Текст книги "Berries and Greed"

Автор книги: Lily Mayne

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Текущая страница: 11 (всего у книги 33 страниц)

“Good. What’re you going to do with your earnings? Are you going to buy that dress you’ve been eyeing up?”

I thought longingly about the dress I’d noticed in a shop window on the way to Deep Brew. It was a deep green dress with long sleeves and a high collar with a tiny black ribbon.

“I don’t think I’ll earn enough for that in one shift,” I told Violet.

“You’ll get the job,” she said confidently. “Don’t think of it as a trial shift. Act like you’ve already got the job.” She lowered her voice. “That’s what I had to do when I got here. Fake it ’til you make it.”

I chuckled, then noticed the guy behind the counter waving a paper bag in my direction. “I will. I have to go, Auntie. I’ve just ordered some food.”

“Of course. Go tell your demiurgus your news.” I could hear the smile in her voice. “I love you, Beryl.”

“Love you too. Speak soon.”

After hanging up, I grabbed the food and thanked the guy before leaving the restaurant. By the time I was running up our porch steps, I was bursting with the need to tell Greid. The moment I stepped inside, I dumped the bag on the console table and wriggled out of my coat.

“Greid!” I shouted, yanking my boots off. “Greid!”

I heard a crash from way above. A few seconds later, Greid was stumbling down the stairs, almost slipping on the bottom step.

“What’s wrong? What happened?” he asked frantically, yellow eyes wide as he looked me over.

I laughed. “Nothing’s wrong. I… I might have a job.”

He stared at me for a second. And then, before I knew what was happening, he’d shot forward and lifted me into his arms. My legs dangled in the air as he squeezed me tight, and without really thinking about it, I wrapped them around his waist and hugged him back hard.

“I’m so happy for you, Beryl,” he said as I tightened my arms around his neck and buried my face in his hair, eyes squeezing shut so I could savour this. God, he smelled so good. He wasn’t even wearing his tent anymore, but he was still so warm and comfortable against me.

And I’d wanted to hug him for so long. And now… yeah, now we were definitely hugging. All my limbs were wrapped around him like a spider monkey, and after a few moments we both seemed to realise it.

I loosened my hold on him as Greid cleared his throat and gently set me down. My face warmed as I slid down his long body, and his ears wouldn’t stop fluttering against his hair.

“Um. Congratulations.” He swallowed and gave me a big grin, but he still looked a little… something. I didn’t really know what. “That’s amazing, Beryl. You didn’t tell me that was why you went out.”

I choked out a laugh. “It wasn’t, but I saw the sign in the window and just thought… fuck it. I’ll try.”

The nerves bled out of his face as he grinned wider and gently nudged my arm. “See? I told you. Brave.”

Only because you made me feel brave. I didn’t voice it, knowing it would expose too much. Instead, I grinned up at him and said, “And I bought you food. Big day for Beryl, huh?”

He waved a hand. “Fuck the food. Actually—no.” He grabbed the bag and turned for the living room. “Come and tell me about it while we eat. Where is it?”

“A bar called Abyss,” I said as I followed him. “Just down the road. Not far.”

“Abyss?” He glanced back with an impressed look. “Fancy place. Where all the yuppies go.”

I snorted. “I’ve heard. Have you been there?”

His shoulders hunched as he sat down on the couch and pulled open the bag. “A few times, yeah. Not for a while. Agma made me go.”

“Well, I can tell you about all the drunk yuppies I encounter after my trial shift.” I sat down beside him and grinned as he handed me a paper-wrapped taco.

“You’ll be great,” he said firmly, then stuffed an entire taco in his mouth, bits of shell falling onto his shirt. “You can handle them.”

I laughed, slowly unwrapping my taco. My hands were still trembling a bit, but now I wasn’t sure if it was because of the almost-job or the hug. “Can we do something tonight? I want to finally try shade. Celebrate in style.”

Greid’s eyes lit up. “Fuck yes. We’ll order a big dinner so you don’t steal all my food once you’re high and super hungry.”

“What?” I burst out laughing. “You don’t consider the amount we usually order big?”

“Not like big big. We’re gonna need a lot. But you won’t need to smoke much to feel it.” He grinned over at me slyly. “Tiny human.”

I punched him lightly on the arm, and he snickered as he unwrapped his quesadilla before tearing off a giant bite.

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Chapter Nineteen

Greid

“Food’s here!” I yelled up the stairs, a lit joint already hanging out of my mouth.

After opening the door and accepting the two huge bags from the delivery guy, I kicked it shut and yanked the joint out of my mouth.

“Beryl!” I yelled, smoking curling out of my nostrils. “Food’s here! Food!”

“Coming!” I heard her faintly call back as I went into the living room.

