2. Piper
2
PIPER
The Mothman is leaning against the end of the bar, his arms folded across his chest making a strange and intriguing silhouette with his wings tucked in tight to his shoulders and his antennae high above the crowd. I wouldn’t expect him to be interested in me when he clearly had the bustiered devil as an option. Although, she seems to have disappeared. Do I mind playing second fiddle to another woman? Or maybe I’m only imagining he’s watching me?
Three more surreptitious glances in his direction prove he’s definitely watching me.
The fourth glance over, he’s disappointingly absent from the spot I’ve been making eye contact with.
Crap. I should have made my move.
And then he’s standing directly in front of me, his antennae swaying slightly in the air. I stumble a step, surprised by his appearance.
“Holy shit.” Kelly mouths at me from behind the Mothman's arm. “You good?” She’s holding up her fist alternating between a thumbs up and a thumbs down.
I smile in her direction and give her a hesitant nod. Nervous as I am, it’s not that the Mothman is going to do anything inappropriate.
Her cheeks stretch into a wide grin, and she tugs Anam in another direction so I’m actually alone with the Mothman.
His mouth arms quirk into a smile, and he taps the headphones he’s wearing around his neck. I take the cue to lower my own, he leans close to my ear, his hand floats at my waist, not quite touching me, and his antennae barely brush against the top of my head.
“Would you like to dance with me?” There’s something strangely formal about his question, the simplicity of it has my chest tightening. I’ve never really spoken to a cryptid before, let alone touched one. The strange curves of his body have my stomach twisting. It’s more than wanting to replace Colin. There’s beauty in the Mothman’s alien form. I want to see what happens between us tonight. Not for the novelty, because something about this soft-spoken, gentle creature is exactly what I need in my life right now.
“Yes, please.” I don’t miss the way his wings flutter, just a little, when I answer. It's adorable.
We put our headphones back on, and his slender fingers find my waist. He tugs me a little closer, so our bodies barely graze. He sways strangely, not quite the way a human would dance, but he doesn’t disrupt the crowd. When I catch his rhythm better, I let myself be pulled up against him, slipping his leg between mine, and following his lead. My hand creeps up to brush along the exposed fur on his arms. It’s so soft and silky that I can’t stop myself from trailing fingers through it a few more times. Velvet. It’s like stroking the most luxurious velvet. I wonder if he’s velvety soft everywhere. I wonder if I’m going to get a chance to find out.
When I look up, he’s studying me, his antennae waving in time with the music. He’s decidedly inhuman, and decidedly cute; with expressive antennae, a thick black fur collar around his neck, and wide red eyes that make me a little nervous as they study me. I avoid looking at his face, staring forward into his chest instead. My hand finds its way to the spot I’m admiring, enjoying the heat under his shirt and the pleasant hum emanating from beneath his ribs.
We spend long moments wrapped in each other’s arms. As the music changes, so do his movements. He doesn’t release me, and I don’t feel a desire to leave. He doesn’t say anything, he only sways and lets me feel safe in his easy grip. This close he smells amazing, like warm wool and vanilla.
When the music changes again, to something slower, his strong hands pull me closer. I don’t stop myself from resting my cheek on his chest. He's soft and warm, strangely comforting, even though the purr rumbling through his chest is completely foreign to me. The vibration rumbles through my whole body, deep into my stomach, and between my legs. I wrap my arms around him and press our bodies a little bit tighter; I could melt completely into that gentle purr.
I'm startled when he pulls back suddenly, leaving my face cool and vacant.
I pull down my headphones and so does he.
“Sorry. Too much?” I ask.
His head shakes. “You’re perfect.”
My face feels warm at the casual compliment. His antennae swivel around, his hand still at my side, squeezes lightly. “Your friend… is she alright?”
“What?” I look around for Anam and Kelly.
The Mothman’s head swivels, turning a full 180 on his neck to face behind him. I step to the side and I spot them at the bar.
Kelly is holding up a wobbling Anam who knocks a plastic cup from the bar. It smashes to the ground, splashing dark beer all over a stranger.
“What the hell, you stupid bitch!” a white woman in a witch costume, who is now also wearing most of an IPA, yells.
Kelly, always the guard dog, is already supporting Anam with one arm and shaking her other finger in the witch's face.
“Crap.” I move past my Mothman toward my friends, putting myself between Kelly and the strange woman.
“So sorry, so sorry,” I tell the witch. “She’s just a little drunk.”
The witch's mouth presses into a thin line, her eyes flicking to the space over my shoulder.
“It’s fine.” The witch is still scowling, but her tone calms surprisingly fast.
