“God, I mean, another? Are you sure? You’re not like gassy or anything?”
“Gassssss?”
“Okay, yeah, I guess not. Let’s go.”
I link my arm through his. He stiffens at the contact, but I ignore it. There’s nothing wrong with this. It’s the human way between friends. Rath can fucking deal, and I will not let him pull off Cielo’s arm. No matter what.
I lead him into the shop, the scent of espresso hitting my nose as soon as we enter. Cielo starts to hum in what I think is excitement as we stand in a short line to order. The workers behind the counter are all human, but as the kitchen door swings open, I catch a glimpse of a very tall Vyastil with bright orange hair. He’s gone before I can get a good look, but considering how much Cielo is into coffee, I guess I’m not surprised.
When we leave the shop, Cielo is cradling an extra-large, extra-foam latte in his hand. He’s pulled the top off and is slurping at the drink noisily.
“Good, right?”
He peers down at me, foam lining his lips once more. I say nothing, just let him live.
“Alright, let’s see if we can find a big-and-tall store you can shop at.”
I link my arm through his once more and guide him down the cobblestone walkway. It kind of feels like we’re walking through old town Italy, or at least what I assume that would be like. As I said, I’ve never traveled outside of Michigan. Unless traveling to Rath’s living quarters in Erethar counts, but considering we haven’t seen anything besides the capital building and his apartment, it doesn’t.
I wonder if there are portals to other countries that Rath and I could take. Would cut out on air travel.
I mull this over, trying not to get too excited. Rath won’t even take me to Erethar again. There’s no way he’s going to take me to Europe.
“Oh, look! Right up here,” I say as I see the sign for a shop that I’ve heard of before. I think one guy at the gym mentioned it before.
Stallions.
Kind of a silly name for a clothing shop, but from what I heard, they cater to larger men, and their clothing is high quality. So why the fuck not?
“Let’s see if they have anything for you.”
We wander through the door, Cielo ducking down and hitting the bells at the top with his head.
The man behind the counter eyes us, and his eyebrows rise. “Hello, gentlemen.”
I grin, glancing up at Cielo. “See, dude. You’re a gentleman now.”
“Ginnnnnteeel,” he whispers, and I roll my lips between my teeth to hold back a smile.
“How can I help you?”
“Well,” I begin. “My friend here would like to know if you have anything in his size.”
The man’s eyes flick from the top of his head down to his clawed feet. Something flares in his gaze. Something I recognize. It was the same thing I felt when I first saw Rathyn.
I hide a smile. Cielo seems entirely unaware of what this human is thinking. It’s probably a good thing most Vyastil can’t read humans’ minds.
“I think I can work with him,” the man says. I catch a glimpse of his name badge. Asa. “Give me five minutes.”
Cielo watches him go, his gaze intense. Then he looks at me. Something about him seems nervous. It’s the way his ears are flicking.
“Is it bad to wear human clothes?”
He trills a little hum and shrugs, then shakes his head. “No. Not…” He grimaces as he works through a word. “Comfffttbaaa.”
It takes me a second to work that one out. Comfortable. Right. I guess that makes sense since they don’t seem to wear anything at all where they live.
I jerk my chin at a long bench, then sit and wait for him to join me. “You understand me, right? It’s just hard to use English?”
