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1.
The second night after Mikey moved in, Seo-yun came out of the bathroom in her pajamas, barefoot, and said, “Nails tomorrow.”
“Definitely,” said Coral. It was comforting to know their private rituals would extend into this new version of their relationship.
Mikey looked from Coral to Seo-yun. “Nails?”
“You’ll see. ‘Night, love.” Coral was sleeping in the no-sex bedroom tonight—she needed to test their arrangement, to make sure it could work. She gave him a quick, soft kiss and went in to kick her slippers into the corner.
“Coming?” said Seo-yun behind her, and Coral looked over her shoulder, questioning, before she realized Seo-yun was talking to Mikey.
Mikey nodded and came into the bedroom, shy as if he’d expected to be shut out on his own. It made Coral a little anxious, that lingering worry about keeping both her partners happy.
“Stop looking so nervous, Panda. We don’t bite. This is the no-biting bedroom.” Seo-yun threw a green pillow at his head, and he caught it and put it on the twin bed they’d moved in here yesterday. The pillow he’d brought with him was in the sex bedroom, left there from last night.
Seo-yun coughed meaningfully. “You can’t keep that—it’s mine. Here, take this instead.”
She threw him one in a pink floral pillowcase, and he looked at it with a priceless expression that made Coral choke on a giggle and say, “We should get him a proper boy’s one. A Superman pillow, or dinosaurs.”
“Rocket ships,” said Mikey drily, giving Seo-yun back her green one. “So, how does this work? Can I change in here or—I mean, I don’t usually wear pajamas, but I can if—”
He scratched his neck and sent Coral a helpless look, even though it was pretty clear given their relationship that his qualms were for Seo-yun’s benefit. It was sweet that he didn’t want to make Seo-yun uncomfortable. Coral appreciated that, despite the awkwardness of negotiating everything. In a week or two this would be normal. There’d be fewer and fewer questions they hadn’t found answers to. In two months it would feel like it had always been this way. She just had to be patient.
“So long as you don’t wave your junk in my face, I don’t care,” said Seo-yun, with her usual bluntness. “Change wherever you want, sleep naked, wear a panda suit.”
“I’d die of heat stroke.” Mikey started unbuttoning his shirt. “Okay, but tell me if something bothers you, all right? Don’t put up with being uncomfortable on my account.”
Seo-yun snorted. “Have you met me?”
Mikey shrugged. “Rules are made to be renegotiated to the satisfaction of all interested parties.”
He said it like he was quoting something, but even so, Coral threw her pillow at him, laughing. “Oh my god, you’re such a dork!”
He was so tall, she had to throw it up more than across, and even then, it only hit his chin. He grabbed it and gave her the pink floral one in exchange. “I’m just happy to be here.”
Coral met his eye, felt how much he meant it, and a sappy feeling started in her stomach and bloomed through her. He really was the sweetest guy. “Me too.”
“Yeah, yeah, we’re all happy.” Seo-yun slid into bed and pulled the covers up to her chin. “Can we sleep now? I’ve got a meeting at eight-thirty.”
Coral shook her head, loving her, loving Mikey. Having them both in the same room together felt like a miracle. She tied her hair back and climbed into bed next to Seo-yun, and Mikey finished undressing, dumped his clothes in a pile on the chair by the dresser and got into the twin, just a few feet away. Seo-yun turned out the light. “Goodnight.”
“Wait,” said Coral, into the darkness. “No story?”
“Story?” echoed Mikey.
“Seo-yun tells the best stories.” It was one of her favorite things about bedtime with Seo-yun, the weird, acid-trip, off-the-cuff stories, like poems, told in a sleepy voice into the dark, slipping into Coral’s dreams. Like being a kid again, sharing secret worlds.
“Cool!” said Mikey. “Please?”
He sounded far from sleepy, and Coral reached across the small gap between their beds and clumsily patted his shoulder.
“A very short one,” said Seo-yun. “Because meeting. Let’s see… Once there was a big rainbow-colored cloud which drifted over a black and white city, and in the city lived a penguin with a grey umbrella called Fox…”
2.
The next evening, Seo-yun took the red toolbox out from under the bed and brought it into the living room. Mikey and Coral paused the game they were playing, and Coral said, “Ooh!” and kicked off her slippers.
“What is it?” said Mikey. “Does something need fixing?” He stood, obviously gearing up to be Mr. Fix-it, but Coral pulled him back down.
“Nail time,” she said.
“You can do it too, if you want,” said Seo-yun. She opened the toolbox to reveal rows of meticulously organized bottles of nail polish in every shade under the sun.
“Oh, huh.” Mikey deflated slightly. “That kind of nail.”
Coral ignored him and knelt down next to the box. This was between her and Seo-yun anyway. “One foot or two?”
“That depends on Mikey. Do you want a foot?” Seo-yun was wearing her baseball cap backward, and wisps of blue-green hair were escaping around the edges.
“I don’t know.” Mikey looked from Seo-yun to Coral. “Are you guys just being deliberately cryptic?”
