15. June #2
The Mantodea’s antennas stiffened, and they turned away from her with a series of throaty clicks and whirs.
“Enough!” Glyma snapped, her normally cheery face drawn tight in anger.
She and Quin passed Abi to Toni, who stood closest, then she faced Tad fully, purple tail high and rigid.
“That was entirely unacceptable, Tad, and I will not stand for anyone making this place an unsafe or unwelcoming environment.”
Dex cowered away from Glyma, his nose burning from her smoky anger and something else too. The kitchen filled with the stench of sulfur and brimstone, and he swore her pupils morphed into jagged diamonds as the air around her shimmered, like heat radiating off asphalt.
He didn’t think he’d ever seen Glyma angry before, and he’d certainly never seen her stand up to Tad. But now? She glared down at the Anura, and to everyone’s shock, Tad took a nervous step back.
“I’ll admit that this may not be the most professional working environment, but we still treat each other with respect and dignity. Another stunt like that, especially one that targets or exploits someone’s disability, will be met with immediate termination. Have I made myself clear?”
Dex expected the Anura to push back or dismiss like she always did, but she actually backed down. Throat bobbing, green eyes wary, Tad nodded. Just once.
With a deep inhale, Glyma closed her eyes and exhaled slowly through pursed lips. The heavy atmosphere dissipated, and everyone breathed easier. When she opened her eyes again, her pupils were back to normal, and the air had stopped trembling.
“That goes for all of us,” she said calmly.
“I love each and every one of you, but I will not accept anything less than mutual respect and consideration. And if Abi decides to stay after this”—she shot another hard look at Tad, but the Anura was pouting now, kicking at the floor with her webbed toes—“then I expect all of us to be mindful and accommodating. Everyone is welcome at The Passing Through Cafe. Everyone.”
The following silence was tense and awkward, but it only lasted a few moments before Abi startled violently awake with a gasp that made Toni scream in fright and nearly drop him.
“Shit, I forgot he was still alive!’ Toni cried as he helped Abi take his own weight back. “You good, kid?”
Catching his breath, Abi nodded, snapping one of his many colorful armbands against his inner wrist in a staccato rhythm. “Sorry, y’all, didn’t mean to worry you. I’m good.”
“Please don’t apologize,” Glyma said as she tentatively patted his shoulder. “We’re very sorry about that, and I promise you, it won’t ever happen again. We take your safety very seriously—”
“I heard you,” he interrupted her, snapping the armband harder as he wilted under all the attention. “While I was—I heard. Thank you.”
Thankfully, they were dismissed back to their duties quickly after that, and Dex could escape the horribly uncomfortable tension.
Yve, a bubbly Avia who normally worked the evening shift, joined the day crew twice a week. Dex liked her a lot. She was really sweet and easy to talk to. She even knew HSL because her grandmother had been hard of hearing.
When the cafe was bustling with customers, they’d sign to each other instead of speaking aloud.
He tried not to do it too often, not wanting Cya to feel left out, but when it resulted in an influx of Deaf clientele, Glyma encouraged them to advertise their skills.
She even ordered cafe-themed pins that read, “I Know HSL,” that they attached to their aprons while they worked.
“Could you teach me?” Cya asked Dex toward the end of June. “Proper HSL, not just the few signs Jasmyn taught me?”
“Sure, Cy, I can do that,” he said easily, and their eyes crinkled, the chilly gold melting to warm liquid.
“Okay. Cool.”
The week of semester exams, Dex requested time off work so he could study around his dyscus practices and still have the time and energy to help Cya prepare for the math test on Thursday.
They met in the library every evening leading up to it, and Dex was proud of how far Cya had come.
Sure, they’d never become a mathematician, but they’d worked so hard to improve, setting aside their arrogance to really listen and learn from him.
He told Professor Myls that, when he walked to the front to turn in his semester exam.
“Are you telling me this so I grade them more leniently?” she asked with an arch of her brow.
“No,” he said too quickly, and her mouth twitched with amusement.
“Okay, maybe a little. I just wanted you to know how hard they’ve worked, and if they don’t do as well as you think they should have on the test, it wasn’t for lack of preparation or lack of effort.
