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“Courting signals then. A cute little courtship display so Anita doesn’t notice any other demiurgus except you.” They snorted with laughter. “Can you let me know if you start involuntarily shuffling from side to side—”

“Shut your face, dude.” I spun away from the mirror, clutching my tail to get it to stop swaying. “You’re the worst. Asshole.”

They managed to stop laughing to say, “Okay, look, it’s unlikely that Anita will know what it means. We didn’t even know what it means and we’re demiurgus. Just… go and tell her it means you’re tired. Then she’ll leave and she won’t witness your humiliation.”

I chewed on my lip, glancing at the door again. I could do that, but I kind of… didn’t want her to go yet.

“I’ll tell her it means I’m super hungry.”

“Whatever works, bro,” Laki drawled. “You good now?”

“I guess. Hey,” I said quickly before they could hang up. “Have you spoken to Greid recently?”

He still hadn’t gotten back to me after I’d texted and tried to call him yesterday morning. Sometimes it took him weeks—if he responded at all—but I was impatient.

“Uh… last week I think. Why?” Their voice grew sly. “Want to ask him something about humans?”

I scowled. “None of your fuckin’ business, asswipe.”

They chuckled. “Why don’t you just go see him? You know he’s crap at replying to texts.”

I rubbed my face, feeling uncomfortable. “Because… I dunno. I’ve been busy. Maybe I will.”

“Weren’t you in his part of town last weekend? You met Sorin for a drink there, right?”

“Yeah, but I was… running late. Anyway, I better go. Thanks for your help,” I said sardonically. “Especially for likening me to a horny bird. Assface.”

They snickered. “Anytime, bro. Has it stopped yet?”

I turned back to the mirror and exhaled in relief when I saw that my face spikes had, in fact, stopped flexing like I was a horny bird trying to attract a mate. “Yeah.”

“Great. Well, I’ll leave to your evening with the lovely Anita. You get the picture I sent yesterday?”

I perked up. “Yeah. Where’d you find it?”

“By a pond. Cool eyes, huh? Do you know what it was?”

“A spadefoot toad.” My mouth twitched into a smile as I remembered telling Anita that yesterday after she saw the photo. I clamped a hand back around my tail in case it started swaying again. “I better go, dude. I kinda just ran out of the bedroom when my spikes started going weird.”

They chuckled. “No worries. Speak to you later.”

After hanging up, I checked my reflection one last time, tidied up my hair a bit, then shot my tail a threatening glare over my shoulder. If it started swaying again, I’d just… tell Anita I needed some protein. Or something.

When I made it back to the bedroom, I froze at the sight of her coming out of the ensuite bathroom fully dressed.

“Oh.” I stopped, fiddling with my phone. My hearts sank. “Are you going?”

“No, I…” She twisted her fingers together as she approached, a worried look in her dark eyes. She stopped in front of me. “I’m sorry if I offended you.”

I stared down at her. “Huh?”

“When I mentioned your…” She waved in the general direction of my face. I clamped a hand over my forehead in case the spikes had started up again. “Sorry. It seemed like pointing it out was… wrong.”

“No,” I rushed out, shaking my head. “No way, dude, it’s all good. I just… I really had to go take a piss.”

I cringed, but I’d already said it. Anita gazed up at me, her mouth twitching.

“Sure?” she asked.