Page 21 of Unhaunt Me

“Morning,” Casimir said and we both startled.

“Thought you were out cold,” I grunted at him.

“I was until everyone started talking about coffee,” he said without opening his eyes.

“You can open your eyes. I’m naked. You’re naked. Roary is dressed.”

“I’d hope so. It’s cold out here,” Casimir chuckled, opening one eye.

“Casimir, this is Roary. We work together and they lived on my street growing up too. Their mom is a nightmare. So don’t trade for her. It would be a bad deal.”

“Fair enough,” Casimir laughed, pushing himself up onto one elbow and reaching out to shake Roary’s hand.

“Nice to meet you,” Roary nodded.

“You too. Thanks for covering for him last night.”

“Any time. We go way back. I’ll leave you two to it then. Call me, Trit, if you all need anything and I do mean anything. I remember how hectic this time is.”

“Thanks, Roary. We should be okay but we’ll let you know.”

“Good,” they nodded and disappeared through the back garden gate.

“They seem nice.”

“They’re a good lizard,” I shrugged. “Probably my closest friend if I had to pick someone but most of my friends are guides too.”

“Coffee,” Casimir groaned.

“I’ll---” I started but he was already pushing himself upright and heading into the house.

I wrapped myself up in the yellow sunflower blanket Roary had thrown over us and followed him into the house. By the time I reached the kitchen he had found the coffee pot secreted away in one of the highest shelves of the pantry. I didn’t use it often. Usually, I reached for tea. I got a taste for it when I was younger and thought maybe it was more sophisticated than coffee. It wasn’t. Drinks were never sophisticated or not. They were drinks.

“I got the sugar too. Picked up an extra few pounds on my way home. I’ve seen how you Moonys drink coffee.”

“Okay,” he nodded, setting up the coffee pot before crossing the room and pulling me into a tight hug.

“I’ll toss your clothes in the washing machine soon if you want.”

“Most of that stuff is dry clean only,” he shrugged. “We have a place to do that back on the ship. I’ll have Izora send some of my stuff over before we need to go out. We don’t need to go out today, do we?”

“No,” I shook my head. “I almost said yes just to see you turn something into a toga.”

He kissed my forehead and only laughed a little at my joke. I wasn’t offended though. I wasn’t that funny before caffeine. No one was actually funny before caffeine in the morning. If they were they were a special sort of magic.

“You’re the one in a toga,” Casimir said a second later. “You’re rockin’ it too.”

I leaned my forehead against his arm. I needed to hydrate. My dragon’s fire had probably burnt away most of the alcohol in my system by now but without something to replace the lost electrolytes I’d stay in a sorry shape.

“Hold on. Do we have something for that?” Casimir asked, glancing around the kitchen. “Forgot we were here and not back at Izora’s or on the ship.”

“Probably,” I yawned. “I’ll look. You check on the coffee. There’s probably something in the basket. It was my normal pick-up day, but they add extra stuff when you meet your mate. I’m sure someone would’ve thought to toss some electrolyte powder or something in the basket.”

“You sure?”

“I don’t for sure—Yes, I’m okay. Don’t ask trick questions while I’m hungover,” I groaned at him.

Whoever packed the basket had indeed included several boxes full of those tiny electrolyte powders. I mixed up two bottles – one for me and one for Casimir. He wasn’t complaining as much as me, but he still smelled like whiskey. We met at the table, me bringing those glasses and him with two steaming mugs of coffee. He loaded his down with milk and sugar, and I sipped mine black, savoring the bitter brew on my tongue.

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