Lucien
“Give me one hint.” I stand in the middle of Sparkle’s living room while he taps something on his phone.
He ignores me, his ears twitching while his tail sways behind him.
I lean closer and try to peek over his shoulder.
“One tiny little hint, darling. You can’t expect me to teleport us somewhere without knowing anything. ”
Sparkle turns the phone against his chest before I can see the screen. “You’re supposed to let me woo you. Not interrogate me until I ruin the surprise.”
“You are wooing me.” I straighten and hold out my hand, deciding I can be patient for at least another minute. “Interrogation is a completely different skill set.”
His eyes narrow before he finally takes my hand. The purple ribbon tied near the end of his tail makes something thump hard in my chest. He’s been doing that to me a lot lately. Existing. Looking cute. Making my insides feel like they’re trying to crawl out and hand themselves to him.
Sparkle pulls up an address and holds the screen toward me, keeping his hand carefully positioned so I can’t see anything besides the location. Kentucky. Easy enough.
“You planned a date that requires me to provide transportation?” I ask, glancing at him.
“I planned everything else. You have magic. Seems silly not to use it.”
I curl my arm around his waist, mostly because I like holding him when we teleport. Sparkle immediately presses closer, one hand settling against my chest. He doesn’t need the help anymore. I know that. He knows that. We both keep our traps closed about it.
I snap my fingers, and the world folds around us. A parking lot replaces Sparkle’s living room. Cool air brushes over my face as my boots hit pavement, and I keep my arm around Sparkle while I take in our surroundings. The first thing I see is the building.
The second is Sparkle watching me instead of wherever the fuck he brought me.
The third is a giant fake mosasaurus. It’s like a giant Loch Ness monster if Nessie were real. I slowly tip my head back. And farther back.
My mouth drops open as I take in the enormous creature looming over us. Its jaws are spread wide, displaying rows of massive teeth, and someone has apparently decided this magnificent monstrosity belongs in Kentucky because humans are fucking incredible.
I release Sparkle and walk closer, craning my neck as I take in every detail of the enormous creature. “This is incredible.”
Sparkle trails after me, and his smile softens as he watches me circle around for a better view.
“Why is it here?”
“Dunno.” He shrugs. “But it’s pretty cool, right?”
That makes it even better. I turn in a slow circle beneath the massive creature, trying to imagine the thought process that led to its existence. Someone had to design it. Build it. Pay for the fucking thing.
“Isn’t it magnificent?” I spread my arms toward it and turn back to Sparkle. “Someone woke up one morning and decided this needed to exist. Then other people apparently agreed with them enough to actually make it happen.”
Sparkle’s smile grows as he watches me.
I pause. “What?”
His tail sways innocently behind him. “Lars was right.”
My eyes narrow. “You consulted the wolf?”
“I needed information.” Sparkle shoves his hands into his pockets, but his cheeks are already turning pink.
“About me?” My tail gives one hard wag before I can stop it.
Sparkle notices immediately, and his smile turns smug. I should probably be embarrassed that my tail betrayed me. I’m too busy realizing my kitty cat apparently conducted research to plan my date.
“You asked Lars what I like?”
“I also asked Ryan.” Sparkle rocks back on his heels, looking increasingly pleased with himself. “You spent weeks figuring out what I like. It seemed fair.”
I close the space between us, wrap both arms around his waist, and pull him against me. Sparkle laughs as his hands land against my chest. I kiss him before he can say anything else, and his tail curls around my leg while mine wraps around his waist.
For a few seconds, I forget entirely about the enormous prehistoric creature behind us.
Sparkle eventually pulls back and pats my chest. “There’s more.”
I stare down at him. “More than the giant mosasaurus?”
“There’s a real mosasaurus skull inside. And rocks and fossils and stuff.” His smile turns downright devious before he adds, “And something called the Mystery House.”
I glance toward the building again. “What kind of mystery?”
“Dunno. That’s why it’s a mystery.”
I kiss him again. Apparently, I’m dating a fucking genius. We take pictures with the mosasaurus first because of course we do. I make Sparkle pose like he’s about to be eaten, and he’s such a perfect little actor I almost want to beat up the mosasaurus! This might be my favorite picture of him.