Smoking the joint hands-free—a skill I’d mastered years ago when I was feeling too lazy to even lift my arms—I sat down on the couch and started pulling out the food. Beryl had chosen Thai, but I’d also ordered us a pizza and two giant subs for later.

If she actually did end up smoking tonight, she’d want the sub. I knew this for a fact.

I would also want the sub.

I only ate a single spring roll as I waited for her to come down, which was incredible self-restraint on my part. Getting comfortable back under my blankets, I got the next episode of Our Neighbours the Humans cued up on the TV. We were almost caught up with it now, ready for the next season to come out soon. I wondered what Beryl would want to watch after.

She appeared a few minutes later with damp hair, wearing her onesie and giant slippers. I’d sneakily ordered her a pair in her size, but they hadn’t turned up yet. I was pretty sure I’d ordered something else recently, but I couldn’t remember what.

Beryl froze at the sight of all the food laid out on the coffee table. “Greid. What the fuck.”

“You’ll get hungry!” I said defiantly, sneaking another spring roll now that she was here. “Trust me.”

She snorted, rounding the coffee table to sink down onto the couch beside me. I immediately handed over her pad Thai then grabbed mine. Beryl had decided to try shade after eating so she had a full stomach. It was probably a sensible idea, but it wasn’t like it was going to stop her wanting more food.

Sucking down the last of my joint, I stubbed it out and pressed play on the remote, then waved away the smoke in the air with a sheepish apology. We settled back to eat in comfortable silence, occasionally chuckling at whatever unfunny thing the Aktonars and Smiths were doing on screen.

The moment Beryl set down her empty container with a sigh, I shovelled in the rest of my noodles and reached for the thin joint I’d rolled earlier. Glancing at Beryl, I saw her staring at it before she lifted her eyes and gave me a tiny, nervous smile.

“Hey, you know what we could have instead?” I said lightly, because I didn’t want to make her feel silly if she’d changed her mind. Leaning over the side of the couch, I grabbed the bottle of champagne I’d hidden there and lifted it.

“I ran out and grabbed this while you were in the shower,” I told her sheepishly. “For, um. You know. To celebrate.”

Her green eyes softened, and she briefly touched my arm as her gaze darted between the joint and the bottle. They were both equally new to her, so I wasn’t sure which would seem more daunting.

“No,” she eventually said, tone stubborn. “I said I wanted to try shade tonight, and I do. You’ll make sure I don’t smoke too much, right?”

“Of course.” I put the bottle back on the floor. “We can have that another night, if you want.”

“Maybe if I actually get the job?” she asked with a grin, then squeezed my arm. “Thank you, Greid.”

“You’ll get the job.” I picked up the matches. “Okay, so it might burn a little at first. Hold it in your mouth while you take a drag and then inhale slowly. Then hold it in your lungs for a few seconds before you breathe out. It might make you cough, which, yeah, will definitely burn. Hold on.”

I got up and went into the kitchen to grab us some sodas from the fridge, passing one to her as I sat back down. “Shade works faster than weed, so only have a single toke at first to see how hard it hits you.” I grinned at her. “You might go a little loopy.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’ve watched you get high for weeks. I’ve seen how you get.”

“I’m an old hand at this,” I told her imperiously. “But honestly, Beryl, you’ll be fine. Humans smoke shade a lot. They’ve done tests on it and stuff. It’s totally harmless, and it isn’t addictive, but if you don’t like the sensation, we’ll stop. It isn’t for everyone.”

“Okay.” She grinned at me. “I’m nervous but excited. I’m already feeling a little high from today.”

“That’s good. Not the best idea to smoke if you’re feeling super stressed out and edgy. Sometimes it helps take the edge off, but sometimes it can, like, exacerbate those feelings. I once got super high after a big fight with Agma, and I just sat there for hours, convinced I could hear my eyeballs swivelling in my head.”

She laughed, settling back on the couch and watching intently as I stuck the joint between my lips and lit it. After taking a short drag, I passed it over to her, my whole arm tingling as my fingertips brushed hers.

I couldn’t believe I’d hugged her and almost squeezed the life out of her earlier. She’d never told me it was okay to touch her like that, but… I didn’t think she’d minded. She’d hugged me back hard, her whole body wrapped around me, and my hearts had gone nuts. Hopefully she hadn’t felt them pounding against her.

I’d just been so happy for her. I could tell Beryl was struggling to find her footing out here in the real world. She was always so miserable after a long day of trawling through job listings online, until I managed to cheer her up by being an idiot as we watched TV and ate dinner.

Of course she’d managed to land a job by going out for an hour and just strolling right into the first place she saw advertising a vacancy. I had no doubt that Beryl could do whatever she set her mind to. She was just… awesome. And brave.

I watched her take a drag on the joint from the corner of my eye while pretending to scroll through DemiTV. I didn’t want to make her self-conscious by flat-out staring at her while she did it, but I also wanted to gauge her reaction and make sure she was okay.

