My lack of taste is probably the only reason Icouldhave added as much as I did.
I force a smile. “So, why did you come here?”
“Right!” she barely says through a full mouth. “Hanna and her girlfriend, Owdocia, both agreed to take me in. You’re looking at a loyal and dedicated woman with two loving dykes for partners.”
I clap. “Your boyfriends won’t be mad?”
“I called them that for their own vanity. Fuck ’em.” She throws out her wrist. “But fucking them will seem so much more boring after meeting Owdocia. That bitch, Hanna, claimed a gynecologist’s heart during her year of medical training.”
“Oh. Are—are gynecologists actually uniquely good at sex?”
“Maybe her formal training didn’tmakeher good, but it’s a sign of her enthusiasm. And she’s enthusiastic.”
Lucia puts down her waffles to lecture me on theexactdetails of her night.
I take mental notes. Vincenza may not be medically trained, but she was trained by a veteran prostitute, and also decades of personal experience, so she’s already far ahead of me. I have an obligation to study and catch up for her.
Lucia puts a hand on her chest. “Ah, listen to me talk and make it about myself… when I’m so desperate to hear who you fucked at the festival, Catie.”
“I—Uh, w-wha—“ I choke on the sudden constriction of my every muscle.
“You justcasuallymentioned that you can do necromancy now? You’re not subtle, Catie. Come on, tell me who you fucked. Was it good? Were those those pancakesfor her?Is that why you have two piles of clothes in the corner?”
Fuck me. I didn’t even think about—It didn’t occur to me! Why would I be thinking about how her clothes…
“I-I, yeah, fucked a necromancer.”
“Your face is nothing but red,” Lucia teases.
“Shut up. You had a threesome! This isn’t impressive.”
“I thought you were asexual, so it kind of is.”
“...What’s that?”
“Not what you are, apparently.”
“Stop—whatever you’re doing to me! It was a one night thing, and… I’m not talking about it.”
She devilishly smiles. “Alright. I won’t ask. You’re bringing her on a date to the bar tomorrow, aren’t you?”
“What?”
“I saw the posters you hung around. You can’t tell me your new favorite necromancer won’t be waiting for tomorrow to get another taste of you.”
Great Ring, is she? Will tomorrow be a date with Vincenza? Will we fuck after?
But it can’t be a date in anyone’s eyes but ours. She has her lie prepared, a one-night stand made in desperation. It won’t be beautiful when she recounts it.
Lucia snaps. “Back to me, Catie. I want to be in on your drama.”
I swallow, considering what Vincenza would say. “No. Absolutely not.”
Vincenza smiles up at me from the couch. “Are you finally finished with Lucia?”
“I hope so.” I slither in, collapsing next to her. “I didn’t know I could feel the weight of my soul, but now it’s too heavy not to notice.”
She lifts my head just enough to start tying my hair. “Another consequence of necromancy. The warmth of the living will slowly become more and more repulsive to you. It’s still possible to overcome; Piero and his boyfriend are getting wed despite Piero not being a necromancer.”
