Page 58 of Tail, Dark and Handsome: Celestial Mates
Her hands fluttered aggressively, like she could slap away her irritants. The largest one being Winter himself.
“You know what? Fine. It’s fine. Everything is fine,” she said.
He doubted that.
She spun on her heel to leave. At the door, she huffed, and her hands resumed fluttering as she waited for the door to open.
And waited.
“Does this require a code?”
“No. It operates on detected proximity,” he said.
“Well, it’s not detecting my proximity,” she retorted.
“You are doing it wrong.”
“How am I doing it wrong? I’m literally standing right here.”
“Perhaps the sensor is faulty or requires cleaning.” He waved a hand over the sensor.
No response.
She huffed again. This time, the sound crept into amusement.
He was not amused at her amusement. It was redundant and pointless. His tail lashed out violently behind him. The door refused to respond.
“There’s a failsafe command code to open doors,” Marigold said. “Every ship has them because you don’t want to crash because you were locked in the cleansing room.” Realization dawned on her face. “Zero. Computer, locate Zero.”
The kit was on the other side of the door.
“Zero! Open the door!” Winter pounded on the door.
“I’m trying,” Zero said, voice muffled. “The control panel is locked.”
Winter shared a look with Marigold. “How much do you want to bet he sabotaged the control panel?” she asked.
“That is a foolish wager, because I know he did.” His fist hit the door. “Zero! Open this door. Now.”
“No. Not until you kiss and make up.” His response came disturbingly quick. He planned this.
“Fluff fluffing fluff,” Marigold muttered. The words were so ridiculous, they tore an unexpected laugh out of him. Her eyes narrowed. “This is funny to you? Your kit acts like we’re dolls for him to play with. I should have known something was up when he told me you said I couldn’t do my daily meditation in the common area.”
“Fluffing fluff?”
“Oh, hush.” Her cheeks turned pink.
“But fluffing fluff?”
“My mother didn’t like us cursing when we were kids, okay? It’s a habit at this point.”
“But—”
“Oh my stars, Winter. You’ve met my mother. Imagine being twelve and having her lament how your vocabulary tarnishes your aura? Especially when you were in front of an audience. It was easier to just learn to say fudge,” she said.
He nodded. “She seems to be the sort who loves an audience.”
“You have no idea. It was so bad. Like, you don’t even know.”
