Chapter 28 Galaxy Pants
Chapter twenty-eight
Galaxy Pants
Trissa
“Imean it—I’m keeping them.” Seth sighs happily as he leans back against the arm of my couch, resting his hands on his torso as he adjusts his legs, which are haphazardly tangled with mine. Cian snorts from behind me and I smirk as I lean back into his arms and nudge Seth playfully with my foot.
“No, you’re not. They’re my fifth favorite pair! Besides, they don’t even fit you!” My voice is whiny and I jut out my bottom lip into an exaggerated pout, doing my best ‘puppy dog eyes’.
Seth’s eyes narrow and he sucks his teeth, “Fifth favorite? I’m your first favorite psychopomp…
I’m your boyfriend’s first favorite friend!
” His voice increases in pitch and his brow ridges waggle dramatically, “And I literally just helped save your life and free your boo-thang from eternal limbo!” I roll my eyes, but he continues on unperturbed, “And, they do fit. Look how great they show off my crotch! I look like David Bowie in The Labyrinth.” Seth gestures to the very noticeable bulge in his nether region and Cian and I both groan.
“Please stop asking my girlfriend to check out your dick. Especially while you both insist that we all have to sit on the same couch and have a ‘group cuddle’.” Cian’s tone is dry, but his eyes are sparkling with mirth as he berates our friend once again.
After things calmed down and the Guild finally left, Seth decided to cash in on his requested pizza debt…
and the new pants. Which he chose… from my closet.
“Trissa almost died… well, I mean… technically she did die! You almost winked out of existence, and I just got put on probation that’s likely to give the girl I’m seeing some homicidal inclinations, so excuuuuse me if I want a cuddle with my closest pals.
” Seth’s tone is light as he counts off his points on his fingers.
Too light. I can feel Cian’s chest rise and fall as he sighs, before his fingers thread through my hair.
I bite my lip against a moan as he starts mindlessly scratching my head and watch Seth out of the corner of my eye.
There’s a tightness around his eyes that isn’t usually there.
He’s trying to act unaffected, but my heart aches at the knowledge that helping us has put him in such a shitty situation.
There’s really nothing Cian and I can do to repay him…
except help him pretend for a little while longer that everything is normal.
At least until the exhaustion from the adrenaline crash wears off and he can face it with his usual crackhead energy.
I sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose with mock offense.
“Seth… you cannot go around in public wearing my galaxy leggings. They’ll…
arrest you for like… indecent exposure or something!
” My eyes dart down to his crotch of their own accord and I choke on a laugh.
He looks ridiculous—but they also do kind of work for his vibe.
I shake my head looking back up, locking eyes with Seth.
A blush heats my cheeks at being caught staring while Seth grins at me with uninhibited glee.
The glow of his eyes softens somehow, like he knows what I’m doing, and he’s thankful for it.
His deep voice drawls, “That’s precisely the point, Trissa darling. Besides, they’re wasted on you. Your ass is voluptuous already—”
Cian huffs with annoyance and glares at Seth, but I nod in agreement. I do have a great ass.
“And these have some kind of shapewear magic. My ass has never looked as alluring. Have you seen it, look—”
Seth moves to get up and Cian mumbles something that sounds like for fucks sake under his breath as I shout, “No! Fine—you win. Keep them! You can model them for your girlfriend later.” This time my eyebrows waggle with dramatic flair.
I can feel Cian nodding behind me as Seth leans back slowly with a cheeky smile on his face.
“As you wish.” He closes his eyes and we settle into an amiable silence.
My mind keeps trying to replay and reassess everything that happened today, but I’m so tired.
I know if I think about it for too long I’m likely to be overcome with all the feelings I haven’t had the time to process yet.
Cian’s fingers running through my hair serve as a grounding exercise, until all that exists is the pleasure his fingers bring as they rub gently along my scalp before brushing through to the ends.
“You know what I still don’t understand?
Before the ritual was completed, when Trissa went out there and the tentacle tether was cut off, why didn’t I turn incorporeal?
Why could I sometimes do things when she wasn’t around?
” Cian’s voice is scratchy, like he’s fighting off sleep, but his question piques my interest and we both glance at Seth.
He shrugs. “I’m not exactly an expert, but if I had to guess… maybe because you had extended and… intimate.” He shoots us a particularly pointed look. “Contact with the bloodline of your witch-bound. Sex magic, even if it’s done passively, is almost as powerful as blood magic.”
Cian hums and I nod. I have no idea if I unknowingly did some kind of sex magic, but I know with zero doubt that every time we’ve had sex, it’s felt transcendent and just… intuitive.
I’m not sure exactly how much time passes as we bask in the contentment of each other’s presence, thankful that this stolen moment in time is ours and we’re all here to experience it.
I wonder what my fate string looks like.
.. if it’s knotted or if it was made new when the bond was completed.
My lips curl into a smirk. However it looks, I hope it stands out…
so it can piss off the fates every time they have to set their miserable eyes on it, knowing they were bested.
The knowledge of the impossibility of my current existence shifts something in my chest, and it feels like a weight has been lifted from me.
Tears burn my eyes and a giddy sort of anticipation bubbles up in my throat.
I shouldn’t be here… but I am… and there’s nothing anyone can do about it.
No one can take Cian away from me. For the first time since my parents died, I’m free of the crippling fear and anxiety.
A disbelieving laugh huffs out of my lips as a tear rolls down my cheek and Cian shifts behind me.
“You okay, love?” His voice is groggy, but so achingly gentle that it only adds to the giddiness coursing through my veins.
“Yes. Yeah, I’m…” I laugh again and shake my head, “I’m… spirited.”
Seth snorts at my terrible pun as Cian chuckles quietly. I tilt my head and ask with wonder, “What now?”
Cian brushes his fingers down the side of my face. “Now, we live.”
Seth nods, his eyes soft and glowing. I smile and bite my lip, the giddiness turning to sparks of restlessness.
I can tell the exact moment that Seth picks up on my energy, his eyes darkening as he simpers, “What better way to celebrate living, than la petite mort… especially since it’s the only kind of death you two will ever experience again.”
My jaw drops and I can feel Cian’s laugh before I hear it, his whole chest vibrating with it against my back.
“Go show your girl your ass in Trissa’s pants, then kindly never bring it up again.
Unless it’s to tell Trissa how much your lover enjoyed getting in her pants.
” Cian pauses and his brow furrows before he continues, “Actually, you know what?
Not even then." Seth chuckles but agrees to Cian’s terms readily enough.
I look back at Cian, whose eyes are dancing with his laughter, and swoon. I know, I know… but a man can only be so attractive before a girl’s panties turn into a slip and slide and her brain gets a little fuzzy.
“And with that, my job here is done.” Seth stands up and stretches, his pants tightening around his crotch from the strain.
Cian glares at him dully and I giggle. “Seth! I love you, but goodbye!”
He laughs and taps two fingers to his brow in salute before his shadows spread out and envelope him, then quickly recede into nothing.
I crane my head back to look at Cian and grin, “So… you think you could show me how to make a tentacle?”
His eyes widen with shock and I quirk a brow as I watch a blush spread down his neck and over his cheeks before he nods slowly.
Oh, this is gonna be fun.