“No,” Gem whimpered out in reply.
“Gemae!” Rusty roared, and Gem whined again.
“I’m sorry! Okay? I’m sorry, but I almost passed out, and then I actually did throw up on the tattooist a little bit, so we got kicked out, and I never actually did it. But I was so going to. I swear, I didn’t mean to fuck you over. I would never purposefully do that.
“And I totally understand why you’re upset. But we were really drunk, and while, yes, it was my idea, you wanted to do it.” At Rusty’s furious expression, Gem immediately course-corrected. “But I will take a higher percentage of the blame since I suggested it and then later sacked out.”
After a heavy silence, Rusty buried his face in his palms and groaned out, “Fuck.”
“I know,” Gem murmured, hands fidgeting. “I’m sorry, Rus. Please, don’t hate me.”
The last part was spoken even quieter, but Rusty still caught it, and his groan turned into a sigh. “I don’t hate you, Gem.”
“Really? Because you look and sound like you hate me. And I think I’m still too drunk to handle that right now,” the Araknis blubbered, voice thick with imminent tears.
Regardless of his anger, Rusty couldn’t help but soften slightly when Gem’s eyes all watered. “Come on, don’t cry. I don’t… hate you. I’m pissed at you.”
“Totally fair,” Gem interjected.
“But,” Rusty continued, rubbing at his eyes as his head throbbed, “I don’t hate you.”
Heaving a huge sigh of relief, Gem half-collapsed against the counter. “Okay. Good.”
“Why would you even care if I did?” Rusty asked, clarifying when Gem cocked his head in confusion. “Hate you, I mean.”
“Um, because we’re friends,” Gem said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
It was such a silly thing, but for reasons Rusty couldn’t quite name, warmth bloomed to life in his chest. He’d never really had friends, even as a kid. People were annoying and cruel, and even at a young age, he’d preferred his own company over anyone else’s. Except for his mother, of course.
But she was long dead, and Rusty had grown accustomed to loneliness. Yet Gem’s simple statement had his throat tightening with emotion.
“Right,” Rusty said after an uncomfortably long pause. “Friends. If you say so,” he added gruffly, making the Arkanis roll numerous eyes.
“Well, you have my name tattooed on your back now,” he mumbled irritably. “If that doesn’t make us friends, I don’t know what does.” Rusty growled at him, and Gem sucked in a breath through his teeth. “Sorry. Too soon?”
“It will always be too soon.”
Blowing a noisy raspberry, Gem gracelessly plopped down onto the floor beside Rusty, forcing him to hug his tail to his chest to keep it from beingcrushed under the Araknis’s huge ass. “Psh, just give it a few months. This will make a really funny story one day.”
“We are never speaking of this day again,” Rusty said seriously.
Gem snorted. “M’kay, sure.”
Debilitating fear and shame at the prospect of anyone discovering the tattoo gripped Rusty’s stomach, and he found himself turning on the Araknis with canines bared. “You can’t tell anyone!”
With a squeak, Gem scrabbled away until his back hit the bathroom cabinet. “I didn’t mean—”
“No one can ever know,” Rusty snarled, rising onto his knees and pointing a threatening claw at Gem’s face. “No one.”
“Wow, you are so intense right now,” Gem whispered, all eight eyes wide.
“I’m serious, Gem.”
“Okay, yeesh. I won’t tell anyone.” When Rusty narrowed his eyes doubtfully, Gem grunted impatiently. “I swear, Rus. I won’t tell anybody about the tattoo.”
“Or the… cuddling,” Rusty sneered the last word like it was something dirty.
“Or the cuddling,” Gem agreed, mouth twitching in amusement. “I swear on my life.”