Coral relented. “We choose nail polish for each other’s feet. It can be a code or just how you’re feeling, but it’s kind of—” She searched for the right word. “—marking.”
“A secret one no one else gets to see, or if they do, they don’t know the significance,” added Seo-yun. “You can give someone happy feet or magic feet or superhero stomp-the-universe feet.”
“Sexy feet,” said Coral, grinning at Mikey and blushing a little.
“Huh,” said Mikey again. He looked at Seo-yun. “You’d let me interior decorate your toes.”
“Some days, she even lets me paint them myself,” said Coral, teasing Seo-yun, who shook her head vigorously.
“Not today. That would be too much. But yeah,” she cocked her head at Mikey, “you can choose. If you want.”
“My ex, Xav, and I used to write on each other’s stomachs in marker, but that was mostly jokes.” Mikey knelt next to Coral and started poking through the colors, picking up bottles and putting them back.
“I think we should all do one foot for each other.” Coral elbowed Mikey. “I want to glitter you up.”
He leaned in and kissed her. “You already do. Both of you.”
“Aw,” said Seo-yun, only slightly ironic.
“Aw,” said Coral, beaming at both of them.
An hour later, Coral had one foot in various shades of glittery green, courtesy of Seo-yun who’d been doing this long enough to show some restraint, and one foot that went, from big toe to little toe, yellow-orange-purple-blue-indigo, with a silver star in the center of each. The others’ feet were similarly random and colorful.
“I like this,” said Seo-yun admiring her own work. “Maybe I should choose my next hair color by committee.” She went to open the window and let the nail polish fumes out.
“Gold star,” agreed Mikey. On one of his feet, all the nails were the exact shade of Seo-yun’s current hair, and on the other, Coral had used her own secret code to say I love you. “I kind of feel like the prize in a cereal box.”
“Best prize,” said Coral, leaning on him.
“We’re all the best,” said Mikey. “It’s a three-way tie.”
3.
“Hey, hey, sorry I’m late.” Coral arrived breathless and flushed at the restaurant to find Seo-yun and Mikey were already eating.
“Everything okay?” asked Mikey with his mouth full. He swallowed hastily and moved his coat so she could slide into the booth next to him. “Happy birthday again.”
“We would have waited, but Panda was starving.” Seo-yun gestured at Mikey’s plate, which was half-empty but had apparently once held a chicken salad alongside the fries. Seo-yun had made more modest inroads into her sandwich.
Coral stole a couple of fries from Mikey and a mouthful of beer from Seo-yun’s glass. “It’s fine. I said you could start without me—didn’t you get my message?”
“Mikey still thought we should wait, but then he started gnawing on the table—”
“Literally. You can see the bite marks.” Mikey pushed his plate closer so Coral could share his fries more easily.
“Well, you did inhale an entire plate of corn chips.” Seo-yun smirked. “Anyway, I would have ordered for you, but we weren’t sure how late you’d be, and nothing is worse than cold vat-steak.”
“That’s okay, I’m not really hungry. I’ll just have some of yours.” Coral stole Seo-yun’s sandwich and took a big bite, then used the rest of the sandwich to toast against Mikey’s and Seo-yun’s beers. “Happy birthday to me.”
4.
There was the sound of the front door unlocking, and then the light came on. Sitting on the couch, Coral covered her face against the sudden glare.
“Co-ball? What’s wrong?” Seo-yun sounded concerned.
“Worst day,” said Coral, still shielding her eyes. “Worst-worst. Everything I said was wrong. I suck.”
“You don’t suck.” The couch dipped from Seo-yun sitting beside her. “Whatever you said, I still love you. You’re still the coolest person I know.”
Coral sighed and sniffed, hating herself for being so mopey, and knowing her eyes were probably red from crying. “I screwed up at work. And I think I’m pre-menstrual.”
“Where’s Panda?”
“Movie night with his college friends.” Coral raked her hand through her hair, half-glad Mikey wasn’t here to see her like this, half-wishing he were here to hug her. She gave herself a shake. “I’m fine. How was your day?”
“Shh,” said Seo-yun. She went into the bedroom and came back with her indigo chenille blanket. “Here. It’s not a hug, exactly, but—”
Coral pulled it around her shoulders and snuggled into its softness. It smelled good. Her sadness started to ebb, and she kicked off her shoes.
“Now, do you want chili or peppermint in your hot chocolate?” Seo-yun was doing something with her phone, but she looked up, waiting for Coral’s answer.
“Peppermint,” said Coral.
“Coming right up.” Seo-yun tapped her phone a couple of times, and deep pulse music started playing through the apartment speakers, low and rhythmic. One of Coral’s favorite tracks. “How’s that? Better?”
Coral nodded, feeling the music in her toes. “Better.”
“I’ll make the hot chocolate and order dinner, and then you can tell me everything, if you want, or we can play a game.”
“Maybe some TV?” Coral was too tired to play a game. She just wanted to be looked after and entertained, without any need to exhibit coherence or hand-eye coordination.
“Anything you want,” said Seo-yun. She raised her chin, looking resolved. “Do you want a hug?”
