"Good." Giselle smile. "I almost peed when you suggested we just buy the kids clothes off the rack."
"How was I supposed to know Kagan felt like some sort of pervert or pedophile when you dressed in kid’s clothes?" Providence threw her hands up. Kagan had looked horrified. "I can't really see what's so wrong with them."
Whatever the fashion nuance was, Providence hadn't figured it out yet.
"I know. It's not your fault." Giselle snickered. "When he first admitted it creeped him out, I kind of went too far. I might have taunted him to spank me and called him daddy."
"La la la, I don't want to hear any more." Providence declared as she plugged her ears.
"Okay so now give me the scoop. What's with you and Madhava?" Giselle demanded.
"The guys were giving me a massage and well one thing led to another." Providence admitted her cheeks burning at the memory.
"Did you...? With both of them?" Giselle's eyes widened.
"Ugh, not really. Those guys are huge! I don't think I can talk about this." Providence groaned. "Hey, I do have a question."
"Shoot."
"Well last night after we fooled around the guys got into an argument and Dagaa stormed off. Then I saw Dagaa hugging some women in the garden, and I overheard him tell her he couldn't mate her because he'd made an oath to be my protector. I just don't know what to think, and I refuse to be some sort of obligation."
Providence unloaded all at once.
"I don't know." Giselle frowned. "I'm pretty sure Dagaa wasn't planning on mating anyone before he met you. For as long as I've known him, he's been a bit of a ladies man. I've never seen him with any girl for long."
"I don't know if that's comforting." Providence replied with a dead pan stare at Giselle.
The thought of Dagaa being a man whore wasn't any better than the thought he was trapped with her out of obligation.
"Sorry. If it's any consolation, I've never seen Madhava smile so much."
Providence smiled. That was nice to know since she had a crush on him too. She just really thought there were sparks between her and Dagaa as well. Providence shook her head. She didn't know why she was having such issues. Back on Earth she never would have entertained the notion of dating two men at the same time, literally.
Giselle and Providence exited the dressing room to find Kagan sitting patiently.
"I got you two something." Kagan said as he showed them a pair of small communicators like the one Madhava had given her. "I don't know why I didn't get you one sooner."
"Cause you've been up to your eyeballs." Giselle patted Kagan's arm.
Kagan showed them how to use the device in between picking out fabric for their new clothes. The ingenious thing was like a smart phone, it did nearly everything. Kagan even helped them load icons that would make it easier to contact Kagan, Dagaa or Madhava since she didn't read the Cadi language, and Giselle was still learning it.
They ate a late lunch at a little outdoor cafe at the far end of the market district before heading back.
"Do you mind showing me how to drive this vehicle?" Providence asked as they loaded into the hover craft. The vehicle intrigued her.
"Sure, the rota is pretty simple." Kagan said and then pointed out the controls as she got into the driver's seat.
Clearly her days of changing tires were over.
The transport was slightly larger than some of the other rota zipping around the street, but it was definitely a nicer model, befitting Kagan's station. There were two bucket seats in the front and two in the back, with a cargo hold in the rear much like a car. The rota had a clear canopy that contracted when they entered, like a convertible.
The driver's seat instantly adjusted to Providence's smaller size making it easier to reach the controls and see over the dash. It had a joystick and controls much like the starships. When Providence moved into traffic she was surprised at how nice the vehicle handled. It didn't take nearly the coordination a car did back home, let alone the planes she was used to flying. There was a lot to be said for alien technology.
Dagaa
Dagaa's attention had been anywhere but on his meeting with the committee of regents, that he headed up. In the last few months they'd been sending beacons into deep space in an attempt to communicate with species they'd once been in contact with many generations ago. The Cadi had to resume some sort of trade with others now that they'd banned the Jurou Biljana. They recently received word back and were communicating with a species that called themselves the Agurtzane. He should have been paying close attention to the details of their recent message, but his thoughts kept drifting.
Last night when he'd come home Providence was in Madhava's bed, because she certainly wasn't on the settee or asleep in Dagaa's room. Madhava's door was shut and Dagaa wasn't about to barge in.