Page 5 of Claim
“That’s not what I… This isn’t really about size or strength or”—as her gaze flicked over him then away, the skin over her cheeks changed color, almost imperceptibly but he noticed—“or anything like that.A makeover helps you to make a statement in a way even a universal translator doesn’t need to decipher.”
He considered.“At the Luster, the orcs must be known as powerful, intrepid, unstoppable in matters of stone and space.If wigs would do that, that is what we will do.”He slicked one hand over his head, taking the opportunity to smooth down his prickling antennae.“You changed the small hatchling’s hair too.Was that a big ask?”
She made that breathy noise that he abruptly remembered was a laugh.“The blue streaks were easy.But Ollie wants to be an orc, and I can’t quite do that for him, unfortunately.”
“He is part of my Omega Reclamation Crew,” Mag said.“That makes him an orc.”
June blinked.“He would be so happy to hear that.You should tell him.”
Mag tapped the apex glyph.“I will.”
“We’ll think about wigs later.Let’s start by enhancing what you already have.”She made another circle around him, muttering to herself.“I did the hair on a couple community theater shows back on Earth, and I helped out with wardrobe and makeup.I guess this isn’t so different.”She came to a halt in front of him and then took a step back, eyes narrowing as her hands came up to trace an outline of him.“Something to emphasize your shoulders, how wide they are—uh, both sets.Highlight the muscles in your biceps and forearms…” Her fingers flared in the air.“Ooh, maybe a cloak.”
Though she wasn’t even close to touching him, the infinitesimal breeze wafted over him, rousing a strange shiver, though his hide should’ve been too thick to feel it.He flexed the muscles she’d mentioned, but only to ward off the sensation.
She continued her assessment.“You’re already very tall, but with the right boots, you’d be totally imposing.And your eyes, so deep and black.So intense…” She glanced away, but the flutter of the pulse in her throat somehow reached him anyway.“Well, maybe we don’t need to do anything about those.”
He sat back with a grunt.“None of this is who we are.”
She didn’t look back at him.“I guess it depends on who you want to be.”
He held himself still and stiff as she used her datpad to take his measurements.Again, she did not touch him, but he swore the scanner prickled across him with unlikely force.
“I’ve done some sewing, but just enough to get by.Maybe Carmen—she’s a quilter—can give me a hand, and then we’ll have theDeepWanderfabricator put together a template for all the orcs who will be attending the Luster.”She made some other notations in the datpad.
Since she wasn’t looking at him, Mag found himself looking more closely at her.“It sounds as though you had many interests back on Earth.”
She lifted one shoulder.“Not so much interests as responsibilities.”She had no antennae, there was a tension in her that vibrated the same.“I was something known on Earth as poor white trash.My parents split when I was young.I bounced around between two households for awhile, but when my mother moved in with another boyfriend, I ended up staying with my dad and two younger brothers.There just wasn’t ever…enough.Not enough money or understanding or care.I could never do enough.And I couldn’t find a way to change it, no matter how I tried to dress it up and make it pretty, or at least okay.”
Mag considered.“Perhaps there is Earther context that I do not understand, although the individual words seem straightforward enough.But the elemental creative force that lights the universe does not make trash.”
She let out another of those little Earther laughs, though it sounded off.“Yeah, God don’t make no junk.But isn’t reclamation and salvage how theDeepWandergets by?”
He tilted his head.“Which is why I say, that which is abandoned or broken still has a place and a purpose.”
Still looking at her datpad, she asked, “Have you decided who all will be attending the Luster?I want to be sure we have a plan for everyone.”
She was ignoring his words, not something an apex should allow.But while he might not understand all Earther context, her desperate evasion pierced his tough apex shell.
Also not something an apex should allow.But there was no one else here to witness.
So he allowed her escape.“The initial gathering and auction is the most important.That is where all the crews and aspiring members will be displaying and then selling their best finds.After that, private contracts and alliances are made, plus any invitations to join the various tiers of the council.But that first gathering matters most.My brother and my crusher must be there, and they’ve said Adeline and Kinsley will stand with them.”
She kept nodding as she typed.“And who will be your date for the Luster?Mary Louise or Carmen?I think—”
“Neither,” he rumbled.“I go alone.”
Her dark quartz eyes flicked up from the datpad, then quickly down again.“I’m surprised you didn’t stake a claim on Adeline as soon as we set foot on theDeepWander.”
“I was going to.”
After the briefest hesitation, she said, “Oh.I guess that’s because she’s so beautiful and came from money.An Earther princess for the alien king.”
Mag wasn’t sure why he had to explain.“Yes, it made the most sense.Her IDA profile indicated close matching with mine in several areas including background, personality traits, preferences, and biochemical compatibility.And she already had a hatchling that would need security and upbringing, which I could provide as apex.”
“But then Teq won her.”
“It wasn’t a battle.”The defensiveness in his tone annoyed him.“But yes.The i’lva ignited between them, and no orc would ever challenge the i’lva.”
