“Bay view, Cass, this is Oakland, not Russian Hill.  For sealing, benefit of family connections is that we can get the materials cheap,” Michelle pointed out as we toured one of the apartments (condos?) in the building Zothie was considering buying.  He was back at the hotel, sleeping or something.  He’d told me to buy whatever I wanted so I was taking him at his word. 

                “Indeed,” I mused. 

                “And the building has granite siding, a rarity in the city,” the family realtor pointed out.  As his badge said, he was Valentino Dunamis and was a cousin of the branch that lead the San Francisco offices.  “The adjacent buildings aren’t up for sale yet but I can keep an eye out if you’re interested.”

                “Just take the block for the family,” Michelle asked with a laugh.  “That wouldn’t look sus at all.”

                “Sus,” I asked bewildered then saw the answer in her mind.  “Oh, that game the children were playing.  Sus indeed.”

                “It creeps me out when you do that,” my assistant said honestly.  Or did she think it…

                “Can’t really stop it,” I said honestly with a shrug.  “Trust me, I’ve tried.  I’m working on turning off that ability but no luck yet.  At least you’re just thinking about games, the people in the house next to this one are into some freaky stuff.”

                They both looked at me with worried expressions and I threw up my hands.  “Sorry, fuck you, its hard not hear things.”

                “I’ve never had a client that could read my thoughts before,” Valentino admitted.  “But I’ve never been in presence before.  You’re less, hm, impactful than I thought you’d be.”

                “She’s not in full goddess mode,” Michelle told him, thinking he was an idiot who should really keep his mouth shut if he wanted his commission.   “Her causing earthquakes here in the city would be… bad.”

                “Earthquakes,” Valentino asked as I moved into the kitchen and started looking in the cabinets and hardware.

                “Yeah, that 5.9 a few weeks ago north of the city, that was all her,” Michelle said smugly. 

                “That would destroy the city,” he said with an audible gulp. 

                “Yeah, so maybe be a bit more respectful,” she suggested before joining me. 

                I let them talk it out while I explored what I thought of as an overly daring design on a bathroom.  I was a lab experiment with the powers to destroy the tri county area, big whoop.  I was seeing what Gwen meant- I was both a mess and a goddess.  It was a strange blend of things. 

                Emerging, I asked, “What’s under the house?”

                “Yes, Michelle told me to look into that,” Valentino acknowledged, pulling out his phone.  “There’s tunnels that run throughout the city but according to the builder’s specs, you’re over about fifty feet of sand-stone mix before hitting bedrock.  We can, of course, bring out a team to get you detailed underground information, should you wish.”

                “I wish,” I said with a roll of my eyes over how he phrased it.  “There’s what, 8 units here?  Zothie can take his pic, I like that one on the first floor with access to the basement garage and the elevator to the rooftop.  We’ll need to outfit it, but that’s not a big deal.  At least the building doesn’t have existing tenants, I’d hate to kick someone out of their home.  Michelle, you can pick after Zothie chooses his place, assuming you’re ok living in the same building.  If your cousin’s food makes Zothie happy, we’ll give them a unit.  Better to have them on site and lets them spend time with the baby.  That’s a thing, right?”

                “You’re giving away apartments,” Valentino asked, astonished.  “You can make over thirty grand a month on those apartments.”

                “Meh,” I said with a shrug.  He said the number like it was important but from the bank statements I’d seen, Zothie and I had no worries about funding.  My brother had added me to his accounts, saying he’d never spend it all.  “I would rather our people work for a fair wage and be close without breaking themselves on housing.  And if they see me in the building, I don’t have to answer weird questions.”

                “Told you she’s different,” Michelle said with a grin.  “Should be move forward with getting in a bid?”

                “Fuck yes,” I said.  I hated this house hunting nonsense.  “Wait- it has an ADA compliant elevator, right?”

                “Of course, it was on the mandatory item list that Michelle sent me,” Valentino informed me. 

                “Good, we’ll need that possibly,” I said and looked to Michelle.  “Can we head back to the hotel now?  These shoes are fire but hurt like it all fiery fuck.”

                “Of course,” she said with a laugh.  “Send us the paperwork tomorrow?”

                “Its on its way to your email now,” Valentino said with a grin, pocketing his cell phone.  “I saw this one a couple weeks ago and thought it would be her favorite.”

                “It’s only the tenth place we’ve seen IRL,” I said wearily.

                “That’s nothing, I’ve had clients look at dozens and dozens of places,” Valentino said.  “I’m sure you’ll be happy with this as your base of operations.  Relatively good neighborhood, multiple shopping sites within walking distance, BART station a few blocks away and the private schools here are nice if you’re looking to bring in families with children.”

                “I’m not planning on that directly,” I said with a shrug.  If my people had kids, they had kids.  If they didn’t, they didn’t.  Besides, it was illegal to not hire someone because they had kids. 

                We were walking to Michelle’s car when she spoke up again.  “I got an email from the head of the local Family saying that he wants to throw a little welcoming party for you.”

                “That doesn’t sound so bad,” I said, dodging a delivery person on a bike. 

                “I’ll be a black tie affair and full of drama,” she added which made me frown.  “I know, not your idea of fun but if we want their help and backing, it would be unwise to decline the offer.”

                “Dance, squid-monkey, dance,” I grumbled, stepping down into her Miata. 

                “You’re not wrong,” she agreed.  “And since your formalwear has to be custom, I can ask for a month lead time on the event.”

                “So, I get a month to prepare to be grilled about whether I’m really a goddess or not,” I concluded.  “At least we can move forward with setting up office space and all that jazz in the meantime.”

                “The family owns a building near Summit Hospital,” Michelle told me.  “We’ve got an appointment tomorrow to take a look at it, see if it fits your needs.  Initially, we just need general office space but because it’s owned by the family trust, we can rent it cheap and modify as needed.”

                “Excellent,” I said, wishing I could stretch out my tendrils.  They were starting to cramp from being held so tight against my back all day.  I envied Gwen, just having to hide four instead of twenty.  “Also, thank you.”

                “For what?”

                “Arranging everything,” I said bluntly.  “For showing up at the drop of a hat and diving into my crazy ass ideas with enthusiasm.  I appreciate it.”

                “You’re welcome,” Michelle said after a moment.  “I assumed I’d be someone’s flunky for the first four or so years out of university.  With you, I’m serving a goddess, which is a trip, don’t get me wrong and I get to set up a non-profit to help people.  It’s a win-win.  Not to mention the salary’s pretty good, though we’ll have to work the funding to come from the charity once we’ve gotten our site and the paperwork started.”

                She went on about paperwork requirements, the need for an accountant and more while I partly tuned her out.  I wasn’t overly concerned with the details of the numbers side.  I wanted to get involved in the community and first step was figuring out how I wanted to do that.

                How the hell did I want to do that?