Just as Vi was getting on the ladder up to the dining and gym level, Haze froze.

“Wait.” Haze aimed sideways and dismounted off the ladder. He grabbed the ladder, flourishing his hand toward the opening. “Manners. Ladies first.”

“Oh, uh. That’s not necess…” She thought about trying to discuss women’s lib with him but decided it wasn’t worth the effort. He didn’t seem likely to get the nuances of it. “Uh, sure, why not.”

When they reached the dining room, the table was already piled high with food, steaming hot. Vi made her way into the kitchen where Molly was piling yet another platter full of food. Vi took a deep breath and thought she’d gone to heaven.

“Molly, it smells delicious. Do you need any help getting things ready?”

“It’s okay. I think I’m about done in here. Oz, can you bring this one out too?”

“Sure, lo ma, I’ll be right back.” He scooped up the platter and left.

Vi cocked her head to the side, paying attention to the translation for a change. “So, Molly, why does he keep calling you his woman? Isn’t that kind of…?”

Molly smiled. “It just means I’m his mate.” She blushed again and looked down at the counter. “I think it’s cute the way he says it.” She looked around. “Where’s Haze? Did it go okay with those terrible lizard dog things?”

“You could have at least warned me. Why the hell are those things even on board?”

“I know. Apparently, they’re special to the crew, like a badge of honor or something.” She rolled her eyes. “Mostly, you won’t even see them, and they’ll leave you alone. The few times I’ve see them on patrol, I lean against the wall. They glance at me, keep walking, and then I remember to do that whole breathing thing.” Molly grimaced.

“Anyway, I was busy cooking this. I knew I should have come with him, but Haze insisted he could handle it. Oz didn’t warn me either. …Men are stupid.”

Vi laughed at that. “You’re sure I can’t do anything to help you?”

“No, I’m good. Besides.” She smiled sweetly, and her voice dropped. “This is kind of your Welcome Here party.”

“Aw, Molly, that’s so sweet.”

“I’m just so glad you’re here. You have no idea what it’s like, just me and a bunch of men. It’s not the same, you know? I mean, I grew up with all brothers, but after a while, it gets old.”

“I feel like I should change or something,” Vi said, looking down at her simple, comfortable clothes.

“You look good, Vi. Let’s have the guys ring the crew in before the food gets cold.”

Dinner was really nice. Everyone, except Haze, had tons of manners and were welcoming and joked around with each other in an easy camaraderie. Haze pretty much ate and grunted. Molly gave Haze a couple of dirty looks, but it didn’t seem to faze him much.

After dinner, the men all cleaned up while Molly and Vi sat together.

“Well, I guess I could get used to this.” Vi leaned back and stretched her arms over her head.

“Does that mean I have a new kitchen wench?” Molly asked.

Vi heaved a sigh, accepting that dishes were definitely in her near future. “Man, I hate dishes, but a lot less than I hate chopping.”

Oz came out then and stood behind Molly’s chair, rubbing her shoulders. “So, mah lo ma, we’re all cleaned up in there. We should probably go get ready for tomorrow.”

“Oh, yes, right. Good idea.” Molly made a deep yawn. “I’ll see you later, Vi.”

“Night, kids,” Vi called after them. Get ready, my ass, she thought with a grin. As far as Vi had heard, all they were doing was traveling to a new mining spot. Considerate of Oz, though, to get that Molly would prefer to keep the pretense.

A minute later, all the men piled out of the kitchen. How they all fit in there, Vi could only guess, but they certainly did make a racket.

“Well, Violet,” the captain said, coming over to stand beside her chair.

Vi got up quickly. "Vi, please."

The captain reached out to take her hand in a friendly handshake. “It was a pleasure to renew the connection, Vi.”

“Thank you, Captain. You as well.” Fyn and Seban wished her a good night next.

She watched them leave. “I suppose I should head to bed now,” she ventured, feeling a bit tired from all the commotion.

“We’ll probably hang out here for a bit, if you want to join us,” Xain offered, sitting back down at the table. Haze sat in another empty seat gesturing to the one next to him with a smile.

Vi felt a happy tinge of nerves run through her as she took the proffered seat. She glanced around. “What do you do here for fun, anyway?”

Haze spoke up. “Fighting, tossing, pretty much whatever tussle people are up for.”

“Games, TV, anything like that?”

“We got our vid screens. I can show you how to tune it to the Galactic Network. Maybe you’ll find some Earth programs, now that your world is part of the Mahdfel network. …Might not be the largest selection yet, but better than nothing.”

“We could play a round of Claren, if you want,” Xain offered.

As the octagonal cards were dealt, she felt the strange, almost leathery cards. They were thicker than normal.

“What is this paper?” she asked.

“It’s verta; it’s made from a tree we have at home.”

As they played a few rounds together, Claren ended up reminding Vi of a cross between Uno and Skip Bo with some odd symbols on the strange leathery cards and everyone playing at once instead of in turns.

It was a lot to take in, but she started to get the hang of it. The ranking system for the alien symbols was still a bit beyond her though, as in which symbol was worth more than the next.

