Page 39 of Horns & Heart
Nokim clicked.“It’s true then that all humans have cell phones?Donna says reception is shite where she lives, and the chickens don’t like the phone.”
I unplugged it, careful to roll up the charger and make sure it was safely out of the way and within easy reach.I’d had to sneak into an abandoned electronics store for it when I’d made the mistake of leaving one in a house after a monster had sniffed me out there.
“I don’t know about chickens, but most people had phones.”I showed him my Insta feed.“Look, people still post.Sites are down sometimes, but they usually come back up after a while.”
He looked at my screen with big eyes.“We don’t have anything like that on Aër.Donna says we’re probably better off.”
“Well…maybe.Here, let me find a cooking video.”
Nokim nodded.“Vergis likes his phone, I think, but he says too that it makes humans act even more human.I’m not sure what he means.He says there are silly videos like people showing what their shelves look like.I don’t know why you’d show others your shelf, and he says—” Nokim frowned.“I’m sorry.I don’t want to say bad things about something you like.”
Which led me to believe that Vergis’s shelves—if he had any—were a mess and not Instagrammable at all and that he was just jealous of people who had nice shelves.Cat’s shelves, for example.Her dorm shelf had been her TBR pile, and she’d always taken care with it, had always made it look pretty.I had a sudden urge to show Nokim, but I didn’t.I didn’t want to tell him about Cat, who wasn’t here anymore.
I had a different idea though.“Hey, you collected all those teas, right?”
Nokim nodded.“Yes!Lots of them.We have tried all of them but there is more comparing to do.”He glanced at the chamomile tea, only half of which I’d drunk.“Would you like to try another?”
Grabbing the charger and putting it in my pocket, I stood.“Sure, but can you show me all the teas?”
Nokim nodded, excited, and led me to the kitchen.
Apart from a generous amount of counter space, there was also a pantry.Not only was it where Nokim had gathered his teas and arranged them according to flavors, but he had so much other stuff here.He had candies and flour, coffee—both instant and ground—jars of peanut butter and jelly, and fruit that stored well—apples and pears, and quinces, unless I was mistaken.
I showed him how to post some photos of his pantry to my account.I made sure not to add where I was so no one would try to find this place only to raid it.He seemed to enjoy the process, and he got really curious when I explained what tagging was and that he could tag Vergis if he knew the name Vergis used online.
As we talked about tagging and phones and social media, Nokim explained that Vergis had told them about those things even before the “Lagasar,” which was what they called the apocalypse in their language.
Nokim said there were special places—portals—where it was now permanently possible to go back and forth.According to him, those portals were like two soap bubbles that had come to stick together.
We ended up watching YouTube videos on my phone in the kitchen while Nokim made me a cup of Earl Grey.Nokim quickly fell in love with the cooking and meal prep content I used to watch for the background chatter.He wanted to try out several of the things we’d seen for dinner.
Watching him cook from a chair—he insisted I relax and enjoy my tea—made me nostalgic very quickly.When the au pair had been a good one, they would cook or bake, and I used to love sitting at the spotless kitchen island in my parents’ spotless house and watching the au pair spill flour or pour the batter into the pan for sloppy but delicious pancakes.One Brazilian woman, Laura, would turn the radio on, and whenever a song she liked was playing, she’d pull me to my feet and dance around the kitchen with me.
Nokim was too engrossed to dance.He was making banana bread and savory muffins.Even though I was only watching, something settled inside of me; one of those small nightmare creatures you always think live under your bed when they live in your heart instead.
Vergis was absent for dinner later that day.Lissir returned with more reading material…and several friendship bracelets.He insisted we all wear one, and he handed Inkiri one to put on me.
Inkiri did so solemnly, and since it was the first thing anyone had given me other than nightmares in two years, I was ridiculously happy about it.I found myself running my fingers across the emerald and pale green stones all evening.
When Nokim asked to see what it looked like to be ticklish after Inkiri mentioned that was something I did, I was embarrassed, sure, but I also found myself wishing this evening would go on forever.Even as Inkiri carefully pulled one of my feet to him and tickled me, to the wonder and delight of the other three.
Vergis returned later, well past ten.Nokim doggedly put a plate together for him, even though we’d been done with dinner for some time.Vergis had found a bottle of Irish whiskey somewhere, and we shared that.No one was allowed a sip until Lissir managed to force a friendship bracelet onto Vergis though.He stared daggers at Lissir, but let him put one on his wrist.
I was the most drunk by the time the evening ended, even though I’d had the least alcohol.
“You’re just too big,” drunk me said to Inkiri when I dropped onto his mattress pile in his room.
“It has nothing to do with size.We have a better tolerance.”He loomed over me.The only light was from a small reading lamp that sat on a plant stand in a corner.“You need to be careful about the alcohol you can try back on Aër.”
I giggled.“You gonna take me there, Ink?Feed me that sweet satyr candy…oh, and those millet beans I allegedly look like?”
He made an amused sound.“Billet beans, and it’s called Sadir.Yes, I will feed you that, and more.”
“Except you won’t be feeding me your cock.I’m not letting you.”
I gazed up at the horned form above me.His face was half in shadow, even though some light from the window made the ridges of his horns stand out.The streetlights still went on at night in some areas.Many were solar powered.It was such a practical, neat little thing that made you forget almost everyone was gone.
I focused on how the illumination outlined the curves of his horns and the planes and edges of his face, his pointy ears, now easily visible that he hadn’t retied his braids.
