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Its ears twitched at the sound, and it stopped mid-step.
“Here you go,” I said, tossing the noodle in its direction.
It snatched it up immediately. Then, with its tail back in a happy S-shaped curve with an extra little curl at the top, it hopped away, its prize in its mouth.
I knew I was grinning like a fool, but I didn’t care. That tiny interaction had just made my day. People at the colony frowned at the local wildlife. They forbid anyone from owning animals that hadn’t descended from the handful of Earth animals that had come with the original colonists. As a result, pets were only for the upper class.
“You are happy.”
“It’s cute.”
“You like animals.”
“When Chris and I were little, Dad took in a baby toffer who’d lost its mother.”
“Who is Chris? And what is a toffer?” Krxare held up more of the food for me. It was strange to have someonefeed me, but it was kind of sweet.
“Chris is my brother,” I answered, taking a bite. “He’s still at the colony. Toffers are what we call the animals who have naturalized to live alongside us in the outskirts of the colony. Some people called them Nova raccoons, after the same animals from Earth. It’s illegal to keep them, so we had to go to great lengths to hide the creature, never telling anyone outside our home about it.
“Eventually, the authorities caught wind of it, and we thought we were all going to be cited for endangering public health by harboring a dangerous animal. We were lucky we’d taught Potluck to run out on the balcony and hide.”
“Potluck?” Krxare asked with an amused look.
“Yeah. We’d say we needed to go pick up food for the Potluck. Or clean after the Potluck. It was code. At first, Dad thought Chris or I had told our friends, but I hadn’t and neither had Chris. This was the moment we realized the rumors of the colony monitoring us through our devices were true.”
“What happened?” Krxare seemed genuinely interested in my story.
I’d never told anyone about this before. It was our family’s little secret: the time we were all secret criminals to raise a baby toffer.
“They turned our place inside out but didn’t find enough evidence we’d kept the animal in our apartment. We made sure to keep it outside from then on, leaving food behind a flower pot for it. One day it stopped coming back.” I shook my head, clearing the memories from my mind. It had been a long time since I’d let myself think of it.
“Your colony has strange rules.” Krxare pulled me closer, and with the cooki gone, I was suddenly very much aware of his body and the way he made me feel whenever we touched.
“How come I haven’t seen them all day, except for a few shadows here and there?”
“The kukees here are very friendly. They’ve been hiding because of the arrival of the human transport shuttle earlier today, but they should be more active by tomorrow. You’ll see them around the stronghold then.”
Another platter arrived, this one with small, sticky sweets that were very difficult to pick up bare-handed. Krxare insisted on feeding these to me as well. I protested at first but stopped when I realized it was useless and I was just drawing attention.
It was a very intimate act, especially since we’d gotten closer and closer throughout the meal, so I was practically on top of him. When a bit of sticky syrup got on the side of my lip, I was sure he was going to lick it off. My heart pounded as he leaned in while I held my breath, but all he did was wipe it off with the damp towel we’d used earlier to clean our hands.
I exhaled, disappointed but unsure why I felt that way. I shouldn’t be lusting after a Kadrixan. I’d be leaving after the rut.
“Krxare!” one of his captains shouted from next to us. He held out a pitcher full of something that looked like cold tea, dew beaded on the outside.
Krxare took it and filled my cup. I hadn’t realized how thirsty I was until now. During the tour of the stronghold, we’d come across several more of those fountains I’d seen in Krxare’s room. They all had clean, potable mountain water, but I hadn’t drunk any.
I gave the cool liquid a try, but instead of tea, I got something fruity and refreshing. I took several gulps.
“Careful. The berry wine is potent.”
Wine? I didn’t taste any alcohol in this. It tasted like watered-down juice, maybe made of some foreign tropical fruit I’d never tasted before. But even as I took another sip, the effects were already starting.
“Oh,” I said, as the warmth filled my tummy and the world took on a cheery, rosy glow.
Krxare took the glass from me and finished it off, tilting his head before slamming the emptied glass on the table. He sighed exaggeratedly, and I laughed, leaning into him. His arms snaked around me, pulling me onto his thighs.
I curled up in his lap. I didn’t fully understand it, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t view Krxare as the enemy. These guys were scary looking, and I was sure they were formidable in battle, but the second I was around Krxare, every instinct to run from these predators disappeared. It must be those pheromones he was talking about.
