The paw darted out again.
Karuk raised his eyebrow, staring at the box for a moment, before meeting her eyes again.
Was the voice coming from the box?
And what in the stars was a Mister Fluffikins?
The female pulled the box closer to her body and looked at the creature in the box. “Be nice,” she whispered, then looked back at him with her intriguing dark eyes. “Mister Fluffikins is not a fan of strangers.”
Karuk blinked. “Males, in particular, it seems.”
This made her blink twice. “Uh, sure.” She took a step toward him. “I’m Jenny. From Earth.” She held out her hand.
What did that mean?
She froze for a second. “Right, you probably don’t shake hands.”
Karuk held up his hand and shook it in the air. “This?” It seemed a strange way to greet someone.
“No, like this,” She said, and turned to one other. “Brooklyn?”
The other female, Brooklyn, held out her hand. “Hi, nice to meet you,” she said, loudly and exaggeratedly.
Jenny clenched her hand, and they raised and lowered their hands together. “Nice to meet you too,” she said, again, overly necessarily.
Well, Karuk was understanding why they were looking for mates. These beings seemed to be odd, to say the least.
“That’s a hand shake,” Jenny said, and she let go of Brooklyn’s hand.
“It’s what we do on Earth,” Brooklyn added. She patted her chest. “I’m Brooklyn.”
Karuk nodded. “I am Karuk—” he almost added more to his name, like his old delegation, but he stopped himself. “Karuk.”
“A pleasure,” Brooklyn said.
The Charro came over to them. “Nice to see some interaction, but for now, we do have to get the Earthlings settled.”
Karuk glanced at him. “Earthlings?”
“That’s what they call themselves,” Erzo said. “I’m sure you all will see each other around. Ladies, however, we need to be moving along.”
“Right, of course,” Brooklyn said.
“Yes, well, yes,” Jenny said, and adjusted her carrier with her little creature in it.
It almost slipped out of her hand.
Karuk reached out, catching the box before it hit the ground, and held it out to her.
“Oh, thank you!” Jenny said. “I appreciate that.”
“At least someone cares if I fall,” snarled the little creature inside.
Karuk glanced at the box, seeing the fur through the holes. “A feisty one, you have there.”
She nodded. “Mister Fluffikins certainly has plenty of attitude from time to time. He’s just ready to get out of his box.”
“Then you should release him soon. Let him run free.”
