HORNS (BoyXBoy)

Chapter 171

Chapter One Hundred and Seventy-One

Most of the morning and early afternoon passed by in a literal haze for me.

Sebastian, of course, had been waiting for us at the top of the stairs leading to the rooms.

"Good, you're here," he'd said. "Pick a room and get settled in. We'll be leaving for Stonehenge tomorrow morning at ten sharp, so be ready. I'll be down in the bar if you need me."

"Is there anything else I need to know?" my dad had asked.

"Nope. Feel free to do whatever you wish until tomorrow," Bash had grunted back, and then he'd thumped his boot-wearing way downstairs, leaving us to our own devices. Getting situated in our rooms was the easy part, since Luka and Sasha had both decided prior to our arrival that I would share one room and one bed with them for some welcome snuggles and cuddling. I wasn't bothered by it in the slightest; the closeness would actually be comforting.

The hard part was trying to relax with literally nothing to do but wait until tomorrow.

Everyone else seemed to settle into things fairly easily. Sebastian, true to his word, spent more than half the day talking with the owner of the Lamb, Milo, at the counter of the extremely old bar that had been built into the dining area, drinking alcohol and occasionally eating snacks while he clacked away on his laptop, doing who the hell knew what. My dad had joined him after an hour or two, as had Luka.

I, on the other hand, flopped down on the bed with zero intention of doing anything. On the right side of the room, a huge stonemason fireplace with synthetic firewood burned brightly, and on the left was a window. I probably would have spent the entire day lost in thought if Sasha hadn't decided to stay and keep me company while I lazed around. We were both silent at first, but after a time I decided to keep her entertained using my phone since I wasn't sure if sitting around was boring for her. I spent pretty much the whole day snuggled up with her, cushioned by the plush pillows of the king-sized bed our cozy hotel room boasted while watching random funny videos on the internet and talking about our interests in mundane stuff like music, instruments, foods, and animals. It was comforting, being able to just chill for a change.

Sasha watched my fingers through sleepy eyes as I swept through funny MeTube compilations on my phone, one arm pillowed under my head, foam balls on my horns to prevent the tips from ripping the bedlinens, agitatedly bouncing my hoof while she hummed softly to herself.

Her cheek was pillowed on my shoulder, arm touching my own.

It was the closest she'd ever been to me, and honestly, I was a bit uncomfortable.

"What this be?" she suddenly asked, pointing at my screen. "I see many, many people using, but still not know what it be. Why use small talking slate with moving glass window? Is it magic?"

I blinked, ears flicking higher, then turned to look at her with my eyebrows raised.

"You don't know what a phone is for?" I asked, taken off guard yet again by how little they seemed to know of technology. It shouldn't have been surprising since Dari still referred to televisions as 'magic windows' but it honestly was surprising. The fact that most, if not all, satyrs lived without modern conveniences was simply mind-boggling to me sometimes.

"No, I know it be used to talk to others," she said, giving me a pretty smile. Her eyes crinkled, freckled nose scrunching, and she waved a delicate hand. "Just not know how or what it be."

"I can try to explain it if you'd like," I offered; her eyes lit up and she nodded. "Alright. See, this thing I'm always using is called a cellular phone. People all over the world use cellular phones just like mine to connect to each other. Every phone has as specific set of numbers that are assigned to it, and when you punch those numbers in, it sends a signal to the phone of the person being called. Then, you can talk to them! Even if they're far, far away across the world!"