“Why don’t I cover your tab for the night?” The Mothman’s voice surprises me at my shoulder. I glance back at him and consider protesting, but if he wants to throw money at a problem that isn’t his…well, I was already planning to sleep with him tonight.
I move to help Kelly wrangle Anam. “How are you feeling, sweetie?” I ask, putting a hand on my friend’s shoulder. “Ready to go home?”
“I’m fine! Let’s stay and party!” Anam rolls her eyes.
Kelly gives me a half-hearted smile, it's obvious she's already tried this approach.
“We should get some food in her.” Kelly wraps her arm through Anam’s elbow.
“Oh my gawd, yes! Let’s go and get some french fries! Please!”
A large bouncer appears at their back. “I gotta ask you ladies to leave.”
“I’ve got them,” the soft male voice at my shoulder assures the bouncer. There's the faintest of touches as his hand moves to my hip.
The bouncer's eyes shift to the Mothman's hand before he nods. “Whatever you say, Ant.”
I glance at my Mothman looking for some clue how he knows the man, but the Mothman says nothing as he leads us to the entrance. He holds the door while Kelly and I guide Anam outside into the chilly October air.
“Do you work here?” I ask him.
“Not exactly.” He doesn’t clarify further, just points down the block. “If you need to eat, there are a couple food trucks on the corner open late for bar goers. Tacos and cubanos.”
“Yes! Oh my god!” Anam stumbles toward my Mothman a few steps and grasps one of his arms in her fingers. There’s an unreasonable little curl of jealousy in my stomach when she touches him. “The only thing that sounds better than French fries is tacos! Piper! Kelly! Can we go and get some tacos? Please, please, please?!”
“Of course, sweetie.” Kelly only sounds a little exhausted. “We’ll get some food in your stomach before you go to bed.”
“Yes! You are so smart!” Anam straightens her bee antennae with one hand and taps the Mothman’s chest with the other. “You are a freaking genius, and he's kinda cute! Piper! Bring the cute genius with you!”
The Mothman’s antennae twitch when Anam’s hand meets his chest. He shifts away from her, steering her back into Kelly’s waiting arms. I’m surprised how much comfort that brings me.
“Would you like to—” I run my tongue across my bottom lip feeling self-conscious before I actually get all the words out, “boldly go on this adventure with us?” I bark out a nervous laugh at the end of my question and wince at my own terrible joke.
His wings shift at his shoulders. “You want me to follow you?”
“If you want—I had a nice time—I am having a nice time—“ I pause on the sidewalk a few steps past him, my friends attempting to forge ahead. “I wouldn’t mind?—”
His eyes dart from my friends to the food truck and back to the bar. I am being too pushy, asking too much of this stranger. He’s not looking for some needy lonely woman to cling onto him all night.
“Hey! Mothman!” Kelly yells from halfway down the block, “Are you single?”
His antennae raise a fraction. “I definitely am.”
“Cool! So is Piper! Come with us!” she announces. “Anam needs snacks! I am ready for bed! I do not have time for you two to navigate this shy nerdy bullshit.”
I cringe, but the Mothman’s antennae raise again as he steps toward me. I release a breath. Good, I haven’t scared him off yet.
Kelly and I steer the stumbling Anam down the street, the Mothman follows at a reasonable distance.
I avoid turning around to watch him. There are a lot more nerves in my stomach now that we're away from the crowded bar. I don't realize how distracted I am until Anam and Kelly are laughing at some joke I missed and we arrive at the well-lit parking lot. A few folding picnic tables set up inside a half-circle of food trucks. We all order, and while I am collect condiments and Kelly wrangles Anam, the Mothman sneakily pays for our tacos and a big pile of nachos.
“That’s sweet, but you don’t need to keep buying us things,” I say.
“I can afford it.” His antennae curl back, I can't help staring at the movement. I wonder what they feel like.
“What’s your deal? Are you rich? Why did everyone in the bar seem to know who you were but me?” I ask with a laugh.
“There aren’t a lot of Mothmen in the city. I make a distinct impression.”
“You'll certainly be hard for me to forget,” I admit with another awkward laugh.
“Good memories I hope?" His wings flutter, almost like he’s nervous to hear the answer.
"Planning on making some." I laugh, he smiles and sets his armful of food onto one of the picnic tables. His wings shift as he maneuvers himself into a chair.
He’s so cute like this. Gosh it's nice. Not really knowing him, having the mystery, being able to project whatever I want onto him. I know if I learn more I’m going to develop feelings. I don't think I can handle that right now.
“What if we skip the getting to know you thing? I just got out of something serious and I need...” I lean on the table, keeping my voice low enough that only he can hear.
“Something not serious?" He nods. "That’s what you're looking for?”
