Chapter 129: Two Husbands and Somebody Still Had to Wash the Dishes

Dove woke with a blanket stuck to her thigh and decided winter could come back for a short visit, provided it learned some manners first. Thorne lay behind her on the office floor, his arm around her waist, while Edrik sat near the open door with coffee. Beyond him, rows of dusty washing machines filled the abandoned showroom.

"Before either of you gets ideas, I’m taking this off because I’m sweating," she said, shoving the blanket away. "Try being normal about it."

Thorne kissed her shoulder instead of answering, which told her plenty. Edrik brought the mug, then waited while she moved a bag so he could sit. His new bond mark showed above his loose collar. Hers, on him, still there after a night of sleep. Dove caught herself smiling into her coffee and hoped neither man noticed.

Of course Edrik noticed. He touched her chin, lifted her face, and kissed the corner of her mouth before she could hide behind the cup again. "You can look at me, sweetheart. You did marry me yesterday."

"Don’t get smug. I can still make you wash the dishes," she said, catching his shirt when he started to move away. Thorne laughed against her shoulder, and she sat between them until the coffee was gone.

The office opened into the showroom, with its desk against the back wall and a narrow window above it. Their pickup stood outside on the concrete loading apron. Dove hung a blanket beside the washstand. Seated beside Thorne, she visited her space in her mind and brought out pond water. Then she stood and washed behind the blanket. On Day Sixty-Four, even the morning air felt warm.

She chose a light dress from her own clothes instead of her thick sweater, keeping her boots and shorts underneath. A fly landed on her towel before she’d finished drying herself. Dove slapped at it, missed, and glared at Sprout’s menu.

"You sell weapons. Tell me there’s something for that little bastard."

"Your Household Merchant shelf offers several improvements to domestic comfort."

"A very small flamethrower would improve mine considerably."

She paid the hundred twenty normal coins to open the shelf. The little battery fan cost another thirty-five and came with its first batteries. Sprout confirmed that neither purchase meant free stock or free power. Dove held the fan toward her face and closed her eyes as the breeze lifted her damp hair.

"Oh, I’m keeping you," she told it. Thorne looked offended enough that she aimed it at him too. "You can stay as well, handsome. Don’t make this awkward."

Edrik sat beside them, folding his huge body into the spare chair. Dove moved the fan so it reached all three. A bigger table, covered water jugs, and a doorway screen waited farther down the menu, all priced. She closed it before Sprout convinced her a shopping spree counted as planning.

Today’s four packs of cooling cloths needed three buyers. She kept one pack for four Favor, wet a cloth, and laid it behind Thorne’s neck. His ears tipped toward her while she smoothed the ends over his shoulders. Edrik watched until she handed him one too.

"Don’t look so neglected. I’ve had two husbands for one day, and neither of you has wasted away."

Sprout reminded her about the extra drinks task: five cups or two bottles from her owned supply, without another coin payout. Outside, muddy water crawled along the ditch. Having water everywhere apparently wasn’t the same as having anything she wanted to drink.

"Can you tell which water is safe?" she asked privately.

"I can display the products in your inventory."

"Great. I’ll ask the muddy puddle to provide a label."

She kept their drinking supply separate from wash water and the wet cloths. The drink trade used two factory-sealed bottles she’d set aside, which bought a bag of apples from a passing driver. The cloth packs brought canned meat, coffee, and sealed flour. Customers paid at the loading doorway while her men kept the entrance clear.

One man stopped halfway through asking her price, staring at her bare arms and then her face. Edrik rested a hand beside her on the doorframe. Dove waited until the customer remembered his sentence, then quoted the same price. Looking foolish was free; the merchandise wasn’t.

After storing the trades and finishing her practice, she let Sprout settle the usual rewards. Could normal coins help buy the nine-hundred-Favor manual? Sprout refused to swap them. The fan had come from a different balance, so regretting it wouldn’t get her closer to that skill. She would keep practicing while she saved her Favor, preferably with the fan pointed at her.

Lunch was noodles with meat and vegetables, broth, bread, and cut apples beneath a clean cloth. When a fly landed beside the bowl, Thorne caught it before she could reach for her shoe.

"Was this what married life looked like before everything froze?" she asked. "Men killing bugs while women tried to finish lunch?"

"My neighbor used to shout for one of her husbands whenever she found a spider," he said. "One was terrified of them. She always called him first because he came fastest."

Dove laughed, picturing it, then went quiet for a moment. She liked hearing about ordinary people here, people who had complained about little things before the world gave them bigger ones. She wanted more evenings where the worst problem was a bug near her dinner.

Edrik noticed her silence and nudged the bread toward her. "We can find you somewhere with screens. You don’t have to get used to everything."

She rested her hand over his, letting him feel how much she liked that answer. Thorne tucked her hair behind her ear and asked for another story from her when she felt like telling one.

They washed the dishes and folded the table beside the desk. Edrik moved his bedding alongside theirs, leaving a clear path to the showroom. Dove put the spare AA batteries from their salvage beside the fan, then sat between her men to mend her tail cover. For a little while, nobody needed to leave.

Near evening, a returning driver warned them that water had backed up through the lower road’s culvert. Thorne went to look while Edrik stayed with Dove. From the loading doorway, she saw muddy water creeping toward their pickup’s rear tire.

Her fan was still turning beside the bed she’d just made. Dove set down the mending and reached for her boots. "We pack tonight. I’m not waking up with my underwear floating past somebody’s truck."