Chapter 3
Chapter three
Dental Detective
Bryce
There was no immediate answer to Bryce’s ring, and Gem inhaled sharply through his teeth. “Oh my gods, maybe Tad really did kill Zef!”
“And y’all wanted me to do her,” Toni harrumphed. “Un-fucking-believable.”
“I’m sure Zef’s fine,” Oliver said, before he eyed Toni suspiciously. “When did Tad see your dicks?”
“Dicks plural?” Bryce asked before he could stop it, but everyone ignored him.
“At your parents’ ranch,” Toni said as he inspected his thumb nail. “I did Jude in the hayloft, and Tad caught us.”
Jude facepalmed as Oliver’s jaw dropped. “You fucked in my parents’ barn?”
“Yeah,” Toni said at the same time Jude said, “Allegedly.”
Before Oliver could respond to that, the door swung open, and Bryce turned back to greet his new demon roommate. His new demon roommate who currently had a pair of pantyhose on their head, smashing their thin antennas to the sides of their narrow face.
“Hello,” Zef said in their airy voice, but they’d barely gotten the word out before Gem shoved past Bryce, speaking a mile a minute.
“Hi, Zef. So glad you’re not murdered. Weird headpiece, by the way, but I love the fashion statement. Can I use your bathroom? I really gotta pee. Thanks!”
Since Zef had no chance to actually stop the Araknis, they stepped out of the way so Gem could barrel into the house without touching them. “Not murdered?” Cocking their head at Bryce, they asked, “Why would I be murdered?”
“Don’t rightly know,” Bryce said honestly, before he offered Zef a stilted half-bow. “Hi, Zef, it’s good to see you again.”
Blinking those large milky eyes in surprise, Zef returned the bow. “A pleasure, indeed.”
“Did we come at a bad time?” Oliver asked as Zef straightened and opened the door wider.
“Not at all, why?”
“You got something on your face,” Toni said tactfully.
Zef’s wings buzzed as they reached up and touched the netting.
They inhaled sharply and ripped it off their head, balling it up in their lower hands as their top hands fretted with the messy bun of white hair atop their head.
Loose strands fell around their face, and their green cheeks darkened in embarrassment.
“I was aiding Tad,” they said quickly. “She needed my head.”
“For what?” Oliver asked hesitantly.
“Do we actually want to know?” Bryce heard Liel whisper.
“I want to know,” Jude said.
“Shush,” Toni hissed. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”
Waving Bryce inside, Zef said, “Please, come in. I was not expecting… so many of you.”
“They gave me a ride,” Bryce explained as he stepped into the condo. It was clean and tidy, the lines in the carpet from the vacuum spaced evenly, edges perfectly straight. He didn’t want to step on the carpet for fear of ruining it, but the others had no such qualms.
Toni tromped inside, dumping Bryce’s duffel bag unceremoniously beside the white couch. “You got stuff for sandwiches, Zeffie? I was thinking of whipping up something for everyone.”
“I believe so.” Zef’s gaze tracked the shoe prints Toni’s boots left in the carpet fibers, and their right antenna twitched.
Bryce toed off his shoes and set them beside a pair of sleek, strappy high heels. For a moment, he wondered who they belonged to before realizing they were probably Zef’s. Mantodeas were agender, after all, and Zef had been wearing a feminine muumuu the first time Bryce had seen them.
“May I assist with your baggage?” Zef asked, and Bryce jerked upright, surprised at their sudden appearance right beside him.
“I forgot how quiet you are,” he said with a laugh, and Zef tilted their head, studying him with an intensity that made his skin itch.
It wasn’t that Zef was creepy. Okay, they were a little creepy.
What with their large, pupil-less compound eyes, long gangling limbs, and almost gaunt face.
Yet, they were eerily pretty too. Their features were soft and androgynous, their hair shimmering like opals.
Like a mythological Fae had procreated with an insect, and the end result was this hauntingly beautiful bug-person.
“Shall I wear a bell?” Zef said, voice and expression entirely deadpan.
Bryce couldn’t tell if they were joking, but then their wings buzzed and their brows arched ever so slightly. He grinned, and Zef’s mouth tipped in the minutest smile.
With a chuckle, he ran a hand through his hair. “You’re funny.”
“Am I? I do practice, but I fear humor is not my strong suit,” they admitted as they picked up the duffel Toni had discarded.
“I think you’re doing just fine,” Bryce said, and that tiny smile widened marginally.
“Shall I show you to your room?” Zef tucked several flyaways behind their pointed, elf-like ear with one hand while another gestured toward the kitchen where Toni and Jude were slapping together what looked like sandwiches.
“Lead the way.”
In the hallway to the right of the kitchen, Oliver and Liel stood staring at a set of shelves nearly overflowing with—
“Oh my God, are those teeth?” Bryce cried.
