With an indulgent grin, Kaspian nodded at one of his guards. The man went back into the restaurant. As if he knew he'd successfully suckered me, the cat put more effort into his purrs and nuzzled me like a long-lost friend. Then he lifted his tail.
“Ah, I see you're a boy.”
“That's rather forward of you.” Kaspian pushed back a swath of hair that had fallen into my face.
I looked up to find him grinning. “He's the one who flashed me. I couldn't help but notice the big, furry balls. Besides, it's better to know what pronoun to use. I guess I could have been modern about it and stuck with they/them.”
“They/them?”
“Trust me, you don't want to know,” I muttered. Then I asked the cat, “You don't have an issue with me calling you a boy because you have balls, do you? Do you identify as female? Hey, you do you, cat. I don't have a problem with it.”
“What nonsense are you spouting now?” Kaspian scowled down at me.
“Let's just say that something as simple as a person's sex has become a complicated issue on my planet.”
“Why?”
“Because people can change their sex these days.”
“Sex? As in male and female?”
“Yup. They can identify as a different sex or they can surgically alter their bodies to become a different sex. A man can become a woman and a woman can become a man.”
All the Dragons went still and gaped at me.
I glanced at my rapt audience and chuckled. “I'm not making it up. Human medical science has advanced to the point where surgeries are a common thing.” I stood up. “We can repair wounds, remove tumors, and all sorts of other things. That's the healthcare side of it. But with those advancements came another branch of the medical field. Cosmetic. Although, a sex change is far more than cosmetic. But it started as nose jobs and facelifts.”
“Face. Lifts?” one of the knights asked, his hands going to his face. “What iswrongwith the humans on your planet?”
“I've often asked myself that very question.”
Kaspian's knight came out of the restaurant and handed me a waxed parchment with some pieces of raw fish on it.
“Thanks.” I set the fish down.
The cat immediately set to devouring his prize.
Meanwhile, the knight who had procured the fish looked around at his buddies, frowning at their expressions. “What happened?”
“Duke Demetrius says that humans on his world have surgeries,” Sir Vadron said.
“What are surgeries?”
“They are medical . . . uh.” Vadron looked at me.
“Medical procedures,” I finished. “We cut people open and fix things that are wrong inside them. That is, unless the person is wounded and already cut open. Then they just seal them up.”
The knight blinked.
I went on, “I was telling the others that surgery advanced into altering things about people that they don't like. Such as lifting drooping skin.”
“They lift their faces!” Vadron tacked on.
“What does that mean?”
“That's what I was about to ask.” Kas grimaced at his men, then looked at me. “Are you teasing us?”
“No, I swear, it's the truth! You don't understand this, but humans, as we age, start to look old. You know. We get saggy. So a doctor can surgically lift that sagging skin. He cuts off the excess, pulls it tight, and sews it back together.” I pushed the skin of my face up.
