by R. Cooper
Clematis waited for a few seconds in case Flor had forgotten something, but Flor didn’t return. Flor was pretty good about things like that, but he had been keeping David for years, and David was absentminded as far as humans went, so Flor must have forced himself to focus more than the average fairy.
Until Flor, Clematis had never met a fairy who had chosen to keep anyone at such a young age. From what he could tell, Flor and David had known each other almost their entire lives. He had assumed at first that they were together. Everyone did. Except for possibly Tulip, but Tulip was older and smarter than most of the fairies in Madera.
Clematis didn’t like to think about Tulip and avoided doing it now by separating his coupons into piles. His phone buzzed in his pocket, but he waited until his piles were neat and it buzzed again before he checked it.
Eat, Flor said, then, This is Flor.
He must not remember everyone exchanging numbers last year when some of them had made plans to go up north to that town of werewolves on a car trip. Though Flor hadn’t gone. Neither had Clematis. Stephanie had enjoyed herself, though.
Clematis had seen Kirkpatrick’s erotica and visited some of the more disreputable websites like fangandfur.com, but in general, werewolves were not for him. They chose partners only partly based on sight, and anyway, not too many of them came into cities for any length of time.
But maybe Flor was right and Clematis should treat himself. It might be nice to have sex, more than just a few minutes in a car with someone he didn’t really know. He could call Stephanie, but she was probably still ticked that he hadn’t let her know right away that he had passed his test. Flor was probably on his way to fuck his troll right now. Size difference or not, Clematis did not imagine Flor bottomed a lot. If he did, he’d be as bossy as ever—rude and sort of bratty, but kind and soft and concerned at the same time. He would say You did good and make it true.
Clematis caught his breath and stared down at his coupons. He had to sort out the ones that had expired and work on a better system for remembering them like Flor had suggested. That was good. Nothing else. Flor wouldn’t like to think of Clematis imagining anything like that about him. Flor barely tolerated Clematis as it was, and that was mostly because Flor wasn’t really ready to face Tulip and David the happy couple yet, and spending time with Clematis let him have distance.
But Clematis put his coupons away, then sat back. His temporary license was still open, sticky at one corner.
“Amazing,” he said quietly, and shivered.
HE FOUND two coupons for Wilson’s Old-Fashioned sodas and set them both aside for later. He also read half a chapter from an anthro textbook from two years ago, made brownies from a mix, gave three to Mrs. Galarza, and spent the rest of his night watching game show reruns with her.
Flor sent him another text around 4:00 a.m. Out huh? Hope you ate.
Clematis finished off the brownies in the pan before he answered. I ate. Thank you. Even if he could lie to Flor, he didn’t want to.
Chapter 3
HE WOKE up after a refreshing three hours of sleep to no response from Flor, but he hadn’t really expected one, so he didn’t let it bother him. He stretched and showered and put on respectable human clothes and was down the street before he realized he’d forgotten breakfast again, which meant he should go see Lis.
Luckily, he had time. That was something he’d learned in trying to keep his job at the institute. Human jobs with human workers expected employees to always be on time and to not get distracted by shop windows and puppies and the early-morning sun turning droplets of water spilling out of an open fire hydrant into a shower of rainbows. So Clematis tried to always leave early.
Lis, spelled with an s but pronounced like it was French, worked behind the counter at Sugarbuns Baking Co., the cute bakery-slash-coffee shop on University that Flor had mentioned. Clematis wasn’t sure if she co-owned it or managed it, but she seemed to always be there, in shorts or tight jeans and a thin tank top beneath her apron.
She smiled at him from behind one of the glass counters while she boxed up some pastries for a line of customers. Randolph was working the espresso machine, and two more elves worked in the kitchen, along with Jennifer, the human who made elaborate princess and wedding cakes.
Lis was tiny, with long, gorgeous brown hair that hung in curls down her back and never ever seemed to get in her face. Clematis had tried to grow his hair out once, but his loose waves never went past his neck. Lis claimed all that hair was a pain, but her ponytails were always perfect. Her skin was light but dusted with orange and brown freckles that matched the curving stripes in her wings. Her eyes were a startling dark green. She looked like some kind of lily; only Flor would know which.
