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“Beautiful, you don’t need to justify yourself if you think you relate to the spoon thing. You can use the spoon thing, too.”
“I don’t want to take up a space that isn’t meant for me.”
“Trust me, it was built for you. But even if it weren’t, you are not the kind of person who would abuse saying something that literally means you are too exhausted to do anything else.” He puts his fork down and reaches for my hand, closing warmth around it. “In my world, you don’t have to worry about using a colloquialism to imply you need people to be gentle. You can just say that.”
“And…everyone listens?”
“The fae are not flawless where no one ever hurts anyone else, but, at the very least, in my prince’s domain no one will assume you’re lying and use that as a basis to ignore your requests or needs.”
If there were nothing else—no soulmates, no shifting, no hiding from perception—if it were just that, all of this would still be completely magical.
¤
“Have you ever shifted into anything else?”
“Yes.”
I gasp, look at Ollie, and swerve just enough into the other lane that a truck honks at me. Wincing, I pull my attention off the adorable criss-cross-applesauce man sitting in my passenger seat, and say, “What?”
“…a fox.”
“A fox?” Elation makes my heart pound.
He clarifies, “An arctic fox.”
“Oh my goodness. Can I see?”
“Not while you’re driving.”
“I’ll pull over right now.”
Humor tinges his beautiful, warm voice. “Your mother is waiting for us. Also, I gave an example of a time when I would not show you without indicating a time when I would.”
“Sneaky.”
“Often a fae trait.”
“And a fox one.” I beam. “I bet you have the cutest little fox nose.”
“Brittny…”
“Highly boopable.”
He mutters a tender expletive. “You are too endearing sometimes.”
I avoid death by merging semi, because my car-ing skills are elite. I ignore my brain’s suggestion to swerve into the barrier blockades, because it is not. “Okay. Next question.”
“Oh dear.” He does not sound overly put out.
“Does it bother you that I’m not fae?”
“Does knowing that you’re able to lie bother me?”
I guess that is a root of my question. “You mentioned before that humans lie. Even when they don’t mean to. If I were from a world where lies were impossible, I think being with someone from outside of it would make it hard to trust them. I mean, honestly, even though I’m not from that kind of world, the knowledge that people in mine can lie makes me anxious.”
“Are you asking if something makes me, a chihuahua shifting individual, anxious?”
“Are you avoiding my question by responding with questions?”
