Chapter 18
Ro
My focus is entirely on the small warm hand and the female twining her fingers with mine. She beams up at me, and suddenly I’m lost. My entire existence and all that I am is hers. I’m as captivated in that smile as I am in her magic as it sweetly caresses mine. If all Aquana males feel this way when meeting a potential mate, I can suddenly understand why they throw themselves into such ruthless contests on the flirting grounds.
“Relax, you’re doing great. I know it’s a bit much right now, but I swear it’s not always this busy. I forgot that things were kicking off tonight. But bear with it just a little more. I have a treat for you.”
“A treat?” I inquire and she promptly nods, her fingers squeezing mine in a way that sounds a flutter of affection through my heart.
“Yep,” she says with a chuckle. “You’ve been such a good sport with the food vendors along the walk, but I thought maybe we could sit down and enjoy one of my favorite places tonight. I’m not scheduled to work at the library tomorrow, so we can enjoy some of the local flavor in the afternoon if you like.”
I nod in agreement. The food she’s fed me up until has been questionable, some verging on disgusting, but I trust her. At this point she could probably ask me to do anything, and I would nod haplessly, lost in the brightness of her eyes as she smiled at me. Therefore, I follow like an obedient hippocampus on a lead when she tugs on my hand and steers us down the crowded dock. There are so many strange smells of hot fish meat, and I am bewildered by the fact that I cannot decide whether I find them appetizing or not. They remind me of the smell of marine creatures rotting in the sun where they wash up along the rocks and beaches of the cove. That I find this smells intriguing is enough to make my stomach turn until I’m suddenly hit by a waft of sweet, fresh fish as Keri tugs me inside a restaurant.
I cast a curious glance around at the dimly lit interior. Much of the restaurant is done in deep reds and browns with hints of gold that I find to be visually pleasing, as is the tank along one wall filled with several brightly colored fish. The atmosphere is pleasant, and when we are seated at a table, I find myself peering at the sheet of human characters that I cannot read with interest. Keri scoots closer, and I nearly groan as her scent fills my nose.
“From your description of foods your people enjoy, I thought you might enjoy tasting some sushi and sashimi,” she says in a low voice. “How much do you trust me?”
I gaze over at her, entirely fascinated with the pleasure in her gaze and the way the lighting makes her eyes appear darker and more mysterious like the depths hidden from the sun.
“Eternally,” I rasp, and her smile disappears for a second as she blinks in surprise before returning even more brilliantly.
A woman dressed in a very plain but elegant manner stops at our table and waits with a patient smile as my mate asks for a number of things that don’t sound familiar to me. As I expect this, I content myself with simply observing my surroundings, but most especially the female sitting across from me until my attention is distracted by several long, narrow plates set in front of us with a pair of thin paper packages set at each of our sides.
I pick mine up and peer at it curiously as I slowly strip the paper from the wood tucked inside. I look over at my mate and see that she already has hers open and is watching me with an amused expression. Seeing that she’s gained my attention, she breaks the wood into two thin sticks and slowly demonstrates how she places them in her hand. I observe the way she maneuvers the sticks with fascination as she carefully plucks up something she calls a Dragon Roll and pops it into her mouth. I do not think it is truly made of dragon—I cannot imagine eating sea dragon as they are tough and surely taste as rancid as their personalities—but there is a spicy scent to it that I enjoy that makes me eager to try.
Cracking my sticks carefully to separate them, I attempt to spear one of the morsels, only to have the deliciously wrapped bits of fish and vegetation fall back onto the plate. I scowl at it for a long moment and attempt to grab it again, but not only do I drop my bottom stick so that it clatters useless to the table, now the roll has also fallen apart to lay strewn across the table. I gape at the mess and then snarl with determination, but my heart eases at the soft laughter of my mate as she watches. Keri reaches for another with her sticks, keeping her movements slow and exaggerated for my benefit. My eyes track the way she moves her hand as she plucks another disc the way I would pluck something up with my claws. I stare intently at the sushi and then my sticks.
