He opened his mouth to speak, but the heavy slam of a door jarred them both.
Her tea spilled on the counter.
Stron glanced at her, then at the spill. He grimaced.
Adryel reached to catch it with her hand Some kind of way to stop it from running off the counter, and looked for a towel to clean it.
Instead, three circular cleaner bots the size of her palm emerged from the countertop, and immediately rolled over and around the spill, cleaned the mess.
She blinked, picking up her cup as they cleaned the pooling tea, and then disappeared back into the countertop.
She didn’t want to guess what a food prep update like that would cost.
“Did you get your dinner?” A new voice cracked through the room. “Oh, my!”
Adryel turned toward the voice, and saw an elderly Kantenan female standing in the main seating area. Her horns were curled around her head, her hair fluffed and wrapped around them, a strawberry blonde color mixed with white. Lines creased her mouth and at her eyes, but they merely emphasized the wide smile on her face.
She clapped her hands together like a child as she shuffled forward. “Oh, you brought her here! If I had known, I would have made more!”
“Baba!” Stron said. “Here, let me help you.” He reached her in a moment and held out his arm.
“I can manage,” Baba replied, but she leaned into him, and her footing seemed more solid as she crossed the room with him.
“But it would be rude of me not to help,” Stron replied.
She sighed, but had a twinkle in her eye.
“You made this?” Adryel asked, wondering why in the world Stron had such an old person living with him. “It’s wonderful.”
“Oh, blessings, young miss. I knew this one would be having a tough day, from all the reports. I knew he’d need a comfort meal.”
Stron rolled his eyes. “Baba, this is Adryel. Adryel, this is my grandmother.”
“Oh, is she, is she your foreigner?” Baba asked, who wasn’t as tall as Stron, but still came up to just above his shoulder.
They had very similar coloring, and even the pattern on his horns was similar to hers, though hers were smaller, and looked less strong.
Stron glanced at Adryel then back at the elder female. “Well Baba, we don’t know yet.”
She patted his hand. “But do you like her?”
“She is intriguing.” Stron led her to the seating area nearby.
“Temperamental, too,” Baba said. “You already made her start yelling.”
“I didn’t make her do anything.”
“Yes, he did,” Adryel said. “He was rude.”
“Well, that’s good,” Baba said as she took a seat on one of the wide sofas. “If he’s already making you yell at him, then he’s getting under your skin.” She patted the chair. “Come, sit with me, girl. Tell me who you are.”
Adryel glanced at Stron, then back at Baba. “Um, sure.” She sat on the sofa near her and glanced at the woman.
She had kind eyes.
Then she cut to Stron, the kindness turning stern. “You should apologize.”
“For what?” Stron asked.
