Well now I can wear them all I want, she thought happily, admiring her feet as she walked around in the sandals. She was glad she’d gotten a fresh pedicure the day before she’d come up to the Monstrum ship. Her toenails were painted a gorgeous deep red that matched the crimson Lix’dorian outfit nicely.
In fact, the outfit really suited her well, she thought as she looked at the 3-D mirror again. The crimson material was thin and the long sleeves swished dramatically when she moved. True, she was somewhat exposed since the fabric was nearly see-through, but the modesty shields covered all her private areas nicely and the color really did look good with her warm brown skin tones. Her butterfly locs swayed around her shoulders and the rich gold embroidery made her feel like a queen.
“That color really suits you,” Kat said, looking at her in admiration. “Have you ever tried modeling? Your bone structure is gorgeous and you’ve definitely got the height for it.”
Iyanna blushed.
“No, afraid not. I’m not exactly thin enough to be a model. Might have tried plus-sized modeling, I guess, but I was always too busy with school.”
“You’re what the Kindred call an ‘Elite’—a woman the Goddess has blessed with extra full curves,” Kat told her. “And let me tell you, they love their Elites.” She winked at Iyanna. “I bet Mr. Huge Devil Guy likes them too—though everybody probably seems tiny compared to him.”
Iyanna thought of how Dra’vik had said exactly that to her—that she was tiny—and felt her cheeks getting hot again. She wished she could confide to Kat what exactly had happened between herself and the big Monstrum—and the situation she found herself in now, with the pleasure poisoning.
However, in the past half hour, the swelling and sensitivity seemed to have gotten much less. Maybe she was somehow getting over it on her own. Or maybe the leaves she’d used that morning had simply had a delayed effect—that was much more probable, she thought. It was probably better to keep her problem to herself, she decided, and just hope it would completely resolve on its own.
“Well, you’d better get going,” Kat said, handing her the small golden case, which also contained a set of toiletries and a tiny makeup kit she had printed. “I think you’ve got everything you need in there. Luckily the fabric everything is made of is so light, I didn’t have to miniaturize anything—which is a good thing, since I forgot my miniaturizer!”
“Your miniaturizer?” Iyanna asked. “Is that more Kindred technology?”
“It is and it’s great for packing bulky items,” Kat told her. “Luckily all those Lix’dorian costumes are paper thin so they fit in the case with room to spare. Come on—I’ll walk you to the Docking Bay,” she added.
They passed through the many long, moss-lined corridors with their ceiling of hanging glow blossoms together, Kat remarking as they went that she wished the other Kindred Mother Ship was more like this.
“It must be like living in a jungle all the time!” she said to Iyanna.
“You ought to see the Dark Side of the ship,” Iyanna told her. “That’s where the real jungle is.”
“Ooo—the Dark Side? That sounds so exciting and ominous!” Kat exclaimed. “I really have to ask if we can start doing tours of the Monstrum Mother Ship—I know my two besties, Liv and Sophie, would love to see it!”
“Wait for a week or two before you come,” Iyanna advised her. “They just had a migration event of the glowing flowers on the Dark Side and they need at least that long to settle and repopulate and start glowing again. If you go before they do, you won’t see a thing.”
“Got it. Well—here we are in the Docking Bay!” Kat nodded to the huge room filled with golden Monstrum ships. “My ride’s over there,” she added, nodding to a Monstrum warrior who looked rather like a black panther to Iyanna. He was standing beside one of the golden ships, waiting patiently. When Kat waved at him, he nodded his head and held out one hand, indicating he was ready for her.
“And it looks like my ride is over there,” Iyanna murmured. For a little way further down the row of ships, she saw Dra’vik standing next to an extra large ship. The Drake Monstrum had a scowl on his handsome face, his black eyebrows—which matched the short black hair on his head—were drawn fiercely down over his golden-yellow eyes.
“Wow, he does not look happy,” Kat remarked, frowning. “Are you sure you didn’t do something to upset him?”
Like maybe using the voice coin he sent you to “rub one out” while you knew he was watching? whispered a guilty little voice in Iyanna’s head.
“Uh, no—not as far as I know,” she said quickly.
Kat gave her a sharp look, but it was clear there was no more time for talking.