Page 22 of The Naga

"You Dustin?" he asked, and I nodded mutely. "Finally!"

He handed me the pizza, gave me a finger salute, and left.

I closed the door, then stared down at the pizza box. Had I ordered already? Was I so tired I'd ordered pizza without realizing?

I picked up my phone from my desk in the living room, and found a text from Khush waiting.

Khush: I know you had a busy day, and I bet you're tired. Keoni helped me order a pizza for you so you won't have to cook. Happy eating! Go to bed after eating. We'll talk tomorrow.

I would deny it till my last breath, but I teared up a little when I read that message. I'd seriously lucked out by finding someone as amazing as Khush. The thought didn't leave my mind the whole time I ate the pizza, and I realized I wanted to do something special to show Khush how much I appreciated him.

Nine

Khush

It'd been a weeksince the first time Dustin came to the Sanctuary. He'd visited once more since then, and we'd talked on the phone every day, but his work had stopped us from hanging out more often.

I had half a mind to ask him to leave his job and move in with me, but I'd been warned by both Touya and Bellamy that it would be the wrong move to make.

According to them, most humans thrived on being independent, and asking Dustin to do otherwise when we'd just started building our relationship was a bad idea.

I'd listened to them, if only because I respected the fact that they knew more about humans in general than I did, but I still couldn't figure out why it had to be such a big deal.

After all, Dustin could move in with me without giving up his job since he worked from home, and this way he wouldn't have to leave his cat alone to spend time with me.

Dustin had said he had a habit of rushing things in relationships, but I had a feeling I had even beaten him. We hadn't even kissed, for fuck's sake. Well, except for that little peck last week, but that didn't count, right?

I decided to keep my mouth shut for now, and let Dustin take the lead. After all, he had more relationship experience than me. While I'd hooked up with a few people—even as a pansexual man, the options were pretty limited when you grew up with half the people you knew—I'd never been in a relationship before, though I'd observed more than a fair share of it since Silas and Touya were rarely conscious about how much of their sappiness they tortured us with.

Tomorrow was his day off, so he'd invited me to his place to hangout and play video games, since it was one of the things on my bucket list and also one of Dustin's favorite hobbies.

That night, as I lay across the branch I usually slept on—I'd even brought over some comforters and a pillow that I stashed in a hollow in the trunk to make it more comfy—I gazed up at the sky, or rather the bits and pieces of it I could see through the leaves. I wasn't quite sure how the headmaster's magic worked. Was the sky I was seeing the same one Dustin would see if he looked out his window? Or was mine a replica of the real sky, without all the smog and light pollution of the human cities?

I wasn't sure when I fell asleep, but when I woke up the next day, the sun was shining brightly, and I had the distinct feeling I was in trouble. Call it an instinct honed from years of livingat the Sanctuary, but I knew I'd messed up, even if I didn't remember what exactly I'd done wrong.

I was reminded quite firmly when I climbed down the tree—it involved a mix of hanging off the branch with my arms while I grabbed a lower branch with my tail and then repeating the process until my tail touched the ground—and came face to face with Jacinta.

Jacinta was a cecaelia, and a powerful one at that. They didn't really have a pronoun preference, so I used they/them. After the people in the Forest, Jacinta was the person I was closest to. They were better known for their cooking skills...and their gossip skills. They had informants in every area, and for some reason, they'd picked me to keep them up to date on what was happening here in the Forest.

"Why did I have to hear from Touya that you found your mate?" they asked without preamble, arching one brow perfectly. Their long, platinum-blond hair hung straight down their back, gleaming in the sunlight like it had crystals studded in it.

"Sorry," I said, scratching the back of my neck as their sharp blue eyes narrowed on me.

"Mm-hm," they muttered as they continued staring at me, their tentacles shifting slightly, making them sway where they stood. Jacinta's home turf was the Ocean, and their tentacles didn't do very well on the grassy grounds of the Forest, which was why they didn't visit very often. They must've really wanted to see me if they made the trek anyway.

"His name is Dustin," I said, deciding it was better late than never. The only reason I hadn't already told them was because of their aforementioned gossip expertise. I hadn't wanted the whole Sanctuary to know just yet. "He's human, and he has a cat. He's sassy, and he makes me laugh, and I really like him."

Jacinta's stern look softened, their lips curving up just a little. "Yeah, I can see that, little snake."

I scowled at the nickname, smacking their tentacles with my tail. It was something they used to call me when I first moved to the Sanctuary. Jacinta was much older than me—though they'd never told me their actual age—and even though we'd lived in different areas, they'd been a big influence on me as I grew up. I'd never fit in with the other nagas, and when I came here, I'd felt out of place too. Until I met Jacinta, who had not one or two but eight tails like mine—or that's what it looked like to a twelve-year-old—and they'd taken me under their tentacle, teaching me everything from the best way to climb the trees to what a good piece of gossip was.

Over the years, they'd turned from a mentor to a friend, and while they still sometimes scared the crap out of me, I adored them very much.

"I hear you already told him about all of this?"

"I did. He took it pretty well."

"That's good," they said with a nod, then wrapped one of their extending tentacles around my neck. "Now come help me with breakfast. It's been a while since the two of us worked together in the kitchen."

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