The men started talking about the best plants to have in a garden and how to lure Tillintails into building a nest.
Was that it? If she went back to Hissa with Miran would she spend the day dealing with plants that had no practical purpose? There had to be more.
“Do any of the Decanted women work in places like the mines?” she asked.
The men stopped talking and gave her disapproving looks.
“Why would they work in the mines?” Miran asked. “That’s hard and dangerous work. Most of them are rescued from horrible circumstances and need peace and quiet as they recover. The menders developed programs to help them heal mentally and physically."
“Some of the women work, like Lara. She fixes and retrofits ships,” Hifor said. “You could work with her at the port.”
“Deena is a pilot,” Lezor said. “And she teaches one of the classes. Maybe you could learn to fly.”
“There’s a few Decanted women that work with the menders,” Miran said.
None of her skills would be useful in any of those jobs. She could learn things, but she’d be starting her education late.
That made her realize that none of her circus skills translated to life among the Hissa. She was an entertainer and learned to thrive on applause like other performers. If she wanted to stay with Miran, she’d have to learn to live without a fulfilling job.
Could she be content with plants instead of an audiences?
Chapter 18
Miran
It was clear that Nova was thinking deeply about something. He’d tried to ask her several times as he walked her around the ship, but all she’d said was that it was nothing.
It wasn’t nothing. It was important because it was bothering her!
Something occurred to him. He stopped them in the middle of the corridor. “Are you upset that you’ve never been with anyone else?”
She blinked. “Huh?”
“I can tell that something we talked about in the exercise room is bothering you. It has to be that you’ve never been with anyone but me.” The more he thought about it, the more he was sure that had to be what was wrong.
He didn’t realize he was being loud until she drew back.
“You’re not making any sense.”
It was hard, but he reined in his worry and spoke in a more moderate voice. “You’re wondering if you might like someone better than me.”
A slow grin spread across her face. “Is that what I’m thinking?”
He was confident that he was right. “Yes, that has to be it,” he said.
How could he assure her that they were meant to be together? She had no reference to what intimacy could be like outside the two of them.
She gave him a sardonic grin. “How do we test your theory? Should I have sex with a couple of guys on the ship?”
“No!”
She laughed at his loud refusal. “It was your idea.”
“I didn’t suggest you do that,” he grumbled. It was an obvious conclusion to his comment, but that wasn’t an acceptable solution to her doubt.
Wait, she didn’t need to sleep with anyone else to know how special they were together. A simple kiss would make it clear.
“I know how to fix this,” he said. It wasn’t going to be easy, but it needed to be done so she could end any uncertainty about their relationship.
