Flora & Fauna

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"I'm never buying your brother fancy booze again!"

Andrius laughs as I fold a pillow around my face and follow him blindly out to the kitchen. The hangover throbs in the confines of my skull, worsening every time a sliver of light reaches my eyes. At the sizzling sound of cooking, I groan in pain and feel my way to the hearth to flop down onto some pillows. I hear Quince squeak and her wings flap as she darts out of my way.

"You're not the first to decide to never drink with him again." Andrius grabs my wrist and places a disc of salty fried bread in my waiting hand.

I lift the pillow high enough to gnaw on the bread without exposing my eyes. The more it eases my pain, the more ravenously I devour it. On the other end, I feel and hear Quince working to tear off a piece before I can eat all of it. As the distant cooking sounds fade, I hear Andrius sit beside us and two plates clink as he sets them down.

"You should probably eat something besides bread."

I skip the glass sitting before me and chug water straight from the pitcher. When he taps a forkful of scrambled eggs on my lips, I open my mouth. I laugh around the mouthful at his startled sound when Quince flutters past and must be trying to take some of the breakfast for herself.

"I kind of lied, by the way."

I drop the pillow and raise an eyebrow at him.

"Technically, you have two other gifts."

"I do?"

"One of them isn't really a gift I think you want to open in front of my family. The other is... well, it just won't be ready for a few more days."

"Is it lingerie?" Quince sing-songs as she lands between our plates.

"Fuck," Andrius says after a moment, "That would've been a good idea."

"Do centaurs even have lingerie?"

"I don't know if lingerie would make sense for a species that's mostly naked all the time." He shrugs at Quince and she giggles before stealing another bite of bacon.

"So, what are they?"

"You'll know when you get them." Andrius stacks eggs on a slice of toast with a disinterested expression, as if I won't be languishing from curiosity now.

"Well, if you're going to be cruel and not even give me a hint, I guess you don't need your other, secret gift either."

I feel him look at me but don't meet his gaze as I take another bite.

"Okay, you win. One of them is a lustful gift. That's your hint."

Lustful? I wonder as I chew. What could we possibly need to add? It's not as if Andrius and I have any trouble satisfying each other. Only one problem came up and it was the last time I was here in Prophia. When I tried to pleasure him with my tongue and attempted some other positions, his forelegs presented an issue. Each time the trance deepened, they would reach out instinctively for the forelegs of another centaur. Once they passed close to my head when they kicked out, I panicked and scrambled out from underneath him. But I have trouble picturing anything that would change that. We had agreed that we'd just have to work around the impulse.

"I'll take my secret gift whenever you're ready."

I snap out of my thoughts. The richness of breakfast having cleared my aching head, I leap to my feet and go to my backpack hanging from a hook beside the door. Andrius tilts his head at the leather folder when I sit back down beside him and offer it on my palms. He smiles and flips it open. And I immediately realize my mistake when his expression changes.

"Sorry! It was a dumb idea." The words come out in a rush as I grab the folder, snap it shut, and pull it out of his hands.

His eyes flicker over the empty space when I snatch the photo away, before he looks at me. I pinch my fingers tighter when he tries to take the folder back. When he pulls once again, I release it. My heart hammers in my chest at his crestfallen expression.

"Is that your wedding dress?" His words are heartbreakingly quiet.

"I'm sorry. It was a stupid idea. Just, we had a photographer and I thought, if I had to be away sometimes maybe you'd want a photo of me but I-"

Andrius' free hand goes gently over my mouth to quiet me. "Flora. It's okay."

"Really?" I say against his palm.

"It was sweet of you to think of me, really. It's just... strange to see you in a wedding dress. For another man."

"You don't have to keep it if you don't want it." I glance toward the fireplace suggestively.

"I do want it. It will be nice to have when you're away. And I'll get over the other parts of how I feel about it."

His hand spreads across the small of my back and pulls me close. I say nothing of the tension I feel in his body when I press against him and time my breaths with his. The leather folder he places on the floor beside us, closed and facedown.

"This may be a good time to ask, are you okay out there?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. I miss you and I have to go to a lot of dinners with Claudius and his obnoxious business associates. But it's not all terrible. And I met Marko. Sometimes I go to his gallery and we have coffee."

