Page 40 of Gratification in Gluttony

Oliver and Lorel tagged along, and Toni’s temper—fueled by guilt and anxiety—boiled over a few times, aimed mostly at Oliver, who hadn’t done a damn thing to deserve it. It was one of his biggest weaknesses, according to Gem. Like his father, Toni’s temper sparked quickly and burned hot. Unlike his father, he at least knew the importance of an apology.

As they carried Gem toward the main bedroom, Toni promised himself that he’d make it up to Oliver. Once Gem was okay. Once Toni was sober.

“He won’t let go!” Rusty whined as he struggled to escape Gem’s tight grasp on his hand. Gem was already asleep, but he held firm as Rusty chittered and fought for freedom.

Toni couldn’t decide if it was humorous or annoying, so he decided to help the Pyclon out. “He’s ticklish. Right here,” Toni said as he dragged a few fingertips across Gem’s lower belly.

The Araknis jerked, hands flailing, and one smacked Toni in the face. He went down, cupping his throbbing nose. “Gem, you bitch!”

“Okay, I’ll head out,” Rusty rasped as he flexed his now-free hand.

“Y’all can crash here. There’s a spare bedroom, and the couch pulls out. The bedding’s clean.”

Toni waved vaguely in the direction of the living room, but now that he was horizontal and the adrenaline was wearing off, exhaustion crashed over him. He didn’t have the energy to get the others settled. So, he stripped off his vest and collapsed face-first on the mattress beside Gem. He was snoring before he even realized he was falling asleep.

He didn’t sleep well, waking often in a panic to check on Gem. Thankfully, Gem seemed to be sleeping better than Toni was, so other than retrieving a bucket and setting it beside the bed in case Gem got sick in the night, Toni tried to relax enough to get a few hours of rest.

By the time daylight crept through the cracks in the black-out curtains, Toni was more or less sober, and he dragged himself out of bed. His head hurt, but it was easy to ignore in the face of Gem’s situation. The Araknis was still sleeping, though sweat beaded his forehead even as he shivered.

Fresh anger burned through Toni’s veins, and he vowed to find the fucker who’d done this and make him suffer. Retribution would have to wait, though. For now, Toni tucked the blankets around Gem’s shoulder and kissed his sweaty cheek, under his lowest, red eye.

When Toni slipped out of the bedroom, he found that Rusty was already awake—he swore the kid never fucking slept—sitting on the expensive kitchen island, stuffing one of his hand-rolled cigarettes with his spicy tobacco of choice.

“You ain’t smoking in here,” Toni grumbled.

Rusty rolled his eyes but nodded, tucking the cigarette behind his ear. “How’s Gem?”

“Sleeping. I think he’s running a fever.”

Rusty’s pale eyes narrowed in a pained expression Toni had never seen on his face before. “Yeah, that’s normal. His body’s gonna be on the fritz all day trying to purge the drug.”

“You’re well informed.” Smiling cruelly, Toni propped his hip on the other side of the island and crossed his arms over his bare chest. “Is it from all the people you’ve had to drug so that they’d put up with your terrible personality?”

Apparently, Toni hit a nerve with that one, because Rusty snarled, ears flattening. “Go fuck yourself!”

“Oh my gods, it was a joke. Don’t get your tail in a twist.” Toni raised his hands in mock surrender as he retrieved a mug from the cabinet. He needed coffee. Now.

Hopping off the counter, Rusty placed his hands flat on the stone and glared across the island at Toni. “What’s your fucking problem?”

Toni scoffed. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe I’m hungover as balls, and my best friend got date-rape-drugged last night.”

“And you’re acting like both of those are somehowmyfault,” Rusty retorted, tail puffed and ramrod straight.

“Keep your voice down, or you’ll wake Gem!” Toni hissed, before whisper-shouting, “You said you saw the drink get spiked and you did fuck-all to stop it.”

Rearing back, Rusty looked almost hurt, but it morphed quickly into anger. “I did more than you. At least I stopped him from going home with the asshole.” He leaned over the counter as far as his limited height allowed, copying Toni’s furious but hushed volume. “All while you were off getting fisted in some back room.”

Toni jabbed a finger at Rusty. “Hey, don’t knock fisting. It ain’t half bad when you do it right.”

“I wouldn’t let your fist near my ass if you paid me!”

“And you’d know about that, wouldn’t you?” Toni slapped back, but instead of being embarrassed, Rusty smirked.

“Maybe you should ask your mom.” He lifted two fingers to frame his mouth as he stuck out his pink tongue in the universal sign for cunnilingus. “While you’re at it, tell her to tip better.”

“My mother is frugal, not cheap, you punk-ass bitch!” Toni whisper-snarled as he launched himself at the Pyclon, who chittered in alarm as he scampered out of reach.

Toni chased him around the island several times, before saying goodbye to his dignity entirely and climbingovertheisland to snag Rusty’s tail. He gave it a hard yank, and Rusty yelped as he was jerked back, landing on his ass.

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