Page 23 of Gratification in Gluttony (Passing Through Cafe #2)

Chapter twenty-three

Dumbass Chicks

The late afternoon was cool, even with the sun shining down on them, and Toni squinted against the harsh light as Oliver led them toward the horse field. A wriggling, yellow animal ran up to them, barking happily as Oliver crouched down to give it pets and kisses. Glyma, Gem, Quin, and Willow converged on it, cooing over its cuteness as it panted happily at the attention.

Tad asked if she could eat it, to which Oliver scowled and said, “No, Tad, you can’t eat my dog.”

Oh, so that was a dog. It was pretty cute.

The dog loped over to Zef next and hesitantly sniffed at their shoes. Zef stared down at it with curious eyes but made no move to touch it. Instead, they offered it a slight bow.

“Pleased to meet you, Molly.”

The dog—Molly—barked before she turned to Toni and cautiously circled him. He watched her, offering her a smile, and the dog whined, tucking her tail between her legs like she was scared of him. He stopped smiling, tucking his hands into his pockets.

“I don’t think she likes me,” he said, trying to play it off, even though he felt bad for scaring her.

“He’s all bark and no bite, Molly,” Jude said as he came up beside Toni and lowered himself to one knee. “Come here, girl.”

Belly dragging on the ground, Molly crawled to Jude and licked his hand. He petted her until she flipped onto her back. Then he reached up and took Toni’s hand, guiding him to crouch down.

Toni moved slowly, allowing Jude to place his hand on her belly. He directed his hand as he said, “Rub in circles.”

Obeying, Toni couldn’t take his eyes off Jude’s hand on his. Jude was touching him in front of everyone, like he didn’t care who saw, and it had warmth blooming in Toni’s stomach.

“Like this?” he asked, voice weak as he rubbed the dog’s fluffy belly.

“Yeah, just like that.” Jude angled his head and grinned at him. “See?”

Toni tore his gaze from Jude’s and looked down at Molly, patting her gently as she panted up at him. “She’s… wriggly.”

“She had pups about five weeks ago,” Oliver said, pointing at the barn. “They’re probably in the barn, if you wanna hold them.”

“That explains the titties.” Toni scratched Molly between her swollen nipples. “Are you a mama? Where’s your babies?”

Like she understood his question, the dog stood and headed toward the barn, stopping a few feet away as if to wait for Toni to follow her. With a shrug, Toni rose to his feet and brushed off his jeans. He grabbed Jude’s sleeve and tugged, forcing him to follow as they trailed after the dog.

Behind him, Toni heard Gem say, “I wanna see the pippies too.”

“It’s puppies,” Rusty corrected.

“Whatever. Let’s go pet them.”

By the time they made it to the large barn, Gem and Rusty had fallen into step with Toni and Jude. Gem glanced at Toni and Jude simultaneously, and a smile split his mouth when he caught Jude hooking his pinkie around Toni’s. Toni’s chest swelled, and he tightened his grip on Jude’s finger, giving Gem a wink.

Molly led them to a pen full of squirming, whining golden puffballs, and Gem squealed so loud it made Toni wince. “Oh my gods, they’re the cutest things I’ve ever seen. Well, you know, except the cows.” Reaching into the pen, Gem grabbed three and hugged them to his chest. “I want to squeeze them until their heads pop off.”

Jude’s brows flew up. “That’s what we call an intrusive thought.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t—” Rusty reached to take the puppies from Gem, but the Araknis bared his fangs, angling away.

“I said I wanted to, not that I would. Let me love the pippies.”

Chuckling, Toni reached inside the pen and scrubbed a hand over the remaining pups. Molly stood at his side, head high, tongue lolling. “You should be very proud,” Toni told her, giving her head a pat. “They’re very cute.”

Molly’s tail wagged as Toni scratched behind her ears. Jude took one of Gem’s puppies and smothered its face with kisses as it squeaked happily. Rusty reached hesitantly into the pen, but given his height deficiency, he was just too short to touch the puppies.