Andrius lets out a strangely relieved sounding breath.

"What?"

"I was worried he didn't actually exist."

I laugh and pull away enough to look up at him. "He exists. And he's really nice. I got your pocket watch from his shop, he helped me pick it out for you. When I described your colors, he told me to get you something warm and fiery to go with your gold."

"Oh, that is nice of him."

"So, when do I get my lustful gift?"

"How about when you find lingerie? Because now that your sprite friend has put that in my head, I'm going to need to see it."

"Deal."

I take his pinky finger with my own and shake on the trade. Quince flutters closer and spreads one hand over our entwined pinkies.

"You're not participating in any of it, Quince," Andrius tells her flatly.

Her glow snaps brighter for a moment as she huffs at us. "Fine. Prudes."

.

Fluffing my waves in front of the mirror, I look over the outfit of new clothes. The lavender sweater is long, covering the top half of the black riding pants that descend into ankle-height leather boots. Everything is cozy and thick, but I toss the new peacoat over my arm anyway. If I run into Ares in town, the last thing I need is another talking to about how I'll catch my death running around Prophia without proper winter wear. I glance to the nightstand, where a thin, square box sits wrapped in plain paper.

"Don't even think about it." Andrius eyes me as he ties up his hair in a messy bun.

"I wasn't going to open it. I was just silently guessing."

Quince peeks out a dresser drawer and points assertively at Andrius. "It's a dildo!"

He rolls his eyes and laughs. "It is not a dildo."

"Sexy boudoir photos!"

"Okay, no more guesses from you."

"That means I got it right," she whispers in my ear as she flutters by.

"I'm almost more curious about the other gift. Why does it take longer?"

"Because I was indecisive." Andrius comes closer and combs his fingers through my hair. "And because it's just... more complicated work."

"That's it. I'm going supplies shopping before you drive me insane with these hints."

.

As I walk deeper into town, Quince hops between tree branches and windowsills, barely using her wings. There's a surprisingly colorful array of berries bundled up in her arms that has grown each time I look her way. I didn't even know there were that many types that came in during the winter. Juice has stained her snowball coat in a rainbow of tiny spots. She bows her head to rip open a wild grape with her fangs and noisily slurps out the insides. Some juice spritzes onto my cheek when she hops off a branch and settles on my shoulder without pausing her devouring.

"It's so nice out today." She throws an empty berry skin behind us. "Would it be okay if I head back? It's a good day for flying and Claudius is certainly busy after the holiday break."

"Oh, sure. Whatever you think is best. I'll see you back at the estate in a few days."

Quince flies just above my shoulder and stretches out her arms, releasing what remains of her collection. "Don't be late or he'll be mad at both of us."

"I won't be. Promise." I offer my pinky, raising and lowering it once when she hugs her arms around the digit.

Two centaurs jump back from each other as she flies between them before disappearing behind some buildings. I bite my lip to not snicker at their startled expressions and stop to look at the businesses I'm in view of. A dry food store, windows lined with glass jars showing different kinds of grains, beans, and pasta. What looks to be a book and printing shop. And a place I can't quite gauge the purpose of. The window space is definitely that of a store rather than a residence, but the angled presentation shelves that meet the glass are empty. Tilting my head curiously, I try the handle of the door and step into the storefront. A silver bell hanging over the corner of the door jingles as I enter. The wood interior is stained so dark it's nearly black. The curtain behind the glass topped front counter swings open.

"Oh." Laith pauses with a display case in his arms and eyes me strangely. "Hi."

"Laith? Hey. What is-"

He walks by me and slides the case into place, angled against a window. I perk up on my toes to look in at the display of gemstones. One side is larger, rougher stones. The other side of the velvet setting shows the same kind of stones cut and polished.

"Wow. I forgot you did this kind of work."

Laith makes an unreadable face but looks away and takes a cloth from his shirt pocket to gently rub an orb of citrine before he turns back to me. "How was your solstice?"

"Fun. Once I was back here, anyway. I met Andrius' family."

"Ah. You and I had a similar holiday then."

"Oh, really?" I wiggle my eyebrows. "What's her name?"

He steps from hoof to hoof and needlessly adjusts the cuffs of his shirt. "Delilah."

"Awww. That's a cute name. It goes with yours."

