Grace of An Elder

Chapter 41

"Dhadtoudi, why are you sitting out here alone? Zaiyu has been searching for you."

"If my brother wanted to find me, he would have by now." The female looked over her shoulder to see the T'ahrou standing a few feet behind, not bothering to cloak himself. "Do not lie...my brother sent you for information." T'ahrou said nothing as he moved to crouch alongside the girl; she was sitting on the flat-faced pebbles of the beach with her knees tucked to her chest and her arms wrapped around her thighs.

"Why are you wearing minimal clothing?"

"One of the females called it a 'swimsuit'. I suppose I am to wear it while swimming."

"And yet you sit here." A soft sigh escaped her lips. Barely audible even to T'ahrou, but it was there.

"All of the soft meats watch me when I move...even more so when I am dressed like this. The females do not bother me, at least most of them. One of the younger females strikes me as very odd."

"So where lies the problem, Dhadtoudi?"

"The males." Again T'ahrou said nothing, and the girl kept her gaze out over the moving water as she continued. "When the males watch me, it is strange. They do not look at me and look away...they stare."

"Everyone on our planet stares at you."

"This is different." She looked around, finding a small group of young males standing near a small fire pit; they were perhaps seventeen years of age, and they were staring...hard. "See?" T'ahrou looked as well, and some of the younglings looked away but the rest kept their sights fixed on the new female. "It is not like at home. They do not react the same way Yautja males do. Yautja males simply move past me or try to fight me...these...I don't like it here."

"Because you are uncomfortable?"

"No, because they are planning something. I don't know what it is. But someone is planning something. And I don't want to be here when it happens."

T'ahrou clicked in understanding before a silent moment passed between them. "I could kill them if you like."

"Perhaps." That hadn't been the answer he was expecting, but it was the one he preferred. "Be honest with me..." the male cocked his head to the side as he waited for Dhadtoudi to continue, "do you think they stare because the clothing is ugly?"

His mandibles clicked slowly as he deliberated his answer. "The clothing...is not the issue..." An unusual expression that he had come to recognize when she was angry crept onto her features now. "It...enhances certain...aspects...of your...being." Her grey eyes narrowed into slits, and he clicked nervously. "The males of this species are drawn to certain features of the females, some of which I'm you probably have, and the clothing just...makes those features more appealing to the males." There was no way she could spin that answer around to get him into trouble, he was sure of it!

"Well, what is your opinion?" Pauk.

"If the circumstances were different, I believe you would make a fine mate for a male of the Yautja race." There was no saving him now.

"'Different circumstances' meaning - if I were Yautja as well."

"Yes."

Dhadtoudi was silent for a long moment as she looked out over the water again, her expression unrecognizable. "I thank you for your honesty, T'ahrou...I could not trust my brother to be so truthful."
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