Providence agreed. She always groused about double standards back home, but it had once upon a time been worse. There was an era when women couldn't vote, own property, or even make decisions about their own body, or claim their children. Providence didn't quite know how things compared here on Cadi, but she hoped it wasn't as bad as all that. If so Madhava and Dagaa were in for a rude awakening.
"I'm sure we'll figure something out." Providence encouraged her new friend. She too needed to feel like she had purpose. She couldn't just take up space.
"I hope you slept well. I tried to convince Kagan you could stay in the manor, but he insisted it would be difficult for the warriors to uphold their oath with you in a different house. He's such a stickler for the rules."
Providence imagined Kagan was much like the military men she was used to at home. They were strict too. She respected that. It couldn't be easy running an entire planet. He had to uphold their laws, even those that were unfavorable, at least until they could be changed.
"Oh I'm fine. The guys and I talked nearly half the night." Providence said with a smile. "It was actually nice."
Providence had enjoyed getting to know Madhava and Dagaa better, even if their massage had been nerve racking. She was the one that turned it dirty with her sex deprived mind. They'd been perfect gentleman, their hands never straying where they shouldn't. That was probably for the best. It's not like she really knew them well, nor could she handle two giant alien men. What's more, just because Kagan found Giselle attractive, didn't mean Madhava and Dagaa were interested in human females that way. Although none of that seemed to keep her mind from straying into the gutter.
"Good I was worried." Giselle patted her hand.
Providence glanced at the circle filled with a dozen of the hairy Toufik busily doing tasks around them. She was reminded of how close she came to being a slave on this planet rather than a kept female. Just that thought had her rolling her eyes. Well the Cadi had one thing going for them, at least they were making strides forward.
"So you said the Toufik come from a dying planet. What's it like?" Providence asked as she grabbed another root from the pile in the middle of their circle.
"I only know the barest details. It's taken me a while to learn their language. I bet Petal can tell us more."
The pregnant pale brown Toufik female glanced up when she heard her name. Providence recognized her from the tan patch of fur over her right eye, and the pattern dotting her arms.
"Petal what is your planet like?" Giselle gestured.
The hairy female grimaced as she made several gestures then pointed to a pale almost white female.
"It storms all the time." Giselle related. "Bird," Giselle indicated the white Toufik, "is the eldest, she can tell us more."
It was apparent the younger female, Petal, couldn't peel the carrot-like vegetables and talk with her hands at the same time. The older female seemed more than happy to tell them about her planet as she began gesturing.
Bird's hands started moving with wild abandon. Providence could almost see the female's personality in how she flamboyantly gestured, where Petal's movements were more subdued.
"When I was young, the storms were frequent and wild. They destroyed villages, and the cultivated lands." Giselle translated. "But as I grew older the mountains started to rumble and shake near our village. They rained fire. My clan barely survived the move to a new village. That is when the burning rain began. The burning rain killed plants and animals. The combined village had to move again." The white female's hands also pantomimed the explosions of what had to be a volcano. "We moved not far from the ocean, but the storms brought so much water. I was sure that we would die, but that was when the scaly people found my clan and brought us to this planet." The elder Toufik smiled happily.
Providence could understand why servitude on an alien planet seemed preferable. The Toufik probably had to work twice as hard on their own planet just to barely survive.
"That's Stone. He's the alpha male of this Toufik clan. He's the one that helped Kagan win the war."
Providence looked at a brown male with dark brown almost black stripes down his back and sides. He pulled Petal to him and rubbed her extended furry belly lovingly. Stone made several gestures to Petal then began gathering tools and supplies.
"They are going to go work on a building being rehabbed for a group of Toufik near the river at the edge of the city. The Toufik moving to the riverfront are apparently good at fishing if I recall what Kagan said."
"I'd like to see that. You think we can help? I'm pretty handy." Providence inquired.
She'd helped her dad rebuild their garage. She was probably better suited to that task than cutting up vegetables.