Page 2 of Nine Inch Nasty
“Any requests? Have you looked at the menu?”
“Oh, I thought there was only the one burrito option?” the wife asks timidly. “Is there something else on the menu that we missed?”
“Ah, well, no, but there is an option between a stale tortilla or a fresh one. The fresh ones tend to be pretty pleasant though, so us unicorns tend to avoid them.”
They look at each other and the wife bursts into tears before turning around and sobbing loudly, and if you must know, it makes me feel quite awkward. “Is she alright?”
The husband pats her on the back before grimacing. “We’ve never adjusted well to this world. We’re determined to figure out one thing here that brings joy like we know, and every day our hopes get dashed a little more. We even tried to barter for some imported goods from other non-Glittertopians, but the goddess created new laws that prevented it, so we were turned away. Repeatedly. Even debasing ourselves and begging didn’t seem to improve our chances. I believe this taco shop was the very last thing in all Glittertopia we had to try, so there was a lot riding on this experience.”
“That’s an awful lot of pressure for a simple bean burrito.”
“I WANT SOME FUCKING GUACAMOLE!” The woman shouts like a lunatic.
Now I’m wondering if I should cut my losses and run far away. Noreen already thinks that I’m too flamboyant. What would she think if she saw me talking to these people? I’m sure they’re lovely but they’re making the insides of my ears itch in a bad way.
“Two burritos, fresh tortillas, please. And…” he sighs in disappointment. “Since you don’t have ice here, two slightly warm waters, as well.”
I really don’t know what there is to be upset about, but I get their meals and carefully hand them over before feeling like I need to go bathe their other worldness off of me.
Their story is a bit unknown around here, they just sort of showed up one day. There is a cloud with others like them, though none of the others look as human. I can’t imagine how hard it would be to get sent somewhere so foreign and be expected to find happiness; this is forever my home.
Good thing I’ll never have to leave Glittertopia to share that experience that the both of them clearly find so distasteful. In hindsight, I think that woman probably had every reason to be screaming about strange foods I’ve never heard of.
Chapter Two
Delaney
“Uh, Delaney? There’s somebody at the door. Two somebodies, in fact. I wanted to keep letting you sleep, but they’re being pretty insistent. They claim to be Zac’s parents?”
Saladriel’s voice disappears and then he immediately comes back and pops his head in the door, a grimace on his pretty face. “Also, they claim to know the real reason this realm is being poisoned. Hope you didn’t have plans today because I think you’re gonna be pretty busy. Oh, also—”
I scream into the pillow.
So much for today being the day all my new and temporary dreams come true.
Is it too much to ask people that want to show up unannounced to a place I'm sleeping, that they do soafterI've handled all the erections I'm in bed with? Or at the very least, you know,notshow up unannounced?
“Thanks, Saladriel. I'll be right out.”
Leo sleeps right through it, Rush is sitting in the corner staring at me like a creep, Spencer is groaning at being woken up as well, and Wil is burying his head into my back as if he can just pretend I don't have to go anywhere. I know he’s awake though.
“Sorry Wil, I know you're cozy.” I try and pry his fingers off of my middle, but he's not having it.
“Tell them to suck it.”
I bust out a laugh because I've never heard him speak like that. “Wil!”
“What? We didn't ask them to come. Just call Saladriel back in here and have him tell whoever's out there we just got mated and we're on our honeymoon. There will be no disturbances until I say so.”
I flip around so I can see him because his sleep-mussed voice is far too cute. “Oh we are, are we?”
“He's got a point there, Delaney,” Spencer says from the other side of the bed, wagging his eyebrows. “We really should be excused from anything important for a bit. We have very important things to discover about each other.”
Apparently not satisfied with the speed at which I'm moving, Saladriel walks back in just as I'm sitting up, scrubbing my hands through my hair to try and assess how messy it is from sleeping.
I notice his eyes go straight to my chest and he frowns, then shakes himself out of it and makes eye contact. “I've talked to them before. Zac's parents. A few days before I went to where you live, I helped them get some dinner nearby. Sort of odd that we're interacting again, don't you think?”
I crawl across all the bodies on the bed and let Rush pull me out of it, calling an apology to a somehow still sleeping Leo when I knee him somewhere very delicate. Good thing he’s stone.
