Chapter 2
Sky shifted the ceramic bowl between his hands, smoothing the pads of his fingers over the glossy rim of the orange and black piece. The craftsmanship was good, and he could already picture it resting in his mother’s cupboard back home, but—
“Seriously?” A strong arm came around his shoulders, jostling Sky to the point he almost dropped the bowl.
Elm ignored the glare he sent his way, clicking his tongue down at the small item before wrestling it from Sky’s hand to set it back on the brown cloth-covered table.
“Rule number one: don’t buy anything you can make yourself.
We’ve got a little under a month until graduation.
Did you already forget Professor Lee’s words? ”
Shoving his friend off, Sky sent an apologetic look to the woman standing across from them on the other side of the long table set out amid the chaos of the Samhain Market.
“Unless,” Elm leaned in, though his voice didn’t lower nearly enough not to be heard by the woman, “you’re just after new ideas?”
Sky cleared his throat when the female seller’s eyes narrowed before he grabbed onto Elm’s wrist and yanked him further down the crowded outdoor aisle of the marketplace.
They’d been coming every year since they were kids, and it seemed like his best friend caused some sort of trouble every time.
Really, Sky should be used to it by now, and yet…
“Can we not do this today?” he pleaded, finally stopping once he felt they were far enough away from the booth they’d just almost caused a fuss in front of. “Look,” he pointed toward a table covered in various dessert items, “your favorites.”
“Trying to distract me with sugar?” Elm rolled his eyes. “I’m not five anymore.”
“Really?” He cocked his head. “Why are you walking over there then?”
Elm flipped him the bird but went over to make a purchase, despite his words, leaving Sky a moment of peace where he could take in the festivities.
The Spirit Walk was a holiday parade held the second week of the month, in the nine days leading up to the Night of the Apparition.
They’d managed to find some time after classes and were out exploring.
Since it was the middle of the week, it wasn’t as crowded as it would get, and Sky was hoping to find a few last-minute gifts.
Gift giving at the end of the month, on All Hallows’ Eve, was a tradition.
Since items were left out for spirits to appease them, someone down the line had figured, why not also show appreciation for those who were still alive?
It was one of the few holidays where this was a thing, the next being Yuletide.
But Yuletide was different. All Hallows’ Eve was spent at parties in the woods, trick or treating, or out with friends. The last day of the month during Yuletide was known as Mate Day.
Even though it was still three months away, Mate Day was what most people out here were shopping for; anyone could tell at just a glance. People roamed in pairs, some leaning in and whispering to each other, others laughing boisterously as they perused the booths.
Sky had never been in a relationship before.
In high school, he hadn’t presented until the last month of his senior year.
His friends had been split on their guesses how he would present, some betting on alpha, others on omega.
A few, like Elm, had even started to wonder if he might present as a beta.
Proclivity, or their second gender, as it was also known, was important.
Once he had presented, there’d been interest in him—he was cute enough, with softer features, a lithe frame, and bright green eyes—but even when he did cave and went on a couple of dates, they never moved into a second.
On some level, Sky could admit that was partially his own fault.
There’d never been anything wrong with the alphas who’d taken him out…
The few times Sky had tried to settle for a hookup during his heats, he’d ended up kicking the alphas out, his body rejecting them and their pheromones. He blamed the masked man for that. But maybe this time it could be different.
His heat wasn’t due for another week, but he’d experienced a positive physical reaction to Kenta the other night. Could there be hope for him yet?
Sky lifted his multi-slate—the rectangular body borne device strapped to the top of his right wrist—and pulled up Kenta’s contact. He’d yet to see the alpha on campus, but it’d only been a couple of days since the party.
He’d just shot off a casual message when a couple, each with a steaming mug of cinna-cider, passed by, the rich, spicy aroma tickling his nostrils.
He shook his head, trying to shake off all thoughts of failed dating and presenting.
One step at a time. Get through this first date with Kenta, then maybe his heat.
If all went well, he could start contemplating Mate Day.
It'd be nice not to spend it alone for once.
