Eight

Khush

"So...are you freaking out yet?"

We'd been sitting on the branch for ten minutes now, enjoying a companionable silence, and I couldn't stop myself from asking the question. I'd never been human, but I could empathize enough to know that I'd told Dustin a lot of things today, things that had completely changed his worldview. He was bound to be freaking out a little, no matter how well-adjusted he was.

"Maybe a little bit," Dustin said with a laugh, glancing over at me. "Not about us. I'm more sure about this now than I was this morning."

"Me too."

Dustin smiled, his eyes twinkling with mirth. Then he turned his head forward once more, as if he found it easier to talk that way. I could relate to that, since every time I looked at his eyes, I found myself getting lost in them.

"It's just a lot, you know? I never imagined magic could be real, never even gave it a thought. It's amazing how much is hidden from our eyes and we have no clue. I'm guessing there are more supernatural beings out there, living among the humans?" Dustin asked, shooting me a cautiously curious look, as if he wasn't quite sure if he wanted to know.

"There are. Most of them keep to themselves, though some species are more social than others. The supe population is very low compared to humans though, hence the secrecy."

Dustin winced, making a face. "I can only imagine what humans would do if they found out about the existence of magic."

I hummed. Humans didn't really have the best track record when it came to cohabitation. Hell, they couldn't even be nice to their own kind. Why would we expect them to treat us well?

"Exactly. That's why for everyone's safety, only a human mated to a supe—and in rare cases their family—can know about the supernatural community."

"It's a good rule," Dustin agreed, then glanced over at me. "Thank you for welcoming me into your world."

"It was my pleasure," I assured him, squeezing his hand. He smiled, and then chuckled when I shifted my tail closer so I could tangle the end of it with his legs.

"Your scales are so smooth," he murmured softly, reaching down to touch my tail and almost slipping off the branch.

I grabbed him, my arm tight around his waist, and he pressed into my hold, glancing up at me. "Thanks."

I shook my head, and went to pull away, smiling when Dustin leaned with me. Hearing the unspoken message, I left my arm around his waist, holding on to him as his fingers trailed over my scales.

"Next time, we should do something else from your bucket list," he suggested after a while, and I eyed him.

"I want to do something you enjoy," I argued, and he shot me a grin I was starting to realize meant trouble.

"I'm sure I'll find something I enjoy on your list."

I shook my head with a laugh, tightening my hold on his waist. "I'm sure you will."

"Come on, tell me some of the things you want to do," he urged, meeting my eyes. Whenever he looked at me with those blue blue eyes of his, I felt like I would do anything he asked of me.

"It's nothing special, just some human things I've always wanted to try."

Dustin nodded encouragingly, and I let out a soft breath before speaking. "I want to go to the top of the Empire State building, go to an arcade, a dog park, watch a play, go to a concert, any concert, things like that."

He hummed softly once I'd finished, then glanced sideways at him. "I think I can plan something fun for us for our next date."

"I'm sure you can," I said with a wry smile.

"It'll be hard to top this one, though."

"It's not a competition."

"It isn't?" Dustin asked with a dramatic gasp, making me laugh.

Dustin always made me laugh, and I figured that played a role in making him my perfect match too.

We chatted for a while after that, and Silas even brought us our lunch—since I couldn't bring Dustin to the dining room just yet—which we ate while sitting under the tree. The other supes would need a while to accept another human into the fold.

When evening rolled around, Dustin decided he should get going, especially since he'd left his cat alone for most of the day.

"She has her food and everything, but I'm usually home all day, so she has a bit of separation anxiety, and I try not to leave her alone for too long," Dustin explained apologetically, and I waved him off.

"It's okay. You don't have to explain yourself. I had fun spending time with you today. We should do this again soon. Maybe at your place next time? I'd love to meet Scrappy," I said, and Dustin brightened before his smile fell.

"My building doesn't have a lift," he said with a pout, and I smiled.

"Now that you know, I could just ask the headmaster to open a temporary portal in your apartment. If that's okay with you, of course."

Dustin's eyes widened. "They can do that? That would be awesome! I don't mind at all. Just let me know beforehand. Wouldn't want your headmaster to see something they shouldn't," he said with a wink, making me shake my head. Damn, he was so much fun. I hoped he'd never stop being sassy.

I insisted on walking Dustin all the way to his apartment building, which was only a few blocks away from the coffee shop where we'd first met.

Before he left, Dustin leaned down and pressed a chaste kiss to my lips, pulling away before it could turn into anything deeper. Then, he gave me a saucy little wink, turned around, and walked away without a backward glance.

I didn't move from my spot until he disappeared into the building, and even then Silas had to call my name three times before I came back to myself.

I might be the magical one out of the two of us, but I was pretty damned sure Dustin had put a spell on me.

Dustin

Scrappy made her displeasure known as soon as I stepped through the door, and I spent the next half hour petting her and assuring her that I was back, and that I wouldn't be leaving again any time soon.

I sent Khush a picture of Scrappy curled up on my lap, and he sent back a bunch of smiley emojis.

