14. May
Chapter fourteen
May
Cya
As it turned out, being co-workers and twice-a-week study partners with Dex was going better than expected, all things considered.
The Lupyn was still loud and obnoxious, and there were still a lot of high-five bro’s and boom’s when he got overly excited.
But he did seem to be trying to tone it down a bit, and Cya did their best to be cordial and polite, most of the time, at least.
When he tutored them after class on Tuesdays and Thursdays, they studied on neutral ground, either Professor Myls’s classroom, her office, or the university library.
Since Dex could only stay an hour or so before he had to get back to his sister, the shorter time limit helped with Cya’s number fatigue, which, in turn, kept the fuse of their temper better in check.
True to his word, Dex stopped expecting anything more from them. He didn’t invite them to his house or to the movies. He didn’t pry for personal information or push for emotional intimacy as he had before. Yet, he remained warm and kind towards them, and they hadn’t expected that.
Growing up, their parents had always been passive aggressive, dropping disparaging comments hidden behind jokes or the excuse of “only trying to help.” When Cya made mistakes, their father would withhold affection as punishment.
Not that he was overly affectionate at the best of times, but when he was cross with them, he’d turn even colder until he felt Cya had properly paid for their misdeeds.
Their mother would weep and carry-on, blow everything out of proportion until Cya’s small blunder became an entire fiasco with their mother centered as the poor victim of it all.
And since she couldn’t cope with such a willful, spiteful daughter, she’d escalate it to their father, and on the cycle went until Cya learned to be perfect.
Or maybe they’d simply learned to be invisible.
They weren’t invisible to Dex, though, no matter how hard they tried.
He saw them, maybe not in their entirety, but he still saw them and, somehow, accepted them.
With all their pettiness and flaws, with their temper and impatience, with their prejudice and their pride.
He took them exactly as they were, while holding his own boundaries and challenging them to be better.
Sure, he still teased them, but it was in the friendly way he teased everyone. He couldn’t not haze them, apparently, not when he found endless entertainment in ruffling their composure, arrogant asshole that he was.
“Unholy shit, you dated Noodle Boy?” Dex exclaimed much too loudly for the university library, and Cya shushed him.
“Keep your voice down!” they hissed. “And who’s Noodle—you mean, Kent?”
“Yeah, Kent, the living embodiment of belly button lint.” He shook his head in dismay. “You dated him?”
They couldn’t decide whether they were more offended or amused. “Embodiment of—that’s ridiculous. But yes, I dated him, like, three years ago.”
“Oh my gods.”
“Don’t judge me!”
His whole body shook with laughter. “Oh, I am judging you. I am judging you so hard.”
“He isn’t—he wasn’t always that bad, you know,” they said, though it tasted like a lie.
“If you say so.” Focusing back on the practice exam they’d completed, he checked several answers correctly before crossing out an incorrect one. “But if you want my opinion—”
“Didn’t ask for it,” they grumbled.
“If you want my opinion,” he repeated louder, speaking over them, “that guy freaking sucks. I’m glad you dumped him.”
When they didn’t verify his claim, he cocked his head and scrutinized them. They jutted their chin stubbornly. His eyes narrowed. They inspected their recent manicure and chewed on their bottom lip.
He inhaled through his teeth. “Wait, you did dump him, right? Do not tell me you let that absolute wiener dump you!”
To be honest, they weren’t sure who had dumped whom first. They’d definitely dumped Kent publicly, after they discovered he’d told people at school about their fucked up anatomy, forever ruining their reputation.
But the night before, after he’d seen the full extent of…
things, he’d reacted rather poorly, leading to a heated row.
He’d left in a huff, and according to his side of the story, he’d been the one to dump them that night. In their memory, he hadn’t technically broken up with them, not in so many words, but it was useless to try and argue the point. The damage had already been done.
Since they didn’t want to rehash any of that with Dex, they hedged. “It was more of a mutual dumping, I think.”
“Ah man,” he said, and his pity rankled. “I need a minute. My whole world-view is collapsing.”
Cya rolled their eyes. “Tad dramatic, don’t you think?”
“Ah, ah, ah.” He held up a finger. “Hold up. I think I’m having another epiphany.”
“If it’s anything like your gay epiphany, please keep it to yourself,” they said with a flutter of their lashes.
“No, it’s about you. Are you—and I ask this with all the tact and sensitivity of a man of my age and wisdom,” he said loftily. “Are you kind of a loser?”
Under the table, their rattle shook menacingly, but he didn’t cower away from their glare. He stared them down, eyes widening in a significant look that seemed to say, “Be honest.”