She also had faint wrinkles at the corners of her eyes and small thread of silver in her hair. She might be approaching seventy, although Clematis had never asked.
“Hey, Lis!” he called out. Sugarbuns must have been a bar at some point, because they had left the bar seating along one wall and over by the espresso machine. So he hopped up on a stool and waited.
“Dollface!” she shouted. “Give me a minute!”
Randolph rolled his eyes as he expertly crafted six different drinks, then snapped his fingers at Clematis until he ordered. He had just set the cup down in front of him when Lis came over and took it and drank it. Randolph merely sighed and started another one.
Lis pushed a sticky bun on a pink plate with a white paper doily and a fork toward Clematis. “Eat, kiddo. You’re paler than ever. The only time I’ve ever seen anyone with sparkle that pale was this one fairy after his human dumped him, and my son at the worst of his pining—although he was never quite this bad.”
“I’ve never had a lot of sparkle.” Clematis used his fingers to tear his sticky bun into little pieces and hummed after the first bite. “I’ve told you that before. This is really good.”
“I will pass that on to the others.” Lis stepped back to sweep a look over him. “I haven’t seen you in at least a week. Been busy?”
“Work.” Clematis ducked his head as he quietly thanked Randolph for his latte. “I got a driver’s license. A fairy one, obviously.”
“What?” Lis was loud enough to make several people turn in their direction. She grinned, revealing cute dimples to match her slightly upturned nose. “Sweetie, you continue to surprise! That’s wonderful!”
“It’s for work.” Clematis burned his tongue with his first sip but ignored it and had another.
“So?” Lis was still smiling. “You still did it. They didn’t want you to, did they?” Her smile faded at the edges. “But you did it. I’m going to get you a cinnamon roll.” She floated off in a haze of deep purple glitter.
Clematis stared after her, then turned sharply toward a familiar splash of bright colors.
Flor was in the doorway, talking to a human in coveralls with Madera West Nursery written on the front. Flor was wearing pants and dirty work boots, but no shirt. Gloves stuck out of his side pocket. The human with him laughed, and then her phone rang, and she muttered something before dashing outside.
Flor danced in place for a second, torn between which pastry display to look at first, then glanced over and saw Clematis. He gestured widely as he came over. “You come here?”
“I try to support businesses that hire beings.” Clematis held out his latte. Flor blinked a few times, squinted suspiciously, but ultimately took it and had a taste.
“Needs more sugar,” he complained. He had another sip before handing it back. “Caramel today? Nice.” He peered at the pink plate. “Breakfast? That’s good.”
“Who’s your friend?” Lis had a soft, easy voice, but Clematis jumped as he turned toward her.
“This is Flor de Maga,” Clematis introduced them. “Flor, this is Lis.”
“I’ve seen you in here before.” Lis narrowed her eyes at Flor. If Flor was bothered by an older fairy studying him critically, he gave no sign. Lis shoved a new plate, complete with
cinnamon roll, at Clematis. “I know!” she announced. “You come in with the shiny one!”
“David?” Flor’s smile split his face in half. “Yeah. We used to come here before his classes sometimes. He likes the muffins.” His smile faltered. His glitter didn’t.
“I didn’t know you knew Dollface here.” Lis put her elbows on the counter, her expression sharp.
“Dollface?” Flor glanced between the two of them. “You mean Clematis? We’ve known each other for years. But we’re not—” He looked between Clematis and Lis again. “Are you two friends?”
“Lis is from Los Cerros too,” Clematis explained. “Although I didn’t know her there.”
“You’re from Los Cerros?” Flor asked in a blank voice. “I didn’t know that.” It seemed to bother him.
Clematis didn’t see why it would. “Why would you?”
“Because—” Flor stopped there, probably because whatever they were, it wasn’t friends.
“Lis also makes sure I eat,” Clematis assured him. “See? Plenty of sugar in my coffee.”
“I do that,” Randolph cut in from the espresso machine. “She just sees that I get paid to do it.”
