Chapter Two
Votra
Votra liked people-watching. She had to convince herself that some part of coming to these parties was enjoyable.
Qaed had requested her presence. Despite being the more outgoing of the two, even he felt a little out of his depth at Xyxy’s parties, and their thirty year long friendship meant that she had to be there with him whether she wanted to or not.
She focused now on Xyxy, ever the pragmatic host as she flitted between clusters of people, making sure everyone was having a good time while simultaneously ensuring the safety of her belongings. Votra couldn’t help but wonder if she was actually having fun.
She’d been nursing the same drink for the last hour, and it was starting to become more water than liquor.
She wasn’t really a big drinker—but Xyxy always had nestar around; a bitter liquor from Alqen that, mixed with a little carbonated water, was Votra’s drink of choice when she needed to make herself a little more palatable to the masses.
And tonight was one of those nights. The fact that she was wearing a costume only made matters worse. A couple of partygoers had asked her who she was, only for her to have to explain the intricacies of an Earth opera that no one quite understood.
Her attention fell to Qaed, who was now talking to Xyxy.
He was one of many in a costume from Race to the Throne, and he’d explained his costume to Votra a couple of times but she simply couldn’t wrap her head around the appeal of it.
The black cape that fell around him like a curtain made his slate gray skin appear brighter in comparison, his silver horns curving around his head like a halo.
In this costume, his broken horn looked more rugged than usual.
She debated slipping out now that he was preoccupied, but her window quickly closed when Xyxy dashed away from him. He returned to Votra’s side, an amused smile playing at his lips. “Are you planning on standing there all night, ziq’al?”
“Perhaps. And what if I am?” Votra said, raising her glass to her lips. She wasn’t planning on getting drunk—she really needed to get back to work after this, even though Qaed would probably argue with her.
He nudged her with a plated elbow. “I brought you out here to converse. You know, mingle. I fear you have forgotten what it is like to be in a room with anyone but yourself.”
Votra dodged his prying gaze. “I am more than content on my own.” That wasn’t a lie. She preferred the solitude of being in her office, a sterile room of her own creation where the only thing she could hear was the sound of her own typing.
“Right, because why would the creator of a dating app need to know what it is like to make connections with others?”
Qaed was never the type to tiptoe around the subject, and he knew he was hitting a sensitive spot as soon as he brought up the app. Votra huffed out a sigh, finally meeting his gaze.
They’d grown up in the Thirteenth Ward, the smallest sector of their home planet of Alqen.
Child-rearing in the Thirteenth Ward was an effort shared by every adult that lived there, making any qintaril born within a few years of each other practically siblings.
Qaed was four years older than her, and from a very young age, he’d insisted on looking out for her.
Which unfortunately meant that she took his words as gospel. She gave him a pointed frown. “Do not speak logic to me,” she said, draining the watery dregs of her cocktail. “I am sure I will have a conversation with someone before I leave.”
Qaed gave her a look that said he wasn’t impressed, but his words caught in his throat as his eyes flickered to something behind Votra. “Hm. Xyxy was not lying about her human friend.”
A human? Votra had never actually met a human before. She turned to follow Qaed’s line of sight. “Please, do try to be more obvious next time,” he said.
Sure enough, a human stood by one of the bar tables, engaged in conversation with Altear.
Or rather, held captive by them. She knew what it was like to be subject to one of Altear’s hyper-fixation rants.
It certainly took some time of knowing Altear to find them endearing.
She could only imagine what was going through the poor human’s mind as Altear spoke at her.
Gods, Votra didn’t know humans could look like that.
All of the humans she’d seen in vids had comically long legs and torsos so thin, it was a wonder they could support the rest of their body weight.
The human was only visible from behind, but Votra could already tell she looked a great deal different from the humans in the vids.
She was much shorter than Votra expected, her torso thicker, curvier.
Softer. Her clothes, while covering the majority of her body, clung to every slope and plane of her.
Her top rode up slightly, exposing a sliver of pale skin that Votra couldn’t draw her eyes away from.
“She… certainly is a human,” Votra said, her chest hollow like someone had knocked all the wind out of her.
“You have such a way with words.” Qaed’s eyes glistened with something that Votra didn’t like. “You should talk to her. She will probably be grateful to be rescued from Altear.”
Votra couldn’t stop herself from snorting. There was no way this gorgeous human would have any interest in speaking to her. “Perhaps she is enjoying her conversation with them.”
“You and I both know that is not true.” Qaed glanced quickly over Votra’s shoulder. “I need to speak with Yule about something, and then we can leave, alright?”
