Page 74 of Truthful Deceptions

“I can carry you,” Tolly reminded me.

I shook my head, even though I was half tempted to let him pick me up like a child so I could bury my face into the bare patch of skin at the base of his neck.

If I was going to be spending more time on Talin stations, I needed to human-up and get used to being a spectacle.

We were about halfway to the ship when something came flying down at us. Lexarit noticed it first and pushed us forward and out of the path. I would've fallen if not for Tolly.

I turned around to see an omni land over Lexarit’s head. A blanket covered one of the mavens, and a pillow bounced off Narmuna’s head.

It was raining textiles!

When I looked up to see where it was all coming from, there were three Talins waving frantically. The moment they saw me looking, they began tossing things again. More pillows, clothing, and small packets of candy.

“Stop that!” one of the mavens roared.

The three stopped, but I heard distinct angry rattles. Then the rattles spread and the crowd grew agitated.

“We were only trying to give the human some gifts,” one of them yelled.

“Humans shouldn't be hoarded by one crew,” another one shouted down at us. “They should be communally owned so we can all interact with them.”

A scary number of Talins made sounds of agreement with that statement.

“Thank you for the gifts,” I yelled. I know I startled Tolly because he jerked his head down to look at me.

“You don't have to talk to them,” he said.

“Let me see if I can calm this down,” I said, pointing at the Talins that had gathered on our level. “They're not supposed to be there, right?”

Tolly looked over then sounded a negative rattle. “No, this level was supposed to be cleared.”

“This crowd is on the brink of acting on emotion instead of rules or logic,” I said.

“We aren't that kind of species," Tolly objected. “We don’t act on impulse.”

I copied Sloane's technique by remaining silent and only raising an eyebrow. Tolly didn't last long. I'd have to remember this for future arguments.

“Perhaps in rare instances we can let our emotions take charge,” he allowed. “Being tempted by a human would be one of those instances.”

“Right, so let me see if I can calm everyone down,” I said.

“I believe Human Opal's idea has merit,” a maven said. “I'd rather not have the law keepers be forced to deal with this. They need to live and work on this station, and making enemies of the crew and staff would make their lives harder.”

“Very well,” Tolly said, sounding a rumble of agreement.

While we'd been talking, the crowd had gotten louder.

Letting go of Tolly, I brought both my hands up and cupped them around my mouth. “Thank you for the gifts,” I shouted at the top of my lungs.

The rattling and talking died down, and one of the Talins who'd thrown everything replied. “You're welcome, Human Opal. We wanted to make sure you had plenty of soft things.”

“My, uh, owner,” I said, pointing to Tolly and making a circle with my arms to indicate something very large, “made sure I have a nice big nest. It's very soft.”

That seemed to make everyone purr and garnered a few rumbles of amusement.

“How old are you, Human Opal?” another Talin asked.

“You seem so small,” another one called out. “Are you an average size or small for a human?”