The Unwanted Wendigo [ManxMan]

Chapter Seventeen: Dinner and a Party

~Chapter Seventeen: Dinner and a Party~

There are seashells everywhere. Covering my floor, on my bed, decorating my dresser, balanced on the doorframe. There are even shells on a pair of bright pink flip flops Giselle found for me that I never have any intention of wearing. Now, I kind of wish I thought to wear them.

Everywhere...

When I read about the tradition of presenting a large amount of a specific item, such as sea glass or sea shells, to the intended in a courtship, I thought it was stupid, and it made me laugh because it just sounded like a huge waste of time just to prove dedication. Now that I am experiencing it in person, however, I can see it for the huge pain that it is.

Who needs hundreds of shells, anyway?

The only upside is that Fish Man will have to return all the shells to the ocean by the end of the week, lest it destroy an entire ecosystem, and the book made it very clear that hurting the ocean is not acceptable in gift-giving. However, even though it is a good thing that the shells will be gone soon, they are still here right now, and I am barefooted. I could probably shuffle my feet all the way to the bed and then brush the shells onto the ground, but that sounds like a lot of work just to relax. There is also the option of swimming back to the palace and demanding that Fish Man take the gift back, but that would mean an unnecessary amount of swimming in the ocean I hate and also waiting for him to actually do it, only to swim back again once he does.

If he even does it today, that is; he's probably busy with kingly stuff.

So, rather than bother with the room, I just toss the borrowed book on the bed, watching with vindictive pleasure as it disrupts the neat little rows of shells on the bedcover, before walking out to Valentin's living room and dropping onto the couch. Unfortunately, though, being in an open space also means being subjected to the other people who live here, however nice they might be.

"I take it the gift was not well-received?" Valentin asks, though he does not look up from the papers spread out across his place at the dining room table.

Since the dining room opens directly into the living room with only the different flooring marking the change between the rooms, I am not surprised he saw me come in here to sulk when he is facing the doorway, but that does not mean I want to have a conversation with the guy who was very vocally expressing his love to his wife this morning. "No, it wasn't," I agree, keeping it short.

Even though I roll over so my mask is pressed against the couch, giving my back to Valentin, the Mer does not drop the subject. "Is there any particular reason why not?"

Huffing, I frown at him over my shoulder. "He made a mess in my room and didn't clean it up," I complain. "And I don't feel like walking on seashells."

"Are you going to reject him because of this?" Valentin asks, and his tone makes it sound like he is asking about the temperature of the water outside, not whether I put an end to the courtship of his cousin or not.

And, I mean, I should, probably. If Fish Man sticks to this theme of traditional gift giving, the book made it clear that the third gift would have to be something semi-public - in front of his family and friends as well as my own, though I am not sure who that counts as for me - followed by something very public to make his intentions clear to everyone else so that there is no threat of other suitors, which sounds like a giant pain. Add in the fact that I do not even like him and that he has given me no real reason to like him either, as all our interactions have been textbook and as impersonal as they can get, and I am not even sure why I should let this continue.

Probably won't get to see Atasah again for a while if I refuse.

Huffing, I turn my head back so that the nose of my mask is against the couch cushion again. "We'll see," I answer vaguely, not ready to make a decision yet.