Page 30 of Eat My Moon Dust
Tinsley skipped past the ambassador, slipped her arm around my lower elbow andjumpedto give me a human kiss on the shoulder of my coveralls. “Sorry I’m late for lunch, honey.”
Ijust barelyfought off the urge to grind my dental ridges together, a sigh of defeat collapsing my chest. “It’sHyoo-nar,” I said like a dunce. She squeezed my arm and laughed, the infuriating little bells on her holiday crown tinkling.
“Pretty sure I know that by now.”
“Youjustgot it wrong.”
She elbowed me, then fussed with the cuff of my sleeve, so close to my skin that I felt the heat of her fingertips. “Honey is a human term of endearment,honey.”
I glanced at Zufi, where a frown of concentration deepened the facets of his face. His tendrils churned thoughtfully as he steepled his upper fingers. “I had no idea CE Fareshi was courting a human.” He smiled without amusement at Tinsley, seeing through her lies instantly. “What a surprising revelation.”
Bree, Bajora, and I held our breath as Tinsley squared her shoulders. “Why, because of the whole thing with his ex?” She shrugged and my tendrils slipped behind my shoulders in shame. How did she know? “Family’s important, and we don’t always have choices. I’m not going to hold that against Hunar. Besides, he and Corsa haven’t actually been together for a long time. And see?”
To my absolute horror, Tinsley produced another jar ofsidur,this one with an unrecognizable blob cut from red plas adhered to the top. She held it out to Zufi and pointed at the blob.
“A misshapen… bean?” Zufi guessed. Bree snorted, then bit down on her lips to keep from laughing. He glanced at her, and she reigned it in.
“No, ah,” she cleared her throat, huffing through her words. “It’s a heart. Human symbol for love.” She remembered she’s meant to be hard of hearing and coughed loudly. “Uhh, super cute, Tin!”
“Thanks!” Tinsley set the jar on the old break table with a peppy pat and hugged my arm with both hands. I tried to jerk away, but she held firm, smiling rainbow daggers into Zufi’s disbelieving face.
His expression broke with a hiss of amusement and a volcano gurgled inside of me. Mortification, indignation, and the stupid knee-jerk instinct to fling the little woman I’d just started getting along with off my arm.
But I couldn’t do that, not with Zufi watching. Ihadto play along, because if I didn’t?
My spats and I were as good as chum.
“CE Fareshi, I’m impressed! Such a glowing young woman hanging on your arm, even as you recover? I would have expected you to boast, or at leastmentionhow radiant she is. You’re a far more humble man than I.”
The fucker could barely finish his sentence without laughing at my expense. I fisted my lower hands inside my pockets, forcing a few of my tendrils to lean towards Tinsley as the heat of embarrassment ripped through them. Bajora turned away, rubbing a hand over his face. Bree tried desperately to get Aavar’s attention, yelling across the hangar with her hands behind Zufi’s back. I swallowed hard, hoping the clown got here before my life unraveled.
In the meantime, I managed a short, strained sentence, giving in to the worst decision I could possibly make, but the only one that would give me any kind of hope. “It’s… new.”
“Forgive me for saying so, but it’s a relief,” Zufi said with approval, turning his attention back to Tinsley. “Truly. I was concerned about Hunar’s recovery from his last coil. But with you at his side, he’ll bounce back in no time.”
Dread chilled my veins. I opened my mouth to cut Tinsley off, but she beat me to it.
“Damn straight he will.”
Zufi rumbled with satisfaction, bowing his head to her. “Damn straight,” he echoed, pleased with himself. “Shall we, Bree?”
“Fuck!” Bree’s voice cracked as she jumped to attention, nearly caught waving frantically to her coil across the hangar. “I mean, fuck yeah, totally! Clinic’s this way, Ambassador!”
Ambassador Zufi tucked his lower hands behind his back as if the humans weren’t used to seeing all four of our arms by now and followed Bree out of the engineering lounge. As their voices faded out onto the footpaths, Bajora exhaled with force.
“Chudthi,”he swore.
“Ya think?!” I growled, ripping my arm away from Tinsley. I paced, hands in my mane, eyes wide and trained on that cursed woman’s face. “Do you haveanyidea what you’ve just done?!”
She shrugged, setting her handwritten plans out on the table. “Sure I do. And you’re welcome. Now thatthat’staken care of…” She sat with a nonchalant pat on the chair next to her. “Let’s discussKrismis.”
11
?TINSLEY?
Suck it, Zufi!I silentlyka’ching-ed the air, doing smug happy dances in my head as I wriggled on my dilapidated chair and shuffled my plans.
Ever since I’d overheard the challenges Hunar was facing, I knew I wanted to help him. Sure, it was mostly so I could get in his good graces, but that wasn’t the only reason. We were a community, right? Community should be supportive and helpful, and even if we butted heads, he had proven how much he loved Renata. I couldn’t let him get the boot just because he refused to shack up with someone while there were more important things to do.
