“No, you don’t,” he said with a surety that should have bothered Rusty more than it did.
Still, he couldn’t give in, not when Oliver was grinning that smugly. “I hope your train derails and you die.”
“You don’t though,” Oliver called gleefully. “See you tonight, Cheer Bear.”
“Fuck you, Ollie!” Rusty snarled, but all the human did was laugh.
The club was justas Rusty had expected: noisy, crowded, and hot. He hung out with Oliver, sipping his tonic withkilifruit as Oliver checked his phone every few minutes for an update from Liel, the Gymnot he was boning. Or wanted to bone? Rusty wasn’t sure if any boning had taken place yet, not that he cared.
Gem, Toni, and Willow were already on the dance floor, grinding together—
“Oh my gods, look! I’d make such a good straight guy,” Gem cried as Willow rolled her ass into the cradle of his hips.
—While Tad and Zef bounced and swayed to the music at the edge of the crowd, Zef waving their four hands through the air while the black lights made their wings glow. Tad looked like she was having a fit or something, her webbed hands and feet jerking wildly about as the black lights glinted off her bald head, but since Rusty wasn’t exactly a dancer himself, he wasn’t going to judge.
At some point, Gem forced him and Oliver to join them in the throng, and Rusty took Willow’s hand and spun her, ivy hair flying as she laughed. When a passing Imp tugged on Rusty’s tail, he yelped and snarled at the invasive touch, but before he had a chance to defend himself, Gem was suddenly there, baring his fangs and shoving the Imp away.
“Creepy prick,” Gem seethed as several hands came to rest on Rusty’s waist and hips. Hooking his top arms around Rusty’s shoulders, Gem pressed loosely into his back and whispered near his ear, “You okay?”
No, he wasn’t. Not only was it rude in Pyclese, and most other Mammylion cultures to grab someone’s tail uninvited, but now everyone was staring at him. He didn’t like the weight of it, especially with the way Gem was rubbing numerous soothing hands over him. He meant it as a comfort, Rusty knew that, but it flustered him all the same.
But he didn’t want to cause an even bigger scene, so he just nodded and tried to relax as Gem gestured toward the bar. “Looks like Ollie’s Gymnot finally showed up.”
Rusty followed Gem’s finger and caught sight of Oliver and Liel embracing near the bar, the human looking flushed and happy. “Guess he’s not crashing at yours tonight.”
“Pretty sure he’s crashing at Liel’s tonight,” Gem said with a snicker, and Rusty smirked.
“Gross.”
“I think it’s sweet.” Gem’s lower hands slid across Rusty’s stomach as his chin nestled between Rusty’s ears. “Though I’ll be honest, I’m a little jelly. I thought it’d be fun if Ollie and I fucked, but then he had to go and fall in love. Selfish, honestly.”
Of all the things Rusty expected Gem to say, that was not one of them. “You’re into Oliver?”
“Ew, no, not like that. I mean, Ollie’s great, but it was more curiosity than anything. I’ve never fucked a human before. Figured it’d be fun to try.”
Rusty snorted a laugh. “If you say so.”
Gem blew a raspberry. “Don’t tell me you’re not the least bit curious what it would be like to fuck a human.”
Technically, Rusty didn’t need to be curious because he had fucked a human before. Well, he’d been fuckedbya human, and it hadn’t been anything overtly unique. Once you’d been railed by one phallus-like appendage, you’d been railed by them all. That had been Rusty’s experience, at least.
“A dick’s a dick,” Rusty finally said, and Gem harrumphed.
“You’ve clearly never been fucked by good dick,” Gem said flippantly, though the moment the words were out, he stiffened. “I mean—”
Since Rusty had been fucked by enough dick to last him a lifetime, he shrugged, interrupting what was sure to be an awkward apology. “I’ll take your word for it.”
Thankfully, their conversation was derailed by an Avia cutting in, the man dismissing Rusty with a fleeting glance before giving Gem a salacious onceover. “May I steal you away, pretty thing?”
Gem hesitated, arms tightening around Rusty’s shoulders for a moment, but since Rusty didn’t want to be a cockblock, he disentangled himself from Gem’s hold and backed away. He offered Gem an encouraging nod, and the Araknis simpered before turning his attention on the Avia, sizing him up. His grin turned seductive as he ran a hand through the man’s feathers, and Rusty spun on his heels and made for the bar.
After getting himself another tonic, he spotted Zef speaking to a Rhopa he didn’t recognize. The Rhopa’s colorful wings flapped as they pantomimed vaguely, and Rusty stiffened when one of their hands landed on Zef’s upper arm. Zef’s own wings flared out, the black lights of the club setting them aglow, and they stepped back, forcing the Rhopa’s hand to fall away.
Without conscious thought, Rusty headed their direction, but by the time he got there, the Rhopa was already leaving. “Sometimes, I wonder if you have a heart at all,” they cried before they disappeared into the crowd.
Zef, for their part, looked gutted, their four arms falling limply to their sides, their wings flattening to their back, their antennas drooping. Rusty glared at the retreating Rhopa as he came to a stop beside Zef.
“Zef, you okay?” he asked, and the Mantodea startled, their compound eyes focusing on him.
