Page 111 of As You Wake, Break the Shell

Signy could hear Cora’s amused expression, even though she wasn’t facing her. “Why?” Cora asked.

“It’s something he saw in an old movie.” Signy stepped off the top stair and turned to face her girlfriend. “Here, I’ll show you.” She leaned in and demonstrated Otto’s not-quite-cheek kiss.

“. . . Oh. Hm, okay.” Cora pulled back, considering. “And what do I do?”

“You do the same at the same time.”

“Like . . .” Cora leaned forward and gave it an attempt. She laughed. “Feels a little awkward.”

“No, but you did it,” Signy said. “That was good.”

“You sure?”

“Positive. He’ll just be happy you gave it a shot.” Signy cupped Cora’s cheek in her palm and kissed her properly. “Thank you for doing this.”

Cora looked baffled. “Of course,” she said. “Why wouldn’t I?”

Because having dinner with an old man you’d never met before wasn’t exactly a wild evening out, Signy thought, but she kissed Cora again for her perpetual lack of fuss. And for her freckles. And her snappily creased shirt. God, there were a lot of reasons to kiss Cora.

Signy had barely knocked on the door to apartment 206 before it was thrown open. “Cora, at last!” Otto said jubilantly, leaning on his cane and hugging her with his free arm. He was clad in an apron and freshly pressed clothes. “It’s so good to finally meet you.”

There was no opportunity for Signy to notice how Cora did with the not-quite-cheek kiss. She was too busy staring over Otto’s shoulder at the trio of hovering faces right behind him. Darcy. Ramona. Sam.

Oh, no. Otto had told the whole pack to be there for dinner. This was going to be chaos.

Darcy, in civilian clothing and without a wig crowning his swoop of gray, clucked his tongue as Signy and Cora were ushered inside. “I thought she was going to be ugly, given how it’s taken you four months to bring her by the old folks’ home—”

Sam, in the midst of sipping a beer, slapped his chest with the back of her free hand. “Darcy—”

“But she’s a catch, is where I was going with that! And ow.”

Sam rolled her eyes and stuck her hand in her trouser pocket. “Hey, Signy.”

“Uh, hey, Sam,” Signy said, aware that Ramona—who was shockingly quick for a compact cylinder of a woman—was beelining for Cora with something small in hand.

“Cora, I’m Ramona,” Ramona said in her usual slow, deliberate tone. “Welcome to our home.” She took Cora’s hand, turned it palm upright, and gave her—Signy sighed—a green figurine in the shape of a squirrel.

Cora accepted the cheap bit of plastic as though it were worth a hundred dollars. “That is so kind, Ramona, thank you,” she said. Her entire countenance was so affable and easy, despite being ambushed like this. Signy wanted to drag her out into the hallway and kiss her again. “What kind of luck is this little guy for?”

Ramona’s eyes lit up. “Oh, do you know my animal charms?”

Cora briefly met Signy’s eyes with a wink and a grin. “I was given a crash course, yeah.”

“Well, you see, I had a dream about you the other night—”

“Oh, no way?” Cora said, listening sincerely and nodding along.

“Yes, and in it, you were wearing a bright green hat—”

Signy did not get to hear about wherever the hell Ramona’s dream was leading, because Darcy slipped over to her. “I’ve been meaning to tell you,” he said, putting his hand on her shoulder and speaking in a hush, “Otto’s been doing a bit poorly lately. I don’t think he’s getting much sleep.”

“Is that so?” Signy asked. Out of the corner of her eye, Sam had begun digging through Otto’s collection of music recordings.

Darcy nodded. “I hear him moving around the living room at night. All hours.”

“Has he said why? Is he in pain?”

“See, I think he must be, he seems so tired. But I don’t know. It’s not his knee.”