That slumber party becamethe first of many. Since Gem could only appreciateChainsaw Manone episode at a time, they worked their way through other human anime series together, along with a few Hellian animated shows. Rusty introduced Gem to the amazing world of Asian pop music—
“Oh. My. Gods,” Gem breathed as he watched the human girls sing in Korean as they danced on Rusty’s phone screen. “What is this, and how do I make it my entire personality?”
“This, my sweet, summer child,” Rusty chuckled as thick, sweet marijuana smoke billowed out of his mouth, “is K-Pop.”
Gem grabbed Rusty’s shoulders and shook him so hard the joint fell from between lips and rolled onto the carpet, singing the fibers. “Show me everything!”
—And Gem taught Rusty everything he knew about cows. Which, in Rusty’s opinion, wasn’t much since Gem would mostly scroll through a photoalbum on his phone composed entirely of cow pictures and gush about how cute they were.
One evening, after they’d smoked a bowl, Gem took Rusty through each of his cow collections in his crazy cow closet. The ceramics and porcelain. The bobble-heads. The artwork. He even had a collection of cow keychains, and he’d named each of them.
To be honest, Rusty did think Gem’s obsession with the hooved creatures was weird, but after six years, he’d grown accustomed and desensitized to Gem’s particular brand of insanity. If anything, Rusty found it entertaining now.
“The very first collectible from my ‘Udderly Hilarious’ line,” Gem was saying, motioning to the more cartoony-looking ceramic figurines, featuring cows doing human activities like laundry and dishes, “is impossible to find. It’s calledCowabunga. It’s a cow doing a cannonball into a pool, and it’s amazing. But they aren’t made anymore. The only ones selling are secondhand, so they’re either chipped or damaged, or they’re in pristine condition but selling for ridiculous prices.
“There’s this human website, eBay, where you can buy that kind of stuff, but some jag-off named Cow-Head69 keeps out-bidding me. I almost had a mint conditionSteak-Outfigurine, but then Cow-Head upped the bid by five human dollars in the last ten seconds. He practically stole it from me! I complained to eBay, but they, like, didn’t even care.”
“Let me guess,” Rusty said between hissing snickers that only made an appearance when he was incredibly stoned, “Steak-Outis a figurine of two police cows in a surveillance van?”
“Of course. What else would it be?” Gem said impatiently, and Rusty laughed harder.
Normally, Gem would hang out with Toni on Sundays to watchDesperate Desires, Gem’s favorite Hellian soap opera, but ever since Toni had started hanging out—or hooking up? Rusty wasn’t exactly sure—with Jude on Sundays, Gem tended to invite Rusty to stay after one of their Saturday night sleepovers. Or, if they didn’t hang out Saturday because Gem was out at a club or meeting up with someone from Cock’d, Gem would text him Sunday morning, inviting him over. Since Rusty lived in a shitty flat with even shittier roommates, he almost always accepted the invitation.
He liked spending time at Gem’s. It was homey and comfortable, and Gem, for all that he was extra and obnoxious, was fun. He was a near constant bubble of happiness and positivity, and while it was overwhelming at times, it was also addicting. Gem was like the sun, and after so long living in shadow, Rusty had forgotten what it felt like to bask in the light.
To his surprise, Gem seemed to genuinely like having him around too, even if they weren’t doing anything specific. As if sharing space was enough, Gem would sit in the corner of the couch, feet propped on Rusty’s lap as he read a raunchy romance book aloud while Rusty scrolled through socials or painted Gem’s nails.
“We have another heaving bosom coming up,” Gem said, licking his thumb so he could turn the page. “Get ready. His member is about to start throbbing.”
“I’m on pins and needles,” Rusty said blandly as he painted Gem’s left tarsal claw what he thought was neon orange.
Halfway through June, Gem took Rusty thrifting and forced him to buy several shirts that weren’t black. “They’re so dark they might as well be black,” Gem said as he held up three shirts: indigo, deep maroon, and dark purple—according to Gem.
“I’m not taking those home,” Rusty muttered before he grudgingly bought them—and a vintage black cut-off, purely out of spite.
Rusty kept his word, though; he never took them home. Instead, the shirts remained in Gem’s flat. They ended up in a corner of his dresser, beside extra clothes of Toni’s that had been left behind once upon a time. The only times Rusty actually wore the colored shirts were after impromptu slumber parties, and every time he shrugged one on, Gem would simper ridiculously, much to Rusty’s chagrin.
Some nights, they’d walk around Lust, following the familiar paths Rusty had forged over the years. He showed Gem the hole-in-the-wall places he’d discovered, and, once, he even took Gem through the blocks he’d worked on Flesh Street. Gem had grown quiet and a little sad, and when he’d taken Rusty’s hand and held tight, Rusty didn’t shake him off like he usually did.
He wasn’t ashamed of his past, but those years had been hard and, at times, unpleasant. So he was grateful for the support Gem offered.
On a Saturday evening in July, Rusty sat on his bed next to the open window, sweating through his jeans as he worked on the next chapter of his graphic novel. His main character, Jewyl, had recently discovered her magical familiar—a highland-cow-inspired alien creature—and his followers had already fallen in love with the new addition.
His phone pinged, and he checked the incoming message, surprised to see Gem’s name. Gem was supposed to be with Toni tonight, so Rusty hadn’t expected to hear from him at all.
You busy?
Notreally. What’s up?
Can you come over?
Aren’t you with Toni?
We got in a fight, and he left.
Irritation flashed through Rusty’s chest as he read the last message. Toni had all but abandoned Gem the entire summer to get his dicks wet, and the one night he’d deigned to gift Gem—a night Gem had been so excited about all week—and Toni had fucking left?
Setting aside his tablet, he quickly typed out a response before he grabbed a tank top and tugged it over his head.
