Berries and Greed

She appeared a few minutes later with damp hair, wearing her onesie and giant slippers. I’d sneakily ordered her a pair in her size, but they hadn’t turned up yet. I was pretty sure I’d ordered something else recently, but I couldn’t remember what.

Beryl froze at the sight of all the food laid out on the coffee table. “Greid. What the fuck.”

“You’ll get hungry!” I said defiantly, sneaking another spring roll now that she was here. “Trust me.”

She snorted, rounding the coffee table to sink down onto the couch beside me. I immediately handed over her pad Thai then grabbed mine. Beryl had decided to try shade after eating so she had a full stomach. It was probably a sensible idea, but it wasn’t like it was going to stop her wanting more food.

Sucking down the last of my joint, I stubbed it out and pressed play on the remote, then waved away the smoke in the air with a sheepish apology. We settled back to eat in comfortable silence, occasionally chuckling at whatever unfunny thing the Aktonars and Smiths were doing on screen.

The moment Beryl set down her empty container with a sigh, I shovelled in the rest of my noodles and reached for the thin joint I’d rolled earlier. Glancing at Beryl, I saw her staring at it before she lifted her eyes and gave me a tiny, nervous smile.

“Hey, you know what we could have instead?” I said lightly, because I didn’t want to make her feel silly if she’d changed her mind. Leaning over the side of the couch, I grabbed the bottle of champagne I’d hidden there and lifted it.

“I ran out and grabbed this while you were in the shower,” I told her sheepishly. “For, um. You know. To celebrate.”

Her green eyes softened, and she briefly touched my arm as her gaze darted between the joint and the bottle. They were both equally new to her, so I wasn’t sure which would seem more daunting.

“No,” she eventually said, tone stubborn. “I said I wanted to try shade tonight, and I do. You’ll make sure I don’t smoke too much, right?”

“Of course.” I put the bottle back on the floor. “We can have that another night, if you want.”

“Maybe if I actually get the job?” she asked with a grin, then squeezed my arm. “Thank you, Greid.”

“You’ll get the job.” I picked up the matches. “Okay, so it might burn a little at first. Hold it in your mouth while you take a drag and then inhale slowly. Then hold it in your lungs for a few seconds before you breathe out. It might make you cough, which, yeah, will definitely burn. Hold on.”

I got up and went into the kitchen to grab us some sodas from the fridge, passing one to her as I sat back down. “Shade works faster than weed, so only have a single toke at first to see how hard it hits you.” I grinned at her. “You might go a little loopy.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’ve watched you get high for weeks. I’ve seen how you get.”

“I’m an old hand at this,” I told her imperiously. “But honestly, Beryl, you’ll be fine. Humans smoke shade a lot. They’ve done tests on it and stuff. It’s totally harmless, and it isn’t addictive, but if you don’t like the sensation, we’ll stop. It isn’t for everyone.”

“Okay.” She grinned at me. “I’m nervous but excited. I’m already feeling a little high from today.”

“That’s good. Not the best idea to smoke if you’re feeling super stressed out and edgy. Sometimes it helps take the edge off, but sometimes it can, like, exacerbate those feelings. I once got super high after a big fight with Agma, and I just sat there for hours, convinced I could hear my eyeballs swivelling in my head.”

She laughed, settling back on the couch and watching intently as I stuck the joint between my lips and lit it. After taking a short drag, I passed it over to her, my whole arm tingling as my fingertips brushed hers.

I couldn’t believe I’d hugged her and almost squeezed the life out of her earlier. She’d never told me it was okay to touch her like that, but… I didn’t think she’d minded. She’d hugged me back hard, her whole body wrapped around me, and my hearts had gone nuts. Hopefully she hadn’t felt them pounding against her.

I’d just been so happy for her. I could tell Beryl was struggling to find her footing out here in the real world. She was always so miserable after a long day of trawling through job listings online, until I managed to cheer her up by being an idiot as we watched TV and ate dinner.

Of course she’d managed to land a job by going out for an hour and just strolling right into the first place she saw advertising a vacancy. I had no doubt that Beryl could do whatever she set her mind to. She was just… awesome. And brave.

I watched her take a drag on the joint from the corner of my eye while pretending to scroll through DemiTV. I didn’t want to make her self-conscious by flat-out staring at her while she did it, but I also wanted to gauge her reaction and make sure she was okay.