I narrow my eyes at the bits of wood, and I shift them around in my fingers until I get a comfortable grip where they feel like balanced extensions from my hand. The tip of my claw unintentionally pierces the soft wood of the top stick, but as I give a few experimental moves, I decide that this is not as difficult as it looks. I am still a little unsure as I hover with the sticks suspended over the food. Keri gives me an encouraging smile, however, and I abandon the rolls in favor of the lumps of rice with slivers of raw tuna on it.
My mouth salivates with the familiar scent, but I take my time picking it up between the sticks and bringing it to my mouth. The rice is cold and pleasant—and far more agreeable than the bread stuff that humans use on everything that gives me terrible indigestion. So is the small amount of seaweed wrapped around it. But I groan with pleasure when I bite into the tuna and it melts in my mouth. Keri chuckles, and I feel something pressed against my wrist. Curious, I look down at the tiny cup there.
“I thought you might enjoy the sake. I know some people prefer it warm, but I like it chilled, especially when I’m enjoying it with sushi.”
I pick the cup up and give the contents a curious sniff. It smells pleasing. Still, I watch my mate over its rim as she takes a delicate sip, and I follow suit. The spice of the drink washes over my tongue and I freeze thoughtfully, entirely uncertain, as I allow the flavor to settle and swallow.
“You are right!” I am so pleasantly surprised that I immediately snatch up a roll and stuff it in my mouth, eager for another burst of flavor. I only just barely get it swallowed before I take another sip and settle back into my seat with a happy sigh, my eyes closing as I savor the taste. “Ah, delicious.”
At my mate’s giggle, I open my eyes to peer over at her. The corners of her mouth curl, and she points her sticks at me.
“I knew that this would be a great idea! And look at you getting the hang of chopsticks so quickly! I’m kind of jealous actually. It took me months to even be functional with them,” she admits.
I preen at the compliment and her smile widens as I quickly eat three more. She then blinks as I dive in and retrieve a fourth, a tasty prawn right from under her nose.
“Okay, you’re a little too good,” she adds dryly.
I grin but slow down my pace so that I can once again resume savoring the flavors as my female fills me in about the rest of her day. As I did little else but wait for her to be released while I amused myself with the television in my room—still a wonder to me after all this time flitting along the coastal cities among humans—I have little to offer the conversation. So I eat and listen, and tip back tiny glass after tiny glass of the exceptionally delicious sake that rushes over my tongue and pools with heat in my belly. It is not until we are half done with the meal that the conversation turns toward some of the customs and habits of Aquanas at meal times, all of which she listens to with the same rapt focus that she always gives me. It flatters me that she finds it so interesting since it is hardly what I would consider information of interest, and I wonder if perhaps she feels even a small amount of the desire to be together that I feel every day. Truthfully, at this point I want to simply bask in her attention any way I can get it. I would reveal to her every secret and possibly earn the scorn of my entire pod just to have her feel as I do.
More than anything, I want the day to never end so that I can remain here by her side, but I am far too aware of the sun. Even indoors I can feel it sinking lower on the horizon. When our meal concludes, there is no time to walk her home or to enjoy the docks with her. The sky is orange and scarlet with the last fires of the sun, and so I take her hand in mine and let her walk with me to a private little alcove where I found a secure dry spot to store my clothes during the night.
Keri’s eyes follow me as I strip and slip down into the cool water but my heart clenches painfully in my chest when I feel an echo of sadness from her. I am helpless to offer her much meaningful comfort and it’s all I can do not to claw at my forming tail with frustration as I drop deeper into the water. My fins flick, propelling me back further from the shore, and we watch each other for a moment until I cannot stand it any longer and dive down into the darkness.
Only when I am certain that she has left the embankment do I break the surface and watch her sorrowfully as she heads down the dock in her little orange dress that reminds me so much of the sun.