Jon looked at her blankly for a moment, then apparently understanding dawned and he nodded. “Yes, Papa Legba was generous.”
“Ah, the big black cock. I’ve seen him on some of my walks.” She winked at Jon. “He’s quite impressive, isn’t he?”
“Uh, I guess.”
Waaseyaa seemed to sense Jon’s unease because she clapped her hands. “Let me guess… You’re here for some of my famous pancakes?”
“Not just some, my dear. We need lots of fuel for our little expedition.” Barion winked at Jon.
“You’re traveling?” Waaseyaa was leading them to the table closest to the counter where she motioned for them to sit down. The diner was empty, normal for this late in the morning. The morning crowd rushed it between five and seven. Now, at eight, things had calmed.
“Yes. We need to check out one of the hell dimensions for inspiration.” Barion beamed at her.
Waaseyaa furrowed her brows. “Those are not safe, Barion. You know that. Can your friend even withstand the climate there?” Her voice was full of worry.
“My friend’s name is Jon. Sorry for not introducing him immediately. Your hug has distracted me. And I’m not taking him to the hell dimensions that are mid-cycle. Just to one in transit.”
“That’s better, though still not safe.” Barion didn’t miss the hint of steel in her voice.
“Uh, excuse me?” Jon looked at her. “What exactly does ‘in transit’ mean? Barion, you’ve been awfully vague about where we’re going today and I’m getting the impression it’s not as harmless as you made it sound.”
Damn Jon and his perceptiveness.
Waaseyaa glared at Barion. “You haven’t told him?”
“I did. I just didn’t go into too much detail because first, that would have taken forever and we don’t have that much time because we have a game to create, and second, because there’s nothing I can’t protect him from.”
“You mean you wanted to play his hero?” Waaseyaa wasn’t stupid either.
“Is that true? You wanted to fight the enemy for me?” Jon asked.
Barion squirmed a bit. “Yes?”
“To stand firm against all adversaries?”
“Uhm…”
“So you could, at the end of the day, relinquish all control in my arms?” Jon cocked an eyebrow in question, but there was a heated gleam in his eyes that made Barion’s regret about not having told his friend more about the potential danger of their trip evaporate like spittle on a stone in the middle of the desert.
“Too obvious?”
“No. I love for us to have our own Iron Bull romance.” Jon frowned. “But you need a better watchword than just ‘stop’.”
“What’s an ‘Iron Bull’?” Waaseyaa looked at them with small eyes. “Some spirit I need to know about? And what’s a ‘watchword’?”
Barion felt the heat in his body rising. Jon was very interested in his fingernails all of a sudden.
“I’m waiting, Barion.” Waaseyaa had crossed her arms.
Barion raked his brain how to get out of that one and finally gave up. “Iron Bull is a fictitious character in a video game, not a spirit, and both Jon and I love his story. We were talking about that.”
Waaseyaa stared at him as if she wanted to dissect his soul, which she was probably doing. One never knew with her. Then she started giggling. “It’s about sex! I should have known. It’s always about sex. I assume the watchword has to do with sex as well?”
Seeing the twinkling in her eyes, Barion knew she was yanking his chain. Waaseyaa was well versed in the ways of the world.
“It does. Happy?” He tried to end the conversation as quickly as possible. Waaseyaa shrugged.
“Not entirely, but I’m going to get some more thrills later. Now you need your pancakes so you can live out that fantasy of yours. Is it even a fantasy or more like role-playing? Cosplay? No, you’re not dressed properly.” She shook her head and left for the kitchen.
