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Then one day, Tommy came in while this was happening, and he kind of folded his arms over his chest and considered them both, taking it all in.
Tommy was a satyr and Dahlia’s roommate. They sometimes had another roommate, because there was another bedroom in their apartment, but currently, they were looking, and it wasn’t great because they each had to pay half of the rent, which neither of them could really afford.
When she took off her apron and scampered over to Tommy, because she was done for the day, Tommy put his arm around her and kissed her on the cheek, which he didn’t do very often, and she wasn’t sure what that was about.
The next day, Niles was like, “So, how long have you been dating that satyr?”
And she had to explain it, which was awkward. “We’re not dating.”
“Does he know that?” said Niles.
“Oh, trust me, he knows that,” she said, and maybe she sounded a little bitter about it, but she didn’t mean to. She honestly wasn’t bitter. People would sometimes act as though she should be, or that she should demand some sort of different arrangement with Tommy, but she honestly was fine with it. She didn’t see the point of getting annoyed with him. Tommy was going to be Tommy no matter what she did. It wasn’t as if he was going to change.
She could accept Tommy for who he was or she could be in a bad mood about it.
She didn’t see the point in arguing with him, really.
Anyway, she didn’t like conflict.
And shewasn’tbitter.
Niles drew back, furrowing his brow. “Okay.”
“We, um…” She shrugged. “He’s my roommate. Sometimes… stuff happens.”
Niles raised his eyebrows.
“But it’s not like that. It’s not a thing. There are no labels or strings or anything like that. It’s just a fluid, fun thing.”
“Okay,” said Niles. He thought about this for a while. “Seriously? You’re okay with that?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Uh, it seems like that kind of thing, it ends up being unequal usually,” he said. “One person has more of an emotional attachment than the other person, and—”
“Oh, and because I’m a girl, it’s me?”
“No, I didn’t mean it like that.” He spread his hands.
“It’s a mutually beneficial arrangement,” she said. “It’s not even an arrangement. We’re not anything. If he’s handy, I’m not necessarily going to turn it down. And it’s none of your business.”
“Okay, sure. Sorry.” He turned away and went over to one of the cases and started straightening the perfectly-straight sandwiches.
“Anyway, I’m not, you know, spoken for or something.”
“Right,” he told the sandwiches. “Right. Which doesn’t matter to me, because you’re twelve.”
“Exactly,” she said. “Never mind.”
“I didn’t mean…” He looked up at her. “I wasn’t jealous or something.”
“I know that,” she said. The conversation had gotten awkward and strange.
“I couldn’t be,” he said.
“No,” she agreed. “And I didn’t take it like that. I mean, we’refriends, Niles.”
“Yeah,” he said. “Yeah.”
