Mateo joined us in the shower, and I managed a half-hearted smile as we cleaned up. His kisses were still in earnest. My skin was still a shade of cerulean. Once we were clean, we put on robes, and I retrieved my dinner from the passthrough hatch. 

"Were fae always vegetarians?" Mateo asked. This was the second night he'd seen me eat. My diet mainly consisted of greens, vegetables, fruits, and legumes. Though I liked to add cheese and eggs from time to time. Tonight's dinner was roasted root vegetables and tofu with a balsamic vinaigrette. 

"While most of us are agrarian, a few groups hunt small game. I've managed to sustain myself without that protein source." My skin color slowly returned to its neutral pink-gray tone as Mateo continued to ask questions. They were about my favorite foods, favorite places, and what books I enjoyed reading. I answered them to distract myself. 

As I finished dinner, Mateo brought out the spice whiskey. He offered me a glass, but I declined. I did not want to be tempted back into his bed. I would find no comfort in it now. However, I could not bring myself to leave him. 

The decision was eventually made for me when we heard a gentle knock around five in the morning. 

"Yes?" Mateo asked. 

A soft feminine voice called out, "Love, it's us." 

Mateo threw the door open, and his companions stood at the entrance with a bag each in hand. He gasped and cried as he tugged them into the room. While he'd been distracted, I dressed in my shirt and slacks from the previous evening. 

"Quinn." He turned to face me as his companions followed. I had seen them before, but we'd never met properly. The surprise on his face as he noticed I had dressed was not lost on me. "I think you've talked to them briefly, but I want to introduce you properly. This is Mariah and Cy. Short for Cyril." 

Mariah was a beautiful woman with brown skin, natural black hair, and a dancer's physique. I did not have a hard time imagining her as the lead dancer of a ballet troupe. Or in Mateo's bed. Cy had dark brown hair and light brown skin like Mateo could be in the sun. His blue eyes were striking, and I found myself unable to look him in the eye though he was the shortest individual in the room. 

"Did you manage to keep him company all this time?" Mariah asked. 

"It was no trouble," I said with a slight nod. Mateo frowned. "Let me leave to let you catch up with each other. I have other things to attend to this morning."

Cy caught my hand on my way through the door. He pressed a sliver of silver into my palm. "For our gratitude." He was sincere about it. They had no idea what had transpired, and Mateo seemed to be at a loss for words. I took the silver with a nod, turned, and did not wait for the door to be shut in my face. 

I laid in my own bed, staring at my own ceiling, and wondered how I had become so attached to someone that hadn't been more than an acquaintance a short time before. 

The door to my residence opened, and someone shut it behind themselves. Considering all of the locks were keyed to an individual's biometric, it had to be a manager override that let someone into my bungalow. 

"Oh, good, you have not expired."

I glanced at the doorway, and Felven moved further into my bedroom and pressed a button to adjust the opaqueness of the windows to allow light to stream in. I hated it and yet was drawn to it. 

Their tentacles sifted through clothing and other things that I had strewn about the place. 

"If I wanted maid service, I would have called for it."

"Funny enough, the service stopped by, and they said you would not let them in for the scheduled cleaning." The tilt of their head and the sharp tone they made were meant to convey their disappointment. "I came to see if you were ready to return to work, and I also wanted to deliver this."

Felven held out a letter. Paper was rare and expensive. Most used electronic communication of some kind, but I had shut off my cell once I'd returned to my room. The elegant envelope had my name beautifully written across the surface. 

"It's from him, isn't it."

"Yes." 

"I don't want it."

"I am not your message service either, Quinn. Take the letter." I took it from their outstretched tentacle, then promptly wadded it up and tossed it into the waste receptacle not far from my bed.

Felven sighed. "Your clients are asking for you. The spa would like to know when you plan to return to work, and your coworkers are concerned about you."

"You didn't report me to management?"

"Whyever would I do that?"

"Because of Mateo."

Felven leveled a look at me. "You are not the first to become entangled with a guest, nor will you be the last. Though I have to admit, I'm surprised you did after a decade of working here."

"Have you ever dallied with a guest?"

"Once," Felven admitted. "They were here hiding from relatives. They stayed for quite some time, but once they reconciled, they left, and we never spoke again."

"That's awful, Felven."

"It is the nature of the place in which we live and work. The rules are there for a reason. Anyone who has been here a long time has broken them at least once." Felven sat down on the foot of the bed, their tentacles splayed out across the bedclothes. "But we continue on. Acknowledge the mistake and move forward." They sighed. "All this to say, it will be alright soon enough. Trust your routine, and things will correct themselves."

My routine, the sole reason I did things some days, had remained quiet. It seemed Helmin was as broken as me. I half wondered why its hunger hadn't woken me, but my emotions were so dark, it likely was enough to feed it and put me to sleep. If Felven had been less of a friend, the cleaning service might have found my corpse with Helmin burrowed halfway through me.

"Quinn?" Felven shook me gently with a tentacle. "You were mumbling. Are you sure you do not need medical attention?" The concern in their tones touched me. I patted their tentacle and sat up. The bedclothes pooled in my lap. Felven vibrated with anxiety. It took everything I had not to reach out and take it from them. "You have a parasite, Quinn."

"Yes." It was careless of me. Or maybe, with my newfound loss, I was also done hiding Helmin. 

"The charms and your aura make so much sense now. You have no idea how many have gossiped about you. Some assumed you were an ancient that could curse them out of existence, and the charms were to hide your true visage."

I looked at Felven as the words slowly entered my mind. I felt the smile form on my face, then a grin, until I burst into laughter that quickly turned hysterical. "Oh goddess, if only that were the case. I'm only halfway into my second century!"

Felven's dark orbs seemed to twinkle while their face stayed passive, arranged in the calming smile that everyone always saw. "You are very private. Aloof even. Helpful, but aloof. It is one thing to be that way with guests, but quite another to be distant from those you live and work with."

"I…. that wasn't my intent. I honestly don't know what my intent was. I assumed I put people off."

"Did you ever ask?"

I shook my head, ashamed that I never sought their company or trusted anyone with my private life. A tentacle reached out, caressed my face then prompted me to lift my head until my gaze met Felven's. 

"No time like the present, my friend. The season-end party is on Friday. You should go."

"Will you come with me?" I sounded like a heartbroken adolescent, but I didn't care. 

Felven hummed, "Yes. I'll attend with you. If you allow me to select your attire."

"Fine." I smiled at them and got myself out of bed. "I'll let responsible parties know that I'll return to work tomorrow." Felven remained seated on my bed. Their tentacles roamed about the bedding. 

"Thank you, Felven." The humming noise grew a bit louder. "Is there anything else?"

"You are nude." Felven never struck me as anyone that cared much about clothing. Their own wasn't much more than a long jacket. 

"I am. I usually sleep nude. Is that a problem?"

"No." Felven seemed to stare, though I couldn't be sure. "Are you planning to shower?"

"Yes." This line of questions was odd. "Why?"

"Would you like assistance?"

"Why would I need assistance?" I gathered a towel from the hook near my bathroom door. 

Felven pushed up from the bed and rotated their tentacles to balance their stance. "Maybe assistance was not the correct word. Would you like companionship?"

"Are you offering…." My skin shaded to a bright yellow, then shifted to a deep red. 

"The worm's name is Helmin. It is interested in you, and so am I. Please," I inhaled, invigorated in my newfound freedom, "....join us."

Felven began to remove their jacket as I turned toward the bathroom to start my shower. To say the next ninety minutes were enjoyable would be an understatement.