Page 73 of Kimiko and the Accidental Proposal
“Wolves.” He rolled his eyes. “My tail is not for decoration or for pride or for chasing. My tail is for balance and for hanging and for holding.”
Tenma turned in his chair, and Inti’s tail loosened to allow it. Searching the crosser’s face, he asked, “Why do you pretend?”
Inti hunched forward until his nose nearly touched Tenma’s. “Reasons.”
Disappointment stung, but he only nodded.
With a soft sigh and a chittering of nonsense, Inti took Tenma’s face in his hands and said, “Fools are harmless. Innocence is endearing. If Inti is sweet and silly, then Inti is simple.”
He was talking about himself as if he were another person. “Why hide the truth?”
Inti shook his head. “Reasons.”
Tenma let it go at that. “So … may I touch your tail?”
The furred tip twitched under his chin. “My tail is touching you.”
And since that seemed to be all the permission he needed, Tenma lifted both hands to the tail that was as thick as Inti’s arm and twice as long. It had weight and seemed to move with a mind of its own. Not wanting to intrude too far, Tenma confined himself to cautious patting.
Inti snickered. “My tail is not intimate territory.”
“So you’ll let anyone touch it?”
The crosser’s fingers returned to grooming. “Would you take a stranger’s hand and hold it.”
“No.” Tenma considered different social situations. “Not normally.”
Inti nodded. “Like that.”
Tenma remembered the casual intimacy he’d encountered while staying in the Starmark compound. Pack instincts. Family feelings. “What do monkeys call their friends?”
“Tenma.”
He chuckled. “Okay, but wolves talk about pack and den. Some cats use hearth for home. And I’ve heard Akira refer to himself as Suuzu’s nestmate. Are there simian equivalents?”
“Never asked.”
He held up the directory. “Do you want to? Because Goh Impleer is one of the resident directors, and he’s your sort. Let’s go ask.”
Inti stilled. “You ask. You tell.”
“You don’t want to go?”
“No.”
“Aren’t you curious?”
“I am free,” Inti said softly. “That is enough.”
“Will it bother you ifIdo some research?”
“You are also free.” Inti gave Tenma’s hair a final pat, then unwound himself. In one effortless spring, he reached the top of the kitchenette’s cabinet and crouched. Making a playful flicking motion with his fingers, he said, “Go, go, Goh.”
“Will you be here when I get back?”
“Tenma still wants Inti?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