He turns away from me just as color starts to spread across his cheeks and goes back behind the counter to slide out a case of stones.

"Hey, you live here full-time. Would you know a place that sells clothes but also does alterations? Like, if I need something fitted to my shape?"

He raises an eyebrow at me and I silently pray I won't have to plainly ask if he knows of a lingerie store. Laith stands beside me as he settles another case into its slot and hums thoughtfully to himself as he stares out the window.

"Well, there's a boutique about three blocks to the west. Pink building, easy to find. And it's popular. I doubt they have experience fitting their pieces to humans though."

"That'll work!"

.

The lace fabric is so long that the bundle of it in my arms hangs down to the ground in a pool on the colorful rug. The worker looks confused by my attempts to drape the various items around my body but leaves me to try again and again. I sigh and twist the wrap back around its cushioned hanger.

My attention is pulled to the front door as a trio of female centaurs prance inside, laughing and chatting among themselves. Two are ginger colored, one solid and the other with splotches of white. I watch as they stop by a circular rack and easily twist items around themselves in a purposeful looking way. Especially the central one. Quite possibly the prettiest of their kind I've seen. Apart from Andrius anyway. Her facial features are all perfectly, femininely curved. From her wavy hair to her similar tail, she's snowy white. So fair and porcelain delicate that the points at the end of her ears are soft pink. She gasps and twirls a length of gossamer blush-colored fabric around herself. It makes her look like something out of a storybook.

"Lillian." One of the ginger twins laughs while the other tries on a fuzzy toque. "You said you wanted to shop for wintery colors!"

Without looking at what I'm holding in my arms, I turn and run back toward the stall-sized dressing rooms. Cold overtakes me as I get inside the hidden place and slam the door behind myself. I drop the length of fabric I ran with and slide down the wall until I'm sitting on the floor.

"Miss? Um.. miss?" The shopkeeper's hand gently raps against the door, her speckled legs showing in the gap underneath.

I open the door and grab her forearm before she can react. With a stunned expression, she allows me to pull her into the room and close the door again. The speckles translate into streaks of dark and light hair that's braided around her face in a crown. I put a finger to my lips and silently shush her.

"Did you need help, um, trying that on?" she whispers.

I pull in a deep breath and point at the pile of gossamer white fabric. "I need to look... romantic but irresistible. And I want it out of this fabric."

"Oh." She pauses and tilts her head at my body shape. "We'll need to get your measurements. And it probably won't be cheap. Our tailor doesn't have a lot of experience with, well, your kind."

"I can afford it. And I can't go out there until those three have left."

The centaur raises her brows and looks ready to ask a lot of questions, but whatever she sees in my face changes her mind. She nods and presses a finger to her lips, mirroring my shushing, before she exits the dressing room. I grow more and more self-conscious as the lilting voices continue throughout the shop. It only increases as I'm fitted and watch the confused expressions of the tailor as he jots down my measurements. The feeling of being an oddity was almost fun the other times I've been in Prophia. A strange, fairytale challenge. This time I feel less like something from a fairytale, more like something from a freakshow.

.

Still feeling chilled inside, I set the flat box on one of the low cushions and throw my coat on top of it. Andrius smiles and pulls me close at the hearth. He presses a kiss to my hair and I can smell the spiced sugar scent from his clean skin. His warm hand goes under the back of the sweater and spreads across my lower back. The open robe he's wearing sits bunched at the curve of his spine and I spread my hands over his chest as I press close.

"I was about to send out a search party."

I try to laugh but barely a sound chokes out. He seems to notice but ignores it as I follow him to the kitchen and begin helping with dinner. The work at least gives me an excuse to zone out, to work with my hands instead of spiraling in my mind.

"Flora?"

"Huh?" I freeze in place and look down at the cut chopped squash between my hands.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"What was I just saying?"

"Um. Ironwood. Something."

Andrius tilts his head at me, a tendril of hair coming loose from the bundle and falling to hang beside his face. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

His hands go over mine and take them away from their work to only hold them. "You're not good at lying to me, you know. It's almost comforting."

"Nothing that I know how to talk about yet."

"Did I do or say something that hurt you?"

"No." I shake my head without looking up.

"Is your sprite friend okay?"

"Yes." I answer impatiently. "She went back to Leaven."

