He looks from me to the door, then back again.
His brow furrows.
“Give me a moment, blossom,” he calls to the door.
Then he comes closer to me.
“I don't want to hide you like a shameful secret,” he says. “But Solvi…she gets attached, and Shahar and I always agreed we would talk before I introduced anyone to?—”
“Closet,” I interrupt, not even remotely ready to be introduced to his very cute daughter as his girlfriend. God no. That would be totally awful…right? “I'll hide in the closet.”
Kaelion blinks, visibly relieved. “Thank you.”
He ushers me into the closet with more grace than panic, but still—it’s a close thing. I barely manage to grab my scarf from thetangle of bedsheets on my way in. The door clicks shut behind me just as the bedroom one swings open.
“Hey, blossom,” he says, voice soft and affectionate. I've never had a thing for dads, but the way he talks to his kid…it triggers my id in a very big way.. “You’re up early.”
“I was hungry,” she says. “And Flicker has been sassy all morning.”
As if she was waiting to be announced, I hear the rapid shuffle of six little feet on the floor a moment later, then the snuffling of a small nose right outside.
I freeze, catching sight of Flicker's green fur through the slats in the closet door.
Shit.
Keeping this secret might not end up being our choice after all. It might be up to a small, extremely obnoxious snake-rat.
Flicker’s fluffy tail disappears for a second, and I almost let myself relax. Then I hear a thump…a jostle.
A distinct click.
The closet door cracks open.
Just an inch. Barely enough to count. But I see her nose. Her ears. Her beady littletraitoreyes.
Flicker meets my gaze through the gap in the door slats and lets out a triumphant, threatening growl.
No. No no no.
I hold my hand out, desperate.No. Bad. Go away. Be a fucking mammal for once.
The door creaks wider.
And then?—
“Flicker,” Solvi says from the other side of the room, “what are you doing?”
Shit.
Kaelion is already moving. He scoops her up and laughs with fake innocence I didn't know he had.
“She’s been extra curious lately,” he says, petting her head as she tries to twist out of his grip and back toward me. “Sniffing around everything. You’d think she’s the one with the science background.”
“Baba…is there something in there?”
I can see his face through the slats, his golden eyes downcast for a moment. He doesn't want to lie to his daughter. I respect that about him…more than he knows.
Then he kneels in front of Solvi, still holding tight to a wriggling Flicker.
