And right now, good things were happening.
She looked around her beautiful pink bedroom, unable to believe her eyes. Tiny floating globes she hadn’t noticed before had begun to glow, and with both of Ulfgard’s suns setting, it was dark enough that she couldn’t see out that terrifying glass wall.
The inside of the room felt like the inside of a birthday cake - sweet and soft and light - untouchable - as pale and pink as a ballerina’s tutu.
But she couldn’t sit around all night soaking it in, so she swiped her bracelet and started the comm she was most anxious about.
“Alien Nanny Agency,” a familiar voice said. “This is Janice.”
“Hey, Janice,” April said, feeling relieved. They had sworn someone would be there at all hours to answer questions, but she knew they were short staffed. “Is Emilia there?”
“Sorry, she’s in the field now,” Janice said. “Anything I can help with?”
Wow. Emilia had been so nice during April’s time in both the interviewing and then the training process. It was weird to think of her not being in the office at all. Though Emilia probably wouldn’t even remember her, since there had been so many trainees.
“Yeah, thanks,” April said, rallying. “I wanted to know more about the family.”
“Remind me your name and assignment?” Janice said.
“April Sh—Clarke,” she corrected herself at the last moment. “April Clarke and my assignment is the Rivvor family, on Ulfgard.”
All employees back at the club had stage names - even the wait staff. April’s stage name had been April Showers. It had been cute the first hundred times she said it, but lost most of its allure along with the rest of the job.
At the time it had seemed like a silly choice. But right about now, she was very glad for any bit of anonymity that might make her harder to track down.
“Ohh, Khall Rivvor,” Janice sighed. “He’s so hot.”
April managed to stifle an unprofessional giggle before it left her lips.
“Uh, he seems like a nice man,” she replied.
“Sure, sure,” Janice said with a smile in her voice. “Hot shot pilot, war hero, calendar model, and… nice man.”
“Calendar model?” April echoed without meaning to.
“Sweet Rings, have you been living under a rock?” Janice laughed. “I guess you’re from a Terra, aren’t you? After the Ulfgardian war, there was this fundraiser for the veterans’ ward. A bunch of vets posed for a calendar, but Mr. Rivvor’s photo caused quite a stir.”
“What did it look like?” April asked.
“Oh, you’ll have to deploy your own search engine for that one, sunshine,” Janice teased. “I’m not getting in trouble at work. Again.”
“Well, he’s my boss, so it’s probably better if I don’t look it up,” April said.
“I’m sure you won’t,” Janice said, mischief in her voice. “So, what did you need help with?”
“Well, my first question was about the family’s race,” April said. “I haven’t met anyone like them before. I know they are Jordraaki, but I don’t really know what comes along with that.”
“Well, it says they’re descendants of dragons,” Janice said. “Dragon shifters at least. But the Jordraaki can’t fully shift or fly.”
“It seems like their color shifts,” April ventured.
“That’s based on mood,” Janice agreed. “In general, darker, richer colors mean they’re happy, and paler tones indicate displeasure. But it’s more subtle than that and depends on the individual. As you get to know the family, you’ll get better at reading their moods.”
Interesting.
“Okay,” April said. “I’ll read up some more on the Jordraaki tonight.”
“Good girl,” Janice said. “Any other questions?”