Page 6 of Inferno
“Nah, I’m good. I’ll just go wait out the front.”
Nerik headed for the shop entrance and propped the door open, relieved when the cooler breeze outside brushed over his skin. Of course, there were still days when having skin at all was a strange feeling. In his native form, he was more like a cloud of smoke. Still corporeal, but not in the way that humans or witches were.
Ten minutes rolled by, with Nerik content to just watch the people strolling past and Maky lazing on the floor in the middle of the shop, then Kit emerged from the back office.
“Here,” she said, sounding worn out. She handed him nine little leather pouches. “They’re all labelled, so it’ll be up to the recipients to sort out who gets which one. And here’s four silver coins to give to Gosta.”
Nerik nodded, stowing the gems in his satchel and the coins in his pocket. The money would go into a charity fund to help Chalandrians who had only just made it across the gate. Finding jobs and housing in the human world could take time, and the rest of the Chalandrians hiding in Minia did their best to help the newcomers.
“Say hello to Yorin from me,” Kit said, “since I know you’re going to take those rubies straight back to his shop this afternoon. And speaking of Yorin, have you actually got around to telling him how you feel about him?” Kit had never batted an eyelash at the idea of Nerik being attracted to men. She’d been more concerned about him lusting after ahuman, rather than one of the numerous Chalandrians in town.
“No,” Nerik said with a sigh. “I’ve tried everything I can think of to get a reaction out of him, but he’s as helpful as a eunuch in a brothel. He hedges around every suggestion and ducks every nuance.”
“Have you ever considered actually asking him out on a date?”
Nerik winced. “I was kind of hoping to get some kind of hint that he’d actually say yes before I did that.”
“And yet after three years of not getting any hint, you’re still pining after him.”
Of course, it was all so simple, when someone was looking at it from the outside. But Nerik really wasn’t a fan of getting his heart crushed – his figurative heart, in this case, since he didn’t have a literal one – and somehow it was easier to keep hoping than to have his answer once and for all.
“I’m sure I’ll get around to it one day,” he told Kit, slapping a cheeky grin on his face and blowing her a kiss. “Have a good afternoon. I’ll see you tomorrow at the parade.”
“Best of luck tonight,” Kit said, a scant acknowledgement of the effort Nerik would be putting in on behalf of so many Chalandrians. “See you tomorrow.”
CHAPTER THREE
Okay, he needed to deliver the mushrooms next, Nerik decided, as he headed away from Kit’s shop. Even though he wasn’t going to be paid, for the sake of his reputation, he would still make a point of delivering them as quickly as possible.
Today, though, it seemed that luck was with him. As it turned out, the cook in the pub was late as well, so the owner decided to pay him anyway, given that he was still in time for lunch preparations. After that, he backtracked to deliver the letter to the seamstress. Then he ducked into the baker’s to deliver the poppy seeds that were apparently going to make or break tomorrow’s bread rolls, and picked up a delivery of bread while he was there – an extra coin for the day. Once the bread was delivered, he headed for the town square. From there, he could drop in to Yorin’s shop again, then over to the hospital for his last errand of the day.
As Nerik re-entered Yorin’s shop, Yorin was smiling at a young woman with long, blonde hair. She was dressed in a yellow blouse, with a light blue one dangling from her fingers, and looking entirely uncertain about both of them.
“I really think the blue suits you better,” Yorin said to her, glancing up at Nerik and giving him a nod before returning his attention to his customer. “It brings out the colour of your eyes.”
“You really think so?” The young woman – her name was Fiki, if Nerik remembered correctly – stared up at Yorin with wide, hopeful eyes. “Maybe I should try it on again.”
“You certainly may, if you wish,” Yorin said, and Nerik sometimes wondered where he got his patience from. He’d seen customers change their minds five times, only to walk out the door with nothing at all, and yet Yorin never lost his temper with them. The worst display of annoyance Nerik had ever seen from him was the occasional sigh, or a slight eye roll, when he was certain his customer wasn’t looking.
“But I really like the cut of the yellow one,” Fiki said, rearranging the blouse around her shoulders… and displaying an extra inch of cleavage in the process. Nerik had to fight back a smile at her antics. Ah, so this wasn’t about the blouse at all, but about trying to attract the attention of a certain handsome young tailor.
Well, Fiki was going to be disappointed then. For all Nerik’s frustration with Yorin ignoring his flirtation, he knew full well that Yorin would also never respond to the advances of a customer – at least, not while they were in his shop looking for something to buy. If he met them later in the street, then perhaps he might agree to something – or at least, Nerik assumed he might. He’d never actually seen Yorin show an interest inanyone– but here and now, the young woman was chasing a lost cause.
“If you like, I could make you one in blue, with the design of the yellow one,” Yorin offered magnanimously. It was impossible to tell whether he was oblivious to her true intentions, or simply ignoring them.
“Do you think it suits me?” Fiki asked, swinging back and forth with her arms wide. She was a good few years younger than Yorin and had yet to learn any kind of finesse with her attempts to attract a man.
Yorin gave her a wry smile. “Well, unfortunately, I think I’m biased. I think everyone looks wonderful in my clothes.”
Fiki laughed, high and girlish, hand over her mouth. “I’ll have to go ask Mama,” she said, picking up her original clothing – a plain brown shirt – and flitting off into the fitting room to change out of the blouse.
Once she was safely ensconced behind the curtain, Yorin turned to Nerik. Nerik held out the box of rubies without preamble. “As requested,” he said, holding back anything more risqué he might have had to say. As much as he had a cheeky streak, he tried to avoid too much overt flirting or trouble-making in front of customers. After all, he didn’t want to inadvertently harm Yorin’s reputation through his own irreverence.
“That was quick,” Yorin said, sounding pleased. He pulled another copper coin out of his purse. “Here you go. That’s all I’ve got for today, but I might have a couple of deliveries for you tomorrow, if you drop by then.”
“Can’t wait,” Nerik said, but he was interrupted by Fiki emerging from the dressing room. “It was really nice to see you today, Yorin,” she said, batting her eyelashes at the man. “I’ll talk to Mama and come back and see you when we decide which one I want. Have a nice day!” She blew him a kiss, then flounced out of the shop, tossing her hair as she went.
“Well, she’s certainly taken a shine to you,” Nerik said, once the door was closed. It wasn’t that he was particularly concerned about Yorin liking the woman back. She was too young and far too silly for someone as studious as Yorin. But after three years, he was still trying to work out exactly where Yorin’s preferences lay, and he wasn’t above using any opportunity to try and wiggle a glimmer of information out of him.