“Wow—so you’re going through a divorce right now?” Iyanna asked.
Terra shook her head miserably.
“Just went through one. It was finalized at the end of last month,” she mumbled. “And my ex’s wedding to the intern he was cheating with is at the end of this week.”
“Damn—that’s tough.” Iyanna put a tentative hand on her shoulder and squeezed lightly. “I’m so sorry you’re having such a rough time, Terra.”
“Thanks.” Terra sniffed—because yes, she was crying now—and swiped at her eyes. “I’m so sorry to dump all this on you. I really wanted to keep our relationship professional.”
“Now, where’s the fun in that?” Iyanna smiled at her. “Come on—let’s sit down and you can tell me all about it.”
They sat on a couch which appeared to be made entirely out of bluish green vines and Terra noticed that everywhere Iyanna touched its surface, flowers popped up. But she was so busy recounting her recent history that she barely paid attention to this odd phenomenon.
“…and so I have to attend Gregoryory’s wedding for our son’s sake and so I don’t look like I’m not adult enough to move past all this,” she ended, blowing her nose into a handkerchief that Iyanna handed her which appeared to be made of a large, thin, soft flower petal. “But I hate to go alone because everyone will pity me and I don’t want to be pitied!”
“What you need is a date that will knock everybody’s socks off,” Iyanna said decisively. “You need someone on your arm that will let your ex and that skanky little intern know you’ve moved on and you don’t need him in your life anymore.”
“That would be fabulous,” Terra agreed, sniffing and dabbing at her eyes again. “But I just don’t know where I’d find someone to come with me.”
“What about a Monstrum warrior?” Iyanna asked, raising her eyebrows. “In fact, what about three Monstrum warriors? Don’t you think showing up with V’rone and Tem and Rive would make your ex sit up and take notice?”
“Well, yes but I can’t…I mean, they’re just too much,” Terra protested. “My divorce was just finalized—I’m not ready to jump back into dating just yet. Let alone…whatever it is the three of them have in mind.”
“Okay, so you’re not down with accepting their offer to bond,” Iyanna said.
“No—not at all!” Terra exclaimed. “I mean, don’t get me wrong—they’re gorgeous and muscular and hot but they’re also much too young for me and I’m still not over everything that happened with Gregoryory. I just can’t go there—I can’t.”
“You might be surprised where you can go with a Monstrum warrior,” Iyanna remarked, a little smile curving the corners of her mouth. “But okay, I get it. I just—”
At that moment, the front door of the suite chimed, letting them know someone was outside.
“Crap.” Terra swiped at her eyes again, trying to look presentable. “Can you get that?”
“Sure.” Iyanna got off the couch with a bit of difficulty and went to the door. But when it slid open, Terra saw the tall form of Rive standing there.
The Brain of the colony had an uncertain look on his face, though once more his glasses were obscuring his eyes. The angular black markings on his arms looked especially dark against his green skin as he bowed his head when Iyanna greeted him.
“Greetings. I am hoping to be able to speak to Terra,” he said simply.
Iyanna turned to Terra and raised her eyebrows.
“Well?”
Terra bit her lip. If it had been V’rone at the door, she would have sent him away in a second. If it had been Tem, she would have suspected him of wanting to sweet talk her and again, would have sent him away. But Rive intrigued her. She’d always had a weakness for smart men, which was how she’d ended up with her ex—Gregoryory was kind of a tech genius, though he was also an ass, she reminded herself.
“All right, he can come in,” she said at last. “But no funny business.”
Rive frowned as he stepped into the suite.
“I assure you, the business I have come to discuss is not humorous in the slightest. On the contrary, it is extremely serious.”
Terra couldn’t help it—she felt the corners of her mouth turning up into a small smile.
“No—funny business is an Earth saying,” she told him. “It means—oh, never mind what it means.” She shook her head. “You can come and talk to me but I’m afraid if you’re here to ask me to be your ‘Queen,’ my answer is still no.”
He came around the couch and gestured to the place where Iyanna had been.
“May I sit?”
“Sure. Uh…” Terra looked up at Iyanna who shrugged and smiled.
“Don’t mind me—I’ll just go in the food prep area and fix myself a snack. We preggy ladies have to stay fed.” And she patted her belly.