Total pages in book: 161
Estimated words: 147673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 738(@200wpm)___ 591(@250wpm)___ 492(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 738(@200wpm)___ 591(@250wpm)___ 492(@300wpm)
Intimidated as he had been at the house of the Kings of Hell, Laurent was relieved to see that not all men of 2017 were giants like Beast or his father. Though some had grown around their bellies and became large in their own way. Very large even. There had to be an abundance of food in this world of the future, just like there was unlimited water in the bathroom.
Beast, however, was the tallest man Laurent has seen so far. Broad in the shoulders and with the neck of a bull, he made an impressive picture as he walked through the crowds he so easily dwarfed.
Laurent did have to conclude that what had been a good height for a man in his time, made him short in this one, particularly when compared to the massive bulk of his companion. At 5 foot 7 he didn’t stand out the way he was used to. And the clothes, more fitting than the ones given to him yesterday, made him feel extremely unimpressive. The trousers were still loose, revealing that he was too small to fill in the outfit, and he was unsure about the way the soft, fabric shoes he received from Nao squeaked against the polished floor as he walked. From Beast, he also got something he was much less happy about. An ankle shackle of small girth that was to explode and amputate his foot if he tried to run and got farther than a mile away from Beast. Terrible business really, so Laurent tried not to think about it too much. Between the self-propelled carriage and the artificial music, Laurent didn’t doubt the threat.
“I guess you would indeed have to try to be more charming.”
King’s newfound kindness was making Laurent slightly more confident about his interactions with Beast, but he was still wary, still testing the waters, because those huge hands could snap him in two.
“I’m called Beast for a reason,” Beast grumbled, as if nothing could ever make him feel happy. He walked into one of the stores. Big, so bright it hurt Laurent’s eyes, and with clothes arranged on strange metal contraptions. There were also white faceless figures vaguely shaped like women standing on tables and presenting some of the stock, but for Beast it must have been an everyday sight, because he walked right past them and deeper into the endless hall.
True to his earlier decision, Laurent was trying to simply take everything in and observe how other people acted. So he too paid no mind to the clothed sculptures, and he followed Beast’s distinct shape in front of him. With one arm so black he might had dipped it in tar, his height, and his wide shoulders, he was impossible to miss. But when Laurent stayed a few steps behind, he could finally see that on the back of Beast’s oversized leather waistcoat, was the symbol of the Kings of Hell MC—a crowned skull.
Two young girls laughed as Laurent passed them, but when he discreetly glanced their way, it became clear that he was not the object of their mockery. Both pairs of eyes followed Beast’s towering figure as it moved between the racks of clothes.
“Oh, my God, did you see that?” One of them whispered loudly enough for Laurent to catch it.
He frowned when one of the girls produced a thing similar to the one Beast had used for communication with King and directed it at Beast. The longer Laurent was out of the clubhouse, with all those people around, the more he recognized that even in comparison to people of his own time, Beast stood out from the crowd, and not only due to his superior height. What Laurent wasn’t yet sure of was whether people were impressed by Beast, feared him, or were amused by him.
Beast finally stopped when he reached a different room within the store, which seemed to have fewer clothes. Laurent quickly realized what this was when instead of female figures, the two on show here were shaped like males, although Laurent didn’t think the styles for both genders differed all that much. Out in the mall most men and women dressed in vaguely the same way - in pantaloons and trousers made of canvas and shirts that were very simple in design but often decorated at the front with letters or colorful designs. He wondered what the Church’s opinion was of such immodesty. Then again, who was he to speak, with just a thin piece of cloth to cover his chest. In the cool temperature, the outline of his nipples was peeking from underneath.
“Please, promise you won’t walk a mile away from me on purpose,” Laurent asked, nervous about the ankle shackle once more. It would be no feat at all, were Beast to use his car.
Beast frowned at him, standing far enough for Laurent to see his overall expression even despite the ink covering his skin. “I won’t. Now choose some clothes.”