I pretended to not see Soranto as he quietly slid closer on the couch. I was curled up under the heat lamp while the guys had their usual evening visit. I bided my time as his scent grew stronger. Taureen and Tkael were undoubtedly watching Soranto’s attempt to get close.

Idiot. I am not sure why he keeps trying. The cool shadow caused by his hand passed between me and the heat lamp was my signal. I whirled around with claws extended as I slashed at the offending hand with a fierce hiss. Soranto wasn’t quite quick enough to dodge and sported a shallow scratch on the back of his hand.

He swiftly retreated to his original seat. “How did she know it was me and not you?”

Soranto looked confused as he inspected the four superficial wounds that had some blood seeping to the surface. I had made sure that my claws had only skimmed his skin – it wasn’t even as bad as some cat scratches I had gotten as a child.

Taureen shrugged. “Possibly because I always sit on this side. Why do you keep trying to pet her?”

Soranto glanced at me with an amused expression. “With the exception of this malevolent fiend, I have never had a single problem with any animal before. I’m sure that she just has a grudge against me. Just wait, one day she will warm up to me.”

In your dreams. The only way I would warm up to you would be with fire, and I know you wouldn’t appreciate that one. Soranto dismissed the scratches with a shrug. I curled back up under the heat lamp, watching them with one half-open eye.

Tkael shook his head, skeptical about how well Soranto’s persistence would work. “You could be waiting a long time.”

Soranto just chuckled before the group began to discuss some large battle halfway across the galaxy. I tuned them out since it didn’t interest me.

~

In due time, Soranto and Tkael headed off to their own homes. Taureen said, “If he bothers you too much, just let me know and I will tell him to stop.”

I snickered as I uncurled from my position and stretched my wings out. “He actually doesn’t bother me. We have an odd love hate relationship. He hates being left out, and I love seeing how fast his reflexes are compared to mine. Especially when he loses.”

Taureen chuckled and relaxed now that he knew I was only testing his friend’s reflexes and wasn’t truly upset at the invasion to my personal space. I stretched a bit more before flying over to land on his shoulder. “Besides, I knew it was him by his scent. On a side note, how are Serena and Tom doing?”

Taureen gave me an odd look. “Who?”

I resisted the impulse to shake my head at myself and my idiocy. “Alec’s two guests.” I sent a mental image of Tom and Serena with her cast.

“I wasn’t aware of their names. The female had her cast come off two days ago, and both are lightly drugged to keep them from moving too much. Much like when your cast came off.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

I nodded my understanding, although it didn’t really surprise me. They hadn’t replied via the mindlink the last couple of days, and this explained their odd silence. Taureen put a bowl of fruit on the table, and I hopped down to eat it. I picked out a piece of watermelon to munch on.

Taureen sat down on a chair and continued, “Alec mentioned that both of them are more comfortable in his presence now, even sitting on his lap when being fed. He is thrilled with the amount of progress considering that they wouldn’t go anywhere near him before you went over. He is hoping we can stop by tomorrow since today is the last day that they are being forced to rest.”

I nibbled on an apple slice and nodded. “Sounds good to me. I can remind them to take it easy for several days, just to be on the safe side.”

Taureen nodded as he watched me eat. He had become remarkably relaxed around me since learning that I was intelligent. When he had thought that I was a mere animal, he had always remained studiously calm and hid his emotions to avoid potentially spooking me.

I preferred this more relaxed side of him. He never did get angry or upset with me, and his patience with me still seemed endless, but he didn’t hide his occasional irritation at other things. It wasn’t easy to upset a Kymari, though; they looked at the long view of things.

However, if they decided to hold a grudge, their irritation didn’t fade. He still wanted to thrash whoever damaged the gate. I had told him to let me know if I did something that really bothered him, and he had agreed, but I suspected that he would overlook most things, even as he had before.

His tolerance seemed to have no bounds where my actions were concerned.

~

Taureen wandered through the open marketplace as he looked at the various stalls of goods. I looked around in curiosity as well. Four other races were here, marketing their wares from distant worlds, although most of the stalls were overseen by Kymari.

Taureen paused and lifted up a delicate bracelet with clear blue stones. He watched the light reflect off of the facetted gems. He dangled it closer to me. “What do you think?” Apparently, it wasn’t unusual for bond animal handlers to talk to their animals in public.

I snorted in disapproval. He glanced at me. “Not your taste?” He put it back down as he looked at the rows of carefully displayed bracelets.

I rolled my eyes as I commented, “For a guy who is observant enough to detect my mood with a mere glance, you have obviously not watched Aeria long enough. I have never seen her wear blue jewelry. As a word of advice from a female, most females prefer matching sets of jewelry. I don’t think I have ever seen her without her green anklet either.”

Taureen transferred his attention to the various bracelets adorned with green stones. A few minutes later, he was inspecting three bracelets in his hands. All three were faintly similar in style to Aeria’s anklet and the color of the stones matched perfectly.

He held up the three for my inspection. “Since you disliked my last choice, what do you think of these?”

I scratched an ear tuft with my hind foot from where I lay on his shoulder. “Personally, I am not fond of the style of the one on the left, but all three are nice.”

He looked at them for a few seconds before returning the left one to its place. He debated between the other two for some time. He glanced at me silently for a long moment before putting one down and holding up the remaining one. The flowing whirls and swirls in the metal wove around the green stones in an endless and subtle pattern.

He murmured softly, “This one has swirls that resemble your flight during the Morning Song.”

I blinked in surprise at the little detail that had determined his choice, although I unable to come up with a response to his comment. He went over to the Kymari who owned this booth to pay for the bracelet. I couldn’t read the Kymari writing or numbers, but I knew that the bracelet he had chosen was very expensive.

I also knew who that bracelet was intended for. Well, it looks like he is about to make his move. We will see if she accepts him as a suitor or turns him away.