Chapter 5 #2
Her voice trailed off. Holly didn't need her to explain.
She must have been just as excited to see something so familiar.
Anything from Earth would have been incredible to have right now, even just a simple blueberry.
But when she tasted it, Hattie must have gone through the same aching disappointment that Holly was going through now.
She swallowed – an action made difficult by the lump in her throat. She forced a smile that she knew wasn't believable. “It's really good.”
“Yeah.” Hattie smiled back, just as sadly. “Stains your fingers and tongue something awful though.”
Holly looked down at her fingers to see that the brief contact had indeed stained her fingers a bright violet color.
“They use the skins to make dyes,” Hattie continued, trying to cover up her disappointment with more fun facts.
Holly nodded along as she turned instead to the steak strips. She wasn't sure she wanted to eat another one of those berries.
She was stupid. She knew damn well those couldn't be blueberries.
No one in the greater universe even knew about Earth.
It was a completely unknown, undiscovered world – which was a weird thought to have about her heavily populated planet, but that was how the domin saw it.
Of course, there weren't going to be blueberries here on Turv.
But for a single, glorious second, in the time it took to throw a single berry into her mouth and bite down, it was like she had been connected back to her home planet.
Even just in that tiny way. And the biting disappointment that followed the realization that she was mistaken created a sinking feeling in her gut that made her want to cry.
It was painful, but, somehow, as she was eating and chatting, she found herself reaching for another of those berries.
And she wasn't the only one. Hattie would grab for them randomly as well.
Her fingers, tongue, and lips were stained from the very first berry, and there was a flash of hurt in her eyes when the taste was wrong, but she ate it anyway.
Those wrong berries were the closest thing they had to Earth. And it was only for the brief time it took to grab it and lift it to their mouth, then the illusion was shattered, but that tiny moment was an ache in their chest that neither of them could resist.
And Holly understood now why Hattie wanted to have breakfast with her. She wanted someone to share this longing with. It would have been too much on her own. Holly needed the pain. She needed the fleeting connection to Earth, to her home, no matter how small and false it was.
They finished eating the rest of their breakfast, but the bowl of berries sat only half finished between them as they talked about banal things, pretending it wasn't a giant elephant crouched on the table, staining their fingers and mouths.
“Crazy purple,” Hattie said, laughing as she held up her stained hand. Four of five fingers bore the stain from grabbing berries.
Holly laughed, showing her own hand. She had kept the color to only her index finger and thumb – carefully pinching the berries with only two fingers. She had no doubt that her tongue and lips were just as brightly colored though. “Like I ate one of those ice cream pops. You know the ones?”
“Yes!” Hattie threw back her head, laughing. “I used to eat those like candy every summer! I would have a different colored mouth every day.”
Holly nodded eagerly, memories of her own childhood rushing up along with tears that pricked at her eyes. “My brothers and I used to fight over the red ones. They were our favorite. And Sam, that little shit, he always stole them before we could get to them.”
Hattie laughed along with her, tears sparkling in her own eyes. Holly wasn't even sure if she was laughing or crying. It seemed like both.
The two of them started swapping childhood stories.
Reliving memories as they continued to pick through the berries.
They had stopped eating them. The disappointment of the wrong flavor wasn't worth how good it tasted.
Their connection was in the sight, in the touch, and they found themselves just poking at the berries as they talked.
“Brava, look. I knew I heard the humans.”
Interrupted mid-sentence, Holly and Hattie turned as Valorii and Brava came swaggering in from off the main path. Both of them smirking arrogantly. Still dressed up like they were going to a fancy party later for absolutely no reason.
“Are you two eating celti berries?” Valorii asked, laughing. “Or are you painting yourself with them? Honored ancestors, it actually stained your skin! I've never seen such a thing.”
Hattie looked confused. Holly ducked her head, hiding her stained fingers under the table.
The two females tittered as they came closer without even asking.
Valorii leaned over the table and snatched a berry that she immediately tossed into her mouth.
She moaned in appreciation, licking her finger clean.
Her skin hadn't been stained at all. It remained the dark lavender of the plants she was camouflaged against.
“I used to eat these all the time. When I was young,” she laughed at them.
“A bit too sweet for an adults' tastes. Oh!
Though, I suppose you humans are different.
You're practically pups yourselves. Small, helpless, clawless.
You can't even control your camouflage reflex.
Look, Brava, the yellow-haired one is bright red! That doesn't make you blend in at all!”
Embarrassment was churning in Holly's gut, but, to her own surprise, that wasn't what was heating her face. She was staring into the bowl of not-blueberries, angry that this domini female had dared to take one of them.
Those wrong flavored berries were the closest thing she had to home, and Valorii had stolen one without even so much as a 'by your leave'.
And, somehow, that made Holly mad. Really mad. She almost didn't even notice that the two of them were laughing at her and Hattie.
Just ignore them, she told herself firmly. Ignore them.
