Page 30 of Pulled By the Tail
“No offense, but some aspects of your culture suck.”
“That idea is old-fashioned, and you only find it lurking in the strictly traditional families,” he said.
He hadn’t taken offense but now he had to know what she believed about his people. The negative stereotypes surrounding the Tal outnumbered the positive by a fair margin. In the Navy, he heard enough slurs to last a lifetime, “fleabag” and “kitty cat” being the mildest. While he acknowledged that the position his brother placed her in was unfair, he would rather give her the money for a ticket off the planet than constantly be listening for muttered insults. “Do you have a problem with the Tal?”
“As a whole, no. In particular, yes,” she said.
Talen leaned forward. “Yesterday, surely you thought we were nothing but flea-bitten criminals and con artists. It must have crossed your mind.”
Her nose scrunched up again. “You mean on the worst day of my life, did I think that? No. Sorry to disappoint you. I was far too busy wallowing in my own misery to think poorly of your culture or people.”
He grinned and his tail waved playfully. This irritated, sharp-tongued mood was so much more interesting than the sad and tired mood of yesterday.
“I can guess the Tal you think poorly of in particular,” he said. Quil. It was always Quil between them.
“Obviously.” She sipped at the glass of water. “Look, I don’t have a problem with the Tal in general, but I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to put aside my feelings about you-know-who. I’ll keep my head down and work. When I have enough for a ticket, I’ll leave. But if that’s not good enough, tell me now and I’ll find something in town.”
He had no doubt she could find work in Drac or a neighboring town. Corra had a surplus of vacant job postings. “No, I want you.”
She raised her eyebrows.
“To stay. I want you to stay,” he amended. “As I said earlier, the house is large enough that you can easily avoid sources of irritation. But I think I’d like to see you use that sharp tongue of yours on him.”
She snorted, then covered her mouth and laughed. Color rose in hers, a soft pink that flushed against her pale skin. “I’m sorry. You’re being all serious and really nice, but that phrase doesn’t mean what you think it means.”
He turned over the words in his head. No. They were innocent.
“I think I’m going to like you,” she said.
“Agreed.”
“But you should totally put a bell on him, though.”
Georgia
Celestial Mates
To Whom it May Concern,
Suck a bag of dicks. The entire bag.
Sincerely, Georgia Phillips
They stoppedat an all-purpose general store. While Talen picked up an order, he told her to grab what she needed. She chose a pair of gloves that looked like they would fit her and a scarf. Those would tide her over until she could get better boots for the cold and a coat with her first paycheck. Besides, she wasn’t going tromping through the fields. She worked in a hotel.
Talen took one look at her modest purchase and shook his head. He had her try on coats, raising and lowering her arms to check the fit. He kept adding socks, shoes, and personal care items to the purchase until Georgia had to protest.
“It’s fine,” he said, putting the whole pile on his tab.
“Another human,” the clerk, a Tal woman, muttered as she rang up the purchase.
“No, it’s not fine. I can’t afford all this,” Georgia said.
He shrugged, like money meant nothing to him. “I know where you work. I’ll take it out of your salary if you like.”
“But I don’t need all this stuff.” Shoes with extra-traction soles for the snow and ice? Sure. A heated blanket? That sounded amazing but she’d double up on blankets if it got that cold.
“Listen, you don’t know how tenacious Bright can be, but she told me to get you outfitted, so that’s what I’m going to do,” he said. She opened her mouth to protest but he continued, “Whether you like it or not. It’ll be easier, for both of us, to let Bright have her way. I don’t want a week’s worth of burnt meals or, even worse, porridge.”
