For a moment, Elliott wondered if he had severely misunderstood Ireland's location on the globe. A little faintly, he said, "We…wearein the northern hemisphere, right? Off the northwest coast of Europe? Five…five thousand miles from Australia?"
"More like ten thousand. Yes." They'd passed the wallabies and the cheetahs alike, and were suddenly at the front gates to the park. "Out!"
"What?" He was definitely not doing a good job impressing her. They'd seemed to vibe, back at the office talking about transference of mass, but things had gone wrong since then. Of course, shewasworking, and he was probably a terrible inconvenience. No one had ever suggested a mate could find him inconvenient.
This was all much more nerve-wracking than Elliott had expected.
"Out!" Aoife said again. "I have a whole bunch of executives to bring around today and I've got to make a good impression.They're considering a massive fecking grant and the park can't afford to lose it."
Elliott got out of the cart and watched Aoife swing out the other side. "Don't take this wrong, but aren't you kind of junior to be wining and dining the bigwigs?"
Completely to his surprise, Aoife gave him a huge grin, almost a laugh. "I am, but oh my god, you have no idea how bad Dr. Kelly is at giving the tours. It's an embarrassment."
"Come on, it can't be that bad. She's got to know everything she needs to know?"
"Oh, and then some. No, the problem is that she can't believe everybody else doesn't know and starts getting mad at them, frustrated like. Or worse, she starts being condescending, because she reallyisterribly clever and can't stand it when other people can't keep up. It's desperate altogether. So we just don't let her do it anymore."
Elliott had mostly emailed with Maureen Kelly, and then met her this morning. She had an aura of extreme competence, but also had a brisk, almost sharp, edge to her. He could see how she might be someone who became impatient with people who didn't share her expertise. "How'd she end up running a place like this, then? Usually the people with these jobs are good at glad-handing."
"She's friends with the head of the Gladiator Foundation, do you know it? No? They're brilliant. Loads and loads of money for wildlife conservation but they can't single-handedly fund everything, why am I talking to you, I've a tour to meet!"
"If I pay my tour fee can I come with you?" All he really wanted was to spend the day with her, although he was distressingly aware that at some point he'd have to go back to the enclosure and be on display for several hours.
For now, though, Aoife made an impatient noise that Elliott took as acceptance. She strode to the gates.
Elliott didn't exactly chase after her. He justhappenedto be going the same direction she was, at great speed. She, however, stopped inside the gates to grab a sign that said9:30 Tour Group!, while Elliott scurried outside to buy a ticket for the tour. And, as it turned out, for the park, because he didn't actually work there and the kid behind the counter of course didn't know that Elliott was the lion on loan.
There were five people with Aoife when Elliott got back to her: two men in their fifties, a woman of around his own age, and another woman in her forties with a tweenager who looked enough like her that Elliott assumed they were mother and daughter. They were all white, and the three older people were dressed for business, although the woman was wearing flats instead of heels. She had a tablet computer with a stylus at the ready, and a laser-like focus on whatever she was doing.
The younger woman had a bohemian tourist vibe, with her hair in thick, almost matted braids, layers of brightly colored but lightweight clothing, and Birkenstocks that showed off painted toenails. The little girl, who was probably about eleven, was examining her toenails with interest, but looked up when Elliott walked over. "Hi! I'm Molly. You'retall."
Elliott chuckled. "I guess I am. Hi, Molly. I'm Elliott. Nice to meet you."
The bohemian girl smiled flirtatiously up at him. "Hey. I'm Kanvas. With a K, of course."
"Reall—I mean, uh, hi, Kanvas. Elliott."
She sparkled. "Really, yes. My parents wanted me to embrace the world as something that could leave its mark on me." Her voice went rather sultry in the explanation, filling it with undertones that Elliott had no interest in exploring. He smiled as politely as he could.
"That's very interesting. I'm here with Aoife." He nodded toward his fated mate, hoping he'd put enough emphasis on thewith Aoifeto clue Kanvas in.
Kanvas-with-a-K glanced toward Aoife with an air of disappointment. "Oh. Well, nice to meet you, anyway." To his relief, she moved several steps away as Aoife clapped her hands, drawing attention.
"Good morning, everybody, it's lovely to meet you. I'm?—”
Before she could say her name, Molly interrupted with, “OY-FEE? Is your name OY-FEE?”
Cords stood out in Aoife’s neck for just an instant before she rearranged her expression into a bright smile and pointed to her nametag. “It’sEee-fah,” she said. “Aoife Gallagher, your guide for the morning. I'm going to be showing you around the park today, telling you about our work here and talking about our conservation efforts for the endangered and at-risk species we have at the wildlife park."
"Can I pet a penguin?" Molly asked hopefully.
"Em. No. The penguins aren't fond of being rubbed. Now, we'll be starting with the cheetahs. You're in luck, as it's just coming on feeding time, so you can see our cheetah run. It's an enrichment feeding process, which means it's set up to encourage the big cats to run and interact with their environment. Does anybody know anything about cheetahs as a species?" Aoife paused, then chuckled. "Sorry. I'm used to a younger audience. I should probably assume youdo."
"They're clones, aren't they?" One of the older men, a guy with a military brush haircut and a stubby mustache that reminded Elliott of General Ross in the Hulk movies, looked both pleased and embarrassed as Aoife grinned at him.
"They just about are, yes. They have incredibly low genetic diversity, compared to most feline species. We believe cheetahs were almost wiped out ten or twelve thousand years ago, andthat their genetic similarity to one another is tied to that. Anyone else know anything about them?"
"They purr!" Molly piped up. "And you can pet them, right, Oifee?"
