“So, I fled. Again.”
They allowed the silence to resume, and Viv passed Tandri the brandy.
She drank more deeply, and when she wiped her mouth, she looked over at Viv. “No pearls of wisdom?”
“Nope.”
Tandri’s eyebrows rose.
“But Iwillsay….” Viv glanced over to regard Tandri solemnly. “Fuck thosemotherfuckers.”
Tandri’s surprised laugh startled the birds from the cherry trees.
* * *
Viv carriedthe basket while walking Tandri home again, this time all the way to her room. Neither was unsteady—they hadn’t finished the brandy—but they were both pleasantly warm and liquid.
Tandri opened the door at the top of the stairs, and after a moment’s hesitation, ushered Viv inside.
Viv stooped to keep from banging her head on the low ceiling. The tiny, single-room apartment featured a tidy cot, some shelves bursting with books, a tasseled carpet, and a small vanity.
“Stayed here when I went to Ackers,” said Tandri, waving a hand at the room. She took the basket from Viv and set it on the vanity. “I just… never bothered to move.”
She looked up at Viv, who could feel the warm glow that sometimes peeked out when Tandri was at her least cautious. But she didn’t think it was responsible for the prickling warmth that burned deeper inside herself. The brandy, surely, was the culprit.
“Viv,” began Tandri, but her gaze dropped and she lost what she was going to say. Viv didn’t let her find it again.
“Good night, Tandri.” She was very conscious of the size and roughness of her hand as she reached out and squeezed Tandri’s shoulder. “And thank you. I hope I never make you flee.”
And then, before her friend could say anything else, Viv left, quietly closing the door behind her.
21
Viv and Tandri moved through the morning routine, easing around one another with low murmurs, careful not to touch, each exquisitely aware of the space the other occupied. Viv acted with unthinking economy—brewing, serving, greeting, and registering very little.
Neither of them noticed Thimble’s industry with his new cookware and ingredients until the smell of melting chocolate permeated the shop.
At a tug on Viv’s shirt, she looked down to see their baker anxiously clasping his flour-caked hands together. “Oh. Hey, Thimble.”
On the back table, golden crescents cooled in neat rows atop several racks. Thimble selected one and offered it to her. She took it with a nod. Flaky and yellow, the pastry’s buttery layers folded over in gentle curves. The smell was gorgeous.
She took a bite that almost melted in her mouth, at once rich with butter and impossibly light. Comparing these to a loaf of bread was like comparing silk to burlap.
“This… is incredible,” she managed. It was so good, in fact, that she only hesitantly followed up with, “But, this can’t have the… what was it?”
“Mm. Chocolate,” supplied Tandri, as she pinched off another corner and popped it into her mouth. She made a small sound in her throat and closed her eyes as she chewed.
Thimble made aget on with itgesture with his hands, his impatience evident. Viv shrugged, took another, bigger bite, and found the molten core of chocolate inside. The taste wasnothinglike what she’d sampled yesterday—sweeter, deeper, richer. Creamy and decadent, with a subtle spice.
“Eight hells, Thimble!” she managed. Her mouth sang with the flavor of it. “How do you keepdoingthis?” She stared at the pastry in surprise, and then immediately had another bite.
Viv glanced over to find Tandri transfixed, chocolate smearing her lips, eyes huge and luminous.
“Thimble. You might not know this, but I, that is,we….” Tandri’s tail swept in a head-to-toe gesture, “We respondstronglyto all kinds of sensations. Including taste. And, well.”
Viv experienced that warm pulse again, and Thimble must have too, because he blinked and shivered.
“Whatever this is… it’s just about incapacitating.” The succubus sighed appreciatively.
