Judging from the way Rusty clung to him, from the throb in his neck where Rusty had marked him, maybe Rusty was falling too. Maybe he already had. He’d called Gem his, and Gem wanted that more than anything. He wanted Rusty to keep him forever and for always.
So he said, “I’ve got you. Just stay.”
Rusty purred and said, “I’m not going anywhere.”
And Gem thought,“Wow, so this is what it’s like.”
Chapter twenty-nine
Gem’s Special Butthole
Rusty
The following month waseasily the best month of Rusty’s life. Everything felt brighter, lighter, like a weight he’d been carrying for so long had finally lifted. Like he’d forgotten what happiness felt like, and Gem had simply reminded him.
Gem, and the way he danced around his flat while he cleaned, K-pop blasting from the stereo. Gem, and the sound of him singing off-key while he took an “everything shower,” whatever the fuck that was. Gem, and his shrieked giggles, and his outlandish stories, and his sugar-sweet kisses under cotton sheets that smelled of cinnamon and coffee and spicy smoke.
Even as a kit, Rusty had been rather serious and quiet. An old soul, his mother had affectionately called him. But sharing in Gem’s almost child-like wonder of life, joining him in his goofy ideas, allowing himself to be silly, even if it embarrassed him, was freeing in a lot of ways.
Like when Gem insisted that they both learn the dance steps toTouchby Katseye, then perform it for Walter in Gem’s living room. Or when Gembarked like a dog at a woman on the train who’d given Rusty the stink-eye until she gathered her Kipsie Killer shopping bags and left the train car in a huff. Or when Gem wanted to have shower sex because, “I’ve never actually done it successfully, but if anyone can do it, we can.”
They’d tried their best but still failed miserably.
The shower was technically too small to fit them both under normal circumstances, but add sex acrobatics to the mix and it was a disaster. Things that were supposed to be dry were too wet, and things that were supposed to be wet were too dry. Then they slipped and fell, and Gem ended up sprawled on the bathroom floor, half inside the shower stall, half out as he howled with laughter.
Rusty swore he sprained his tail, but he’d laughed until his eyes watered as he ran a comforting hand through Gem’s soaked leg fur.
“I wish I had cameras in here,” Gem said as he giggled. “I kinda wanna see the replay of that.”
“I’m not making a sex tape with you,” Rusty said dryly, and Gem’s head shot up, eight eyes wide.
“Oh my gods, we’d break the internet! Like Y2K, but with way more ass.”
Or one of the many times Gem had started to ramble during sex—because he never stopped talking, even if Rusty was fucking him into the mattress—and he’d whimpered, “I want you to get me fucking pregnant.”
Rusty paused his rhythm, cocking his head in confusion. “What?”
Gem’s eyes flashed dangerously as he practically shouted, “Fuck me like you’re gonna knock me up!”
And even though Rusty didn’t know what that meant, he’d done his best, and a few minutes later, Gem had come with a cry of, “For Gemusty!”
Half an hour later, once Gem had come down from his orgasm and Rusty caught his breath, he scratched at Gem’s scalp and asked, “Gemusty is our mutant lovechild, aren’t they?”
Gem blinked discordantly, brows furrowing like he wasn’t sure what Rusty was talking about. Then they cleared in understanding, and Gem laughed. “Oh yeah, and trust me, we do not want to procreate. Gemusty is ugly A.F., but we’d still love them because they’re special.”
And deities below, how Rusty laughed.
“Dead,” Gem guessed, andRusty nodded, moving his hands in encouragement. “Um, dead body. Murder victim. No? Okay. But you’re definitely dead.”
Technically, he wasn’t dead, but Gem was on the right track. For once.
As much as Rusty enjoyed hanging out with Gem and his family, he did not appreciate their obsession with charades. Not only did he not like attention or standing in front of everyone as he acted out ridiculous things—likeshowgirlorearthquakeorthat-one-time-Mylo-almost-drowned-but-didn’t-because-Mymi-saved-him—but he was usually saddled with Gem as a partner. Even though he adored the Araknis, he was the first to acknowledge that Gem sucked at charades.
“Okay, so, graveyard? Grave robbers? Digging up a dead body to steal the family heirlooms.” Gem threw up several frustrated hands. “How is thatstill wrong? Wait, makeup? Putting makeup on a dead body? That’s upsetting. Uh, cover the children’s ears—necrophilia?”
“Gem!” everyone cried as Hyl said, “That’s time.”
“Seriously?” Rusty threw up his hands. “Necrophilia?”
