Page 28 of Feral

The waiter nodded, leaving us in tense silence once more. I looked anywhere except at Daphne, which was hard when that was all I wanted to do. Our drinks arrived quickly, giving me something to do with my hands, and Daphne let out a little sigh of relief. She took a pull from her glass before getting her notebook out and starting to scribble in there.

My eyes wandered down to her bowed head, the curls falling against one flushed cheek. I wanted to wind those dark tendrils around my finger, to feel it’s silkiness for myself. But instead, I took a long pull from my beer and ended up finishing it.

Daphne glanced up, and chuckled.

“Done already?”

“Aye.”

She waited, and my mind cast about for something else to add, but I couldn’t think of anything. So I waved down the waiter, ordered another and cringed internally at my behavior. There was being stand offish and there was being rude. I didn’t want to be the latter.

“What are ya writin’?” I asked.

“What I read before I forget it.”

“You can remember what ya read, word for word?”

“Sometimes. This is more general ideas, bits of information.”

I nodded and silence once again took hold of us, more uncomfortable than before.

In the background, a Proclaimers song started and Daphne’s head whipped up.

“Oh! I love this song. It’s so romantic.”

I snorted.

“You don’t agree?”

“‘I’m gonna be’? It’s the whipped man’s national anthem.”

She opened and closed her mouth, her smile fading a bit and went back to her notebook.

Bloody hell, I keep sticking my foot in my mouth with this lass. And I shouldn’t care but I do!

My mind scrambled for a safe topic to break the uncomfortable silence while we waited for our food.

“So,” I said, forcing a smile into my voice, “Daphne, tell me how ya became the head of the…um….”

“Sexual Artifacts department?”

“Aye, that.”

Her head tipped to the side as she took me in and I didn’t care for feeling like I was a mystery to be solved.

“Well?”

“Sorry,” she said, and took a sip of her drink. “It’s just…well, I often find that supernaturals aren’t as prudish about sex as Mundanes so I was surprised that you stumbled over it.”

I fidgeted with the handle of my pint and shrugged.

“I didn’t ken how comfortable ya were talkin’ about it.”

“Well, I’m actually quite comfortable. My job doesn’t leave room for much else.”

Now it was my turn to frown at her and try to see the hidden nooks and crannies of her mind. She came across like an adorable librarian, yet she had no shame when speaking of her profession.

“How did ya come to study this, if ya didn’t mind me askin’?”

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