“Why are you even drinking coffee?” Flor jumped on that, frowning for a moment. “Oh, right, because you’re old.”
“Excuse me?” Lis’s eyes were wide.
“I’m not old!” Clematis straightened his back. “I just like something to go with the sweet.”
“Yeah, like my parents. I bet you love black licorice.” Flor sighed dramatically. “Next you’ll be eating real food.”
Clematis considered that. “Do cornbread waffles count?”
“Who are you?” Flor’s gasp was so loud it made one of the elves poke their head out from the kitchen.
“You would like cornbread waffles, Flor.” Clematis huffed, unimpressed. Flor when he was teasing and Flor genuinely ticked off were very different things. “Real waffles. Not frozen. With actual syrup. I have a waffle iron.” It had a timer with automatic shutoff.
Flor lifted his chin and arched an eyebrow. “Did you get it with a coupon?” He had a gleam in his eyes.
Clematis crossed his arms over his chest. “It was on sale.”
“Of course it was.” Flor nodded sympathetically.
“I can tell you’re making fun of me.” Clematis glowered, but it was difficult when Flor could no longer hide his smile.
“Never!” Flor insisted. “Clematis the fairy, once described by an art student as a ‘wicked forest prince,’ buying a waffle iron on sale is the best thing I’ve ever heard.”
“It was a really good sale!” Clematis slouched down and pouted.
“Nothing to say about the forest prince part, though,” Flor observed.
Clematis shrugged. “I used to model for the art classes for extra money. Most of those students said similar things.”
“This is a delight,” Lis said, her chin in her hands. “Flor, my new favorite person, the marshmallows in my cocoa, the honey on my biscuits, can I get you anything?”
Flor, who had floated up off his feet, descended to the floor. “Oh. Yeah, uh, a couple of chocolate cupcakes and Bette wanted a cappuccino to go. How do you get him to eat?”
“Oh that.” Lis waved dismissively as she went over to grab the cupcakes. “I’m familiar with fussy children.”
Clematis gave her a hurt look and did not acknowledge Randolph’s rude chuckle. Flor’s burst of surprised laughter was slightly less annoying. Clematis sulked over his latte until Lis returned with two cupcakes. “Please ignore Flor. He just likes to manage people.”
“I’m glad someone else is taking care of him,” Lis said to Flor, with a wink. “On the house.”
Clematis shook his head. Heat began to creep through his skin. “Lis, he doesn’t—”
“It’s a habit,” Flor explained himself, cutting Clematis off. “Habit. But I’m not… I’m not very good at it.”
“What?” Clematis put his cup down. “What? What do you mean? Do you know how hard it was getting David to remember to do things? Even I know humans can’t live off fairy food, and yet he’d rarely bring his own and never think to buy any. He’d just go hungry. The only reason David ever ate anything was you.”
Flor’s wings slowed, then stopped.
Clematis hadn’t meant to mention David. He truly hadn’t. “Sorry,” he said quietly.
Flor’s dark gaze wasn’t ageless anymore, just young. “Really?” he asked, soft, then frowned. “He said you never thought to feed him. I thought….” He exhaled roughly. “Of course it wouldn’t occur to him to feed himself. That you wouldn’t know… how could you know? David, you idiot,” he added in a whisper.
It said a lot about how absentminded David was that Flor would take Clematis’s side over David’s, just this once. He probably didn’t like doing it.
Clematis tore off a strip of his cinnamon roll and held it out. “You look like you need this,” he said, too fast. “Good time last night?” He raised his eyebrows in a leer. “Must have been to have you sparkling so much.”
Flor seemed stunned for a moment, then annoyed. “What? Oh, that. Nothing unusual. And then I went home.” He unexpectedly wrinkled his nose. “I was going to do laundry but some older fairies are so responsible, with laundry schedules and everything. I should have remembered.”
By which, he probably meant that Tulip must have regular laundry nights. He probably had a lot more laundry now, if he was doing some of David’s too, plus all the bedding.
“You can use the machines at my place.” The offer fell out of Clematis, taking him so much by surprise that he exchanged a confused glance with Randolph before looking back at Flor. “I’ll go with you,” he went on. He couldn’t seem to stop. “I mean, in case the other tenants are weird about it. Mrs. Galarza will understand.”
