The Healing Souls

Dinner Date

[Rock]

After some time, I released Carmen and she traced my face delicately. I reveled in the softness of her touch and the gentle scent of her. I knew she was looking at me.

“Your brow is furrowed still, Rock. You didn’t let me go before you were ready, did you?”

“I think it will be a while before that goes away. We should go have some dinner. We have another meeting soon. With a vampire,” I told her.

“A vampire? But won’t it be too early for one of them to be up?” Carmen asked.

“No, he wakes up a few hours before the sun goes down. It’s why we have to do the meeting so late, but I’ve worked with him for years. He likes us to do the bigger stuff during the day and all the detail work in the evening, so he can come check it out,” I explained.

“I thought fae didn’t like vampires.”

“Some don’t. Trolls were never food for vampires, so I feel comfortable. I would say I’ll protect you, but Dennis Lyons is actually a very polite and formal sort of guy. I’ve never seen him mad, but you know what they say about calm men when angry.”

“I don’t know, actually.”

I chuckled. “I suppose a calm werewolf is probably fairly rare.”

Carmen slapped my chest while laughing. I knew the stereotypes we’d been raised with were wrong. I learned that a long time ago, but Carmen thought it was funny when I’d joke about things like that.

“A gentle man’s anger is far more deadly than a volatile man’s anger. A volatile man may not intend to kill you, but a gentle man will and will not stop until he does. This is how they maintain their peace,” I told her.

“And this… Dennis… is a gentle man?” Carmen asked.

“In every sense of the word. I also believe we owe him a gift as it was his establishment where we met. If he hadn’t been doing his fae night, then we might not have found each other when we did.”

“Then we definitely have to get him the best gift ever. Is it okay to thank vampires? I don’t know a lot about them. I’ve only ever met one.”

“It’s okay to thank them, from what I understand. Are you ready to go get some food? It smells like chicken in here and that’s making me hungry.”

Carmen giggled. “We had chicken for lunch all week and this is the first time you’ve smelled it.”

“That’s not true. This is only the first time I commented on it. How are you and Gemma getting on with Forrest?” I asked.

“I think we’re becoming best friends. Are you happy that I’m becoming friends with him?”

“Of course, I am, little wolf.”

I helped her stand and she moved away so I could get up as well. Once I was standing, I went to get the deposit bag for the bank and filled out the information for the checks that would be deposited. We would put the bag into the drop box at the bank on our way to dinner.

Once I was done, we headed out. Forrest left before we did, so I didn’t see him, but I was sure if there were an issue, he would have waited for me to come out. I was fine with that.

We got in the truck and I headed to the bank, then to Carroll’s, where Carmen’s friend Gray worked. I usually visited fae-run restaurants or fast food when I was in town. This wasn’t my first time at Carroll’s but it was the first time I was there by my choice.

“I know that smell,” Carmen said as she got out of the truck.

“You’ve been here before?” I asked.

“Yes, they have exactly one braille menu because of how often my friends and I come. They only got it this year, though.” She laughed.

“They must be very proud of it. Come on.”

I took one of her hands and wrapped her arm around mine. I loved having her on my arm like that. I did look like an older man with a younger woman, though. It was amusing to me. A troll with a werewolf got the same looks as a man in his fifties with a woman in her twenties.

We went into the restaurant and waited at the podium. A young woman came up and smiled at us. Her eyes were on Carmen, but she sniffed in my direction a little and seemed confused for a moment.

“Welcome to Carroll’s. Just two for tonight?” she asked.

“Yes, please,” I replied.

She grabbed a couple of menus and waved to us to follow her.

“Could we be seated in Gray’s section?” Carmen asked her.

“Oh, sure. Over this way,” the woman changed direction. “He doesn’t get popular until after dark, so you should have a pretty quiet dinner.”

“Thank you,” Carmen said.

We were shown a table in the center of the area. I seated Carmen before myself. The woman handed her the menu and I grabbed it from her.

“We’ll need the braille menu for my fiancée. Water to drink for now, please.”

She nodded and disappeared. Carmen looked like she was going to laugh.

“I thought all werewolves knew you were blind.”

“She’s a shapeshifter, but not a werewolf. She smells like a coyote. They don’t live with us,” Carmen explained.

“I see…. What does a troll smell like?” I asked.

“It depends a lot. You don’t smell like a troll to me. You smell like my mate. Forrest smells like the mountainous regions of the area. Like sunshine, sparse greenery, and dirt. There is the faint scent of magic that accompanies him, too. If he were hiding, I don’t think a werewolf would be able to find him. He would smell like his surroundings.”

We were made to blend in with our environment. It was part of how we hunted and how we stayed alive. It was interesting that we had such a well-hidden scent. I always wondered what we smelled like because of the faces other fae made when they sniffed. I was guessing we smelled differently to them.

It occurred to me that they might have been faking it, though. Make trolls think they stink and they don’t bother hiding themselves. It would be a dirty trick, but none of us would know that unless someone mated with someone who was honest about it.

“Interesting. I always wondered. I guess that’s why the guards at the pack always looked at me strangely.”

“If you smell anything like Elbio, you smell like a cave. There would be a dankness that comes with some caves, but your skin is different from Elbio’s, so I would imagine you smell like a dry cave. A little musty, cool, and lively. A cave in a desert would definitely be lively.” She smiled brightly.

I laughed. She was so cute and I loved the idea of smelling lively. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the hostess pointing us out to Gray. He talked with her briefly and then patted her on the back.

Gray came out with the braille menu and two glasses of water only a few moments later. He smiled at me and put his hand on Carmen’s arm gently. She turned her head to him.

