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Greid rolled his eyes. “D-bag.”

I chuckled, relaxing slightly. We all teased each other good-naturedly, so this felt familiar. Greid was just shy. He’d always been shy. He probably shouldn’t have been so shy with his own brother, but… whatever.

“So uh, what did you want to talk to me about?” he asked, one of his hands wrapped around Beryl’s leg as she munched on her bagel and watched me. God, why was she always watching me? What did she actually think I was going to do?

“Uh, well…” I glanced at her again. I didn’t really want to talk about this in front of her. “It’s kind of…”

“I better get to work.” She swallowed the last of her bagel and leaned down to kiss Greid. “I’ll see you later.”

“Okay.” He reluctantly let go of her leg as she bent down to smooth her hand over the top of Jake’s head. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” She kissed Greid again, then gave me a smile with just a hint of warning in it as she said, “Bye, Pooni. Nice to see you.”

I narrowed my eyes at her back as she turned to leave the room. “Yeah. Bye, Beryl.”

I definitely needed to think of a nickname for her.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Nuni

N either Greid nor I said anything as we listened to Beryl put on her shoes and jacket by the front door, then grab her keys.

The moment I heard the door slam shut, I scooted to the edge of my seat. “Okay, real talk. Bro to bro.”

Greid groaned, eyes rolling up to the ceiling as he slumped back in the beanbag. “You’re such a d-bag.”

“Yeah, sure, whatever. I do need to talk to you about something, dude.”

“Okay,” he said shortly. “What?”

“Uh, well…” I rubbed my hands down my thighs. “I’ve kind of… been seeing this human lady.”

He stared at me in surprise. “Oh. Right.”

“Yeah. And, um, it’s great and everything. But I was wondering if you could tell me… uh, well, how… you and Beryl have sex.”

His face froze in a mask of utter disbelief. “Fucking pardon?”

“Penetrative sex, I mean. How it works with a human and demiurgus. There has to be a way, right?”

Greid spluttered, his ears fluttering wildly. “Dude, I am not talking to you about mine and Beryl’s sex life!”

I made a face. “Why not? I’m not asking for details, man. I don’t want specifics on how you two get your kicks. I just want to know how actual penetration works. Logistically. Between demiurgus and human.”

Greid muttered something under his breath and reached for his smoking tin on the coffee table.

“Come on, bro, who else can I ask about this?” I threw my hands in the air. “Do you see any other interspecies couples around here?”

“Look, just—” He scrubbed a hand over his face before shoving a joint in his mouth and striking a match. After lighting it and taking a deep drag, the sickly sweet scent making my nose wrinkle, he asked, “Shouldn’t you be talking to her about this? Not me? Just ask her.”

“She doesn’t know any better than I do. She hasn’t done this before either.” I sat back and shrugged, trying to look casual and not like I was desperate for any wisdom he could impart. “And I want to go in there knowing what the fuck I’m doing. I’ve got a reputation, bro.”

Greid snorted, smoke curling out of his nostrils. “No you fucking don’t.”

“Uh, yeah, I do.”

“And what reputation is that?”