23.ii The Heavenly River

~ Anari ~

“You didn’t have to make such a scene, Bodhi,” Anari said as she and the monk took their seats at the bar. “They serve imperial wine here on the ferry.”

Bodhi grinned slyly as they waved down the pug spirit tending the bar. “You say that as if I’ve spoiled my appetite. But I didn’t mean to embarrass you back there, so this first one’s on me.”

Behind her glamour, Anari folded several of her arms. “I can pay for my own drink.”

Bodhi rolled their eyes. “Well can you let me apologize, Legs? That's why I offered.” They leveled their gray gaze with the spider’s black, slightly enlarged irises. After a beat, Anari clicked her tongue and slipped on her shades. “Fine.”

Once the spirits had been served and the wine was flowing between them, Bodhi said, “Don’t get me wrong, I’d rather have overpriced imperial wine any day over the cough syrup I was lugging around in that barrel, but tell me, why wouldn’t they let me bring it here when they’re serving alcohol anyway?”

Anari peered at them over the rim of her purple sunglasses. “Think about it. It minimizes the chance of someone smuggling wine into Kawaii Village. Plus they don’t want to give you a reason to not drink what they’re selling. Local shipping companies pay an arm and a leg for the licensing required to bring any alcohol in the vicinity of the Rabbit Province.”

Bodhi absently licked their lips, already on their second pour. “What’s up with that decree anyway? Are they trying to keep tourism as family friendly as they can or something?”

Anari snorted. “No. The reasons for the laws are…” She made a face. “They’re not what you think. I don’t know if you’ve ever met a rabbit or a dog spirit before. Overall, they seem pretty normal, until you meet one from this province. The spirits here have an addiction… to cuteness.”

Bodhi’s smattering of freckles danced as they tried to hold in a laugh. “Addiction to cuteness? What does that even mean?”

Anari explained, “Anything that doesn’t meet their standard of cute, is outlawed. You won’t see any cars for example. Only bicycles and trolleys.”

Bodhi leaned back and scrutinized their cup. They rotated their wrist so the contents swished around, threatening to overtake the smooth lip of the cup, but never actually spilling.

“So let me get this straight. Drinking isn’t allowed because it’s not… cute enough?”

Anari smirked as she went to pour her second glass. With a slow nod, she said, “Even the packaging matters. They all drink from milk cartons, juice boxes, and select soda cans. Portable glass and plastic bottles are prohibited.”

Bodhi reached over Anari to stop her. They easily unhinged the bottle from her hand and poured her drink for her. “Legs, I don’t think I’m going to like this place very much. What if I’m not cute enough and they decide to arrest me? I mean, even when I’m not drinking, the smell tends to stick to my robes.”

Anari didn’t remember asking Bodhi to pour her drink, but she didn’t fuss. Instead she lowered her shades just enough to scan Bodhi’s youthful band of freckles. Their lips were rosier than usual from the wine. The only reason Anari noticed was due to Bodhi’s habit of rolling them in and licking them whenever they were in the middle of conversation.

“I don’t think you’ll have any problems with the cute police,” the spider said as she accepted her cup and pushed her shades back up before the monk could notice.

For a moment, Bodhi appeared as if they didn’t know where to look. “So, uh…” They mumbled into their cup. “What took you so long this morning?”

Anari felt her glamour give a little bit. She hadn’t been expecting to be asked that question, but it shouldn’t have come as a surprise. She had kept them all waiting.

“Work stuff.”

And then… the spider just let everything out. She touched on all of those annoying concerns and frustration that had been building up from not being able to get through to her boss. The spider never went into too much detail about her employer, but she did confess that she wanted to believe that as harsh as Sun Bai could be, he was still good. It wasn’t possible for him to be wrapped up in some slimy, bureaucratic scandal. She wanted to believe this at least.

Eyes flitting over to the now empty wine bottle, Bodhi looked as if they wanted to reassure Anari somehow. They knocked the bottle on the wood a few times to alert the bartender first.

“We need more.”

The pug, who was only half-glamoured, sniffed the air and said gruffly, “It’s a two bottle limit on the ferry.” Her jowls wobbled as she spoke.

Bodhi made an exasperated sound. “Good grief. Whatever – fine. This is our last round and then we’ll be going.”

When Bodhi was sure that the pug would take care of their order, they turned their attention back to Anari and bumped her stool with their knee.

“Everything is going to be okay, Legs.”

Anari gave a wry smile as she shook her head. “Bodhi, no offense, but you have absolutely no evidence to back that up. You don’t know anything about my job or my boss.”

Anari saw the monk shift in their seat, but she didn’t move to stop them. Her protests were soon muffled by the interruption of soft, wine-soaked lips. The contact was brief as much as it was unexpectedly sweet. The spider fought the urge to chase the monk’s lips as they drew back.

Eyes clear despite the wine, Bodhi gently reassured her. “Let’s say that you get those answers you think you want so badly. Then what, Legs? You’ll just have more questions, you know you will. So you should forget about all of that right now. You’re on vacation. Focus on helping the monkey find his staff. What’s the point of all of this unnecessary stress?”

Anari’s hand floated up to her face. She hid her mouth behind her knuckles to distract the monk from seeing her reaction. The tingling sensation in her lips made the spider very aware of how much she already missed the feeling of Bodhi’s against them.

“You kissed me.”

Bodhi sighed into their cup. “I did… I’ve been wanting to.” Instead of taking a sip, they set the drink down and turned their light gray eyes back on Anari. “I apologize for the lack of impulse control. I won’t do that again if you’re not into it.”

Anari tore her gaze away from Bodhi’s. She dragged her finger over the rim of her cup and whispered, “I’m into it.” Then she looked up. “But I’m not here for a relationship. Let’s make that clear.”

“Legs,” Bodhi chuckled, comfortable enough now to handle their drink. “We’re on the same page there. I’m just looking for a respectful drinking buddy. No offense to Ham Song or Sun Ritsu, but they simply can’t hang… and I’m not just saying that because you know your way around a web.”

Anari giggled when Bodhi’s features bent towards something more comedic. She scooted a little closer to the monk and poured some more wine for them.

“I mean, you’re not wrong.”

A thought suddenly came to her as one of her true eyes took a peek down the cut in Bodhi’s robes while her glamoured ones focused on pouring. Anari acted on it and inquired about the state of Bodhi’s bruised side.

The monk made a curious sound. “It’s funny you should ask. I’m pretty certain I was healed by an immortal’s song this morning.”

Anari raised her eyebrows. “Then you were Lucky.”

Bodhi, it seemed, had finally consumed enough to make them grow bolder in their flirting. The monk batted their eyelashes and replied, “Lucky that you were there last night to see to my wound. It’s a shame that we have nothing like that to bond over anymore.”

Anari mused, “I could fetch Ham Song for you. I’m sure he’ll be happy to damage your body again for a good cause.”

Bodhi rolled out their shoulders and fired back with, “I was thinking you could rough me up a little, Legs.” They clinked their cup against the side of hers. “But only if you were feeling generous.”

Anari knew that Bodhi was joking, but her predatory instincts fluttered at the suggestion. She smirked and laughed it off. There was no denying that this monk was pure trouble. Still, Bodhi was a very nice distraction for the time being.

Part of Anari wondered if the humanae came off as such because of the wine or…were they just that determined to help her stop thinking about her job and simply relax?