Chapter 15
Scarlet
She had grabbed his hand.
She hadn’t meant to. Well, she did, but not in the way she knew he would take it.
Part of being a healer was learning the big differences in culture between their people.
And one of those was that, for the domini, hand holding was a much bigger deal than it was to humans.
Not of a sexual nature or anything, but an intimate one.
It was a sign of deep trust in someone to give them your hand because, in holding someone’s hand, it was easy to disable or attack them.
And since the domini were so aggressive and combative, even in just day to day life, that was a genuine risk for most people – not like how shaking hands was just a residual from ye olden times to prove that you didn't have a weapon. It was still relevant to this day.
So, when Havali had put out his hand, he had just meant it as a gesture. But Scarlet had taken it in the human way – him offering his hand to help her up. Something that, while it could be, was not actually inherently intimate at all.
And she had remembered the difference in their culture only after she let him go and saw him flexing his hand, looking at it with all three, darkened eyes. Not like he was displeased, but like he was enthralled.
She wasn’t sure what to do, so she said nothing as they flew back through the Coalition District, through the meadows of the wild district beyond it – which was lit up with bugs she knew couldn’t be fireflies but were glowing in a similar way like multicolored Christmas lights where the night shields were beginning to be drawn – then into the urban district beyond which was still brightly lit as it was only the evening here.
It was kind of weird trying to track time when the sun never changed locations and the coming of night was like watching tarps being pulled across huge segments of the sky.
They didn't have the dimness of early evening or morning here, just constant brightness until the artificial night was pulled over their heads and the stars were projected onto the back.
Weird, but not altogether bad. Interesting, if nothing else.
The place Havali took her to was at the top of one of the big skyscrapers. He pulled the hover right up to what looked like a gangplank. Not a landing platform, but more like mid-air docks that were staffed by aliens that could only be valet.
He offered her his hand to help her down – and this time, it was definitely an offer, not a gesture. She hesitated only a moment before taking it. He let her go once she was steady on her feet but lingered just a bit as they walked forward.
“Welcome to Sa’Vadra’s,” a bright faced female who, while pretty, was largely insectoid and kind of creepy for that reason alone. “Do you have a reservation?”
“First Guardian Havali and one guest,” he said, putting a hand to Scarlet’s lower back.
It might be too soon for hand holding – and that was a hilarious thought – but he couldn’t seem to stop touching her in some way.
The female made a strangely soothing buzzing sound as she consulted her screen. It was only a moment, then she smiled at them, just as sweetly as before. “Honored guests, you accommodations are ready. Please step on the lift and you will be brought to your table.”
“Lift?” Scarlet looked to Havali.
He only smiled as he walked forward with her past the opaque, green glass doors.
Instead of a restaurant, however, it was a small, circular room, like an elevator. A message in Standard flashed across the wall.
“Please stand away from the edges.”
Scarlet opened her mouth to ask what that meant, when suddenly they were moving. She wasn’t surprised until, suddenly, the roof overhead pulled back, and the lift rose straight up into the air. She gasped, grabbing Havali’s arm, because there were no rails!
But that was quickly pushed aside because the view was breathtaking.
The restaurant at the top was not an indoor building with tables and waiters moving around.
Instead, it was the inside of a giant fountain.
Water fell down in a curtain from above, encasing them in liquid walls, that hit a green, crystalline glass funnel at the bottom that brought it all back up to recirculate.
Through the water curtain, so smooth and clear, she had an unobstructed view in all directions.
The entire city, glowing from the light now coming in at an angle, was half in shadow and half aflame.
The green, white, and silver glass that made up the city sparkled like amber fire in the retreating light, then glowed bright where the night shields were in place.
The effect was startling and beautiful and unreal from above.
Little floating platforms were evenly spaced under the water umbrella.
Upon them were tables and exceedingly comfortable appearing, egg shaped chairs.
The platforms themselves were clear, giving an unobstructed, 360-degree view, and the tables weren’t square.
Instead, they were like circles with two bites taken off either side.
The food was placed on the sides, but the small center portion meant that the couple sharing it were right in front of each other.
Close enough to look one another in the eye, feed each other tidbits of food, or make out right there in the open.
All of which were things being done by other alien couples as their lift took them to an empty table.
It was probably rude to stare, but Scarlet couldn’t help it.
Calvitorum, where she lived on Turv, was predominantly domini – the humans being pretty much the only diversity.
This was the first time she had seen so many alien couples.
And while most of them were paired with their own races, there were those that were mixed species, mixed gender, or even seated in groups of more than two.
Havali seemed completely uninterested in anyone else as he stepped off the lift and pulled her forward onto their platform, helping her sit before taking the chair.
“What do you think?” He asked, leaning towards her across the oddly shaped table. She couldn’t deny that she liked how close it let them be.
“This place is beautiful,” she admitted, looking around again. “And incredible! Look at the water! The floating tables. Havali, it’s amazing.”
He smiled, pleased with her impression. “It is a very popular restaurant. And they serve the absolute best food. I can’t wait for you to try it.”
“I can’t wait to eat it,” she chuckled. “So, how does this work?”
“Quite simple.” He pressed a small button on the side of the table and, immediately, a holo screen flashed between them. “Choose what you want from the menu. It will be delivered by platform. Then, when we are done, we simply summon the lift to take us away.”
“Sounds easy enough,” she grinned, watching as a lift – similar but smaller than the one that brought them here – rose from below.
It was big enough just for the covered meal that it carried right to the edge of the table where a vir male placed it down on the table for himself and his female – though she didn't even glance at it.
She was busy staring at her male like she was completely besotted.
Excited to try it herself, Scarlet turned back to the menu.
Only to look through it and see Havali giving her a look not at all dissimilar to the one the female vir was giving her male.
Her heart sped up as she felt her face flush. “So, what do you recommend?”
“Well, I was going to get the rathban blood to start, then the mushroom salad and yeetril steak, raw. Yeetril is a very tender meat. It melts on your tongue, raw or cooked, and has the pleasant side effect of leaving you just a little bit euphoric.”
“A ringing endorsement,” she chuckled. “I think I’ll skip the blood and ecstasy steak this time. The mushroom salad looks good though. Oh, so does this. What is it?”
He chuckled. “Fish. Grilled undiliean sea cream.”
“Cream?” She frowned.
“The fish was named for its taste. When cooked, it’s said to have a very sweet and savory flavor and a soft texture, easy to eat for those without teeth and species whose teeth cannot grind food well. Domini don’t really eat fish though. They all smell awful. So, I’ve never tried it.”
“Oh, well, maybe I’ll get something else then.”
“No, please. Get the fish.” He smiled at her through the menu. “If you get meat, you’ll cook it, and that doesn’t smell good either. I’m used to your strange human diet now.”
Scarlet laughed. “You’re supposed to be considerate on a date, Havali. I’m not going to get food that smells bad enough to you that it turns you off eating.”
He grinned, leaning in closer. “I promise, Scarlet, I won’t even taste the food. Not when all my attention is purely on you. Get anything you want. Get the entire menu, if you desire. All I want from this meal is you. The food doesn’t matter.”
It was a flowery, romantic declaration that should have made her laugh with its cheesy ridiculousness.
But the look in his three, black eyes, the sincerity on his face, made her belly tighten and her heart leap instead.
She wasn’t a complete stranger to pretty words, but she couldn’t remember anyone ever saying them so seriously, so genuinely, before.