Oliver hummed but didn’t respond with words. He opened the station door and held it open for Rusty, following him in. It wasn’t rush hour yet, but the station was still busy. Rusty had never liked crowds; they set histeeth on edge. He held his sandwich closer on instinct, and even though the risk of theft was low, some habits were hard to shake.
“If you wore that shirt to the club, I think Gem would probably die of excitement,” Oliver commented as they navigated the crowd.
Rusty huffed. “Probably.”
Dropping his volume like they were sharing a secret, Oliver asked, “Do you two actually coordinate?”
“What?” Rusty demanded, and Oliver’s brown eyes danced.
“The shirts? Is it, like, a bit you two secretly do?”
“No!”
Oliver’s head quirked. “Really? Because this is the second time since I started working here that you’ve worn those shirts on the same day.”
Grunting in annoyance, Rusty tore off another bite of his sandwich. “Glym texts him.”
“No way! Glyma’s in on it?” Oliver laughed as Rusty nodded. “I mean, it doesn’t exactly surprise me, I guess. How did you find out?”
“Well, it happens way too often to be a coincidence, and I’m not stupid. I used to think Gem just carried around the tank top in his purse, and any time I wore my shirt, he’d change into his.”
Rusty side-stepped to keep from getting run over by a pair of Incubi in business suits, and Oliver reflexively placed a protective hand at Rusty’s back. It wasn’t necessary—Rusty wasn’t a damsel in need of protecting—and it had suspicion and fondness conflicting inside his chest. He wasn’t used to people looking out for him; he’d been looking out for himself so long it was all he knew. So when someone tried, it was hard for him to accept it without looking for a catch or an ulterior motive.
Nothing in this life was free. At least, that was the lesson he’d learned the hard way. It was only in recent years, thanks in no small part to his coworkers at the cafe, that he was questioning how true that lesson was.
Fighting the urge to jerk away from Oliver’s touch, Rusty focused instead on their conversation. “Uh, but then I looked up something for Glyma on her phone because her hands were doughy, and I saw the text she’d sent to Gem that morning, saying he was the man. And sure enough, he showed up to work wearing that tank top with a shit-eating grin on his face.”
“That’s savage,” Oliver said, and Rusty shrugged.
“Makes sense, though. Glyma and I are the first ones in to work, so she’d have to be the one to give Gem warning.”
“And you never called them out?” Oliver asked as they slowed to a stop at the spot they usually parted ways—Rusty to platform L to Lust. Oliver to platform HC to Chicago.
Shoving the last bit of sandwich into his mouth, Rusty said, “Meh, it’s not worth the hassle.”
“Right. ’Cause you’re all about the path of least resistance,” Oliver said sarcastically, before his golden brows shot up. “Oh my god, you just don’t want to ruin Gem’s fun. You big ol’ softie, you.”
Rusty’s defenses started to rise, along with his hackles. “That’s not even close to being right. I don’t care about Gem’s fun.”
“If Toni pulled this shit on you, you’d never let him get away with it.”
“That’s because Toni’s a douchebag,” Rusty said flatly. “We’ve already established that.”
“Okay, fine. But you wouldn’t let anyone else get away with it either,” Oliver said with a sly smirk. “And yet, you play along because Gem likes it.”
Blushing under his fur for reasons he couldn’t name, Rusty bared his canines. “I do not! It’s just not worth the fuss. Gem would be insufferable if—”
“You like it.” Oliver poked Rusty square in the chest. “You act like it’s the most annoying thing in the world, but secretly, you think it’s fun, same as Gem.”
“Shut your fat mouth,” Rusty growled, but the human just continued to smile infuriatingly down at him.
“You, Rusty, really are a Care Bear.”
“I could eat you,” Rusty threatened.
“And yet, you won’t,” Oliver claimed triumphantly, poking him in the chest again. “Because youcaretoo much.”
“I hate you,” Rusty lied, and Oliver cackled as he backed toward the hallway leading to the human world platforms.