They really tried, and I think that should be acknowledged. ”
With a hum, Professor Myls added Dex’s exam to the pile at the corner of her desk. “Thank you for telling me. I’ll take it into consideration.”
As Dex walked away from the STEM building half an hour later, Cya kept pace with him, wringing their hands. “I’m sure I did poorly. I can’t imagine I got even half the questions right.”
“You didn’t flunk the test,” Dex said, knocking their elbow with his. “Seriously, I bet you did way better than you think you did.”
“I swear I blacked out halfway through.” They pressed a hand to their forehead. “Oh gods, what if I didn’t even finish it?”
Unable to stop it, he laughed. “Stop stressing. If you hadn’t finished it, Professor Myls would have said something before you left.”
They nodded and exhaled in a rush. “Right. You’re right. Well, at least it’s over now.”
“Wow, you’re normally a bucket-half-empty type of person. It’s good to see you trying for more positivity.” He danced away when they hissed and tried to smack his arm. “Hey, now, no need for violence.”
“Oh, bite me,” they sniffed.
“If you’re into that.” He wriggled his eyebrows and snapped his teeth at them.
They reared back, face darkening in a scandalized blush, but Dex’s chuckles faded as Cya’s golden eyes dropped to his mouth, one fang capturing their bottom lip.
Impossibly, their cheeks flushed even darker, and they jerked their gaze away with an odd, choked sound.
There was a fleeting hint of something spicy mixing in with their usual herb and incense aroma, but it was taken on the breeze too quickly for Dex to be sure.
“You’re barbaric,” they said without any real heat.
Off-balance, Dex didn’t immediately respond. Had that been want he’d smelled? Was Cya freaking Vysov—who couldn’t even bring themself to call him their friend—into him?
His belly heated, and pride swelled in his chest, puffing it out a bit. Shoulders back, spine straight, he added a bit of a strut to his next few steps, earning him a judgmental side-eye from the Sypent.
“What are you doing?” they asked.
“Walking,” he said loftily.
“You’ve literally never walked like that before.”
He grinned, showing all his teeth. “Oh, so you’ve noticed how I walk?”
Face wrinkled like they smelled something bad, Cya added an extra inch or so of space between them. “What? No! You’re just… You look constipated, and it’s making me uncomfortable.”
With a pout, Dex stopped strutting.
Snuffling a chuckle, they faced forward again, their fingers tightening on the strap of their computer bag, flexing intermittently.
“I was thinking, for next semester, perhaps we could tutor each other? Continue on with maths, of course, but I could help you too, if you like. With your science courses. It would be no trouble.”
His pout immediately turned back into a grin. “Really? You’d do that?”
“Of course. I ought to repay you for all your hard work these past months.”
Shifting closer, he let his arm brush theirs as they walked. “Thanks, Cy, that’s really cool.”
Their cheek lifted the tiniest bit. “Like I said, it’s no trouble.”
“Sure.” He knocked their shoulder with his. “I might just take you up on the offer.”
Cya’s mouth tilted up even more, an almost smile. “Splendid.”
“Better be careful, though,” he rumbled, and their throat bobbed as their eyes finally met his. “If you start being nice, I might start thinking you actually like me.”
Heat flickered briefly in their gaze, but they turned it into a—mostly teasing—sneer. “You wish.”
He grinned.
They scowled.
Dex laughed. “Whatever you say, highness.”
At the campus gates, they slowed to a stop. Hemersyn’s sedan idled to their right. The tram stop stood to their left.
Neither of them moved toward their respective destinations, hovering under the wrought iron arch.
The June night was balmy, and Cya wore a flowy purple tunic that revealed their elegant shoulders and the gentle slopes of their upper arms. As always, they were draped in chains and gold cuffs and shiny stones.
Their hair was loose and straight, strands dancing around their face with the breeze, and Dex captured a few of them and cautiously tucked them behind their pointed ear.
The skin around their eyes crinkled, and warmth spilled through his chest. Every genuine Cya smile started at their eyes.
Even before the smile formed on their lips, he could see it there first, and he liked that he could tell the difference now.
“See you later,” he said, letting his finger brush their earlobe.