“We’ll mate another time,” I agreed with a watery smile as more tears joined the first one. “We can spend the day getting to know one another instead?” I hoped he wasn’t going to push me away again. That would kill me.
“I would love that,” Juno said as he stood up and offered me his hand. I took it, placing a soft kiss on his cheek. He wiped my tears away and led me back inside.
“So, this is normal here?” I asked, looking at the TV. Juno had put on a reality show where they would play hide and seek on a world wide scale, using their magic to hide and find one another. The winner won something, not sure what yet, and it was oddly entertaining. I still hadn’t figured out my own magic, promising Juno’s dad and the rulers I would wait so I didn’t mess anything up. Juno thought reality TV would be a great way to show me the different ways our magic worked. So far, I’d learned that we couldn’t magically make something appear, but we could use glamour to make it seem like something was there, when in fact, it wasn’t. Using fireballs and other cool stuff wasn’t a thing either. Sadly. We could do many things, but making stuff appear wasn’t included in that.
“You don’t have this sort of entertainment?” he asked, rubbing my feet. We lay on the couch, me with my feet in his lap as we got to know one another better. I was being tortured by his firm touch, knowing we’d soon mate. Every time my mind wandered to that, I felt flushed and itchy, like only Juno could scratch the itch my body felt. His hands on me kept igniting whatever we’d started, never allowing my body to calm completely.
“No magic, but we do have reality TV and fake magic shows and movies,” I replied, trying to stifle the moan that almost escaped me. His hands werefuckingmagical.
“Fake?”
“Yeah, like fantasy, with dragons and elves, and all sorts of magical beings,” I replied, thinking if dragons actually did exist in another world somewhere.
“We have that too. Just with different magic than ours,” Juno said. I liked how similar our worlds were, it made it easier to connect like this. He put a little more pressure on my foot, making me moan out loud this time.
Juno faltered a bit after my escaped moan, so I quickly asked, “What about romance?” I had to ask that, too curious not to.
“We have some shows with mates finding each other and how their lives turn around. It’s mostly reality, though. I like seeing people fall in love with their mates, but I much prefer action and adventure.”
“I get that. I love romance because I wanted to feel what they felt, you know? Seeing them explore their feelings made me a part of it, and even though I now know why I couldn’t feel the same, it still helped me be a part of how my world worked. I thought I was ace, which can mean different things, but from my perspective it meant I wasn’t sexually attracted to anyone, but I didn’t have romantic feelings towards others either, which some ace people have.” It was so confusing trying to figure out your sexuality when it was different for everyone. Saying I was ace was just easier to explain to Hayley why I wasn’t interested in having sex with her after our first few times. She’d been understanding at first, but as time passed, I could tell she needed more intimacy than I could offer. Thinking back, it was actually a mystery how we’d stayed together for a year.
“I hate that you felt so lonely in your world.” He stopped massaging my feet and moved to snuggle into me instead. “I hadn’t thought about how being my mate affected you.”
I ran my fingers through his hair, grateful we had this moment together. Being near him felt so comforting and easy. “Istill don’t get why I was picked to be yours. What if you’d never visited my world? And why do I even have magic to begin with?”
Juno was silent for a bit, then he looked up from my chest. “I believe the rulers have some theories they’ll share with us tomorrow. But for now, I don’t know. I just know you’re mine.”
I hugged him tighter against me. This was still so weird. Were my parents magical too? They seemed to truly love one another so they could be mates, but it still didn’t make sense in my mind. Neither did the fact that I was conceived using donor sperm. My stomach grumbled, reminding me I hadn’t eaten since I was at work.
“Oh!” Juno jumped away from me, like I was hurting him with my angry stomach. “I’ll feed you!” He rushed from the room, leaving me too stunned to go after him. Thinking about work and how I likely wouldn’t return to it, made me text Earl. He needed to know I wasn’t coming back, he deserved a heads-up, even though I felt horrible doing it over text. I would make it a priority to see him when we returned. After the text was sent and it said delivered, I realized it would have to be some kind of magic juju that made me able to use my phone in another world. I would have to ask Juno about that.
“Any allergies?” he called from the kitchen.
I smiled and stood, following his voice, joining him as he opened cabinets in search of food. “Damn,” he muttered, opening his fridge and freezer. “We have nothing to eat.”
“Can’t we order food?” I really hoped food deliveries were a thing here, since it would be torture living without it. I couldn’t cook, since Dad preferred to have his kitchen to himself most of the time, and I never considered learning since we had free food from the cafeteria.
“We do,” he assured me, opening up his slate. “Pizza?” I nodded eagerly as my stomach did another angry growl. “Toppings?” he asked, scrolling on his slate. It was so cool. Whenhe’d shown it to me, I’d been filled with ideas I wished I could’ve written down, but Juno assured me I would get my own slate soon.
“Ham and pineapple,” I replied, envying his slate as he placed our order.
“That’s not a thing here,” he chuckled, showing me the options.
“Well, it should be,” I pouted and looked over my options. “I’ll just have the cheese and pepperoni one, oh and add chicken and garlic too.”
Juno ordered one with pepperoni and cheese, assuring me theirs were similar to the ones I was used to back home.
“It’ll be ten minutes,” Juno said, taking my hand in his and leading me back to the living room. “I want to snuggle until then.” He was too adorable. The way he so easily spoke his wants was admirable. I hoped to be as confident as him, or close to, some day. Maybe I could be like that with him, if I let myself trust he’d never judge me for it. I’d never thought about how much I held myself back, a normal response since people often rejected me or didn’t care enough. Like with my ideas. Would Juno think them a waste of time too?
We snuggled up again and resumed watching the reality show, watching as one of the women made herself invisible and climbed out of a window to escape a building. It was way more exciting than I’d thought it would be, and before we knew it, the doorbell rang.
Juno ran over and opened the door to a robot. An actual robot. It had wheels and arms and with said arms it gave Juno our food, then set off again, driving down the street like a scooter.
“That’s so cool!” I exclaimed, standing up, looking at its retreating form. “I wish we had that.”
Juno laughed lightly and waited for me to see my fill before closing the door. “They’re made from magic and metal. Don’t ask me how, I’ve never been able to grasp the workings, though Nix loves it and could easily teach you.”
I was all for forgetting the pizza and claiming Juno right there on the floor. “I can make robots with magic?” I whispered, afraid to get my hopes up.
