What Fools These Mortals Be

Chapter 6 - A Lesson on Love Languages

"Dating!?"

Nia flinches but braves forward as she steps through the doorway and holds up a paper bag. "I got Indian food. Kara says these guys have the best Chicken Tikka Masala in town, and she swears she's tried every place. After seeing her eat, I believe her."

"Dating!?" Hands on his hip, Querl pushes forward onto the balls of his feet and stretches up for an extra little bit of height. "You told them we were dating?!"

"Alright. I get it. You're upset. Duly noted. Now, do you want to yell at me all night, or would you like to share in this delicious feast that I brought home?"

"Yell!" And he does, but as Nia unpacks the food, and the odors waft up to greet him, his priorities quickly shift. "Is that Saag Paneer?"

"Mhmmm. I seem to remember you saying it was one of your favorites." She pushes the container toward him.

"It is, but I don't remember telling you that." He pulls off the lid of the clear container, smiling as the odor of the spinach and cheese blend wafts up.

"It was in among a story about the fifth Mugal Emperor of India and how you inspired a love so great for his wife Mumtaz that he commissioned a mausoleum upon her death which became the Taj Mahal." She holds out some naan. "Here you go."

"This looks delicious." He grabs plates for them both, and they load up plates with food and sit together at the dining room table, sharing a bottle of wine. "Thanks, this is really good."

"You can thank Kara. She should be writing the food section for CatCo. That girl knows her food." She blows on a piece of chicken before carefully eating it. "Reporters are on the go a lot, and every restaurant we've stopped in, they know her there by name. She must eat out all the time. I have no idea how she affords it."

"She makes more than you do."

"Yeah but... I guess. So, how did things go after lunch with Lena? I take it that realization didn't strike, and she isn't ready to ask Kara out."

"I'm still mad at you about lunch. That little stunt you pulled telling Lena and Kara that we're dating had lasting effects for me." He stabs angrily into his food with a piece of naan, his mood only slightly better as he chews. "Lena gave me the 4th degree about you after you left. What were you thinking?"

"I honestly don't know. I just opened my mouth, and it came out." When he continues to glare, she says, "Look, you said Lena asked about us, right?"

"Incessantly."

"That's a good thing."

"Says the person who didn't have to deal with her barrage of questions."

"Querl, just hear me out. We're like Kara and Lena, a reporter and a scientist who met at work, right?"

"No, we're Cupids who use divine arrows to forge a connection between mortals whose love is failing to blossom naturally."

Her mouth a tight line, Nia snaps her fingers three times directly in his face. "Focus, brainiac. As far as Kara and Lena know, we're just like them, so if they see our relationship as a parallel for their own, maybe they'll come to the conclusion—"

"Oh! Come to the conclusion that love between them is the inevitable conclusion of their friendship!"

"And they say the pretty ones are never smart." She sips her wine as Querl goes from smiling to frowning heavily. "So we need to talk up our relationship and show them how good dating your scientist or reporter best friend can be."

"I see. You're right. You are a fast study."

"I'll do just about anything to not have to wear these any longer than I have to." Nia kicks off to the side and sends one high heel after the other toppling off her feet and across the room to skitter to a stop on the floor.

"Why a woman?"

"Hmmm?"

"Our powers are great, and we can appear in any mortal form to interact with a human and inspire love. My path has crossed yours many times, I'd say more than it has with any other Cupid, and you always choose this form. It's quite pleasing, don't get me wrong, but this world does not always favor women, so why a woman?" He places his hand against his chest as he leans towards her slightly. "You could be a man. Having done both I've found certain advantages, certain levels of privilege, in the male form, so why always a woman?"

"Querl, you've very nice. Honestly, working with you is showing me a much nicer Cupid than I thought you were when I was vying against you for prime targets."

"I agree."

"Thanks, and this whole man boy thing you've got going on, I think it's lovely, but it's not for me. I know myself. I know who she is."

"Interesting." They eat in relative silence for the rest of the meal. Querl is the one who cleans up since Nia brought food, and he brings them each a bowl of ice cream. As they sit on the couch and eat, he asks, "How do you propose that we go about this whole 'love by example' thing you have now instigated?"

"Well," Nia swirls her tongue across the spoon as she thinks it through, "if they don't bring it up, we will. We'll talk about each other, about how great things are and how wonderful the night before was. Oh, I'll send you texts at work, and you should send me gifts like flowers and chocolate, maybe little stuffed animals."

"Gifts."

"Yes, words are my love language to you, and gifts are yours, so that's how we both show affection. Kara is rather touchy, I noticed that with Lena, but mainly she's very, very complimentary. She talks about Lena a lot and says really nice things to her. I noticed the flowers on Kara's desk from Lena. She had a vase of them when I showed up, and a new bouquet showed up that afternoon."

"The weekly flower delivery," Querl says. "Yes, Lena sends flowers to Kara every week. I asked Jessica about it. It's been happening for over two years."

"Two—" Nia moans and rubs the back of her neck. "This is worse than I thought."

"You sound like Jessica. Apparently, the entire administrative branch of the company is well aware of the emotional relationship that's going on between Kara and Lena and that neither woman is aware of it. There's a betting pool. Would you care to see if we can get in on it?"

"Tempting, but I'll pass. When we succeed in getting these two together, and we will, we can get out of here and forget about money, and my next assignment is wearing flats." Nia stretches out one of her legs, flexing her foot.

"Allow me." He places his ice cream on the coffee table and turns her so that her feet are on his lap. As he pushes his thumb up the length of the underside of her foot, Nia lets out a shuddering moan and sinks into the couch cushion, relaxing. "Your flexor hallucis longus tendon is quite tight. Does it hurt?"

"Divine Being, don't stop." Nia practically purrs as her head lolls back onto the cushion. "I am so telling Kara all about this in the morning."

"You are?"

"Mmmmm, yes. This is showing love. Oh, deeper. I came home from a long day of work, we ate, you cleaned up, and then you got me ice cream and rubbed my feet. I'm going to tell her I practically proposed on the spot," Nia lifts her head and smiles as she gets a spoonful of ice cream. "I bet she's done this for Lena more than once and not realized that she's showing love in doing it... clueless idiot."

Querl has slowed in his ministrations, an odd look on his face.

"Are you alright? Is it something I said?"

"No, I mean yes. I'm fine. I was just thinking of how clueless our ladies are. Imagine caring for someone for years, worrying for their well being and not even realizing it. Foolish mortals."

"Exactly." Nia takes another spoonful of her ice cream and leans back again. "Mmmm, a Cupid could get used to this."