Chapter 3
three
DANTE
Ididn’t think I was nervous about Gia and Amara meeting Cielo. They’re not bigoted or anything. They have a couple Vyastil working for them at their company, so they know what they’re like and even seem to be friendly with them.
But for some reason, having Cielo sitting silently beside me at the dinner table with Luca across from me and my cousins to my left makes me feel…
Strange, I guess. Almost like I’m dissociating.
There aren’t really words for any emotion I’m having. This whole situation is wildly unprecedented, and I don’t know what to do with myself, which is entirely unlike me. I’m feeling things I’m not used to, and I don’t know what to do with all of it.
I hear a quiet snicker and look to my right, just past Cielo, to find Everest covering his mouth while Rathyn holds a fork, spaghetti dangling from the tines, with a frown on his face.
“I do not understand this,” he says.
“Babe. It’s noodles and sauce.”
Rathyn scowls even harder. “The noodles look like worms, and this sauce resembles human blood.” For a moment, he looks horrified. “Do you consume human blood? Is that a ritual I am unaware of?”
My hands shake as I interpret for Luca, who is biting his lip so hard his teeth look like they’re going to break the skin.
Gia grins sweetly and folds her hands under her chin. “Sweetheart, no. It’s bolognese.”
“Bolo…nay…ze,” Rathyn tries.
Amara ducks her head and presses her temple against her wife’s shoulder as Gia swallows back a laugh. “Yeah. It’s vegetarian.”
“Made from plants,” Everest says with a snort. “And you love plants. Just try it, okay? You’ll probably like it.”
Rathyn’s long, long tongue darts out and attempts to gather the noodles, but they flop around wetly, and as he closes his mouth, most of them smack him on the chin, sending the tomato sauce splattering across his cheeks.
“This is a strange and useless human food,” he declares, putting his fork down and flicking the noodles stuck to his skin back into the bowl.
Everest is bent over, tears streaming down his face. “Babe. Just…” He clears his throat and wipes his eyes, then reaches over and takes the fork and twirls it until the spaghetti is gathered in a neat coil. He lifts it and meets Rathyn’s eyes. “Bite.”
“No. I will not consume your non-blood worms.”
Everest sighs and glances over at me, then at Gia and Amara, then finally at Luca before sighing and putting his fist to his chest, rubbing it in a circle. ‘Sorry.’
Luca makes an excited noise. ‘You sign!’
Everest quickly shakes his head, then shrugs and signs, ‘A little. Two years in school—a long time ago.’
Luca is always thrilled when people know any ASL. He spends half his day talking to tiny kids on the street who were taught the alphabet in their kindergarten classes. ‘You’re ASL champ!’
Everest flushes a little, then taps the spaghetti against Rathyn’s lips. His eyes flutter closed for a second, and it’s almost like they’re communicating telepathically, but…the Vyastil can’t do that, can they?
No. That’s not possible. If it were, Cielo would know I was jerking off for him.
Rathyn eventually opens his mouth, takes a bite, and chews, scowling the entire time.
‘He’s so pretty,’ Gia signs, but doesn’t speak. ‘Why are they all so pretty?’
Luca scoffs. ‘Don’t be rude!’ He shoots Cielo an apologetic look, but Cielo just ducks his head and shrugs.
He hasn’t said or signed a word since we got to the table. He also hasn’t touched his pasta. I told him he could go rest, but he insisted on partaking in this, and I wasn’t about to force him into doing something he didn’t want to do.
“Can I help you?” I murmur under my breath so no one else can hear. I don’t sign it either, and I know Luca won’t mind so long as I tell him what we said if he asks.
He licks his lips, then shakes his head.
“Not hungry?” I ask.
“Hunnrrrrgggg. No.”
I show him the sign for hungry, then for not-hungry. He repeats it perfectly.
“We do not eat often,” Rathyn explains. He’s swallowed the spaghetti Everest offered him, but is very clearly done with the meal, which would normally be an insult, but we understand the Vyastil are not of this world.
Or this universe.
“It’s kind of a morning ritual,” Everest explains, and I quickly interpret for Luca. “Rathyn eats his moss…”
“Kirrashev,” Rathyn corrects, and I do my best to spell it, but it’s a monster word, and those are always complicated, so I spell it as it sounds.
Everest rolls his eyes at Rathyn. “Anyway, I actually brought some for Cielo, too. It’s in the car.”
Cielo’s eyes widen, and he puts fingers to his chin and dips them down. ‘Thank you.’
Everest sighs. “You don’t have to keep thanking me, bud. I…I’m just…” He swallows thickly, and his voice is tight. “I’m so fucking sorry this happened.”
