“Yeah, hell of a week for—” Rusty scrubbed a hand through the shaggy fur between his ears. “Anyway, I haven’t gotten anything done out front. Sorry.”
“That’s alright. We can do it together.”
The day was stressful with Rusty and Abi, neither of whom were overly experienced in the kitchen, trying to keep up with breakfast and lunch orders as Dex and Cya manned every aspect of the front and dining area. Everyone worked past their normal clock-out time, even Dex, to help out, and Cya had never been happier to leave Purgatory as they slogged through the teal sand toward the train station late that afternoon.
A few evening shifters had come in early to relieve them, and the three Mammylions, plus Cya, collapsed into four open seats in the station to await their trains.
“That blew chunks,” Dex said, propping his foot on his knee and massaging the rough pads.
“Yeah, that sucked,” Abi whispered, prehensile tail holding up his phone at eye level so he could check his notifications without lifting his arms.
“At least I didn’t start any fires this time,” Rusty mumbled wearily.
“Has that happened before?” Cya asked, and the Pyclon held up three mauve fingers. “Unholy shit.”
Dex gave Rusty an impressed nod. “Pyrotechnic.”
“Pyromaniac,” Cya corrected.
“They were all accidents,” Rusty growled.
“Mypasylhad an arsonist,” Abi commented dryly, “but he only liked burning hair. Made our cave system stink something awful.”
Cya, Dex, and Rusty turned toward the Ophys, and Abi blinked his dark, filmy eyes, then he shrugged as if to say,“What’cha gonna do?”
“Pasyl?” Cya asked.
“Cave system?” Rusty asked.
“Um, out-of-pocket lore drop alert,” Dex said.
“My train’s here.” Abi stood and tucked his phone back into his pocket with his tail. “See y’all tomorrow.”
“Yve’s working extra this week,” Rusty said as he joined the Ophys. “Should be smoother sailing from here.”
Together, Rusty and Abi made their way to Platform L, and when the overhead speaker announced the train to Pride, Cya rose to head toward Platform P. When Dex didn’t, they hesitated.
“Aren’t you coming?”
“I’m heading home.” Dex pointed at the clock on the wall. “I skipped practice today to help out, so I don’t need to go to Pride.”
Disappointment sank to the bottom of their stomach. “Right. Of course.”
“You wanna come with me?” he asked, slinging his unused gym bag over his shoulder. “You did promise Jas that you’d come by more to practice HSL.”
“Okay,” they agreed far too quickly, and Dex’s ears perked up. “Hemersyn has vacation this week, so it’d be nice to not be alone in my museum house.”
At their vulnerable admission, the Lupyn’s expression softened. Not in pity—or at least, notonlyin pity—but in understanding. “You can come over every day, if you want to. I mean, I still have practice, so you’ll have to hang out with my sister until I get back, but you’re always welcome.”
“Always?” They knocked their shoulder against his as he fell into step beside them. “You’ll be sick of me before the week is out.”
He made a show of thinking it over. “Eh, nah. I don’t think so. You’re pretty alright.”
“Such high praise,” they muttered, making him laugh.
On the train to Gluttony, they sat side-by-side. Dex’s thigh pressed along the length of Cya’s tail, and under the guise of inspecting their bangles, he slipped several fingers between the metal and their skin. He was so warm, yet goosebumps pebbled their forearm where they made contact.
“Cold?” he asked, and they wobbled their shoulders noncommittally.
