“All hail the buyer!” Jossulum cheered, a customary thing to say when someone offered to purchase items for a group.
“All hail the buyer!” Amina and everyone else repeated.
“You’re welcome?” he responded, making them all laugh.
The restaurant was mostly automated, so after they ordered the food and Myrum paid with his Ident, they sat back to talk about the ship. Desur insisted Gis come with him to the drama, and Helmen decided to join them. Teshor talked about domie strategies, and Jossulum planned to enjoy some of the balance or agility games.
Myrum leaned in close. “What about you?”
“I’m going shopping!” Amina said.
“Yes, we can do that,” he agreed. “You should have softer clothes and fluffy pillows.”
Amina blinked a few times. She didn’t want to offend him, but those seemed like odd items to list. “I have plenty of clothes, but I do want to find a tailor machine.”
“If you’re going shopping, could you find me a box of tinor?” Jossulum asked.
“I’ll look,” Amina said.
That led to everyone asking her to find something for them. She could feel Myrum becoming tense next to her. After the conversation moved on to something else, she touched Myrum’s arm.
“You don’t have to go shopping with me,” she told him.
“I’m going with you,” Myrum said, and his tone made it clear there was no room for argument. “I don’t like that everyone made you their servant. Do you want me to tell them that you won’t be looking for their items?”
Oh, he was upset on her behalf!
“I want to look for everything,” she assured him. “I like shopping, even if it’s not stuff for myself. This isn’t the first time I’ve done this. It’s fun.”
He relaxed. “As long as you find it enjoyable.”
The food arrived. They’d ordered so much that dishes nearly covered the entire table. Some of the dishes were served Ugarian style with large spoons for dipping and pouring, but others were in Ossiso or Matok style.
“Where is the flatbread to eat with?” Myrum asked, looking around at all the dishes.
“Let me order some,” Amina said quickly. Lifting a bowl from in front of her, she tapped on the table’s display and found some bread for Myrum.
“Done,” she announced, setting the bowl back down. "Until that gets here, you can eat with spoons, like we usually do.”
Everyone else was already digging in when Myrum spoke in a soft, sensual voice. “I only eat with spoons when you feed me.”
She ignored him because flirting while surrounded by nosy Ugarian ears wasn’t an option.
“Here, try this first. You sip it out of the bowl,” she said, handing him the thick grain soup.
She could've sworn she saw several ears droop with disappointment. It almost made her laugh.
The rest of the meal was enjoyable, even if she had to fight the urge to feed Myrum by hand. Maybe another time, when they were back on the ship. Despite all the time they had been spending together, they still hadn’t kissed again.
Even though she wanted to.
They’d been so busy making sure the ship would pass inspection that none of them had time for more than a quick meal. She’d been forced to push the kiss with Myrum to the back of her head and concentrate on doing her job.
Not that it made any difference. The Ossiso inspecting Steady probably wouldn’t even pull a panel off, let alone go through monitoring data. It was annoying to realize they could’ve spent a lot more time doingotherthings.
“Your breathing pattern changed,” Myrum said, pulling her out of her thoughts. “Are you unwell?”
“No, um, I was just thinking about something,” she said.
