Hearts of Delmar (Book 1 of 2)

Chapter 6: The thickening

A very hefty grey Delmarian sat impatiently at a private dining table, drumming his nails and clicking his numerous golden rings together as he waited.

"More wine?" asked the waiter

"Yes, and be sure to charge it to the woman making me wait. Your most expensive bottle." He said, knocking back his goblet and shifting position as he spotted Gizzy entering the VIP floor in a slinky black dress and steel toed boots.

"How personal for a business meeting. Fine silk and 3d-printed carbon fiber footwear, with authentic scratches and work wear on the toe.

"I like to annoy you, fatass. The distracting tease, the obsessive compulsive mismatch and as much as I like watching you uncomfortable and knowing your love of Osirian feet, I refuse to wear heels for any man, and I need you mildly distracted, not fully erect and unable to listen."

An hour wait. That's excessive even for you. What have I done to make you extra annoyed with me today?"

"Oh just not seeing your name in the recent arena death list is enough to make me annoyed with you. That open invite is getting a bit dusty. You're still scared to cross blades with a woman half your size?" she said smiling and politely accepting a goblet of wine from the waiter.

"We both know it's a political problem, members of the same council fighting to the death, especially after passing the bill that only 2 Delmarians can do that legally." He grinned.

"Which you spent good money to make sure had the winning vote." She snipped.

"I can't help it if a mostly native council agrees with our traditions and my compromise proposal for the safety of others. We both agreed that having humans in Fupar was a terrible idea, so why stop there, draw the line of tradition."

"For the safety of your old fat ass." Gizzy snipped. "My vote was for Delmarian and Osirians to be privy, and you down good and well on average our species are the same weight class so you weren't protecting shit...other then you."

She plopped down a small electronic device on the table and the light turned red.

"Now unless someone speaks fluent Ancient Mesopotamian street slang we can talk plainly without nosey waiters or people with really good ears."

"Good, because you'd never build this up to bitch about the Fupar laws. There's something bigger. What exactly are you up to Gizzy, modifying construction records on a project already classified. Now that's sketchy even for you." He said pouring more wine.

We're having one hell of a time keeping the human Delmarian relations stable. The cultures are just too damn different, and without my kind stepping in the middle ground you'd be at war and frankly the humans would just go extinct on this moon, and you know my people favor the humans. That's a bloodbath. We may despise each other and wish various forms of harm on the other, but even the two of us don't want a race war in the colony, and we both want the good of the people, even if we disagree on how to best do that. Agreed?" she asked.

"As rare as it is... I agree, what does that have to do with the tunnel systems and air ducts, and a house of humans?"

"Them, not a damn thing. The other day public records showed a red flag on the marriage list. 108 pound Human female, 28, 5 foot zero; Delmarian male, Equivalent 20 human years, 7 foot 3, 550 pounds lean, military class." She said wide eyed.

"That's a hell of a combination. I hope she has good life insurance."

The point is she's one brave little gal. I know the guy and if she wanted to walk away, he would let her, and she stayed. Now unless you believe in destiny and true love..."