Inside the one shop, because there are two, I immediately understand why Sparkle brought me here.
Rocks, minerals, fossils, and crystals fill the place, catching the light from every direction.
There are polished stones beside rough ones that look like someone dug them out of the ground five minutes ago.
Fossils sit among strange little treasures, and I wander from one display to another while Sparkle stays beside me.
He never rushes me, even when I stop for far too long.
The few people milling around us, give us strange looks.
Neither one of us hides our true features.
I’d convinced Sparkle weeks ago he never has to change his appearance around me.
I’m confident enough in my body that I can convince humans they’re not seeing what they really are.
It’s an art and one I’ve taught Sparkle.
Okay, it’s not really an art. It’s usually me glaring at people until they leave me alone.
Usually I do try to keep my tail calm so people don’t get suspicious.
Most of the time, people just think I’m really into cosplaying and ask me who I’m supposed to be.
I take in every inch of the place and grab a few souvenir t-shirts. One for me, Sparkle, and, of course, Lars and Ryan.
Then we reach Big Mo.
I slow as the mosasaurus skull comes into view. There’s something strange about looking at the remains of a creature that lived millions of years before either of us existed. I bend closer, studying the massive fossilized skull while Sparkle stands at my shoulder.
Sparkle leans closer too, his shoulder pressing against my arm. “Pretty cool.” A moment later, his fingers slip between mine. I squeeze his hand without looking away from Big Mo.
I’ve seen things humans would call impossible.
Real monsters. Other realms. Magic powerful enough to tear holes between worlds.
Creatures that most humans only know through stories.
But there’s something different about this.
Humans found the bones of something that vanished millions of years ago and decided to put them somewhere people could come stare at them.
I like that. I like a lot of things humans do.
They’re ridiculous and creative and self-destructive and hopeful.
They build entire businesses around rocks because rocks are fucking cool.
They make giant prehistoric creatures beside roads.
They collect pieces of the earth and polish them until they shine.
We wander through the rest of the shop, and I find enough ridiculous souvenirs to make Lars regret telling Sparkle about my collection. Sparkle stops me from buying a truly magnificent shirt, because he claims I’ll never wear it. That is not the point of souvenir shirts.
By the time we finish shopping both stores and head toward the Mystery House, Sparkle carries a couple of bags with geodes and several other things we absolutely needed.
The Mystery House looks harmless. I know immediately that it’s not. There’s no magic here. I check twice, stretching my senses out around us until I’m certain. Whatever happens inside is entirely human nonsense. Which makes it so much better.
The floor fucks with my balance almost immediately. The room seems to tilt in a direction it absolutely should not, and Sparkle grabs my arm as his body sways. His ears flatten while he looks around, trying to make sense of what his eyes are telling him.
“What the fuck?” He tightens his grip on me as we move farther inside. “The room is wrong.”
I start laughing. Sparkle glares at me, but that only makes it worse. “It’s wonderful.”
He takes another careful step before grabbing my shirt when his balance shifts again. “You can literally teleport. You can create illusions. You’re a demon from another realm. And this impresses you?”
“Humans did this without magic.” I gesture around the room, grinning as I lean into the strange angle. “That’s what makes it impressive.”
Sparkle opens his mouth, closes it, and looks around again. By the time we finish, Sparkle is laughing almost as much as I am. His tail has puffed slightly from the disorientation, though I am intelligent enough not to mention it after the fireworks incident. I am capable of learning. Eventually.
Outside, Sparkle takes a deep breath and looks up at the sky like he needs confirmation that gravity works again. I stand beside him with our bags hanging from my wrist, still grinning as I glance back toward the Mystery House.
“This was an amazing date.”
Sparkle looks at me immediately. “Yeah?”
There’s something underneath the question. I didn’t notice it before, but now I see the tension in his shoulders and the way his tail has gone still.
“Absolutely.” I catch his hand before he can start walking and tug him closer. “Were you worried I wouldn’t like it?”
“A little.” Sparkle shrugs, but his ears angle outward. “You tried really hard with all my dates. Even when they went wrong, they were perfect. So perfect. I wanted to get yours right.”
