Page 51 of No Strings Attached

Vi looked at Mister Beastly and sighed, “I think it’s going to take the Trallians a long time to realize that they’re free and safe.” She looked down at the fish, “Now that I know you can understand me, I have a lot to tell you! Can I talk while you eat?”

“Yes,” he said, grabbing the first fish and biting its head off.

Vi got comfy on the edge of one of the pillows and started talking.

Wandering through the garden looking for the snake guy, Vi came across Kompi and Friend.

“Vi!” Friend shouted, wagging his tail so hard that he shook. A thoughtful expression passed over his face, and he said, “No, that’s not right. Queen Violet! And King Caussus! What will I be, Vi? In the royal court of Oz?”

“That’s an outstanding question, Friend,” she said, kneeling down to scratch behind his ears. “What would you like to be?” She was impressed that Caussus had taken the time to explain everything to the trawg, and thought that, perhaps, the relationship wasn’t as one-sided as it appeared.

“Hmm, I think I want to walk between you as a guard, so I can bite the hands off of anyone who tries to…why do you smell like Bobby?”

“Well,” she said, a little embarrassed that the trawg could detect Bobby’s scent, “because Bobby and I are…special friends. We share a bed.”

“Like me and Caussus? He lets me sleep with him.”

“Sure, we’ll go with that. How are you and Kompi getting along?”

“Great! Kompi can throw a ball really far! I’m trying to train one of the Trallians to take care of him, but he doesn’t seem to take to them very quickly. And they all seem to be afraid of him.”

She went over to Kompi, who still only ever gave her his vacant smile, and asked Friend, “Has Kompi seemed happy since we got free? Do you think there’s something he needs that we haven’t given him?”

The trawg looked thoughtful, “I think he might miss singing with you. Sometimes he sings by himself and looks sad.”

Movement over on the catwalk by her room caught Vi’s eye and she looked up to see Bobby going inside their room. Then she thought of the previous night and took Kompi’s hand, then prompted him with the opening lines of “Tiny Dancer.” He picked it up and she led him in increasing their volume until the sound was filling the cavern and bouncing back to them. She watched Bobby walk slowly back out through the door of their room, then scan the garden, until he saw them. He leaned forward and rested his arms on the railing, smiling.

When they finished, and Bobby had walked back down the stairs, Vi looked at Kompi and said, “I’m going to teach you a new song today.”

Snake guy was resting a little way away from the mini lake at the far end of the garden. He was semi-coiled and looked up when Vi approached, then raised up to be the same height as her.

“Hi, Vi. How was your trip with the Mineralite?”

Vi stood and stared at him with her mouth hanging open. “Don’t you mean ‘Viii, how wasss your triiip?’”

“No, that’s just an affectation to freak people out.”

“Ooohkay, then what about the name thing? Withholding your name? Is that an affectation, too? I’d really like to stop calling you ‘snake guy.’”

“You’ve never asked me my name.”

“Yes, I ha…” she thought about it.Had she?

“Nope.”

“Well, please do me the honor of telling me your name.”

“Steev.”

“Steve? You’re shitting me!”

“What’s wrong with ‘Steev’?”

“Nothing, I guess. It’s just a common name on Earth for males, and it surprised me. I’m very pleased to meet you, Steve. Now let’s get real. What are your plans? Do you want to be part of our crew, do you want to go home, do you want to just hang out in this garden, what?”

“Tell me, then, what areyourplans? What would I be joining if I joined you?”

“Right, good point. Ugh, I wish I had thought of it when I was telling Mister Beastly. Then I could have killed two birds with one stone.”

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