51.i Wondrous and True

~ Anari ~

Anari hoped that Bodhi got her message.

When the monk showed up at her paper space, they greeted her with, “Hey, you kind of suck at drawing maps. You know that?”

Sweet immortal peaches, it was nice to hear Bodhi’s voice again. Not that they would know, but after spending so many seasons on edge at New Dimension, Anari welcomed the monk’s familiar presence.

“I didn’t think you were going to come.”

“Yeah I can tell.” Bodhi walked around the space. “You don’t really clean up for guests, huh?”

The monk seemed intrigued by Anari’s high ceiling and freakishly tall windows. The width of the space was actually narrow, taking on the interior of a small studio apartment. The kitchen merged with the bedroom. There was a single piece of furniture, a wooden bunk bed with an oversized futon on the bottom. Thanks to the piles of laundry and other personal clutter, there was really nowhere to sit.

There wasn’t much room for Anari to run either, but she managed to sidestep the monk when they tried getting closer.

“What? Do I stink or something?” Bodhi asked as they craned their neck to scrutinize a lump of amethyst hanging from the deep ceiling.

Anari drew her hands up to her chest, cracking the fine bones in her knuckles. “No, but my boss might be wondering why I smell like humanae later on. So you’d better keep your distance.”

Bodhi shot her a look that said how lame of an excuse they thought that was.

“What’s he got against humans?”

Anari wished the monk would just drop it. “Nothing, but. My boss… he’s very dangerous, Bodhi. If possible, you have to pull out of the tournament.”

Bodhi snorted. “Can’t do that. Ritsu’s doing it for me. It would be like a slap in the face at this point.”

Anari figured Bodhi would say something like that, but she had to try anyway. A dying sun blared its light rays through the window panes, throwing dark sunset notes across Bodhi’s features.

“You seem different,” Anari said, noting the clarity in Bodhi’s eyes and lack of swagger in their movements. She finally shook out enough nerves to get down to making some tea for them like a proper host.

“That’s because I’m as dry as a bone.” They didn’t sound all that happy about it.

Anari turned her back to them so she could put the kettle on. “Are you going to stay that way?”

“You know that’s the last thing you should ask an alcoholic, right?”

The spider reached for a cup in her cupboard. “Wet or dry, you’re still a bald pain in the ass.”

Bodhi laughed pretty hard. “Don’t look so proud of yourself, Legs. That was mean.”

Anari could hear the monk trying to approach her again. She dodged them a second time, guilt knotting her gut because she’d thought they’d be over her by now. She called Bodhi here to warn them, not to continue whatever it was they had back at on the ferry crossing the Heavenly River.

“Oh, come on.” Bodhi groaned under their breath.

Anari decided to simply ignore the tension between them. “You have to hide the true nature of the Golden-Hooped Rod. Bai wants it for himself.”

Bodhi’s freckled features turned defensive. “What?”

Anari explained, “And as soon as this tournament is over, get as far away from the Rabbit and Dog Provinces as you can. Take everyone else with you. And stay low.”

When the water kettle clicked off, it was Bodhi who poured their own tea. “What are you, my parole officer?”

Anari took a step closer. “I’m serious.” Then she had to dodge the monk again.

Talk to them. Talk to them and make them leave. Don’t make them stay. Don’t. Don’t.

Finally, the saboteur spoke up, (If you mean it, then do it! Kick them out! But you can’t. You knew you wouldn’t be able to before they even showed up. You cannot lie.)

Bodhi definitely noticed the turmoil going on in Anari, what with her glamour refusing to stay put.

“Legs, what the heck are you so on edge about? Isn’t this your paper space?”

Bodhi moved in again. This time Anari didn’t dart. The monk whispered, “I want to show you something.”

Anari’s head was swimming with memory and longing. She couldn’t have what was there before. She shouldn’t. She shouldn’t.

She fumbled for excuses, turned her back again. “B-Bodhi, your scent is too strong. My boss—”

Softly, Bodhi said, “Then take a shower after.”

“After?” Anari’s braids whistled as she spun around to face the human. “After what?”

Despite the spider spirit’s mandibles clicking above Bodhi’s vision, the monk smiled hopefully. “Can’t you just wash the smell of me off when we’re done talking? I’ll even help you.”

Anari consciously put her glamour back together and chuckled. “After we talk?” She closed the gap between herself and the monk, cupping their face and gently kissing that annoying mouth just to shut them up. Bodhi returned the spider’s kiss, tentatively, as if they were remembering how to do so.

The kiss turned into slow, uncoordinated movement towards the washroom.

When Anari’s back brushed against the door, she broke away from Bodhi. “Just. Don’t laugh.”

As soon as she opened the door and flicked on the lights, the monk snorted. “Legs, seriously? What the hell is this.”

“I said don’t laugh! I told you that I wasn’t expecting guests.”

Her shower room doubled as a little jungle. A grow light dangled lopsided from the shower head and several potted tropical specimens crowding out the tub. Anari told Bodhi they could get undressed while she made room. When she was done moving all the plants out and fixing the shower curtain, Bodhi approached her, bare only from the waist up. The spider soon realized why.

The scar from Ham Song’s attack was just a silver wing flying across the right side of Bodhi’s abdomen. But there were other scars too. Darker, identical half moons located higher up their ribcage.

Anari’s large glassy eyes took everything in. “Those scars… they look surgical.”

She didn’t know if this was the right thing to say. But she had a feeling this was what Bodhi wanted to show her. She could tell by how quiet the monk got and how closely they watched her now.

The human lowered their gaze, wrapping their arms in a gentle cage around their torso.

“When I’m fighting, they go away sometimes. Everything changes. Like I’m traveling from one body to the next.”

Anari remembered the fight at the Garden of Immortal Peaches. She saw what Bodhi’s body could do.

“Does it scare you, Anari?” Bodhi looked up, their expression unreadable yet calm. Hearing the monk call her by her first name felt strange. Were they that nervous? Anari tried to meet Bodhi’s gaze to check, but they were already looking off to the coral tiles of the shower wall, clearly bracing themself for the worst.

Anari said, “If this is who you are, then no. It doesn’t.”

It probably wasn’t the answer Bodhi was expecting. And Anari had half a mind to tell them to snap out of it and finish getting undressed, but she decided to wait and let Bodhi finish what they started.

Bodhi dragged a hand over their thin shadow of hair. “I’ve never shown anyone before. Not on purpose anyway.” Then they stepped around the plants to get to Anari, reaching up to help her remove her jacket, turning a fresher shade of sunset with each article of clothing that dropped to the floor. Before long, the shower head was rattling and steam clouded the room.

The spider made use of the wall to keep the humanae aloft. Bodhi helped by locking their legs around her waist, happy their gaze was finally level with the spider’s instead of having to always look up. It was easy for Bodhi to get lost in the eroded parts of Anari’s glamour — Her deep, enlarged eyes and that limber strength behind all eight of her arms. One smooth, spidery arm in particular had found itself between the monk’s legs, bringing out a series of breathless human sounds that drove Anari into her own little delirium. She kissed the human’s neck meanwhile, letting the vibrations deep in their bones overwhelm her senses.

Bodhi’s lips flicked water as they whispered pleas into the shower. “Let m-me—”

Soon, Anari promised. Soon she’d let Bodhi down so they could wash all of their scent off of her. But she wasn’t done exploring that strange glamourless warmth.

~

Did that talk go as you were expecting, Dear Traveler? Don’t worry, you don’t have to answer. I’m only teasing you.

Let’s see what Bodhi the monk has to say about all of this.