Page 50 of Tyton: The Spider and the Dragonfly
A tongue traced where the knife had been, or was it still there?Hot and liquid, indistinguishable from the cut in her throat.Callie sighed and tilted her head back.She could look down, meet those near-black eyes hovering above her jaw, but she diverted her attention.Staring directly was too intense.
Her lips parted.The blackness crept at the edges of her vision.Her head, the dying whine of capacitors emptying the last of their stores into the place that would discharge all of that energy at once.And when it did, it would consume them both.
Callie jolted awake, in her own room.Talia’s arm wrapped around her middle.She closed her eyes and took in the soft warmth of her breath blowing the tiny hairs on the back of her neck.Like videos of wheat fields she had seen in creche.Talia was so sweet.She inhaled deeply, the extra pressure of her arm weighing against her ribs.
But that dream?Sesi was attractive.Hot, even, but she scared Callie.An entire parade of red flags waved at her in the wind, but Callie’s body seemed to want to breeze through them on the fastest bike she could find and careen over the edge.It was foolish.She knew it was foolish.
Then again, she didn’t even know what she was to Talia.It must be something more than a date, though, right?Talia was here.Now.Playing nurse after Sesi had gotten her injured.
She should text Sparx.
That was the problem.Callie was not that smart.She had never had this problem before.She would find someone, date them and no-one else existed.Maybe her hormone regulator wasn’t working properly.She should get that checked out.
A gurgle by her sideboard table interrupted her thoughts.She saw a machine she didn’t recognise.Had she bought it?A strange smell came from it.Callie jerked upward to see what it was, waking Talia in the process.
“What?What is it?”Talia jolted awake.She gripped Callie to her chest and thrust a knife out at the invisible danger.
“Something’s burning!Can’t you smell that?”Callie wriggled, but Talia’s arms held her fast.
Talia relaxed and collapsed back on the bed, laughing.
“What?”Callie demanded, “Also, where did that knife come from?Do you sleep with them?”
Talia turned onto her side and drew calming circles against her back.“That’s Koffi.I found the machine in the base and got used to it, so when Sesi asked me to watch you for the night, I brought it here.”
Callie frowned.“I thought coffee went extinct.”
Talia rocked her head.“Nah.I mean, you can’t grow enough of it to sell anymore, but the plant still exists.Anyway, this stuff is synthetic.”Talia rolled off the bed and walked over to the sputtering machine.“It’s not that popular since people just started using Stim, but I like it.”
Callie rolled her eyes.“That sounds like a glowing endorsement.”
Talia poured the black liquid into a mug.She drank and glowered with mock spite.Then she passed it to Callie.
“They make cups out of Hexaline now?”
Talia swallowed and shook her head.“It’s ceramic.All it does is hold Koffi.I’m sure it’s older than the machine.”
“Weird.”Callie sniffed at it.It smelled okay.The taste did not match and Callie had to refrain from spitting it out.
Talia snorted.“It’s okay.”She took the mug back.Callie was grateful to give it up.
“It’s so bitter!”Callie coughed once she finished swallowing.
“Yeah, but it wakes you right up.”
“I guess.”Callie admitted.
Talia finished her Koffi while Callie bought a protein bar from the Vendr.The wrapper crinkled a little too loudly in the awkward silence as Callie tried to figure out how to approach this.It must have been a little too noticeable because Talia was the first to speak.
“Say what you want to say.”It was minute, but Talia’s jaw had clenched.She braced for whatever was coming, like she always did.Mentally preparing herself for the worst worked for her.It kept her from over-reacting.From embarrassing herself.
Callie exhaled, pitching forward and dangling her feet from the bed.“So…” she started, stalling the inevitable.But the first word had already been uttered.She’d crossed the threshold and she couldn’t stop now.
“Um,” she stammered.“What are we?”
Talia held the mug with both hands in front of her chest, as though it would protect her from what came next.She liked Callie.A lot.And she always got attached far too early.Maybe that’s what Callie was picking up on.She needed to dispel any notion of possessiveness or desire to move too quickly.
She set her mug down on the desk in an act of courage, forcing her shoulders to relax.“I mean, we had a fun date, right?I’m sorry if taking care of you last night was a bit too personal too quickly.Sesireallylikes to make sure everyone knows we’ve got their backs.I can go if it’s too weird.”
