The other one for sale was a clump of long, tapered stalks with fat bases and domed caps in a vibrant purple. This one had a single shard of pale yellow crystal to steady the base, chunky and striated with white and amber.
I grinned, carrying them over to the register and asking the friendly attendant if I could leave them with my coffee cups while I kept looking around.
When I left the shop twenty minutes later, there was a bulging plastic bag hooked over my arm. I hurried home clutching our lukewarm coffees, and when I got into the house, the first thing I did after shedding my coat and boots was put the cups in the microwave to heat up.
I was pretty sure Greid wasn’t up yet, but I was too excited to show him what I’d bought, so I carried the bag and our coffees to his bedroom door and knocked with my elbow. “Greid?”
I heard the rustle of fabric, followed by his sleep-rough voice calling out, “Come in.”
When I opened the door, I saw no Greid, just an indistinct lump under a mound of blankets on the bed. Then a head of dark, glossy hair popped out before big yellow eyes blinked at me sleepily.
“Beryl, is that you?” he rasped. “I’m fading away.”
I burst out laughing as I made my way over to the bed. He was such a dork. “Shut up, I’m like, half an hour later than normal delivering your coffee.”
“I can’t hear you,” he said, shifting upright to lean back against the headboard as I settled cross-legged on the bed beside him. “The lack of caffeine is shutting off my senses one by one.”
I laughed again, but my insides pulsed with want at the sight of his bare chest. Was he completely naked under there? I forced the thoughts away and handed over his coffee. “I went shopping.”
“Oh yeah?” He popped the lid off and blew on the steaming liquid before taking a sip.
“Yeah, at the thrift store next to the Chinese place we’ve ordered from a few times?” I dragged the bag closer to me. “They have so much cool stuff in there.”
“Oh right, yeah. I know it. Haven’t been in there for a while.”
“I was thinking we could donate your Room of Shame stuff to it.” I shot a pointed glance at the pile of boxes tucked beside his closet door.
Greid coughed awkwardly. “So what did you get?”
Snorting, I reached into the bag. “Some new shirts. A handbag, seeing as I don’t have one. Well, it’s actually an old leather rucksack. Look.”
I pulled it out, admiring the cracked tan leather and thick brass buckles. Greid nodded, reaching out to take it. “Nice. Have you looked inside yet? Sometimes people leave cool stuff in bags when they donate them. You know, like old shopping lists or notes they forgot to take out.”
“No, not yet,” I said distractedly, rooting through the paper-wrapped items in the bag until I found the one I wanted. “I got you this.”
Greid went still, then dropped the bag and set down his cup on the nightstand before reaching out to take the heavy, wrapped object I held out. “You didn’t have to get me something.”
But he was already fumbling to unwrap it, grinning as he held up the fat double-wick candle, its wax a deep red in a dark brown glass container.
“I got the most interesting scent I could find,” I told him with a wry smile, which made him spin the candle to read its label.
“Deep secret rose and freshly dug earth,” he read out, then lifted it to his nose and sniffed. “Oh man, it smells so good.”
I flushed. “I don’t know what kind of deep secrets a rose could have.”
“It’s a type of rose. They smell really nice.” He gave me a shy smile. “Thanks, Beryl.”
“My pleasure. It was nice to be able to buy you something.” I leaned forward on my hands to give him a kiss, which went on for a lot longer than I’d been expecting when Greid threaded his fingers through my hair and kissed me back eagerly.
By the time I pulled away, I was a little dazed, but forced myself to say, “Which reminds me—now that it’s been over a month since I moved in, you should be able to go through your bills and see how much they’ve all gone up by. So I know how much to contribute.”
Greid froze, then groaned dramatically as he fell back against the headboard. “You’re going to make me do math?”
Laughing, I picked up one of my new shirts to inspect it. It had a vintage floral pattern—probably old-fashioned and ugly to a lot of people, but I loved how colourful it was.
“Yes,” I told Greid sternly. “But only when you have time. Did you do some more work on the headpiece last night?”
“Yeah, a little. Cleaned up a bit first and did some laundry. You left yours in the machine, by the way. I put it in the dryer for you.”
“Oh, shit. Thanks. Sorry, I forgot.”
“I’m used to it,” he teased, nudging me with his knee beneath the blankets.
I did tend to forget when I’d started doing laundry. Greid was usually the one to remind me. And put my stuff in the dryer so it didn’t start smelling damp.
“What else did you get?” he asked, picking up his coffee and nodding at the bag.
Grinning, I eagerly pulled out the two delicate mushroom ornaments, wrapped in thin paper. “So I saw these with all the other demiurgus-made knickknacks and thought they were awesome.”
“Oh, cool,” Greid said as I unwrapped them both and set them on the bed between us. “Sporefruit sculptures. I think I have a couple somewhere.”
“Sporefruit?” I asked, watching as he picked one up to inspect it.
“I think it’s a rough translation of ‘mushroom’ in the original demiurgus language,” he said casually. “They’re cool. Super popular a few decades ago. My grandma had a whole shelf filled with them.”
I laughed. “I’m guessing not so popular anymore then?”
“Maybe not with younger demiurgus,” he said sheepishly. “But there are some rare ones that are collectable. People sell them online sometimes. Or you can find them in thrift stores if you’re lucky.”
I perked up. “Can we look online for more?”
“Sure.” He took a sip of coffee. “I’ll try and find the ones I have as well. They might be in one of the second-floor rooms. Or the basement. I know I inherited a few from my grandma, though. We all did.”
I shifted. “You don’t have to give me the ones from your grandma, Greid.”
“Well, it’s not like they’ll be going anywhere.” He ducked his head and coughed. “Um, right?”
I bit my lip around a smile, reaching out to squeeze his hand. “Right. Thanks, Greid. I promise I’ll take good care of them. If you can find them, that is.”
“See, this is why it’s best not to have a cat.” He raised his brows at me. “No risk of the little shits knocking stuff off surfaces.”
I laughed, carefully rewrapping the ornaments. “That’s true.”
The curtains were partially drawn over the windows in here, making the light low and intimate. The air smelled so good—warm, sleepy Greid mixed with a hint of the shade he’d probably smoked before going to sleep. I picked up my coffee cup and took a sip as Greid relaxed back against the headboard, the new candle in his lap. After draining his coffee, he picked it up again to sniff it.
I knew I should probably leave him to get ready for the day or go back to sleep, but I didn’t want to.
“Hey, I saw Corva in Deep Brew,” I told him. “She invited me out for drinks sometime soon.”
Greid set the candle on his nightstand and smiled at me. “That’ll be nice.”
“She said she’ll invite some of her other friends, which makes me a little nervous.”
He frowned. “Why?”
I shifted uncomfortably. “Because… I don’t know, they’ll be all sophisticated and worldly like her. I don’t want them to think I’m a bumpkin.”