1.12

Tarik escaped our house fire with pretty mild burns, though he was glad I took him to Urgent Care and paid for it. I tried to call Romeo that night and tell him about what happened, but his phone immediately went to voicemail. He at least kept it on, even when he was avoiding me.

I took Tarik and Kyra out for pizza and video games during that, looking at my phone between bites. “Maybe you should check on him in-person,” he said.

“No…he’ll be fine. He’s pretty tough.”

“So’s Kyra but I’d still be worried if her phone was dead.”

After days of sitting on my hands about it, I took Tarik’s advice on his last day there. It was nice to bring him and Kyra around the city like I was a seasoned native in the meantime. The picnic at the Butterfly Esplanade wasn’t a wasted idea after all, but I found myself looking up at Romeo’s building.

He lived close to the top, in a unit full of tinted windows. I always wondered how much the city could see of us when I was over there. It probably wasn’t much, but I couldn’t even see the curtains being opened or closed. Lights turning on and off. Window cleaners in those skyscraper hoists being amused or concerned.

Actually, asking one of them was the turning point for me. He didn’t care about rich city bachelors like Romeo but said it was like no one had been there in days. And he cared a lot more when I said that Romeo was my boyfriend! I knew this city was going to be kinder to me after all.

Kyra wanted to get some mochi for dessert. There was a mochi shop a few streets down and I’ll admit, I liked marveling at the colors and fillings too. But Tarik agreed to be my backup, not that I was afraid of getting tackled by Romeo. I was the taller of us two, after all, and pretty good at pinning him down.

But I’ll give Tarik for being a more developed human with a wife and a real job. I’d let problems fester without anyone’s guidance, and most of my friends would too. It worked out most of the time…

We ended up watching TV once it was clear that there was still no Romeo. Not dead in his bedroom, not hiding in the bathroom, not stuck in the elevator either.

“It’s been nice sitting in a stranger’s apartment with you,” said Tarik. “But at some point…”

“…his car, would you leave a Vaguester in the parking lot?” I asked Tarik. “It’s gonna get dinged by a pinecone if he waits any longer. Oh, is that what I should be welfare checking? Ro’s gonna kill me if I don’t.”

“No, but it’s probably the only thing we can–”

There was a rumbling at the door that jarred us. We hoped it wasn’t the maid service, but also that it was. I wasn’t prepared to answer any questions Romeo had about what I was doing. Maybe I was cleaning out his fridge for him. And of course, had Tarik judge if his strawberries were too far gone.

Or it was a surprise party…of two. When his 45th birthday had come and gone already, and every other birthday afterwards was a tragedy.

Or anything if I saw my boyfriend looking better than he did that day.

Romeo limped into the apartment on crutches, with his right leg wrapped tightly in a cast. Half his face was bruised around the eye and nose, and his throwaway hospital pajamas looked like they covered more. I remembered those well from after my foot surgery, and no one wanted to keep them on. I felt for him deeply, but I had so many other questions too.

His breathing was heavy as he leaned against the door. Romeo glanced over to me. There was no anger, no joy, nothing because it was all beaten out of him. I wanted to do the same to the monster who did, though killing was outside of my expertise.

I didn’t know what to say to him because I felt none of that either. There was anger, but not at Romeo. I didn’t think it was possible to be angry at him.

“Heathcliff…it was a car accident,” Romeo said. His voice was a lot rougher too, as if he’d been screaming all night. “Bessie’s wrecked. You don’t need to be here.”

“Stop being ridiculous, you need to take a bath,” I said. “I’ll fill up the tub just for you.”

“With this?” He pointed to his cast.

“Let it hang out, I’ve been there before.”

I crouched on the floor near his tub. I always believed in a hot bath or shower before bed, and he needed sleep just as much. If I found Romeo curled up under his sheets, then I’d drain the bath and breathe a sigh of relief. I had an answer to his absence, but not a good one. One that hurt my head a lot.

He undressed and climbed in cautiously, obviously in a lot of pain. For once I didn’t like the sight of it. The water dirtied a bit with the medical iodine that Romeo forgot to wash off and he winced when the water hit his wounds.

“You know, you don’t have to lie to me,” I said. “Not even to make me feel better.”

“I’m not.”

“I saw your car in the parking lot, and I get it. You don’t want the wrath of some daemon kingdom coming down on you, but that’s not actually how it works.”