She held her breath for a few seconds before exhaling a stream of white smoke, which made my gut clench. Why did that look so hot? She coughed a little at the end, wincing as the last of the smoke no doubt burned her throat. But as she passed the joint back, she grinned at me.

I grinned back. “What do you think?”

“Not sure yet.” She made a face and smacked her lips. “Tastes different to how it smells.”

“Yeah.” I took a long drag myself and exhaled slowly, relaxing back into the couch. “Tastes good, though. How’re you feeling?”

“Fine, I think. I don’t think it’s… Oh.” She let out a tiny laugh. “My head’s swimming a bit.”

“That’s probably a little from inhaling so deeply as well.” I passed the joint back to her. “Maybe one more toke and then we’ll wait a couple minutes.”

“Okay.” She took it from me, and this time, I couldn’t stop myself from staring as she raised it to her lips. My mouth had just been on that. And now hers was.

Insides squirming, I fidgeted with the blankets on my lap and gave her a tiny smile as she passed the joint back. A few seconds later, she laughed for no reason.

My mouth twitched into a smile around the joint as I looked at her. “Feeling it?”

“Yeah.” Her green eyes looked a touch heavier, and her lips were curved into a slightly goofy smile.

She looked so freaking cute.

“Hungry yet?” I asked with a tiny smirk. She snorted and smacked my arm.

“No.” But even as she said it, her hooded eyes drifted over to the pizza box on the coffee table.

“You know what’s a great thing to watch while you’re high?” I closed down DemiTV and went to my recorded shows. After selecting one, I hit play and grinned while Beryl peered blearily at the TV as a logo exploded onto the screen. Literally exploded, punching through a brick wall accompanied by the screech of electric guitars.

“D-Dewla..?”

“Deep Earth Wrestling League Association.” I smacked my thigh. “We’re watchin’ wrasslin’, bay-bee!”

Shit, the shade was getting to me tonight, maybe because I was already in such a good mood over Beryl’s news. Before I could get embarrassed over being such a dork, she burst out laughing and then couldn’t stop, which set me off until my eyes were streaming and I was struggling to gulp down air.

At some point, Beryl and I ended up facing each other from opposite ends of the couch with our legs tangled under the blankets in the middle. I was pretty sure we’d just stayed that way after I showed her the game my siblings and I used to play, where we’d push the soles of our feet together and try to overpower the other by stretching our legs right out.

Not much of a game, to be honest, and I’d always lost as a kid, being the smallest. But Beryl had cried with laughter at the sight of me with my knees practically at my ears so the soles of our slippers could actually meet in the middle. And at the sight of my giant feet stretching twice as far as hers.

Now, having just smoked another joint, we were eating our subs. The pizza was already gone, consumed mostly by me. Beryl’s head was turned to the side to watch the wrestling, but I was just staring at nothing through glazed eyes as I chewed my sandwich. It was so good.

When Beryl started laughing, I blinked slowly and turned my head to look at the TV, then blinked again. I couldn’t see what was funny. The Urg—who was my favourite wrestler—had Sinak “Big Demi” Bathan in a wicked chokehold, and was puffing up his chest and posturing as Big Demi tried to get free.

I wondered briefly if it had been such a great idea putting this on for us to watch. Beryl had spent the last couple of hours staring at big, beefy demiurgus in tiny skimpy outfits. My body looked nothing like theirs—not anymore. Well, not that I’d ever been that big. But I hardly ever worked out anymore, so I was just kind of lanky. Except for my little pot belly, thanks to how much I ate.

Not like Beryl’s ever gonna see you naked, I thought morosely, turning from the screen and taking another bite of sandwich.

I realised she was still laughing, so I blinked at her. Rubbing a bloodshot eye, she set down her sub and pointed at mine. I glanced down and finally noticed that all my sandwich fillings—an unhealthy amount of sliced meat and cheese—were falling out the other end of the sub and onto my lap every time I took a bite.

“Oh, shit,” I mumbled, leaning over to put the rest of the sandwich on its paper wrapper on the coffee table and almost toppling off the couch.

“Greid!” Beryl cried between snorts of laughter as I started eating what was on my lap.

“What?” I glared at her. “No point wasting it.”

Somewhere under the blankets, she shifted her leg to poke me in the calf with her big toe. “You’re so gross.”

“How is that gross? The blanket’s clean.” Possibly. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d washed it. As I stuffed the last slice of salami into my mouth, I saw all the grease stains on the fabric. “Well, it was.”

Gathering up the dirty blanket, I rolled off the couch and stood. “Want some water?” I asked as I shuffled my way to the door.

“Yes, please.”

After dumping the blanket somewhere near the washing machine, I filled two glasses and returned to Beryl. She lifted her legs in the air, taking the blankets with them so I could hand over her water and crawl back underneath.