Cielo makes a trill in the back of his throat and shakes his head. I imagine he wants to tell him that he’s okay, or that he doesn’t blame him. I want to give him more ways to communicate, but even with how fast he learns, it’s going to take time.
Luca knocks on the table. ‘Gia and I should go get gelato for dessert.’
Gia looks excited. ‘Yes, yes! Let’s do that.’
We’ve hardly touched our food, but frankly, sweets sound a lot better than pasta right now. Nonna would probably kill me for saying it, but I’m a grown ass man, and I can have mostly dessert if I want to.
‘Yeah. Thanks,’ I sign quickly. ‘And I’ll make lattes.’
Cielo must have learned that sign because he perks up immediately, his eyes darting to the machine, and he makes a happy, questioning hum in his throat. ‘Coffee,’ he signs.
I grin and lean toward him, grazing a touch over his wrist. He shudders a bit, then pulls away, and I try not to take it personally. “Yes. Don’t worry. You can have as much as you like.”
Promising him that might be a mistake, but what the fuck do I care? I want to make him happy, and if over-caffeinating him is the way to go, then god help me, I will buy stock in coffee beans so he’ll never run out.
After getting everyone’s orders, Luca, Gia, and Amara leave for the shop across town where the best gelato is served. It’s not great. It’s not even authentic, but it’s passable, and both my parents and my nonna go there, so I’m not embarrassed to share it with my new friends.
Rathyn and Cielo head back to the couch, where Rathyn offers to mix up more of the herbs for Cielo’s wounds, and Everest follows me into the kitchen to help clean up.
“Sorry we kind of ignored pasta night,” he says, staring mournfully at the massive bowls of leftovers.
I roll my eyes and grin. “Don’t worry. The one thing I’m good at is feeding people.” I pull two plastic containers out of the cupboard and begin to fill them. “You can take these home for later.”
Everest gives a happy hum. “Living with a Vyastil is kind of…interesting. And I really love him, but god, he still needs to work on his knowledge of feeding and caring for a human.”
I snort as I snap the lids on and push them to the end of the counter. “It’s…good though, right? Living with Rathyn?”
Everest nods. “It’s amazing.”
“And have you two, ah…” I clear my throat. “It’s more than just dick sucking? I mean, it’s not just a glorified version of the clinic, is it?”
Everest flushes. “No. But, uh…we should talk about this later.”
Right. The Vyastil have amazing hearing, and Rathyn’s probably not too keen on Everest sharing dirty details about their bedroom business.
“Thanks for letting me come check up on him,” Everest says after a beat.
I frown. “Of course, man. I know you were worried about him. I’m just surprised he didn’t move back into his place at the Foundry. Or is that part of the punishment?”
Everest blinks, then his cheeks bloom bright red. “The Foundry? Oh, uh…yeah, no. He can’t stay there.”
I grimace. “Well, I feel bad keeping him here. I mean, my place isn’t a dump or anything, but it’s probably a lot less cushy than where he was living before. I’ve never been into the Foundry, but I’ve seen pics online, and goddamn.”
“Actually…” He swallows, then says, “Wanna step outside for a second?”
I frown but nod. “Yeah.”
I have a cute little backyard, and the door should be enough to hide away from prying Vyastil ears.
Everest sighs with relief and doesn’t hesitate as he follows me through the dining nook and out the sliding glass door. The yard isn’t much of anything. It’s barely eight feet wide and stretches between all three apartments in the triplex, but it’s cozy. And it’s ours.
When Luca and I first inherited this place, we considered putting up dividers in the fence and renting them out, but then Gia and Amara said they wanted to move in, and that felt better.
I’ve always been close with my family, and while moving out of my parents’ house had been the right thing to do—I could not be a thirty-something guy living with my mom and dad—I didn’t want to be alone.
I fucking hated being alone.
This was our compromise, and I love it. We have weekly meals at the long picnic table Gia found at the flea market a few years ago, and any time we need each other, we’re there. Luca spends half his time raiding my kitchen, and Gia’s place is always open if I need extra blankets or socks.
“This is cute,” Everest says with a hum. “You pay a lot for it?”
I laugh. “No. I own it.”
“Oh, shit. Mr. Businessman.”
I shove him gently toward the bench, and we sit. “Luca and I inherited it when one of my nonnas died. I also got a space that used to be a florist, which I turned into my shop, and Luca leases his building to a Vyastil couple who run a café.”
Everest looks startled. “Oh, shit. That’s cool.”
I shrug. It is what it is. I’m not changing lives or anything, but it’s a decent life in a small city, which is all I can really ask for. “Anyway. You wanted privacy?”
He nods, then bows his head again. “This is…I don’t know…kind of humiliating, and I still can’t fucking believe it, but Cielo wasn’t living at the Foundry.”
I frown. “What do you mean? Wasn’t he working for Rathyn?”