Smooth Operator
Kit/Kat
Salem and Oriel will be the fucking death of me with this… flirting.
I know they promised to let me tell the others on my own time, but neither of them seems capable of being careful about their newfound closeness to me. Just before X and Anton were knocking at the door, the previously laid back panda had me backed against the counter kissing my breath away—again. When he finally let go to stomp away, I was rumpled and messy, but my entire body was on fire. Salem might act like he’s got all the time in the world to do things, but he kisses as if that world is going to end any second now.
That’s why I ran to my room like a scared rabbit; I had to calm my pulse and my heart so they wouldn’t know.
X is looking at me suspiciously, though, which means I may not have hidden my riled-up state as well as I hoped. Of course, Salem is still teasing me gently, and that’s making it difficult to maintain my cool. It’s his favorite thing now, apparently, and I’ve got to figure out how to get used to it. I’d ask him to stop but… I love it and hate it at the same time, so my brain refuses to make that request. This shit is so damned confusing, and Idefinitelydo not remember it being like this with… the guy from the past, even before the incident.
“I’m uncertain Jasper will give a shit if you’ve been helpful,” Anton says before he finally gets comfortable in his chair.
He takes a moment to get settled when he comes into someone else’s space, I’ve noticed, so he occasionally seems like he’s behind in the conversation. Ithinkit’s because he’s figuring out if things are clean enough and how to arrange himself in a way that doesn’t irritate him somehow. I get having quirks that make it hard to adapt, so I usually ignore his fidgeting until he’s ready. Which he apparently is now, and I should probably stop analyzing shit in my head to avoid my squirming embarrassment from before he and X came into the room.
Not about Salem, just… I need to wrap my head around this new stuff before I can have it be a group topic of conversation.
A loud thud at the door makes me jump and I have to re-settle before I can turn back to Annie. Once I’m good, I smile at him. “You’re probably right about that.”
His response is a shy smile that surprises me, but I don’t have time to examine before Slash and Oriel come barreling into the room. Salem winks at me from the doorway and I extrapolate that he must have yanked the door open just as they were poised to bang on it again. The two demons trudge over to their seats, but not before each pass by my chair to ruffle my hair or pass me a…shiny rock?
“Oriel, what is this?” I ask as I hold the large, rough looking blue crystal up to look at it. “I mean, it’s pretty, obviously, but does it do something? Why are you handing it to me?”
Salem takes one look and throws his hands up, stomping back to the kitchen as he grumbles, “Fucking. Cheater. Goddamn. Bird.”
Now I’m even more confused than I was before—these dudes have more mood swings than people say women do.
“I believe,” X says as they squint at the item. “.. that’s an uncut sapphire the size of a racquetball.” They whistle low as they tilt their head towards Anton, who nods in agreement. “Bitchin’.”
Having never been given jewelryperiodprior to the collar still around my neck from our trip to the Fae realm, I would never have known if Xerxes didn’t tell me. However, I also didn’t live in a cave, so I realize this is really fucking big for a gemstone. I bite my lower lip, not wanting to make the crow upset, but ‘what the fuck’ is a fair question right now.
“Oriel, you have made Kit nervous by not responding.” Slash glares at the darkly handsome demon accusingly. “Do not make me come over there.”
I give the big guy a grateful look, but shake my head. “No one has to bully him because O will tell me what I want to know. Communication is important; we all agreed with that, right?” Using his words against him right now may not be quite as fair, but I do want to know why he handed me this damn thing.
“It’s… er… it’s for you. Nothing more, nothing less.” Oriel sinks into his chair with a petulant pout and my eyes widen.
He just gave me a ‘crow’ gift; this is some weird bird-demon courting thing, isn’t it? Shit!
I may have made a tactical error in drawing everyone’s attention to the damn thing. Once I realize that, I stuff it in the pocket of my pants, hoping like hell I can keep the redness away from the exposed parts of my body. It now occurs to me that’s why Salem stomped off yelling about birds; he thinks O is one-upping him or something. I mean, maybe. Damn, I don’t know! I’ve never done this girly shit before and I don’t have anyone to?—
My gaze flicks to Xerxes, who looks as though they’re the cobra that just swallowed a naughty mongoose whole. Sighing, I grumble, “Pop goes the weasel, I suppose.”
That gets a snicker out of them, and I wag a finger at the smug snake demon. They shrug, leaning back in their chair as we all wait for things to cook. Dottie scrambles over, leaving Salem in the kitchen as he hums to himself. She perches on my chair above my head, chittering a bit at the newly arrived demons happily.
“They’ll be along soon, girl. And Salem’s food won’t take too much longer.” I turn to look at the others with a sheepish grin. “It’s just a heat-up of something we made and froze just in case there was a need for a quick meal. Salem says I should have options all the time here since I didn’t have them before.”
Oriel arches a brow, his lips curved up. “He said that, did he?”
Before I can answer, the dual toned chef comes into the living room brandishing a wooden spoon. “People with smart mouths often get whacked in the back of the head, Bloodstone.”
I frown as I consider that. My mouth is pretty damn snarky, and I’ve managed to avoid getting clocked with wooden serving equipment so far. Amazing given the fact that I was in the system my whole life, but it’s actually true. “I don’t think you need to whack him for being a jackass. Otherwise, I’d spend all day every daywhacking?—”
The door flies open without a single request for entry, and the very subject of my sarcastic sentences stalks in like he owns the place. He looksextremelyamused as he heads for his throne-like chair with Zav trailing behind him, and once he flops down onto the cushions, he arches a brow at me. “What were you saying, shrimp? I’mdyingto know what the end of that sentence is.”
Uh, weird, because I was being snotty about him, but okay.
“I was instructing Salemnotto clonk Oriel for being a smartass. I said if everyone with a smart mouth got whacked for it, I’d spend all day every day whacking… you…” My entire body freezes when I hear my words out loud. I certainly didnotintend to convey the meaning that has him smirking so hard that he might injure himself. “Oh, fuck off, Jasper! That’s not what I meant at all.”
