Page 49 of Pirate By Parrot

Addy blinked. “You have a mate that talks in your head?”

“Um, I suppose.”

“Do you want to know how to talk to him without speaking out loud?”

“Oh. Sure.”

“You know how you talk to your... Whee?”

“Yes.”

“Project that with words, and see if he can hear it.”

“Hey, Ves. Can you hear this?”

I can always hear you, Mel. You don’t need special effort.

“I don’t want to look like a giant crazy person.”

Ah, understandable. Right. Yes, I can understand you very well. This is very clear.

She looked to Addy. “How much did my lips move?”

Addy smiled. “Not at all.”

“Yay. You taught me a thing.”

Amber laughed.

They sat around, ate the snacks, and drank two more pots of tea.

When Marko returned, Mel sighed. “Well, ladies, thank you for the visit. I miss talking to people who don’t have beaks.”

Marko chortled,“Fussy cow.”

She laughed and got to her feet. “It was nice properly meeting you, Adelheid, and lovely to meet you, Queen Amber.”

Addy got up and extended her hand. “You don’t shake hands?”

Mel smiled and extended two fingers. Addy looked at their hands and burst out laughing. “Okay, I get the point.”

“Thank you. Amber, I will simply incline my head to you. I don’t want any parts of you squished.”

Amber smiled. “Thank you. I hope we can meet again soon.”

Mel nodded, and they walked back to her shuttle. She held the littles toward Rumble, and there was a lot of head rubbing.

Mel looked at Addy. “When you see them again, they are going to be raptors. They are fluffing already.”

Addy blinked. “Wow. That’s fast.”

She walked toward her ship, and Marko remained on her shoulder until she was standing on the ramp. “Thanks again for the very interesting visit. Have a great life.” She waved at the ladies as they got to a safe distance.

She laughed and headed into the vessel, settling in and smiling at the strange turn to a stressful day. She set the babies in with Marko, and Ves soon had them up and travelling.

The next stop was Vendar’s territory and Occorin and his clone and Vendar himself.

Chapter Eight

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