The sky darkened overhead, and he glanced up at the thick gray clouds.
The forecast had warned that a big storm was on the way, with possible flooding.
As soon as it started, he and Elm would be wise to head home to avoid getting caught in the downpour.
Even his parents, who were on vacation on another planet, had called earlier to ask if he planned on going out, trying to convince him to stay indoors, but he’d been too anxious to sit inside twiddling his thumbs.
Why wasn’t Kenta texting him back?
The last alpha Sky had tried anything with hadn’t been able to get his dick to so much as twitch. Had Kenta lost interest because of Elm? No. That wouldn’t make sense. The alpha had been trying to get Sky’s attention for months. He wouldn’t give up that easily.
Would he?
…But he’d asked him out already.
Thankfully, Elm chose that moment to return, putting an end to Sky’s spiraling thoughts.
“Darby says she’ll be coming around this way in a couple of minutes,” he informed Sky, pulling a white cookie from the brown paper bag in his hand. When Sky shook his head, Elm popped the whole thing into his mouth. “Bets on whether there’s still glitter in her hair from this morning?”
“There’s still glitter in my hair from last night,” Sky drawled, reaching up to run his fingers through his ash brown locks for good measure. He could have sworn he saw some gold flakes flutter from his bangs. “That’s the last time I help with the Spirit float.”
“Well, yeah,” Elm said. “We’re graduating.”
Right. This was the last year they’d be forced to participate in the event.
Firethorn University took the event seriously and always offered extra credit to those who spent spare time helping to decorate the town and the campus.
For the most part, it was optional, but as art majors, Sky and his friends had gotten roped into helping whether they liked it or not.
“At least it counted toward our final grade,” he sighed.
They were still waiting for those to come out, but he was confident he’d done well enough not to worry about it.
He and Elm had both submitted their final projects weeks in advance and were now mostly attending classes just for the studio time.
Though he didn’t really need it, since he’d been gifted a space of his own.
Sky’s mom had purchased studio space for him downtown as an early holiday and congratulatory gift. The lease had been paid for up to a year, and it was a cut single-story building tucked into the corner of West Main Street, where tourists would visit often during prime seasons.
Three more weeks, and then he’d be done with school and could dedicate all his time to the studio and converting it into a kitschy storefront.
That was his goal. To build a life selling his art to families who would happily fill their homes with his pieces.
He’d create a reputation for himself as a studio potter who focused on unique and functional tableware sets.
Everyone had to eat, right? And everyone deserved a set of nice dishes to eat on.
Ideally, he’d make enough money in the first six months of being open to afford the monthly rent on his own by the time his mother’s generous one-year gift ran out. Maybe one day, he’d even make enough to buy the place outright.
“All right,” Elm bumped his shoulder against Sky’s conspiratorially, “ask me.”
“Ask you what?”
A glance around showed that some of the booths had started collecting their things, preparing to close early, no doubt due to the inclement weather. The floats were traveling at a crawl, which was why they’d yet to see Darby, but they were still going.
Elm rolled his dark purple eyes. “Man, it’s too bad they don’t offer a degree in pretending at Firethorn. You’d graduate summa cum laude.”
“Pretty sure they do and it’s called acting,” Sky pointed out. “And also, I’m already graduating summa cum laude.”
“I’m just shocked you’ve managed to go all morning without asking me. Unless you’re going to try and convince me you were standing over here daydreaming about Kenta while I was gone?”
“No clue what you’re talking about.” Sky was following this conversation just fine despite his attempts to lead his friend into believing otherwise.
“And I wasn’t thinking about anyone.” His cheeks were no doubt starting to flush, and he adjusted the collar of his black hoodie, hoping that it would help make it seem like his color change was due to the chill and not the embarrassment he was starting to feel.
“All right,” Elm slung an arm around his shoulders, gentler this time than he’d been with the move back at the pottery booth, “I’ll tell you.”
“I didn’t ask—”
“My asshole big brother came back last Friday,” Elm continued as though Sky hadn’t spoken.
“What? Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” It was out before Sky could help it, and he cursed when his friend laughed at him.