“Just climb in,” Gem said as he easily stepped over the wall of the pen, giggling as the puppies swarmed around his boots. He offered Rusty a hand, and the Pyclon grudgingly accepted the help, ears twitching madly as he joined Gem inside the puppy pen.

A strange chirping from the other side of the barn piqued Toni’s interest, and after one last pat to Jude’s puppy, he followed the sound. He found another pen full of tiny winged… things. He didn’t know what they were, but they looked funny with their poofy feathers and weird, taloned feet.

“What the fuck is this?” he asked, reaching in to touch one. They scattered, chirping wildly. They reminded him vaguely of the Avia species, though the proportions were all wrong.

“They’re chicks,” Jude said as he came up beside him. “Baby chickens.”

“They’re goofy-looking,” Toni said, reaching in again to try and grab one. “They’re fast little fuckers, though.”

“You can sit with them. Once they’re used to you, they probably won’t run.”

Careful not to let them escape, Toni unlatched the pen door and walked inside. He sat in the corner as Jude stood on the other side, chin resting on his folded hands as he gazed down at Toni. The heat lamp had sweat prickling Toni’s scalp as he sat and waited for the chicks to grow accustomed to his presence.

A few brave ones approached him, their tiny beaks pecking at the ground, then at his jeans. Snorting, Toni captured one, cupping it gently so he wouldn’t crush it. It weighed next to nothing, and its feathers were so downy and soft.

“Oh, I like these,” he said as he rubbed a fingertip over the top of its head. “Hey, stupid, I could eat you, you know. I ain’t gonna, but I could.”

“We actually do eat them,” Jude said, and Toni cupped the chick to his chest.

“Well that ain’t very nice now, is it?” To the chick, Toni said, “Don’t worry. I won’t let Jude eat you. Toni’s gonna take good care of you.”

The longer he sat in the pen, the braver the chicks grew until he had a dozen in his lap, chirping and squeaking. He couldn’t stop laughing at them because they just looked so stupid. But also, super cute. And soft. Toni liked how soft they were.

At some point, Gem rushed out of the barn yelling at Oliver to take him to the cows. Rusty was grumbling something about puppy piss, but Toni was too obsessed with the chicks to pay the Pyclon any mind.

“I could just bite it in half,” Toni said to Jude as he placed several chicks on his crossed legs, “and it doesn’t even know! What a dumbass little chick.”

Laughing, Jude gazed down at Toni with an expression that made Toni’s insides squirm pleasantly. Jude reached down, and Toni lifted a chick high enough so he could pet its back.

“They are very cute,” Jude said, and Toni nodded.

“Yeah, I like them.” Toni brought the chick close to his face, snickering when it pecked at the hair that had fallen across his forehead. “Hey, that ain’t food, dum-dum. Why you so stupid, huh?”

“Chickens aren’t that stupid, you know?” Jude said, finger tracing the pointed shell of Toni’s ear.

“They look stupid, but I like that.” A loud clanging rang through the air, and Jude straightened with one last caress to Toni’s ear.

“That’s the dinner bell.”

Bidding the chicks farewell, Toni crept out of the pen, locking the door behind him, then threw an arm around Jude’s shoulders. Before they left the barn, he leaned down and pecked the top of the human’s curly head. In response, Jude took Toni’s hand that hung over his shoulder and pressed his lips to his bluish-gray palm, and Toni felt warm all over.

They still needed to finish their talk, but Toni had a good feeling about this weekend. And as everyone knew, he had the gift, just like his great-great noni, so he was going to trust that feeling.

Dinner was foreign but delicious, and as night fell, Oliver’s dad, Greg, stoked the fire until it burned bright and hot. Maggie, Oliver’s mother, passed out blankets as the temperature dropped, and Toni offered to share his with Jude, smiling brilliantly when Jude tucked himself into Toni’s side without hesitation.

When it was clear Gem would eat the entire bag of fluffy, white sugar cubes—marshymallows, Toni thought they were called—Toni took it upon himself to get his best friend tucked into bed. As Gem did his nightly skincare routine, Toni changed into his pajama pants. His ears picked up his human’s heartbeat, and before Jude could pass their door, Toni opened it and snagged him by the arm.

