Cosmic (18+)

┉┈◈†𐐎𐌴lⱱ𐌴◈┈┉

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

In a matter of a few days, every Daki in the city could fluently speak English. With everyone competitively trying to be the best, eventually everyone became the best—so no one was.

Charlie had encountered many Daki in the halls of the palace, all of them engaging in conversation with her, probably to show off how fluent they were with her language. She always responded politely and went about her day, which was mainly exploring, learning more about the city and history from Nula with Archie, and trying on new clothes from the enthusiastic seamstress Tifi, happy to have a new and willing model. Dekar was like a shadow following her everywhere.

The strangest thing was she hadn't seen Tük'hala once since that day. She tried not to let it bother her, but she often found her thoughts drawn back to the infuriating alien. In his absence it seemed her spontaneous heat episodes happened more frequently and more intensely. But with Nula consistently at her side, the problem was quickly solved with a bowl of cold water. It was still humiliating, but unfortunately she was starting to get used to it.

Staying in a palace was nice, but since she wasn't allowed to leave she was getting a little stir-crazy. Looking out of her window overlooking the vast and beautiful city of Irotak lit by the red glow of the giant crystals only made her restlessness worse. She wanted to go exploring and see how everyday life was in the city. Maybe Nula would take her for a tour. Of course they'd bring a trusty bowl of cold water just in case.

Charlie grumbled a curse to Tük'hala, wherever that asshole was.

"Is something wrong?" Dekar asked in his deep rasp, his head lifting a little until she thought she could almost see his eyes out of the shadow of his hood.

He was seated on the floor of her bedroom after she insisted he come in so she could show him the game of tic tac toe—she was really trying to curb her restlessness with distractions. She would have asked Nula to play, but at the moment she was busy with King Vetidaka. Charlie shuddered.

They were using a plate of sand between them on the floor and drawing into it with their fingers. It had been fun for the first minute Dekar learned it. But soon every time they played it ended in a draw. She realized she hadn't answered him when he spoke up again.

"Are you tired of the game?"

Charlie sighed and nodded. "Yeah. I'll try to think of something else."

He watched her as she started to absently trace patterns in the sand for a while, lost somewhere in her mind.

"Are you thinking of your mate?"

Her eyes snapped up to his shadowed face, broken out of her thoughts. "What? No, why would I be thinking of him? He's not around, anyway," she said bitterly.

Dekar clicked his tongue. "If I was your mate, I would not leave you alone. Especially not with another male."

Charlie raised a brow at him before returning to her sand tracing. "Well you're not." And neither is he.

"Forgive me," he bowed his head, "I overstepped. I should not speak in such a way with a taken female. Even one as beautiful as you."

Was he flirting? There's no way that wasn't flirting.

"It's fine," she eventually said, brushing it off. She shook the plate until the sand was smooth again then started another round of tic tac toe, knowing it would end in a draw like always.

"Why hasn't he mated with you yet?"

Her cheeks reddened and she choked on air, clearing her throat. So he wasn't really sorry for overstepping, then.