Chapter 7 #2
Then again, considering the man had never taken her on a proper date not prearranged by our parents, I should have expected her attitude.
She sat there staring at the floor, looking a little sad and lost. My heart ached seeing her that way.
“If I could have a Zhen, I’d have no complaints.
He’s so sweet to you. I know he sometimes drives you insane with his adrenaline junkie ways, but he’s a damn near perfect husband.
You can’t get much more attentive than him. ”
I let out a sigh and walked over to Charlotte, wrapping an arm around her thin shoulders.
She tensed, an instinctual response. She was still learning to accept physical affection after years of being touch-starved, but she didn’t push me away, so I squeezed tighter.
“I’d be the first to agree with you. He does drive me insane sometimes, but that’s not a huge issue for me.
It’s just how he is, chasing those thrills. I knew that before even dating him.”
“See? Oh, wait, I forgot he has a twin.” Charlotte pulled back and looked up, expression brighter and cleared from the momentary cloud of sadness. “Would it be weird if I dated the twin?”
“Maybe a little, but Char, Yu and Zhen are nothing alike in personality. Yu is very much a quiet bookworm who’s a little anti-social.”
“Oh. Well, shit, there went that idea. I need someone who’s outgoing. I can’t stand sitting at home all day.”
What was this, dating week? Was there something in the water making everyone think of romance? First Jasha, now my own sister. I stood there, regarding her thoughtfully. Should I make her the same offer I’d made Jasha, just swap genders?
The tap of a cane signaled Boss’s approached, and I gave Charlotte’s shoulders one last squeeze before stepping back.
“Oh good, Kris, you’re in,” Boss said when she spotted me. “I got an email intake, but it’s done that weird thing again, where there’s more symbols than letters.”
Sometimes, her software for fonts acted up and didn’t translate the Hanzi right. “I’ll fix it, no worries. Want me to decipher it and put it into a proper intake form for you?”
“That’ll be best. Hopefully I can get scheduled for this new cataract surgery soon. With all the new fancy high-tech, the damn thing better work this time.” Boss tutted but then paused and looked at Charlotte. “Want a demon hunter husband, do you?”
Charlotte gaped at the older woman. “You heard that?”
This woman had supersonic bat ears, I’d swear.
Might be her body’s adjustment as she slowly lost her sight.
Although the sensory compensation might shift once the new surgery was performed.
Turned out cataract surgery had made leaps and bounds since Boss’s first attempt years ago, when the effects had barely lasted a year.
I knew Boss was grateful for Charlotte and me, but after a recent visit with the ophthalmologist, she’d made noise about wanting to try again.
Now we were waiting for the right time so she could recover with peace of mind about the agency.
“I did. There’re pros and cons to dating someone in this line of work.
One pro is the men are very good people.
I know most of them, partially raised some of them, and I would trust any of them with you.
They, like Zhen, are very supportive and loyal and will give you the shirt off their backs if you need it.
But the cons are they’re on the road half the time, they’re regularly in danger, and sometimes”—her filmy eyes shot to me, mouth curved up in a rueful smile—“often, in fact, they drive you crazy with their energy.”
As an aside, I threw in, “Did I tell you Zhen’s now training to be as fast as the huodou?”
Boss threw her head back, laughing hysterically. I mean, it was pretty funny. No one in their right mind would think they could outrace legendary creatures who could portal between shadows. Then there was Zhen, who was training to do that very thing.
Charlotte shook her head. “It’s a good thing he’s pretty because he’s absolutely batshit insane.
I take your point, the demon hunters are a breed of their own.
But still, these are men you trust. I’m having a hard time even finding a man to trust enough to date.
Will them being on the road, constantly dealing with something dangerous, be a deal-breaker for me?
I honestly don’t know. I don’t think so?
Depending on the person, it might be worth it. ”
“Well, in that case, I’ll extend you the same offer I made to Jasha. I can help you meet Zhen’s friends, at least. Whether it goes from there is up to you and the guy.”
Charlotte didn’t even need to think about it. “Let’s do it. I trust you and Boss over a dating app.”
“I mean, fair.” News to me she’d been trying dating apps. Hopefully it’d been a brief foray. It was nerve-racking enough when Jasha did it, much less my little sister.
“Well, the first one is coming in tonight, in fact. Zhen’s bestie is Jo Jo, and he’s from a whole branch of demon slayers in Florida who are as famous as the Barres.”
She perked up. “Oh, wow. Is he cute?”
“I mean, yeah. I’ve vid-chatted with him.” Looked like I was pulling up the group’s site again for quick pictures. It took me one second of scrolling before I saw Jo Jo’s face. “This isn’t the best picture of him, but it’s certainly the most accurate in terms of his personality.”
The photo showed Jo Jo covered in mud with black fringe plastered to his face, hazel eyes dancing with mirth, sitting next to a dying campfire with his nose wrinkled up at whatever Zhen had said. I thought it a fun picture and a good glimpse into Jo Jo’s playful nature.
Charlotte actually sat up a little straighter, interest flaring over her face. “Oh, he’s really cute.”
“Really?”
“You don’t think so?”
“Jo Jo’s good looking but not my type,” I said with a shrug.
“Right, makes sense. Well, maybe don’t say anything about dating to him, let me meet him first. His photo gives off big aura points.”
Aura points? Sometimes I forgot how young my sister was until she started throwing slang around. Which reminded me, I needed to think of a present for her upcoming birthday. “Smart. We’ll arrange for you to join us for dinner or something so it can be a casual meeting.”
Charlotte did a little happy dance and stared at the picture some more. “I hope something clicks. I really think he’s cute.”
According to Jo Jo, he was lamentably single, so hopefully something would work.
But if not, eh, Zhen had plenty of other good-looking friends.
I could ask if they were interested and then supply Charlotte with a few candidates.
Personally, I wasn’t too worried about her meeting someone. She was young, she had time.
Now, getting Jasha a good date, that was the tricky widget. Hopefully him trying to date a hunter would go over better now that he had a cute kitty familiar to match a burgeoning magical ability.
Either way, I needed to focus on work and get things settled so I could leave at a semi-decent time tonight. I had a guest coming in, after all.