Since they were trying to lie less and be more authentic—or some such nonsense—they battled with their pride for a full minute before they ground out, “Took you that long to figure out, did it?”
Practically buzzing with giddiness, Dex wiggled in place and sing-songed, “You’re a loser.”
They bared their teeth in a mockery of a smile. “Well, at least I’m a rich loser.”
At work, Cya trained Dex and Rusty on the espresso machine during slow hours, and Zef and Toni even took turns learning the register better.
“Cross-training,” Quin said, hand resting on her growing tummy. “We have some new hires starting next month, but with Gem and Oliver in Greed, we’re stretched a bit thin.”
“We appreciate all your dedication,” Glyma said, arm around Quin’s shoulders, purple tail twined with her red one. “And your patience. I know the transition has been more stressful than we planned.”
“Shit happens,” Toni said with a shrug, and the rest of them nodded.
“We got your backs,” Rusty added, and Glyma simpered, blinking glossy, hot-pink eyes.
“I will be taking maternity leave towards the end of this year, obviously,” Quin said, ignoring the giggled pat Glyma gave her baby bump. “For those who don’t know, Toni will be taking over my responsibilities with the scheduling and back office tasks.”
Grinning smugly, Toni crossed his arms over his puffed out chest. “Yeah, so don’t piss me off, or I’ll fire all your asses.”
“Good to know this promotion won’t go to your head,” Rusty deadpanned, and the Elas flipped him off.
“Anyway,” Quin harrumphed, “we’re bringing on a few more kitchen staff to get trained so Toni can start shadowing me after the summer. Depending on how things go, this may be a permanent change.”
“Congratulations, Toni,” Willow said, and Toni’s fins fluttered in pleasure.
“Eh, it’s no big deal.” He waved a dismissive hand, the pink nail polish on his fingers glittering under the lights. “But also, Toni’s gonna be the big boss, so it’s kind of a big deal.”
“Alright, alright. Big Boss Toni!” Dex high-fived him, then they proceeded to do a complicated handshake that ended in a fratty bro-hug.
Zef raised a light green hand, and when Glyma acknowledged it, they asked, “How many new kitchen employees are we to expect?”
“Well, Abi starts next month, and he’ll be fulltime on the day shift,” Glyma said.
“We’re also trying to work out some part-time floaters who can fill in when people are on vacation or sick.
I’m in talks with another baker, so the full load of baking doesn’t fall on Willow’s shoulders when the baby comes. ”
“Thank you,” Willow said with an air of relief.
Glyma shot her a crinkle-eyed smile, then motioned to Rusty. “Since Rusty’s wanting to cut back to parttime hours, we’re bringing one of the evening shifters, Yve, to the dayshift twice a week.”
“Oh, she’s lovely,” Cya said, and everyone rubbernecked in their direction with matching expressions of surprise, as if them bestowing a compliment on someone else was a magical feat or something—a bit rude, if they were being honest. Or maybe everyone was simply shocked they’d contributed to the conversation when they normally remained silent.
For the sake of their self-worth, they were going with the latter.
“Wait, why are you cutting hours?” Dex asked Rusty, breaking the awkward silence. “What about Mammylion Pep Buds?”
With an amused chuff, Rusty shifted uncomfortably and scratched behind his notched ear. “Uh, my graphic novel is kind of going viral right now. So Jude helped me set it up behind a paywall, but that means I have to keep a publishing schedule and stuff. It’s this whole thing.”
Judging from numerous shocked expressions, Cya wasn’t the only one who hadn’t known that Rusty was writing a graphic novel. They didn’t even know he could draw.
“Whoa, far out!” Dex clapped Rusty on the shoulder.
“That’s wonderful, Rusty,” Willow said.
“I did not know you were so artistically inclined,” Zef said.
“I’m halfway through the first volume, and it’s absolutely amazing,” Glyma said, making the Pyclon duck his head and chitter in embarrassment.
“Still can’t believe you made me a fucking cow,” Toni grumbled.
Rusty threw his hands up in exasperation. “For the last time, I did not model the cow after you.”
The Elas pointed a threatening finger at Rusty. “She has my hair.”
“Lots of people have your hair.” The Pyclon pinched the bridge of his nose. “You’re not exactly a fashion icon.”
“Your main character is practically Gem with boobs, and her best friend”—Toni gestured violently at himself—“is a flying cow version of me! It’s insulting.”
“Aw, I wanna be in your graphic novel. I don’t care if you make me a cow or give me boobs.” Dex waggled his tongue obnoxiously and flexed. “Just as long as I keep these guns.”