“You know,” Valorii continued, taking another berry, mostly talking to Brava but still pretending like Holly and Hattie were involved, “I was just taking a tour of the academy yesterday. It's stunning. So beautiful. The architecture is amazing. Anyway, as I was walking, I saw Romival.”
“Yeah?” Brava looked interested, taking some berries for herself.
“He was reading off his holo and walking at the same time. Quite a skill. He was actually reading up on you humans. So fascinating. Is it true that you have the tightest cunts in the universe?”
Holly's hands clenched into fists under the table, but, to her surprise, Hattie was the one that broke. She slammed her hands down onto the table, upsetting one of their glasses of juice.
“What are you two even doing here?” She demanded to know, voice hard. Holly stared at her, shocked that sweet Hattie even had such a voice.
“I belong here,” Valorii popped a berry into her mouth. “Unlike you. This is my home.”
“No. This is literally our home,” she gestured between herself and Holly. “As in, the private residences of Atem and his family. So, why are you here?”
“The solarium is open to the public.” Valorii laughed at her. “But you're so cute when you're acting all fierce. It's adorable. Like a pup showing off her first fang.”
“Fine. But get away from us,” Hattie glared. “You're not welcome here.”
Valorii had the nerve to look scandalized. “Excuse me? I've been nothing but nice to you-”
“Not listening. Go away before I comm our security team and tell them that you're bothering us.”
The threat, probably more than Hattie's glare, made Valorii back down.
She scoffed, turning on her heel and walking away, grumbling about rude, primitive ecters.
She probably didn't expect that Holly knew very well that 'ecter' was the ancient Domtri word that meant, essentially, 'dishonorable one' and it was considered an insult on par with being called a cunt.
Hattie huffed, her cheeks puffing out adorably, as she fell back in her chair. “A couple of bitches.”
The curse, so unexpected coming from Hattie's mouth, made Holly laugh. She quickly stopped, however, when Hattie fixed her with a glare.
“And why did you just sit there and let them talk like that?” She demanded to know, sitting forward again.
Holly just kind of shrugged.
Hattie huffed. “Not cool, Holly. You need to stand up for yourself.”
“Bullies are looking for reactions. It’s best not to give them one. Eventually, they'll get bored and move on.”
“No. Bullies are mean and stupid, and you need to stand up for yourself.” Hattie's gaze was sharp as feminine laughter echoed over the leaves.
Holly couldn't help but flinch when she heard it. Then flinch again, when Hattie got to her feet.
“Where are you going?” She asked as the curvy girl started to stomp away.
She turned back, hands on her hips. “I know our guards are around here somewhere. I'm going to tell them that I want those two kept away from us.”
“Are we allowed to do that?”
“I'm sure that Atem, or anyone else here, wouldn't care if we got into a fight. But Atem would definitely be mad if we got hurt in a fight, and you know we would. So, it's in our guard’s best interest if they aren't around us. Stay here. I'll be right back.”
Hattie's earlier threat had been slightly empty.
They didn't actually have the comm signature of the combots for their security detail.
They changed with each shift and made sure that they didn't interact with the girls so they could have an illusion of privacy, especially here in the palace.
Holly knew if they screamed, they would come running and be here in a second, but she couldn't see them now.
So, there was no point having their comm signature.
Hattie stomped off to find them, leaving Holly alone.
She turned back to the not-blueberries. Celti berries, she corrected herself sorrowfully. She wasn't on Earth, and these weren't the familiar fruit. It was childish and stupid to pretend that it was. It didn't even serve a purpose but to hurt her own feelings anyway.
Still, she found herself weakly poking the juicy, purple berries. Watching as her middle finger now picked up the stain. It was probably stupid. She had no idea how long this color would remain. But she was melancholy, and she didn't really care as she watched it spread over her skin.
“Holly.”
She gave a very unflattering, startled cry, sounding like a constipated duck, as she jumped and nearly fell off her lounge.
She hadn't even heard Romival approaching. He was standing right at the side of the table, so close that if he was a snake, he would have bit her.
“You scared me!” She cried, putting a hand to her heart. “Why is everyone here today?”
He was unrepentant, his ultra-long tail swishing lazily against the stone. “My council and I are taking measurements of the storm.”
“Huh?”
“We have to keep track of water quality in the atmosphere.
We're also gathering data on wind speed, rainfall, cloud density.
.. Things like that. It's pretty standard for the first few days of the rainy season so we can keep track of the planet's health and help predict how the season will progress. This solarium is the highest point of the city so it’s the best place to get that data without interference.”
“Oh. I mean, yeah, that makes sense.” She was kind of glad that the Sixth Scholar – and her little yes-man that was following her around so loyally – hadn't come here just to taunt them. They actually had a reason to be in the solarium.
Romival was staring at her face and, self-conscious, she shifted her weight. “What?”
“You're purple.”