The cupcakes were still cooling when Wash had to go to his meeting. He gave Peri a kiss on the cheek on his way out, and Peri couldn’t stop smiling afterward. It wasn’t sexual or meant to rile him up. It was just sweet and meant a lot more to him than any of the kisses he’d ever gotten before.
“Need any help?”
Peri spun around, taking in the human who had come to join him. He looked familiar, though Peri couldn’t place where he’d seen him. Still, it was a nice offer, and he didn’t seem to be hitting on him like the other human had earlier.
“Sure, that sounds nice. I’m going to start decorating soon. Have you ever piped frosting before or would you prefer to add the decorations?”
The head chef hadn’t had any decorations, but Wash had teleported home for a few minutes to pick up some from Peri’s stash. Sprinkles of all kinds, a few sugar decorations, that kind of thing, just to make it more fun.
“Decorations, please,” the human requested. “I’ve never frosted cupcakes before.”
Peri pointed to the spread at the end of the counter. “I’ll start icing and then hand them to you, okay?”
While the human perused the options, Peri started icing the cooled cupcakes. He didn't just make perfect spirals. That would be boring. No, he switched up the texture to make flowers and plants and even some that looked like mushroom tops. Amongst the decor Wash had brought, he’d also grabbed Peri’s collection of food dyes, so the colors ranged from pastel pink to neon blue and everything in between. It made for some wild cupcakes.
“Wow… these are almost too pretty to add to,” the human murmured as Peri handed him the first few.
“Nonsense,” Peri chirped, flapping a hand at him. “There’s always room for sprinkles. Just pick whatever you like.”
Bemused but agreeable, the human bent to the task, adding little decorations while Peri went back to icing. They worked in companionable silence, and it wasn’t until they were packing the treats into his treat box that he realized he’d never asked the human his name.
“So, this is weird timing, but who are you?”
The human looked up in surprise, huffing out a laugh. “I guess we skipped that part, huh? I’m Avery Hawksley, Ozen’s mate. You’re Peri, right? I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Peri beamed at him. “All good things, I hope?”
Avery nodded solemnly. “All great things, actually. You’re well loved in the office. I’m pretty sure my mate is looking for some way to lure you into staying at Spellbound so he can keep that kind of energy around. You’ve made the research team significantly less stressed in a little over a week.”
His wings fluttered, displaying his pleasure at the compliment. “I’m always happy to help.”
Cocking his head, Avery asked, “Are you looking for a specific type of career? I worked at Charmed Away too once upon a time. I only quit after I met Ozen, and he encouraged me to try out my dream job.”
“Nope,” Peri said with a shake of his head, closing up the box to keep the cupcakes safe. “I don’t know what I want to do yet. Morana, and now Kian, have promised to let me try a lot so I can figure out what I want to do, but I haven’t settled on anything.”
Avery agreed with a nod, moving to help clean up the mess they’d made. “I get that. What’s your favorite part about being a temp? Maybe that’ll help you decide.”
Peri thought about it as he whispered a spell and the dishes began cleaning themselves. Avery looked pleasantly surprised, moving on to packing up the sprinkles while Peri wiped up the counters. It was always nice to have help when he couldn’t use pixie dust to clean up the mess.
“It’s not really job related, I guess. My favorite part is the people. I love meeting new people, making their days a little better.” He gestured to the box and lifted a shoulder. “Bringing them treats. Those are my favorite parts.”
“You’d be surprised,” Avery countered. “The people were my favorite part too and interacting with them led to my career.”
Curious, Peri asked, “What career?”
“I’m an author. I write office romances.”
Peri froze, wide-eyed. One of his favorite authors wrote office romances. And his first name was Avery, too.
“Are you– Do you–” he stammered, pointing a finger at Avery. “Are you Avery Whitman?”
Avery’s cheeks flushed as he nodded. “Yep. I write under my birth name. Just makes things easier, I guess.”
Peri squealed, grabbing Avery’s hands and jumping up and down. “Oh my goddess! I love your books! You’re my favorite author! I pre-order every book so I can get it when it comes out!”
Avery looked a little shell shocked by the sudden outburst, but his smile said he didn't mind, and he seemed happy to discuss his books as they headed back to the lobby where the company would reunite after the meetings were finished. Peri was ecstatic having an opportunity to talk to his favorite author and bounced the entire way back. Maybe if he played things right, he’d get to make friends, too! Who wouldn’t want to be friends with their favorite author? Today was turning out to be the best day ever.
They rejoined a few of the others in the lobby, including Kian, who looked distracted, his gaze narrowed on the big windows overlooking the fountain out front and his head cocked every so slightly like he was listening to something. Peri and Avery both looked in the direction Kian was staring, then back at Kian, confused.