“I asked for it, didn’t I?”

I sulked as I leaned against the bathtub, and realized that Pilona was never wrong.

“My uncle’s a bastard,” I said.

“To be fair, he didn’t want this to happen either.”

I offered to help him wash his hair. He didn’t break his arms or anything, but was thrown to the ground with reckless abandon by one of Pilona’s goonies. I could only imagine which one. As I squeezed the shampoo into my palms, Romeo buried his face in his own.

“Calhoun was right, I couldn’t separate the case and you. And there’s nowhere left in the bureau to go now.”

“I’d hate to be the one who ruined your job,” I said.

“No…that was only me,” said Romeo.

I kept massaging his head. Romeo had enviable hair, after all, and it was still thick and a little rough against my fingers. He smiled a little and the world started to heal. My cheeks flushed with each passing moment. I was still madly in love with Romeo because of who he was. He was the perfect person to navigate this wild, sleepless city with. He was understanding, patient, and just needed to loosen up a little.

“But I think retirement would be nice for you,” I said.

“Of course it would.”

“Is this an honor thing?”

He rolled his eyes. “My mum was part of the Carabinieri. She would hate to hear this if she was still here to see me.”

I got out Romeo’s comfiest bathrobe after he dried off and hugged him around the waist. He even got a little smooch on the forehead. I didn’t care if it hurt, I just wanted to feel him melt into my arms again and he did. Good thing his apartment was small and getting to his bed was easy. I couldn’t do any of our favorite things to him but he had to have been drained. And there wasn’t any more adrenaline for me to run off either now that Romeo was back.

“Is everything okay with them?”

“Yeah, they’re probably having sex now. Let’s go.”

“So, where is my uncle?” I asked him. As much as I wanted otherwise, we didn’t cuddle and instead stared at the ceiling and held hands. Good enough.

“That’s up to him.”

“So it was all a rumor?”

Romeo closed his eyes. “Of course not. But he’s free. I had my cousin start the process to drop his little friend’s charges.”

I breathed a sigh of relief until I realized that I had to tell Truman some bad news. Or he could work with Penama and learn Daemonic, it was a good skill to have. Maybe I’d even learn some too and ask for her real name!

“What happened to your hair?” he asked me.

“You ever gone into a drug store with two friends and let them blindfold you in the hair dye aisle?”

“Can’t say I ever did.”

“Me neither. I meant to pick this out.”

I quickly lost energy and fell asleep on the spot, drooling on Romeo’s pillow again. From what I could gather, he hated not being able to toss and turn in bed while awake. At least that let him choose between the ceiling, the windows, and the wallpaper. But I’d let him figure that one out with a professional.

---

“Well, I’m sure this is how you wanted it to end. Sad, limping, degenerate…though I’m just quoting the rude guys in the Cyber Task Force.”

“I’m…proud of my years of service.”

Romeo filed for retirement quickly and his shoulders immediately relaxed. But being on crutches meant that he couldn’t do much with cleaning out his office. That was when I met Li-Anne for the first time. Anything that the FBI didn’t need to keep or burn went with him, which sounded like it would be nothing but Romeo soon had a pile of boxes to sort through.

“Forensics decided to give you a parting gift too,” Li-Anne said to him. “It’s their newest shiny toy.”

“Li-Anne, you know how I feel about forensics…”

“Listen, it’s a remote DNA sampler. Scan your clothes with it and see how much of Heathcliff got on there.”

I had to laugh a little. Romeo didn’t want me going through everything work-related, so I just sat around and waited for us to have some alone time. A lot of the light came back to his eyes even though he was still in rough shape. And I was getting nothing else in my life done, but I wanted my Romeo back.

Anyways, his new toy looked fun. If I had a kid I’d give it to them to wow everyone at a science fair with.

“I have a long road ahead of me,” Romeo said, flopping into the loveseat next to me. Some of the boxes ended up making for a good ottoman for his broken leg. “But thanks for being here.”

“They say crutches make your arms stronger.” Okay, they didn’t do much for me. I only got sore armpits and a right foot that technically worked. I had my trust in Romeo’s doctor. She did her best with one of the worst foot injuries she ever saw (and kept the foot for). I also figured out the other thing about Dr. Jones. Matty helped out with that one, but only because Pilona couldn’t shut up about it…

“I heard you almost married the woman who saved my foot,” I said to Romeo, narrowing my eyes and grinning.