After chugging mine, I set down the glass and pulled my hood up, resting my temple against the back of the couch. Beryl was watching me as she sipped her water, and I found myself staring back, unable to look away. Her green eyes were heavy, the whites a little pink, but still so pretty.

We stared at each other in silence, the sound of cheers and the too-loud voices of the commentators coming from the TV. Then her drowsy gaze shifted over my shoulder, and she cocked her head.

“Hey, I haven’t asked you yet.” She pointed at something behind me. “What’s that?”

I glanced back and saw her pointing at the drawn curtain over my nest. Nerves fluttered in my belly, which was stupid. It wasn’t like it was a big deal, but would she think I was total loser if I told her I’d literally built myself a blanket nest to hide in when I was feeling particularly shitty?

“Nothin’.”

She gave me a droll look. “I could just go look myself. Or… instead, I could go look in that closet upstairs—”

“Okay, fine. I’ll show you.” Better she saw this than my Room of Shame. I heaved myself off the couch and extended a hand to help her up. “So you really haven’t just looked behind the curtain already?”

“No, of course not.” She kept hold of my hand for a few seconds before clearing her throat and letting go. “You’re entitled to your privacy. I haven’t looked anywhere you didn’t show me on the tour. Like your mysterious closet. Or the door off the laundry room that clearly leads to a backyard.”

“Oh, shit. I didn’t show you the yard?” I started walking over to the cubby, and she followed. “Sorry. I don’t go out there much.”

“I could tell,” she said with amusement. “It looks a little overgrown through the back window.”

I stopped by the curtain and shot her a mock glare. “Demiurgus like their gardens to be all wild and stuff. It’s no worse than any of the neighbours’.”

“No, I liked it. It looks like a tiny jungle. I bet there are some cool plants in there.”

“I’ll show you tomorrow.” I highly doubted I’d remember offering that tomorrow, but hopefully she’d remind me.

Grabbing the curtain, I pulled it back to reveal the little cubby built around a stained-glass window in the corner of the living room. It was a pretty simple structure, but I’d layered blankets and giant pillows on the base, and covered the unfinished wood walls with tapestries. There was a little lip around the edge for lanterns—open-flame candles wouldn’t be too smart in here—and an ashtray just under the window.

“You made yourself a blanket fort?” Beryl asked, biting her lip.

“It’s not a fort. It’s a nest.” I gestured at it. “Get in and you’ll realise the superiority of a nest.”

She hitched up her giant onesie and crawled in, one of her slippers falling off in the process. I made a fumbling attempt to grab it, but there was no fucking chance when I was this high. Bending down, I picked it up and handed it to her as she settled down cross-legged and looked around.

“Okay, this is nice.” She looked at me. “Get in here with me.”

“’Kay. Hold on.” I went back over to the couch to grab a joint and the matches, then crawled into the nest with an embarrassing squawk of nervous laughter. “Seems a lot smaller with two people in here.”

Beryl shifted back while I awkwardly tried to get all my long limbs inside so I could pull the curtain across. We shuffled around, trying to get comfortable in the cramped space. Beryl almost kicked me in the balls when she stretched her legs out to slide backward. My foot clipped her knee when I hoisted a leg over her, and I mumbled an apology.

We ended up facing each other, leaning against opposite walls, with Beryl sitting between my spread legs and my feet pushing into the wall either side of her. My ears fluttered frantically as I cleared my throat, making sure my onesie hadn’t ridden up. I was wearing sweats, but… she was between my legs. A few feet away, but still.

This was weird.

And terrifying.

But it was also… really nice being in this tiny space with her, with the curtain drawn and the window shut to block out the rest of the world. I cleared my throat and struck a match to start lighting all the candles in their lanterns, filling the nest with a warm, soothing glow.

“Did you build this?” Beryl asked, running a small hand along the lip under the window.

“Uh-huh.” I lit the last lantern and blew out the match, dropping it in the ashtray.

“How come you built it so small? You can’t even sit up straight, and you definitely can’t stretch your legs in here.”

I shrugged awkwardly. “Wanted it small. I come in here if I’m having a bad day. You know, just feeling shitty or had an asshole client.”

She was quiet for a moment, then said, “You haven’t been in here for a while then. Not since I moved in, I mean. So that’s good.”

I shrugged again, keeping my head bent as I fiddled with the box of matches in my hands. Then I heard myself mumble, “Yeah, well. I dunno. I guess you make me happy, or whatever.”

There was a long pause, during which I wanted to kick out the window, wriggle my body through it and start a new life somewhere else. Then I felt Beryl rest her small hand on my knee.

When I reluctantly looked up, her green eyes looked glassy in the candlelight. But that was probably just the shade.

She swallowed, and her voice sounded a little thick as she said, “You make me happy too, Greid.”

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