“Who did it?” Kal asked, his voice deep and rough.
“Urgg, but they didn’t mean to. It was meant to be comforting pats,” I explained.
His expression calmed, and his fingers continued to trace the bruise right above my elbow. “Why didn’t you tell them to stop?”
I shrugged.
“You couldn’t get the words out?”
“Pain’s not supposed to bother men.” I’d always wanted to be a man’s man like my grandfather. Smoking. Drinking. Not crying. Not feeling or expressing anything. My grandfather had tried to instill that mentality in me with his fists. It hadn’t worked.
As an adult, I recognized how unhealthy that was, but I couldn’t easily change the patterns carved into my mind.
Kal caught my chin. “Pain affects everyone. Tell Urgg next time. I don’t like you hurting.”
A star burst in my chest. “I will.”
“Now, let’s watch this baking show, and I will try to figure it out, though I might read at the same time.”
I turned toward the TV while Kal snagged a book from the shelf before settling behind me. His steady presence pressed into my side, and I snuggled closer, enjoying the warmth I was coming to expect.
Chapter 14
Let's try new food.
“Are you meeting with Urgg?” Kal asked as he reached around me to grab a platter from the food dispenser.
Managing not to flinch, I shook my head. “They’re busy today. Are you seeing Pintimzol?”
“Yes, I also have a meeting with Talvax. We’re approaching the first sanctioned planet on our route home. She wants to trade and allow shore leave. We’ll probably stay there for about a week.” He set the platter on the table before sitting on one of the woven mats.
As I placed Lucy’s food on the ground, her tail wiggled, vibrating with happiness. I sat across from Kal and put some fruit, meat, and bread on my plate—the usual fare for drakcol. I loved the red berries called tuo. They were sweet and had a nice snap to them.
“Did you want to get our afternoon meal in the promenade today?” Kal asked as he played with his food, claws scraping against the plate. He was usually a single-minded eater, consuming way more than me or any human I’d ever met.
My first instinct was to say yes, but I swallowed it, and actually thought about it. Did I want to go? “That sounds fun.”
“Truly?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll come get you after I meet with Talvax.”
“We can stop by the experience place afterward if you want,” I offered.
“I would enjoy that.”
“Cool,” I said, which made him blink. That word never translated well. “I mean, awesome.”
After we’d made our plans, he returned to his single-minded eating. I watched him, mind blank. It was nice, this moment. Petting Lucy. Watching Kal. Eating. Something I could get used to. This life he offered could be this simple, which had the potential to be wonderful. On the flip side, saying yes would take me from everything I’d ever known.
“My Seth?” he asked, lowering a piece of fruit. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah.”
“Not that I mind, but you’re staring at me.”
With a slight chuckle, I took a drink of water. “I am.”
