COMPLEMENTARY [GxG]

Chapter 17 | Anatomy of a Dwarf Planet

Tears well in my eyes, and I keep my head low while I eat the—honestly delicious—plate. Eris douses hers in a green, homemade sauce that is too spicy even for me. And unlike at last week's dinner, Maria talks the whole time: "It's not every day we can have dinners with the whole family—Daphne has practice for hours, Nico has violin, Axel is at college" and more awkward small talk that tells me nothing about what I'd really like to know. There were questions I wanted to ask, but unlike with Iker, I'm not bold enough to challenge her. She even makes us coffee—it's such a kind gesture I don't know what to do with myself.

Eris and I return upstairs and continue painting. The virgin mother and the skeletal saint clash come to life in a vivid embrace.

After a few hours, Eris starts nodding off. For two seconds—yes, I count them—she leans her head on my shoulder, and instead of recoiling, tears well in my eyes again. What's wrong with me? It must be the food earlier, the painting that's got me melancholic. In front of a canvas, I allow myself to feel everything that has no place in my routine of organization, discipline, and relentless strategizing for how I'll get to the top.

"Carajo," she says. "It's midnight. We haven't even showered."

"Are you going to take me back to my house?" I ask.

"Uh, the bodyguards are kind of off duty right now, and Iker's put me on a curfew."

"So you're just going to keep me prisoner here? Like Hades with Persephone?"

"Bitch I'm not no crusty Hades—I'm Eris."

"Which is also the name of a dwarf planet so irrelevant it wasn't even discovered until the two thousands. Makes sense, since you're so short."

"Fuck you," she breathes, but it doesn't sound threatening. "You know... you can just, uh, stay. Stay over."

"But I need my deep conditioner, my silk hair wrap, my skincare, my toothbrush and fluoride-free toothpaste, my clothes."

Eris rolls her eyes. "I have moisturizer, bro. I can get you some of Axel's clothes. We have silk pillowcases. And you're not gonna die without the right conditioner or your special hippie toothpaste."

The thought of wearing her brother's clothing feels scandalous, almost on par with me wearing her swimsuit. "I don't know."

"If you stay we can keep working on the painting, and then we we don't need to see each other's face again for a whole week."

"That sounds tempting," I say. Eris will go spend time with her friends and maybe even that girl she was with. I will return to my routine. It should fill me with motivation, but my ribcage is as hollow as Santa Muerte's.

"You don't got plans for the morning?" she asks.

"I never do."

So I relent.

▴ ▴ ▴

The shower in the guest room is huge and spotless. There are multiple bottles of shampoo and the best-smelling rose soap I've ever used. I spend as long as I feel is ethical under the water—I'm always conscious of not using more than I need given California's water crisis.

When I change into my underwear from earlier and one of Axel's t-shirts and basketball shorts, I step out.

And he's standing right there in the guest room.

"Mind telling me what's going on with you and Eris?" he asks. "Why are you staying over? No one's been allowed to do that for years."

"We have a painting to finish," I say. "That's all."