“Darling.”
“I know it’s not romantic romantic.” He gestures back toward the building, his gaze briefly following his hand. “But Lars said you liked weird human stuff, and then I found this place, and it had a giant mosasaurus and a Mystery House and rocks and everything. I thought of you.”
Four little words that almost fucking kill me. I thought of you.
I’ve spent weeks trying to follow a Guide written by a teenage Sparkle because I wanted to prove I could give him everything he thought he wanted.
Sparkle didn’t have a Guide. He just learned me.
I step closer and cup his face between my hands.
His ears flick against my fingers, and his bright green eyes search mine.
“It was perfect.”
His nose wrinkles. “You don’t have to say that.”
“I know.” I brush my thumbs over his warm cheeks. “You could’ve taken me to stare at a tree in the Redwood Forest and I would’ve considered this an excellent day. I think I like this being wooed thing.”
Sparkle’s expression changes at that. The teasing disappears, leaving something softer behind as he slides his arms around my waist.
“Well, get used to it. Because I plan to continue to woo you.”
My heart does something strange. Usually, I’d make a joke.
Instead, I bend and kiss him. Sparkle melts against me, his tail winding around mine as I hold him close.
Just Sparkle kissing me beside a Kentucky roadside attraction while a giant mosasaurus looms behind us.
Fuck if it isn’t one of the most romantic moments of my entire life.
When we separate, Sparkle stays close. His fingers play with the fabric at my waist while I brush my thumb beneath one of his ears.
“I got you something else.” He reaches into the bag, digs around, and closes his fist around whatever he finds before I can see it. “You have to promise not to make this weird.”
“I promise nothing.”
“Lucien.” Sparkle gives me a look.
“Fine. I will make a sincere effort to limit the weirdness.”
He considers that before apparently deciding it’s the best he’s going to get. Then he opens his hand. A small mosasaurus waits in his palm. I stare at it.
Sparkle immediately starts talking, his words coming faster the longer I stay quiet.
“I know you collect silly little souvenirs, and I thought you could put it in your cabinet, but if you don’t like it, that’s fine.
They had other things, and I wasn’t sure what you usually get because Lars just said you buy weird shit and—”
I kiss him.
Sparkle makes a surprised sound against my mouth before his arms come around my neck. I keep the kiss soft and brief, mostly because the little mosasaurus is currently trapped between us and I don’t want to accidentally murder my new favorite possession. When I pull away, his face is pink.
“I love it.”
“You do?” His ears perk.
“It’s going in the cabinet. Front and center.” I take the little mosasaurus carefully from his palm before adding, “And you’re coming over when I put it there.”
Sparkle smiles as he watches me turn the tiny thing over in my hand. He laughs and takes my free hand. I slip the mosasaurus carefully into the bag beside my geode before threading our fingers together.
I’ve collected hundreds of souvenirs over the years.
Things from places I visited because I was bored.
Things I bought because they made me laugh.
Proof that, for one afternoon, I went somewhere simply because I wanted to.
This one’s different. Someone saw it and thought of me.
I lift Sparkle’s hand to my mouth and press a kiss against his knuckles.
His tail brushes mine as he leans closer to my side.
“Ready to go home, pretty kitty?”
“Yeah.” Sparkle rests his head against my shoulder as I slide my arm around his waist.
Before I teleport us away, I look back one more time at the ridiculous place my boyfriend picked because he wanted to make me happy. My boyfriend. Fuck. I love this cat.
The thought comes so easily that it takes me a second to realize what I just thought. My magic stutters at my fingertips, the snap I was about to make dying before it happens.
Sparkle lifts his head from my shoulder. His ears tip toward me as he studies my face. “You okay?”
I stare down into those bright green eyes.
He’s still holding my hand. My little mosasaurus is safely tucked into the bag.
Sparkle’s tail is tangled with mine, and he planned an entire day because he wanted to see me light up over something pointless and ridiculous. The truth settles deeper. Well, shit.
I tighten my arm around him and smile. “Never better, darling.” I snap my fingers and take us home.