“I’m okay.” Coral rubbed her cheek against the chenille. She did want a hug, but not from Seo-yun who wouldn’t enjoy it too. “Mikey will be home later. And the blanket is great.”
Seo-yun moved closer and fistbumped Coral’s shoulder. “I can hug you if you need me to.”
“I know. I love you.” Coral didn’t move. The music was pulsing through her, soothing her.
“I love you too,” said Seo-yun. “Which I’m about to prove by making you hot chocolate and watching terrible TV with you.”
“You don’t have to.” Coral wanted to watch something old and 2D. Something completely self-indulgent she’d already seen a thousand times: ST12 Lockdown or season three of Firefly or something.
“I know,” said Seo-yun, patiently. “If I had to, it wouldn’t prove anything.”
Coral grinned, and immediately felt even better, but she didn’t let on. Her day really had been the worst, and if Seo-yun wanted to take care of her and indulge her every whim, Coral was not going to argue. “Chinese takeout?”
“Whatever you want.” Seo-yun winked as if she could see right through her, and she was one hundred percent okay with Operation Self-Indulgence. “You want me to message Panda and tell him to come home, stat? I’ll do it.”
“That’s okay.” Coral snuggled deeper into the blanket. “It’s nice it just being us for a change.”
“Yeah.” Seo-yun smiled. “It is.”
They were still on the couch three hours later when Mikey got home. “Hey, whatcha doing?” he asked, looking at them sitting in the half-light surrounded by takeout containers, empty mugs and the popcorn bowl. The USS Valor was still in lockdown, and on screen Captain Ghaffari was delivering her impassioned speech to the Starfleet Academy. Coral had just finished her third peppermint hot chocolate.
“Emotional triage,” explained Seo-yun.
Coral paused the miniseries, not wanting to talk over it even though she’d seen it about a million times before. “I had the worst day,” she told Mikey. It didn’t make her sick to think about anymore. “Worst day and best evening.”
“You can call if you need me.” He sat down on the floor and leaned against the couch beside her, putting his arm around her legs. “Any time.”
She tickled his cheek with the edge of the chenille blanket. “I know. But your friends wanted to see you. Seo-yun looked after me.”
He and Seo-yun smiled at each other. Then he gestured at the screen. “What is this?”
“Comfort TV,” said Coral. “Star Trek.”
“ST12 Lockdown,” said Seo-yun. “You’re just in time for the gripping finale.”
5.
Mikey’s dad came online while Coral was hooking the laptop up to the second TV, so Mikey could watch the game and his parents at the same time, and they could watch him. Seo-yun had offered to set up a laser-holo so Mikey could sit on a virtual couch with them, but Mikey had said he’d rather go old school.
Coral took a half-step back so she could see Mikey’s dad properly. “Hi, MD. How’s Amsterdam?”
Mikey’s dad smiled. “We’re settling in. How are you all?”
“Good-good.” Coral muted the mic for a moment. “Mikey, your dad’s here!”
Mikey came out of the kitchen carrying three bowls of snacks and with a six-pack of beer under his arm. He broke into a grin when he saw the screen. “Dad, hey. Glad you could make it. Are Mom and Papa there too?”
“Wouldn’t missing watching the World Series clincher with my boys,” said Mikey’s mom, arriving on screen. She sat on the couch next to MD. “Papa’s making hot wings. He’ll be here in a minute.”
“Oh, no, I might miss kick-off,” called Papa from off-screen, making MD throw a cushion in his direction.
“You’ll have Coral thinking you don’t know your baseball from your soccer.”
Coral laughed. She’d only met Mikey’s parents a couple of times before they moved to Europe, but she’d got the impression they were always like this, warm and friendly, and MD and MP couldn’t seem to help teasing each other. They and Mikey’s mom were so much like Mikey, all in different ways, they already felt familiar.
“Coral, could you do me a favor?” asked MM, leaning closer to the camera.
“Of course.”
“Mom!” Mikey sounded pre-emptively embarrassed, which made MM grin.
“Just a tiny favor. Could you give Mikey a hug from all of us? We miss him.”
“I’ll see you in less than a month,” said Mikey. “We’re coming on the 19th.” For Mikey’s parents’ wedding on the 22nd. Mikey, Coral and Seo-yun were all going.
“That’s still weeks away,” said MD.
“Come on.” Coral dragged Mikey out of the beanbag and looked up at him. He looked back with his steady brown gaze and warm grin, and she blushed a little, self-conscious because his parents were watching. It wasn’t the first time she’d been a proxy for hugs, but it was the first time like this.
Mikey winked at her, and she laughed and put her arms around his waist, enjoying the feeling of his reciprocating, his chin resting on the top of her head. “Love you,” she whispered, quiet enough that his parents couldn’t possibly hear.
But when she pulled away, Mikey’s mom was beaming anyway, as if the hug really had been for her too. “Thank you, Coral,” she said. “Where’s—oh, hi, Seo-yun. Glad to see you too. And just in time—I think the game’s starting. Let’s watch some ball.”
END