“Good evening. I brought your drinks and a braille menu. I apologize for my coworker. She’s new and didn’t realize Carmen was blind. She didn’t mean to offend anyone.”

He moved his hand to Carmen’s and turned it up so he could put her menu in her hand. She smiled at him. I figured she was all right with that because they knew each other. I didn’t think Carmen would be okay with a stranger touching her like that.

“Thank you, Gray. How is Echo?”

“She’s doing well. Now that she’s all healed up, she and her siblings are finding out more about what their magic can do. She barely sleeps. Apparently, that’s common with dhampyrs. I didn’t realize she only needed a few hours per night.” Gray chuckled.

“In the summertime, I don’t sleep for a few days at a time,” I told him.

“But I thought you were sleeping with me every night….”

“I lay in bed with you. I don’t want you trying to stay up like I do. You need sleep, but I don’t. Plus, you’re cute when you cling to me and won’t let go.”

Carmen blushed and hid behind her menu. Gray chuckled and shook his head.

“I’ll give you a few minutes. Wave me down if you’re ready before I come back.”

I nodded and he left to check on another table. He managed to be friendly while he was surveying his section. The way he walked around, collecting things and popping in on tables, was very deliberate.

He memorized drinks and went around getting refill orders from people. I was impressed. I wanted to see him at work before I officially hired him. He didn’t focus only on us. We were only two people out of the whole section he had to deal with. I could see him being successful if he worked that hard for me.

“Are you embarrassed?” I asked Carmen as I looked over the menu.

“I really thought you were sleeping when I did. Were you pretending to sleep every night so I wouldn’t find out?”

“I was because you loved going to bed with me. And sometimes, I did sleep for a little while. It was like spreading my one tired night over a series of naps. I would fall asleep an hour before my alarm went off. Are you mad at me?” I asked.

“No. You went to bed with me even though there were other things you could have been doing instead. I think it’s adorable,” she replied with a blush.

Carmen looked sweet as she started feeling over the menu with her cute little blush. Everything about her made me want to hold her and squeeze her tight. I felt protective of her as well.

Every person who passed caught my attention, because I was on the defensive after what happened with the Thompsons. I wouldn’t let someone hurt my mate. No one would touch her.

“Please calm down, Rock. I can smell people becoming uncomfortable. You don’t smell like a shapeshifter but you’re threatening them. I can smell people’s scents changing as they go past. I know it’s not me…” Carmen whispered.

“I had a bad day and I’m feeling protective,” I mumbled.

She reached out and took my hand. I held on to her and felt myself calming again. Carmen knew what she was doing. She was a perfect troll’s mate.

Carmen kept holding my hand until Gray came back for our orders. I ordered the largest steak they had as rare as they could cook it. Carmen insisted I get side dishes to go with it. She ordered a pasta dish. I remembered thinking I needed to get some sort of pasta for the house so Carmen could have it.

I needed to do a shopping trip with her so she could tell me what she wanted for the house. Food was essential to trolls because it was something hard to come by for so long in our people’s history. Caring for your family was always about food and shelter. I had a home for Carmen, but my kitchen was still a better fit for a troll in size and ingredients.

What little shopping I was able to do made her happy. I wasn’t opposed to having fruits and vegetables with meals. Part of me worried that another troll would see me while I was eating here, but we usually stayed away from non-fae establishments.

If I had done that, though, I wouldn’t have met Carmen. There were so many variables that had me missing out on my sweet little mate. If I went with my friends to the forest village, if I went home to work on other things, if Carmen’s friends weren’t interested in seeing fae in their natural forms… anything could have changed it all.

Gray took our orders and returned with our drinks. They had a decent bar here. On my first sip, I found they were a little heavy-handed with the alcohol. Even with a troll’s constitution, I knew I would want to be careful.

“You didn’t want any wine or anything like that?” I asked as she sipped her lemonade.

“There’s no point in it. Our healing makes it so that we can’t become damaged enough from drinking to feel drunk or buzzed. You’ll find that most werewolves don’t drink alcohol,” Carmen explained.

“Trolls are hard to damage, but our healing can take time. If I drank enough, I could get drunk, but it would take a lot. So there’s no way a person could get a werewolf drunk?” I asked.

“If we were weakened by silver, maybe. I don’t think a werewolf would be willing to drink if they were touching silver. It hurts. Like burns.”

“Iron doesn’t burn us. It just weakens us but not entirely weak. There’s a certain amount of strength that comes with size. I know we’re different, but that seems like it’s a lot more different than I thought,” I said and took a sip of my drink.

Carmen nodded. “Different species, different magic, different customs, and different history. We’ll be fine, though. The goddess wouldn’t have put us together if we were too different. I’m sure we’re just different enough.”

She smiled at me and the differences didn’t matter anymore. She was right. We were mates and we had each other, even if we had no one else.

A few minutes later, Gray brought out the food we’d ordered. The steak smelled as if it had only touched the pan and seasonings for a few moments. I knew they were trying to give me what I ordered. It was enough for me.

The first bite was amazing. They’d tenderized the meat so it melted and the sear was perfect. Carmen took a bite of her pasta and gave a small, closed-lip smile as she chewed. It was one of her most precious expressions.

We ate silently with Carmen offering me bites off her fork and me doing the same. I could tell the humans, at least the women, were disgusted with us. I could hear them whisper about our ages. The shifters tried not to stare, but they all knew she was a werewolf and I wasn’t a shifter or a human.

When we were finished, I paid the bill and left a fair tip for Gray. He did a great job. He was attentive without hovering. I looked forward to calling him on Monday to tell him he was hired and give him his start date.