“Of course. I left my things in my room,” Rainair said, continuing to the door.
“Rainair, I said all tech,” Kex said, his voice deep and firm.
“Fuck off, Kex.”
“Don’t make me turn out your pockets,” Kex said, taking a step toward his friend.
Rainair pulled a small, flat device from his pocket and tossed it across the room, where it landed perfectly on the couch. “Happy, you fucking bastard?” Rainair snarled.
“You have absolutely no respect,” Kex started. “If you can’t go a few days without your stories, you can stay here.”
“Respect for the trees? Please, it’s just a fucking reader. If your goddess is so offended by a tiny device, she must be pissed over your mate’s fucking escape pod.”
“Don’t you fucking dare speak about my mate,” Kex snarled, and a moment later, he was across the room and had Rainair in a headlock.
“Fuck, I missed you, brother,” Rainair said in a cheery voice, then he twisted, his tail coming up to wrap around Kex’s neck, and he flipped Kex over his shoulder. Kex pulled him down with him and they grappled, laughing amid the thudding punches.
I shook my head and went to use the bathroom.
When I came back, they were lying side by side on the ground, staring up at the ceiling. “Remember that time you pissed in Lorp’s boots and he didn’t notice until dinner?”
Rainair chuckled. “Noseblind fucker deserved it.”
I stood over the two men and peered down at them. “Are you two done?” I asked.
Kex smiled and rolled to his feet. He pulled me into his arms and kissed me.
“Ew, if you’re still hungry, we can take crackers with us or something. Stop eating your mate,” Rainair said, getting to his feet.
Laughing, I broke away from Kex. “It’s called a kiss,” I told him, stepping away from Kex’s grabby hands. He’d pressed himself against me, and I could tell a moment longer in his arms and Kex would be dragging me back to our room. We really did need to go.
“I don’t need the details of your mating,” Rainair said with a grimace and opened the door.
I giggled but followed him.
Kex led us back to the landing pad we arrived on, or at least I assumed it was the same one. The flyer waiting for us was larger than the one we’d arrived in. When I asked, Kex said it was so we would have enough room for the other women if needed.
Several bulging packs sat by the door of the flyer. “Do we have enough food and clothes for my friends?” I asked.
“Yes,” Kex replied, and moved to the screen on the wall to set the coordinates.
“And we brought extra soap? I don’t know if the protectors will have thought of it, but my friends will want to get clean.”
“Yes, soap and brushes,” Kex reassured me.
I sighed. “Okay, let’s do this.”
I sat by the window, watching the forest race by and the city shrink in the distance as we flew through the lavender sky. Worry crept at the edges of my consciousness, but I couldn’t let it overwhelm me. We would get to my friends and help them out of the forest. They hadn’t been out there alone this whole time, so I had hope they were still alive and well.
“So we really can’t bring one of those needle guns and translator chips with us?” I asked Kex.
“Not into the forest, but we have them on the flyer for when we retrieve your friends,” Kex said.
“But like, it’s such a small device. We can’t just sneak it with us?” I asked.
“That’s what I fucking said!” Rainair growled.
Kex sighed. “I know they seem inconsequential, but as a representative of my people, I have to respect all of our laws. The humans landing in Monai will be a big enough scandal once it is widely known.”