The bathroom door opened, and Zef stepped out, wrapped in their fluffy robe, hair washed and still dripping. They looked more tired thanBryce had ever seen them, but the pained lines in their face were gone. Meeting his gaze, they smiled wearily.
“I feel better now,” they said, and Bryce smiled back.
“Good. I brought some soup.”
Studying their room, the vacuum lines in the carpet, the fresh bedding, they swallowed thickly. “You honor me with your service.”
“Like I said, I like taking care of people.”
“I feel very taken care of.” They blinked rapidly, fighting tears, but one leaked out when their gaze fell on the flowers. With a click in the back of their throat, they traced the pink petals reverently. “Beautiful.”
“Agreed,” Bryce said, tracking the tear on their cheek as the lamplight played over their soft features. “How’s your pain?”
“Little cramps now,” they said, almost dismissively. “I will be sore for a few days, but the worst is behind us.”
As they crawled into bed, their robe parted, showing leg all the way to their hip, and Bryce inhaled sharply and looked away. He picked up the tray and brought it to them, setting it on their lap once they were situated under their blanket.
“Toni?” they asked, and Bryce nodded. “I must call and thank him.”
“Tad’s been blowing up my phone,” he said as Zef took a sip of the soup. “She said you told her not to come, so it was my job to report back to her every hour or else she was going to storm in anyway.”
Their antennas wriggled. “I am very loved.”
“You are,” he agreed as he lowered himself to sit at the edge of their bed. They trilled, lower hands fisting in their bedsheets, and he immediately stood back up. “Sorry.”
“No, you… it is a Mantodean thing,” they said like an apology.
“No problem.”
“Will you stay with me? For a little while longer?” they asked, and Bryce’s chest swelled.
“I’d like that.” He hunkered back down to the floor beside the bed and picked up the Western romance book. “Shall I keep reading?”
Tucking a wet chunk of hair behind their ear, Zef smiled shyly and nodded. “Yes, please.”
He read as they ate their soup and nursed their tea. When they’d finished, Bryce moved the tray to the floor, then turned the page and kept reading. They curled up on their side, so close to the edge of the bed their knee rested against the back of his shoulder and one hand blanketed the nape of his neck. Even after they’d fallen asleep, their hand remained, and Bryce soared.
Chapter twenty-one
Good Tingles
Zef
Sunday was spent onthe couch. After the harrowing evening the night before, Zef felt much better, but their insides were sore and achy, their body still weary. So they lay on the couch as Bryce doted on them, bringing them tea and cake, checking that their hot water bottle was warm enough, asking every few minutes if they needed anything. Fondness and affection bloomed in their chest, and they recognized it for what it was.
Feelings, romantic-styles. They liked Bryce so very, very much, but it did not scare them as it had weeks before. Because he had proven, time and time again, that he was everything good and lovely. Even when they had been at their most vulnerable, he had cared for them with honor and respect and so much gentleness.
Yes, they liked him, and it was deeper and stronger than they could have imagined. It had snuck up on them, sliding in the moment they had not been looking, and had nested deep in their chest. Hooked and immovable, their affections were here to stay.
Mantodeas were like that. Slow to change, slow to trust, slow to love. But once those thresholds had been crossed, there was no going back. Some things were permanent. It was why they mated for life. Once they had chosen a partner, it was done.
Not that Bryce was their life-partner. At least, not yet. Zef could see how easy it would be to love him, though. Easy, like breathing. Easy, like pie and cake and every other human dessert. Loving Bryce would not be simple, but it was going to be so very easy.
“We can watch a documentary,” Bryce said as he crouched down in front of the couch and gave the end of their braid a playful tug. “That BDSM one, or the one about the stamps.”
“What is your favorite film?” they asked, and he blinked in surprise.
“Uh,Wall-E. It’s about two robots who fall in love.”
