IncuBUST

Quetz

"Barapha," I said my voice colored with surprise. My eyes drifted over to the person standing awkwardly to the side. He was a few inches shorter than Barapha but still much taller than me. His skin was the color of caramel and his hair was dark brown and chin length with streaks of bluish green tinged gold and glittering in the fluorescent lights in the ceiling. His eyes were golden brown. He was very attractive and radiated warmth.

"And...?" I inquired my eyes involuntarily running down the man's form. He was wearing a sleeveless shirt and a pair of cargo shorts. His feet were bare and dirty as if he had walked through the city without shoes.

"This is Quetz," Barapha said slinging his arm around the man's shoulders. "My roommate slash sometimes boyfriend." Quetz's face went pink and steam began to erupt in the places Barapha's skin was touching his.

Barapha laughed and said, "Isn't he so cute? Look at him blush!" He pinched Quetz's cheek and sighed, "He's almost as warm as you, Chase."

My face flushed and I looked at the floor. I shook my head and asked, "Are-are you here for a reason?" He glanced at me and grinned.

"My clothes. I was quite partial to that particular ensemble, you know," he said leaning towards me. I could feel his aura cool and refreshing like an ice pop on a hot day. I swallowed hard. I was hungry...just not for whatever Octavia was cooking, but it was different than the hunger I was used to...deeper. It wasn't physical like it had been for the past century and a half. It was emotional. I wanted to be with him like we were last night.

"Um, of course," I said shaking my head again all flustered. I reached back inside the door to the table where I had put Barapha's clothes and grabbed them. I held them out to him and said, "I washed them after you left."

He took the clothes and handed them to Quetz who took them without a word. I looked down at my feet feeling the awkward tension build. I could feel it in Quetz's aura, he didn't want to be here. The only one who didn't seem to be feeling the enormous influx of awkwardness was Barapha.

I shuffled my feet and then looked up at him and asked, "Was that it?" He was quiet for a moment and then he sighed and removed his arm from Quetz's shoulders. He took a step towards me and braced one hand against the door frame.

"You seemed a little...wigged out when I told you about Quetz. Like you thought I was...treating him badly. So I wanted you to meet him so he could tell you that I'm not...treating him badly," he said and it almost seemed like he was forcing himself to say this, like he was embarrassed about it. He leaned forward and touched my face with his free hand.

"I want to hang out with you again, Chase. But I don't want you to feel like we're doing anything wrong," he continued and I had to admit that I was kind of impressed by the amount of effort he was putting into this. When he was with Sissy he never seemed particularly invested in...well anything really.

I looked at him for a moment trying to ignore the soothing coolness of his fingers on my face and then I looked at Quetz. He was looking at the floor, fiddling anxiously with Barapha's clothes.

"Alright," I finally said and I took a step back into my apartment. "Come in, I guess." I turned around and Barapha followed me inside and after a brief moment of hesitation Quetz followed closing the front door behind him.

I could hear Octavia clanging around in the kitchen and the sound of some extremely violent television show coming from Sissy's room. I gestured at the sofa and Barapha and Quetz sat. Barapha flopping down and spreading out like he owned the place and Quetz sitting on the very edge of the cushion and glancing around like he still wasn't entirely sure why he was here.

I swallowed my embarrassment and held my hand out to Quetz.

"Hi, this must be kind of weird. I'm Chase," I said as he took my hand. His skin was very warm, warmer than mine was at the moment and his hands were rough like he spent most of his time doing manual labor.

"It's nice to meet you, Chase. Thanks for letting us in on such short notice. Barapha caught me walking home from work and your place was closer than ours so we came here first," he shook his head embarrassed and continued, "He wanted me to tell you that it's okay if you guys want to see each other. You know...intimately."

I stared at him for a long moment still holding onto his hand and I could feel that he didn't want to say this, that he was only telling me what Barapha wanted him to. That was a little concerning.