Chapter 15
Chapter fifteen
Wholly Wonderful
Zef
As the feast commenced, Zef added food to Bryce’s plate, explaining what it was and how it had been prepared.
Little by the little, the color was returning to his face as he sipped his wine and tasted each dish curiously.
They felt a little guilty for throwing Bryce into the deep end with no warning, but they had wanted him to experience the ritual without his defenses up.
Perhaps they had acted rashly, because the human had been rather shaken at the end. They would apologize more profusely later.
“After we eat, there is music and singing,” Zef informed him as he tried the roasted qyro. “And then the dancing.”
“You Mantodeas sure know how to party,” he said around his bite.
“We may not be as rambunctious as other species, but we do know how to have fun,” they said loftily, sipping their wine.
Their conversation was interrupted by the scrape of the chair beside Bryce as it was taken by the only ex-partner Zef possessed. Unless they counted Denys, though they did not, regardless of how Denys had misconstrued their relationship.
“Forgive my interruption, Zefryn, but I had to come say hello,” Don said as they dipped their chin in Zef’s direction.
“No apology necessary, Don. It is good to see you,” Zef said, inclining their own head. “Bryce, this is Don, my…”
At Zef’s faltering, Don’s antennas danced in amusement. “We go way back,” they said, cocking their head at Bryce. “How interesting to have a human here. Welcome.”
Wiping his mouth with his napkin, Bryce swallowed his bite quickly. “Thank you. It’s nice to meet you, Don.”
“What did you think of the ritual?”
“Terrifying,” Bryce answered honestly, “but really cool and powerful. I feel lucky to have seen it.”
Don hummed and propped their dark green chin on their equally dark green hand. “And what brought you to the Pentagram?”
“He is an animal healer,” Zef said proudly. “He is studying the animals here in the Pentagram for a year.”
“Animal healer? How fascinating. And how did you meet Zef?”
“Well, they work with Oliver, and Oliver and I went to high school together. Technically, we weren’t really friends back then.
I was in the science club and he was a jock, but he was good buddies with my brother.
Anyway, that’s not important,” he said when Don’s brow furrowed, clearly not understanding the vernacular Bryce was using.
“I asked Oliver if he knew of a place I could stay while I was studying, and he said Zef was looking for a roommate.”
“What happened to Denys?” Don asked Zef, and their wings buzzed in discomfort.
“They moved out,” they said simply.
“Interesting.” To Bryce, Don said, “We do not see many humans in our colony. I imagine you have received much attention.”
“Everyone’s been real nice,” Bryce said diplomatically.
“Yes, well, Zef is not known for their socializing, so when they bring a different… friend two years in a row, it is cause for gossip. Even I am not above indulging curiosity.”
Heat rose in Zef’s cheeks, but they kept their tone even as they said, “Do not be rude in front of my guest.”
“Come now, Zefryn, I am simply speaking the truth,” Don said as their antennas curled toward their gray hair. “I meant no offense.”
Bryce crossed his arms over his chest and frowned. “I think you did. There ain’t nothing wrong with Zef’s socializing, so maybe cut the passive-aggressive bullshit.”
Since Mantodeas were, for better or worse, horrible gossips, those sitting around them were all listening, and several gasped at Bryce’s curse. Don’s brows rose, but they appeared more entertained than offended.
“Now who is being rude?” they said.
“I am simply speaking the truth,” Bryce slapped back, and Zef snorted at his audacity.
Leaning back in their chair, Don scrutinized Bryce, a slight smile playing at their mouth. “Oh, you are interesting.”
“Let us not make a scene,” Zef said, pressing two fingers of their lower hand to Bryce’s knee under the table in caution. “Why waste good food and agreeable company on pettiness?”
“I was only wanting to get to know your friend better, but I see I have offended. My apologies,” Don said with a deeper dip of their chin than before.
Like he didn’t quite believe them, Bryce scowled, but he unfolded his arms and rested them on the table. “Well, I apologize for cursing.”
“I should return to my partner.” Don stood, chair scraping again and garnering even more attention. “They are expecting our third from this cycle, and I should attend to them.”
“Congratulations on your hatchlings. I know how much you wanted that,” Zef said, and Don’s expression softened.
“Thank you. It is a joyous blessing.” They bowed slightly to Zef, then to Bryce. “Pleasant evening to you both.”
“Pleasant evening,” Zef echoed.
“Bye,” Bryce muttered as he glared at Don’s retreating form. “Well, they were kind of a dick.”
