I walked up to Inkiri, who was holding the apples up much like he’d held up my apocalypse backpack. They were the nice big kind, the ones Gran would’ve used for baking. I picked one up and turned it over in my hand.
“That’s going to be a long peel.”
My perfect mate grinned. “An R has two strokes. It needs much peel.”
The chair next to me scratched over the floor tiles, and Kinnek hissed with discomfort.
“Do I even want to know what kinkiness this is?” Vergis asked.
Charles sighed. “Vergis, lift that chair. You’re upsetting your father. You know how sensitive he is about loud noises and too much conversation before noon.”
Vergis rolled his eyes but otherwise ignored his parents.
I sat down next to Inkiri. “It’s really just a silly superstition my gran told me about. She said that if you peel an apple and can keep the peel in one piece, then you toss it over your shoulder without looking, and it’ll come down in the shape of your true love’s initial.”
Vergis took a sip of his coffee. “Sounds like nonsense. I’ll go feed the bunnies while you do that.”
Which made my bottom lip tremble. Yes, I knew the bunnies were there and why they were there, but that didn’t make it any better. I’d thought about finding their cages and setting them free more than once.
Inkiri clicked at me. I’d told him about the first bunny incident. I’d also told him about how I was feeling sad for the ligua. He’d not laughed at me, and honestly, it said a lot that he hadn’t. More than a small part of me had been afraid he might.
Nokim leaned forward in his chair. “Don’t think about them. Think about how it will soon be Santasmas.”
Vergis groaned. “Not this crap again.”
Kinnek made a sound that started out as a purr but then turned into a more human-ish sigh. “Grumpy morning Muffin. He didn’t get it from either of us, did he, Charlie?”
Charles was done with milking the almonds. I should’ve been more excited about that since Nokim had learned that the pulp was great for baking, meaning there’d be fresh cookies later today—he was currently experimenting with tomato cookies since someone had told him they were really a fruit—but then I wondered whether bunnies liked almonds, and it took all I had not to spiral.
“Evidence suggests you’re not a morning person.” Charles didn’t caress Kinnek, although his voice was soft enough to make me think he wanted to. Both his hands were occupied bottling the milk and leaving some out for breakfast.
“Hmm. Slanderous slander.”
Vergis looked at the two of them, which was a relief since it meant he wasn’t looking in my general direction for a bit. “And you two actually wonder why I don’t spend more time here?”
“You’re grounded, Muffin. You’re not going to leave here until I say otherwise.”
“You two are the worst.”
Charles wiped his hands on a towel before turning away from the counter and hugging Kinnek, who sighed happily and relaxed into the touch. “There’s some weeding in the herb garden I need you to do later, and I’m thinking the shed might need a fresh coat of paint.”
It was difficult to tell with Charles—he never gave away much of what he was thinking—but I had the feeling he was enjoying this.
Vergis clearly wasn’t, but he wisely went back to his coffee. I felt a tiny bit sorry for him since weeding sounded like it was no fun at all.
Fellisse and Lissir walked in then, and for the next few minutes, it was just everyone finding their seats and Nokim getting up no less than three times to get something that was still missing from the fridge or a shelf. Inkiri put his basket of apples on the table next to his plate, and I noticed he hadn’t just gotten the apples, but also a pretty sharp-looking knife.
“We have apples for breakfast?” Lissir asked.
Inkiri picked one up. “Yes. Peeling an apple without breaking the peel and then tossing it over your shoulder is supposed to reveal your true mate’s initial. And my mate has promised he’ll feed this to me.”
Lissir nodded while I blushed.
Nokim was back to tea experimentation—he’d discovered Charles’s stash of homemade herbal teas, a whole new world for him—and Lissir frowned after taking one sip of his nettle tea with almond milk. “It’s a special mate who’ll take the time to feed you. Nokim, should you ever want to be the one feeding your mate, don’t try with this. What plant is this again?”
I cleared my throat. “Nettles. They make your skin itchy when you touch them, and it lasts for days.”
“Only princess-soft human skin,” Vergis grumbled.
