“I understand. That’s rather inconvenient," I commented.
“It is,” he replied, wiping his nose with a square of cloth. “I’m not as bad as Teddy, though. He swells the fuck up, to the point Klars worries he’ll die if he doesn’t get injections.”
Worry pulsed in my gut, and I stepped closer. “Do you need me to escort you to the medbay? Are you certain you’re safe? I don’t wish for anything to happen to you.”
Camden grinned. “I’m okay. I’m not going to die on you.”
“Good. It would be a shame to lose a friend like you.” I gave him a smile and flicked my tail toward the lift. “Do you want to join me on my walk?”
“Sure.” He moved to my side. “Is Bob okay?” Camden peered at the shrieking kit.
“He’s in a foul mood.”
“And Seth let you take him?”
I grinned, warmth filling me. “Seth trusts me.”
“Apparently.”
“How are you and Noxlyn getting along?” I asked, even though I was fairly certain of the answer. The two of them were always next to each other now.
“Great,” he replied, a massive smile blooming on his face. “Thank you for introducing us. Nox is hilarious. I still can’t believe he thought humans were plants when he first startedstalking Seth. Like, how did he think we were spicy potatoes? Cannibals? I can’t believe it.”
I chuckled. I had no idea where he’d come up with that theory.
“He’s had some odd theories over the years,” Camden continued, “but he’s very serious about his study. And I like helping him. It keeps me busy. Very,verybusy.”
I cocked my head to the side at his distant expression and the tension in his body. Was staying busy why he was constantly collecting friends? I’d thought he might be lonely.
“Which is good,” Camden said with a bright smile. “I like being busy.”
“Then I’m glad Noxlyn is assisting you in that.”
“He is. I turned him onto documentaries.”
I blinked. What?
“He’s obsessed with ocean ones now. He was going on and on about how blue whales look like some big space monster called siscurra.”
I had no idea what a blue whale was, even with NAID supplying translations, but siscurra were fascinating. “Yes, the Drakcol Empire has only seen siscurra five times. Very little is known about them. They are massive and travel through portals, eating nutrients in space.”
“Yeah, Nox thinks they’re awesome. I’d love to see a siscurra.”
“Siscurras,” I corrected.
“What?”
“Siscurra is plural and siscurras is singular.”
“Cool,” he said, and I blinked again. What did temperature have to do with anything? Camden continued, “I want to see one.”
“Then look at the images we’d captured. You are unlikely to see one, and you shouldn’t wish for it. If a siscurras was near the ship, we might get sucked into their mouth or pulled into the portal and crushed, or they might hit us and destroy the ship.”
“Well, that’d suck.”
“Indeed,” I replied.
“Can I ask you a question?”
