CHAPTER 2 #2
I'm envious. I remember just enough about home to make me frustrated that everyone here is so kumbaya about dead animals and their bones being everywhere.
I'm pretty sure Old April would have a nervous breakdown.
I remember Old April liked her corner store.
She also liked running in a park every morning.
I vaguely remember morning coffee and a fresh malasada.
I have even vaguer recollections of a guy with perfect teeth and a fun laugh who would sometimes run beside me, and who'd pinch my soft belly and tell me I was getting momona from all the donuts.
I do remember dumping that fucker and continuing to see him on the jogging trail, awkwardly, for months later.
Plus one in the ice planet column for no longer seeing that guy around.
Fuck that guy, anyhow. He was probably a lousy lay and I'm glad I can't remember otherwise.
And fuck him for being the only person I remember.
Otherwise, it's all good. Whatever pieces of my old life show up, I'll take them as they come, with a spirit of ho'omau.
The translator in my head pings a mismatch again, and I put my pinky in my ear and wiggle it, as if I can somehow itch at whatever is bugging my translations.
As I cut through camp, I spot one of the cat guys in the distance and head in that direction with my bucket of spices.
At first I'm not sure which one it is — they're both similar in coloring — but then I see a long tail slap against the snowy ground in frustration.
No tail is Chalath. That must be Valmir. Perfect.
I approach, but he doesn't seem to notice my arrival.
He's too focused on the sand-scorpions that keep climbing out of his bucket.
They all look very much alive, and when he picks one up, it immediately stings him.
He snarls at it and drops it onto the snow, watching it scuttle away.
Kinda makes me wonder how many he started with.
I move over to the bucket and peer in, and sure enough, there aren't that many left in there.
All alive and climbing over each other. "How's it going with the food?
" I ask casually. "I'm supposed to check in and see if you need more flavoring.
Doesn't even seem like you've cooked them yet. "
He bares his teeth at me in a half-snarl. "How am I supposed to shell them when they keep climbing away? Or stinging me before I can rip the shell off?"
Is he serious? "Um, I'm pretty sure you're supposed to boil them first, buddy. Then you shell them."
Valmir stares up at me, scanning my face as if he's not entirely sure whether I'm messing with him. After a moment, he gives a haughty sniff. "Well, that would have been nice to know some time ago."
I guess his memories don't include shellfish cooking knowledge. "Not much of a chef back home, were you?"
He gives me an up-and-down look that could peel paint. "Some of us were handed one ration bar a day and that was the extent of our food expertise."
Well, now I'm the jerk. I give him a tiny smile. "Sorry. I'm new to a lot here, too. Namely that we're eating scorpions. That's definitely a new one for me."
The withering expression Valmir shoots my way tells me I'm not forgiven. "What did you think we were eating?"
My brows go up. Okay, dickface. "Anyhow, boil them and then you peel the shells. I'll tell Devi you're behind and don't need seasoning yet."
As I turn to leave, he calls out. "Wait."
Oh, do I get an apology now? I turn around. "Yes?"
"Boil them...alive?"
"Isn't that how you cook crabs and stuff? I don't know. I'm not a cook either."
"Oh, so you mock me when I don't automatically know how to prepare food, but it's fine for you to be ignorant?"
I make a face at him. "Wow, I can't imagine why no one came over to help you out. It's certainly not because of your sparkling personality. As for the scorpions, I don't fucking know. How about you go ask someone instead of pouting about all of this?"
The jerk smirks up at me even as another scorpion escapes his bucket and makes a run for it. I don't point that out. Let him lose all of them and be a big old failure. I don't care. We can be scorpion-free tonight and it can be all his fault.
To my disgust, the jerk actually starts purring.
My lip curls. "Really?"
"Really what?" He fakes being confused.
"Purring? Just because you're being such a dick?"
"I'm not purring." His strange, catlike mouth draws down into a frown and his whiskers move with it. It's so weird and yet...oddly appealing? I find myself staring at his mouth for a long, long moment.
And then the purring gets louder.
And I realize some of it is starting to come from me.
And I realize...it's not purring.
It's resonance.
Oh my god. I'm resonating to this dickhole.
This is a nightmare.
I touch my chest, and I'm resonating so hard that it feels as if my innards are vibrating. Instead of feeling unnerving, it feels strangely good. Appealing.
Arousing.
My khui wants me to make babies with this guy. This guy, who thrives on rudeness.
"Ugh." I turn and walk away as fast as I can.
"Wait," he blurts out, and I can hear him jumping to his feet behind me. "Female, stop."
It figures he doesn't know my name. I didn't know his, right? I shouldn't be surprised. "You need to get your scorpions together," I tell him, and decide I'm going to just ignore this world-shattering event that has just happened. "I'll let Devi know there's a delay."
Dawn watches me with curiosity as I race past, power-walking through the busy encampment.
I hustle my way over to the makeshift tables set off a short distance away from the main fire.
I feel a few people staring with hot eyes, but I ignore them and search for Devi.
Luckily, she's close to where I left her, and I all but fling myself to her side.
"Hi!" I bark out. "About those scorpions—"
"Wait up," Valmir calls out, his voice a low, sexy growl that has no right coming from someone as shitty as him. No. Right.
Devi looks over her shoulder at him and makes a startled noise in her throat.
I turn and look, too, because how can I not?
Valmir is holding the bucket of scorpions, but several have climbed out and are making their way over his arm.
One is clinging to his bicep fur and he swats another away.
It lands near Bianca's feet, and she lets out a little scream of surprise and jumps up.
He doesn't notice. He's just staring at me with blue, blue eyes and my body wants me to fling myself against him and start gyrating. Touch him all over. Strip him naked and put my hands on all the tasty bits—
"No!" I yell out, pointing a finger at him. "Absolutely not! This is all your fault and we are not doing this."
"Female," he growls, taking another step toward me.
"I have a name, you twit!" I set down the basket of spices next to Devi's food station and give her a panicked look. She's eyeing my chest, and I suspect she can hear me resonating to the jerk. "I have to go."
I turn and race in the opposite direction, heading for the hut I share with Dawn. I just need a breather, I tell myself, determined not to panic. My thoughts are racing and scattered and I need a few deep breaths and—
A hand grabs my arm.