Page 20 of Double Her Pleasure

“What is your purpose here?” he demanded.

“We could ask you the same thing,” the green male replied, his head tipping as he regarded Agor. “As it happens, we are looking for someone.”

“As are we,” Brydis cut in quickly before Agor completely lost his mind at that statement. “Are you familiar with the human residential layout? They are different from the organization of the rookery territories.”

The male shook his head, his wings fluffing out in exasperation. “Unfortunately, not. We caught sight of a strong taliazon female that we wished to converse with on a human perch, but we were swept up into a transportation machine and lost sight of her.”

“So we’ve returned to this location in hope of locating her again and introducing ourselves,” the yellow plumed male added as he gestured with one wing toward the track that ran just below them and what appeared to be a shaded shelf at its edge.

“Ourtalia lives in this area,” Agor snapped, drawing their collective attention back to him.

The green male smirked. “Many humans, the greater majority of them female, live in this area.”

“He is not wrong,” Brydis cautioned his twin. “It is a high probability that the female that they speak of is entirely different than our Jill.”

Agor scowled at him, but stepped forward and activated the comm on his wrist. Brydis immediately recognized the image captured within it from when they were enjoying their meals together on the deck.

“Is this the female?” he demanded.

Both males craned their heads and looked over at the comm curiously. Their eyes lit with recognition, but they both quickly shook their heads.

“We saw her, but she’s not the one. She was with the female we seek. They were traveling together.”

Agor’s breath rushed out in a burst of excitement and his entire demeanor changed with the confirmation of not only of their talia’s presence, but the fact that the male’s had not only seen her but were not potential rivals.

“Did you know what direction the transport went?” he asked hurriedly.

The yellow male pointed toward the inner city in the direction of the port. “It went that way, but we were stuck in another section of the transport and did not see where they got off.” His lips quirked. “Obviously, or else we wouldn’t be lurking around here.”

“Not exactly a method to endear a female toward an avrhast pair,” his green twin chuckled in agreement. “A talia is not game to be hunted, after all. But we have little choice if we just wish to introduce ourselves.”

Brydis understood and murmured his agreement.

The latter male peered at them curiously. “Does this talia of yours know that you are lurking in wait for her?”

A look of distress flitted across Agor’s face as he peered down once more at the likeness of their talia before closing it on his comm. “Yes. We made a promise.”

“We met her on the human ship,” Brydis explained and a look of understanding crossed the faces of the other two males. “Unfortunately, we were detained by the aerhal’s orders and have not had the opportunity to search her out until now.”

“I believe I’ve heard of you two,” the yellow male said slowly. “Agor and Brydis, right? You were accused of stalking females on the lower decks and harassing a particular human that caught your eye.”

The green male whistled lowly, and at length said, “Thatwas your talia?”

“It was,” Agor agreed sharply. “And those claims were false, made by a human who did not like the attention we were giving to our talia. We do not understand why since he had no claim on her and we were not rivals.”

“I do not doubt it,” the yellow male replied with a bark of grim laughter. “For all that their females outnumber their males to extremes, the human males have not looked kindly upon interactions of unmated Geminidae males with the females of their species. I am Finity and this is my avrhast twin Genthral. We were not in your unit, but several males within our acquaintance have been treated with significant hostility by some of the males within Rhapsody.”

“I’ve heard rumor that those of rookeries further west that trade with the other port have actually been driven out of the port a few times for attempting to court human females,” Genthral added. “It’s not something we’ve been able to make sense of. We’ve been trying to keep moving so as not to draw undue attention to ourselves.” He huffed, his wings expanding in vexation as he looked around. “I don’t see that lasting, however. I assume that you will also be lurking here awaiting the females’ return?”

“I still think we should go to the port,” Brydis suggested. “There are many reasons that they came to this particular transport. They may not return along this way for some time. If the port has a record of Jill’s agreed employment, we could save a lot of wasted time and potentially accompany her home should she desire it.”

Finity perked. “If they were traveling together, it is possible that they work near each other. It may be wise for us to accompany you so that we may introduce ourselves in a more neutral setting.”

Brydis peered at him, uncomfortable with the idea since, by their own admission, they did not know the female they sought. A place of employment was not much more neutral than one’s residence. His discomfort must have been apparent, however, because the other male raised his hands.

“Just to introduce ourselves. We do not even have to approach. You could let her know we’re interested in meeting her and see if she’s even agreeable to it if you are able to speak to her.”

Brydis exchanged a look with Agor, and his twin nodded. There didn’t seem much harm in this. It was certainly a better plan than the males waiting to ambush her and possibly frighten their potential talia.

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