Page 14 of Gratification in Gluttony

“That ink is insane.” Toni lifted a hand to touch but hesitated. “Can I—”

“Sure,” Jude agreed quickly, stepping closer until he stood between Toni’s knees.

Carefully, so as not to scare him away now that he was so close, Toni traced the intricate design until he reached the thicker stripes of flesh where Jude had stitched himself into the man he’d always been. The tip of his finger followed the scarred tissue, and he studied Jude’s expression to make sure it wasn’t painful.

But Jude didn’t look like he was in pain. He was staring at Toni, eyes big, pupils dilated from drink and something else. Something darker, deeper. It made Toni want to growl in satisfaction.

“This hurt?” he asked, and Jude shook his head.

“Not anymore.”

“You’re proud of them, aren’t you?” Toni added pressure to Jude’s left scar, and the human inhaled sharply. “You should be. You remade yourself. But rebuilding ain’t easy. It means you gotta break things first; sometimes, you gotta lose something.”

Toni knew about that. Not to the extent Jude did, not in the same way. But Toni understood what it meant to break down who he thought he was in order to become the person he was meant to be.

He didn’t know how to say that, but he didn’t think he needed to. Because Jude was leaning in to Toni’s touch, eyes locked on his. His hands, so much smaller and softer than Toni’s, tentatively framed Toni’s neck, gently mapping the fluttering gills framing his throat. And Toni wanted. Fuck, hewanted.

But then Gem broke the moment, nearly toppling Toni off his perch on the armrest of the couch as he knocked his shoulder and said, his Lust accent bleeding through thanks to the alcohol, “Toni, tell Rusty to show me his nipples!”

Jude blinked dazedly, pulling away and buttoning his shirt back up as Toni gaped at Gem in horror. “What?”

Gesturing wildly at Rusty, Gem said, “Rusty says he has nipples, but I don’t see them. How are we supposed to know if they’re actually there if he doesn’t prove it?”

“He has fur,” Oliver said, sipping at his nearly empty bottle of liquor. “That’s why you can’t see them. I have nipples, but you can’t see them through my shirt.”

“I know that,” Gem said defensively. “But you showed them to me when I asked. Why are you”—he rounded on Rusty—“making this weird?”

Curled up in the armchair, Rusty crossed his arms protectively over his chest as he glared up at Gem. “You’re the one asking to see my nipples! You’re making it weird.”

“If you’d just show me, it wouldn’t be weird.” Gem sent Toni a look to indicate that the Pyclon was being entirely irrational about this whole situation.

Toni wrinkled his nose. “You know, I’m with Rusty on this one. I don’t wanna see his nipples.”

“But we’re winning,” Gem hissed, eyes wide. “No nipples are winning.”

“Huh?”

With an exaggerated sigh, like Toni was purposefully making his life difficult, Gem started counting off on his fingers. “You,me, Jude, Zef, and Tad don’t have nipples. Oliver and Willow do. And Rusty claims he does, but he’s not proving it. We need proof.”

“Prove it!” Oliver called, grinning like a drunken idiot.

“This is sexual harassment,” Rusty snarled.

“Prove it. Prove it,” Jude and Oliver started to chant. Gem and Tad quickly joined, and since it was annoying Rusty, Toni shrugged and added his voice to the chorus.

Releasing a deep-chested growl, Rusty glared at Gem as he grudgingly brought his mauve hands to his chest and parted the fur to reveal two small, rosy nipples. “There. Are you happy now?”

Gem squealed and pointed. “They’re so tiny!”

“No nipples for the win.” Jude high-fived Tad, then exchanged a thumbs-up with Zef, who returned it uncertainly.

For some reason, Gem insisted that he and Toni chest-bump, so they did. Gem fell over, howling with laughter. Despite his apparent annoyance, Rusty crawled out of his chair and bent to help Gem up.

“Okay, you need some water,” he said flatly as Gem climbed to his feet, numerous arms clutching at the Pyclon to keep his balance.

“Oh my gods, stop flirting with me.” Gem giggled and pointed at Rusty, not addressing anyone specifically as he said, “Like, seriously. So obvious.”

Huffing in frustration, Rusty struggled to disentangle himself from Gem’s many limbs. “Me telling you to drink water is flirting?”

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