5. Sek’su

5

SEK'SU

I know she is in the room before I see her. I feel her presence like knowing what direction the warmth of a fire is coming from. My scales warm and unbidden, and my cock stirs. I stop in the door and Burshtin grunts as he pushes past.

"What are you doing? I am hungry, move," he grouses.

I ignore him and his words. They do not matter, for she is in here. The room is crowded with all the people coming for breakfast. Every table is full, and even more are either walking around or standing in huddles while they eat.

Life has been so different since the humans and the surface Zmaj joined us. I am not sure if it is a better different or a worse different, but not the same is for certain. Burshtin stops a wings-spread in front and looks over his shoulder with a deep frown.

"What?" he growls, shaking his head.

I shrug, not wanting to say it. I am uncomfortable with all of this, and his gruff attention does nothing to ease that discomfort.

"Nothing," I say, forcing myself to move ahead. He stops me with a hand on my chest.

"Not nothing."

I growl low in my throat. This is a challenge and while he may currently be ahead of me in the rankings at the last contest, I almost had him beat and he knows it. He got lucky. Normally he takes care to never hold his rank over me, but an open challenge like this can only end on the dirt of the arena and we both know it.

I look down at his hand on my chest and then slowly raise my eyes back up to him. He grunts and takes his hand off me before the challenge goes any further.

"I said it is nothing," I say.

"It is her," he says.

It is not a challenge, but the truth. He turns and looks around the room searching for her himself.

"Eh, too many," he grumbles.

I agree but nonetheless, she is here . I know it in my heart. It is like a tug, a string that pulls me towards something. I close my eyes and try to follow the sensation, turning until it feels as if I am facing it.

When I open my eyes a group of surface Zmaj move and she is there, coming out like the suns from behind obscuring clouds. She is radiant as she sits at a table with other human females. As I watch, she frowns, her eyes looking distant, and my heart throbs. I want to kiss that frown away. Touch her face with my lips and feel her warm skin on my cool scales.

My next step forward is without thought as I am drawn towards her. She is the star that my world circles. I can no more escape her than Tajss could leave Estejan, the primary sun. I want to talk to her, to be with her in every way, to know her thoughts and her body. I have been practicing the human tongue, but I am by no means fluent in it. Still, I must try.

Burshtin grunts and slaps me on the back, then turns to go to his meal, leaving me on my own. She has not seen me yet. I frown, debating what to do. I would prefer to see her alone. She is surrounded by those others who I do not know. Something about them, the way they talk, their manners, I am not sure and cannot quite understand why, but they seem mean.

Strange to judge someone on sight. I do not know these females. Why I have this feeling, I do not know. They are the friends of my treasure. How can I know they are not nice before I have even met them? Strangely my stomach is roiling as if I have eaten something bad or I am about to face an opponent in the arena I know I cannot beat.

Ridiculous. She is my treasure. I know it.

Shaking aside the odd feelings of uncertainty, I walk through the room. The room is crowded, and I have to work my way around the outer edge to reach her. When I do, I come up behind her and she does not see me.

"Hello," I say.

The other females stare at me with wide eyes and looks that seem to range from surprise to dismay. I do not understand why they are reacting this way. My treasure stiffens, her back as stiff as the stone of the mountain. Her hands ball into small fists where they rest on the table. I wait for her to respond, for any of them to say something, but the moment seems to drag on and on. My scales itch as my tail twitches nervously and scrapes with a raspy sound across the floor.

"Hello?" she asks, turning on the bench and fixing me with a hard stare. "Do I know you?"

Her lips form a frown, but there is something different in her eyes. A pleading look combined with sadness. I frown, not understanding the conflict between her tone and the look in her eyes. Then she gives a very subtle shake of her head.

"Uhm," I make the noise to buy time as I try to gather my thoughts. Two of the other females cover their mouths and make a soft laughing sound. This is not going the way I expected at all. It makes no sense. My treasure's frown deepens then she shifts one hand onto her lap and waggles her finger. "I am Sek'su."

"And?" she says, but is that a note of pleading in her voice too?

I take a deep breath feeling as if I have lost a match in the arena, but I didn't even know I was fighting.

"Nothing," I say and take a step back. "I apologize."

She watches as I move back, and blinks rapidly. My heart still pulls towards her but, it's clear she does not want to talk. At least not now. It is probably my timing. She is with friends and does not wish to be disturbed.

That kind of makes sense. I think. I do not know. What do I know of humans and their customs? I bow my head and turn. Behind my back, they talk rapidly in their language that I do not understand and there are giggles. It makes the scales on the back of my neck itch terribly.

Disappointed, I go to get my breakfast.