“Under the right conditions, yes.”
“The right conditions?”
“Yeah, you know, like lying in the sun on the beach with no one around, half dozing off and boom, my lizard took the shot and came out.”Charma shrugged.“It’s never been a problem before, but I’ve been on my own for a while now and don’t have access to private basking areas, among other things.”Charma’s demeanor changed for a moment, a sadness on his face.
“Sounds like there’s a story there.”
Waving his hand in front of him, Charma shrugged.“Let’s just say the fam was less than pleased that I’m not into girls.”
Well, that was disappointing, Darcy would have thought a group that had to hide who they were for the most part would be more liberal toward the queer community.“They kicked you out because you’re gay?”
“It was more they disapproved of my refusal to knock up a few females to propagate the line.I’m not making a bunch of babies that I won’t be parenting, though.If I’m going to father kids, I want to be their father, but it was made clear that would only happen if I stayed with the kids’ mother, so… no babies for me.And they didn’t kick me out, but I couldn’t take sticking around when I was treated like a pariah by everyone, family and not.”Charma gave another shrug that Darcy thought was far less casual and uncaring than Charma wanted him to believe.“So, I struck it out on my own.”
“And it’s not going well?”
“Well, you tell me—you’ve got a pretty small place here—I bet it’s still costing you a fortune.”
Darcy couldn’t deny that.If the place had had more than one bedroom, he might have looked for a roommate.Hell, he was half considering it anyway if he could find someone willing to share the bedroom dorm room-style.
“Yeah, it’s kind of pricey and this isn’t even a nice neighborhood.”It wasn’t scary bad, but it was pretty run-down.“At least it’s fairly close to the beach.”Only a few blocks.Which he’d walked with Charma in his front right pocket.Now that he knew Charma was a shifter and not an actual chameleon, it seemed… well, the guy had kind of been right next to his cock.
Charma chuckled.“Location, location, location, right?You’re right, though, because the beach is a wonderful place to be able to go and sit, sunny or not.”
Darcy nodded happily.“That’s it exactly.There’s something primal about it that I love.I’ve found a rocky little spot that usually doesn’t have anyone around where I can just sit and enjoy the waves and the breeze, or walk on the beach in the waves.It’s rejuvenating.”
Head tilting, Charma considered him for a moment.“You sure you don’t have some shifter in you?Maybe a bit of turtle or shark or whale or something?”
“Huh?”
“Your affinity to the ocean.”
“Not a shifter, I just love the water.”Some people did and some didn’t, right?
“Sure.”
They stared at each other for a few minutes, and Charma bit his lower lip.“I should probably head back to the beach and see if I can rescue my clothes.”
“Or you could stay for lunch.”Darcy hadn’t even realized he was going to ask, the words shooting out of him unbidden at the merest suggestion that Charma might be leaving.He didn’t want to let the guy go until he had a reasonable expectation of seeing him again.He figured maybe spending a little more time together would do that.
“I could, eh?What are you serving?”
“You have an offer from somewhere else?”
That made Charma laugh.“Nope.Good point.On the other hand, if all you’ve got is say canned tuna, well I’ve got American cheese and bread at home.”
“You don’t like tuna?”He wasn’t overly fond.His mother had served tuna sandwiches for a hell of a lot of lunches back when it was a cheap choice and he’d lost his taste for it.Which was fine given the price of a small can of it these days.
“Tuna, licorice, maple syrup, and zucchini.I’ll eat pretty much anything else.”
“Huh.”That was a pretty short and disparate list of items.
“So…” Charma looked at him expectantly.
“So… what?”
Charma laughed, and the sound was so bright and cheery that it made Darcy smile.
“So, what are you serving for lunch?”
