Page 32 of Monster Married
He chuckled. “Fuck, you really are a weird one. I’m still not totally convinced you’re playing with a full set of cards, but whatever.” He paused, then: “Congratulations, I guess.”
“Thanks. You were a decent bridesmaid.”
“You’re aware I carry several knives on my person at all times?”
“Fine. You were an awesome bridesmaid. Sorry I didn’t throw a bouquet of flowers at you or whatever the custom is here on Aër.”
“Dude, you’re just asking to be knifed.”
I could tell he was smiling when he said that. That had to be a small miracle. Too bad it was too dark for me to really witness it.
We watched the flowers and the moons together in silence for a while longer, and I was pretty sure Vergis was a little less bitter when I left him there to sneak back into bed with Inkiri. I’d stolen him from Vergis without even knowing it, before Vergis had ever gotten a chance with him. I had my happiness now, but I hoped Vergis would find the same, knives and all.
Chapter 10
The next morning, after waking me up with his ever-exploring tongue, Inkiri gave in to my demands to head back to the festival easily enough, especially when it turned out that everyone else was already out and about by the time we’d gotten up. They had left a message with the hotel staff to let us know they’d gone back downtown, and we decided to head there too.
“I don’t get how people aren’t staring more,” I said as we crossed the same wooden bridge I’d taken with Lissir, Nokim, and Vergis yesterday. It was noticeably less busy today, either because it was still early or because people had partied enough last night to still be half-comatose.
“Oh, humans have been here before,” Inkiri said. He’d gone back to leading me by the wrist, but I was beyond caring whether he held my hand or not after the way he’d kissed me awake this morning.
I gasped. “Say what? When? And how? Or do you mean just the past two years? Don’t tell me you’ve had refugees come here.”
“I don’t think so. I haven’t seen any reports about the last two years, but humans visited Aër before that. You know bagua are the root of your stories of elves and fae? Some of the mages who traveled the veils brought humans back with them. It’s how we first learned the language. It used to be possible to listen to the radio from this side if you were close enough to where the veils overlap, but since the lagasar, that doesn’t work anymore.” He brought my wrist up to his mouth to kiss it. “The radio is how I started studying the language, even before I knew you existed, sweet thing.”
“Huh. Well, that’s interesting.” I got distracted by two bagua who were each carrying a toddler against their chest in one of those wrap-around contraptions. Seeing the age range of the normal population in a city like Esaka reminded me of what was normal, especially when Earth had lost all semblance of normal. “Oh, is that Fellisse?”
The oceanic bagu was strolling along the bridge in the opposite direction, heading back to the hotel. He started waving when he saw us.
“He seems to have had a good night yesterday,” Inkiri said.
My eyes went wide. “You mean he was out all night?”
Inkiri chuckled. “Let’s find out. My bet is, he spent most of the night with Hove.”
My mouth fell open. “Those two were flirting? Were they flirting? I didn’t see them flirting. Why do I keep missing stuff like that?”
“That might be a human trait, sweet thing. Come along.” We weaved our way through the foot traffic. “Fellisse.”
Inkiri and Fellisse hugged and rubbed their right cheeks together. A very European greeting, all in all. For all I knew, it was Aër’s version of a handshake.
“Rory, good to see you not crying this morning.” Fellisse had a twinkle in his eye, and he hugged me like Nokim had hugged me; no cheek contact. Huh. At least he wasn’t holding on as long as Nokim had.
“He has mostly screamed in pleasure since we left last night.” Inkiri put a hand on my shoulder while I blushed every shade of red. “You and Hove?”
Fellisse nodded. “Indeed. You wouldn’t really think it from the looks of the man, but he’s insatiable. Efficient too, but mostly insatiable. I think I’m in need of a nap.”
I stood on my tiptoes, though that still didn’t put me on eye level with either of the two bagua. “Quick question, talking about your sexual conquests while standing out in the open on a pretty busy bridge is normal to you all?” If it wasn’t, I’d married a weirdo by both human and bagu standards. If it was, well, he was a weirdo by human standards only.
Fellisse shrugged. “Why, yes.”
“It’s always nicer to discuss one’s exploits over breakfast, of course,” my weirdo spouse added.
“Of course it is,” I muttered. Both bagua tilted their heads while they looked at me.
“I sense he doesn’t mean that,” Fellisse said.
“I sense that too,” said weirdo spouse.
