Page 20 of Nine Inch Nasty
I want to paint him in it and then lick it up.
What?
Nobody in the crowd breathes when the screen shows Adam racing towards the suspended unicorns and saving them all, catching them on a soft cloud before their goddess can feed them to her hungry fire. Does that sound like a euphemism to anybody else? Maybe I've been stone too long.
I didn't believe Saladriel when he told me that the captive unicorns wouldn't appreciate Delaney rescuing them, because that's madness. We all fought him on it, in fact. But the animosity they're all shooting Delaney is plain as clouds, and we can hear everything they're saying since the goddess has microphones everywhere in her strange stadium.
“They're seriously mad they didn't get to sacrifice themselves for a pointless game? How can they not see Delaney’s perfection? Saladriel, are your people blind as well as a simple?”
Quite the diatribe out of Wil; I pat him on the back for being a properly obsessed mate.
“Sorry, shouldn't have called them simple. But it's hard not to think like that when in all her perfection she manages to save them, and they hit her back withthat? Oh, what's happening now? What are they saying? Turn it up!”
It's not an actual television set, so we can't turn it up, but everybody in the vicinity stops talking, which has a similar effect. Delaney has freed herself, and a stray unicorn that was amongst the group has approached her.
They wander away from the cameras until they’re no longer visible, and they're not miked anymore so I've no idea what's happening, but I want to scream at her to come find me, and eventually I get sick of waiting.
I entrust the bowl of frosting and the line of curious unicorns to Saladriel, and I take to the skies. I may be stone, but since stone isn't really a thing here, the world doesn't seem to know what to do with me. Therefore, the laws of gravity don't seem to affect me. Don't ask questions, just appreciate the gesture alright?
I can sense Delaney’s location in my chest, my bond with her pulling me to where she is. The closer I get, the faster I fly, and when I finally lay eyes upon her, it takes everything within me not to mount her right there. Pretty sure she would appreciate it, but I can't say the same for all of the spectators around us.
As it is, I tackle her to the ground and roll us through the clouds, pinning her down so I may kiss her beautiful face. She seems thrilled to see me, and I can't hold back the beatific smile that shines out of me. “You were magnificent, my love. Way to vanquish your enemy!”
Her kisses are sweet; her legs wrapped around me even sweeter. But there's enough throat clearing around us to tell me we stillhave things to take care of. So, I stand with her still attached to me like a barnacle, not willing to give her up anytime soon.
“I was just coming to find you guys. This is Tuna Sandwich... aka Jackknife. He was taking us to the inn. Jackknife, this is Leo, another of my mates.”
I shake his hand, gently of course, and then yank Adam in for a hug. “It is good to have you back with us. And you Cory,” I say as I hug them as well, my arms wrapping around all three of these people that have come to mean so much to me in such a short time. “I thank you for taking care of our mate when we couldn't. We were all cheering you on.”
They kiss Delaney on the cheek very sweetly, warming my heart further.
“Wait ‘til you see what we've been up to in your absence, love. Saladriel came back and told us everything. We've been working as fast as we can.”
“Doing what?”
I squeeze her rear end because it is in my hands, finally letting Adam and Cory go so that we can start to move forward. “Giving out frosting, of course. Rush keeps duplicating it, but we've been handing out samples for quite a while now. I think it is working.”
“What is frosting? That sounds toxic,” Jackknife predictably says.
Do I…ask about the name?
I want to roll my eyes at Jackknife’s question, but it's not his fault their goddess has limited their palate so. “It’s a wonderful concoction from our realm. We're trying to bring happiness to the unicorns. We have been underwhelmed by the cuisine here, and because food is such a big part of our culture back home,we thought it might help improve morale here if we introduced some things to you guys.”
“I should let you go. I've delivered you to your mates. Thank you for speaking with me, Chosen One. I shall tell all my friends and family of our time together. I wish you a good journey.”
“Wait, Jackknife!”
Delaney wiggles until I reluctantly remove my hold on her, and she steps towards her sad pink unicorn. “Come with us. Come meet some more of my mates, taste the frosting for yourself. If you want to. It's not actually vegan, so I understand if you're uncomfortable with that. But it's my favorite recipe, and I would love to share it with you.”
Jackknife stares at her, trying to get a read on her sincerity. “You would have time for such?”
“We all watched the games,” I tell the new unicorn. Would it be completely insensitive if we renamed anybody that stayed with us long term? I don't know if I can in all seriousness call someone Jackknife or listen to Delaney call out their name when she's being taken by them. It feels like a horror film waiting to happen. “Tell me, are you one of her assigned mates?”
Jackknife nods, holding out an arm that shows a glittery band around it. “Yes. And I’ve come to understand it's not a true bond, and that she is trying to undo them. So, you do not need to be nice to me.”
“Whoa, that's not why I'm trying to talk to you. It might be a different bond, true, but just because it's different than what we have, doesn't make it any less real. Tell me, can you feel Delaney’s presence? What does the bond with her feel like for you?”
I think we’re all so torn on this whole bonded-to-the-unicorns business. We’ve had so many discussions on why we think the unicorn bonds are less than the ones we have from our realm, and how they can’t be real because of the whole soul-mates-being-impossible here, but…I imagine they feel different to those that have the bonds in their chest, and I think we need to be sensitive to that. Or at least I do now that I’ve been in their realm.
