Chapter 29
Holly
Holly was left alone in the common room of the human quarters after Tilii left.
Their domini attendant, a young female close to Peony, had brought the many platters and bowls of food – all Hattie’s known favorites – that they would be using to tempt her.
There was even a couple bowls of cubed meat.
All cooked and tossed with spices. It was a rather simple way to serve meat but cubed and tossed with spices was how the domini ate their meat.
It was just usually raw. The cooking process made the meat smell foul to them.
But the chefs, who all worked with and adored Hattie, had been happy to burn the meat cubes for her.
At the moment, Holly was the only one in the room. She was waiting for her friends to show up and also for Romival to return as he said he would.
Before they left his home, as she promised, she had made the bed.
It felt kind of weird since she knew he put such meaning behind it, but the burning way he stared at her, pleasure and joy flashing in his three blue eyes made it special.
She had been afraid that, like Peony, she would have suddenly found herself paranoid about the making of the bed, but it had been exactly like any other time she had done the chore.
And it made Romival happy, so it was a little thing she didn’t mind doing.
He had kissed her breathless afterwards, but nothing more. When he returned her to the palace, he told her that he had to finish a time sensitive task this morning for one of his many projects, but he would be back soon to make sure Hattie was all right.
Atem also had some important planet ruler stuff to do, which meant that Peony had to go with him, so they would both be returning soon as well.
Scarlet had to take Alanna to the healing center since Alanna got her period.
The human girls didn’t mind going through with the bodily function as normal, but it really bothered Atem that they would be bleeding and in pain.
Just like letting him know where they were, they had agreed to let Donivi, as a healer, quickly end their periods to prevent his instincts from stressing him out.
But them not being here was fine. It might be an intervention, but Holly didn’t want Hattie to walk in, see them all, then immediately feel threatened and put her guard up.
So, instead, she waited by herself for her friend to wake up.
She was the latest riser among them, especially since there was no coffee to tempt her out.
That meant when she had breakfast, she was usually still in her pajamas.
She would then return to her room to get dressed.
Which, since she liked to luxuriate in the tub and spent a lot of time on her appearance, took a lot of time.
Holly was patient, however, as she hovered near Hattie’s closed door. Waiting.
Waiting…
When it finally slid open and Hattie emerged fully dressed and ready for the day, Holly immediately turned on a bright smile.
“Hey, Hattie,” she waved.
Hattie looked surprised then smiled. “Hey! You’re back! Atem was going out of his mind this morning when Romival didn’t bring you home.”
Holly laughed. “Yeah. I heard. Want all the juicy details?”
Just like she knew it would, the offer immediately made Hattie’s eyes brighten.
She loudly declared that yes, of course she would.
She then grabbed Holly’s hand and yanked her to the lounge cushions around the food laden table, so excited by the idea of getting some good gossip that she didn’t notice the tempting trap laid out for her.
“Tell me everything,” she ordered, curling her legs under herself, facing Holly head on. “What happened after you left the cafeteria yesterday?”
“Nothing much. We went back to his place.”
“Ye-e-eah,” Hattie leaned forward eagerly laughed, feeling her face burn. “Did you…?”
Holly didn’t answer. Hattie squealed.
“I knew it! What’s the knot like? Peony says it’s awesome. Is that true?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t let him… you know.”
“What?! Why not?!”
“I’m not trying not to get pregnant over here! This planet doesn’t have birth control.”
“Oh, yeah.” Hattie said like that wasn’t a consideration for her.
“Well, Scarlet says she’s working on it with Donivi.
She brought up IUDs to him, but apparently the idea of shoving something into our uterus horrifies him on account of the fact that you have to stab through the cervix to do it.
So, she’s trying for hormonal instead. He’s more open to that one, but she said he’s worried about the effects it would have on our body.
Mostly because Scarlet told him about the side effects. ”
Holly found herself smiling. “They’re more worried about side effects than human men ever were.”
“They got their dicks wet consequence free. What do they care?” Hattie shrugged before shaking her head. “No, wait. We were talking about you and Romival. So, aside from the knot thing, how’s the rest of it?”
Holly grinned, unable to help herself. “Pretty amazing.”
Hattie squealed, bouncing in her chair. “I’m so happy for you!”
“I owe a lot of it to you, actually.”
