Terri waved the female off. “I’m fine here. I doubt anyone will try anything.”
Azan gave her a doubtful look but disappeared after Garswal, giving Terri a precious moment of solitude while everyone was distracted. Her hand slipped to her shoulder and attempted to knead out the tension. She nearly yelped with a hand closed around the base of her neck and began to gently rub.
Tension drained out of her almost immediately when she recognized Veral’s touch as he hummed to her, his mandibles vibrating with the occasional soft click. The sound was as soothing as his touch. Terri leaned against him, smiling.
“I’ve missed you,” she murmured.
“I know, as I have you. It will not be much longer, anastha.”
Her eyebrows arched as she cast a glance at the male crouching at her side.
“Not much longer until what?”
His lips parted as if to speak, but he hesitated until his mouth clamped back down into a determined line. He shook his head. “It is better if you do not know. Not yet. There will be less risk to you.”
“In case you’ve missed it, this isn’t exactly a party here,” she hissed.
“I have noticed. Be strong, anastha. I will come for you tonight.”
His lips brushed over the top of her head, followed by the drag of his mandibles before he retreated so quickly from her side that she almost wondered if she imagined him there. Her eyes scanned the crowd, catching only glimpses of his dark form until he completely disappeared.
“You look pensive,” Azan said conversationally as she sat at Terri’s side, catching her off guard.
Terri dredged up a smile as the female narrowed her eyes on her suspiciously. As much as she wanted to confide her worries to the Blaithari, she couldn’t forget that the female couldn’t truly be her friend. The circumstances made them odd companions for the time being. She wouldn’t risk saying anything that could potentially put any sort of suspicion on Veral, so she shook her head and accepted the pair of ration bars that were handed to her.
“It’s nothing. Daydreaming, I guess. I miss my mate.” That much at least she felt safe to confess. It was a normal reaction.
Azan’s expression closed, but her lips pressed together as if thinking of something unpleasant. She sighed and took a large bite of ration bar. “A good reason to never take a mate. It makes you dependent on them. Even for those who are not weak, it still makes one vulnerable. Out here, being vulnerable to any kind of personal attachments is dangerous.”
“You miss out on a lot though,” Terri said quietly.
The female beside her snorted. “And what would that be? Someone hoarding all of the bedding? A male who snores so loudly that it is impossible to sleep? Or would it be the bossy male who demands that you follow his every whim—all for your own good of course? No. By myself is far preferable.”
“What of someone to love you? To be strong so that sometimes you can be allowed to feel weak and remind yourself that you need someone other than yourself? A companion in life, someone who’ll bring you the heads of your enemies as love tokens,” she threw out there, recalling Veral’s attempt to do just that when he was courting her.
“Then I will save my credits to purchase a great northern vingnol,” Azan snorted mirthfully.
“Do I want to know what that is?” Terri asked, amusement creeping into her voice.
The pirate leaned in close, her eyes sparkling with laughter. “It is a domesticated companion animal for hunting and other tasks. It has eight legs, and its body stands as high as my waist. They have huge squared heads with three eyes and four prominent fangs among a great many sharp teeth. Generally, they possess nasty dispositions to everyone including their masters. But they are loyal and make excellent bedwarmers once you get past the drool. Absolutely lovely breed,” she chuckled.
Terri slapped a hand over her mouth to muffle to unexpected laughter that bubbled out of her. “That sounds absolutely horrific,” she chortled around her fingers.
Azan smirked. “Says the female who has a rabid monster trying to chew its way through themetal doorof her quarters.”
“Krono is great… He just doesn’t deal well with being locked in—or locked out, for that matter.”
She tried to think of an intimate moment that she and Veral had that didn’t involve Krono lying somewhere in the room. Not one came to mind, except when the dorashnal had be put out at night while strangers were on the ship. Even then, he hated being shut out and had snarled and attempted to get through the door more than once when he got tired of sniffing through the corridors.
“Maybe he needs a mate,” Terri muttered to herself.
“Ah, you want two insane males on your salvager then—or are you hoping that regular fucking will calm him down? I hate to tell you, but it is rarely the case in males who I have personally know,” Azan observed.
“The males in the crew talk about needing to fuck all the time,” Garswal piped up from where he sat at Azan’s other side, steadily devouring his rations.
Terri nearly choked on her food. She hadn’t seen him there and had forgotten that he was there, likely listening as they talked.
“You are right,” Azan agreed, casting the boy a grin. “Most grown males have only one thing on their mind and little sense besides. Those who have brains tend to be pretty awful. Not you, though. You will be too intelligent for all of that,” she said, patting him on the head.