Power Trio

The crew breaks down their lighting rigs. Harrison is watching over the DP’s shoulder as she goes back through the interview. “My lord, Cari. Whatever happened to my hairline, anyway?”

“The unyielding march of time, maybe, Mr. Scalar.”

“Maybe.”

Thekla and Kell are with Evan, who’s staring into space, one of Neko-Chan’s libations loose in his hand.

“That was good, right?” Thekla says. “That’ll help.”

“That’s the idea.” Harrison approaches them. “I pride myself on objectivity in almost every segment, you know. But once or twice a year you have to let yourself indulge. And it was hard to be neutral once I understood who your boyfriend was. One good turn deserves another.”

Evan refocuses his eyes on Harrison. “Thank you. Really. Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet. Thank me in…” Harrison clucks his tongue and checks his watch. “Two hours, when this airs. We’re going to be rolling out just about now. I wanted to do some off-camera goodbyes.”

Thekla shakes the graybearded reporter’s hand much more earnestly now. “This really means so much.”

“The average American living room will agree, I’m hoping,” Harrison says. “I know it was short notice. Very glad it worked out.”

“Oh, it’s fine,” Kell says. “We got him to audition an hour after he called, y’know.”

“That’s a good story. I wish we’d fit that in. But I think we have what we need.” Harrison pats Evan’s shoulder. “Look. I had a few Thunderhead records back in the day. And I listened to your stuff for background. I’m not much of a modern rock and roll guy, but even I can tell there’s something special there.” Harrison acknowledges one of his crew; they’re filing out. “If you ask me, Melanie would be pretty proud of you, kid. Your last name may have been Houper. But you have that Garett sound.”

* * *

“Y’know what I’m gonna do tonight?” Thekla drops her keys into the ceramic froggy bowl on their newly built coffee table. It was Dalma’s farewell gift; Thekla let her keep their gigantic television in exchange. “I am gonna follow through on a threat I made to you on our first date, Evan. I’m making you eat bugs.”

“Oh, shit!” Kell bounds onto the couch, causing its legs to squeak across the floor. “Is it miszkt night?”

“That’s right,” Thekla says. “Evan H, you are about to taste the shining jewel of the Kamiyon kitchens.”

“Oh, lord.” Evan sticks his bass in the corner. They’ll figure out storage for their instruments soon; right now everything’s just piled up near the door to the kitchen. “Okay. I’m preparing myself. I’m sure it’ll be good.”

“And you can follow up on a threat to me.” Thekla claps her hands. “And we can watch a scary movie.”

“Ooh.” Kell flinches. “I don’t really do horror…”

“You’re gonna do horror and Evan’s gonna do bugs,” Thekla says. “And I’m gonna… I don’t know. I’ll do something weird too.”

“Top,” suggests Kell.

The blood rushes to Thekla’s ears.

“Let’s put Thekla on top and see what she does,” Kell says. “Probably just kinda—” She does a goofy little shimmy. “And then fall off.”

“Fuck you! I’ve topped.”

Evan chuckles.

“I have totally topped. I could be a top if I wanted.”

“Sure you can,” he says.

“You guys are assholes. I’m gonna go to the goblin market while it’s still open and get the biggest, clackiest, most fucked-up looking Egyptian Plague-ass beetles I can find.” Thekla plucks her keys right back out of the bowl and flounces from their apartment.

“Love yoooou,” Kell calls to her.

Thekla visits the speciality goblin grocery store one street over. An unassuming box of concrete on the outside, but even from here, she’s treated to a blooming bouquet of glorious smells. Thekla breezes past the baskets of fungi and the mold farms, plucks a few choice ingredients. They’ve got Fallow brand sweetsap in stock. Thekla lives like a block away from a place with Fallow on the shelves. Fuck yes.

Despite her proclamation, she picks up a bag of delicate little mealworm beetles. Normally she prefers chafer bugs for a miszkt, they’re so buttery, but she wants to make sure Evan doesn’t find any legs.

She returns to her new home. Evan and Kell are making out on the couch. She slaps her boyfriend’s butt. “It’s bug time, boy. You wanna see them before I mush em up?”

He looks a little queasy at the sight of her groceries. “I’m good.”

Kell lifts Evan off her. “Don’t worry, babe. I’ll come help with the bugs our picky little human won’t smush. Evan, you can pick out a good scary movie.”

“I’m gonna find the scariest one I can think of,” Evan says. “We’ll cannonball you in, get you accustomed to the chilly water all at once.”

“What if we went more like to the middle of the pool? And maybe had some floaties.”

Kell helps Thekla shuck the beetle shells. They flick them at each other. Evan averts his eyes. Thekla christens the oven with a great big sheet pan of miszkt, layers of bug, root veggies and marinated shiitake with her matriarch’s filling recipe. Extra sap, just like how she likes it.

“You are gonna just love it.” She rejoins her new roomies on the couch, where Evan’s setting the movie up on Kell’s laptop. Nobody brought a TV; that’s something they’ll need to pick up. “You’re gonna love it. I promise.”

