Page 23 of Pirate By Parrot

“Dance. Learn to dance. Move, and every day it will be easier. You need to keep in touch with how far your limbs stretch and how hard it is to change direction. If your mate isn’t around to help, you are going to have to master your own body and try to have fun. You need to find fun in your own body again. I know it has been a while. Possibly decades are involved. Move until your limbs are under your control and you feel comfortable in your own skin. It is what kids literally do. They wiggle around and learn how their bodies move. That is your assignment.”

Mel smiled. “So, I should wiggle?”

“You should accept that this is your body, and you need to control it.”

Mel nodded and looked at Marko and the dragon. The bird was squawking and had her arms wide as if she was telling the dragon a story. The dragon was looking at her and nodding intently.

“Aw, she made a friend.” Mel chuckled.

Liona looked and blinked. “Wow. She’s talking to Veth.”

“How can you tell?”

“The eyes. The eyes change when a celestial being is talking through their avatar.”

Mel blinked. “Are there a lot of them?”

“It’s a one-in-a-thousand situation. It is far rarer to find a Drai out and away from their world. To find a female with Drai wings... unheard of. The Reset Project is having fun with this.”

“Well, someone is. I am having my first period in twenty-five years and am slightly miserable. Ves loaded me full of hormones to balance me out, but I still have that gloom-and-doom thing going on. I wish that I was less moody meeting another Reset.”

Liona smiled. “Don’t worry about it. I got a Drai, and your mate has yet to make themselves known. I can only imagine the frustration. If I had to go through growing the wings without him, I would have gone insane.”

“I had Marko, and Ves is a good sport.”

“Ves?”

“Vendari Station. That is where I woke up. The consciousness of the station has been making equipment and getting rations and snacks for us.”

Annabelle smiled as she walked by with arms loaded with fruit. “Just passing through. I’ll be back.”

Mel looked and blinked. “What the hell?”

Liona laughed. “Do you have internal coms?”

“Yeah.”

“Did Annabelle get one?”

Liona chuckled. “Someone is telling her to get the breeding fruit.”

“Breeding... No fucking way.”

“It is a soother for hormonal upsets. You might be able to keep blues at bay with one of those. If the vendors hadn’t shared it with me, Veth was going to destroy every single crop on the planet. They would wither and die because they wouldn’t let me try one.”

“Good spouse.”

“Oh, yeah. So, what’s the deal with the suit?”

“Oh, I am set for heavy grav now, so it keeps me from losing molecular density.”

Liona’s eyes went wide. “So, are you super strong?”

“Dunno.”

“Can you jump over tall buildings in a single bound?”

“Not a clue. This is the first atmosphere I have been in since I passed seven foot five.”

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