Chapter 12
Amina
They all followed Gis through the eerily empty station and finally onto the pleasure ship.
Amina wasn’t into gambling, but places like this carried all kinds of fun, hard-to-find items. After a fresh, tasty meal, she was looking forward to doing a little shopping.
Among other things, she hoped they had a tailor machine that could make a sweater for Ruby.
The more Amina thought about it, the more she wanted the lizard to have an entire wardrobe!
“I’ve never been on a ship like this,” Myrum murmured as they went from dull gray uninhabited corridors to bright colors and the sound of talking and enjoyment.
“You’ll have a great time,” she promised. “There’s so much to do.”
Desur was reading something on his information square while he walked. “They’re showing my favorite Taltoran drama. Does anyone want to go with me?” He looked up at Teshor. “I know you aren’t interested. All you care about is playing domie. Try not to lose all your money this time.”
Teshor let out a little grumble. “I don’t usually lose.”
Amina bit her lip. Teshor was only a mediocre domie player. If she was lucky, she came out even. The problem was, she got a little obsessed. There’d been a few times Helmen was forced to order her away from the domie table.
“Food first,” Helmen declared and grabbed Teshor by the back of the jacket before she could disappear.
Teshor made a grumbling sound as everyone else chatted about what they wanted to eat or if they wanted to go with Desur to the Taltoran drama.
Gis led them to the restaurant. Like many style-nine ships, there was only one restaurant, but it had an extensive menu.
There were several tables full of Ossisos who all stared at their group as they sat near the far end of the room. When Gis tried to move to stand against the wall, Desur grabbed a chair that was more of an elaborate stool and pointed to it.
“Sit here,” he demanded, making his voice loud so everyone else in the room could hear.
“Subtle,” Amina whispered with a chuckle.
As ordered, Gis sat. Desur made a satisfied sound and took the chair next to him.
Desur might have a soft heart, but he also had a strong sense of justice, which was why he worked on Steady instead of one of their other ships.
He was going to spend the meal asking questions until he was satisfied Gis was safe and happy to be on Tik.
Amina took a seat on Desur’s other side, and Myrum was quick to sit next to her. Everyone else took their seats and started scrolling through the menu displayed across the table's surface.
Worried Myrum didn’t have much exposure to different types of food, she leaned close and pointed to his menu. “You should order from this section.”
“I don’t recognize most of this,” he admitted. “Is there anything like what we’ve been eating on Steady? Especially what you fed me the morning I was tied to the bed.”
Remembering how intimate it’d been to feed him made her skin hot. “Um, yeah, they have a version of that. It’ll probably taste even better because it’ll be fresh.”
He turned his face to hers. “Doubtful.”
Flustered, she cleared her throat and tapped on the display to order several dishes. “Um, I’ll get a selection that we can share.”
“Order as much as you want,” he said, then looked up and addressed the table. “I want everyone to eat and drink everything they desire.”
“All hail the buyer!” Jossulum cheered, a customary thing to say when someone offered to purchase items for a group.
“All hail the buyer!” Amina and everyone else repeated.
“You’re welcome?” he responded, making them all laugh.
The restaurant was mostly automated, so after they ordered the food and Myrum paid with his Ident, they sat back to talk about the ship.
Desur insisted Gis come with him to the drama, and Helmen decided to join them.
Teshor talked about domie strategies, and Jossulum planned to enjoy some of the balance or agility games.
Myrum leaned in close. “What about you?”
“I’m going shopping!” Amina said.
“Yes, we can do that,” he agreed. “You should have softer clothes and fluffy pillows.”
Amina blinked a few times. She didn’t want to offend him, but those seemed like odd items to list. “I have plenty of clothes, but I do want to find a tailor machine.”
“If you’re going shopping, could you find me a box of tinor?” Jossulum asked.
“I’ll look,” Amina said.
That led to everyone asking her to find something for them. She could feel Myrum becoming tense next to her. After the conversation moved on to something else, she touched Myrum’s arm.
“You don’t have to go shopping with me,” she told him.
“I’m going with you,” Myrum said, and his tone made it clear there was no room for argument. “I don’t like that everyone made you their servant. Do you want me to tell them that you won’t be looking for their items?”
Oh, he was upset on her behalf!
“I want to look for everything,” she assured him. “I like shopping, even if it’s not stuff for myself. This isn’t the first time I’ve done this. It’s fun.”
He relaxed. “As long as you find it enjoyable.”
The food arrived. They’d ordered so much that dishes nearly covered the entire table. Some of the dishes were served Ugarian style with large spoons for dipping and pouring, but others were in Ossiso or Matok style.
