Page 38 of A Monster’s Future

“She did not seem to dislike you before we left,” I pointed out again. “And you will see her again. The deal isn’t finished.”

“That is if she doesn’t ask to be transferred to another account.”

I thought of how many times I’d messed it up with Julie. And it hadn’t even been by accident. I’d tried to drive her away on purpose.

“At least you did not purposefully try to drive a wedge between the two of you for several years like I did to Julie. I don’t even have a nest. I never built one. She expects one when we return. I don’t even know what she likes.”

Chris nodded like he understood. “I can help you. Julie is Clara’s friend. My sister will know what she likes." He motioned to my screen. “What time is it on Vokira… perfect, it’s the afternoon. Call Clara.”

Hesitantly, I did.

“Hello?” Clara sounded confused when she answered. Since I was calling from the medical bay of one of the warships, she wouldn’t know who exactly was calling, just that it was the medical bay.

“Hey, brat. You’re on speaker. Grtirr, put her on speaker.”

“Hey, loser. Why are you calling from medical? Did anything happen?

“Chris is injured,” I supplied, while musing on the disparaging nicknames the two had for each other. Siblings were the same the galaxy over. And that had me thinking of Zhrya back on Kadri. She had just found her own mate when I’d left for that final mission. They were planning to start a family. Her baby would be several years old by now and talking up a storm, if they were anything like my sister when she was little.

Chris glared at me. “Thanks for tossing me under the transport. Yes, I’m injured, but before you freak out, I’m fine. We’re actually calling because we need your help.”

Chris spent the next few minutes explaining that I was actually Julie’s mate, as I tried to hold my tongue. Clara was just as shocked as everyone who’d been in the mess hall that day.

“But… but they hate each other!” Then, realizing I was still there, she said, “I mean. Don’t you?”

Chris didn’t let me answer. “That’s why we need your help. Grtirr doesn’t have a nest, and he needs to build one quickly to impress her.”

“Oh… oh, that’s bad. She loves the whole nest and mating flight combo. Thinks it’s the most romantic thing ever. Wait… I see Dana, let me grab her. She’s known Julie longer.”

We went through the whole explanation again, this time with Chris and Clara talking for me. And as expected, Dana reacted the same way Clara had.

“You need a nest, and a good one too,” Dana agreed. “And it’s not just the nest and the mating flight. Back in Nova Vita, we used to watch these old Earth movies together. She loved the whole engagement ring thing, even though it fell out of favor years ago in the colony. In fact, Julie loves all the big traditional gestures of love and commitment. The whole getting on one knee and proposing thing, she loves it. Hmm… now that I think about it, I wonder if the whole getting down on one knee thing came from you Kadrixans way back in the day when you first found Earth.”

“Oh! I never even thought of that!” Clara exclaimed.

“What do you mean?”

She explained how humans used to have a ritual where males asked the females they coveted to “marry” them by going down on one knee and offering a ring. Apparently, it was a very old tradition, dating back to the Middle Ages—the same era when “demons” portrayed like Kadrixans, with red skin and horns, started appearing in human stories.

“Tell me more about this ring.”

“It’s not about how big or fancy the ring is. I’m sure as long as it’s pretty, she’d be happy. It’s supposed to fit on the ring finger of the left hand. Oh! And there’s the other thing. Julie loves sparkly things. She had a rock collection back in Nova Vita. Nothing fancy, no gems or anything, but pretty stones she’d found and polished.”

“Doesn’t she have one here?” Clara asked.

“She does. You know that hair clip she wears? The blue one?”

“I do.” I loved how the sky blue of the stone contrasted with her sunshine hair; it always reminded me of a warm, sunny day.

“Well, she found that rock in the swimming pond.”

“Oh right! She did,” Clara agreed. “I remember! She polished it a little every day until it got all shiny, and found a gold-colored wire, and twisted it around the stone and made it into a hair clip.”

“This makes your job much easier,” Chris said. “The mountain around the stronghold is covered in pretty rocks and gems.”

“But they’re so abundant that they’re practically worthless in a nest,” I said.

“Not to Julie,” Clara sounded so sure. “Especially if you find colorful ones.”