“Yes,” Zef said, standing a little taller as if in pride. “I collected them.”
“From who?” Oliver demanded.
“Other collectors,” Zef said, like it was obvious.
“No, whose teeth are they?” Oliver clarified.
“I do not know,” Zef said.
“You don’t know whose teeth these are?” Liel asked.
Zef blinked. “Not personally. Except for these.” They pointed at a set on the topmost shelf. “Those are mine.” At Oliver and Liel’s horrified expressions, they frowned. “Do not worry. I sterilized them.”
“I don’t think that’s what they’re worried about,” Jude said as he came to a stop beside Bryce.
“What species do they belong to?” Bryce asked, stepping closer to get a better look at the array of teeth.
“Many different kinds. Collectors always share the origins, but when I find them myself, I must research it.”
“Like a dental detective,” Bryce said, and Zef’s cheeks darkened even more than the first time.
Taking a rather large fang-like tooth from the middle shelf, they said, “I found this one in an alley.”
“Was it attached to a body?” Jude asked.
“And was that body still alive?” Oliver asked.
“I don’t think we want to know,” Liel said.
Zef didn’t hear them. “I believe it belongs to a kyro, but I still need to get it appraised.”
“What about that one?” Bryce said. “It has a corkscrew root. That’s wild.”
“That is a wybl tooth.” Zef said, voice pitching higher in what Bryce took to be excitement. “They are very rare creatures who live in the forest and ingest certain types of tree wood. That is why they have—”
“Serrated edges,” Bryce finished for them, and they nodded.
“Yes, to better saw through the hard bark. And the roots must be deep and secure enough that the sawing action does not knock them loose from the jawbone.”
“Hence the corkscrew root,” Bryce said, and Zef’s antennas quivered wildly.
“Yes,” they said, almost breathlessly. “Yes, exactly.”
“That’s amazing.”
Nearly vibrating now, Zef nodded again. “I think so too.”
“Do you have a diagram or something? Like—”
“Yes! I have many diagrams. And books. And—they are in my room. I will fetch them—”
Before Zef could, the door behind them opened, and everyone jumped as Gem shrieked in fright. “What the fuck are you all doing in the hallway? Were you listening to me pee? That’s so weird!”
“We weren’t listening to you pee,” Jude said.
“We were looking at Zef’s tooth collection,” Oliver said.
“Bryce wants to see my diagrams,” Zef said animatedly, and Bryce’s chest warmed.
Several emotions, most of them in the family of disgust, passed over Gem’s face, but he schooled his features and smiled weakly at Zef. “That’s so cool, Zef. I love that you collect teeth. From dead things. It’s very… cool.”
“Thank you,” Zef said primly.
“Where can I put Bryce’s suitcase?” Liel asked, and Zef maneuvered through the small crowd they made and led them to the door next to the bathroom Gem had exited.
“This is your room,” Zef said, pushing the door open.
Inside, Bryce shrugged off his backpack and let it plop onto the bed. The room was small but not cramped. A double bed, one side table, and a dresser were the only furniture. On the side table was a retro lamp, the shade an orange floral pattern that reminded Bryce of his nan’s couch from the 70s.
The bedding was simple and gray, and the window across from the door was shielded by matching gray curtains. Daylight filtered through the sheer fabric, catching the floating dust particles in its rays. The room smelled like clean cotton and something sharply chemical, like dusting spray.
Zef placed Bryce’s duffel at the foot of the bed before immediately retreating from the room to stand in the doorway. “I hope the room is agreeable.”
“It’s great, Zef. Really. I appreciate you helping me out like this, especially with how short notice it all was. I just…” Not sure how to finish the sentence, Bryce let it float in the air before he managed to say, “I guess I just wanna say thank you.”
Zef clasped their lower hands in front of their stomach as their upper hands straightened the already-straight collar of their blouse. “It was no trouble. You were in need of a room, and I had an empty one in need of you. Of someone, I mean. Anyone. A person. To help pay the bills.”
Their brows drew down in frustration at their verbal tripping, and Bryce did his best not to laugh. “Still. Thank you.”
With a slight bow, they said, “You are most welcome. A friend of Oliver’s is a friend of mine.”
“Aw, Zef, don’t get mushy on us,” Oliver teased from behind them. “You’ll make Toni cry.”
“Zef’s getting mushy? Oh my gods, I can’t handle that!” Toni shouted from the kitchen.
Sighing morosely, Zef’s expression blanked to one of neutral disinterest. “Do not exaggerate, Oliver. I am simply being a good host.”
“Sandwiches are done,” Toni called, and the group amassing in the doorway dispersed.
“Are you hungry or shall I give you a tour of the flat?” Zef asked as Bryce hoisted all of his bags onto the bed. “Unless you would like some time to unpack…”