Page 3 of Wanted: A Roommate Who Isn't Evil

The pause that followed was both long and awkward. Dranian glanced over his shoulder to see a wide-eyed male standing there with an equally wide-eyed female beside him. The male cleared his throat. “I was talking about the pumpkin,” he clarified, nodding toward the mess.

Dranian’s gaze shot back to the cracked fruit on the floor asthat settled in.

With a quiet growl, he hugged his useless arm to himself and began cleaning the mess with his other one, picking up a fistful of the orange mush with his bare hand. He stood, searching the market for a waste barrel, but there wasn’t a single barrel in sight.

So, there he was. Standing in the exact middle of the market with his hands full of slimy strings and seeds with nowhere to put it.

He grunted as he set the mushy mound into his metal basket on wheels, careful not to stain the rest of his food and provisions. Once the worst of the orange sludge was picked up, Dranian pushed his metal basket to the human grocery servants to pay, ready to avoid the market for a while after this.

The servant at the coin table eyed Dranian’s moist hands as the fairy reached for his leather coin purse and pulled out a few bills. Dranian thought to apologize for the wet, sticky fingerprints as he handed the cash over, but he kept his mouth shut, his face solemn. What was the point in speaking up to apologize when words alone could not dry the bills?

The human servant was kind enough to place the box of cereal, the jug of cold beast milk, the three ripe pears, and the small goblet of tasty looking ice cream into a bag for him. Dranian didn’t dare mention to the human that he’d also run out of pasta sauce, beast meat, and, well, pasta. He’d been craving “spaghetti” for a while but trying to carry two heavy bags for the lengthy walk back to his apartment was out of the question. Having theweight of beast milk in one hand for the entire journey was enough.

He left the market with his one bag of groceries, avoiding chariots on wheels roaming the parking lot as he headed toward the path of perfectly square stepping stones that would take him home.

His phone rang. Dranian looked down at his pocket for a moment as he contemplated. Finally, he ventured out of the way of passing people and set his one bag of groceries against the wall of what appeared to be a store for small animals.

The phone was deep in his pocket, but once he managed to fish it out, he tapped the green button several times until he was sure the two-way magic was working. “Hello?” he mumbled. He glanced over at the small monsters in the shop’s window; they’d rushed to the glass when they noticed he was standing there. Tiny, yippy animals with large ears. Human realm dogs.

“Are you ill?” Cress’s distinct, authoritative voice came from the phone.

Dranian eyed his arm in the reflection of the animal store window. “Not at all,” he said.

“Then why is Kate telling me you’ve decided to only come into work on weekends?” the former North Prince asked.

Dranian thought about a few things he could say. He finally settled with, “It’s calledpart time. Humans do it all the time. It means I only work half as much.”

One of the tiny dogs managed to climb onto the shop’s window ledge inside. The creature began licking the life out of the glass, eyeing Dranian the entire time. The repulsive wetness of thepumpkin still blemished Dranian’s fingers, and he imagined that tiny beast’s drool being just as revolting on his skin.

“So, first Mor found another job, then Shayne took off on vacation for the next thousand years, and now you’re invoking the human right ofpart time?” Cress articulated.

Dranian offered a grunt of acknowledgement in return to imply Cress had it correct.

“Why, Dranian? Why must you leave me to bake all the cupcakes and tarts on my own?” Cress sounded exasperated. “Is it because it takes you nearly an hour by bus to get here from your faraway apartment? Do you need me to come get you and fly you over in the mornings so you don’t have to pay the bus fee?” he offered, and Dranian’s ever-solemn face scrunched a little.

“I wouldn’t dare inconvenience you that way.” Nor would he be caught dead flying through the human sky in Cress’s arms.

Cress sighed. “I suppose I can’t be upset since it was me who called dibs on Kate’s apartment and suggested you find another place to live and all that. But we’re going to have to hire some human stranger until Shayne gets back. And you know how I detest strangers.” Cress seemed to be talking to himself now. “I suppose I could always convince Lily to quit her job at the human police station, too. It would be convenient to have her here more—working.”

Dranian doubted Lily would go for that, but hedidn’t say as much.

“When is Shayne coming back anyway?” Cress asked, seeming to remember Dranian was still there.

“He claimed he would be in the kingdom of Florida for at least two months. Probably three.” Dranian’s gaze fell to the square stone path. He kicked a loose pebble. The dog on the other side of the window started barking like he wanted to fetch it.

Cress sighed again. “Very well. I’ll give him a few faeborn months’ grace before I start calling him to complain. That seems fair.”

Dranian nodded.

“I’m leaving now,” Cress announced. “I’m about to touch the red button.”

“I shall also,” Dranian agreed. He pulled the phone from his ear and began tapping the red button until it disappeared and the painting on his phone returned to the original picture of his straight face beside Shayne’s wide grin. A “selfie” Shayne had insisted upon when Dranian first got his own phone.

He slid the device into his pocket, and he crouched down to meet the tiny dog in the window eye-to-eye.

The creature was a pathetic, helpless thing. But perhaps it was slightly adorable. It flipped off the windowsill, rolled over thrice, then climbed back to its feet and leapt onto the sill all over again.

Dranian reached for his one bag of groceries and stood. He bowed to the dog trapped behind the glass to bid him farewell. Then he continued on his journey home.

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