don't want to see him being this stressed all the time. He needs a hobby or two, or some other way to decompress. I wish he'd kept doing at least yearly meet-ups with Tim and Max. They were fun guys, and he could use some friends to talk to.

She fidgeted with her pen, then switched utensils and took another bite of tuna salad. Her frown deepened as she considered the most recent events in their household. How is Becca still so fucking annoying after all these years? She rubbed her forehead with her free hand. At least Carl still hasn't realized it. He's oddly perceptive about just about everything else, but he's got a real blind spot for her. And of course she's gonna want the one thing she can't have. Well too bad, Becca, he's mine. Go throw yourself at another B-list actor or something.

She continued to grade, resting her head on her hand as she tended to do, and she followed her train of thought to the results of the first night of her annoying little sister's visit. Still need to figure out something to do about Sammy's learner permit. It would be nice if she could drive herself around. Hell, I don't even know why it's still a thing. Carl's car doesn't even have a steering wheel. He said he didn't mind if she used his car, so having a license is a moot point at that level.

Stupid Becca. Why'd you have to—

A large object abruptly fell in front of her desk and smacked into the ground with a loud whump.

What the fuck was that? Annie started leaning slowly around her desk to—

A man popped up off the floor. He was huge, taller than nearly…

Carl turned around. He was wearing a rumpled set of dark gray dress pants with a matching vest and a white, almost courtly dress shirt underneath. There was a dragon head embroidered in green on his chest. His face seemed slightly younger than she remembered and was missing some of the lines on his forehead.

But it was definitely Carl.

He looked down at himself, as though checking to see that he was still in one piece.

"Carl?" Annie said incredulously, unable to process what had just happened.

Her husband of nineteen years grinned down at her. "Hey, Annie," he said in that deep voice of his that she loved so much as long as it wasn't explaining one of his technical ideas. "Thought I'd drop in and say hi. Er, no pun intended."

Annie loved puns, and that had been a great one, but she was unable to appreciate it. She just stared, trying to comprehend how Carl was here.

He walked around her desk. "I really miss you when I'm at work," he said as he approached.

She felt deeply pleased to hear that for some reason. Maybe it was the way he said it, maybe it was the tone of his voice, or maybe it was the way he had said it while grinning down at her after falling out of the fucking cei—

Carl leaned down and kissed her.

She'd been sure it was him before, but now she was sure. She brought her hands up, pulling him into a deeper, more intense kiss. She had no fucking clue how he'd managed to get up in the ceiling like that, or why he was wearing such a weird outfit, but if this was his idea of randomly dropping by to make sure she knew how much he loved her, she was sure as hell going to make sure he knew that she appreciated the effort.

When she started feeling like she was getting a little too into their impromptu make-out session, she moved her head back. "How are you here?" she panted.

Carl blinked, seeming dazed by her enthusiasm for a moment. Then he grinned again and held a finger to his lips. "I snuck out with my IT director powers. Don't tell anyone."

IT director powers? What the fuck?

Carl turned as if to leave, revealing what appeared to be bullet holes in the back of his shirt, then looked up at the ceiling. "Hey, Ir'alith, can you, uh, pull me back in somehow?" he called.

For the first time since her husband crashed into her office and captured her attention, Annie looked up.

A succubus stared down at her from a hole in the world where she was standing horizontally.

Annie knew the woman smiling down from the ceiling was a succubus. She'd spent considerable time researching them in order to create a perfect costume. This one had long hair that was the same shade as the wig she'd picked out, styled up around horns that were even longer than the horns she'd chosen and which curled over cute, slightly pointy ears, and the same type of tail with a heart-shaped tip like she'd gotten, except longer and very clearly able to move. But, unlike Annie's sexy costume, this real succubus had blue eyes that radiated endless sorrow, and she wore a full suit of finned armor which covered her from the neck down.

And glowed.

The succubus currently appeared to be blushing. "Hello, Annie," she said in a voice that brought Annie from a five or a six on her arousal scale to at least an eleven. "I, Ir'alith, am honored to make your acquaintance."

Annie stared. She'd been with a number of girls in and immediately after college during her brief, wild years before she'd gotten her shit together, and lately there was Melissa, who had been flirting outrageously with her for the past few weeks at yoga despite not being Annie's type and also not getting the fucking hint that she was married, but…

So beautiful.

Annie stared into the succubus's eyes, feeling like her soul was being stolen.

The heart-tipped tail stretched out of the portal at that moment, winding around her husband's middle.

Annie glanced over at it, and the tip waved at her.

The tail pulled Carl up into the ceiling, and then hole in the world disappeared.

Annie stared at the ceiling. She looked down at the floor where her husband had been standing a moment ago.

She stood up slowly and walked around her desk.

There was no trace that anything unusual had happened.

She looked up.

The ceiling was where it should be, looking exactly as she recalled that it should.

She looked around, trying to find even the slightest evidence that she wasn't losing her mind, but the room was exactly as it had been.

Annie raised her hands to her temples. Did I just go crazy?