In the middle of taking a drink, Zef snorted, inhaling rather than swallowing their wine. They coughed hoarsely, half-choking, half-laughing as Bryce fretted over them. He even patted their back a few times, like he was attempting to dispel the wine from their esophagus.
“You okay?”
“Yes,” they wheezed. “I am alright.”
“Sorry,” he said to Zef, then to the people around them. “Sorry, everyone. Sorry.”
As Zef caught their breath, Toa Sian came to a stop behind them, and they hunched their shoulders, feeling like a hatchling again about to be scolded. As if Bryce, too, was experiencing the same, he slumped lower in his seat and pushed his food around on his plate.
“Problem?” Toa Sian asked.
“No,” Zef lied primly.
“Nope, just enjoying the super good food,” Bryce said, shoving a bite into his mouth. “Compliments to the chef.”
“Mhm,” Toa Sian hummed dubiously.
“Just a petty quarrel,” Zef admitted. “My fault.”
“Actually, it was their fault.” Bryce pointed vaguely in the direction Don had gone. “They insulted Zef, so I called them a dick. Sorry.”
Toa Sian arched a thin brow, and Zef ducked their head, antennas shriveling, in hopes of looking properly contrite. Since Bryce was much too big to wither and disappear, he puffed his cheeks and released his breath in bursts of air, like a sputtering car engine.
“Do behave, Zefryn,” Toa Sian said at last.
“Yes, Toa.”
Before they could even address Bryce, the human was already nodding his agreement. “Best behavior from here on out. Yes, Ma’am—I mean, Sir—I mean… uh… Your Highness?”
Zef facepalmed.
A trill of humor escaped Toa Sian’s chest, followed by a dry, “Children.”
Peeking at Bryce through their fingers, Zef found the human pouting at his plate. He glanced their way. They made eye contact, and amusement bubbled up inside Zef’s chest. Bryce’s frown flipped into a hesitant grin. Zef fought a smile but lost. Bryce snickered quietly.
“Stop,” he hissed through his muffled chuckles.
“I am not doing anything,” they whispered back.
“You’re looking at me.”
“You are looking at me,” Zef countered as they, too, released an inappropriate bout of laughter.
Hands covering their mouths, they leaned toward each other and surrendered to childish giggles.
They smothered them as best they could, Bryce shushing them even as he wheezed, but neither of them could stop.
Clearing their throat, Zef got themself under control first, smoothing back their hair as they picked their fork back up.
Air snuffled through Bryce’s nose as he continued to snicker into his shoulder, and Zef smacked his leg with the back of their lower hand. Instead of helping, it simply made Bryce tumble back into a fit of giggles, which set Zef off again.
When they were both finally able to compose themselves, Zef shielded their mouth with their hand as they whispered, “I believe we are to be the pariah of the party for the rest of the evening.”
“Damn it,” Bryce lamented, wiping tears of humor from his eyes. “And Toa Sian really did like me in the beginning.”
They pressed three fingers to their smiling lips. “They still like you. I can tell.”
“Yeah?” Bryce asked, and Zef nodded. “I told you parents always love me.”
With a roll of their eyes, they straightened and returned their attention to their food.
“What was that, by the way? With Don?” Bryce whispered.
Another blush crawled down their neck as they copied his secretive volume. “We courted. A long time ago.”
His eyes widened, jaw dropping. “That was your ex?”
“Yes,” they admitted.
“I should have been meaner to them,” he said, and Zef clicked at him, smacking his leg again. This time, Bryce caught their wrist, the pad of every finger flat to their skin. “Didn’t Toa Sian teach you not to hit?”
“Did not Nan instruct you to be polite to my exes when you are a guest at my Mantodean festival?” they sassed back.
“Nope,” he said smugly. “I can honestly say that scenario never came up.”
“You, Bryce Edward Elliot, are incorrigible,” they whispered.
“And you, Zefryn many-other-names-I-can’t-pronounce Ootyk,” he said as his gray eyes flashed with lightning, “are a bad bitch.”
Wings humming in pleasure at the compliment, they smiled, showing all their teeth. “You are godsdamned right I am.”
And ancestors above, how Bryce laughed.
Later, after Zef coached Bryce through the steps of a traditional Mantodean waltz, he taught them a country line dance. He called it the Watermelon Crawl, which Zef found amazingly exotic. The band was taking a break, and the wine was flowing, and Zef… Zef was feeling good.
“No, you gotta do a right grapevine before you do the left grapevine,” Bryce was saying as Zef struggled to remember the steps. They were normally very good at dances like this, but they may have drunk one glass too many and it was hard to focus.