Page 33 of Vexing Valmir
"Good for you, friend." I finish laying out my track of bones, only half listening. "Do you think this is enough length for her two-fang pet?"
Skarr steps closer, considering. He walks the full length of the supplies I have laid out. It makes a long, winding path along the beach. "Did you intend to make it twice as long as you are tall?"
"I did. He needs room to move about. To stretch his legs. No creature should be trapped in a cage so small that it feels suffocating." I push away any bad memories that float to mind and stand up, feeling the need to stretch my own legs. I smooth my whiskers, thinking. "I could make this even longer. We have the supplies."
Skarr nods, thoughtful. "I think you are right. Bigger is better. You want it to be the grandest animal cage she has ever seen. That is the key to winning her heart."
Bigger. Grander. I agree. This needs to be the most impressive cage for a two-fang ever created. I want April to see it and be overjoyed at the sight of the incredible home I have made for her new pet. "More bones, aye."
He follows me as I duck back into the supply cave. "So how goes the courting?"
How indeed? I try not to feel smug, but I've still got the scent of her on my fingertips. I can't stop thinking about how she looked when I rubbed her between her thighs, or the choked noises she made as she came. The soft, dazed look on her face. "She let me touch her last night."
"Excellent progress. You've been taking my advice and flattering her?"
I think about April and the way she professes to hate me even as we touch. Flattering her was the last thing on my mind. "Not exactly."
Skarr tsks. "Trust me, you want to compliment her or else she'll use the mind control."
"As I said before, there is no mind control."
"And asIhave said, I remain unconvinced."
"You think Vivi is controlling you?"
"Absolutely." A wide grin breaks across his strange, reptilian face. "I am happy to be in her clutches."
Idiot. But a contented idiot. A week ago, I would have thought Skarr was a complete and utter fool for saying such things, but now I am starting to see why he does. Why he wears his ridiculous tail-sock with the fluffy poof at the end, why he thinks everything Vivi does is incredible. Resonance changes how you view a female. Before we resonated, if April had given me her scornful looks and mocked me, I would have loathed her.
Now I find her annoyance endearing. I cannot wait to have her insult me again, because her arousal scent drifts through the air even as she says mean things. It tells me how she really feels.
I think I like her harsh words far more than any soft ones.
CHAPTER 10
APRIL
"Here, my finned friends,"I joke as I cast my line into the slushy, rocking waters of the ocean. "Come on, little scaly buddies. Come take a bite of this worm."
Harlow's kid, Rukhar, stares at me with surprise. "You can't call them. They can't hear you."
"They can't?" I bat my eyes, trying to seem innocent and foolish. "You're sure?"
At his side, Pak giggles, his little fluffy bunny-tail wiggling madly. It takes everything I have not to laugh with him and give myself away. I know how to fish. I've fished all my life. It's one of the memories that has been tickling at the back of my mind, and holding a pole and standing near the waves feels so very right. This is something I can spend my days doing, and gladly.
After breakfast, Harlow suggested Rukhar and Pak teach me how to fish. I don't know if she was sending them to watch me or if I'm supposed to be watching them, but I'm happy to help out. They're good kids, though, and I've been laughing with them for hours. Both boys are very patient with every silly, exaggerated question I ask, and Pak solemnly puts the bait on my hook each time for me. The worm looks more like a centipede with shrimp-parts but I'm trying not to think aboutthat. The land provides, but it doesn't have to make it pretty, I remind myself.
They've been laughing at me all morning because I don't want us to say the word "fishing." I tell them it's bad luck and it'll let the fish know what we're up to, so we call it what my ancestors called it —holoholo.They think I'm crazy, but a fun kind of crazy. I won't even use the wordfish, which makes Pak giggle constantly as we come up with other words for them.
"The scaled friends areunderwater," Rukhar tells me, his face quite serious. "Have you ever been underwater? You can't hear anything."
"So I shouldn't call them?" I bite my lip, pretending to be confused. "What if I just call a lot louder? OH LOOK AT THIS SNACK JUST DANGLING IN THE WATER! WHAT INCREDIBLE LUCK! IT WOULD MAKE SOMETHING AN EXCELLENT MEAL!"
My bellowing makes the people farther down the beach turn and give me weird looks. It also makes Pak fall over, clutching his sides and giggling madly, which was the reaction I was hoping for.
Rukhar just shakes his head at me, as if I'm the biggestdummehthat ever dummied. He turns in my direction. "No matter how loud you are, they're still f— er, scaly buddies. Have you ever seen one with ears?"
I grab his arm before he can put his back to the sea. "Oops! Don't do that."