“I have no doubt.” Evan hits play. “Oh, damn. Lights.” He gets up off the couch. Kell’s arm is wrapped around Thekla’s waist; she feels it tighten as the lights turn off and the opening credits start.

Kell is one of those horror movie watchers that goes “No, bro. Do not fucking go down there. Ohmygod, he’s going down there. Oh, fuck.” She buries her face behind Evan, peeking out over his hair. When the killer hits his first jump scare, she lets out a girly shriek and shoves both of her lovers in front of her, hiding behind them as they crack up. The oven timer rings and she’s off the couch like it’s scalded her. “I’ll get it!”

“Should we pause?” Evan asks.

“Oh no no no. Don’t put yourself out.” Kell turns on the oven light with haste. “I’m watching from here.”

If Evan doesn’t love the syrupy, tangy square-cut miszkt they feed him, he does a fantastic job at hiding it, and goes back for seconds. “I admit it,” he says. “This is good eating.”

It really is a great batch. The shrooms caramelized perfectly. Thekla beams. “Next time I can leave the shells on, maybe?”

“Let’s not go crazy.”

At some point, around the cast getting whittled down to the final girl, the Bulletin segment airs. Thekla tenses, watches the minutes tick by. Nobody mentions the broadcast. They don’t have cable, anyway.

Kell white-knuckles through the movie, gripping Thekla like a comforting stuffed animal the whole time. As it ends, she declares, “That wasn’t so bad. I’d watch the next one. Nothing to it.”

“Babe.” Thekla unwraps her girlfriend from her midsection with difficulty. “You were this close to peeing your pants.”

“Okay, it’s tough, okay?” Kell folds her arms. “Normally my reaction to a guy jumping out with a knife is I punch him. I can’t punch my laptop. Let’s just get a TV made of rubber.”

In the movie's aftermath they sit together in companionable quiet, finishing Thekla’s miszkt, furtively checking their phones.

Thekla breaks the wall of silence. “So we’re all looking at how people are reacting to Bulletin, right?”

Kell smacks her lips. “Guilty.”

Evan’s got a tight grip on his phone. “I think it’s landing right.”

Thekla shifts on the couch, rests her legs in his lap. “Will we get our lives back?”

“I don’t know,” Evan says. “I don’t think that life exists anymore. We can’t just go back in time. But maybe this is gonna give us a way to make something new.”

“I wouldn’t even want to,” Kell says. “Go back, I mean. Everything’s out there now. We were kinda fooling ourselves keeping it in. I feel…” She takes a big breath. “I feel okay now.”

Thekla sighs. “I’m really, really sorry about Vail, Kell.”

“Girl, they probably finalized that list in like May. We’re as good as Masonry. But they’ve been around a lot longer than we have.” Kell has a sad little grin. “I was being stupid. It was never realishtich.”

Thekla smooshes Kell’s cheeks together, makes it impossible for her to finish that thought. “You were being determined. And visionary. Vail is gonna be a dumpster without us. And over this year, we’re gonna make them realize their mistake and put us in the fucking headline next time.” She kisses Kell’s forehead. “Count on it.”

Kell kisses Thekla’s forehead right back, and then her nose, and then her cheek, and then Thekla’s head is bending back as her mouth fills with a classic Falrak onslaught, the orc’s tongue greedy and thick. A tusk pokes against her lip, teases her mouth wider. A big, warm hand slides up her shirt. Evan’s body presses against her, squishing her between her two lovers.

She makes a plaintive hum and pulls her face away from Kell’s, catches Evan’s hand and forces it down. “Nuh uh,” she says. “I have a point to prove tonight.”

Kell sits back. “You do, huh?”

Thekla grabs a boob, gets a little gasping breath out of Kell even as she’s laughing. “That’s right. You two better get your asses onto that bed. This goblin can domme.”

And in her defense, that was true when she dated other goblins. But other goblins aren’t twice her size, and other goblins can’t lift her one-handed.

Being proven wrong is the best time she’s had in weeks.

* * *

“I’m never setting foot in Florida again.” Anise’s hand is unsteady as she brings her coffee to her lips. “Mm. Seriously. It was beautiful, but I was sweating. And the band we swapped in for you. God. Fairfolk outside of New Laytham can get… well, you know.”

“We certainly do,” Thekla says. She’s fiddling with a blank post-it note taken from the pile on Anise’s desk, seeing how many times she can fold it. “We really regret Virginia, but I want to stress—”

“Thekla, it’s fine. It’s seriously fine.” Anise raises a mollifying hand. “Not like those meatheads are pressing charges. The Buzzard hit about it was kind of yeesh. But the perception here is that the Bulletin piece defanged it. Evan came off as a total sweetheart. And that overdose story. Holy God. When I saw Scalar tearing up, it was like seeing your dad cry.”

“I know,” Kell says. “I was choking up in the studio.”

“You pass my gratitude to Evan, okay? Because this is good press. Like it seriously had the potential to be a disaster, but now we’re steering it.” She stands up, poking her head above her desk divider like a meerkat. “Nate’s out of pocket at the moment. But he’s asked me to have a conversation with you in his stead. And it’s some private stuff. So I’m gonna take us to a meeting room. Let’s roll.”