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Chapter 1 - Poppy
It wasn’t the heat, it was the sunny glare in my eyes that drove me to seek out shade. The zoo was, predictably, crowded for a weekend but that worked just fine for me - unlike most of the people here, I was watching the visitors, not the animals. An annoying prickling sweat was starting under the straps of my backpack, which I shrugged off, letting the barely-there breeze slide across my damp t-shirt.
After a few claustrophobic minutes, I cut through the meandering crowd to my favorite destination: a wide, low wall outside the tortoise enclosure. Situated kitty-corner to a busy intersection of foot paths, it was the ideal place to perch for people-watching and sketching. I plunked down cross-legged, wordlessly claiming the space, and unzipped my backpack to retrieve my sketchbook and pencil case.
Taking a deep, slow breath, I lost myself in tracing vague shapes to build on, enjoying the soft sensation of repetition, graphite on smooth paper. Every few minutes, I took some quick glances at my unwitting models as they oohed and ahhed over the marmosets.
An hour later, I’d managed to sketch out a family with an adorably precocious little girl in pigtails and a striking older gentleman resting on his cane. I set my pencil down, my eyes aching from squinting, and my throat painfully dry. Even in the shade, the early May heat was just oppressive enough to notice on a prolonged outing and the fine hair at my temples was already plastered to my skin. Patting the side of my backpack for the looped top of my water bottle, I sighed. My full travel bottle was still sitting on the kitchen counter, waiting patiently to be slid into that empty side pocket.Of course.
Glancing between the restroom water fountain across the way and down to my belongings, I frowned. I really didn’t want to pack it all up just to trek across the crossroad area for a few seconds. I was just scanning the crowd and weighing the risk of a quick trip when a smooth male voice cut through the murmur of the crowd.
“Hey, Red!” I squeezed my eyes closed, straightening my shoulders from where they’d instinctively hunched. Oh good, some asshole that was going to hit on me and struggle to take no for an answer. Christ, even the frigging zoo wasn’t safe.
My fire engine red-dyed hair wasn’t meant to make me a wallflower, obviously, but I hadn’t realized it would make me a beacon for douchecanoes, too. College, at least walking the campus between classes, had become nearly unbearable with the sheer number of thirsty interactions. I plastered on my best ‘thanks but no thanks’ smile and queued a hasty excuse to leave on my tongue as I looked up.
The soft thomp-thomp sound of balloons gently bouncing off one another greeted her, the inflatables in question hovering over a dazzling smile. I swallowed that hasty excuse down my dry throat like a stubborn pill when I saw the man holding them.
The epitome of tall, dark, and handsome standing in front of me managed a hotness quotient that overrode the corny old-timey red-and-white striped vest he wore. The zoo had been trying out a vintage aesthetic for their vendors this year. What had looked cheap and gimmicky on everyone else I’d seen madehimstunningly attractive, from his glossy black curls to his impeccably-polished shoes of the same hue. A gleaming gold name tag proclaimed himSebastianin block lettering.
“Hey, sorry. I didn’t know your name.” His smile grew a little shy. “I wanted to let you know I’d keep an eye on your things if you had to use the bathroom. I’m just standing out here anyway.”
“The…what?” Flustered now, I blinked at him, looking in the direction he’d tilted his head. “Oh! Uh, yeah, thanks, but I actually just wanted to get a drink of water.”
Sebastian wrinkled his nose. “Damn. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, then. The fountain’s busted, some kid tried to stand on it yesterday and broke the spout. Could I get you a bottle of water instead? You look warm.”
I shook her head, turning to reach for my bag and sketchbook again. A light breeze took some of the edge off the heat, the soft, hollow sound of rustling balloons telling me Sebastian hadn’t walked away. I was oddly pleased he hadn’t.
“I’d probably get in trouble if you had a heat stroke, you know. Could lose my job.” His tone was teasing, and I smirked as I zipped up my bag.
“Sounds like you were on thin ice to begin with then,Sebastian.” I teased back, shouldering my backpack and turning to find him grinning at me.
“Maybe I’m on thin ice for giving out so many free balloons to kids,Red. Ever think of that?” He tugged the fistful of balloon ribbons in his grasp with a dramatic faux-forlorn expression and a lofty sigh. “If I got fired, it’d sure break a lot of little hearts.”
