Page 126 of Jinxes and Drumsticks

“Alright kids, ready?” Kim asks, despite being younger than both of us, I’m pretty sure.

Lillith nods and gets the most adorable look of determination on her face. I drop my hand from her cheek and her determination immediately vanishes.

“Wait, where are you going?” she asks.

“I’m still right here. I can’t hold your face while you’re getting pierced, baby,” I say through a laugh. “You’ve got my hand.”

She reaches for my free one, too. I laugh as I kneel beside the chair, holding both her hands as effectively as I can without changing her position. Kim approaches, her clamp in one hand and the needle in the other.

Lillith sticks her tongue out again, taking a deep breath in through her nose as Kim lines up the clamp with the first marking. “Alright, do you want a count down?” Kim asks.

Lillith shakes her head, and then immediately gasps, realizing she’s not supposed to move. Kim laughs. “You’re good, I’ve got a good grip on you.”

All the same, she checks the line up again, holds down hard on the forceps and then just like that, slips the hollow needle through her tongue. It’s another smooth movement to drop the forceps on the tray and twist the ball onto the first piercing.

“Alright, there’s one done,” Kim says.

“WhaH?” Lillith says around her tongue.

“See? I told you. She’s really good,” I say.

Kim makes a little self-congratulatory face as she slips out the piercing needle and goes to set up the next piercing. Then it’s just rinse, repeat. Though the second piercing must hurt more than the first, because Lillith does make a little whimper when it goes through.

“Sorry, honey, second one usually sucks a little more because the swelling is already starting,” Kim says apologetically as she twists on the second bar’s ball. “But the good news is you’re already done!”

Kim hands Lillith the mirror again and I watch as my girlfriend gives them a look, her cute li’l tongue seated behind her perfect teeth. Her eyes are almost glittering when she beams down at me. “Oh my god, they’re so cute,” she says with an adorable lisp that makes me wish she couldn’t heal herself in the blink of an eye, because I think I dig the lisp.

“They’re very cute,” I say, standing up to my full height and kissing her on her temple. “How do you feel?”

“Fine! Kim, you’re insanely good at what you do,” Lillith says. “Thank you so much.”

I wonder if I can get her to say “she sells sea shells by the sea shore,” before she heals herself. Kim smiles with quiet pride and thanks her.

I pay Kim for our piercings and give her a generous tip, promising to be back for some work with her again before I leave town. Kim gives us both some aftercare instructions, and it feels weird to know I can disregard them. Lillith is buzzing with joy as we walk out of the parlor, holding my hand and practically skipping the short walk back to the car. A little bit of adrenaline from the piercing, I’m sure.

When we’re back inside the car, Lillith waits until I pull away from the curb to pull down the visor mirror and peer at her piercing.

“Can I borrow you at the next red light?” she asks.

“Borrow? For what?”

“A really good kiss?” she asks. “Going to use the energy from it for the healing process.”

“Safe to say you never have to ask me if I’ll kiss you. For any reason. Including ritual purposes.”

She scoffs softly. “It’s not a ritual,” she teases. “Just a little bit of small magic, that’s all.”

“I’m just saying. If you need someone to lie down in the middle of a summoning circle while you do spooky shit to them, I’m one hundred percent game for that.”

“Duly noted,” she says with another laugh. “That’s the second time you’ve offered. I’m starting to think you want it more than I do.”

As I drive, I swear I hit every green light in Del Lune. It’s never red when you want it to be, damn it. Finally, when we’re almost at our next destination, I get one. Well—almost. I stop suspiciously hard at a yellow light.

I lean over toward her and she smiles with just the slightest bit of mischief. She kisses my piercings first. A soft press of her lips over each aching wound that makes my neck break out in goosebumps. There’s the faintest little tingle, and then the ache is gone, along with the redness that had started blooming around the new lip rings.

“Shit, I don’t think that will ever get old,” I say checking the mirror to see the piercings fully healed and calm.

“Healing magic?” she asks.