“Yes?" I bite my lip and focus on sounding decisive. "Yes. No strings. No fuss. One night of anonymous sex.” I blurt out as heat climbs up my cheeks. Too much. I’m being too much again.
“Sex? Tonight? With me?” He sounds somewhere between confused and shocked. And here I thought I was being obvious.
“If you want to?”
“Of course I want to.” The words come out so quickly that he stumbles over them.
“That isn’t too weird?” I ask. “The sort of thing they do in the movies. It's always sexy and anonymous and exciting, right?” Maybe I shouldn’t ask him, but I feel better as soon as the words are out of my mouth. “You know the kinds of movies I mean?” I laugh at the end of my sentence.
“I know those kinds of movies. If that’s what you need tonight then I can provide it.” His wings flutter as I slip into the picnic table beside him.
“Okay then, no full names. And no details. Nothing I can Google!” I say with another slightly embarrassing laugh. I let our legs graze before I lean over him to select a nacho.
His hand lifts, hesitates briefly and finally lands on my knee. His long fingers squeeze my leg gently. His mouth arms twist up, into his strange smile that looks nothing like a human expression. He’s fascinating.
Crap, I need to be sure I keep this casual. Going home with a stranger–having sex with someone I hardly know–is the perfect way to celebrate this new single chapter in my life. As long as I don’t start really caring about him.
“Foooodddd!” Anam croons as she and Kelly dump a pile of salsa packets on the table. I feel the Mothman stiffen, but he leans toward me a little, letting our bodies touch.
“I’m Kelly, this is Anam, and what is your new friend’s name?” Kelly asks me pointedly.
I nervously bite my lip. “This is, Ant?” I have to say it as a question, repeating the name that the bouncer gave.
“Is that your real name?” Kelly asks.
“Some people call me Ant.” There's a quirk in the Mothman's smile. I think he would wink at me if he could.
“Well, Ant, Piper has people who are looking after her.” Kelly eyes him suspiciously. Anam is already too busy with her tacos to follow the conversation properly, so she decides to do what she thinks is a good deed and attempts to talk me up.
“You know, Piper is one of the smartest people I know, and she’s into all kinds of weird shit,” Anam says.
“Weird shit?” Ant’s antennae tilt forward, there's an amused lilt to his voice.
I vocally groan, but it doesn’t deter Anam from continuing.
“Yeah, all of this.” She waves a hand in Ant’s general direction, and my stomach sinks. “This nerd shit,” she finishes. “She’s always watching some show, or raving about some movie I’ve never heard of. She knows about all the vintage video games and all that weird stuff.”
“Is that stuff weird?” Ant asks. “I have a collection of vintage games.”
“You do?” I lean toward him, unable to contain my excitement. “What kinds?”
“All the old consoles: Atari, NES, SNES, Sega Master System, the works.”
“ Duck Hunt !? With the Light Zappers?” I exclaim, real excitement rolling through me.
“Of course.”
“I’ll kick your ass at Duck Hunt ,” I threaten.
He shakes his head very seriously. “You couldn’t.”
“Maybe I should come over and prove it?” It would sound cool, but a nervous laugh pops out after. Loud and awkward.
There’s a little purr in his chest. It radiates through the shoulder he has pressed against me. The reverberations calm my nerves, I shove another nacho in my mouth before I can say anything more embarrassing.
Soon we are loading a very drunk Anam into an Uber, so she can sleep on Kelly’s couch.
Before Kelly follows Anam into the car, her eyes lock on Ant, but she’s clearly talking to me. “Do you want to catch a ride with us? Or are you alright here?”
“I’m fine.” I feel my cheeks heat, and glance at Ant, who is waiting for me under a street lamp, looking like a tall shadow from a storybook with his wings folded behind him. “I’ll be fine.”
“Good. Good. This will be good for you.” Kelly bites her lip before she sucks in a deep breath and grabs my hand to pull me aside. Not far enough to have a truly private conversation, but she doesn’t seem to give a rats ass if Ant hears everything she says.
“Give me your phone.” Kelly waves her hand at me. “You are sharing your location with me. And I want you to text me all the addresses wherever he takes you, And I will be calling you in the morning to make sure you are okay, and I want you to use protection. And you can call me anytime, from anywhere. I’ll come get you. Or I’ll make Jeremy come and get you. You know we will. We both love you.”
I roll my eyes as I let out a loud sigh. “Okay, okay, okay, thanks Mom .” But I happily turn on location sharing. “And you text me when you get home safe.”
“Have fun tonight.” Kelly grins, tiara crooked on her head. “You deserve to enjoy yourself for once.” Without any prompting, she wraps her arms around me in a tight hug, then climbs into the Uber with Anam.
I’m left standing on the sidewalk, alone, with the Mothman.