I rolled my eyes at the ploy but shrugged good-naturedly. Iwasthirsty, no sense being an idiot about it. What was he going to do, murder me in broad daylight? “Okay, fine. Can’t have you losing your job because I keeled over, I guess.”
“Well, I’m glad I’m preferable to sun stroke.” He laughed and rolled his eyes. “The guy at the snack bar owes me a favor and it’s time for my break. Join me?”
I shuffled her backpack on my shoulder again, my stomach tightening pleasantly at the sight of my unexpected companion’s deep brown eyes. Before I caught myself and looked away, I straight-up stared at his amazing, feathery lashes. They were the unfair sort they sold at cosmetics counters, and this bastard was out here flaunting them like some kind of influencer.
“Oh, sure. Lead on. I’m Poppy, by the way.”
“Pleasure to meet you, Poppy. What brings you to the zoo? I don’t think I’ve seen you here before.” Sebastian tied off his fistful of balloon strings on a slender looped post beside the bathroom building, nodding towards a tree-shaded path.
“Figure drawing.” I tugged my backpack strap and tilted my head towards it. “I have to check off a couple of boxes for my classes in terms of models, and I don’t like cooping myself up in a classroom. Makes me feel like…yanno.” I raised a brow at the monkey cages as we passed them.
Sebastian hummed his agreement, pace growing leisurely as we approached the long, well-shaded bridge that spanned the maned wolf enclosure. The musk wafting up from the ground below us made me wrinkle my nose; this was one of the less-pleasant realities of the zoo on a hot day. “How about you? Worked for the zoo very long? I came pretty frequently last year when I was sketching animals and I don’t remember seeing you.”
He shrugged lightly. “Yeah. My friend and I were traveling with a circus for a long time and there was - well, we didn’t get along well with management, let’s put it that way. Once we struck off on our own, we found out this place was hiring, and our carnie skills translated pretty well. So, here we are, melting in the heat right alongside you.”
“We? Oh, you mean your friend in concessions?” I shifted uncomfortably, prickly sweat tickling along my spine. I just knew my hair was probably frizzed beyond recognition, and what little makeup I’d put on that morning probably looked awful. But hey, Sebastian was still being flirty with me, right? Maybe it wasn’t that bad. Speaking of, why did his curls look so good? It would be weird to ask a guy for conditioner recommendations, right? Between those eyelashes and his unfairly frizz-less hair, this guy was seriously wrecking the curve, though.
He nodded, eyes searching for something up ahead. “Mhm. Keane’s got an attitude problem but he’s really sweet once you get to know him. Don’t mind him if he’s a little snippy - he doesn’t like the heat. Honestly, I don’t either, but I deal with it a lot better than he does. That’s why I take balloon duty and let him hang out in the booth. But hey - at least there’s air conditioning in there, right? I’ll smuggle you in the back so you can cool off too.”
Chapter 2 - Keane
I startled, chin nearly dropping out of my hand when the back door banged open - that was definitely Sebastian. He’d never quite managed to get the hang of doors after so many years of tent flaps and beaded curtains. I clapped the heavy dictionary-thick book I’d been reading closed, just in case a manager was with him, hurriedly dusting off the tiny burgundy flakes of dry leather that shed from the cracked spine. True, we’d gotten lucky with the sigils once, but we’d never managed to recreate that luck, and now time was running out. That meant I spent every spare moment I had researching, trying to tilt the scales in our favor. Tulpas weren’t meant to rule the magics of their masters, and our borrowed power was starting to wane - the threads of the spell had worn dangerously thin. I slipped the book under the counter and frowned when a bright red head of hair ducked into the trailer after Sebastian, rather than our manager Angela’s familiar dishwater blonde.
“Seb, who the fuck is this?” If I sounded annoyed, it was because Iwasannoyed. The interloper smiled and gave an awkward little finger-wave, cheeks flushed from the heat. My eyes snagged on the steel-blue of her own for a moment before they darted back to Sebastian, demanding an explanation. He knew damn well I was already on edge, I didn’t need surprises.
