Page 49 of Luxuries of Lust

Rusty scratched behind his ear. “Slumber party aesthetic, right?”

With a happy squeal, Gem wriggled in place as he used numerous hands to uncap both the matte and sparkly black polish, then he extended two palms in invitation. “Time for manicures and girl-talk.”

“Do we have to do girl-talk?” Rusty asked, and Gem shot him a warning glare, making him back down quickly, both hands raised in surrender. “Okay, fine. We’ll do girl-talk.”

“Good boy,” Gem purred, wiggling his fingers. “Now, gimme!”

With a huff, Rusty placed both his hands into Gem’s waiting ones, and Gem proceeded to paint Rusty’s claws, alternating between the matte and glitter polishes. Since Rusty was unaccustomed to girl-talk, Gem took the lead on that front.

“Okay, so you can’t tell anyone, but Toni and Jude have, like, a thing,” Gem whispered as he slicked glossy black across Rusty’s middle nail. “Not a real thing, but more of a F.W.B. thing.”

“F.W.B.?” Rusty asked.

Gem tried to cover his horror over the Pyclon’s ignorance but probably failed miserably. “Friends with benefits.”

“Oh. Is that supposed to be a secret? ’Cause if Toni’s trying to be subtle, he’s doing a really bad job,” Rusty said, and Gem snorted out a laugh.

“I know, right? But he tries so hard. It’s precious, really.” Since Gem was painting both of Rusty’s hands simultaneously, he finished quickly and moved on to Rusty’s toes. “Okay, you go now.”

Inspecting his still wet claws, Rusty cocked his head, one ear folding down. “Go where?”

“No, like, it’s your turn to offer up some gossip.”

“Oh.” Rusty shifted, hissing when Gem smacked his leg. “Dude!”

“Stop moving! You’re ruining my artwork. Also,” Gem tittered, “I can’t remember the last time someone called medude. That’s so not my brand. I’m more of aguuuuurl!” He drew out the word, adding extra flair to his voice.

“I’m never uttering that word in that cadence,” Rusty said flatly. “Ever.”

Gem rolled the eyes he wasn’t using to perfect Rusty’s largest toenail. “Anyway, what’s the tea? What’s the hot goss from the early morning shift?”

Like he tasted something bad, Rusty’s face wrinkled. “I try to stay out of gossip.”

“That’s a lie if I ever heard one. You’re just as nosy as I am; you just act like you’re not.” Gem pointed the wet tip of the brush at Rusty’s nose. “At least I’m honest about it.”

With aboop, he swiped Rusty’s nose with the brush, smearing it with polish. He cackled at Rusty’s annoyed growl.

“Real mature,” Rusty griped as he used his shirt to clean his nose. “But seriously, there isn’t any… tea to spill.”

Rusty’s expression and tone matched that of someone being tortured as he uttered the word, “tea,” and Gem laughed again, blinking away humored tears so he could see what he was doing. He pointed at Rusty’s pinky toe. “Can I do this one in color?”

“Do you have to?”

“Yes,” Gem insisted, and Rusty released a long-suffering sigh.

“I guess. Just nothing too bright.”

Choosing a deep, dark purple, Gem brandished it like a game show prize. “How’s this?” When Rusty nodded his consent, Gem hunkered back down and painted both his pinky toenails purple. “Okay, but do you have any type of gossip? How are we supposed to kiki if you don’t have stories?”

“Sometimes, I hate the words that come out of your mouth,” Rusty confessed.

“Say, ‘kiki,’” Gem instructed, and Rusty flipped him off. “Say, ‘Guuuurl, let’s kiki.’”

“I would literally rather die.”

Instead of gracing that with a response, Gem straightened and stoppered the nail polish before offering Rusty all of his hands, fingers dancing. “My turn!”

“This is gonna take forever.” Rusty gestured to Gem’s many hands, even as he reached for a jar, hesitating at the last second. “Wait, what color is which?”

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