Me : I forgot to take a selfie today :(

Khush : It's probably better if you don't have a pic of me in my true form, isn't it? I mean, I trust you, but what if someone else saw?

Me : Well, I could say it's a filter, but I understand. Don't worry 3

Khush : It feels good to not have to hide stuff from you, though.

Me : I bet. I understand why you did. And I would've understood even if you'd had to wait longer.

Somehow, we ended up chatting for another few hours, even after spending the whole day talking. I'd never dated someone I clicked so well with before, and it was honestly a little strange.

How bad had my previous relationships been that this one felt so fucking perfect in comparison?

Sure, none of the people I'd dated before were my soulmate, but I had some seriously awful taste in men before Khush came along.

Scrappy stuck close to me as I made dinner, and my phone was in or near my hand at all times. My conversation with Khush jumped from topic to topic, some fun and light, others serious.

I told him how I was twenty-two when I'd figured out I was trans. How I'd waited until I finished college to come out to my parents because I'd known without a doubt that they wouldn't accept me.

Khush shared some things from his past too, like the reason behind his claustrophobia. When he told me his parents would keep him locked up because of his disability—apparently, most nagas can shapeshift between any number of human and snake forms, while Khush only had two—I wanted to go out there, hunt them down, and give them a piece of my mind. Of course, I was nothing before a bunch of powerful supes, but I didn't care. To think someone could treat Khush like that…

We switched seamlessly between topics, and by the time I slid under the covers with Scrappy curled up near me—a little bit of wet food had been more than enough to win back her heart—our conversation had turned to our firsts.

I told Khush about the first boy I'd ever kissed when I was thirteen, and about the first time I'd had sex at sixteen, and how I couldn't quite figure out why it'd felt wrong until years later when I realized I wasn't a girl after all, and how much it utterly turned me off when someone called my hole 'pussy.'

Somewhere along the way, I fell asleep with my phone still in my hand, and I dreamed of being back in the Forest and on a picnic date with Khush, with a unicorn happily tottering away in the background.

The next morning, I woke up with one very important question in my mind: were unicorns real?

Of course, I'd somehow managed to sleep in, so I had to rush around to do my morning business before putting together a bowl of cereal so I could be at my desk on time.

Then it was customer after customer without a moment of peace in between. My phone buzzed a couple times, but I couldn't even pull myself away long enough to answer.

It was only when lunch break rolled around that I finally got a moment to catch my breath, and I took a well-deserved moment to curse out the company I worked for. Because they hadn't checked their site for glitches and errors, I was forced to work double-time to smooth the feathers of all the customers they'd ruffled, and it wasn't fucking fair.

My fingers ached from all the typing, but of course that wasn't going to stop me from checking and replying to Khush's text.

Khush : Hey, good morning. Hope you have a good day!

Khush : I'm guessing you're busy with work. Make sure to have lunch on time, and let me know if I'm being too overbearing.

Overbearing? Oh please. I'd happily let him smother me if he tried to.

To spare my thumb some pain, I sent Khush a voice message instead of a text.

"Hey, Khush! I'm swamped with work today, hence the delayed reply. Stupid people messed up the website and now I have to deal with the annoyed customers. I'm eating lunch now, but thanks for checking in. It's not overbearing at all. Actually, it's kinda nice to know someone cares whether I eat or not. Hope you're having a good day too! I'll text you once I'm off work. Make sure you eat too!"

In reply, Khush sent back a heart emoji, which I grinned at for a whole minute, and a short text that said "I'll eat."

I took my time eating lunch, and returned to my desk not a second before the end of my lunch break.

To make the work easier, I drafted a few replies that I was using repeatedly, and my fingers thanked me for it when I was able to save half their work by copy-pasting.

Still, by the time 6 p.m. rolled around, I was exhausted. I didn't have the energy to get up and make myself something for dinner, so I figured I'd order out.

I still needed to feed Scrappy, though, so I turned off my computer and shuffled into the kitchen. After giving Scrappy her food—that she leaped on as if I'd been starving her for days—I groaned as I realized I'd left my phone in the living room.

Cursing everyone under the sun, I stomped my way back to the living room, then groaned when the doorbell rang.

Why? Why ? Why was God punishing me like this?

Ready to either cry or break something, I hoped it was a Bible-thumper so I could go queer-crazy on them and get rid of some of this annoyance.

Instead, there was a delivery guy with the most delicious-smelling pizza.

"You Dustin?" he asked, and I nodded mutely. "Finally!"

He handed me the pizza, gave me a finger salute, and left.

I closed the door, then stared down at the pizza box. Had I ordered already? Was I so tired I'd ordered pizza without realizing?

I picked up my phone from my desk in the living room, and found a text from Khush waiting.

Khush: I know you had a busy day, and I bet you're tired. Keoni helped me order a pizza for you so you won't have to cook. Happy eating! Go to bed after eating. We'll talk tomorrow.

I would deny it till my last breath, but I teared up a little when I read that message. I'd seriously lucked out by finding someone as amazing as Khush. The thought didn't leave my mind the whole time I ate the pizza, and I realized I wanted to do something special to show Khush how much I appreciated him.