Page 104 of Gratification in Gluttony

“I should hope so, because we have to have some boundaries.”

Toni spent most of Saturday flirting with Jude, but when Jude joined the others on a trail ride with the horses, Toni stayed behind at the house. Out of everyone, Toni scared the horses the most, and since he didn’t want to traumatize them, he opted to bow out. Gem stayed with him, and much to Toni’s dismay, so did Rusty.

The Pyclon claimed that the horses were scared of him too, but Toni had heard the way Rusty’s heart rate spiked in fear every time the large animals had gotten close to him. Normally, it brought Toni endless joy to watch Rusty squirm, but he didn’t like being stuck in the same general area as him with only Gem as a buffer. It lessened his entertainment by several percentage points.

After endless begging, Toni allowed Gem to introduce him to the cows. In Toni’s not so humble opinion, the cows were disgusting. They were smelly and dirty and for some reason, very snotty. Were they all sick or something? Toni didn’t think he wanted to know what kind of diseases they were infecting him with as Gem forced him to the pet the one he’d named Gem.

“Don’t tell Ollie,” Gem whispered as he spread himself over the top of two cows at once, “but I named them all Gem.”

Flicking wetness from his hand, Toni grimaced. “I’m far from surprised.”

Leaving Gem to lay all over the hooved creatures, Toni headed back into the house and washed his hands thoroughly, before taking a nap. He woke an hour later to the sound of Gem laughing outside his window.

“Aim it at my mouth,” Gem was saying.

“I’m trying, but you keep moving,” Rusty grumbled. “Hold still so I can get it in.”

“Not again,” Toni bemoaned, covering his head with a pillow.

“Oh, that was so close,” Gem said. “Maybe my mouth is too small?”

“I don’t think anyone has ever accused you of having too small of a mouth,” Rusty snarked, and Gem snorted.

“I mean, I’ve never gotten any complaints.”

With a growl, Toni rolled out of bed and charged out of the house, bursting onto the porch to find Gem swinging back and forth in a hammock as Rusty tossed grapes from up in the tree, trying to land them in Gem’s gaping mouth. Two of Gem’s eyes swiveled in Toni’s direction, but most of his focus remained on Rusty.

“Hey, Toni, have a nice nap?” he said as he ducked his head to catch a grape. It bounced off his chin, and he pouted. “Damn it. Rus, you suck at this.”

“You’re a moving target!” Rusty muttered, legs swinging from his perch on the tree branch. He glanced at Toni fleetingly before dropping his gaze to the grapes in his hands, his shoulders curling in like he was trying to fade into the foliage. Since he was bright pink, it was impossible for him to disappear, but it wasn’t for lack of effort.

For the first time, Toni felt a little guilty for giving the kid such a hard time, and since Gem was apparently friends with him now, he supposed he had to put in a teensy, tiny effort to be nice. So instead of teasing him or insulting him, Toni came to a stop under the tree and gestured for Rusty to toss a grape his way.

“Give me one. We’ll show Gem how it’s done.”

At first, Rusty looked startled, but he smoothed out the emotion, adopting, instead, the neutral frown he wore most often. “Okay,” he said, still unsure, but he tossed a grape down at Toni.

He caught it and crunched down on the fruit, smiling triumphantly at Gem. “Point for Toni!”

Sitting up in the hammock, Gem scowled. “I wasn’t even trying before.” He set his feet on the grass, bringing the hammock to a halt as he smoothed his curls out of his face. “Rusty, do me!”

“Ew,” Toni mumbled, and Gem flipped him off without looking his way.

Rusty tossed the next grape at Gem, who managed to catch it. “See? Now we’re tied.”

They made a game of it until Rusty ran out of grapes, Toni winning by one. As Toni did a victory dance, Gem pouted, and Rusty tried to hide his chuckle but failed. Glaring at the Pyclon, Gem practically fell out of the hammock as he shrieked, “Don’t laugh at me! You’re supposed to be on my side.”

Chittering in alarm, Rusty scrambled higher into the tree, climbing faster than Toni thought possible. He settled on a limb just out of Gem’s reach and smirked down at the irate Araknis.

“Don’t look so smug,” Gem said as he grabbed several branches with his arms. “You think I can’t climb up there and get you?”

“That’s exactly what I think,” Rusty said flatly.

“I can climb a tree!” Gem said, and Toni snorted.

“You’ve never climbed a tree in your life.”

“Then I guess today’s a perfectly good day to start, isn’t it?” Securing his grip on several lower branches, Gem kicked off his boots and dug his tarsal claws into the trunk of the tree. “I’m gonna make this tree my bitch!”

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