“Look, it was a different time. For one, I didn’t have to pluck out grey hairs.”

“Well, you sure downgraded. I’d have just cut your leg off.”

It was getting a little steamy between us, but only a little. The thought of hurting Romeo any more kept me in check ever since his injury. So we usually didn’t do more than a little peck on the lips. But anything done alone with him was precious, and we’d finally have some more time for-

“Not to worry, I would rather not watch,” said Pilona.

Romeo was less shaken than I thought he’d be seeing my uncle. But I still put myself between them and squeezed Romeo’s hand as hard as I could.

“Please, I have a lot of bruises there too,” Romeo whispered to me.

“Haven’t you done enough to him?”

“To be fair, I am smart enough to know that hurting Romeo would not help matters,” he said. “I was going to give him an apology gift, and thought you were wasted on the side of the road again.”

“He’s smarter than that,” I said.

“I’m not,” said Romeo. “He was nicer than the rest of them.”

I thought back to Vama setting our house on fire. It was a move beyond even Pilona’s pettiest moves.

“Alright, but I’m not taking my eyes off you…and not just ‘cuz you’re still cute and left your crutches on the other side of the room.”

“Go wild, Mr. Rake,” said Pilona, handing the man a box. “Put it at your bedside. It will make your bedtime activities a little spicier, as the new daemons say.”

“Thanks, that’s really thoughtful,” said Romeo, giving the box a little shake. He even smirked at Pilona. “Can you believe your nephew? We had this picture-perfect reunion, but he hasn’t slept with me in weeks.”

“I get it! I’m not boinking anyone with my uncle around, we…we can talk about this later.”

“Very well, Heathcliff,” he said.

Romeo came up to caress my face. “You’re never this angry,” he purred.

“I let it all out for my number one.”

If there was one thing Pilona was, it was sadly always correct. Because I had a lot of fun with Romeo that night. We even made a big decision with our lives while beneath the sheets: he was joining Casa Ironstar. Unlike him, we had a garage, and he wanted to work on vintage cars.

I was over the moon about living with my boyfriend. Beaming ear-to-ear whenever I saw him asleep in the morning, disappointed when he wasn’t, arguing over who used up the conditioner…

Those were the problems a couple deserved. Not the meddling from above. We were ready to celebrate our victories at the club lounge! Tom’s word got us into Aquarius, the place that Devin and I got kicked out of for trying to bang in the hot tub. It didn’t seem like they remembered me, as if everyone did that.

We were dressed in our finest board shorts and bikinis and cover-ups, when someone knocked on our door. Everyone but Romeo scrambled to answer it. He was still pretty immobilized. But he insisted on a night out with everyone, which is exactly why he was my kind of guy.

It was our Penama, soaking wet on a very dry night. This must have been the only place she could get back to.

“Ti’fehazha Pilo, filake sakomi’le?” Pava, filakelela? She was inconsolable while hugging me.

“Now now, I don’t speak Daemonic yet, can’t speak a language they don’t have classes in…”

“She wants to know where Pilona is or where we’re going,” said Kate. “Oh my god, you didn’t go to daemon school!”

“No, I thought that was a myth, like Quantico.”

Kate offered an un-worn swimsuit to Penama and even squeezed out part of her name. Her family incorporated cities into their names, she was born in Yibin, China, and by squeezing that word into Daemonic, she became Ipina to us.

The reformed Ipina fell for the domineering types. We thought that we’d teach her how to swim or just see what she was like drunk, but she flirted with a bouncer all night. It distracted her enough to let Romeo and I into the VIP section.

Romeo was a guy eloquent enough to not get hampered by painkillers or insomnia meds. They were helping him be himself, and he got weaned off the former which was a reason to celebrate itself! But set him up with enough whiskey or psychedelic bubbles and he became a bit of an introspective moron. Matty just went super-quiet, more than usual anyways.

Finally, a man on my level.

---

Pilona was supposed to give Romeo some woohooium, which I actually did have on hand but forgot to place on the nightstand.

Sorry for ignoring Matty this whole arc! He was just as boring in-game until he went full midlife crisis on me.

Alright no more six month hiatuses but August is going to be more quiet. I’m pooped and also moving to my first apartment with my two doges (Churro and Tater) but I tend to love to focus on The Sims more than life…we’ll see, don’t be disappointed if I start that Alphabetacy I was thinking about all month as my outlet though.