“Huh? Me?”
“Sure.” Holly smiled at her warmly. “You’ve been helping me this whole time. Getting me ready for dates and encouraging me and yesterday how you took Ryna away? You’re like my own personal fairy godmother.”
“Aw. Stop it!” Hattie said shyly, waving the words away as she beamed. “That’s just normal friend stuff.”
“Still. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had.”
Holly reached down and plucked two of the cupcakes off their trays.
They were small – mini cupcakes. A recipe that Hattie had been working on, made difficult by the fact that the domini didn’t really have grains as part of their diet.
She was having to make her own flour substitutes out of alien ingredients, so it was a constant experiment.
These ones had been made by the castle chefs, following Hattie’s in-progress recipe.
The icing on top was bright blue, partially made from sugar and partially from fruit, making it more of a jam. That part, at least, was amazing.
Holly held one out to Hattie, the other in her own hand. “No booze but still. A toast. To you. For everything you’ve done for me.”
Hattie was looking at the tiny, brown and blue cupcake like it was a threat. She quickly fixed an uneasy smile on her face. “Thanks. But I just had breakfast.”
“It’s just one cupcake, Hattie. Take it.” Holly pressed more instantly.
“No, really. I’m-”
“Take the cupcake.” Holly’s voice was harder this time. Brokering no argument. Hattie stared at her, vulnerability written clearly across her face.
She said nothing.
“I need to see you eat this. Right now.” Holly pushed it on her even as Hattie leaned back.
“I-It’s g-got a… a lot of sugar…”
“I know. You told us that the nut flour was pretty bland and bitter, so you needed a lot of sugar to combat the taste.”
“You remember that?”
“Of course.” Holly’s face softened a bit. “You’re my best friend. I listen when you talk. Especially when it’s things you’re excited about. And I notice when you don’t eat. Take the cupcake. Right now. I mean it.”
Hattie’s lip trembled. She just stared at the innocuous treat, a single tear falling.
“If you want to lose weight, I’m with you.
A thousand percent. You know that.” Holly pressed the cupcake against her until Hattie was either forced to grab it or have it smeared across her chest. “I’ll happily be your work out buddy.
I’ll even diet with you if you want. But starving yourself is going to accomplish absolutely nothing. ”
Hattie sniffled, turning the tiny cake in her hands. “He’s not the first one to call me fat, you know. I mean, I own a mirror. I know my clothing size. It’s not like I’m unaware of it.”
Holly sat back in her own cushion, still holding onto her cupcake, staring at her friend. Wanting to assure her that she wasn’t fat but wanting to hear her get this out more.
“My ex… He was always commenting on my weight. Saying how lucky I was that he was even willing to date me. That I would never do better than him. He’d call them my love handles like he was being affectionate, but then he’d squeeze until he made rolls and play with them.
He’d call me dough girl or chunky-monkey or he’d start telling ‘my girlfriend is so fat…’ jokes.
And he’d say it was all a joke or it was just for fun and that he really loved me. But it didn’t stop. Even when I asked.”
“Hattie…”
“I know. I get it now. Like, looking back it’s stupid obvious what he was doing. That he was only trying to keep my self-esteem down, so I’d remain with him no matter how bad he treated me.”
“Did he hit you?” Holly asked, her voice soft.
“No.” Hattie sighed, lowering the cupcake and her eyes.
“No, nothing like that. It was just everything he said. Eventually, it got to be too much, and I left. Realized what he had been doing to me for years. Told myself that I would never let that kind of thing happen again. So, when Tuvo said that… I don’t know.
It just made me think of everything Keith had said and done and I just… ”
Her voice trailed off, but Holly didn’t really need her to continue. She scooted to the edge of her cushion, enough so that she could reach out and touch Hattie’s thigh.
“Hey, you listen to me,” she said, waiting until Hattie looked at her before continuing.
“Tuvo is an ass. He has his preference, and that’s fine.
But if he’s the kind of guy that would make that kind of comment, then he’s not worth you hurting yourself over.
Trust me, there are plenty of domini guys that would love every single inch of you and never think to tell you that you’re too ‘soft’ for them.
You know, the entire academy was having a debate last night over who was sexier between the two of us. ”
Hattie laughed weakly, brushing off her hand. “Stop…”