“Thank you,” they whispered, their antennas reaching out to leave little kisses across his forehead. “I apologize for calling you names and for blaming my current hormonal imbalance on your shirt. It is a perfectly fine shirt. I was simply overwhelmed with penis-brain, and it is making me feel bad tingles I do not want to feel.”
Whatever humor Bryce had been feeling dropped from his expression. “I’m sorry, Zef. I can’t imagine how hard that must be for you.”
“I do not feel like myself,” they confessed. “I feel all wrong inside.”
“How can I help?”
“The cake and the medicine,” they said, and he nodded.
“Okay. I’ll be back. Go take a nice, hot bath and try to relax.”
“Thank you. You are everything good and wonderful, and I do not hate you.”
With a shy chuff of dismissive humor, he swiped their chin with thumb, then put his shoes back on and ducked out of the house, taking his distracting nipples with him.
Chapter twenty
Fertility Cycle
Bryce
When Bryce returned fromthe store, he had Zef’s medicine and numerous packets of menstruation products. Since he didn’t know what brand or style or size Zef needed, he had decided to buy one of each, just to be sure. They resembled human pads, though the adhesive appeared to be on the same side as the absorbent part.
In the family planning aisle of the store, Bryce had been searching for a box that matched the one Zef had given him. But it had been years since their last cycle, so the branding seemed to have changed. Before he started to panic, a Mantodea with hunter green skin and platinum silver hair had cleared their throat to get his attention.
Without a word, they had plucked a box off the shelf and handed it to him, one antenna flicking in what could have been discomfort or amusement—Bryce was too worked up to tell. The packaging was different, but the colors were similar and the Hellian symbols appeared the same.
Trusting the stranger to know better than he when it came to Mantodean fertility needs, he had accepted the medicine, thanking them profusely. They had simply bowed, then taken their leave.
Medicine and pads in the basket, he had stopped by the bakery section and panicked again when faced with too many different kinds of cake. Zef hadn’t specified what flavor they wanted, and he did not want to know what would happen if he brought them the wrong cake.
Oh God, they’d probably start crying again, and Bryce didn’t think his heart could take it.
“In for a penny,” he muttered as he grabbed every flavor of cake they had and stacked them in his basket.
Back home, he shucked off his shoes and headed straight for Zef’s room. He knocked on the door, lightly at first, then harder when there was no response.
“Zef, it’s me.”
“Come in,” they called miserably.
He cautiously entered their bedroom for only the third time in seven months. It was a little stale and humid from the steam pouring out of the bathroom. Damn, Mantodeas liked their baths hot.
At the door, Bryce hesitated. “Uh, how do you—”
“You may come in,” they said, and his brain glitched.
Ah hell, if he was about to see Zef naked, he needed way more mental preparation, especially given the circumstances. An erection right now would be the epitome of douchebagery.
Glaring down at his dick, he mentally berated it into submission before he took a fortifying breath and entered the bathroom. Thankfully, his worry was for naught. Zef was nearly impossible to see through the thick, high bubbles overflowing over the side of the tub.
They had slumped as low as possible in the water in an attempt—Bryce assumed—to hide even more of themself from view. Only their large white eyes, antennas, and hair could be seen above the mountain of opaque bubbles.
“Got your medicine.” He brandished it and set it on the sink. “And are these gonna be enough? If not, I’ll go get more.”
He opened his backpack to reveal the plethora of pads. Zef lifted up out of the bubbles just enough to peer inside. Their mouth twitched in amusement.
“Yes, I imagine that will be sufficient. For this cycle, and every other in my life.”
