changed our relationship somehow? I was this cool chick she was kind of attracted to who had unconventional sexual practices and wasn’t human. Why wasn’t she more freaked out than this? I was used to people either running in terror or thinking I was a delusional whack job. She’d been more upset at the thought that Irix might have hit me than the fact he was a demon and I was a half-breed freak.
Kai whistled cheerfully as we packed up the paddleboards and stowed them in a temporarily repurposed supply room of the resort. I wasn’t sure how to take her unexpected good mood and frowned, not paying attention as I opened a closet to put the paddles away. The door flew out of my hands, and I shrieked as an avalanche of plastic pineapples came down on my head.
“Paybacks,” Kai called, turning to put her paddles in a different cabinet. “Pineapple shower in the storeroom.”
My mouth fell open. Had she just made a sex joke? About giving a blow job after your partner has eaten a ton of pineapple?
“I’ll admit it’s the least sticky pineapple shower I’ve ever had. And I didn’t even have to swallow.” I scooted the little plastic toys aside with my foot and shut the paddles in the locker.
Kai chuckled. “Any day I don’t have to swallow is a good day. With or without pineapple.”
I tossed one at her, feeling light and happy at our friendship. It sucked that our lesson was over and I wouldn’t see her again until tomorrow. I knew I needed to find a partner or two and get in some sex before Irix returned, but I’d rather hang out with Kai.
“So, you want to grab a coffee?”
Her question jolted me from my thoughts of sex. “I... yes, I do. Coffee. Lovely.” Kai. Sex. Damn, I wish those two could go together. Maybe, if things were different, it could have happened. Maybe.
We walked to the resort’s artificial waterfall, grabbing a couple of lattes and watching the giant koi swim about and the flamingos wade by. A Banyan tree hung over the naturalized pool, Spanish moss dripping from its branches.
“Not very Hawaiian,” I commented. From this vantage point, I could have been at a resort in the Caribbean Islands, or in Florida. At least they could have stuck a few orchids on the tables.
Kai waved at the Spanish moss. “Actually it is. Pele’s hair, we call it.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Girlfriend seriously needs some conditioner. And a trim. That hair is a mess.”
Kai smiled, ignoring my comment. “I grew up with one parent who had a little shrine in the pantry to the spirits of her ancestors, and another who told bedtime stories of Pele, Haumea, and Kamapua’a. My grandmother would be the first to say what happened the last few days was an angry god, or unappeased spirit. I’m Hawaiian in the sense that I cherish that part of my cultural heritage. I know the stories; I know hula, and I speak enough of the language to get by, but fire-beings and demon elves? I’m struggling to wrap my head around this, Amber. The only reason I’m not dismissing you as a nutcase is because I saw that bamboo. I saw it rise from nowhere out of the floor, growing thick and huge, as big as I’ve seen in Haleakala Park.”
I eyed my new friend, thinking about my revelations to Darci last summer, to her friends, who admittedly were more open than most to the existence of supernatural beings.
“I was raised as a human, with human parents. Even though I always knew I was different, it still was hard for me to believe what I truly was. I don’t like to tell people the truth, because I’m afraid it will freak them out and I’ll be all alone. Irix isn’t always around, and I get so lonely sometimes. I just wish I could be honest with everyone about who I am. I wish I didn’t have to lie in order to have friends in this world.”
My words were raw, honest. My breath burned in my chest from the confession. These were things Irix could never understand. It was so hard, walking around, hiding who I was from
Kai whistled cheerfully as we packed up the paddleboards and stowed them in a temporarily repurposed supply room of the resort. I wasn’t sure how to take her unexpected good mood and frowned, not paying attention as I opened a closet to put the paddles away. The door flew out of my hands, and I shrieked as an avalanche of plastic pineapples came down on my head.
“Paybacks,” Kai called, turning to put her paddles in a different cabinet. “Pineapple shower in the storeroom.”
My mouth fell open. Had she just made a sex joke? About giving a blow job after your partner has eaten a ton of pineapple?
“I’ll admit it’s the least sticky pineapple shower I’ve ever had. And I didn’t even have to swallow.” I scooted the little plastic toys aside with my foot and shut the paddles in the locker.
Kai chuckled. “Any day I don’t have to swallow is a good day. With or without pineapple.”
I tossed one at her, feeling light and happy at our friendship. It sucked that our lesson was over and I wouldn’t see her again until tomorrow. I knew I needed to find a partner or two and get in some sex before Irix returned, but I’d rather hang out with Kai.
“So, you want to grab a coffee?”
Her question jolted me from my thoughts of sex. “I... yes, I do. Coffee. Lovely.” Kai. Sex. Damn, I wish those two could go together. Maybe, if things were different, it could have happened. Maybe.
We walked to the resort’s artificial waterfall, grabbing a couple of lattes and watching the giant koi swim about and the flamingos wade by. A Banyan tree hung over the naturalized pool, Spanish moss dripping from its branches.
“Not very Hawaiian,” I commented. From this vantage point, I could have been at a resort in the Caribbean Islands, or in Florida. At least they could have stuck a few orchids on the tables.
Kai waved at the Spanish moss. “Actually it is. Pele’s hair, we call it.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Girlfriend seriously needs some conditioner. And a trim. That hair is a mess.”
Kai smiled, ignoring my comment. “I grew up with one parent who had a little shrine in the pantry to the spirits of her ancestors, and another who told bedtime stories of Pele, Haumea, and Kamapua’a. My grandmother would be the first to say what happened the last few days was an angry god, or unappeased spirit. I’m Hawaiian in the sense that I cherish that part of my cultural heritage. I know the stories; I know hula, and I speak enough of the language to get by, but fire-beings and demon elves? I’m struggling to wrap my head around this, Amber. The only reason I’m not dismissing you as a nutcase is because I saw that bamboo. I saw it rise from nowhere out of the floor, growing thick and huge, as big as I’ve seen in Haleakala Park.”
I eyed my new friend, thinking about my revelations to Darci last summer, to her friends, who admittedly were more open than most to the existence of supernatural beings.
“I was raised as a human, with human parents. Even though I always knew I was different, it still was hard for me to believe what I truly was. I don’t like to tell people the truth, because I’m afraid it will freak them out and I’ll be all alone. Irix isn’t always around, and I get so lonely sometimes. I just wish I could be honest with everyone about who I am. I wish I didn’t have to lie in order to have friends in this world.”
My words were raw, honest. My breath burned in my chest from the confession. These were things Irix could never understand. It was so hard, walking around, hiding who I was from
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