Page 97 of Luxuries of Lust

“I know.” Rusty rubbed his sides. “It’ll be fine. If you want me to come meet your family, I will.”

“Are you sure? Because I totally get it if you don’t want to,” Gem said, scrutinizing Rusty’s face intently.

With a huff, Rusty popped onto his toes and pecked Gem’s mouth. “Oh em geez, Gem, that sounds fire. Can’t wait to meet your family,” he said flatly, and Gem burst into laughter.

“See? I knew that’s something you’d say,” he teased as he kissed Rusty again. “Now go put a clean shirt on. This one smells like jizz.”

Then Gem pushed him out of the bathroom and shut the door. While Gem finished getting ready, Rusty pulled off the black shirt he’d worn yesterday and grabbed one of the colored ones he kept in Gem’s dresser—he thought it was blue, but he wasn’t sure.

Once Gem was presentable and only smelled slightly like Rusty had come all over him the night before, he hauled Rusty out of the flat and toward the tram stop. They rode the tram toward the inner city, and Rusty’s chest swelled when Gem took his hand and intertwined their fingers.

They garnered a few strange looks, because an Araknis and a Pyclon made for a strange couple, but it didn’t bother him as much as he thought it would. He didn’t like attention, but he liked the way Gem seemed entirely unbothered and unashamed to be claiming him.

So he stood taller and glared back at anyone giving them judgmental looks. Thankfully, Gem didn’t even notice the attention, eyes taking on that glazed look that meant his brain was racing a mile a minute.

After stepping off the tram, Gem led Rusty down a side street into a middle-class neighborhood. A few minutes later, Gem pulled Rusty to astop before an unassuming house. It was big, but Rusty wouldn’t have categorized it as fancy. The siding was faded and chipped, and the roof looked like it had seen better days. But it was clean and looked homey, the yard freshly trimmed, though several children’s trikes and toys sat near the porch steps.

“Okay, so watch out for crawling children,” Gem said, grimacing at the clamber of noise coming from inside, “and ignore my sister Tria. She is very invasive and asks really uncomfortable questions because she revels in awkwardness. Also, watch out for my brother Mylo; he might set you ablaze by accident. Like, he flicks a lighter because he thinks it makes him look cool. Well, I think it’s also a stim, but it’s definitely because he wants to be seen as a badass. He won’t set you on fire on purpose, but just don’t get too close. Better safe than aflame, as I always say.”

Gem laughed manically before continuing, “And Kym is in a practical joke phase, so there will be whoopie-cushions lying everywhere. Kalia and Barie are sixteen and just way too cool to ever talk to you, so don’t be offended if they call youcringe. Apparently, that’s the most offensive thing you can be called in English. They call me that all the time, and I pretend that it doesn’t hurt me, but it does. Deeply.”

“Gem, I’m gonna be fine.” Rusty forced Gem to face him, giving his hand a squeeze. “If your family is anything like you, then I’ll like them.”

“They’re all like me, and that’s the problem. Imagine seventeen me’s! That’s like a horror movie,” Gem insisted, and Rusty chuckled as he turned toward the house and dragged Gem along with him.

Before they made it to the front door, Gem pulled him to a stop one last time. “All joking aside, if you get overwhelmed or over-stimmied and want to leave, just tell me, and we’ll leave.”

“Okay.” Rusty said, and Gem exhaled in a rush.

“Okay. Let’s do this!” He leaned down and brushed a brief kiss to Rusty’s mouth. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

Warmth bloomed in Rusty’s chest, but before he could respond or kiss Gem back, the front door burst open, startling them both. “Oh, Gemae, there you are,” an incredibly tall, dark-skinned Araknis woman said, extending her six arms as Gem released Rusty’s hand and stepped into her embrace.

“Hi, Maman.”

A flood of smaller Araknis poured from the door on either side of Gem’s mother, and Rusty hugged his tail to his chest when he caught sight of one—a young pre-teen with emo hair hanging over half his face—flicking a lighter absently. The pyromaniac, Mylo, Rusty assumed.

“Who are you?” one demanded, poking Rusty’s arm as another grabbed Rusty’s hand, exclaiming, “Whoa, you gotta wicked sharp claws. Can I borrow them sometime?”

“Uh, no,” Rusty said, unsure how anyone could borrow his claws to begin with.

“What are you doing here?” a small girl asked.

“Are you Gem’s boyfriend?” another asked.

“Lookit,” one shrieked as they pushed up the hem of his jeans to reveal his ankles. “He’s fluffy everywhere!”

“Can I pet his tail?” another cried, and Rusty found himself backing away from the gaggle of Araknis children closing in on him.

“Um, Gem?” he called as his back met porch railing.

“Is this how we treat guests?” a soft voice said, and the children turned toward a short Araknis man with light gray skin and even lighter swirls of colors on his arms. His eyes were dark, like Gem’s, and somewhat hidden behind bifocal glasses. “If you all can’t be polite, then be gone with you.”

The children scattered as the man approached Rusty with a warm, apologetic smile. “Forgive them. They’re easily excitable. You must be Rusty.”

“Um, yeah. I mean, hi. I’m Rusty.” He offered a hand, and the man took it in two of his, shaking it exuberantly. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Akyllo.”

“Oh, just call me Hyl. Or Dad. That’s what everyone else calls me. Mr. Akyllo was my father,” he said, face screwing up with humor as he trilled a genuine laugh.

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