“Is she related to Sumiko?”
His mother’s voice stopped him in the doorway. Sumiko had been a good friend of hers, and he knew his mother had taken the sylvan’s death earlier that year hard.
“I–I don’t know, mom. She’s new in town, she owns the flower shop off Main Street that’s probably going to put us out of business by the end of the summer. Not my girlfriend. That’s all I’ve got. I need to do this before it starts storming later.”
He should have gone straight to the farm and avoided the rainy weather, but the Beanery beckoned and if he didn’t crush the headache he’d been nursing since Sumi’s visit with caffeine, he might expire before that weekend’s wedding. It was a fine plan, he told himself, exiting the coffee shop, taking a long gulp before opening his umbrella.
At least, it was until he passed the printer on the way back to the parking lot. The door to the shop swung open and caught on the wind, smashing against the wall. Likewise, the person coming out only took a few steps before the lid to the box they carried was similarly wrenched on the wind, half a dozen printed flyers sailing out into the street, instantly turning into a soggy, mucky mess that littered the pavement. She yelped when they did so, the umbrella she was attempting to hold slipping on her shoulder, its delicate arms no use against the wind tunnel of Main Street, flipping backwards as she cried out again.
Ofcourseit was her. Of course it couldn’t have been anyone else in the whole fucking town. Of course he was going to be cursed to run into her over and over again, like the wretched eagle to his Prometheus, turning up each day with a smile to enchant him and peck out his liver.
Ranar wanted to smile at her misfortune; wanted to snicker at her distress. He wanted to go slithering past her with enough force to splash her ankles and dirty the hem of her dress . . . But as soon as all of those terrible thoughts occurred to him, he felt a twist in his chest and a flip in his stomach.
He couldn’t. The mean, petty little snake on his shoulder may have wanted him to, hissing atrocities in his ear, but he couldn’t even think it without feeling guilty instantly.Would you want someone treating Ruma that way? Of course not.There was no question of what he was going to do.
He had taken the box from her before even thinking through his plan, pushing his coffee cup into her hand, the umbrella he carried shifting from his hands to his tail, held over her and angled against the wind as he fixed the lid on her box.
Sumi gaped up. Her eyes narrowed, disdain filling them for the briefest moment, and he wondered if she was going to fling the coffee down and snatch the box back . . . But the look passed quickly. Her teeth sunk into that full lower lip, and he couldn’t identify the expression in her eyes then.Ruma probably could. She’s right, you’re hopeless.
“You really are pathetic, you know that?”
His voice was rougher than he’d intended. He at leastsoundedlike someone who hated her, even if his actions at the moment weren’t quite lining up with that.No. It’s because you’re not an asshole. And even if she’s a backstabbing bottom feeder, you don’t need to let her make you worse than you are.She wore large gold hoops in her ears, their movement bringing his eye straight to the most kissable spot on her neck.
“Yeah, I know.” Her voice was toneless in her agreement. “You didn’t need to do that, but thank you for doing it anyway. I’m, um, I’m going back to my —“
“Obviously.” He handed the box back to her, having closed the lid entirely. Their fingers brushed as she handed him back thecoffee cup, a fraction longer than should have been necessary, like a bolt of electricity he felt shoot up his arm and straight to his groin. In their sheath, his cocks stirred.No, absolutely not. Not now. She’s the enemy.“Keep your hand on the top of it, this wind isn’t going to let up until we turn the corner.”
Her dress that day was peachy pink with a deep V neck line, similar to what she had worn that morning outside the coffee shop. It was already dotted in raindrops from her brief sojourn without a functioning umbrella, marring the lovely effect.It’s fine, she’ll dry. Ranar kept his eyes trained on the sidewalk before them, not wanting to notice how the color made her skin glow, nor the way the draping fabric hugged her curves.
“I’m sorry.” The words tumbled out in an unprepared blurt, not at all the polished apology he’d practiced in his head. “About the other day. I shouldn’t have said those things to you. Even if I think some of them are true—“ her eyes flicked to his, a ghost of a smile on her mouth, ”—I shouldn’t have said them. I’m sorry I did.”
“I’m sorry too.” Her voice was small, so different from her sharp brassiness. He didn’t like it, preferred her with a bit of an edge. “For what I said. For what I didn’t say. For the things I didn’t understand. I’m sorry for all of it.”
They continued for the next few feet in silence, and he wondered if he was meant to break it.Your rizz is mid. That’s humiliating, right?Before he had the chance to draw breath, Sumi cleared her throat.
“Don’t you get tired?”
Her voice startled him out of his thoughts, her eyes trained on his tail, watching his rectilinear movement down the sidewalk, her teeth once again finding her lip. He snorted, shaking his head.Human raised.
“Don’t your legs get tired from walking? I have to imagine that it takes more muscle groups,” he pointed out. “Left, right, left, right. I’m exhausted just watching you.”
Her eyes flickered up to his, widening slightly, hand flattening over her mouth. “That was probably a really insensitive question, wasn’t it.”
“Yeah, that’s the silliest thing I’m going to be asked today, without question. Nicely done.”
From behind her hand, she began to giggle, hunching slightly, staying beneath the protective circle of his umbrella. Ranar tried not to notice how adorable it was.
“I don’t know why it seems to me like you have to be so much stronger to move that way. Like, your core muscles and your back . . .” Her eyes flickered to him, voice trailing off as she cleared her throat. “Yeah, that was a real human observation. I’ll take L on that one.”
“You’re going to have to. That was high key cringe.”
There. Using the vernacular in the wild. He was rather proud of himself, having committed the entirety of Pinky’s cheat sheet to memory. Ruma was less impressed with his attempts to use her slang, groaning and protesting every time he did so at home, but at least he had a slightly better understanding of what she was saying.
Sumi’s head swung up, eyes meeting his again, only this time they sparkled, the corners of her mouth turning up in a wide grin. “It was. What is this called? The-the way you’re moving now? Clearly I was never very good at biology. Don’t ask me to name any of the lakes or rivers in the state either, they’re all just Big Water #1 and Big Water #2.”
He snorted. “Rectilinear. This movement, I mean. Not a river. You’ve probably seen this on a small scale in a caterpillar or inchworm. It’s not what I prefer, but it keeps the end free.” He motioned to the tip of his tail holding the umbrella over her andshe flushed, nodding quickly. “Serpentining is the movement most people think of for nagas, that’s the side-by-side, but we also use concertina and sidewinding.”
Her head swung up, eyebrows raised, but remained silent.
