“Do you want a hucow?” she blurts at me.
I freeze. Well, if she really is frightened, she’s got the courage of a creature ten times her size.
“No…”
Sylvus elbows me.
“Er,nota question I was… prepared for.”
“That’s fine,” she says, too quickly, too forcefully. “I’m just, you know. Understanding my options.”
“… Options?” I glance back at the other Arthropoids, and a flicker of violence rises in my chest. My foremost legs twitch upwards as if ready to grapple.
Easy, Razul. If you get into another fight, you’ll only be stuck here longer.
I force my gaze back to the table—and find Sylvus smirking at me.
“What are you looking at?” I snap.
Still looking at me, Sylvus holds out an arm to his pet. “Andromeda, come.”
Despite her fiery personality, the command sends her blushing brighter, and her gaze softens as she obeys, climbing into Sylvus’s arms.
He taps a leg against my arm as he steps away. “Talk to her.”
I let out a strained sigh.
And then it’s me and her at the table.
“Sorry about this,” I mutter, turning toward her. “Sylvus is… a meddler.”
“Yeah,” she says with a wry smile. “I gathered. Sorry about… what I asked. I thought you were… well, I’m meeting a lot of… yeah. We can just pretend we’re talking and then you can go home.”
A bead of guilt tugs at me. “It’s nothing personal, I promise.”
“No, I totally get it.” She sounds honest this time. “If I could get away with it, I’d never leave home. Well… if I had a home…”
I raise a brow. “If you had a home?”
She winces. “Sorry, that sounds pathetic. I just… I’ve been moved around a lot. By the ICSS. I’m looking for something more… permanent.”
“I’m sorry that I won’t be able to help you with that. Genuinely.”
“Thanks. I appreciate that. Your, um, caimites? Is it? Sound cool.”
“The desert’s quite hot, actually.”
She blinks. “Oh, I guess the translators aren’t as good in offline mode… They’re neat. Wait… interesting? Charming?”
“Ah. That’s kind of you to say.”
“I mean it. Do you have pictures of them?”
“Uh… a couple.” I tap my holo-watch, and a three-dimensional representation of a caimite appears, slithering down under the sand then peeking its eyes back out. It sneezes, clearing sand from its nostrils.
Celeste leans closer.
I follow suit. She smells like rain and blooming flowers.
