Jinx watched the toaster diligently but still jumped a mile when it popped. I laughed, finally understanding his suspicion. To him the toaster was like a jack-in-the-box and he was quite right. The toaster often made me jump too.
I served up breakfast and watched fondly as Jinx tucked in with glee.
“Let’s go out,” I said impulsively.
I’d shown him far too little of the world. He deserved to see more.
He gave me an open mouthed grin with a mouthful of scrambled egg and toast.
“Ew! Keep your mouth closed when it has food in it! You are not a fish,” I said lightheartedly as I parroted an expression my mother had said to me many times when I was a child.
He pouted but did as I asked. He was good like that. I liked that he normally did what I told him to. I probably liked it far too much.
I firmly steered my thoughts away from that path and thought instead about where to take him. My words to him about fish acted like inspiration, giving me a brilliant idea. I decided to take him to the aquarium.
It was still early when we arrived at the aquarium so it wasn’t very busy. Jinx was staring wide eyed at the entrance lobby as we waited in the small queue. I grinned, I had a feeling he was going to love it.
Then I noticed several people staring at him, and it made me uneasy. I looked him over carefully, but he looked fully human. There was no way that these mundane humans could tell that anything was amiss. I looked at the people staring and then back at Jinx to double check. He was oblivious to the attention and definitely very human looking.
The collar was well hidden under his polo neck top, which also happened to suit him very well indeed.
Then it hit me. They were staring because he was gorgeous. Completely, utterly striking. I was used to otherworldly beauty and shamefully had gotten used to his good looks. I really should appreciate them more.
Incubi always adjusted the body they inhabited. They psychically absorbed what humans found attractive, and while that varies a lot, incubi could glean enough to choose a look to go with. Then they altered cheekbones and noses and general facial symmetry, to achieve looks humans would be drawn to. It made hunting and feeding far easier.
As I looked at Jinx with a fresh perspective, I saw he had gone for a very twink look. Cute, almost effeminate. Like some sort of hot elf slash femboy. It said a lot about the preferences of his summoners. And mine, I suddenly realized with a sinking feeling. I had been the first person to ever feed him.
We got to the front of the queue, and I struggled to remember how to speak. The disturbing thought that Jinx had created his appearance to please me, had really thrown me. Was it why I liked him so much?
Some part of my mind recalled how to ask for two tickets. I paid, and the woman handed me the tickets along with a glossy brochure with a shark on it. I handed it to Jinx, and he grinned at me, like I had just given him a diamond.
The sight of his pleasure melted my heart. I was being an idiot. I didn’t like Jinx for his looks. I liked him because he was wonderful. He hadn’t tricked me. Taking his hand, I led him to the first display.
As soon as he saw the enormous wall of glass and all the fish behind it, he was off. Dropping my hand and bounding up to it with obvious glee. He pressed his hands against it and then his whole face.
A bright orange fish swam past his nose and Jinx shrieked in glee, before twirling around to face me and letting loose a flurry of signs. I stared at him in dismay. He’d been able to soak up the YouTube videos like a sponge, but I was only human.
“He is saying that there are so many of them and they are so colorful.”
The young woman standing beside me had long blond hair in a ponytail and a SpongeBob SquarePants tee shirt.
“Thank you,” I said.
She smiled, “No problem.”
“Beautiful,” I signed to Jinx, mostly so the stranger didn’t think I was a complete idiot.
It was one sign I had been determined to commit to memory. Though I hadn’t intended on using it to talk about fish.
He signed something back.
“How do they go so fast?” the woman translated for me.
My meager repertoire of signs was exhausted. “I don’t know,” I confessed aloud.
Jinx didn’t seem to care about my lack of knowledge in marine biology and physics. He beamed and turned back around to press himself back into the glass.
The woman gave me a vaguely disapproving look, which puzzled me for a moment. Until I cottoned on.
