Page 47 of Falling in Love with A Tiny Bat

Life is hard when you’re this fabulous.

CapyZahra: What is with the dramatic trail off?

DaniBird153: It’s…not all…that dramatic…is it?

CapyZahra: The anticipation is killing me.

My heart stills when an image of Dani’s hand comes through our private Discord chat. Kicking my legs off the raw-cut long wooden table I’m lounging at, I set my sandwich aside. Dani doesn’t send pictures. Ever. Dani doesn’t share any information about herself.Ever. I barely know what timezone she’s in, outside of the occasionalmorning there (apparently), afternoon hereclue.

But, here it is. A picture of a pale palm with slender fingersand perfect, long, light pink nails. In some ways, it looks like she’s holding something…but nothing’s there.

DaniBird153: What do you see?

My brow furrows.

I see a hand. Her hand.

Squinting as though I’m about to either pass or fail the kind of friendship test that would let Dani be comfortable enough to share more scandalous images like these, I take in every detail.

Five fingers.

Yup.

I recount them.

Yeah, no. There’s totally five normal fingers in this image.

CapyZahra: I do love you, really I do. But this is a hand, and that feels like the wrong answer, given that this is a momentous occasion. I’m marking the date on my calendar. I shall celebrate annually.Dani sent me her first ever real life picture this day. Our friendship flourished. Angels sang. It was beautiful.

DaniBird153: LOL. Calm down. It’s totally just a hand! You aresoright.

My heart jerks into the stratosphere when she starts a Discord voice chat.

Across the tavern, sitting with her friends and the rest of the students, Andromeda looks my way, big blue eyes blinking curiously. “Zahr-Zahr, is everything okay?”

I fumble, tripping away from my toadstool and the table. “Uh. I don’t know.Kass!” I call, marching toward the exit and throwing a pointer finger at my kids. “Behave. Stay put.No food fights.Kass!”

My lovely boss appears at the entrance to the tavern, red curls pulled into a sloppy bun atop her head. Big gold-flecked eyes wide, she says, “Zahr? What’s wrong?”

I shake my head. “I don’t know. I have to take a phone call and might be a minute. I didn’t want to abandon the gremlinsfor an unknown amount of time. Sorry.” I sidle past her, heading through the Library of Alexandria toward the magic-free backyard—hosting a playground set that humans can see, even though it was made by faeries last year.

Sunlight beats into my eyes the moment the heavy doors behind me close and I press my phone to my ear. “Hello…?”

“That took forever,” a lilting, beautifully bird-song voice whispers through the line. “I thought you were an extrovert and phone calls didn’t scare you.”

People have got to stop mentioning my extroversion as a means to place me in a superhuman position. I promise I’m just like other girls. It’s just that, you know, I happen toknowother girls, too. “Dani?” I ask, half-certain I’m dreaming. Or kidnapped. I did see Castor on Friday. Maybe I’ve been in his dungeons hallucinating on whatever roofies he slips his victims. “Is everything okay?”

“Perfectly!” she chirps, the pitch subtly higher than I am entirely comfortable believing. “I’m so sorry to bother you, and worry you.”

“No, no. You’re not bothering me at all, and the worry is included in your current tier of friendship. Don’t forget to renew your subscription on my birthday by sending me a cake gif.”

An edge of humor cuts through her voice. “Really? Must’ve missed that in the Patreon reward list when I signed up.”

“It’s special. TheDani Package. Honest mistake. No big deal.”

Her musical laughter calms me, fractionally. When it settles, she says, “I have an odd favor to ask.”

“Anything. You need me on a plane? I’m on it. Disposing a body? I’ll order a wood chipper. If you’re in trouble with the mob, I have some friends who can, probably literally, make them disappear. I’ve got your back. No request is too big.”

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