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“You heading home or do you have another business meeting?” Rusty asked to pass the time as the kitchen worked on Enfys’s food.

“Oh, I’m—”

The coffee grinder spurred to life, cutting her off, and she waited until it fell silent before she tried again.

“I’m off—”

Once again, the coffee grinder clattered, and as one, she and Rusty slowly turned toward Gem. All eight of his eyes were locked on Enfys, and with an overtly guileless smile, he said, “Oh, I’m sorry. Did I interrupt you?”

The moment she opened her mouth to respond, he engaged the coffee grinder a third time.

“Gem!” Rusty barked, and the Araknis shifted the attention of one eye to him.

“Yes?” he asked innocently.

“Do you have to do that right now?” Rusty asked, and Gem nodded.

“Yes,” he repeated sweetly .

Enfys, once again, tried to speak, but before Gem could jab the button on the grinder to stop her, Rusty lunged to the side, grabbed the grinder’s cord, and yanked it out of the outlet. Gem’s jaw dropped with an enraged gasp, but Rusty ignored him.

As Rusty and Enfys attempted to make small talk, Gem proceeded to turn on all the dairy steamers at once with the excuse of rinsing them so they wouldn’t get moldy—

“They’ll get fuzzy,” he said above the noise, pointing at Enfys. “Like her antennas!”

—Then he turned his attention to the blender station and made himself a smoothie for his lunch, even though Rusty had never seen him drink a smoothie before. In fact, he specifically remembered Gem saying that smoothies were gross and slimy and that only psychopaths drank them on a regular basis.

Enfys, much to Rusty’s relief, didn’t seem offended by Gem’s rudeness.

In fact, she hid laughter behind a hand, seeming to find the entire show entertaining.

Oliver was mortified, hiding his pink face in his palm as he peeked through his fingers.

Rusty was mostly confused, and he had never been more happy to see Toni than when the Elas waltzed through the door, Enfys’s to-go bag in his hand.

Rusty took it and handed it over the counter with a whispered, “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Enfys said. “I’m having a great time.”

“Gem, what are you doing?” Toni demanded as Gem shoved a gidym root into the blender, making it squeal in protest.

“What?” Gem shouted.

“What are you doing?” Toni repeated, louder this time.

“Making my lunch,” Gem called back .

“But you don’t like smoothies,” Toni said.

“What?” Gem said.

“Oh my god,” Oliver said.

“I’m really sorry,” Rusty said.

Enfys cackled. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll get out of your hair.”

The blender finally stopped—or maybe Gem had simply broken it—and Rusty said, “Take it easy, okay?”

“You too, handsome. Thanks for the food.” She offered a finger-wave to Oliver before shooting a mocking smile at Gem. “It was so great meeting you, Ges.”

Gem spoke through a forced, half-manic laugh as he poured the smoothie he’d made down the sink, “Oh my gods, words cannot express how much I hate that.”

“Bye, Rusty.” Enfys said gleefully. “I’m sure I’ll see you around.”

Before Rusty could respond, Gem was draping an arm around Rusty’s shoulders, waving several hands emphatically.

“Okay, buh-bye now. Can’t wait til next time.

Bye. Have a nice trip. Bye-bye. Careful in the station.

The platforms are hella slippery. Would be a real shame if you fell in front of a train. M’kay, buh-bye now. Bye!”

The moment the door shut behind the Lepid, Gem rounded on Rusty, Toni, and Oliver with a huffed, “Oh my gods, what a bitch!”

“Seriously?” Rusty said.

“I thought she was nice,” Oliver said.

“I don’t know who we’re talking about,” Toni said.

“The Lepid,” the Gem said stiffly. “Apparently, she and Rusty are, like, best friends. And she’s so pretty and funny and amazing. Which is just so great, of course. ”

“I don’t really know her that well,” Rusty said, but Gem didn’t appear to hear him.

“Yeah, okay, whatever you say. She was practically slobbering all over y—” Gem faltered, then pointed at Oliver. “Ollie. And seeing as he is covered in Liel’s pheromones—which she can definitely sense—it’s offensive. I was protecting Ollie’s honor.”

“I don’t think she was flirting with me,” Oliver said.

“I didn’t think Rusty had any friends,” Toni said.

Ignoring the jab, Rusty said, “I think you were just being rude.”

The fur on Gem’s arms puffed up instantly, his eyes flashing dangerously as he spat, “Oh, I’m sorry. The next time one of your bone-buddies comes in and sexually harasses y—Oliver—I’ll be sure to be extra nice.”

