“What about Vag Boy?” I said, popping the lid of my drink.
“Morreth,” Flea said.
“What?”
“Vag Boy’s name is Morreth, Buttman is Rab.”
“That’s right, Rab is my alterna-rabbit. This boy’s got quite the eye for detail if he can keep up with my love life. You need to lock that shit down, Tess.” I looked at her quizzically but she just waved me off. Flea brought over a bubbling tray of melted cheese on toast and placed it on the table. “Fuck, cheese toastie again!” She mimed vomiting and then laughed, “Ha ha, just joking I have no gag reflex left. You could put your hand down my throat and tickle my stomach and nothing.”
“I’m going to miss this, so, so much,” he said, flinging her a couple of pieces so they landed partway on her plate. “You think I’m cooking for you when we get back home, you’ve got another thing coming.”
“No way, baby. Uber Eats, here I come! A chocolate thick shake and a double side of fries.”
“Oh my God, shut up,” I said, throwing a crust at her. “Pizza from Giuseppe’s, deep-pan, super supreme, no anchovies.”
“Anchovies on my side,” Jez said. She held up two fingers and then flickered her tongue between them. “I don’t mind a bit of salty fishiness.”
“Or red chicken curry for Thailicious,” I said, “with rice and money bags. What about you, Flea?”
“Fuck, I just want a Jack and Coke and a snitty and chips at the RSL,” he said.
“Well, all this talk is making me hungry and not for yet more fucking cheese on toast,” Jez said getting to her feet. “Remember, don’t leave without me. You think I have no purpose, but really I’m the irreplaceable heart of this team and you’ll just fail at all your enterprises, only to come back and find they’ve crowned me queen.”
“How, in the name of fuck, can you think that’s a possible outcome?” Flea said.
“I’ve got skills you’ve never seen,” she said with a wiggle of her hips. “You leave me here, it’s the downfall of modern civilisation.”
“Just make sure your overworked arse is here in the morning. Say bye to Morrenth and Rab for me,” I said.
Silence settled over the house after Jez sashayed out. Fluffy came down the hall and chirped at me to pick him up. I wasn’t sure if he was domesticated or anything, but he definitely liked to be petted like a kitten. “So, you must be glad to see Ash again. She must be having a meltdown by now.”
I didn’t answer right away; I wasn’t sure how to. Survive, survive, survive, had been my mantra and I was just about to achieve my goal, which meant considering what came afterwards. I opened my mouth, closed it, then tried again. “I’m…I’m not sure I’m going home. I mean to stay. Of course, I need to see Ash and check in with her. I need some more gold at the very least, but… I’ll have Aravisian citizenship.”
“You’ve chosen,” he said.
“No, because this isn’t about a guy. I’ll be able to travel freely throughout this world, through all of the worlds connected to the portal. As a trained dragon rider, I’ll be eligible for a plasma spear. I’ve been training to fight for over a month now.” Flea’s eyes bore into the tabletop, the green depths coming to the fore. His mouth thinned down to a hard line as the muscle in his jaw worked. He pulled a cigarette from the hand-painted, flimsy, cardboard box and put it to his lips, lighting it with a quick jerk of his lighter. “Flea, I’m the girl who cut down Prince Damon. I can do anything now.”
He got to his feet, shaking his head, smoke exhaling in a stream from his nostrils. “You always were, Tess. I dunno what they’ve got you thinking here, but you’ve never needed anyone here to be that, none of them.”
He disappeared into the bedroom; the door shutting with a slam. I shook my head, dislodging a sleepy Fluffy who perked up when I put him on the table to finish off the leftovers. I gave the dishes a wash in the sink, putting them on the side to drain, conscious this would be the last time I’d have to here. I went to grab the tray from Fluffy but he hunched over it, growling as he gnawed at the crusty bits still stuck on it. I just backed away, ready for bed, but not sure where I should sleep when I heard a knock.
Keel’s grin was bright in the darkness. One arm rested on the door frame, the other held out a package. My eyes dropped down and I felt a flush spread from my chest, up to my face. My hands shook a little when I reached out for it.
“Hey, I thought I’d bring your dress greens over. We need to be in them when we arrive, so best to put them on beforehand.”
“Oh! Oh, yeah, of course. Will do.”
“So you all excited about visiting the capital? Ah, no, you’ve been there before, haven’t you?”
“Yeah, when I got sentenced here.”
“Right, I hope it hasn’t been too onerous?”
His grin was the smile of someone who’d worked hard for all he’d received in life but was enjoying the fruits of his labours. There didn’t seem to be any reticence or wariness in him and it was weirdly seductive. “Did you want to come outside for a bit?” I looked down at his hand and the offer there and without too much thought, took it.
He tugged me after him, laughing, forcing me to tuck the package under one arm or drop it. He stopped at some point in the clearing and we looked up at the moon, the spires with the sleeping dragons looking down at us like sentinels. “Tomorrow we’ll be at the Queen’s Showing. The place will be crawling with big shots and those who want to be one. It’s a waste of bloody time but Her Majesty likes it, mixing the powerful with those who protect that power. You’ll see Sephador, Her Majesty’s queen. She’s due to mate while we’re there, always does. Needs to make sure there’s enough eggs for the Choosing six months later.”