Zolrya wagged his brow. “What indeed?”
Sariel stared off in thought, and then he looked up at Zolrya. “Bluebells.”
“Very good, angel!” Zolrya nudged Seymour. “Do you know what those are, mortal?”
“Uh, no, sir.” Seymour coughed. “Your Highness. Majesty, sir. I’m guessin’, uh, a flower?”
“Yes! Good job. They’re native to Faerie, but they grow here wherever we’ve come through the veil that separates our worlds.” Zolrya grinned. “They’re a very special flower. They carry our magic with them.”
“Picking them or otherwise disturbing them is considered very unlucky,” Sariel said quietly. “Such acts of desecration can alert the faerie whose presence created the flowers or any others who are nearby when the veil is thin. My understanding is that this was often done to set a trap for mortals.”
“Right again, angel.” Zolrya clapped. “How fun this is! Mmm, I think they might be my favorite flower.”
Hearing Zolrya discuss any kind of flora so gleefully was concerning, so Seymour was quick to agree. “Uh-huh. Love those.”
“Do you know about bluebells, mortal?”
“No. I just really like flowers. Like, so much. Cannot get enough.”
“What’s your favorite?”
Seymour really, really did not want to answer this question. “Sunflowers, I guess.”
“Fitting.” Zolrya chuckled and picked up his cheeseburger to take another small bite. His eyes widened as he chewed. He took another bite, a bigger one, andmoaned.
More bites, lots of moaning.
So much moaning that other customers were staring at them.
Day’s ear twitched, and she mumbled, “I’m going back in the Inro. Summon me if you need me to eat him.”
Seymour gave her a little wave before she vanished, and he offered Zolrya a friendly smile. “I take it that you approve?”
“Yes! This is incredible!” Zolrya unwrapped his next cheeseburger and immediately added a thick layer of fries. “Mmm, you must teach me all of your fast food secrets.”
“I do know a few.” Seymour chuckled, slowly letting himself relax.
It was easy to forget the terrible things Zolrya had done when he was actually being sort of cute. Seeing him so impressed by some fairly popular fast food combinations was weirdly endearing.
“You will show me,” Zolrya said firmly. “Yes?”
“Yeah, sure—” Seymour froze.
Sariel froze.
Zolrya kept eating.
Oh fuck.
What had Seymour just done?
“Just two,” Seymour was quick to add. “I got some secret stuff for Wendy’s and, uh, Arby’s. Sound good to you, Your Majesty?”
“Only those two, hmm?”
“Yes. Those two and nothing else.”
“All right!” Zolrya smiled. “Which one is closer?”
