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Jill relaxed visibly and smiled. “I imagine so. I’ve spent all my life crowded into a city with barely enough room to breathe. I can’t imagine going from open spaces to living in one.”
“You would have loved our mountainside on Gawallen! It was the most beautiful place in the two worlds. Not even Geminos had anything to compare with the view, and our grifalc were some of the most renowned on the planet!”
She leaned forward in interest. “And what is a grifalc?”
He startled, at a loss for a moment. How did he adequately describe something so magnificent to someone who had never seen one. He was almost tempted to sneak on board the ship and visit his brother’s kennels on the lowest level of the Zarkanida to steal a pup and bring it back to show her if he knew for certain that it wouldn’t have him removed from the human ship altogether. The threat of losing Jill was enough to keep him toeing the line. For now, anyway. The moment he had her away from the imposed authority onboard their respective vessels, he would break every rule to keep her and make her happy.
“How to explain,” he murmured. “They’re a companion but one of large size when they are fully grown,” He gestured to his midthigh where the shoulder of an average male grifalc would come to. Her eyes widened and he comprehended just how much larger the animal would be when standing next to her. “They are very affectionate beasts despite their size. They have a broad face and dense fur except for the region along their back, their tails, and their shoulders, which are heavily covered in feathers. They also possess a thick mane of feathers and fluffs on their ear tips. They are very loyal and bred to aid in herding as well as hunting companions.”
She gave him an apologetic look. “I’m afraid I can’t quite picture it, but it sounds incredible! On Earth, there are people who have dogs who’ve been used similarly in the past for herding and hunting. Hunting is now illegal for the most part except for the wealthy, and dogs have been mostly replaced in herding communities by bots that are capable of being programmed to do more, though I think that there are regions where people hold onto those traditions in some form or another or use them and the bots both. I’m not entirely sure. We had a cat when I was growing up, which is a spoiled fussy animal that was more interested in finding a warm beam of sunlight than hunting but supposedly cats are quite the hunters as well,” she chuckled.
Agor grinned. “I think I would enjoy a cat. I, too, like to hunt out a warm beam of sunlight to nap in.”
Jill chortled with laughter. “Well, when you get settled, I’m sure there will be ways for you to get one. I could always help you find a sweet kitten. No doubt they already have them on Ganymede, or at the very least it won’t be too hard to acquire since they’re indoor animals.”
“I would like that,” he murmured. “Does this mean that you might be interested in continuing our friendship on Ganymede should negotiations work out?”
“I would not be averse,” she replied softly. “If you don’t mind being stuck on the ground with a human.”
He chuckled. “If you wish to fly… I can always be your wings, talia.”
Her brows raised at his words but the delight on her face was something he felt straight down to his soul. He tipped forward to meet her halfway as she leaned in, their bodies nearly grazing each other as their taliazon merged and danced in such an exquisite symphony that he wanted to purr and sink in her.
“I’ve been meaning to ask,” she whispered, “what does talia mean?”
“It means ‘beautiful,’” he rasped. “But beyond that. It means the most beautiful. It is a word that captures the essence of all that which is desirable and necessary.”
She looked at him searchingly. “And that’s what you see when you look at me?”
He looked down at her, marveling at the intricate patterns of her taliazon swirling over her skin, blooming like flowering vines over her before dissipating in another swirl of energy that his own taliazon was beginning to mimic as he felt it harmonize with hers.
“More than you realize and far more than I could ever put into words even if I were the greatest of poets,” he replied.
“Oh,” she drawled, her eyes widening in wonder.
He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to draw her into his arms and beneath his wings, but a throat cleared, and he straightened to see a human couple staring at them openly with an expression of shock.
The male glanced over at Jill worriedly. “Are you alright, miss?”
Jill laughed softly and stepped back, putting proper distance between them. “Yes, of course. Agor and I were just talking.”
“I see. That must have been a very intense conversation,” he observed as the woman beside him put her elbow into his side and giggled. He gave them a smile before moving on, but Agor sensed the moment was over as more humans came up the hall heading for the elevators.
“I should probably go before everyone gets the good bits of food,” Jill murmured with an apologetic smile. “I can meet you back here with dinner again if you want.”
He grinned over at her and forced himself to adopt a posture of playful ease despite the tension that still ran through him at being interrupted and coming so close to tasting his talia. He was certain that would have been better than any other flavor.
“You wish to spoil me, talia?”
She chuckled softly. “Only if you don’t mind suffering my presence night after night.”
“Brydis and I would have it no other way,” he assured her.
When she returned later with food, Brydis demonstrated that he spoke true when he welcomed her with surprise and an affectionate brief brush of his wings. Agor wore a bright smile all through the meal. He couldn’t help himself. It felt like everything was coming together just as he’d always hoped.
He would gladly be her wings forever if she would give them a chance and have them.
Chapter8
