Page 4 of The Emerald Boa's Lover
Dalahan
Dalahan.
“Come on? Please? I need to make up the numbers.”
“No.” I chuckle at my cousin. My tail is coiled around a stool that is shaped for a comfortable grip and I pin a large piece of paper on my work desk. It’s the design plans for my next domestic dwelling project. With more humans and Ucfeni nesting together, a new corner in the market has opened for hybrid homes. I made sure my company got in on that action right away and it’s been a lucrative endeavour. I flick my pink forked tongue across my pale green scaly lips, humming about the positioning of the plumbing in this particular plan. The hygiene level was always the trickiest part of a hybrid home. Having to incorporate two different excretory systems can be difficult if you want it to look effortless with the rest of the aesthetic of the building. The dimensions also had to be right. Humans needed surfaces to be within reach, but if you scale things down too much it makes for a cramped home for the Ucfeni. I make a mint now, because the first thing that happens when an Ucfeni becomes a sponsor for the first time of one of the humans, is one of my workers turns up. To install a pulley system for traversing the three tiers. Depending on where the Ucfeni lives, the hardest part is putting a working human friendly toilet. Not the toilet itself, of course, but the plumbing. I even had my workers arrive with a catalogue to order appliances to be installed at a later date. Things humans use for cooking and storing their food. Things like that. In return I get a cut of the profits from my Allico Inc contact who supplies the appliances, and the labour costs of delivering and installing the products, of course. Oh yes. I’m making a comfortable living because of the arrival of humans to Thelia. My ancestors blessed me the daytheylanded, for sure.
“Come ooooooon.” I sigh, having forgotten I had Rerasha on my com-call for a moment. I roll my emerald eyes and look off to one side, as if the man himself was there for me to talk to. If he was, I could imagine that silver tongued devil trying to pout and talk me into it. “You’re an experienced Sponsor, and Tabitha is established in her nest with her mate. Gravid too, isn’t she?”
“Yes.” I smiled. I’d been to visit her this morning to fuss over my favourite human to make sure she had everything she needed. Tabitha was the reason I got into hybridising homes, as my nest was wholly unsuitable for her when I first brought her home.
“And you mostly work from home now, right?”
“Yes?” What’s his point?
“So you’re in theperfectposition to sponsor another human.” I close my eyes and roll my neck. “You loved sponsoring Tabitha, and it’s been how many years now?” I look up and quickly do the math.
“3 years.” Wow. Time flies. Has it really been that long? I sigh and nod to myself.
“You were telling me the other day that you’re tired of coming home to an empty nest. Well? Don’t. Come to the pairing party and become a sponsor.”
“Rerasha?” I groan and slide free of the stool. Sunlight shines in through the high windows and my brilliant green glossy scales catch the light. Lighter green stripes break up my figure and my face, neck, chest, and my under-tail are paler green. I wind across from my work station to the kitchen area. I kept it after Tabitha moved out and I’ve found the fridge useful. I store water in there now so I can have a cool drink whenever I like.
“Come. You might not find anyone palatable, but youmight.”
“So what if I do? That doesn’t mean I should become a sponsor again.” My cousin is persistent. He can probably hear the lack of real resistance in my reluctance. The truth is…Ihavebeen lonely as of late. Just…not for the same kind ofcompanionshipas I had with Tabitha. I adore her, and I was delighted with her as a charge, but I’m not looking for another dear friend. “When I told you I was tired of coming home to an empty nest, I didn’t mean I wanted another human to sponsor.” I pour myself a tall glass of water and flick my tongue into it a few times. “I want whatyouhave cousin.” I sigh wistfully. When I visit Rerasha at his nest I find myself jealous of him. The same way I feel when I see Tabitha with Shane. Iamlonely, but I’m looking for love, not friendship. I’ve put myself out there plenty of times, and I’ve had partners, but I have yet to find ‘the one’. I want to settle down, and anyone I’ve got involved withhasn’twanted the same. I enjoy a good shuck as much as the next guy, but there does come a time when I’d like to settle down. Court someone with the hope of seeing if we become a bonded pair. Adopt some younglings. Coil together in Broka against the cold. Raise a family and grow old together.
“Exactly.” Rerasha chuckled and I finished draining my glass of water. My scaly brow raised curiously. “I think I have the perfect guy in mind.”
“What do you mean?” I put my glass in the sink and start washing it.
“I mean a human male came onto me earlier saying he likes his menbig.”
“Oh I bet Alariclovedthat.” I laugh and twist a dish cloth around the glass to dry it.
“It was wonderful. Alaric shucked me so hard as soon as we got back, I still feel like jelly.” I hissed with mirth at how delighted my cousin sounded. That was another human treat that was a gift to Thelia. For the most part we can’t eat the same food as the humans, but we both drink water, and Jelly is something we can enjoy and stomach. I absently think about making myself some to set in the fridge for tomorrow when Rerasha continues his plea. “Anyway, I was thinking about this human, Charlie his name is, and I think you and he could hit it off.”
“Oh yeah?” I answer and start slithering back over towards my work station.
“What do you have to lose? Just come to the pairing party. Taste his scent, and if you are a match, you might even have enough chemistry toreallyhit it off.”
“Ah. I don’t know Rerasha.” I feel myself tipping curiously towards considering it and chew my scaly lips between my gums. “Just because this human male is gay, that doesn’t mean he’s looking for the same things I am.”
“Oh? Because I asked him if he was looking for a partner, and he said yes.”
“He did?” I cup my mouth and rub it, hope flickering in my chest. “I mean, well, I could alwaysswing byI suppose…” I might get to the pairing party and he might have already matched up with someone else. Or he might have offputting pheromones. Or there might be no spark of chemistry. Or…he might be my future sweet scented sexy nest-mate. I’ve always been too much of an optimist for my own good, but you know what? I didn’t get to where I am today without being willing to take a risk. My company’s success is based on me taking a risk, and investing everything I have into producing hybrid homes, and that paid off in abundance. “Okay.” I surrender and I can hear Rerasha hissing ‘yes’ in the background. “But I might not hit it off with this guy at all.”
“Maybe not, but maybe yes?”
“Maybe.” I smile and avoid the pulley system still in place from the last human I sponsored to get to my hygiene level. If feel the urge to polish my scales with an oiled rag and change into a fresh wrap around skirt. “So? Tell me about Charlie.”
“He’s your type.” Rerasha chuckled. “Very charming and confident.”
“That’s not my type Rerasha.” I chide him. I’ve shucked plenty of arrogant lovers, and they are far from the settling down type.
“No no, wait, he also charged full steam ahead on the behalf of some vulnerable human females to make sure they were being cared for. He even crossed the river to come right up to me to make sure their needs were going to be met.”
“Oh.” I sing with a smile. I’ve always been a sucker for the tender ones. I’m compassionate, and I quickly loose interest if I think the guy I’m with doesn’t have a heart. What can I say? I’m attracted to nice guys. “So…is he hot?”