“Really?” Flor flashed a sweet, almost shy smile at him. “Yeah, okay. If it’s not a big thing for you.” He scowled then, sudden and fierce. “I’ll owe you,” he announced with decision. “Let me get your breakfast. No, really,” he insisted, although Clematis hadn’t said a word. “I’m good for it, and someone has to keep you in coffee and cinnamon rolls.”
“A license and now a sugar daddy.” Lis was very pleased about something. “Not doing too bad for yourself today, Dollface.”
“Sugar daddy?” Flor didn’t seem to know whether to be insulted or burst out laughing. “Me? With him?” He shook his head, then pursed his lips and looked thoughtful. “You know, it does seem funny now that he isn’t decked out in designer everything. If anyone would have Gucci sunglasses….”
“It would be Stephanie.” Clematis turned away from both of them.
“Yeah,” Flor agreed. “But you should. Like, if you were in a movie.”
“I’ve never said anything about wanting anything like that.” Clematis focused on drinking his latte, on swallowing and pushing the empty cup away. “And I have never known a fairy to have a sugar daddy,” he announced when that was done. “It involves lying, or at least a lot of pretending. And since when would humans bother paying us for anything?”
“Are you mad?” He could feel Flor peering at him. “You get bitter at the strangest times.”
“Bitter?” Clematis echoed in surprise.
“Lots of humans aren’t like that.” Flor was placating. “Even if you don’t want a sugar daddy or a sugar mama.”
“Yes, I know, Flor.” Clematis shot him a look. “Just because I’m expressing some frustration at the group who has every single advantage over us and always has doesn’t mean I don’t know that David is good or Stephanie is kind. Okay?”
Flor narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, then widened them. “You are mad!” he exclaimed. “Oh my God!”
“What?” Clematis turned toward him so fast he almost fell off the stool.
“You were!” Flor was strangely happy about that. “You were pissed for a second there.” His brief grin was evil. Then his expression went serious. “Why are
n’t you like that more? You’re always….” He floundered and looked at the watching Lis. “If it doesn’t require a pout or bedroom eyes, it’s like he hides it.” Flor’s short frustrated growl was almost were-like.
Clematis gaped at him. “What the hell?”
Flor dropped his shoulders, put his head back, and sighed heavily at the ceiling. He held out one hand to Lis as if asking her to explain. It also directed his attention to the large antique clock on the wall behind the register. Flor hopped forward to put some folded dollar bills on the counter and then grab the two cupcakes. “Thanks! I’ll see you later!” he said to Lis before taking the coffee for his coworker as well. He balanced them all with a fairy’s luck. “See ya!” he tossed to Clematis, then hurried out the door.
“Never seen you with a friend before,” Lis commented once he was gone.
Clematis shrugged and began to unravel his cinnamon roll. “We’re not really friends.”
“That you can say that means you think it’s true.” Lis unwrapped a new stack of paper cups for Randolph as she talked. “He’s interesting. Not nice, not exactly. Bold. And cute. And so very sparkly.”
“Speaking of shiny things.” Clematis looked up from his roll. “I should bring Sasha something to apologize for how rude I was yesterday. Could I get one of these to go? I’ll pay of course.”
“Sasha?” Lis seemed confused. “You mean your Shiny Desk Human?”
“Hmm, he’s got the purest warmth about him.” Clematis closed his eyes and pictured Sasha and his colors. “Have you ever met a human that shiny? They all shine in unique ways, but some are just so radiant. Just being near them makes me feel the tiniest bit real like they are.”
“Real?” Lis echoed sharply. “What?”
Clematis licked cinnamon from his fingertips and tried to remember to text Flor later to let him know he still ate sugar. Then he paused and shook off that thought because Flor didn’t care that much that he would need updates. Clematis was just something for him to focus on while he adjusted to not taking care of David. “It’s getting late. I have to go.” He dug around in his pants pockets to find his money to pay Lis for everything. “One more cinnamon roll? Please, Lis?”
