She was already surprised that Myrum even wanted to go shopping. She’d expected after a short while he’d get bored and wander off. Everything on the pleasure ship was open to visit. With only the Ossisos on Tik to enjoy it, there were no lines anywhere.
There were so many things he could enjoy, except he stayed with her.
Not only was he attentive to all the interesting things she found, but now he wanted to pay for all of it! Was this some kind of goodwill gesture to the crew to help make up for going a little crazy?
If that was the case, should she assure him all was forgiven? The only one who still had any concern was Helmen, and after today she probably wouldn’t even insist he put the collar back on.
The need to reassure him had her letting go of his neck, but she didn’t drop to the floor. Leaning away from his face, she smiled at him.
“No one is scared of you,” she said.
“I would hope not,” he agreed.
She gave a little laugh. “Put me down.”
He hesitated, and for a moment she didn’t know if he was going to do it. Then he carefully lowered her to the ground. She pointed to the cargo bot. “You don’t need to buy all this stuff for the crew. The meal was enough.”
“I’m not buying these items for them,” he countered. “I’m buying them because you enjoy it. The fact that they're getting items is a secondary benefit.”
His words made her feel both adored and a little wary. She also didn’t know how to respond. Her discomfort meant she decided to use distraction instead of continuing the conversation.
“Oh look!” she said, moving further down the aisle. She plucked a Matok child's robe off a hanging display. It was a lovely shade of light blue and would probably fit her perfectly. She had one at home but forgot to pack it.
“These are great for lounging around after a long day,” she said. Not that any of the crew had much lounging time recently.
“Do you like the color?” Myrum asked. The moment she nodded her head, he pulled it out of her grip and set it in the cargo bot basket.
The pile only grew because every time she touched or even commented on something, he put it in the basket. She tried to sneak some things back on the shelves, but Myrum was hard to distract.
She stopped and faced him, putting her hands on her hips. “Are you rich?”
“That’s a difficult question to answer,” he responded.
That confused her. “How is it difficult?"
“Because within my empire I’m not rich, but when I look at the prices here I’m very wealthy.”
She’d never thought about wealth being place specific, but the moment he said it she realized it was a ridiculous question.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. I only wanted to make sure you weren’t spending everything you have on these gifts.”
“Only a very small portion,” he assured her with an amused rumble. “I couldn’t buy this pleasure ship, but I’m sure I could buy most everything in this store.”
“Don’t do that,” she said, feeling unbelievably lighthearted. Grabbing his hand, she tugged him along. “Let’s keep exploring. I promise we’ll only buy about a quarter of the place.”
To her disappointment, there wasn’t a tailor machine. There’d be no adorable outfits for Ruby.
“She’d like this,” Myrum said, picking up something she didn’t recognize. It looked like a shallow bowl turned upside down with a long flat bottom. When he turned it she could see a hole in the front. “It remains warm no matter what the surrounding temperature. Ruby would like it.”
“Not as good as tiny sweaters, but better than her not getting anything,” Amina said as Myrum carefully set it down with everything else. She wished it was a prettier color, but maybe she could decorate it! The little lizard should have shiny, colorful things, not drab everything.
They chatted about Ruby until they turned a corner and her attention was caught by an item she wanted. She grabbed it without thinking, only to have Myrum crowd close to her.
“What’s that?”
She debated telling him the truth. She wanted to be intimate with him, but partners didn’t always like to know she enjoyed using toys on herself. Although these toys were mostly designed for Matok, they worked really well for humans. A useful quirk of their two species that had nothing else in common!
“It’s… uh,” She felt her face getting hot. She wasn’t shy about her sexuality, so why was she having a hard time now?