“Bone-buddies?” Oliver whined.

“Oh, gross,” Toni said, hands flailing. “I don’t wanna know that.”

“What? I barely know her,” Rusty growled.

“Well, I’m sure you’re gonna have a long and happy life together. Best wishes and warmest regards.” Pushing through Toni and Rusty hard enough he sent Rusty stumbling, Gem charged through the kitchen doors, and a moment later, Rusty heard the back door slam.

“What the hell was that?” Oliver asked.

“What did you do?” Toni accused Rusty.

“Nothing!” Rusty snarled defensively.

“I really don’t think she was flirting with me,” Oliver said. “If anything, she was flirting with Rusty.”

“She wasn’t flirting,” Rusty said defensively. “At least, not seriously.”

“Are you sure? ’Cause Gem is very protective, even over people he ain’t dating himself,” Toni said, crossing his arms over his chest. “This one time, in secondary, Connor started flirting with our friend Bikki. But Tyn had a huge crush on Bikki, and Tyn and Gem were childhood friends. Oh, Gem ripped Connor a new asshole in front of the whole lunchroom. It was awesome.”

Toni’s grin glitched. “Never knew if he was defending Tyn’s territory or if it was ’cause he and Bikki had a little thing the year before and he was still trying to get over it. Sometimes, it’s hard to tell. Gem don’t get jealous often, but when he does, you wanna duck your head and take cover.

“Not that he’s jealous of you, Ollie.” Toni was quick to clarify. “He’s just protecting you and Liel because he’s your biggest fan.”

“Aw, really?” Oliver flushed, his freckles standing out starkly against his light skin. “That’s actually kind of sweet.”

Oliver and Toni’s conversation continued, but a strange buzzing had taken up residence inside Rusty’s brain, and their words turned to white noise. His mind balanced on the precipice of an epiphany, but he wasn’t sure if he was ready to realize it yet.

“I’ll be right back,” Rusty said quietly, uncaring if they actually heard him, as he drifted dazedly through the kitchen and out the back door.

Behind the cafe, he blinked in the harsh daylight, and it took him an extra second to spot Gem. He was curled into a ball near the end of the building, back to the brick, hugging his knees to his chest. As Rusty approached, Gem turned his face away, fur vibrating threateningly.

“Gem?” Rusty said, and Gem half-turned his torso to face the opposite direction. He huffed out a half-amused, half-exasperated, “Gem!”

Shuffling until his back was to Rusty completely, Gem released another dangerous hum. Rusty ignored it, slowly coming to a stop behind the ridiculous Araknis. Back against the warm brick, he slid down until his ass met the sand.

They sat in silence for several long minutes as Rusty rolled a cigarette.

He lit it and breathed in the spicy smoke.

When he dangled it over Gem’s shoulder in a peace offering, Gem hissed at him and smacked his hand away.

The cigarette flew several feet before it disappeared in the sand and smoldered out.

“Well, that’s a waste of perfectly good tobacco,” Rusty griped.

Gem didn’t respond.

“I barely know her,” Rusty said again, brushing sand out of his tail fur.

“Well, you have her number now, so I wish you all the best.”

Rusty bit back a laugh, not wanting to piss him off more. “Still, I’ll probably never see her again.”

“I mean, it’s not like it’s any of my business anyway. I just hated the way she touched… Ollie,” Gem said, and Rusty ducked his head with a smile, his chest swelling for reasons he wasn’t ready to face just yet.

“If I ever talk to her again, I’ll make sure she knows Ollie isn’t interested.”

With a sharp inhale, Gem’s head whipped around, and his large eyes stared hard into Rusty’s. Rusty didn’t look away, letting him search his fill. He must have found what he was looking for because his muscles unclenched and his fierce expression softened.

Cautiously, Rusty reached out and placed his hand on the back of Gem’s neck.

Eyes still locked, Rusty slid his thumb toward Gem’s pulse point, and without a hint of hesitation, Gem angled his head, baring his throat.

A purr erupted in Rusty’s chest, low and soothing, as he rubbed his thumb up and down the tendons running the length of Gem’s neck.

As the Araknis’s pulse throbbed against the pad of his thumb, Rusty massaged his scent into his dark skin. And all at once, they both relaxed. Gem’s eyes closed, his fur vibrating in contentment, and Rusty smiled .

When Gem opened his eyes, their gazes met. Rusty read the questions there, but Gem didn’t ask them, so he didn’t answer. They sat in silence, eyes locked, for a long time.