Page 23 of My Orc Has Big Tusks
I stopped outside the room and she stepped in, taking in the space. It was small but functional. A desk, chair, and filing cabinet, and a window that looked out over the north side of the property. It had held miscellaneous supplies before. We’dcleared it out two days ago, scrubbed it clean, and added the furniture we’d ordered.
I set her bag on the desk.
She sat in the big chair behind it, smiling down at how tiny she was compared to the size.
“It’s made for orcs,” I said.
“I figured.”
“We’ve ordered a human-sized chair, but it won’t be here until next week. Krem donated his desk. He wasn’t using it.”
“That’s nice of him.”
“Kremisnice.”
Did she like Krem more than she did me?
I stopped that thought before it got started. If she liked Krem, she liked Krem. There wasn’t anything I could do about something like that.
“Everything’s perfect.” She tucked one leg under herself, her hands resting on the armrests that extended past her forearms. The chair swallowed her.
She pulled things out from her bag one by one. A notebook. A pen with etching that could be expensive. We’d have to keep that away from the mossnibbles or we’d never find it in their nest. A coffee mug with a cartoon dog on it that said,I’m here for the muttrimony.
The mug had a chip on the handle.
She’d brought a damaged mug instead of a new one. That meant something, though I wasn’t sure what.
“This will work very well,” she said, looking around.
“It’s small.”
“It’s mine.” She said it like that mattered more than the size.
I understood that.
She unpacked the rest of her bag and looked up at me. “How is Cooper doing?”
She’d called each day to check on him, but the clatterwing just needed time to heal, so she hadn’t come in person.
“He’s well. I’ll show you.”
We walked to the kennel room together, Sofia still perched on Laina’s shoulder. The emberkit hadn’t stopped purring since Laina arrived.
Laina stooped down in front of Cooper’s crate and carefully lifted the corner.
Cooper blinked at us, his feathers chiming when he shifted.
“Good morning, Cooper,” Laina said. “Let’s check out that wing.”
She opened the crate and ran her hands over his wing, testing the wrap. She also checked the food bowl and the water. The bird tolerated it well, but he knew her now. He trusted her.
“He’s still eating and drinking?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“That’s exactly what we want to see.” She stroked Cooper’s back once before closing the crate and straightening.
Sofia peeped from Laina’s shoulder, and Laina reached up to stroke her spine.
