Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 58977 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 295(@200wpm)___ 236(@250wpm)___ 197(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58977 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 295(@200wpm)___ 236(@250wpm)___ 197(@300wpm)
Yes, lucky indeed.
“You’re the annoyingly happy friend in your group, right?” My snarky response got a confused look from Aristotle but Evan laughed.
“I knew I was going to like you.” Beaming at me, he bounced again. “If you’re nice to me, I’ll tell you where you know us from.”
He was going to be such a brat.
“After lunch.” I huffed and looked toward the back room again. “I ran out of coffee sooner than I thought and I promised Wright I wouldn’t use the coffeemaker. It’s hot and the water is under pressure.”
That had Aristotle’s eyes going wide and as he turned to Evan, the brat looked up at him and shook his head. “I’m not a little and you like it when I do things for you.”
Trying not to laugh as Evan headed off some kind of should I be taking better care of you panic, I decided I wouldn’t kill Wright for sending strangers over to help save me from the butter knives. I liked meeting interesting new people and they definitely qualified as interesting.
When I turned over the store to a slightly more functional James…who was definitely the reason my coffee had run out way too soon…we headed upstairs with Aristotle following last and obsessively worrying about my stairs.
“Wright is correct. These are highly dangerous.” He muttered to himself as I carefully took several steps before deciding to be helpful again. “I wonder if Wright is knowledgeable about the human chairs that will help you ascend more safely. It has a seat belt.”
Evan was laughing so much I was worried about him going ass over teakettle down the stairs, but when we all made it safely up to the second floor, I scrambled to figure a way out of that one. “What if it breaks when I’m alone? Anything with gears is probably more dangerous. It’s human-made, remember.”
Ha, got that one right.
Just mentioning that we’d made it, not them, had him immediately changing course.
“That is a valid concern.” Nodding to himself as Evan did his best to stop snickering, Aristotle sighed. “The caretaking of a human little is more problematic than I had expected.”
“And you thought Wright was silly for worrying so much.” Evan found the whole thing delightfully funny and I could only imagine how odd the original conversation had sounded.
But he seemed to get the whole Daddy-little thing, so I wasn’t embarrassed about that.
“He won’t be as worried once we settle into a routine and find some compromises.” Ones that wouldn’t involve me running out of coffee.
And speaking of coffee.
“Would one of you make a new pot of coffee, please?” As I led them into the kitchen, I pointed to the pot and cabinet where everything was located. “Daddy will have a heart attack if I make it and something goes wrong.”
It was not worth doing that to him when there was someone around to help.
Oh.
“And did that make anyone uncomfortable?” As I headed over to the fridge to see what I had to eat, I glanced back to see Evan shaking his head and Aristotle looking confused again.
I wasn’t sure what he’d gotten stumped on but Evan seemed to know his partner well enough to help out. “He was worried that calling Wright Daddy might make us nervous. It’s that human privacy thing coming into play, just verbally this time.”
Huh?
It was technically a good answer but it gave me a lot of new questions.
“Ah, like the human idiosyncrasy of not discussing sexual topics because while they enjoy the activities, it is considered socially taboo.” Aristotle gave me a very polite smile that made me want to giggle. “I am what humans would call open-minded and I have extensively read about human sexual customs. You will not shock me with titles, honorifics, or conversations that are of a sexual nature.”
How was I supposed to respond to that?
“That’s good to know.” Yes, polite and smile. “Thank you.”
Aristotle seemed pleased with my response, but Evan was back to nearly giggling as he bounced over to the coffee pot. Since I was left kind of stumped about what to say next, I focused on the practical things. “Have you guys eaten lunch? I’m not sure what the social conventions are for this kind of visit.”
That had Aristotle nodding. “Human social conventions are difficult on occasion. It is why I appreciate work functions much better. They are well planned out and the rules between naked and clothed interactions are always clear.”
Oh.
I could feel my eyes widening even though I couldn’t stop it.
Evan was donkey laughing by the coffee pot, but Aristotle looked concerned again. “Should I have not mentioned unclothed humans? He did approach the topic of human sexuality first.”
He had a good point.
“I didn’t recognize you with your clothes on. Sorry.” Was that response polite or creepy? “Sorry?”
Just repeating that didn’t seem like it would help but I wasn’t sure what else to say. Evan was useless because he was still laughing so hard he couldn’t catch his breath, and Aristotle looked like he was worried that he’d broken Wright’s new toy.