Page 106 of Medium

I found Shane in the hallway to the bedrooms, at the end of the distance from Ellis the bond would allow us to be.

He opened his arms.You okay?

I stepped into his hug.No. I feel awful about it, but I can’t stop staring at their hands.

He chuckled silently.I guess being around Wonders all our lives helps Ellis and I not react to stuff like that.

We stayed in the hug for a few minutes until Pia shouted, “Manny and Ms. Jackson are leaving!”

I gave Shane a quick kiss. “Thank you. I love you.”

His smile was brilliant. “Anytime, and I love you too.”Weird hand phobia and all.

I smacked him in the chest as I left the room.

Ms. Jackson was back in their black panther form. Ellis pointed at them and said, “I put all of our numbers in their phone, along with Greg, Cal, Arch, and Dominic. Arch texted that Carlyle, Dimi, Mercy, and Garfield have checked in and are helping watch the building. Um, I haven’t met Garfield yet, but Arch was complaining about him not having clothes? Anyway, everything’s quiet so far.”

I hugged Manny and patted Ms. Jackson on their back. “Be safe, you two. Um, where’s your phone, Ms. Jackson?”

Manny laughed, and he gestured at them. “They just sort of put it in their pocket, without having any pockets.”

I didn’t think I wanted a demonstration. I looked at Ms. Jackson. “Call or text if you need anything. Um, did you try texting with your, uh, hands?”

They sat, curling their tail around their hind legs. Then they opened their mouth, and a raspy, grating voice said, “Yessss. Thankh hyou for the phhhone.”

My eyes went wide, and I gaped at them.

Shane muttered, “Holy shit.”

Pia squealed, “Ms. Jackson! You talked!” She ran forward and threw her arms around Ms. Jackson’s neck.

The rest of us crowded forward and congratulated them as well. I couldn’t stop remembering Ellis speculating about what Ms. Jackson’s human form would look like.

Manny clapped his hands. “Hey! Ms. Jackson and I have to go. Now that they can speak, there’s a lot of singing along to the radio they need to catch up on.”

“Wait.” Shane held up a hand. “If there are any victims you think would be better off coming back here, um, it’ll be tight quarters, but we’d be glad to have them.” He raised his eyebrows at me and Ellis, and we agreed.

Manny, sober now, nodded. “Will do.”

We all followed them to the door. None of the neighbors were outside to notice the huge cat getting into the passenger seat of Manny’s car.

I shut the door as they drove off. “Everybody ready? We have the list?” In addition to a new desk, we were replacing the entire bed in Pia’s room, as the headboard was probably from the 1980s and the mattress was almost that old.

“Wait! I have to get my Yo-Yo!”

We all followed Ellis into the bedroom. He’d put his sex toys in the nightstand, but his Yo-Yos were still in his duffel on the chest of drawers. I made a mental note to look for a display case while we were out.

“I’m taking this one.” He held up a silver and red aluminum Yo-Yo with a red skull on the other end of the string. “It’s called a Metal Drifter, and it’s got this cool counterweight so you can do tricks.”

He held onto the skull and spun out the Yo-Yo. Then he put his free hand on the string in the middle, so the Yo-Yo spun in a circle. “This is called a Pinwheel.” Then he casually threw the skull in the opposite direction and moved his hand rhythmically to keep both objects spinning. “This is a Butterfly.”

Pia clapped her hands. “Will you teach me?”

He flashed her a smile. “Of course.” Expertly he grabbed the skull and did some sort of sleight of hand to get the Yo-Yo to stop spinning and roll back up into his palm.

“That’s impressive, Ellis.” I sent my admiration through our bond, and I could feel Shane doing the same.

His cheeks darkened, and he kept his gaze down as he stuffed the Yo-Yo in the front pocket of his shorts. “Thanks. I know it’s a dorky hobby, but I enjoy it.”