“Just precious. Such a complimentary match.”
“You know,” Rusty said with a mischievous grin, “Gem told me that Zef said that they totally hug now.”
Hands on her chest, Willow audibly gasped, and Glyma smirked, tail serpentining sinuously. Even Cya couldn’t entirely cover their astonishment at the revelation, brows rising high into their forehead.
“My gods, that’s practically sex,” Glyma purred.
“Glym,” Willow chided, before both women burst into giggles.
Rusty chuckled, dropping his husky voice a few notches to whisper, “Apparently, there’s been a lot of slutty hand-holding.”
“Rusty, you gossip.” Glyma smacked his arm playfully before she and Willow headed back toward the kitchen.
“I think it’s simply wonderful,” Willow said, dabbing at the corners of her eyes.
“Is Bryce going to stay, then?” Cya asked as they booted up the register tablet.
They all exchanged worried glances, but it was Willow who said, “No, I don’t think so.”
“Perhaps it’s more of a temporary thing?” Glyma suggested.
“It’s Zef, though,” Rusty said, hands in the pockets of his baggy, black jeans. “I mean, they wouldn’t date someone unless it was the real deal. Right?”
“So Zef would live with him in the human realm?” Cya asked, and Willow’s eyes watered.
“I would be so happy for them, but I would be very sad to say goodbye.”
“We shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves.” Glyma rubbed Willow’s arm in comfort. “Zef never makes rash decisions, so even if they decide to move, it won’t be right away.”
Scratching the back of his head, Rusty chittered, almost sadly. “It’s weird, though, right? It seems like so much has changed.”
Willow hummed and nodded. “Yeah, a lot has changed, but that’s life, you know? It’s always evolving and growing, losing some things to make room for something new.”
Glyma’s hot pink eyes met Cya’s, and she smiled cheekily and winked. “You’re the young ones now.”
The smile-wink combo hit Cya full in the chest, and they blushed hotly, releasing a pathetic little giggle that they couldn’t suppress. They weren’t into women, generally speaking, but for Glyma, they could have been tempted to make an exception.
“I’m only twenty-five,” Rusty grumbled.
“Only for another month,” Glyma corrected.
“Oh, I didn’t realize Gem was that much older than you,” Cya said, and Rusty snorted.
“Yeah, that’s because Gem will probably be twenty-one at heart for the rest of his life,” he said, tone soft and fond.
“And you’ve been a cantankerous old man since you were a kit,” Willow joked, earning a sharp grin from the Pyclon.
“Godsdamn right.”
Glyma dragged several purple fingers over the edge of the bakery case. “We should do something all together soon. We’re all spread out and disconnected. I miss our game nights.”
“It’s true. The last time we were all together would have been, when? The Christmas party at Oliver’s?” Willow said.
“We all helped Rusty and Gem move,” Cya said.
“Yeah, but then Gem kicked us out so that he and Rusty could have weird cow sex,” Glyma said morosely.
“I’m so glad everyone feels comfortable bringing that up,” Rusty said flatly.
