The sky had grown red with evening light. After having finished all of the cleaning, we were gathered in the parlor. I had just passed out water to everyone and was sitting on the sofa to catch my breath.
“I worked up quite the sweat today,” Oltea said.
“Me too. I’m sweating terribly... There were too many spiders in all your rooms!” Tigaro said.
“We hadn’t even cleaned once yet. It was probably like paradise for spiders,” Frieze said.
“Well, now we’ve chased them all away and cleaned everything up,” said Oltea. “They won’t be coming back.”
“True. You all really put in the elbow grease. The house looks great now. Not as a reward or anything, but I’m sure everyone’s hungry, so eat as much as you like tonight,” I said.
All three of their faces lit up at my words.
“Let’s eat!”
“Absolutely. I’m totally famished,” said Oltea. “You too, right, Tigaro?”
“How could you tell?” Tigaro asked curiously.
“Because your stomach was going, ‘Grrrr’ while we cleaned,” Oltea teased, smiling mischievously at Tigaro.
“It-It doesn’t go, ‘Grrrrrr...’ But, yeah, my stomach is pretty empty.”
“Well then, shall we?” I said. The girls, any lingering tension relaxed by the day’s shared efforts, followed along as I stepped outside. We went, as usual, to the neighborhood eatery we’d become familiar with.
Inside the shop—amid fragrant smoke wafting through the air like a yakitori house back home—locals sharing their after-work drinks chatted in loud, lively voices. Oltea and I sat down next to each other with Tigaro and Frieze opposite us.
“How does starting with some skewers and beer sound?” I said.
“Perfect. Let’s do that,” Oltea replied.
“I bet the beer will taste even more delicious than usual today...” Frieze said to herself in a low, raspy voice. Oltea and Tigaro had already begun drinking water, but Frieze was holding out for the alcohol. “There’s nothing like that first taste of a cold beer hitting your dry throat. It’s unimaginable.”
“I think you’re a little addicted... I mean, is beer really that good?” asked Tigaro.
“Give it a try. You’ll understand,” said Oltea.
“If it doesn’t suit your tastes, I’ll gladly drink whatever you have left over...” Frieze added.
After we’d placed our orders, everyone chatted away, and before long, the beer arrived at our table. We lifted our mugs, tapped them together to share a “Cheers,” and congratulated one another on a hard day’s work well done. We downed the first round in one gulp each. The lightly bitter drink went down easily and left a pleasant, fruity aroma in its wake. At first, I’d been skeptical of drinking beer lukewarm, but in my previous life, I had taken little interest in alcohol outside of the customary end-of-year and New Year’s parties, where I had drunk my expected share. It hadn’t been long before I’d had more beer here than I ever had in Japan, and as such, I had come to think of room-temperature beer as the default.
“Ahhh! I feel like I’m coming back to life!” Frieze said.
“There’s absolutely nothing like a beer after a long day of work! What do you think, Tigaro? Do you like it?” I asked.
“Hmm... I’ve only had a bit, but it’s not bad. A little bitter, though...”
“You acquire a taste for the bitterness after a while. It gets addictive. I’m sure you’ll come around to it too, Tigaro!” Oltea said.
“It’s tasty on its own, but what’s really good is— Oh, it’s here! If you have a sip together with this, it’s absolutely fantastic!” Frieze said, and bit heartily into one of the skewers that had just arrived. She stuffed her cheeks, juices dripping off the tender meat, and gulped down more of her beer between bites.
“Mmmmm!” Frieze squealed. “It’s so good! The salty meat gets you thirsty and makes the next sip of beer even better.”
“You’ve...changed since I last saw you. You’re acting like a middle-aged man, Frieze.”
“I wish I could say that means I’ve grown up and gotten all mature, but—”
“You wanna try combining them too, Tigaro? Trust me, you won’t wanna stop once you do!” Oltea said.
“I’ll try it,” she replied hesitantly. “Hmm... Really salty, but quite good.”
She continued to bite into the meat with a certain polite reserve. As she did, the stiffness in her expression began to relax.
“Money is no object tonight, so please, eat and drink as much as you like!” I said.
“Will do!” shouted Frieze.
“Thank you, Kaito! As thanks, you can touch my ears as much as you like!” Oltea said.
“Your ears?!” Tigaro said, dropping her skewer in shock.
Oltea looked at our flustered newcomer and spoke with elated pride. “Kaito, see, he adores my ears. He’s always praising me and saying how pretty they are.”
“Mine too. He’s always praising mine, saying they’re so cute!”
“Well, you both do have great ears,” I said. My compliment made both of them blush happily. I wanted to round things out and say something about Tigaro’s as well, but for hybrids, a compliment directed at one’s ears was analogous to a confession of love and, as I had been warned, even had the connotation of proposal. Tigaro knew that I wasn’t married to anyone at the table and probably understood that my compliments were not euphemistic but just that: compliments. Still, she was clearly a bit bewildered. It would be best, I figured, if I waited until we were closer to say anything about her ears.
In the meantime, though:
“Is it okay for me to pet them here?” I asked. The conversation had roused my desire. Oltea and Frieze nodded cheerfully. I reached over to Oltea, who was seated next to me, and began to rub her ears. Frieze leaned over the table to present her own. Tigaro watched the spectacle, her face flushing red.