“A machine. Espresso.”
“Are you serious?”
Rathyn shrugs. “Everest told me it is customary to give gifts when being invited into someone’s home.”
I feel oddly touched as I set it on the counter and peer inside. It looks fucking expensive. I glance over to tell Cielo what Rathyn brought, but he’s busy with Everest, and it seems rude to interrupt them. Especially since he looks practically relaxed for the first time since he showed up through the portal.
“This is really nice, Rathyn. Thank you,” I say, and he nods.
“I did not want to buy this, but Everest insisted.”
I raise an eyebrow, the bluntness rolling off of me after years of living with Luca. “Yeah?”
“Yes. Cielo enjoys lattes.”
“He does.”
“I do not enjoy these, but my Everest insisted.”
“Well, I think he’s going to appreciate it.” I attempt to lift it out of the box, and Rathyn makes an off-key hum as he reaches out to help me.
“Humans are very weak.”
“We are,” I say, “when compared to you.”
He sets the machine on the counter, and I work on moving the odds and ends I have littering the space so I can plug it in. When it turns on, Cielo’s high-pitched song meets my ears.
“He is happy,” Rathyn explains as though I can’t tell.
“Yeah, he is,” I say, peering over at Cielo, who looks at me and grins. Everest’s gaze catches mine and widens when he sees what I’m doing.
“Oh, I brought beans. Rathyn, give them the espresso beans,” Everest says, waving his hand slightly.
Rathyn nods and reaches into his cloak, pulling out a surprisingly large bag of whole beans. The scent of it fills my small kitchen, and Cielo makes another happy trill. It’s a wonder how such a small thing brings him so much joy.
Humans should be more like him, I think as I set the espresso beans on the counter and then look at the machine. For an Italian-American, I am tragic when it comes to espresso machines, and I have no idea how it works.
When I need my caffeine fix, I either sneak into Gia and Amara’s place, steal from Luca, or stop by the café before opening the shop. I hate that I’m hopeless, but luckily, Gia’s coming over soon and she can help.
When I glance over again, Cielo’s giving me a sad look, his mouth turned down. It takes me a second to realize he’s pouting, and oh my god, it makes me want to read the damn manual just so I can make him happy.
“I promise I’ll have Gia set it up,” I reassure him. “We can have a latte later, though, don’t get offended if she gets snarky about it. Our family comes from Italy, and she has big feelings about drinking espresso after breakfast.”
Cielo blinks at me, and I’m fairly sure he doesn’t understand most of what I’m saying. But he seems satisfied enough, flopping back down against the cushions, though he’s mostly sitting up now that Rathyn and Everest are here. I can tell he’s still in pain, but I have a feeling that trying to explain to me in the ASL he knows will be too complicated for him right now.
Luckily, I have a solution to that today.
I take a breath and turn to the other Vyastil in the room. “Would you, ah…check on him?”
Rathyn stares at me and blinks slowly.
“He’s picking up sign language pretty quickly, but he hasn’t learned enough for complex conversation yet, and I want to make sure he’s actually doing okay. He seems fine, but I’m also not sure he’d tell me the truth if he wasn’t. He doesn’t seem to like admitting he needs help.”
Rathyn hums low in his chest and eventually inclines his head in a single nod. “I understand. It is a mark of Vyastil pride to heal ourselves. I will ask him. Has he consumed cum?”
I try not to flush. I’m not going to tell him I’ve been jacking off in a bottle for Cielo. That’s a little too much, even for me.
“Yeah. I’ve been able to get him some. He refused to take it directly from me, though.”
