Can't Fix Cupid

“Alright, Triple X?” he asks as he kneels in front of me. Sev is just as solid as I am, but unlike me, he still has cupid wings and his quiver full of Love Arrows and his bow.

I’m shaking slightly, probably from shock, but I nod. “I think so…”

His eyes skim over me, first with concern and then with a bit of lustful appreciation. “You got a right nice rack, luv.”

I glance down at my perky boobies. I mean...he’s not wrong.

“Thanks. What happened?”

“Dunno,” he says with a shrug. “But I can’t stay long. Just wanted to make sure you’re okay. Apparently, puttin’ you through the arch again probably wasn’t the best idea. You turned a bit human.”

“A bit?” I squeak. “What does that mean?”

He grimaces slightly. “Well, you’re technically still a cupid. Which means you’re still on a timer to get your quotas in. But you got a little humanized.”

My mouth hangs open. This can’t be happening. “But...you’re here and you’re solid,” I point out.

“Supervisor perks, luv. I can travel to any realm in all my physical glory,” he says with a wink.

/> His joking demeanor falls flat from my rising anxiety. “Why is this happening to me?” I implore. “I need to go...I need to get back...I need to...I don’t even know!”

“Don’t get all dafty on me now,” he tells me. “Take a breather, and let’s see if this helped, yeah? Lemme see some Lust again.”

I nod, though I feel like I’m nodding way too quickly. My neck feels weird. Also my head. My fingers are tingling. “Am I having an anxiety attack?”

He shrugs. “Fook if I know. Calm that shite down, get it? Blow some Lust at me.”

I force myself to relax by taking a deep breath and closing my mind. I also sit up straighter and try doing that power pose thing, because why not? I’m a kickass, powerful cupid, I tell myself. Everything is going to be fine. This probably totally fixed my powers.

Opening my eyes again, I let out a perfectly executed exhale of Lust.

Aaaannnnnd it’s gray. It even squeaks a little as it falls to the ground like it’s dead weight.

Correction, I am not a kickass, powerful cupid. I’m a pathetic powerless cupid-human who clearly sucks ass at power poses.

“Son of a chaos cunt,” I curse. “It’s even worse than before!”

“Bad luck, that.”

I sigh. “Fine. I guess I should go through processing again? Pick a new job?”

I hate the thought of it, but maybe the realm is trying to tell me to give up.

Sev runs a hand through his pink hair. “Yeah, about that. You’re right stuck here, luv.”

I blink at him as another wave of panic sends new tingles down my limbs. This can not be happening.

“Put me back in the Veil!” I say in alarm.

“I tried,” he says, giving me a commiserating pat on the shoulder. “I tried to suck you back to Cupidville right away, but it wouldn’t work.”

“So let me get this straight,” I say, mind spinning. “I’m stuck here, as a cupid-human, my powers still don’t work, and I have to make my quotas, or I’m definitely still gonna be popped?”

“That’s the gist, yeah.”

Well...fuck.

The cupid number DCCXX on his wrist starts glowing pink, and we both glance down at it. “Shite on a nipple ring. I gotta go.”