Page 58 of Out of Sight

“Cake and ice cream?”

“Of course. You clearly stated a need, and it was simple to satisfy that need.”

She swallowed. “You listened. People rarely listen to me.”

“That is about to change. Is your cousin coming by to get her nails done?”

“Oh, shoot. How long do you think the food orgy will take, and do you mind someone else picking at the desserts?”

He chuckled. “The food will be here in eighteen minutes, and I think you have the stamina to last an hour after that. Working will be a distraction, and then you can come back.”

She smiled and looked down at her empty plate. “Again!” She cut the same slivers and loaded her plate again.

They sat and discussed their favourites and the reasons for it. One had the best crust, one had the novelty of the small egg, and one felt like a mouthful of holiday. Different but equal.

She prodded the cottage pie. “This tastes like something to eat on a cold winter’s day, curled up by a fire.”

“That sounds wonderful. I have a spectacular fireplace.”

“Carved stone?”

“Of course. Do you want to see it?”

She had her mouth full and nodded.

“Pie is portable. Come on.”

Lucia stood with her plate and her fork. She followed Yorwell into the living room that she had been too numb actually to appreciate earlier. Despite her jokes about the hot tub, she had only looked at it as they walked past. Now, she appreciated the size of the carved surface all around it. “Oh, wow.”

He smiled. “It’s a frieze of how my parents met, skipping some of the more gory details. It starts here.”

She looked at the image of a woman in very pretty armour covered with all kinds of glyphs and sigils, firing an energy beam from a staff at a very tall man, who was knocked off his feet and arching backward as he flipped away from the blast.

“Mom was his instructor. Boy, was he surprised.”

She followed the courtship. The dancing in decidedly formal clothing and the fighting an alien species on a world with three moons. Then came the family. All the family.

She looked at him. “Which one are you?”

“The middle one with the uncontrollable hair. Apparently, my grandfather had the same issue, so he showed me how to make the product for it.” He smiled. “Here, I use comparable items or magic.”

“Wait, so your hair sticks up like big ears?”

He sighed. “Yes.”

“That’s cute. As a kid you were adorable.”

“As a kid? I am still cute.”

She glanced at him and was glad that he hadn’t said what she would agonize about. That other people thought he was adorable.

“The empress pinched my cheeks and patted my butt and said to go find a mate before some psychotic ogress grabbed me and used me to make little grey monsters.”

“That sounds violent.”

“Very. The ogres aren’t quite into the whole consent thing, from either party. They are very impulse-driven when it comes to mating, and the emperor doesn’t invite them into polite company.”

“Ouch.”