First, TO explained what had happened to Pearla in the morgue, and how Gyrini had slapped her to be certain she was dead. Now that the color returned to Pearla’s face and the black goo was coming off, TO could see an angry purple bruise forming on Pearla’s jawline. Pearla didn’t seem too concerned though, and simply grimaced as she cleaned that area, trying her best to work with the small mirror in her hand.
Of course, Pearla wasn’t interested in what happened in the morgue. Pearla was interested in what happened to GiDi. So, TO explained how GiDi had acted after seeing the footage. They explained how even Tham had seemed afraid, how GiDi had never seemed so angry before. TO related GiDi’s threat to Gyrini, and Flit’s initial attempts to get GiDi away before resorting to knocking them out with a pressure point. While listening, Pearla’s expression seemed oddly fixed. Her tail tightened around her slightly, and she stopped making eye contact; that TO noticed, and while it worried them, they continued on with their story.
“And Flit said that GiDi would be fine and said they’d explain things to me when I got back.” TO gave a low growl as they glanced over at the kettle. They were waiting for it to boil again so they could make Pearla the tea Fengari left for her. “I’m just so sick of people keeping things from me.”
“I uh… I think it might be best this time.” Pearla said, focusing intensely on the mirror as she cleaned her face. “Yeah. I mean, it’s fine, Right? Flit will talk to you later, so…”
“Why later, though?!” TO said, “Flit has always hidden stuff from me, and I thought now that I’m here, now that I already know so much of what’s going on, I thought they’d stop hiding things from me!” They huffed and stared at the kettle as though studying it. “Clearly, I was wrong.”
“He’s not hiding things.” Pearla said, weighing each word before it left her mouth, “It’s just… I suppose there’s a time and a place, right? I mean, if it’s something important they have to talk to you about, then in the middle of the indebted center the day before we try to implement a big plan, isn’t the best time to do that, right?”
“If it’s important, then they should tell me now! They said it could wait, and that GiDi was ok, but GiDi’s not ok! I know them, and I’ve seen them angry before, but I’ve never seen them like that. That was…” TO shook their head as they stood up. The kettle was nearly boiled; they could tell from the quality of the steam rising. They leaned against the wall as they waited. “It was different. When Kei woke up, they were nearly wild with rage and it was a bit like that, but not quite.”
“Feral, right?” Pearla asked, “Like… if their anger was a big angry animal, and it was only just being held back on a leash?”
TO paused, her words forming the picture in TO’s head. “... Yes.” TO said, their voice quiet. “That’s pretty much what it was like.”
Several moments of silence passed before Pearla spoke again. “Look. If Flit says that GiDi’s going to be fine, then GiDi’s going to be fine, alright? I’m sure it’ll all get sorted out once you get back.”
“You know something.” TO said. It wasn’t a question because TO was certain that she knew something. She had been so concerned when TO said that GiDi was acting odd and had insisted that they tell her everything they knew. They had expected Pearla to join them in their frustration of being left out of the loop, of having knowledge withheld from them, but she was now just waving away the issue and telling TO to wait.
She dropped the mirror, fumbled with it, and grabbed it just before it struck the floor. “W-what makes you say that?” She asked as a deep red flush covering her cheeks. Well, if TO’s previous observations hadn’t convinced them, her reaction just now did. They were still struggling sometimes with some of the more subtle facial expressions, but the bright coloring of her face was easy to catch.
“Because I’m actually relatively clever.” TO said, “So, what’s happening?”
Pearla stared at TO, frozen in place for several long moments before she gave a nervous chuckle and went back to her mirror. “It’s nothing.” She said, “I mean, GiDi will be fine, so-”
“You too?” TO said, huffing. The faintest whistle sounded from the kettle, and TO turned it off before it could hit a screeching pitch. “I’m so sick of people hiding information from me.” They poured the hot water into the mug and set an alarm on their chip before they dipped the tea bag in. “Flit said the reason they hid information from me before was to protect me in training… but I'm not in training anymore, and they’re still hiding important information from me! Even you’re hiding information from me!” They leaned against the wall as they waited for their chip to go off. “If you won’t tell me what’s going on, you can at least tell me why you won’t tell me.”
“It’s not… Look, I’m not trying to hide anything! It’s just…” She paused, sighed, and set down her mirror. “Look, it’s not my place to tell you anything.”
“Why not?” TO snapped. “Look, I know GiDi is your mate, but they’re my friend too. More than that; they’re family. I only just found out that they’re literally family, but they’ve always been family to me and to DH!”
“And I’m not questioning that!” Pearla said, rising and heading towards TO, “I’m really not… It’s just that…” She paused, face flushed as she considered her words, “I’m just not the best person to tell you what’s going on.”
