The demon nodded, white eyes staring unnervingly. “And that is why she wallops? To ensure the devil fears her?”
This time, Bryce couldn’t stop his laugh at the sound of the wordwallopin Zef’s airy voice. “Nah, she never hit us. Not like that. I was just making a joke.”
“Oh, I see. A good-natured exaggeration to communicate her vivacious nature?” they asked, and he nodded. “She sounds terrifying and delightful.”
Honestly, that wasn’t a bad description. “She is. I think you’d like her. I can introduce you the next time we video chat if you want.”
“It would be my honor to meet your Nan.” They stepped out of the bedroom, and Bryce followed them, letting them shut the door firmly behind him.
“Sorry, again, about going in there. I didn’t realize—”
“It is alright,” they said graciously. “Shall I show you the back garden? It is quite beautiful, even this late in the season.”
“Sure.”
As they headed to the back door, Zef said, “If you wish to meet my progenitor, I can take you to the Mantodea Colony. They do not wallop, nor do they instill fear in the devil. However, I am sure they would be pleased to make your acquaintance.”
At the offer, excitement stirred in Bryce’s stomach. When he’d read about Mantodeas, he’d wondered about the gated community where most Mantodeas lived and grew up. Not all resided within the complex, but it was where their offspring were raised. He’d hoped to see it, but he wasn’t sure if it was a polite thing to ask. The last thing he wanted to be was some stupid tourist gawking at all the demons.
Heck, he was the one who was sure to be gawked at here, wasn’t he?Hewas the strange one, after all.
“Really? Yeah, Zef, I’d love to see where you grew up. And meet your parents—I mean, parent? Unless, they didn’t do it alone.” he nearly choked on air as he sputtered. “Not thatthat’sany of my business, of course. I just meant…”
A slight curve tilted the corners of Zef’s mouth, and their antennas wiggled. Amusement. At least, he thought so.
“I’d like to meet your, uh, progenitor?” he finished awkwardly.
“We shall plan a visit, then. For the record,parentis not an offensive term to my people,” the Mantodea said as they opened the back door, shootingBryce a barely-there smile over their shoulder. “And, yes, my progenitor did, in fact, doitalone.”
Chapter four
Misbehaving Vines and Dick Pics
Zef
The air carried anautumn bite as it settled against Zef’s exposed arms, but the sunlight drifted through the canopy of vines enough to stave off the worst of the chill as they led Bryce into their garden. Cobblestones carved a path through the foliage, lined on either side by several trellises, creating a short tunnel of leafy vines and flowers with thick, crimson stamens. The thistley vines snagged in their bun as they closed the door behind Bryce, and they winced as they hurriedly tried to untangle themself before the vines burrowed deeper.
They had gotten entirely trapped once, and the only way they had managed to free themself was by allowing Denys to cut their hair. The vines had taken the detached strands as tribute, and Zef had only recently begun to forgive them.
“No, not again,” they lamented as they ducked their head and ripped the troublesome vine free, hissing in pain as the thin, almost fuzzy thorns left hairline slices in their palms. “Will you not behave? We have a guest.”
The vines above shuttered and slithered about for a moment before falling still under Zef’s glare. Turning to Bryce, they said, “Do be wary of the vines. They will steal your hair if you let them.”
Hunching his shoulders, the human tried to make himself smaller, though he could not quite accomplish it. He was just so very… big. Zef had perhaps an inch on him in height, but in every other way, the human was so much larger. His shoulders were broad, and his arms and legs were thick. He had a wide chest and a round, soft-looking belly that stretched the fabric of his flannel shirt. Even his hands were big, thick-fingered with dark hairs on his knuckles.
He had dark hair on his forearms, too, and his face. His full beard was well-groomed and shaped his thin mouth handsomely. He had furry eyebrows that moved expressively, exaggerating his emotions in a way that Zef almost found excessive. But that was simply the way of some species, wearing their emotions on their collars—or whatever the phrase was.
“Are the vines alive or something?” Bryce said with a slight tremble to his voice.
“All plants are alive,” Zef said.
The human flattened a hand on top of his head as he eyed the ceiling of vines distrustfully. “Well, yeah, but none of them try to steal your hair!”
“Really? Human vines sound more polite. I have tried to teach these ones manners, but they are simply too stubborn.” Zef sighed regretfully. “I have taken to wearing a wide-brimmed hat when I plan to work outside for a long period of time. In case they conspire to ambush me.”
Bryce’s eyebrows did more expressing, and Zef decided that they liked it. They liked Bryce’s entire face, in fact. It was a nice face, as faces went. Pleasant and mostly symmetrical, even if his nose was a little too wide and his lips thinner than conventional beauty standards expected. It wasinteresting and alien and… handsome. Yes, the human was handsome, and it pleased Zef greatly.
“Oh, how lovely,” they said, and Bryce cocked his head.