“Where is the flatbread to eat with?” Myrum asked, looking around at all the dishes.
“Let me order some,” Amina said quickly. Lifting a bowl from in front of her, she tapped on the table’s display and found some bread for Myrum.
“Done,” she announced, setting the bowl back down. "Until that gets here, you can eat with spoons, like we usually do.”
Everyone else was already digging in when Myrum spoke in a soft, sensual voice. “I only eat with spoons when you feed me.”
She ignored him because flirting while surrounded by nosy Ugarian ears wasn’t an option.
“Here, try this first. You sip it out of the bowl,” she said, handing him the thick grain soup.
She could've sworn she saw several ears droop with disappointment. It almost made her laugh.
The rest of the meal was enjoyable, even if she had to fight the urge to feed Myrum by hand. Maybe another time, when they were back on the ship. Despite all the time they had been spending together, they still hadn’t kissed again.
Even though she wanted to.
They’d been so busy making sure the ship would pass inspection that none of them had time for more than a quick meal. She’d been forced to push the kiss with Myrum to the back of her head and concentrate on doing her job.
Not that it made any difference. The Ossiso inspecting Steady probably wouldn’t even pull a panel off, let alone go through monitoring data. It was annoying to realize they could’ve spent a lot more time doing other things.
“Your breathing pattern changed,” Myrum said, pulling her out of her thoughts. “Are you unwell?”
“No, um, I was just thinking about something,” she said.
“Something exciting?”
“Shopping!” she exclaimed with way too much enthusiasm. She made Desur jump a little and almost spill a cup. “Sorry, Desur,” she murmured.
He sounded a grunting laugh and nudged her with an elbow. “It’s okay; we all know how much you like shopping. Remember that time you—”
“Nope,” she said, interrupting him. “We are not doing a round of Funny Amina Shopping Stories today.” She looked at Myrum. “Are you done eating?”
He stood abruptly, knocking his seat over. “Yes. I’m ready to escort you to the merchant area of this ship.”
After righting the seat, he extended a hand. She took it and gave everyone a wave with her free hand. “Send me a message for what you want, and I’ll do my best to find everything.”
They all agreed, and no sooner did she turn around than she heard the small information square in her pocket start pinging. She was going to have a long list of items to find. She couldn’t wait!
Myrum
Escorting Amina while she shopped was an enjoyable experience. She was excited about everything. Even the simplest items seemed to delight her. She took great pains to find the best or most unique of whatever was requested.
Similar to the single central restaurant that carried many different types of food, there was one giant space full of row after row of items. He’d never been in a place where so many diverse commodities were all housed together.
A small cargo bot followed them up and down each aisle, the basket on its back slowly filling up.
Now they were studying a selection of colorful strips of cloth.
“I think this one will go with Desur’s fur,” she said, holding one of them up.
“What is it for?” he asked hesitantly. He’d considered avoiding the question because he didn’t understand how a color could go with fur.
“Matok wrap them around their torsos to cinch their robes,” she said and picked up another one in a soft purple. She found an end and showed him the cloth could be opened.
She slid her hand in it and gathered the fabric up her arm until only her hand was showing. “But Ugarian’s will use them to keep the fur on their arms from getting caught if they’re doing something in a tight place where wearing a regular loose sleeve would get in the way.”
“Should we get a pair for everyone?” Myrum asked.
She looked up at him with a wide grin. “Yes! We totally should. It’s a little more than I planned to spend, but I don’t care.”
He sounded a negative rumble and took the cloth from her to put it in the cargo bot’s basket. “I’m paying for everything.”
“What?” she grabbed his arm to turn him. “Why would you do that?”
He spoke the truth. “Because it would make you happy.”
Her mouth dropped then she shut it with a snap. “I, uh, that’s…” Her voice trailed off. Then she jumped at him. Her arms wrapped around his neck and he reflexively brought his arms up to help support her weight around her back and under her backside.
“You’re such a sweetheart!” she exclaimed, hugging him tight.
A soothing rumble came out of him at the same time he nuzzled her hair with his cheek.
Even with her many layers of clothes between them, her soft body felt good pressed against him. How amazing would it be if there were no barriers between them and he could feel her skin? It was a tantalizing thought.
The lip press in his cabin had been arousing, but getting to spend the night with her again, her smaller, naked body pressed trustingly against his as they slept, would be a joy beyond comprehension.
He started this mission expecting to disappoint everyone, including himself. The ancestors must favor him because they’d intersected his journey with Amina.
It was a gift he hoped to someday deserve.