Chapter 12
With Amber Hands
The first thing I noticed about our date was that Araxis had come armed. As I settled into the private shuttle that would take us from the dock of Verdant Ward to the dock at Central, I nudged his hip with my own. "Planning on shooting someone?" I asked mildly, with a pointed look at his arc lance.
Araxis shrugged. "Only if it will impress you."
"Better be a good shot then," I said. I had to admit that it was possible that if Araxis thought he needed to go to the botanical gardens with a gun strapped to his hip, we were in a bit more general danger than I'd thought.
He was probably just being extra cautious: after all, I'd nearly been tortured and/or killed in a shady alleyway and the apologetic message I'd received from Val just before we left – sorry, Sashen, they're unknowns; we'd have to be on Sozamia to get better intel, but I promise I'll keep an ear to the ground and will let you know if anyone decides to hire more competent mercs!
– meant that we didn't have a single good lead on who the fuck was behind it.
But did it really matter who had paid two dickheads to jump me?
It could have been anyone for any reason at all: a disgruntled fan, another creche, someone I was rude to in passing once.
It didn't make much of a difference, not really, because they hadn't been successful.
I was fine, and now Araxis brought a gun on dates, so whatever. Who fucking cared.
Central Ward was the seat of government on Sozamia and while there had been some unrest at the docks earlier in the week, this time about the relocation of a nearby refinery and the expected effect on a small colony near the new facility, the guards had cleared everyone out since then.
It was hard not to notice the increased presence of the station guard, though, as they patrolled the docks and as we passed through the checkpoint into the ward.
Araxis's credentials must have been a lot more impressive than mine because we were through in the blink of an eye; they hadn't even seemed concerned that he was carrying a weapon.
Once we were in Central Ward, it was a short ward shuttle to the gardens, which unfolded in a massive building of metal and segmented glass that looked like it was spun from sugar.
Something like giddy delight – what a novel fucking feeling – bubbled inside of me as we walked inside the towering foyer, different rooms spinning off the massive space like spokes on a wheel.
I pulled up the garden map on my wristband, flicking through the options before us.
Each section replicated a different ecosystem from one of the cultures who'd signed on with Primus.
There were personal climate control devices for rent for those who were particularly sensitive to changes in temperature and humidity.
"Have you been to Honnos?" I asked, gesturing to the part of the map that was meant to represent the abayan empire. "Is it anything like Thelessia?"
Araxis made a soft sound. "I thought we might finish our walk in the moon gardens.
It is quite different from Thelessia. Honnos is orbit-locked, with the settlements on the dark side of the moon; much of the planet is water.
The flora is remarkable as a result." As he spoke, Araxis seemed to light up, his eyes bright and keen as we strolled toward one massive archway, which hummed with a shimmering shield to keep the atmosphere of the biosphere locked in place.
"I'd always hoped to go but – One moment. Let me speak with an employee."
Araxis waved down one of the gardens staff, a pulsing nyaan, and had a few quiet words off to one side. In short order, a manager swept into the atrium, beaming as they offered us our private tour, well before any visitors who I’d watched clock us worked up the courage to come over.
"Our private walkway will take you through all zones of the gardens," said the manager, a pale pink sephear whose name I'd forgotten immediately and whose eyes I couldn't quite meet without feeling a twist of guilt.
She pushed open a glass doorway that led to a narrow path winding through what looked to be a forest on one of the brin planets, all towering trees, sprays of bright flowers, and cool, drifting clouds of mist. She flexed her mandibles to smile benevolently at the pair of us as we stepped inside the moist air of the first biosphere.
"Thank you ever so much for your patronage.
It is our honour to offer a curated experience to people of significance.
Perhaps if you might later leave a review of our facility? "
We made all the right sounds – in this case, I refrained from gagging at the phrase people of significance – and she bowed her head, fronds drifting in a pleased cloud behind her, before she shut the door and left us on our own.
