Page 44 of Kailirex

CHAPTER 25

KAILIREX

I went back to the bed, picking up the one bag she hadn’t yet emptied out. Inside was a pair of sandals for myself, as well as what the sign at the store had said were slippers but which Jason and his family insisted were flip flops, one pair in each of the four sizes the same as our sandals. Thee two that wouldn’t fit my beloved we’d either return or donate, as promised, right along with the rejected sandals.

My sandals were not only clipped to the hangar they’d been on with two pincer grips but also with two annoying strong filaments of plastic that fastened onto themselves making a loop. I growled in frustration as I tugged,

“Oh! Do I need to see if the desk has a pair of scissors we can borrow?” my bride asked me, as she came to stand beside me.

“No need,” I said, willing the tips of my claws out from below my nail bed and swiped the annoyances away.

“I was not expecting that,” she said, peering at my hands in interest. “I knew part of the mating display included claws but I thought they came out from under the regular looking fingernail.”

“That is how it works for many Mylos,” I admitted, pulling out the tissue paper stuffed inside, then sitting down on the crowded bed to put the sandals on my feet. “My maternal heritage made it so I was born with these claws instead. It’s the more human looking nails and the fact that my claws retract at all that are from the Mylos part of my genetic code.”

“Wow! So your mom’s claws don’t retract at all?”

I shook my head, standing up, having fastened the last sandal. “No. Her people keep them filed short, both on the hands and feet.” She glanced down at my feet, looking disappointed to not see small, black claws peeking out from my toes, so I willed them to pop out before retracting them.

“That is so bad ass,” she said, looking enthralled. I kissed her cheek then, because really, could she be any more perfect? I was certain not.

Giving her my arm, I picked my room key back up and stuffed it into the pocket of my board shorts. “Shall we?” I asked.

“Let’s,” she replied, with a teasing glint in her eyes.

Despite the relatively early hour and the fact that it wasn’t a weekend, the bar was pretty full. We managed to snag seats at a table with a view of the beach; however, we had to wait for someone to clear away the glasses and small dirty plates before we could sit. Once that was accomplished, I walked over to the bar, ignoring the blatant stares from several of the human tourists. The bar staff had obviously been forewarned by their employers as they didn’t look surprised to see a tall, green alien walking amongst them.

I gave the bartender our order and watched as he expertly made us our mai tais.

“Would you mind if we took a picture with you?” he asked. “I like to get one with every Mylos who comes through on my shift.”

I smiled. “Sure.”

I took our drinks and we posed, turned so that his coworker got us facing the camera.

“Mahalo nui,” he said as his coworker handed him his phone back. “Would you like a copy?”

I decided I did and asked if he would take one of my bride and I for us, explaining the promise we’d made to Mom and Dad.

“You bet!” he exclaimed, turning to his co-worker. “Ray, watch the bar for a moment, will you? I’ll just be a sec.”

“My pleasure,” Ray replied. “Just come right back and don’t stop to talk story. It’s going to be really hopping soon.”

“I’m Jake, by the way,” our bartender said. Then he laughed, tapping his name tag as he came out from behind the bar. “I forgot mine, so that's why it says Lottie. She no longer works here, went back to the mainland, so I borrowed her old tag. We get in trouble if we aren’t wearing one.”

I laughed. As we approached our table, Stella eyed the pair of us questioningly.

“He offered to take the picture so we can send it to Mom and Dad,” I explained and she smiled warmly at the young man beside me.

“Thank you!” she exclaimed, reaching to take her drink from me.

“Why don’t you sit down next to her and you both lean in, taking a sip while cheek to cheek?” Jake suggested.

It sounded like an excellent pose, so we did as he suggested.

“Awesome. I managed to get that palm off to the side and the beach behind you clearly in the frame. And now how about holding them up as if making a toast to the camera?”

He took a couple more pictures after that, then quickly airdropped all of the photos to my cloud account.