Page 68 of Eat My Moon Dust
It wasn’t. It was fluffy and fresh.
I snorted and rolled my eyes, but a smile spread across my face anyway as I grabbed my most festive casualwear.
“I’m still mad,” I said down at the floor, imagining Hunar’s unit was directly below mine. He’d robbed me of that first morning afterglow. The one where you nuzzle and press your butt back and maybe make gentle love in the warm morning light.
Prone to over-analysing, I had to admit that cleaning my comforter didn’t necessarily mean anything. He could have just felt bad leaving me freshly showered under crusty covers.
I padded into the bathroom, spots of water still drying on the tile walls from a shower session I barely remembered, and looked at myself in the mirror. Fading red marks roped around my arms, neck, breasts, hips… They were everywhere. My stomach flipped as my fingers slid down one near my collarbone. They looked like thick jellyfish lashes, but they felt like the warm aftermath of a good massage. Some of them would develop into light blue bruises for sure.
Then I looked back up at my dumb face with its dumb, blissful smile, and gave my cheek a little smack.
“Stop it,” I warned myself sternly. I needed to act like an adult, not a lovesick puppy. I had things to do! I had responsibilities! The colony was counting on me to make sure this festival went off without a hitch.
So I pulled on my elf socks, elf tee, and reindeer antlers, then slid down the hallway back into my room with a bare butt, having forgotten my panties and shorts.
I ended up scrapping the panties in favor of a pair of green tights. I was content to show off some of Hunar’s marks–like the one peeking out from my neckline and the pink remnants of his grip on my wrists and biceps–but the marks on my thighs were just for me.
Unable to stand it anymore, I checked my holotab for messages as I walked to the kitchen to print up some breakfast on autopilot. If Hunar had been human, he would have texted me, but there was nothing there. His icon wasn’t active either. It was midmorning, so he was probably busy with work, but still…
I had a good time.
See you after work?
What are you doing later?
Good morning, priya~
A few comforting words like that would have been nice.
I blew out a breath, nibbling the inside of my cheek as my coffee printed, and something caught my eye. The cubes I’d been using to store potential leavening agents for mybirianut flour were out of order. Stretching out my hand to pick one up, I paused.
Drawn into my flour from the afternoon before was a truly ugly heart. It looked more like a bean than the iconic symbol, with the bottom and top center divots slightly too round.
Joy just about burst from my chest like that alien baby in the movieAlienas I traced the awkward heart Hunar had drawn with his finger.
Screw the standard morning-aftertext.
This waswaybetter.
??
My reindeer antlers jingled merrily as I practically skipped into the hangar with a jug in my hands around lunchtime. Pulse racing, hands slightly damp, dopamine-fueled permanent smile chiseled into my apple cheeks… I must have looked like the cheeriest psycho on Yaspur.
But I couldn’t help it. Two pearls still nestled inside me, and I rubbed my thumbs over my slightly bruised wrists with affection. My cheeks blazed with bristly embarrassment as Piro bounded up to me, his sleek periwinkle tendrils catching the rainbow of twinkle lights framing the big doors. He wore a Santa hat, the little puff bouncing against his mane.
“Hi, Tinsley!” he said, wiping oil off on his coveralls.
“Hey, Santa. Who gave you that hat?” I teased as he took the jug from my hands and carried it towards the workshop.
“Naitee,” he said, a few of his tendrils curling bashfully at the tips. “She made some with Rambir after school.”
“Mhm.”
“This is for Hunar, right?” he asked, motioning to his workbench. I nodded, pressing my lips together to keep the blush from burning my face off.
“Yup!”
I did a quick look around the room, but no one else was there. Maybe they were all outside eating lunch? It was a nice day, with some fluffy clouds and a breeze to wick away the humidity. The thought of seeing Hunar for the first time since he’d groaned my name and sucked on my shoulder in the shower had me short of breath. The faintest little pin pricks of his six canines still dotted my collarbone. I couldn’t stand the anticipation much longer.
