Gryphon of Glass - Zoe Chant Page 0,21

these, I’ll show you where the dressing rooms are.”

“We’ll be over in housewares,” Heather trilled. “Waaaaay over here.”

Robin, standing on top of one of the shelves, only laughed. Ansel went to another corner of the store and began doing something with sheets of paper.

Gwen led him to a curtained alcove where he tried on each selection and modeled it for her. She seemed equal parts embarrassed and appreciative, and Henrik found himself posing a little more than he otherwise might, turning at her command and rolling his shoulders. She grew gratifyingly more flustered and they laughed together as if they were sharing some joke that neither of them quite understood.

Was this falling in love, this curious attraction layered with a simple contentment being near her?

They eventually settled on more clothing than Henrik had ever owned in his life. “What debt do I owe?” he wanted to know. “These numbers are prices? For a form of currency?”

Gwen took the clothing to the counter where Ansel was working. “We use something called dollars.” She took some small paper rectangles from her purse and showed him the lettering on it. “Will you give us a roommate discount on these?” she asked Ansel.

“Are you an employee?” Ansel asked, bagging the clothing. “Senior citizen? Didn’t think so. Don’t be cheap.”

“Skinflint,” Gwen muttered good-naturedly.

Henrik looked between them, and decided that neither of them meant anything serious, though it was curious that Ansel didn’t barter. “How do you receive these funds?” he wanted to know as Ansel took the bills and gave back a few bills with smaller numbers that Gwen showed him, as well as a few finely-minted coins. “Can I participate in this purchase? I am afraid I came to your world with nothing of value, but perhaps I can provide a service.”

“Don’t worry about it for now,” Gwen said, her cheeks ruddy again. “I have a job as a barista at the same cafe where Daniella works. That’s why we look like a matched set today, this is our work uniform.”

“A...barista? That is a security detail?” It didn’t look like a practical uniform for fighting and it had no armoring at all.

Gwen gave a helpless hoot of laughter. “No, not security. I make coffee.”

“This is a job?”

“It’s very fancy coffee,” Gwen added. “And when I go to work, I make money, and then I buy things, and people use that money to buy fancy coffee, and that’s the circle of capitalism.”

“It seems sensible.” Henrik felt like he was missing a lot about how it worked. “You are a coffee merchant.”

She opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again, and finally said, “Close enough.”

“Did you find what you were looking for?” Daniella asked. “We’ve got to get going to the cafe. Marie’s expecting us by ten.”

Henrik proudly displayed the bag of clothing they had selected and they all walked towards the door, leaving Ansel grumbling over his paperwork.

“I will miss you,” Trey told Daniella, bending to kiss her passionately.

They continued kissing as Henrik was keenly aware of Gwen shoving her arms violently into her coat and yanking her hat over her head.

“We gotta go,” Gwen said impatiently. She glanced at Henrik, and he thought that perhaps she was expecting him to kiss her goodbye as well. He would like to, he realized, and thought that she might like it also. Certainly he was filled with the ache of knowing that she was going to go away, further than the next room. He had never been far from her in this world, and he didn’t think he wanted to be.

He stepped closer, without meaning to crowd, and she gazed up at him with a curious expression of desire and confusion and fear and dismay.

“I have to go to work now,” she said. “I’ll pick you up for our road trip after I’m done.”

Then she turned and fled, leaving Henrik feeling quite bereft.

10

Gwen wasn’t sure how courtship was supposed to work, even in her own world. What would they possibly have in common to talk about? It wasn’t like they’d seen any of the same movies, or played the same video games. Pop culture references would be completely lost on him. All of the knights seemed to get sad talking about their own world, but Gwen didn’t want to spend the whole hour talking about her world and how everything worked like she was a teacher lecturing him. She liked teaching, but she didn’t want that to be the sole dynamic of their relationship.

“Here,” she said. “I’m