Page 64 of My Tiny Giant
“That must be true!” Hahlut snickered. “Look, Emma here is letting you ride her in public. I can only imagine what she lets you do in private.”
Agan suddenly leaped to his feet on my shoulder.
“Shut your fucking mouth!” he roared. “Take that back. Now!”
Hahlut raised his hands in a pacifying gesture.
“Ooooh. Don’t hurt me, Agan,” he whined dramatically, with a mocking smirk. “Pleeease. I’m so scared.”
I hung my canvas purse over my other shoulder to free my hands.
“Can I hurt him?” I asked Agan, leveling Hahlut a stare. “Please?”
I’d seen Ravil soldiers go roughhouse on each other enough times to know that it was culturally acceptable between them. However, I didn’t want to make a mistake that might lead to more teasing or ridicule for Agan.
He grabbed on to my ear for balance.
“Go for it, Eleven.”
I stepped on Hahlut’s boot with my tennis shoe, shifting my entire weight on that foot. Rising on my tiptoe to meet his eye, I grabbed him by the throat.
“That was disrespectful and uncalled for.” I dug my fingers deeper into his thick neck. “Apologize, or I will hurt you. In public.”
Several Voranians around us had slowed down, watching what was happening—a short human woman holding a Ravil warrior twice her size by the throat. It might look comical for an outsider, not that I cared about that. I was determined to cause this asshole some harm if he were to say one more mean word about me or Agan.
Hahlut’s eyes shifted from me to the bystanders then back again. His tail twitched between his legs.
“It was a joke,” he croaked.
“Not funny.” I gave him a shake, it was like trying to wobble a mountain. His expression was much less stable, however. “Apologize,” I demanded.
“Sorry. I’m sorry,” he mumbled. “Okay?”
He seemed more shocked and confused than truly scared of me, but it was the end result that mattered.
“That’s better.” I let go of him, stepping back and adjusting my clothes—a paisley-print blouse and jeans. “Apology accepted.”
The rest of them had quickly recovered from their initial shock and now guffawed hysterically, holding on to their sides again.
“Hey, I like her!” one squeezed through his laughter, with a wink at Agan.
“I like her more.” Agan gently tugged at the shell of my ear. “Lucky for all of you, she’s in a mellow mood today.”
“We’ll need to go now.” I gave them a quick wave with my hand. “It was nice seeing you all.”
“Where are you off to?” Aeveas asked.
“Shopping,” Agan gave him a brief reply.
“Join us for a drink later?”
“Or for a drop , in Agan’s case?” someone joked, and the entire group burst into a roaring laughter all over again.
“Some other time,” Agan said calmly as I quickly moved away, my hands itching to throw punches after all.
“What a bunch of assholes,” I muttered under my breath, more offended by their making fun of Agan than by whatever Hahlut had said about me. “I’m so tempted to hurt everyone who laughed.”
“You’re rather bloodthirsty in your vengeance, aren’t you?” Agan chuckled softly. “Calm down, Eleven. They aren’t evil, just dumb sometimes, especially when trying to be funny.”