Page 43 of Gratification in Gluttony

Toni wanted to take it away, wanted to carry it for him, but he could do nothing but stand by helplessly as his best friend suffered. And he hated it. There’d been times in his life that he’d begrudged Gem for the privileged life he had, for the supportive family he’d grown up in, but that had been immaturity and selfishness talking. Now that Gem was actually suffering, Toni wanted to peel off his skin and offer it to the deities in exchange for Gem to just be okay.

For some reason, Rusty stayed the whole day. He cleaned out the puke bucket and kept the bowl of ice water next to the bed cold with fresh cubes. He pressed cool cloths to Gem’s overheated skin, and toward the end of the afternoon whenGem begged to have a bath, Rusty didn’t blink twice at helping a naked Araknis into the free-standing tub in the penthouse’s ridiculously lavish bathroom.

Rusty was beingkind, and it rankled, okay? Toni knew it wasn’t fair to feel that way, but the gentleness Rusty showed Gem had his fins fluttering and metaphorical hackles rising. What was the Pyclon playing at? He was a grouchy, entitled little turd all the time, and now suddenly, he was gonna play the nice guy?

And Gem was fucking buying it! Maybethatwas what rankled Toni so much. Standing there, watching as Gem, lying in the tub half-asleep, reached out to take Rusty’s hand before the Pyclon could leave and smiled sleepily up at him like he was the fucking sunrise or some bullshit. “Thanks for staying.”

Rusty’s ear twitched, his tail flicking in an anxious tell. “It’s no big deal,” he dismissed, husky voice raspier than normal.

“Just say ‘you’re welcome,’ you little punk,” Toni snapped, and Rusty jumped like he’d forgotten Toni was even there.

He yanked his hand out of Gem’s grasp, clawed fingers flexing like he was resisting the urge to wipe his hand clean or something. It made Toni growl.

“You’re welcome,” Rusty mumbled before he ducked his head and fled the bathroom.

“Don’t be a bitch,” Gem whispered, frowning at Toni.

“Me?” Toni gestured wildly at the door. “He’s the little bitch.”

“Shut up, Toni,” Gem murmured, no true reprimand in his tone. If anything, he just sounded exhausted.

Since Toni didn’t want to stress him out, he shut up. Wordlessly, he hunkered down beside the tub and ran his fingers through Gem’s wet hair, then gently washed him as Gem trembled from the exertion of holding himself upright, gray knuckles straining against his skin as he gripped the edge of the tub.

After the bath, Gem crashed, bundled in a fluffy robe that rode high on his thighs because he was too tall to actually fit any of Toni’s clothes. The sheets had been changed thanks to Rusty—Toni grudgingly admitted—and after tucking Gem in, Toni tiptoed out and quietly closed the door.

“He’ll probably sleep through the night,” Rusty said as he prepared to leave. “But if his fever comes back or he starts puking again, might wanna call emergency services.”

“You said he just had to sleep it off,” Toni said accusingly.

“And he should. He’s already feeling better than this morning. I was just saying,” Rusty said defensively. “The drug could have been laced with something else, so if he starts to get worse, then to be safe—”

“You don’t gotta tell me how to take care of my best friend,” Toni snapped, and Rusty rolled his eyes and shook his head, huffing in annoyance at Toni’s attitude.

Once again, guilt tried to infiltrate the worry and helplessness that had settled like a rock in Toni’s gut, but he fought it. He didn’t have the emotional capacity for anything else right now. Like with Oliver and Liel, he’d apologize later.

Instead of snapping back, Rusty surprised Toni when he said, voice just shy of kind, “He’s gonna be okay, Toni.”

Staring at the door to the bedroom, Toni rubbed the back of his neck. “You act like you know?”

He’d meant it as a statement, but it came out more like a question. Toni was equally surprised when Rusty treated it like one. He sighed, and for a moment, the kid looked years older than twenty-four. “Because I’ve been there, man, and I’m still standing, aren’t I?”

Yeah, Toni had figured as much, which made his comments from earlier in the kitchen even more shitty. “Rusty, listen—”

“Forget it,” the Pyclon said in a clipped tone. “Just… forget it.”

And because Toni was a weak man, instead of apologizing like he should have, he just nodded and said, “I’ll let you know if anything changes.”

This time, Rusty didn’t answer with words. He simply nodded. Just once. Then he padded quietly out of the penthouse, closing the door behind him with a nearly inaudibleclick.

As Gem slept, Toni sent updates to everyone, letting them know Gem was on the mend. Jude had texted several times, each one more concerned than the last. The final text Toni had received had been Jude threatening to call the police if he didn’t hear from Oliver or Toni by the end of the day.

To avoid a possible scuffle with the cops, Toni called Jude immediately. He picked up after only two rings.

“What the hell happened?” he demanded the moment the call connected. “Oliver hasn’t been responding either, and I thought you all had died or something.”

“Sorry,” Toni said. “No one died. You don’t gotta worry about that. Oliver went to Liel’s place, apparently, so he’s probably too busy sucking tentacle to text you.”

“Liel has a tentacle dick?”

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