“Of course,” she said, lifting her glass to her lips but finding it empty. Maybe it was the last sip of her drink that pushed her over the edge, but she suddenly didn’t feel quite so hopeless at the thought of talking to the human. She had to feel even more out of place than Votra did.
Qaed disappeared into the living room, and Votra found her eyes wandering over to the human again. Before she could talk herself out of it, she strode across the room to the human and Altear.
“—and then she killed her husband, which is good because he was trying to overthrow the king of Mordesh,” Altear was saying.
One set of eyes remained trained on the human, their red-scaled head turning towards Votra.
“Oh, hey, Votra! I was just telling Candy about Race to the Throne. Have you started it yet?”
She would never escape this godsdamned television show. “No, not yet,” Votra said.
Candy opened her mouth to speak—her lips were full and glossy, and Gods was it hard to stop staring at them—but Altear interjected.
“I can catch you up. I was just telling Candy some of the backstory before the show starts. I read all the books, and they just don’t give you all that context in the show. ”
Votra wasn’t sure how to go about saying ‘thank you but no thank you’ politely, but Candy stepped in.
“Maybe we can go out for drinks or something later and you can tell me about it,” she said, resting a hand on Altear’s arm.
“I think I’m gonna make some rounds and meet some people.
Like… Votra, was it?” Candy’s brilliant green eyes landed on Votra, and a chill crept up the back of her neck.
“Oh, yeah, that makes sense. There are a lot of us here.” Altear touched their glass against Candy’s, drawing a giggle from her. What a cute sound. “Have fun out there. I’ll catch you both later.”
“For sure.” Candy flashed her pretty, blunt white teeth at Altear in a smile. Altear left them with a raise of their clawed hand, and before Votra could edge a word in, Candy blurted, “You’re the Phantom of the Opera!”
All night, Votra had wanted someone to recognize her, but now that this pretty human was staring at her with excitement shimmering in her eyes, she wanted to disappear into the floor. “I am, yes. I did not think anyone would recognize me.”
“I loved that movie when I was a kid! I used to force my dad to dress up as the Phantom so that I could be Christine—” She stopped, lips pulling back in a grimace. “Which is kind of weird now that I’m saying it out loud.”
Cute. Gods, she was cute. And now that Votra could see her properly, she realized that everything about Candy was adorable. Her nose turned up slightly at the end, the skin stretched across it slightly pink, just like her cheeks.
She needed a drink. She poured herself a liberal shot of nestar and topped it up with carbonated water, Candy’s eyes glued to her as she did so. “It is not weird. I can only imagine you were an adorable child.”
Oh, the nestar was going to her head quick. She took another sip though, fighting the urge to make a face. She’d been a little too generous with her pour. “Would you like to get some fresh air?” she asked. “I wanted to step out on the balcony for a moment. It is just… a bit overwhelming in here.”
“That sounds great,” Candy said, fanning herself with a hand. Her nails were the same pink as the short hair that ended just below her ears, and Votra wondered if that was a biological trait or a choice. “It’s hot as hell in here.”
Candy guided Votra out to the balcony just off the living room, closing the sliding glass door behind them.
“God, this is so much better.” She sank into one of the wrought-iron chairs, drawing her legs up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them.
Votra immediately missed the little bit of skin peeking out from under her shirt.
Votra took the chair opposite Candy, crossing her legs at the ankles. “Thank you for saving us from that conversation with Altear,” she said. “I have had entirely too many people trying to strong arm me into watching it, and I am just… not interested.”
“Yeah, it doesn’t sound like my kind of thing, either,” Candy said, resting her chin on top of her knees. “I’m more of a Dr. Love’s Biology kind of girl.”
“Dr. Love’s Biology?” Qaed gave Votra an endless amount of grief for the mindless soap opera that had taken over every second of Votra’s spare time. It wasn’t her fault it was addictive. “Are you caught up with the new season?”
Excitement danced in Candy’s eyes as she leaned towards Votra. “Do you think they’re actually gonna kill off McDreary? I mean, I heard that the actor wanted to end his contract but there’s no way they can kill him while Jasi’s in labor, right?”
“They have done it before. Magan left the planet right after Rinka gave birth to the twins, remember?”
“Dammit, you’re right. Oh my God, they’re gonna kill McDreary!
” Candy buried her face in her hands, and for a moment, Votra worried that this was actually distressing her.
Votra was barely coming to grips with her strange urge to comfort her when she lifted her head again. “I’m actually gonna stop watching.”
“I will keep you updated about what happens if you do,” Votra said. Maybe it was the fact that half of her face was covered, or maybe it was all of the nestar coursing through her, but her boldness surprised even her.
Candy didn’t seem fazed. “Okay, deal.”