Since Bryce had never needed to, he had to admit he’d never thought that deeply about having kids and what that entailed. Hearing Zef talk aboutit—as the person who would have to carry and birth the kids—made him wince.
“Yeah, when you say it like that, I don’t blame you for not wanting kids,” he said, taking the grocery basket Zef handed him.
“I understand why some wish it, but I lack that biological urge, thankfully,” they said simply.
Feeling somewhat uncomfortable with the topic, Bryce redirected the conversation back to their piercings, pointing at their naked earlobes. “How come your lobes aren’t pierced? Does that mean something special too?”
Zef hesitated, antennas twitching, but they did answer, sounding—for the first time—uncomfortable. “Yes, it means that I am… unmatched. Unpartnered, I mean.”
“Single Mantodeas don’t pierce their earlobes?” he clarified, and they nodded.
“Mantodeas, generally, mate for life. So when one enters into a committed partnership, they pierce their lobes with the earrings their partner chooses. The amount of earrings signifies how many life partners one has. As I have no life partner, I leave them unpierced.”
As they entered the produce section of the store, he mulled that over. “So kind of like how a lot of humans wear wedding rings when they get married?”
“I suppose that is an accurate equivalent.”
Bryce was momentarily distracted from their conversation by the foreign fruits and vegetables, and they spent the next twenty minutes discussing the produce. Wanting to try everything, he loaded his basket with every item that Zef deemed safe for human consumption. It wasn’t until they perused the dairy section that he returned to the subject of Mantodea partnerships.
“You said the amount of piercings in the lobe communicates how many people they’re married to. Does that mean that polyamory is common in your culture?” he asked as Zef placed a small container of plant-based dairy—the demon equivalent of oat milk—into their basket.
“Common? Perhaps. Acceptable and normalized? Very. Mantodeas are, at our core, community driven. Many who witness the Colony in action have commented that we all act as if we are partnered with everyone. That is, of course, false and a little ignorant, forgive my candor. But as one who lives outside the Colony, I can understand why those unfamiliar with our culture could misinterpret.
“While partners who choose to have young do raise them, the community also comes together, taking up the mantle of hatchling-rearing. It takes a village, as you humans say, and Mantodeas take this sentiment to heart. We are all in this life together, and we care for one another as if we are blood. Or partnered.” Zef’s mouth twitched, and one eyebrow rose half an inch. “So to an outsider, it may appear a bit incestuous or codependent.”
“But that obviously means having more than one partner to help tackle the responsibilities of life wouldn’t be seen as strange. Since you’re all invested in each other anyway,” Bryce said, and they nodded.
“Exactly. The most piercings I have seen a single Mantodea wear in their lobe is five, signifying five life partners. A bit extreme, if I am being honest.” They said the last part quieter, their eyebrow raising another half-inch.
Playful, Bryce realized, filing that knowledge away.
“Five partners? They’d definitely have their hands full.”
“Good thing we have many hands,” they quipped, and he laughed.
Zef’s antennas wriggled, wings buzzing in what Bryce thought was pride at their joke. They walked a little taller, an almost smug tilt to their chin, and he chuckled again. He hadn’t expected sass. Well, he hadn’t exactlyexpected anything specific, given that he didn’t know Zef all that well, but the sass was still a surprise.
At their first meeting, Zef had been inquisitive and curious, but still reserved. Not uptight, per se, but Bryce wouldn’t have described them as overly friendly either, especially compared to some of their friends. Like Gem, who had practically propositioned him within the first minute of being introduced.
He’d been anxious about the living dynamic, afraid of weeks of awkwardness as they settled into being roommates. But if today was anything to go by, he had a feeling they were going to get along just fine. They would never run out of topics to discuss, and Zef didn’t seem annoyed by Bryce’s own curiosity. For the most part, they seemed to like it. He hoped they were still up for showing him those teeth diagrams later.
By the time they left the store, Bryce’s bag was bursting at the seams, and he’d even had to put some of his items into Zef’s wheelie bag. For dinner, Zef made a simple, cold soup, creamy and smooth. It was a light purple color from the root vegetable they’d blended, but it tasted reminiscent of a sweet carrot. They ate together at the small table in the breakfast nook as Zef flipped through their teeth diagrams, and Bryce couldn’t help but smile.
Yeah, this roommate-thing was going to work out just fine.
Chapter six
Public Indecency
Zef
This roommate-thing wasnotworking out. Over the last few weeks, Zef’s mug system had been disrupted numerous times, Bryce vacuumed the living room in the opposite direction they preferred, and the condo was littered with numerous glasses of water, all at differing levels of fullness. Honestly, the vacuuming and the mugs they could get over, given that Bryce really was trying to honor the system and contribute to the cleanliness of the condo in a meaningful way.
But the water cups… the water cups.
They were everywhere. One on the dining table, one on the kitchen counter. Another on the coffee table and yet another on the windowsill behind the lounge chair. Zef had even found one in the bathroom of all places, sitting half-drunk and innocent on the shower stall shelf.
What did the human need a glass for in the shower? There was already water! Why could he not drink it from the showerhead if he was that thirsty?