With a yelp, Jude stumbled into him, and when Toni captured Jude’s lips in a bruising kiss, he melted against him. As Toni sucked on his tongue, Jude groaned, and if it wasn’t for Gem making disgusted tisking noises behind him, Toni would have shoved his hand down Jude’s pants to see exactly how hard he could make the human moan.

Since Toni would never scar his best friend that way, he broke away, licking his lips to chase Jude’s taste. “Sweet dreams, bitesize,” Toni purred, giving Jude’s ass a smack.

A little dazed, Jude blinked and pressed the back of his hand to his now-flushed cheek. Then he flipped Toni off, frowning in mock annoyance. Toni just laughed, watching Jude disappear into the room he was sharing with Rusty.

“I swear to all the gods that exist,” Gem said as he rubbed face lotion into his dark gray cheeks, “if I wake up in the middle of the night to anything untoward happening—with Jude or otherwise—you and I are gonna have strong words.”

“I think I can restrain myself from jerking off beside you while we sleep,” Toni sassed back as he settled onto his stomach and hugged a pillow to his chest.

“I should hope so, because we have to have some boundaries.”

Toni spent most of Saturday flirting with Jude, but when Jude joined the others on a trail ride with the horses, Toni stayed behind at the house. Out of everyone, Toni scared the horses the most, and since he didn’t want to traumatize them, he opted to bow out. Gem stayed with him, and much to Toni’s dismay, so did Rusty.

The Pyclon claimed that the horses were scared of him too, but Toni had heard the way Rusty’s heart rate spiked in fear every time the large animals had gotten close to him. Normally, it brought Toni endless joy to watch Rusty squirm, but he didn’t like being stuck in the same general area as him with only Gem as a buffer. It lessened his entertainment by several percentage points.

After endless begging, Toni allowed Gem to introduce him to the cows. In Toni’s not so humble opinion, the cows were disgusting. They were smelly and dirty and for some reason, very snotty. Were they all sick or something? Toni didn’t think he wanted to know what kind of diseases they were infecting him with as Gem forced him to the pet the one he’d named Gem.

“Don’t tell Ollie,” Gem whispered as he spread himself over the top of two cows at once, “but I named them all Gem.”

Flicking wetness from his hand, Toni grimaced. “I’m far from surprised.”

Leaving Gem to lay all over the hooved creatures, Toni headed back into the house and washed his hands thoroughly, before taking a nap. He woke an hour later to the sound of Gem laughing outside his window.

“Aim it at my mouth,” Gem was saying.

“I’m trying, but you keep moving,” Rusty grumbled. “Hold still so I can get it in.”

“Not again,” Toni bemoaned, covering his head with a pillow.

“Oh, that was so close,” Gem said. “Maybe my mouth is too small?”

“I don’t think anyone has ever accused you of having too small of a mouth,” Rusty snarked, and Gem snorted.

“I mean, I’ve never gotten any complaints.”

With a growl, Toni rolled out of bed and charged out of the house, bursting onto the porch to find Gem swinging back and forth in a hammock as Rusty tossed grapes from up in the tree, trying to land them in Gem’s gaping mouth. Two of Gem’s eyes swiveled in Toni’s direction, but most of his focus remained on Rusty.

“Hey, Toni, have a nice nap?” he said as he ducked his head to catch a grape. It bounced off his chin, and he pouted. “Damn it. Rus, you suck at this.”

“You’re a moving target!” Rusty muttered, legs swinging from his perch on the tree branch. He glanced at Toni fleetingly before dropping his gaze to the grapes in his hands, his shoulders curling in like he was trying to fade into the foliage. Since he was bright pink, it was impossible for him to disappear, but it wasn’t for lack of effort.

For the first time, Toni felt a little guilty for giving the kid such a hard time, and since Gem was apparently friends with him now, he supposed he had to put in a teensy, tiny effort to be nice. So instead of teasing him or insulting him, Toni came to a stop under the tree and gestured for Rusty to toss a grape his way.

“Give me one. We’ll show Gem how it’s done.”

