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“That isn’t the point of making the community breakfast,” the older woman says with a friendly roll of her eyes.
“It is when I make it.” Callie pulls out a bone cup and dips it into a second bag, then pauses. “You might not be ready for tea. You want water instead?”
I blink. Why wouldn’t I be ready for tea?
The older woman sees my expression and smiles. “The best caffeine kick here is from shrimp shells. We steep them and pick the shells out. We call it shrimp tea, but it takes some people some getting used to.”
My hungover stomach rebels at the thought of picking dead shrimp out of my drink. My nostrils flare, and the mouthful of paste in my mouth suddenly feels like glue.
“Uh oh, back up,” Callie says. “She’s gonna blow. No tea for you.”
“Breathe in slowly through your nose,” the older woman says, coaching me. “Deep breaths, and look up at the sky. You’re not gonna puke. I’m Gail, by the way.”
I take several deep breaths even as my mouth fills with saliva, but I manage not to vomit. When I can breathe easily again, I give Gail and Callie an awkward smile. “I’m Vivi…but I don’t really remember my real name.”
Gail just nods. “Well, we’ll call you Vivi unless you wanna change it. You can go by whatever you like. Just know that you’re among friends.”
There’s a warmth to Gail’s presence that relaxes me, and I manage to take another bite of food as I watch the women. Callie seems nice, too, though she could be my age and it seems strange to think of her as a mother. Then again, the khui wants me to make babies with Skarr, so I suppose it’s not that strange.
I think about last night and how I touched him and inwardly cringe at my actions. It’s going to be really hard to convince him I don’t want resonance now, after I grabbed his dick…dicks. Maybe I was so drunk I imagined two. I don’t know if I find the thought of a double-dicked lizardman exciting or terrifying.
Both, I decide. It’s both.
I finish my food quickly and Callie holds a hand out to take the bowl from me. “Thank you.”
She waves a hand at my words. “Think nothing of it. The tribe works together. We make breakfast at the main fire each morning and anyone is welcome to come eat. Some people like to make their own meals, but for those that don’t cook or are going hunting, we rotate chores so someone is always up very early and making breakfast. There’s usually a dinner on the communal fire, too.”
I bite my lip. “I don’t think I know how to cook.”
“You can learn,” she says with a shrug. “Or if not, you hunt. Or you work hides. Or something. Everyone figures out what they’re good at and contributes in some way.”
It sounds really nice but also a little terrifying. “What if we don’t contribute enough? What if someone feels like we’re not pulling our weight?”
“You’ll know,” Gail says. Her expression turns sympathetic. “But really, we haven’t had that problem before. Not everyone’s a hunter, but everyone helps out. There’s no checklist of chores you have to complete to get fed, though. Just do your best. We all know it’s hard, especially at first.”
“It’s a lot,” I confess in a small voice, the reality of my situation threatening to overwhelm again.
Gail moves over a seat to sit next to me, placing a comforting hand on my arm. “We know. But that’s why you have everyone else to lean on. We’ve been through the same thing.”
“Are you a clone, too?”
She grimaces. “Okay, most of the same thing. But I was snatched from Earth, just like you. I was held captive by aliens for a few years before I ended up here. The point is, no one comes here well-versed in everything they need to survive. We all have to learn this place.”
Callie nods, gesturing at herself with the wooden spoon. “You got questions? You come ask me. I’ll give it to you straight. About resonance, about babies, about whatever.”
“I already resonated,” I add in a timid voice.
“Oh, it was you?” Her brows go up. “To the lizard guy? I heard he was kinda…a lot.”
A mortified giggle escapes me. “That’s a good way of putting it.”
“Well, if it makes you feel any better, my mate was an absolute shit to me when we first resonated and I wanted to choke him.” She puts her hands in the air as if to shake an invisible throat. “But we figured each other out and we’re happy. So don’t give up hope. The khui usually knows what it’s doing. And you’ll probably make pretty babies. He has nice hair.”
He does have nice hair, I have to agree. But I don’t want to point out that I’m not sure about the babies part. That I’m holding in my pocket what Flor told me—that the healer can turn things off if we need to. I got the impression that it’s the nuclear option, so to speak, but it’s an option at least.
“She doesn’t want to think about resonance right now,” Gail says defensively. “If she did, she’d be with him instead of sleeping with the other ladies. Give her time to figure things out.”
Callie looks like she wants to say more. She frowns in our direction and then shrugs and turns back to stirring the food. “Some of the other ladies should be waking up soon.”