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“And you didn’t answer my question of why not!” TO snapped, “You’re telling me you’re not the person to tell me anything. Ok. Why aren’t you? You clearly know what’s going on.” They gave her a hard stare. “Right?”
“... Sorta.” She finally admitted, “To a point.”
“Then explain it to me to that point.”
She pursed her lips and looked around as though searching for an exit to the conversation. When none became apparent, she shifted, turning away slightly and looking at the bowl on the floor. “... It has to do with biology.” She offered.
“Fun fact.” TO said, their ears pinning back, “GiDi and I are the same species. We have the same biology, and I don’t know any time I’ve ever acted like that.” Even as they spoke those words, they strained to remember a time they might have been like that. The closest they could get was the time the insurgents took DH from them, but even then they had controlled themself more than GiDi had over the video call the other day.
“... So, it has to do with reproductive biology.” She glanced up at TO, “No offense; I like you, but I’m not interested in giving you ‘the talk’”
“What talk!?” TO gave a heavy sigh, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Pearla. Tell me something at least!”
Pearla gave a weighty sigh and rubbed at her eyes. “It’s about reproductive biology, TO. About Sex.” She glared up at them. “Is that ‘something’ enough?”
“Oh.” TO’s ears dipped and flushed as they suddenly desperately wished they could rewind the last minute of conversation. “Oh… so. When you said ‘the talk’, you meant-”
“Yes, that talk.” She grumbled, “Flit and Snout had a ‘talk’ with GiDi, and GiDi told me.. Well, the essentials.” She went back to the bowl on the floor and curled back up on her tail. Her bright red face was mostly clean, but still she dabbed the cloth into the water and searched for anything that needed to be washed off. “So, pardon me if I, a Nagarajin, don’t feel properly informed or comfortable enough with the subject material to explain the facts of Chilacian biology to a Chilacian.”
There were a lot of things that went through TO’s head after that. They wanted to retort first that they had never acted like that despite being intimate with DH, but the idea of bringing it up at all made them freeze. They wanted to say that they weren’t entirely naïve, that DH and themself had muddled through certain aspects and things ended up working out, but again the idea of talking about it to anyone made them want to curl up into a little hole forever.
Then, they realized that when they got back underground, Flit and Snout corner them and insist on having a ‘conversation’ with them about that very thing. Of course, it was in part TO’s own fault for insisting that Flit tell them what’s going on.
“Fuck.” TO muttered. The curse they had heard used around them so much, the crude civilian swear seemed so oddly fitting in this moment.
“Precisely.” Pearla grumbled.
Before TO could respond, the timer on their chip went off. They quickly turned back to the cup, grateful to have something to do, and fished out the little tea bag.
“Fengari said this needed to steep for only three minutes.” TO said, hoping to put as much conversation between the last topic as possible. “So, I set a timer. She said it wouldn't be as effective if it was in for less, and it would taste awful if left in for longer.” They went over to Pearla and sat down cross-legged next to her before passing her the cup. “Here you go.”
“Thanks.” she muttered. She put down the mirror and cloth, and took the cup without looking at TO.
“... I think you got all the black off that you could.” TO said, “It sticks pretty good. I think a soak might be the best option when we get back.”
“Yes… yeah, that might be right.” She muttered, “Uh, my face kinda hurts, so I’m happy not to rub at it too much.” She sipped the tea, and then gave a happy sigh, “Oh, this is good.” she said with more enthusiasm than simple tea deserved. “Spicy, and a little sweet. Did she give you anything to put into it to sweeten it?”
“Nothing.” TO said, fully willing to jump onto a new line of conversation, “She just gave me specific instructions on how to steep it.”
“Well, it makes sense. Maybe there were honey crystals in it, and they melted into the water?” She gave a humorless chuckle, “That would sweeten it, and the honey would be ok regardless of how long it was in the bag.” She nodded, “Honey Crystals. That’s what I’d guess.”
“Honey Crystals?” There, something TO didn’t know about, and Pearla seemed just as eager to change the topic as TO was. “What’s that?”
“Well, you know how honey is made, right? Bees and stuff. Well, these crystals are specific to a bee on the other side of the galaxy that doesn’t live in hives. It makes a nest of these crystals instead and works on its own.”
That reminded TO of the bug on the outside of their ship, the Void Anemone, and how it had made a crystal egg pouch that had hatched while TO and DH were sleeping. The idea of talking about these strange bees made TO shiver. Even so, it was better than the feeling of wanting to hide in a hole for the rest of their life.”
“R-really? Bees?” They gave a nervous laugh as their ears drooped. “T-tell me more.”