At first, Rusty looked startled, but he smoothed out the emotion, adopting, instead, the neutral frown he wore most often. “Okay,” he said, still unsure, but he tossed a grape down at Toni.

He caught it and crunched down on the fruit, smiling triumphantly at Gem. “Point for Toni!”

Sitting up in the hammock, Gem scowled. “I wasn’t even trying before.” He set his feet on the grass, bringing the hammock to a halt as he smoothed his curls out of his face. “Rusty, do me!”

“Ew,” Toni mumbled, and Gem flipped him off without looking his way.

Rusty tossed the next grape at Gem, who managed to catch it. “See? Now we’re tied.”

They made a game of it until Rusty ran out of grapes, Toni winning by one. As Toni did a victory dance, Gem pouted, and Rusty tried to hide his chuckle but failed. Glaring at the Pyclon, Gem practically fell out of the hammock as he shrieked, “Don’t laugh at me! You’re supposed to be on my side.”

Chittering in alarm, Rusty scrambled higher into the tree, climbing faster than Toni thought possible. He settled on a limb just out of Gem’s reach and smirked down at the irate Araknis.

“Don’t look so smug,” Gem said as he grabbed several branches with his arms. “You think I can’t climb up there and get you?”

“That’s exactly what I think,” Rusty said flatly.

“I can climb a tree!” Gem said, and Toni snorted.

“You’ve never climbed a tree in your life.”

“Then I guess today’s a perfectly good day to start, isn’t it?” Securing his grip on several lower branches, Gem kicked off his boots and dug his tarsal claws into the trunk of the tree. “I’m gonna make this tree my bitch!”

“If you can lift that ginormous ass,” Rusty said dryly, lying across his branch, tail swaying, feet swinging, like he’d never been more comfortable than he was right there in this alien tree.

Gem gasped dramatically in offense before he proceeded to clumsily haul himself into the tree. He didn’t get very far, his feet barely dangling above the ground. He scratched bark off the trunk with his tarsal claws as he screeched in frustration.

Toni tucked himself into the hammock to watch the show as Gem failed to climb farther than a few inches.

“Need help?” Rusty asked lazily, inspecting the black polish chipping off one of his claws.

“No!” Gem lied.

Snickering under his breath, Rusty rolled off the branch, landing on all fours on the one beneath before deftly climbing down until he perched on the branch Gem was trying to pull himself onto. In all honesty, it was impressive the way the kid could so easily navigate the branches. Not that Toni was going to admit it out loud or anything.

“Stop trying to climb it like a ladder,” Rusty said.

“I don’t need your help,” Gem snipped.

Rusty cocked his head, one ear folding down as the other stood tall, his tail swaying behind him. “You have eight limbs, Gem. This is easier than you’re making it.”

“My ass is way heavier than I thought it was, okay?” Gem whined, and Rusty barked an unexpected laugh. It was rough and husky, and Toni frowned as Gem’s entire face lit up at the sound. “Stop laughing at me, Rus! I’m doing my best.”

“I’m not laughing at you,” Rusty lied. “Listen, just use that knot there. No, there on the trunk.”

They bickered for several minutes before Gem finally listened to Rusty’s instructions. With the Pyclon’s help, Gem managed to get himself onto the lowest branch, though the bough creaked under his weight. Giggling with excitement, Gem sat up and waved down at Toni.

“Look! I climbed a motherfucking tree.”

“Good job, Gem,” Toni said.

“Told you I could do it,” Gem said to Rusty, who was now several limbs above him.

“You sure showed me,” he deadpanned, and Gem snickered, sending numerous middle fingers his way. “Just don’t climb higher, or your heavy ass will break the branches.”

“Keep talking about my ass, and I’m gonna think you like it.”

Rusty snorted from high in the branches. “In your dreams, Akyllo.”

As Gem laughed, Toni frowned. If it had been anyone else, he would have thought they were flirting. But they couldn’t have been because… Well, it was Gem and Rusty. Them flirting was like the sun and moon colliding. Physically impossible! And equally nauseating.

Honestly, Toni was relieved when the others returned, and he could forget about the whole disconcerting thing.