“Millie, go see Mummy. She’s home.” I called up into the tree.
“Did she see me?” Akio asked as they both jumped down from one of the higher branches and landed on their feet gracefully.
“Oh, she saw you, alright.”
Millie was running into the house, calling after Lucy.
“You’re in trouble, aren’t you?” Akio asked as I wrapped my arms around his neck.
“I am, but it is what it is. I’ll tell her Macie said it was fine, and she’ll let it go.”
“How is Macie?”
“She was slipping, but she’s fine now that Lucy is home. She just worries about her, you know?”
“I know. Fuck, if the fat-cats were throwing you in jail because they thought you had purposely killed a Noble…”
“She didn’t purposely kill him. He died on the table. There was nothing she could have done. The BP had just spread too quickly.”
“I know.” He replied, and I stood on my tiptoes so I could kiss him. “Shall I sneak in through your window tonight?”
“Yes, you shall.”
“Are you sure? Because if she busts us, she is probably going to kill me, and she knows a lot of herbs and potions that would make it really painful for me…”
“Oh, she worked for seventeen hours. She’ll eat something, take a shower, and go right to bed. And that means that you and I can go right to bed.”
“Ooh, I like it. Parallelism in your sentences. Mmm! Turning me on with that shit.”
“Well, good.” I replied, and he dipped his head down to kiss me again. “Have I been too insatiable lately?”
“What do you mean? Have you been eating too much?” He asked, and he seriously thought that I had been talking about my appetite for food.
“No, dumbass!” I exclaimed, whacking him in the chest, “I guess I should ask if I’ve been too thirsty.”
“Ha!” He exclaimed before laughing obnoxiously. “A. I love your use of the slang version of the word ‘thirsty.’ B. Hell. No. Come on, babe, I’m a guy who is perpetually stuck at twenty. Do you honestly think that I am satiable? The fact that you are equally incapable of being satiated is a major plus in our relationship.”
“I’m not being whorish?”
“Oh, I’m sorry, was that the Old Spirit programming talking? Go away, Old Spirit programming. The power of Christ compels you!”
“They don’t even believe in Christ, but yes, that was Old Spirit programming talking. Ew. What was I thinking?”
“Violet!” Lucy’s voice called from the front porch.
“Coming!”
“Oh, you will be… later.” Akio replied, and I whacked him even harder in the chest before punching him repeatedly in the arm.
“You are so gross!” I told him, “I’m com…” I started to shout back to Lucy, “I’m returning to the house right this second, Lucy!”
Akio left, his hysterical laughter echoing back to me as he made his trudge down the hill towards the rest of the city-village.