Page 48 of Purring, Presents, and Parties

“You should have a density rod,” Nacium declared after setting Royal down and handing the boy back his multi-tech. “Thatway you can always know your measurements are perfectly calibrated. I’ll see that one is sent over tomorrow.”

Royal cheered even as Hesarium picked him up and started carrying him away with Cherish at his side.

Now that Nacium had gotten to interact with one of the children, Baz determinedly marched Nacium toward the entrance. Just as he started to fuss about checking in on Zuri, they received a message from Kasium saying she was fine and sleeping peacefully.

As Ari watched Nacium’s transport leave, she felt like they’d all performed a play where Nacium had been the audience. They’d pulled it off without him seeing what was really going on backstage.

“I hope you enjoyed tonight's performance ofThere’s Nothing To See Here,” she murmured, relaxing against Baz’s bulk as she snorted at her own joke. “Don’t forget to leave a positive review on the platform of your choice.”

Chapter 18

Aubrey

They were passing through the main entrance when Aubrey’s information square started pinging. She opened the secure messaging program used only by the humans within the compound to find out a lot had happened while she and Tarrian were gone.

“There was a surprise inspection last night,” she said.

“I know,” Tarrian said as the ground transport halted inside the main entrance. It wouldn’t go any further due to the lack of track markers for it to follow. That had been a deliberate decision to keep visitors from being able to travel quickly within the compound. Everyone here walked or was carried, no vehicles allowed.

“You know?”

“Don’t you remember when my Ident sounded last night as we were getting back from the evening meditation?” he asked as he exited the vehicle on his side.

Aubrey shook her head as she jumped out the other side and circled around to him. “I was pretty much asleep at that point. Those meditations are better than any medical-grade sleeping aid!”

“Even though I wasn’t on the compound, the emergency warning still lit up my Ident. There was nothing we could do, so I didn’t mention it. If anything went wrong, there would’ve been more communications.”

“No news is good news,” Aubrey quipped.

“Exactly,” he agreed, hefting three large bags out of the transport with a grunt. Two of the bags were filled with rocks, even though she was only supposed to fill one small bag. When the other Talins on the mountain realized she was there for the rocks, they’d gathered anything that looked remotely interesting and left it next to their bunk in the dormitory. By the time she and Tarrian got back from their stint in the cave, the bunk looked like someone had built a small stone wall around it!

There were also two large bags to carry them in, and Tarrian received a message on his Ident giving them a departure time where there would be enough space to carry the bags on the lift-carriage.

All of it had been done in absolute silence and without any direct contact. Aubrey had wanted to run around hugging everyone but didn’t want to spoil the deeply spiritual experience they were trying to have.

That meant she’d made Tarrian pack every rock, even though many of them were common and unremarkable. They were all gifts, and she couldn’t leave a single one behind.

“You’re so good to me,” she commented as he shouldered the bags. He wasn’t straining under the weight here at ground level, but walking back down the steps and then the paths between lift-carriages was a struggle. Despite that, he never once complained or suggested leaving something behind.

His only concern was that he’d wanted to carry her also, but she’d refused. Not only was going down easier than going up, but she wasn’t about to burden him further with her own weight!

“Should we get an auto-cart to carry this stuff back to our cottage?” Aubrey asked.

Tarrian sounded a loud rumble of amusement. “Outside of the ground transport, this is the easiest part of our journey!”

“Still,” she said with a frown, then she saw Zuri and Kasium leaving the infirmary.

She and Tarrian had started their journey off the mountain before the sun even rose, reaching the compound while it was still morning. If Aubrey had to guess, she’d bet Zuri and Kasium spent the night together in the infirmary. By the looks of them, they might’ve done more than sleep!

“I think someone finally got lucky!” Aubrey murmured, happy for Zuri.

“It seems so,” Tarrian agreed with another amused rumble.

“Looks like the inspection wasn't the only thing we missed.”

Tarrian sounded an affirmative rumble. “I’m sure everyone will be eager to tell us everything at the next communal meal.”

“I’m almost sad I missed the excitement,” Aubrey admitted. “But I wouldn’t trade anything for our trip to the mountain. It was magical.”

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