Xain wrote out the order for her, but it slowed her down trying to glance back and forth between her list and the cards in play.

At several points, Haze would nudge her or fend off Xain grabbing the card so that Vi could scoop in to take it from the table. Then Haze would look sideways and kind of reach over to help steer the card to a better spot, all while also making his own matches.

She lost every round, but Haze was fun to play with. He didn’t seem to take the game, or the score, too seriously, and his loud, boisterous laughs were infectious. They’d spent as much time laughing as dealing cards.

As they were cleaning up the cards — way past the point when Vi’d thought she could keep her eyes open — Xain wished them a good night.

Haze paused as he was putting the cards back in their box. “You should come to The Pit some time.”

Vi glanced up, but Haze was fiddling with the cards. He glanced over at her, and she felt a little answering shiver as their eyes met.

“Let me train you. You have good instincts.”

“Hmm. I don’t know about that. I lost every round to you and Xain.” She considered though. She had this feeling he’d probably make training as much fun as cards. “Maybe.”

Plus, she’d get to see him move again and he was definitely someone she could watch for a while longer.

He smiled at her. “Eh. Can’t take that too seriously.” He gestured at the cards. “It’s not like anyone’s gonna bleed from it.”

Vi cleared her throat. “That’s true,” she said with a half-laugh.

His face sort of lit up. “Well, good then. We can figure it out at breakfast.”

Vi tilted her head to the side. “So, what’s all this stuff about where you’re going next? Molly and Oz mentioned something, sounded like they were arguing over it, or… I’m not sure really,” she said as she thought back on it. Molly and Oz almost arguing while she was in the room, and remembering how Haze had seemed to complain about the same thing on the way back from the bridge.

Haze’s face darkened. “Apparently, we’re headed to the middle of the dankest place of the galaxy, because there won’t be no trouble there.” His face made an exaggerated ‘yay me’ expression. “But at least it’s safe.” The derision in his voice dripped and puddled on the floor.

“Safe sounds good,” Vi offered.

Haze shook his head. Standing up, he put the Claren box back in its storage. “Not if it’s wasting my time and nothing to show for it.”

She climbed down the ladder, and Haze followed her, grumbling about faerluns and water and a few things she didn’t catch.

The translator described the faerluns as some sort of small animal, similar to a house cat.

She turned to him. “These faerluns… they don’t like water, or they do?”

“Faerluns? Hate water. Supposedly, we evolved from them, at least our Vargys half did, hence the green coloring and tails. And our preference for trees.”

“Preference for trees?”

“A lot of us grew up in trees. We build elaborate shelters, beautiful layered nests. It’s quite peaceful.” His eyes took on a faraway look.

“We have a few tree houses on Earth. Mostly for the kids, but every so often someone will build their homes in a tree. The pictures do always seem peaceful.”

He smiled at her and took a step closer, cocking his head to the side.“You would wish a home in the trees then?”

Vi did a half-smile. “I don’t know. I guess I never really thought about it before.” She shook her head. “I’ve always been kind of a city girl to be honest. Big, narly buildings with lots of glass. I guess they are sort of tree houses. People try to live as high off the ground as possible. It’s sort of a status thing.”

He nodded. “Interesting. Vargys and Earth share some traits in common.”

“Do all of the Vargys have these tattoos on their skin? I noticed your whole crew has them. They’re beautiful.”

“Nah. We get these from our fathers. It’s part of being Mahdfel.”

Vi leaned close. “I thought, at first, that maybe you’d had them done, but you’re born with all these markings?”

“Yes, they’re– actually there’s more. If you touch my skin here…” He held out his arm, gesturing to it.

“I. Uh…” She reached over and touched his skin lightly. A soft glow began under her fingertips.

She glanced up in amazement, and he was studying her, his eyes hooded as though he’d offered something private and wild and was curious how she would react.

He smiled as their eyes met. “Just something it does sometimes.” His voice had softened. His gaze drifted down to her lips, inviting her closer.

The rush of heat that jolted through her surprised her at its intensity.

Then he glanced back up. “I should let you sleep so you will be well-rested for our battles tomorrow.” He grinned as though he were toying with her. Even so, she felt this overpowering urge to kiss the grin off his face, hard.

Vi took a step back, trying to regain her composure. Was he toying with her?

“I’ll see you in the morning.” He waved the door chime to the next room over from hers, and the door slid open. Apparently, his room was next to her room.

As he walked into the room, his eyes didn’t leave hers.

The expression on his face was all dark smolder that he wasn’t bothering to hide, an open invitation for her to follow him.

Yes, he was definitely toying with her.

Perhaps, there should be bolts. On her door. On the other side of the door. To keep her in.

She swiped her door to let herself in, shaking her head. She wrapped her arms about herself.

Yes, battle tomorrow. A trickle of desire ran through her. What had he said before? Tussling? Yes, tussling.

Man, that guy was going to be fun to tussle with.

The first thing she did, when she entered her room, was toss all of her clothes on the floor, searching for her favorite, sexiest workout gear.