I looked at Araxis. "We're significant. I still think that’s fucking weird."
He fluted out a hard breath, shaking his head in disbelief. "I find it strange as well," he said. "I am not accustomed to being seen or noticed, much less… recognized."
"And how are you enjoying your newfound celebrity?
" I shoved my hands in my pockets and began ambling down the pale stone pathway.
It was wide enough for us to walk side-by-side, but narrow enough that our shoulders continued to brush.
Although I thought they might have ended up brushing regularly anyway, no matter how wide the path was.
The air in this dome was sweet and refreshing, like slipping into a climate controlled dome on club nights.
"I find it rather uncomfortable," Araxis admitted, reaching back to thoughtlessly touch his crest, although it was braided immaculately, not a quill out of place.
"You know that I have not often spent much time away from the creche.
On those times that I did travel to other planets or stations, my task was to be unobserved.
To be efficient with my time and to return without being noticed.
I knew it would be different once we made our petition to be reinstated – and once I had competed in the Tournament, but I had not considered the… scope."
I paused to stare up at the canopy overhead as we walked along a gentle curve.
The tree that towered above us had branching arms that reached out in every direction, with tiny green needles instead of leaves.
"You know, I thought I was used to being gawked at, but even I find being recognized...
bizarre." I let myself sneak a look at Araxis, who had wandered off to gently touch a massive yellow flower that bobbed at about waist height.
"I think it's helped, going somewhere where no one noticed.
Or – I don't know. I thought no one was noticing, but I guess they really were.
I bet every abaya I met got a real kick out of the whole song and dance I did when I introduced myself, like they didn't know exactly who I was. "
He looked at me, sly. "Yes, you are rather singular among my people," he said, still gently stroking the petal, which, admittedly, was doing some funny things to my insides.
It really had been a long time. "I find myself grateful that Elethenn comes from such a traditional creche.
Someone with less –" He paused, trying to find the right word.
"Anxiety?" I offered. "Awkwardness?"
"Hm, I had intended to say integrity. Another sinnenthi would have made their suit more plain." His hands drifted away from the flowers, coming to rest behind his back.
"Yeah, but – Can you explain that to me? He was trying to… intrude, right?"
Araxis blinked rapidly, tipping his chin down in a short nod.
"But he isn't attracted to me," I continued, bewildered. "Either that, or I've entirely lost my touch. Or maybe I’m a lot worse at reading abayan non-verbal cues than I thought."
"You have not lost your touch. That is my understanding as well," Araxis said slowly, carefully, as if I might be insulted.
It was kind of him to worry about my feelings, I guess, but if I took it to heart when people weren't into me, I wouldn't have lasted very long at the den.
Someone else's lack of attraction wasn't about me, it was about them.
"So he would have, what, tried to whisk me away and then – How does that work, if part of being a good sinnenthi is fucking your virra well? I mean, he wouldn’t have slept with me out of a sense of duty... Right?"
Araxis blinked several more times, which was enough of an answer for me.
"But –" I started, stomach tight as I sifted back through everything with Araxis. He had planned on seducing me, even when he thought he wasn’t interested in sex.
"Araxis, that's not why you – It wasn't because you felt that you had to –"
He flushed and shook his head resolutely.
"No, Sashen. I have never had sex with you out of a sense of duty.
Indeed, most of the time, you – Well. I only meant to say that another sinnenthi would have pursued you more openly.
You might expect that still. I am certain that is why Crozani of Creche Naival approached you.
Creche Naival would be most pleased to win you, as would many others. "
I studied him as the sweet air of the biosphere caressed my neck.
He'd said that – that someone else might try to fuck me – with a decidedly, maybe deliberately, neutral tone, the trees around us swaying in a gentle artificial breeze.
"Well, they can come on to me as much as they want," I said. "It won't get them anywhere."
"No? That was –" He huffed, shaking his head and turning to move to another burst of massive flowers. "I had wondered. As I had… wondered about Elethenn."