Berries and Greed

And another. Your Aunt Indi was here yesterday showing me her new glasses and it reminded me, when was the last time you got your eyes checked? You know I worry about how much you strain your eyes for work, kushka. Which also reminds me, Kiti saw one of your pieces in a magazine at work. She tore the page out for me. Why didn’t you tell me??? Must I find out about my son’s success through a bloody gossip magazine, Greid??

“Fuck, I opened the floodgates,” Greid muttered, scrubbing a hand over his face. He quickly typed out a reply.

sorry mom love you!!!xxxx

I huffed. “You didn’t even answer her questions!”

“She’ll call me later.” He stuffed his phone back in his pocket. “If I answer any of them now, she’ll send five more.”

I laughed and nudged his arm. “Well, at least you were a good son and told her you love her.”

I cringed the moment I said it. Nice going, Beryl, way to make it awkward again. Greid coughed and ducked his head.

“We should see if there are any other sporefruits in here.” He was suddenly in a hurry to get moving, his ears fluttering madly as he speedwalked away and almost knocked over a display of stained-glass lamps. “Fuck.”

I trailed after him, pulse jumping in my throat. “Greid…”

“Shit.” He stopped so suddenly I bumped into his back. “Look,” he hissed as I shuffled around to stand beside him. “There’s one right there. The little old lady found it.”

I followed his gaze to see an elderly demiurgus lady in a thick puffer coat peering at a big fruit bowl hand-painted with nightberries. Beside it on the shelf was another sporefruit sculpture—a single white mushroom, its cap domed and dripping with delicate black droplets.

“She’s not even looking at it,” I whispered, trying to push past the chaotic thoughts swirling in my brain. Just enjoy the day. Forget it happened. Forget that the best person you’ve ever met might have been about to tell you he loves you.

“It’s only a matter of time before she spots it.” Greid handed me the basket. “I’m going in.”

“Wait,” I hissed. Once he’d turned back to look at me, I tried to keep a straight face. “Are you going to fight her or seduce her for it, little-old-lady-lover?”

He narrowed his eyes at me. “Haven’t decided yet.”

I snorted and gestured for him to go ahead, trying not to laugh as he crept forward as if he planned on robbing the unsuspecting lady, who still wasn’t even looking at the sporefruit sculpture. My heart had slowed, but it still felt heavy. Full.

I’d gotten through a lot of shit in my life, but as I watched my demiurgus slyly reach around the lady’s head to snatch the sporefruit sculpture off the shelf, then shoot me a thumbs up behind her back, I knew I wouldn’t get through losing him.

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Chapter Forty-Four

Beryl

The following Monday was grey and overcast, but I forced myself to make the journey to Upper Birch after my shift at work.

I hadn’t lied to Greid about where I was going. I’d just… omitted some information. I’d told him I wanted to visit a store in another part of town that Corva had mentioned, so I’d be home later than expected. When he’d asked what store, I’d mumbled indistinctly and grabbed his head to give him a filthy, distracting goodbye kiss. It had worked excellently.

Buying my ticket at the subway station’s machine had been a little daunting, but I’d done it and felt stupidly proud of myself. And I’d only gotten a little freaked out riding in the packed train alone, trying not to bump into the tall demiurgus businessmen around me, reeking of expensive cologne.

The guy working at the sex shop had been super friendly and helpful, enthusiastically showing me a big range of products, some of which I knew I wasn’t interested in at all, like the whips and paddles, while others had piqued my interest and sent a stab of lust into my belly when I imagined using them on Greid.

I’d left the store with a plain black carrier bag, having spent a small fortune. Sex toys were expensive—good quality ones anyway, the store worker had told me. But it wasn’t like I was spending much of my money. Greid had insisted on paying for all the sporefruit sculptures at the market, shyly saying they were a gift.

So this was my gift back to him. I was going to give him something he’d always craved and had never been able to experience.