Page 26 of Stoney Gazes for Helpful Gorgons

"No," I say quickly.

"Because of the stone thing?"

"Hmm?"

"In the past you've said that it's because you don't like the risk of accidentally turning a partner into stone while...you know." She waves at the bed.

"You can say it, Sage, we're adults."

"Right, I forget sometimes. You worry that you'll turn someone into stone while having sex." She shifts to make herself more comfortable.

"It's a genuine worry," I respond. "But actually, it wouldn't be an issue in this case. Jack's immune to gorgon magic."

"How is that possible?"

"He's a gargoyle, so he's kind of made of stone already."

Sage snorts. "Sorry, there's just so many dirty jokes you can make from that."

A small smile lifts at the corner of my lips. "Yeah, I guess so. But on a more practical level, he can't be turned into stone because part of his DNA means that he's already made of stone." I don't mention the fact he's struggling with that part of himself. I trust my best friend, but it's not something that's mine to reveal.

"Wow, that's kind of cool."

"I guess? I haven't really thought about it much." Except I suppose that isn't really true. The fact he's a gargoyle is one of the things that I think makes it so easy for me to be around him. It makes me relax to know that I can't turn him into stone by accident.

"Okay, so you clearly enjoy spending time with him, and you can't accidentally turn him into stone, so to me, that would seem like he'd be the perfect person to date."

"Would you be asking all these questions if he was Jaqueline?" I ask.

"If you'd been acting the same way last night, then absolutely, yes," she responds, looking at me with a stern expression. "So what's the problem?"

I sigh. "I have snakes on my head." I gesture unnecessarily to my bonnet, though my snakes are still happily curled up in there, nesting amongst my hair. Or perhaps they're hungover too. That wouldn't surprise me.

"So?"

"Isn't that weird? What happens if we're in the middle of a hot makeout session or something and then a snake slithers over his hand and freaks him out?" I can't believe we're talking about this when it's a moot point. Or the fact that I can kind of imagine a situation where it could actually happen with Jack.

I push that thought out of my mind. We're just friends, I don't need to complicate things more than they already are with both of us are grieving.

"He knows you're a gorgon," she points out. "It's not a surprise that you have snakes."

"Well no, I guess not." And in this specific, non-existent case, Jack has met my snakes before and didn't seem to react very strongly to them.

"Then I think it's up to him whether or not he feels weird about it."

I rub a hand over my face, unsettling my glasses as I do.

Sage instantly closes her eyes, something I'm grateful she does every time I knock my glasses. It's exhausting to worry about accidentally turning people into stone all of the time, but I'm lucky to have a friend who understands and actively works with me to make sure it doesn't happen to her.

"It's safe to look," I say.

"Oh good." She opens her eyes again and flashes me a smile.

"I guess you're right," I agree. "Whether the snakes are weird is up to him. But it's a moot point because nothing is happening between us."

"Well, if you decided you wanted something to change, then you shouldn't let the snakes make the decision for you. You should talk to him about it. Or take a potion that puts them to sleep or something like that. Does that even exist?"

"I can't imagine it doesn't," I respond. I know gorgons, and they'll do anything in order to avoid the complications that come with our psychology. "But I don't like the idea of it. What if putting them to sleep makes me dumber or something?"