Even so, she didn’t feel totally at ease. She felt like something was missing, and seeing Zac and Laila so happy together had started a suspicion of exactly what that missing thing was.
She huffed a breath out. Whatever. At least she had the advanced Taurean technology to geek out on, right? And that’s what she did. She lost herself in her work, avoiding any kind of social interaction like this.
“Krystal?” Laila’s voice broke through her thoughts, and she jolted upright in her seat.
“Sorry! Did you say something?” Krystal had a habit of disappearing into her thoughts. It sometimes felt like she had blinked and an hour had passed.
Laila smiled. “I should be used to it by now, right? Always daydreaming.”
“Well, you know me.” Krystal shrugged, forcing a smile. It wasn’t a dream, more a nightmare ever since the Xakul had appeared.
“Yes, and we’ve hardly seen each other in almost a year. I want to make sure you’re OK.” Laila leaned forward in her seat and reached to pat Krystal’s hand, the motherly gesture bringing a lump to her throat, and she swallowed. As much as the big sister routine bugged her, she really had missed Laila. She took a sip of the engine coolant drink again and swallowed, the burning sensation becoming a warm glow. She dropped her gaze to look into the depths of the glass, watching as the colors swirled together like a stormy sea.
A group of Taureans nearby broke into loud laughter, one of them singing a few lines of a song that sounded suspiciously like a sea shanty. Krystal glanced at them, watching as they laughingly threw arms around each other and swayed from side to side. Their heads were close together, close-cropped hair and dark uniforms with the colored arm bands that marked them as Taurean warriors.
Krystal looked down at her own lumpy boilersuit and picked at a loose thread on the too-large cuff.
“It’s all right for you,” she said, tracing the rim of her glass with one finger.
“What’s all right for me?” Laila hummed along with the tune the Taureans were singing, smiling absently.
“This.” Krystal gestured around the room. “Look at them all.” Everything was just a little off here. The furniture was too big, the clothes too big, the people. Everything.
Laila looked around and back at Krystal, a puzzled look on her face. “What about them?”
“They’re huge!” Krystal choked out.
Laila laughed. “Really? That’s what’s bothering you?” She took a swig of her drink and swallowed, pulling a face at the strong flavor.
Krystal scoffed. “I’m barely 5’3”, Laila. You’re the one who scored all the height in the family.” Krystal kicked her legs under the table. “My feet don’t even touch the floor!”
Laila bit her lip to stifle a laugh. “Ok, that’s true. But they still tower over me.”
Krystal raised an eyebrow and sat back in her seat; arms crossed over her chest. “Sure. At least you can reach all the controls without a step stool.”
Laila slapped a hand over her mouth, eyes twinkling.
“Oh, laugh all you want, giraffe girl.” Krystal used the childhood nickname that Laila had earned after her growth spurt at twelve. “It makes me feel so much better.”
Laila bit her lip and got herself under control. “I’m sorry, Krys. It is kind of funny, though.”
“Not when you have to carry around a step stool all the time, and your tools and all the other gadgetry. When you don’t read Taurean and the translator doesn’t work to translate written languages and—”
“All right, I get it.” Laila held up a hand. “Do you want me to talk to your boss about it?”
“No!” Krystal sat bolt upright in her chair, waving her hand in a chopping motion. “No. It’s bad enough that she thinks I’m a child because of my height. Can you imagine what she would think if my big sister was to talk to her?”
“Yeah, I see how that wouldn’t help.” Laila grimaced.
Desperate to move the conversation away from herself, Krystal swiveled in her chair, searching the room and zeroing in on the only other familiar figures in the bar. “Was that… T’arq… you were talking to at the bar?”
Laila’s eyebrows shot into her hair. “Don’t forget Zac, too.” She smirked. “But I thought you weren’t paying any attention?”
Krystal fidgeted, looking at her hands and willing her face to not go red. “I wasn’t,” she mumbled, flushing.
Would she ever outgrow her intense blushing? It was embarrassing.
“Sure.” Laila drew out the word in a sing-song voice that said she thought the exact opposite.
