Triton's Destiny

Part Twenty-Five

"Here." Tristan held the paper bag open for Maki. "The last one's yours."

"Tristan," Maki protested with a frown, "I've already had three."

"So?"

"You only ate two! I've already had more than my share."

Tristan shrugged and gave him a lopsided smile. "I've been enjoying the bakery for five years. You have a lot of time to make up for." Shaking the bag, he lifted his eyebrows at the triton.

"Oh, fine." Maki reached in the bag for the last cookie, sticking his tongue out at Tristan before taking a large bite and grunting happily. "Gods, these are good. What are the little red fruits again?"

"Cranberries."

"Mmm... They go so well with everything else." Maki finished the cookie in a few bites and wiped the crumbs from his lips. Then he grabbed Tristan's hand and laced their fingers together. "Thanks for sharing with me."

Nodding, Tristan gave Maki's fingers a squeeze. "I'm glad you enjoyed it." The bakery's special that day was cranberry white macadamia nut cookies and Emilie had loaded them up with half a dozen of them. Tristan would be wary of her continued generosity, but he suspected she just wanted them coming in regularly so she could gush over how cute he and Maki were as a couple. It annoyed him at first but he didn't care anymore. He was happy to be with Maki and completely unbothered by people seeing them together. Plus, he wanted Maki to be able to experience as many human things as he wanted. And Maki apparently had an affinity for Emilie's sweets. So Tristan would take him to the bakery as often as he wanted to go.

Maki smiled and heaved a happy sigh, curling his arm around Tristan's as they walked, leaning his head on his shoulder. "Where do you have to go next?"

"The tailor's shop, then the bookstore, and we'll finish at the dock foreman's office."

Maki's eyes went wide with excited interest. "What's a tailor?"

Tristan laughed softly. He loved Maki's enthusiastic curiosity. "It's someone who makes and alters clothing."

"Oh..." Maki's gaze widened a bit more. "I want to see!"

"Do tritons wear clothing? Well, I mean..." Tristan gestured at Maki's current attire as his cheeks warmed. "Underwater, I guess."

Maki shook his head. "There's no need for it. We wear jewelry and other adornments sometimes, but our bodies are well adapted to our environment, which doesn't change much at all. Our scales protect our modesty." Color rose high on his cheeks as he blushed.

"Where did you get the clothes you're wearing now?"

"All of my human things were salvaged from shipwrecks. Except for my boots." Maki smiled as his fingers lifted to touch the brim of his cap. "And my hat."

Tristan smiled too and pressed a kiss to Maki's cheek. "I'm amazed you were able to find things that fit you so well."

"If you look long enough..." Maki shrugged.

It only took a few minutes to walk to the tailor's shop and Tristan held the door for Maki as they went inside. An older woman immediately looked up from her desk at the back of the shop and smiled brightly, waving them in. "Tristan! How lovely to see you today!"

"Hi, Nora. I have a couple of messages for you." Tristan pulled the envelopes out of his satchel and handed them to her.

She took the messages but didn't even look at them as she set them aside. "Those can wait. How are you?"

"I'm fine." He nervously ran his fingers through his hair. Nora was an extremely nice person but she liked to chat and Tristan never had much to contribute to the conversation, so he usually ended up feeling incredibly awkward.