Seri sighed again. He glanced up when a waiter walked over, making him realize that he’d just been sitting there staring off into space, instead of looking at the menu.
“Hello, welcome to the Crazy Six Diner. I’m Quill, and I’ll be your waiter today. What can I get you to drink?” the man asked with a bright white smile and a nice pair of fangs.
Quill was wearing the same brown coveralls that the hostess had been wearing. The man had medium brown skin, long bright lime green hair pulled up into a high ponytail, startling purple eyes, and very pierced pointy ears, along with one in the middle of his lip. Frankly, even though the guy was smiling, his size was enough to put Seri on edge.
Quill was huge. It was hard to tell how big he was, since Seri was sitting down, but yeah, the man was way over six feet tall.
Seri went to answer, but flinched back at the sound of the door opening again. His head snapped in that direction, but he couldn’t see the door from where he was at…
He managed to force himself to relax when the hostess came around with an older man following behind her.
Looking back at the waiter, with a tense smile on his face, he asked, “Do you have any phosphorus infused ginger water?”
Seri wasn’t sure why he was asking. This place likely didn’t cater to Cryptids, let alone his specific species. But…phosphorus was good for the baby’s development, and ginger usually helped settle his stomach.
Quill’s smile dimmed a bit, or maybe it had been dim before he even asked the question… Seri’s brain was just so tired, he wasn’t noticing shit that he should. Which was bad… Fuck, was it bad. He needed to get it together. Missing anything could put him and his child at risk.
“We do have some… But…is everything okay?” the man asked hesitantly.
“I’m fine,” Seri said, way sharper than he meant to. Luckily his stomach chose that moment to rumble. “Just hungry.” He rubbed his protruding belly.
“I see… Are you ready to order?”
“No…”
“Right. I’ll be back with your phosphorus infused ginger water.”
Seri sagged in relief when Quill walked away without another question. Ugh, what was he going to do? Seri’s mind didn’t go far, as his bladder made an immediate decision for him.
Bathroom… Yes, that was what he was going to do. Using the restroom before he peed himself would be a good option. Seri used the top of the table to slide back out of the booth, and waddled as fast as his poor swollen feet could take him towards the sign that said restrooms—that luckily was close by.
Pushing into the gender-neutral bathroom, he rushed inside a stall and did his business as fast as one could when nine months pregnant. Walking out of the stall, he froze at the sight of the waiter standing right there, arms crossed, waiting for him. Quill…had to be near seven feet, he thought as he stared up at him with a hint of fear.
Seri took a step back, hand moving protectively over his stomach.
“Woah, there.” The guy’s hands went out, which had him tensing. “Wait… I’m not going to hurt you. You…” Quill’s gaze swept over him with a wince, and he slowly lowered his hands to his sides. “Shit… I just.” He cleared his throat. “You just… Do you…do you need some help?”
Seri blinked in confusion before his paranoia began to rise up. Gaze narrowing, he eyed the man suspiciously. Who the fuck would follow a random stranger into a bathroom and ask if they needed help? Was he one of Preston’s men? He didn’t look familiar. But that didn’t mean anything.
It wasn’t as if Seri had gotten out much. Though, he couldn’t recall Preston having anyone so…colorful. He hadn’t seen a single person without black, brown, or blond hair. And definitely no piercings. Preston seemed to like everyone working for him to be as dull as the interior of his house. Too bad he didn’t feel the same about the people he wanted to sleep with.
“Why do you ask?” he accused stiffly.
The waiter took a step forward. Seri took one back.
Quill grimaced. “Okay…I get that cornering you in the bathroom was not a good idea. But I’m really not a bad guy. And I’m not planning to hurt you. You just looked like you needed some help. Like…you are afraid of something.”
Seri eyed the man closely. Again, he had never seen him before, and at that height, it wasn’t as if Seri wouldn’t have noticed him.
Was the guy just a concerned…stranger?
Wow, concerned and stranger just didn’t even remotely pair well in his head. But…what if the man could help? Fat chance…
He sighed. “There is nothing you can do to help me.” Seri needed a whole new identity—something mostly just criminals could pull off.
Quill’s brow rose. “So you do need help?”
“Does it matter? I already said you can’t help me.”
