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He looked surprised, then actually smiled. "No. I was thinking how strange it is that humans have so much hair on their heads and so little on their bodies."
Hmmm, what do you know, I wasn't the only one thinking about weird alien attributes.
I shrugged. "And I'm pink." If I was covered in the same light hair he was, I might be brown, like a bear. As cute as that sounded, I think I'll stick to peach-coloured.
"More pink in some places than others," he said, looking toward my breasts.
I blushed then and tried to focus on untangling the last of my curls.
"If I didn't know better," I said, brushing furiously, "I would think you're flirting with me."
"Parvorans don't flirt," he scoffed. "We state what we want to say. Your nipples are pink. And you'll be late if you don't hurry." He turned toward the door.
"Parvorans could use some manners," I said. "The polite thing to do would be to wait a moment until I'm ready."
He turned back, his frown deeper. "What would that achieve? We would both be late."
"Yes, but we'd arrive together," I said.
"I see no benefit in us both arriving late." He seemed genuinely confused.
"It's not about us arriving late, it's about you being a gentleman and waiting." I tossed the brush on the bed and crossed my arms.
"Gentle man," he said slowly. "I can be gentle, but you seemed to like it—"
I shook my head. "That's not—" I exhaled in frustration. "It doesn't matter, I'm ready now anyway. Let's go."
With obvious relief on his face, he opened the door. When they said men and women were from different planets, they hadn't meant it literally, but they might as well have. Since we actually did, it made the differences between us greater and more confusing.
I put it out of my mind and followed him down the corridor to the small meeting room. Brinley and E'rel were already there. The moment I stepped inside, Brinley handed me coffee and a slice of toast.
"You are my hero," I told her.
E'rel and J'avet exchanged glances.
"Humans like it when you bring them food," J'avet explained.
"Ah." E'rel flopped into a chair with no indication he was moved by the valuable piece of information he'd been given. He now had the key to moving past fights with Brinley, but he didn't seem to realise it.
"Especially chocolate," I said around a mouthful of toast. "And coffee or tea."
"Or alcohol," Brinley said.
"Or that," I agreed. "It all helps."
"But not too much food," J'avet said. "Human women are often watching their weight."
"Yes we are, but you never, ever get to comment on it." I narrowed my eyes at J'avet. He had done that once and was lucky I hadn't grabbed a stick and poked him in the eye for it.
"You humans are strange," E'rel said.
"That we are," Marshall said as she stepped into the room. "But we make up for it by being awesome. Now, we're approaching Iritauri space."
The sudden change in subject almost gave me whiplash. I slipped into a chair and sipped my coffee.
"I've spoken to the admiral about whether or not you'll be allowed to proceed in the pod." Marshall leaned against the doorway and regarded us all in a way that suggested she held all the cards and she knew it.
"What was the admiral's conclusion?" J'avet said, effectively reminding us all that the admiral held the whole pack. Marshall was a subordinate, just like the rest of us.
