“Yeah, he’s got a—” Gem flopped his wrist limply, and Toni’s brows flew up.
“Oh, well, I’m sorry to hear that, Ollie.”
Oliver, face pink and mortified, cleared his throat and nodded. “Trust me, so am I.”
“But it ain’t nothing to be embarrassed about. It’s more common than you think,” Toni said as he strutted across the room until he stood on the other side of the bakery case. “Gem had this friends-with-benefits—”
“Oh, I already told him,” Gem said, and Toni nodded.
“Well, there you go. They got it figured out. I mean, that was because he was asexual, apparently, so there was nothing to fix. But it’s good to know these things about ourselves.”
“Yeah, self-discovery and understanding is important to a healthy life,” Gem said, and Oliver glared at him.
“Thanks for the words of wisdom,” the human bit out. “Maybe we can change the subject, though? To more pressing matters. Right, Gem?”
Gem shot Rusty a panicked look. “Right now? I don’t know if it’s the time or place for that, Ollie.”
“Oh, but it is the time and place to talk about my apparent erectile problems?” Oliver shot back.
Clearing his throat primly, Gem tucked a curl behind his ear. “Okay, I see your point.”
“Seriously, what the fuck is going on?” Toni demanded, hands on his hips, arm fins twitching. “Gem’s hearts are racing, and you all look like you’re about to witness a murder.”
“If things go well, we will,” Tad said, rubbing her webbed hands together as she smiled at Rusty.
Rusty bared his canines at her, but her grin simply widened.
“No murders,” Gem squeaked, wiping numerous palms on his clothes like he was drying them as he met Rusty’s gaze. “I was planning out a speech in my head, but I never wrote it down. But that’s okay. I’m really good at winging things.”
Since Gem was absolutelynotgood at winging anything, Rusty took a fortifying breath and set his shoulders. If he was going to die today, he would do it fighting for Gem. So he turned toward the Elas and said, “Hey, Toni, could I talk to you outside for a second?”
Several people audibly gasped, and Gem nearly toppled over with a squeal, having tripped over nothing. He caught himself on Oliver and the espresso machine, and the human squawked as he struggled to keep Gem from actually falling over.
“About what?” Toni asked suspiciously.
“Uh, Rusty, I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” Gem said as he straightened.
To be honest, Rusty wasn’t either, but he was sick of tip-toeing around whatever issues Toni had with him. The Elas had hated him from the start, and he still didn’t know why. Before, it hadn’t mattered, but it did now. Toni was Gem’s best friend, and Rusty hated that Gem was stuck in the middle of a one-sided squabble that could be solved by a frank conversation.
Sure, one of the solutions could also be his body in the Dark Sea, weighed down by cinder blocks, but it was a risk Rusty was willing to take. Toni was all bluster anyway, and he wasn’t afraid of him. Mostly.
So he adopted a confidence he didn’t fully feel and shrugged. “Nah, it’ll be fine.”
“I don’t know about that,” Gem said.
“Don’t worry,” Rusty said with a small smile of reassurance. “I got this.”
“I really don’t think you do,” Gem whispered, and Oliver nodded.
“Yeah, man, I might be with Gem on this one.”
“You worry too much.” Brushing past Glyma and Quin, Rusty motioned for Toni to follow him. “Come on, Toni. Let’s get this over with.”
At first, Toni didn’t follow him, and Rusty paused at the kitchen doors. Black, endless eyes studied him intensely, but Rusty didn’t cower. He waited for Toni to finish his search, and at long last, the Elas slowly made his way behind the counter, thick brows furrowed in a frown.
“I ain’t gonna like this, am I?” he grumbled as he shot the group a glare.
“Maybe not,” Rusty said as he held the kitchen door open for Toni to pass through.
