11. Ryan

11

RYAN

I did my best to choke down some breakfast, although I was too nervous waiting for that phone call to eat anything of substance. Griselda of Grigor’s Grimoires had promised me a call the next day, and the next day was almost halfway through. I needed an answer soon, whether it was positive or negative. I just needed to know.

Fate seemed to have listened to me for once, because immediately after I set my plate into the sink for Ciel to wash later, my phone, which I’d left on the table, buzzed.

“That’s her, I’m sure of it,” I told Ciel, rushing back to the table to grab it.

I looked down at the number, heart pounding, and nodded. “It is. This is it.”

Putting my finger to my lips, I turned my back to Ciel and answered the call. Poor Ciel hadn’t needed an indication to keep quiet, but he waited patiently beside me, as eager to hear the news as I was sick.

“Mr. Adler?” I still wasn’t used to Griselda’s deep, gravelly voice.

“Yes, this is he.”

“Wonderful. I’m calling to let you know that we have chosen another candidate for the job at our bookstore.”

My heart sank. “Okay, thank you for letting me know.”

“Of course, Mr. Adler. You were well-qualified, but we’re just looking for a little more knowledge in monster-based subjects, which you do not currently have.”

“I understand. Well, I suppose I’ll keep looking.”

“Good luck, and have a nice day.”

“You too.” I hung up and pressed the phone against my chest.

“Well?” Ciel asked hopefully.

I shook my head. “Didn’t get it.”

“Oh, Ryan, I’m sorry. Did she say why not?”

I sank into the dining chair next to me. “Apparently, I don’t know enough about different monsters to work at a monster-forward bookstore. Fucking one on the side isn’t enough to get me knowledge, I guess.”

I glanced up at Ciel, expecting him to be annoyed with my comments. I thought I didn’t really care, but a weight lifted off my chest when I saw his smirk.

“Perhaps you simply need a little more time and…experience,” he said. “I’m attending a dinner next week with some dear friends of mine, and I don’t think they would mind at all if you came along as my date.”

I perked up. “Are they monsters?”

“One of them is, yes. The other is a human, but his past work led him to interact with a great number of different species. I think you would like them both. What do you say?”

“I’d love to. Oh, Ciel, you know how to make anyone feel better, don’t you?” I jumped up and pulled him into a hug, squeezing him maybe a little too tightly. When I pulled away, I hastily smoothed out the crumpled feathers of his wings, jumping back in horror when one floated to the ground. “I, uh, I think you lost a feather,” I muttered.

“Another one?” Ciel chuckled and bent down to pick it up. “Here, have it. It’s better than throwing it away, is it not?”

“So, you’re okay?” I asked, eyes still as wide as dinner plates.

“Of course. We shed and regrow feathers throughout the year. Haven’t you ever seen a perfect white feather float down from seemingly nowhere?”

“Come to think of it, yes.”

“Those were all angel feathers. I will admit, I shed them more often and have a more difficult time keeping them neat and undamaged now that I live on Earth, but they still regrow. They simply don’t fall from the Heavens anymore — mine, at least. My brothers and sisters, on the other hand, still drop them from above.”

Uncertainly, I took the feather from Ciel, turning it between my fingers. “It’s beautiful,” I breathed. “I do have a lot more to learn about both monsters and men, don’t I?”

Ciel smiled, putting a hand against my cheek. “And so you will, my dearest. Given time, you will learn everything I have to teach you.”

I didn’t want to, but I left for my own apartment after lunch that afternoon. I would have stayed another day, and given the fact that I had no job to return home to prepare for, I could have. But Ciel was adamant about not pleasuring me again to make the next time we finally had sex that much sweeter, and I had more applications I needed to send in if I wanted to be able to keep affording life in this idyllic little town.

I consoled myself with the dinner Ciel promised to take me to next week. A chance to meet some other townsfolk was more than welcome, especially if the night ended with a little time alone with Ciel at his house.