"Okay." He sighs and presses a kiss to my forehead. "Just tell me when you're ready."

His fingers constantly tangle with those of my free hand as we eat dinner. And he holds me close as we lay in bed together. Silently, I pull together words in my mind. Deciding how much I want to say, what parts are actually important enough to be said.

"Andrius?"

"Hm?"

"Are you awake?"

"Awake enough. What's on your mind?"

"We're really together, right? I mean, it's just us."

"Who else would we be?"

"I mean... we.." I stroke one hand lower on his back until I meet the line of fur and pause. "Do you ever feel like you're missing out on anything by being with me? Instead of one of your own kind?"

"What could I possibly be missing out on?" His hot breath blows in and out of my hair as he squeezes me tighter against himself.

"The ease." I shrug. "The compatibility. I know it's not always simple between us. And, even just physically between us it's complicated. I worry that you'll feel like all this trouble isn't worth it. For me."

"Flora." Andrius pulls away to look down at me and scant lantern light dances across the gold of his irises. "I'm with you because I want to be with just you. If I wanted anyone else, I wouldn't have wandered around Leaven trying to find you. I'm happy when I'm with you. And I feel safe. I never feel like you're saying something when you mean something completely different."

He lets me pull him down when I tangle my hands in his hair. His lips melt easily against mine where we meet. I wrap a leg around him and feel my toes sink into his thick fur.

"I'm happy with you too," I breathe out, "I was just worried all of a sudden."

.

The ribbon sealed, pink box sits on top of the plain one on the nightstand. Considering the glum mood I was in yesterday, and the fact that I'll be leaving today for Leaven, I have the feeling they'll both remain unopened for now.

"Don't even think about it," I quip at Andrius as I pull a sweater over my head.

He doesn't laugh but looks away from the boxes while biting the inside of his cheek. "I think you could make it on time if you left tomorrow."

"I have to go to a pre-new years dinner with Claudius and his parents to some key investor's house. He'll be in a whole mood and a half if I'm late."

Andrius sighs unhappily but doesn't say anything as he turns and exits. Outside the bedroom, I can hear the front door open and close followed by the sound of another set of hooves. I hop into a pair of pants and thick, wooly socks before rushing out toward the quietly speaking voices. Laith is brushing back his wind-mussed hair as Andrius shuts one of the cupboards too high for me to ever use. Laith glances at him, but so quickly I don't have time to catch the meaning of the look before I hear the tear of paper. Andrius finishes ripping up a note so small it must've been carried in a sprite's bag.

"Oh, hi." I walk between them to grab the kettle kept at my height on the countertop. "Are you staying for tea?"

"No, no. I should get to the shop and open. I was just stopping by on my way."

With lead in my stomach, I don't bother mentioning that the house isn't 'on the way' to anything with how it is situated on the edge of town. Laith is already opening the front door and leaving as I say goodbye. When I look over my shoulder at Andrius, he's opening a wooden box and pulling out two tea bags for us.

"Is Laith okay?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't he be?"

I shrug. "I don't know. He just seemed different, that's all."

Andrius shrugs a shoulder at me in return and puts the kettle on without explanation. With his attention on the stovetop, I watch his stiff back and the cupboard door that's so out of my reach.

.

The aura around him only feels more complex and gloomy as the day goes on. Worry makes me progressively more fidgety and desperate as I try to make him laugh, or even just smile, at me. I can tell he's trying too. But something pulls down his features instantly whenever I get a positive reaction out of him. As I pack my travel bag, he looks at me as if he'll offer some explanation. He instead wraps my scarf around my neck and stuffs the edges into my new coat, tugging up the sides just enough to protect my ears from the cold.

"We'll exchange our other gifts when I get back. It'll be like having another solstice."

"Yeah," he agrees plainly.

I struggle to think of something else to say, only to give up when Andrius picks me up and hugs me close. His hot breaths melt against the crook of my neck between the scarf and my hair. The breaths turn to soft kisses as I wrap my arms around him and press myself closer. The hooves of Claudius' horse behind us noisily dig through the snow for hidden greenery. Hesitantly we part, I situate the backpack on my shoulders and throw myself up into the saddle. I turn the horse around to wave as I leave, but the front door of the home is already clicking shut.