Berries and Greed

“Yeah.” He looked at me ruefully, and his ears started doing that adorable embarrassed flutter. “I’m really sorry I’m late. I, uh… I overslept.”

I chuckled, picking up my suitcases to walk over to him. “Stayed up late enjoying your last night of freedom, huh?”

His face spikes flexed in a rush, the feathered tips of his ears rustling wildly against his hair. “I, uh, I just… You know. Time got away from me,” he mumbled, then repeated, “I’m really sorry.”

“It’s okay. Better late than never.” I was just beyond relieved that he was here. That it was actually happening. I beamed up at him. “So, ready to go?”

“Very fucking ready.” He glanced at the silent building behind me, his lip curling. “Let’s get away from here. I’ll take those.”

Our fingers brushed as he grabbed both suitcases from me, and I saw him give the initials stencilled on the front a double-take. But he didn’t say anything, much to my relief. Just ducked his head as his ears twitched before turning for the stairs.

“Wait.” I glanced down at his unlaced boots, then raised a brow as I looked at him sternly. “You’re gonna trip and break your neck.”

“Huh?” He stopped and looked down. “Oh, it’s fine.”

“Greid.” His eyes widened a little as I marched toward him and took the suitcases back. “Lace your boots up.”

His breath caught as he stared at me, and I wondered if I was about to experience the supposed dominant demiurgus nature from him for the first time. If he was going to huff and tell me that he didn’t take orders from humans.

Instead, he just mumbled, “Okay,” and hunched over to fumble with his laces as his face spikes twitched around his hairline.

I gave a satisfied smile to the crown of his bent head. His black hair was glossy in the sunlight and gleaming emerald green, despite being a wild mess. There was a lot of it, but it looked fine and soft. I’d never been overly interested in hair, but I wondered if he’d let me play around with it once we knew each other better. I’d bet he’d look awesome with space buns.

Once his boots were laced, he took the suitcases again and waited for me to fall into step beside him before we began making our way down the stairs. I glanced back at the compound once, desperately hoping I wouldn’t get cold feet and ask him to bring me back.

I was actually leaving. It didn’t feel real. I wondered how long it would take for it to feel real.

“So how was your last morning with the sex people?” Greid asked, making some of the nerves flee as I laughed.

“Emotional all around, I guess. They threw me a celebratory dinner last night.” I glanced over at him with a teasing smile. “To congratulate me for landing such a handsome and virile demiurgus lover.”

He gave me an unimpressed look even as his ears fluttered, but his only response was a grunt.

I chuckled again, then sobered. “It was sad saying goodbye to my aunt, but I can visit her.”

“Will you be able to stay in touch?”

“Yeah, once I’ve found a job and saved up for a phone.”

He went to wave a hand, almost nailing me in the side with my suitcase. After mumbling an apology, he cleared his throat and said, “I just upgraded, so you can have my old one. If you want. It’s the last model, so still pretty new.”

“Really?” I looked up at him, noticing how he kept his eyes fixed studiously in front. The fronds on his pointed ear fluttered gently. “I can pay you for it.”

“It’s just sitting in a drawer. You can have it.”

“I… Thank you.” I flushed, not really knowing what to say. “I appreciate it, but I… We probably should’ve discussed this yesterday, but once I have a job I’ll obviously contribute toward bills and stuff.”

He shrugged, then glanced over at me with a sly smile. “You’re one tiny human. I doubt any of my utility bills will go up much.”

I grinned. “How do you know? Maybe I like to take two-hour-long showers. Plus, I like food. And for the first time, I’ll be able to eat whatever I want. I want to eat everything.”

Greid let out a throaty laugh. “I like food too, and trust me, I eat way more than you.”

“Because you’re always high?”

He shot me a weak glare. “I’m not always high. I’m not high right now.”

“Your self-restraint is awe-inspiring,” I deadpanned.

He huffed. “I just like food, okay? Even when I’m not high.”

Smirking a little, I asked, “Do you like to cook?”

“Uh… no,” he admitted sheepishly. “I order takeout a lot.”

“That’s fine with me,” I said eagerly. “I want to try all different kinds of foods. What will we have tonight?”

He glanced over with a tiny smile. “What do you want to try first?”

I thought about it for a second. “Burgers. But, like, with everything you can get on top. Cheese, bacon, pickles…”

“You’ve never had a burger?” He looked back at the compound, now way above us as we descended the hill. His yellow eyes narrowed. “This place is cursed.”

Greid’s car was a tall older-model SUV. In black, obviously. He juggled with my suitcases to open the passenger door for me, which made me smile, then went around to load my luggage into the back.