Page 43 of Perfectly Perplexing Zombie

“I find human history interesting. Fairy past is nearly as bloody. The loss of life was not quite to scale, but the horrors we visited upon each other are not so different.”

Tilting my head, I gazed at Ray. Fairies weren’t known for their sharing personalities and dolled information out in snippets that often did little more than whet human appetite and add gasoline to baseless rumors.

I truly considered telling Ray no, but honestly, the company sounded good. A couple of weeks ago, I never would have dreamed I’d find the company of a fairy soothing.

“Okay,” I finally relented. “If you’d like to come along, I think I’d like that. Do you have a car?” Fairies had a way of traveling without them. Fairies and brownies were the only species that could do that. I’d heard they used completely different methods, but I wasn’t certain any human knew what that meant. Regardless, fairies didn’t transport humans that way, and even if Ray had offered, I wouldn’t have been up for that type of adventure.

“Of course,” Ray easily answered. “Shall we go?”

I offered a polite, if wary, smile and said, “Lead the way.”

* * *

The museum was what I imagined a welcome-home hug felt like. I found an elusive sliver of peace when I walked through the doors. Ray drew so much attention that no one batted an eye at Trinket sitting on my shoulder. Despite my protests, Ray paid for us, and the poor human girl running the ticket booth gawked and screwed up his change no less than three times before getting it right. I’d been tempted to offer to come to her side of the booth and figure the change myself. In the end, that hadn’t been necessary.

Ray wandered the museum with me for over five hours. He never once complained or tried to hurry me along. He allowed me to drone on and on about different pieces and what they meant. I hadn’t been an art history major, but I enjoyed it enough that I learned plenty on my own in my free time. I’d almost forgotten just how much I enjoyed it.

Ray got a lot of second, third, and maybe seventh glances. He acted like it was nothing and kept his attention fixated on me. It was…odd. I couldn’t remember the last time someone watched me so closely. And not only that, but Raylistened.He asked pointed questions that made me realize he was paying close attention. He never seemed bored or acted like he’d rather be somewhere else. I honestly didn’t know what to do with that.

By the time we left the museum, I was pleasantly confused. At first, Ray’s direct attention made me nervous, but by the end, I found I enjoyed it. I liked having him by my side. I liked the idea that I wasn’t just talking to the air. It was refreshing in a way I hadn’t expected. When I was younger and living with my aunt and uncle, I’d tried to speak with them about what I learned in school and how fascinated I was with ancient cultures.

It hadn’t gone well. At first, they’d given me odd looks. They’d let me get a few sentences out before telling me I was weird and talking over me. I’d learned quickly to keep my interest locked away so it couldn’t be mocked. I think that was part of the reason I latched on to Professor Stover. He was a man who loved history and made a life of it. I stupidly placed the man on a pedestal, and he’d fallen with a spectacular splat.

It was a weird habit humans had. We liked thinking others were better than us or maybe something to aspire to. But at the end of the day, humans were just that. We all made mistakes, and many fell to our baser, less desirable tendencies. Everyone stumbled. It’s just that some of us fell from greater heights than others.

“I would ask if you would like to get a sugary treat before heading home, but I fear that would not be to your current palate,” Ray said as we walked toward the parking garage and where we’d left his car. Funny, Professor Stover said something similar the other night. Only, he’d said it with cruel mocking.

Ray’s comment was completely different, and my smile was automatic. I missed ice cream, cake, brownies, and every other sugary treat. Truth be told, I’d probably been addicted to sugar. And carbohydrates. It was a sad fact of life that those foods didn’t just taste disgusting now but passed through my body in painful, unrelenting ways.

“Yeah, I don’t think there’s a brain tissue food cart anywhere nearby,” I joked.

Ray laughed. It was low and so quiet I almost missed it, but it was there and sounded musical. “No, I suppose not.”

“But if you’d like something, we can stop somewhere on the way back to my apartment. There’s no reason you shouldn’t get a treat.”

Trinket’s tail shifted on my arm, loosening ever so slightly and easing the pressure on my bicep.

“I can easily get something later,” Ray considerately answered.

My chest warmed a little more. “Okay. If you’re certain.”

“Quite certain.” Ray’s steps faltered, and he gazed across the street. He didn’t seem tense, so I didn’t get too excited.

Turning completely in the direction his gaze lingered, Ray gave a delicate nod and asked, “Would you care to join me in the park? I believe Trinket might like the exercise.”

I stared at the small park across the way. It wasn’t big, but it had a few swings, benches, trees that would offer shade in the steamy summer months, and a water fountain or two. Since I had the night off, I shrugged and answered, “Sure, that would be okay.” Being winter, the park was all but deserted of human life. I saw a troll sitting on a small bridge and inwardly laughed at the stereotype.

To my surprise, Ray headed for the swings and sat. I followed suit and settled in a swing next to him. Trinket craned her body around, snuffling my hair and making high-pitched noises that I interpreted as excitement.

“Go on,” I prompted.

She immediately scrambled down my arm and took off for the nearest tree. I watched her leap across the frozen ground with a smile. I hadn’t seen her run and bound like that. “Maybe I should take her out more often. I feel kind of bad. I didn’t know she’d like that kind of thing.”

“Scuttlebutts enjoy the outdoors and use their tails to dangle from tree limbs.” Ray no more than got that out than I watched Trinket walk up the side of a tree, shuffle toward the end of a limb, and wrap her tail around the branch. She dangled like an opossum.

“Maybe I should set something up in the apartment.” I frowned while contemplating it. “I don’t think Mr. Moony would mind.”

“No, I do not imagine he would,” Ray easily agreed.

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