A Crown of Crystals

Grimm stepped out of the bathroom, sucking all of the oxygen out of the room in one fell swoop. He looked so refined and elegant, his swagger like second nature as he casually strolled into the small hallway and took up the entire frame of the door with his large build. He leaned against the wall, crossing his arms and one leg over the other. Fallon had updated his wardrobe, dressing him in a cream-collared shirt with a black knitted sweater on top of it, dark emerald corduroy pants, and black sneakers. His hair was slicked back from his face, accentuating his now rounded ears; a product of the magic masking potion we had offered him to blend in as much as someone of his divine beauty could in the human lands. He still had a surplus of jewelry accessories but his eyeliner was gone and his face had been clean-shaven.

I couldn't stop staring at him. He definitely noticed because he greeted me with a devilish half-smirk as if he just knew exactly what he was doing to me. It was torment. These feelings still so foreign to me, I ran my hands down my short black skirt then tugged on the turtleneck of my cream sweater. My nylons felt constricting and my heeled boots made me shift uneasily on my feet. Grimm's eyes trailed my every movement, an eyebrow of intrigue raised.

"Gods, you two are some horny bastards. At least wait for me to leave the room," Fallon scrunched his nose, waving a hand around to mix the scents in the air.

Grimm merely chuckled. I felt my lips twitch with a slight smirk of pleasure at the lack of denial. He hadn't dismissed Fallon. Were we no secret? I wouldn't mind being known as an item, exclusive as the humans would say. I decided to test my theory with some open flirting.

"You should expect nothing less after presenting my mate in such different attire than his usual wear," I shrugged casually.

Grimm's eyes lit up, his shoulders broadening as if I had just fluffed his feathers for him in some way. We exchanged warm glances before Fallon groaned and shuffled out of the room.

"Are you ready to show me what my mate was up to these last eight months?" Grimm asked softly.

It was like being spoon-fed honey. The energy between us was warm and nurturing. As if we had both missed each-other enough to throw any qualms about appearing too vulnerable right out the window. What we had was fragile but growing stronger by the moment.

After tugging on a long leather coat, I passed him Fallon's long brown coat as well. He tugged it over his broad shoulders before extending his hand in my direction. My heart felt as though it had doubled in size as my hand fell into his and his fingers weaved into mine. Before I knew it, we were strolling hand-in-hand through the snowy streets of New York.

————

"So this is where you spent most of your time?" Grimm glanced around the two-story library.

I had just taken him on a tour of where I worked, explaining the simplicity of spending hours re-shelving books. I told him of my favorite distractions, the stories I had reread over and over just to get some sort of pleasant feeling during my depressive eight month episode. He was patient and attentive, never speaking out of turn and only speaking gently when he did decide to speak at all. He seemed pleased to hear of my life without him, his interest never faltering as I spoke.

We traveled around the city for hours, stopping at my favorite shops and even the axe-throwing attraction. After one round of throwing, the whole shop had their jaws to the floor at the repeated bullseyes Grimm had nailed without even looking. We stumbled out into the frigid air giggling and nudging each-other back and forth.

My voice was strained from all of the laughter I had been doing, my words scratching from my dry mouth, "You had half of the men worried their wives might leave with you after that demonstration!"