Page 34 of Keeping His Mate
“We are not on Earth, Elle-noor,” I remind her. What a strange thing to forget. She must be tired. “It is to protect me from the rain. See?” I turn around so she can get a full view of the filmy sack Kay-teh worked so hard on, and then pull the hood over my head.
“Kate makes clothes for you?” she asks, her expression turning stony.
“Yes,” I reply, somewhat confused by the change in her mood. “Does this bother you? Jealousy, is that what this is?”
“Of course, I’m jealous!” she hollers. “I want new clothes too!”
Ah. I see. Why did I assume Elle-noor would be bothered by my closeness with Kay-teh? She is not bothered by any matter, it seems. She has yet to claim me as hers, or acknowledge our tether, so I should not assume she feels what I do. “I am sure she would make you garments if you asked,” I tell her, trying to mask my disappointment by continuing to fiddle with my hood.
“You think she could make me a jumpsuit? I had this pink one back home that was so comfortable. I wore it everywhere,” she continues. She describes her pink jumpsuit, and the other jumpsuits in various colors she misses wearing, in great detail, as we walk to the meal hall.
When we arrive, Kay-teh, Nee-roh, Ahlvo, Aye-vah, Cloh-ee, and Varrek are all seated together and chatting away as they eat their final meals. Elle-noor and I quickly fill our plates and join them at the long table in the center of the hall, most of it shielded from the rain.
“Hey, guys!” Kay-teh beams as we sit at the end of the table across from her and Nee-roh.
“Mmm, I’m so glad Waldric made stew tonight,” Elle-noor mumbles as she shovels a heaping spoonful into her mouth. “It’s perfect in this weather.”
“Oh my god. I know, right?” Cloh-ee adds. She turns to Varrek and is just about to show him her empty bowl when he leaps to his feet, grabs it from her hand, and strides over to Waldric for another helping. “Don’t mind me,” she chuckles when everyone notices Varrek’s quick response to her silent request. “I’m in the vacuum stage of my pregnancy.”
“Vahk-yoom?” I repeat, slowly. The translation in my chip indicates some kind of cleaning mechanism.
She nods and points to her heavy, rounded tummy. “Yeah, I’m inhaling everything in front of me. Doesn’t matter what it is. Give me seconds and thirds.”
The chatter dies down as we focus on our meals, but the quiet is comfortable. Warm. I am surprised to find socializing in this context is enjoyable. It is pleasing to see Varrek tend to his very pregnant mate, and to see Ahlvo smile as Aye-vah fusses with his hair. I worried he would not escape the dark place in his mind after being injured. And, of course, there is Kay-teh and Nee-roh, a pairing I repeatedly attempted to sabotage not long ago, but seeing them now, laughing together over a joke only they know, I am glad I did not succeed.
I look over at Elle-noor and realize she has been watching me. She gives me a knowing grin as she takes my hand beneath the table, lacing her short, delicate fingers with mine. She gives my hand a single squeeze, and my worries from before, about her lack of jealousy, all but evaporate.
So what if she does not get jealous? It is clear she cares for me, and that is all I want. I will take her love however she gives it.
After we finish our meals, we remain at the table, digesting our food and conversing about everything and nothing. At some point, I am not sure how, but the tr’gorys are mentioned, and my jaw ticks in response. Nee-roh gives me a cautious look as if to remind me to stay quiet. As if I needed a reminder.
“How is your research going, Elle-noor?” Varrek asks.
Elle-noor clears her throat and straightens her spine. “Um, really well. Yeah. I-I’m starting to understand the way they care for their young. It’s a lot like wolves from Earth.”
Why did she have to bring up the dynamics between mother and pup? That is precisely what we are trying to hide from Varrek.
“Wow, that’s interesting!” Cloh-ee exclaims, leaning forward on her elbows. “I know this is going to sound bonkers, but when Varrek was attacked, it really felt like I was looking into the eyes of a giant dog.”
“What makes you say that?” Elle-noor asks, curiosity swirling in her gaze.
“Before it saw Varrek on the branch above me,” she continues, and then pauses. “I don’t know… It wagged its tail, and then did that head tilt thing dogs do, and oh! It dropped onto its chest in the dirt with its legs spread in front of it. Like that play pose dogs do. The thing was legit behaving like a dog.”
“Then what happened?” Elle-noor asks with a soft smile. She wants so badly for these feral creatures to be like her Earth pets. Why can she not take an interest in plants, as I have? They are living things she can care for that do not wish her harm.
“Then it saw me hiding on the branch and lunged at Cloh-ee,” Varrek adds. “I jumped down to intervene, and it sunk its fangs into my shoulder. There is nothing sweet or innocent about them.”
“I know they’re wild animals, but there’s something truly fascinating about them,” Elle-noor replies wistfully. “I’m excited to learn all I can.”
“Do not expect Bruvix here to protect you if you come face-to-face with one,” Ahlvo says with a snicker. “He would freeze and then run away. He cannot afford to lose any more of his face.” He is howling with laughter by the time he gets the words out. Then turns to me. “Right, Bruvix?”
He is only joking, so I do not mind. This is a joke the entire clan cannot seem to get enough of. Ahlvo is not saying it to be cruel, he is mere–
“What a fucked-up thing to say, Ahlvo,” Elle-noor pipes in. I see the tension in her shoulders, and her eyes hold nothing but fury. “Is that supposed to be funny? Because of his scars?”
Ahlvo’s mouth is agape, and he clearly does not know how to respond.
“What, you find his scars ugly?” Elle-noor raises her voice at Ahlvo, slowly rising to her feet. “Because, actually, they’re physical proof that he survived something he probably wasn’t supposed to. He couldn’t be taken down. I happen to find that extremely fucking sexy.”