“I’m due for another loss.” He wiggles the hand at me that only has four fingers.
“Try not to… for me?” I ask as I catch it and suck on one of his intact fingers.
He swallows. “I’ll try.”
The wall switches to a show I don’t understand, so I don’t pay attention to, and they don’t either.
We stay there for hours, lounging on each other. Neither of them push for anything other than deep kisses and soft touches…
By the time Mooralan has to go to bed and I have to leave, I’ve finally figured out how to kiss Ferrok in a way that makes sense with our seemingly mismatched anatomy.
“Let us take you to dinner tomorrow night.” Ferrok says, holding tight to my fingers as we stop in the narrow kitchen in front of their door.
If Phantom didn’t encourage having favorites, I might have said no. But I like them too much to deny myself spending time with them.
“I’d love that.”
CHAPTER 2
Ishake my head, flicking my newly trimmed bangs back into place and swiping away one last errant clipped hair away from my face.
“They’re perfect. Thanks.”
“My pleasure.” The Opodean woman holds the scissors in one of her tentacles and looks me over one more time. “You do look good with the dark hair.”
I run my fingers through the strands that were starting to show the silver streaks before she redarkened it. “Eventually, I’ll give in,” tell her, “but I don’tfeelold enough to be going gray already.”
“At the risk of losing business…” she leans forward and whispers, “Talk to Phantom and see if you can get some anti-aging injectables. They don’t work for everyone, but they could get rid of those grays, even better than I can.”
“Thanks, I’ll think about it.” I don’t know if I’mthatconcerned about them.
Things like that always sound so permanent, and I am a big ol’ scaredy cat when it comes to physical alterations.
Paying with the same chain that gives me access to my apartment, I leave the salon, ignoring the aliens who stare at me.
There aren’t enough humans on the station. We’re oddities and I have to get used to that.
I’m early, so I take the long way to the cafe where Feather and Peach are meeting me—they’ve told me their real names, but it’s hard to break the habit and think of them by those.
MiNo has been set up to cater to so many different kinds of aliens, that there’s more to see than I could hope to get to without actively trying.
There’s a Darosian aquarium on the level below the cafe and I go to it. Standing at the glass, I hope it has magnifying capabilities. The creatures in the water areenormous.
“It’s a screen.”
I flinch back from the Trulavian man who has stopped beside me.
“What?”
“They’re not cruel enough to keep them captive on the station, so this is a live feed to Daros.”
“Oh, cool.” I turn back to the screen, hoping that’s it, but it isn’t.
“Darosians get homicidal when they’re homesick. This is a safety feature more than an aesthetic one.”
“Thanks for the info.” I check my watch and offer him a polite “Have a nice day” before I head for the stairs, up to the next level.
But when I glance back, he’s watching me.
