“Let me know if I can help.”
“Sure,” I said.
When I stepped into the living room, Kal peeked up from his tablet. He was still wearing my hoodie. The black color looked amazing against his steel-blue scales. I wanted to drag him into my arms and kiss him senseless, but I didn’t.
“Husband, do you want to eat?”
“No.”
His tail flicked and his expression tightened. Lucy headbutted his leg, but Kal didn’t pay her any attention. His eyes followed me as I went to the door. “Are you going somewhere?” he asked.
“I need to talk to Urgg.”
Kal’s shoulders slumped, and his tail hugged his leg. With a long sigh, I moved to his side. I ran my fingers through his hair,but when he tried to put his arms around me, I pushed them away. I didn’t want to be held. He stared at me with sad eyes.
“I’m mad,” I confessed, and it didn’t hurt as much as I’d thought it would. Talking to Kal was getting easier and easier. I trusted him. He wasn’t going to retaliate. “Let me calm down, alright?”
As I stepped into the hallway, Kal said in a quiet voice, “I will be here.”
Urgg and I sank onto stools in the corner of their shop. They prodded a plate of cookies with bugs scattered throughout them like chocolate chips. Swallowing a gag, I ignored the offering and focused on Urgg who wet their lips.
“What’s wrong?” they asked.
“You saw what happened in the training session.”
“Are you concerned for your safety?”
“Kal would never hurt me. What he won’t do is talk. I need to know. How am I supposed to decide to be with him when he won’t let me know him?”
Urgg patted my wrist.
“It’s not crazy. I’m not asking for the impossible. I want a little communication. Is that too much? I don’t think so.”
“Been holding on to that for a while, I’ll wager.” Urgg ate a crunchy cookie, sending crumbs all over their shirt and the table.
I sighed. “I like Kal.”
“Of course you do.”
“But I need more.”
“Which isn’t insane, but he might not be able to give you more, at least not yet.”
“So what do I do?”
“I can’t tell you that,” Urgg said, brushing the crumbs off their shirt, which included a bug leg. “You have to accept it, or decide this relationship isn’t for you.”
That was the question. “So nothing I can do right now.”
Urgg grinned. “Come with me.”
I followed Urgg to the experience shop. Urgg smacked the counter. “Emergency, Vik. I need a suite.”
He tapped a few keys and gave Urgg two poles. “Suite one.”
“Thanks,” Urgg grunted, slapping him on the back. Vik jolted forward, shook himself, then turned back to his tablet.
Urgg ushered me into the suite and turned to the panel, picking something. The walls, floor, and ceiling flickered before the room changed. A cave formed of jagged, red rock appeared, filled with thousands of pots of different sizes, some as small as my fist to ones as tall as me.
