an exceptionally good mood tonight, and I believed it had everything to do with him looking forward to seeing his kids tomorrow.
I understood his desire to celebrate that. But worms?
Why worms?
“Enjoy.” He fished one out of the bowl with his fingers. The thing stretched and curled its soft body around one of the Colonel’s claws as he lifted it to his mouth.
“Oh God...” I stared at him in shock. “You’re not going to...”
My stomach lurched as he put the pale leech-thing into his mouth. Shoving the chair away from the table, I dashed for the closest washroom.
“Daisy?” The Colonel’s hooves thundered against the tiled floor as he rushed after me.
I managed to shut the bathroom door in his face, dropping to my knees in front of the toilet before my stomach emptied itself into it.
“God, this was nasty,” I groaned, trying to get the image of the worm wiggling in the Colonel’s fingers out of my head.
“Daisy!” He slammed something heavy against the bathroom door—his fist or possibly his hoof, maybe both.
“Just...give me a minute.” I rinsed my mouth then washed my face.
“Are you okay?” he called from behind the door. “Tell me or I’m breaking in!”
“Fine. I’m fine.” I drank some water from the tap then opened the door, finally feeling ready to face him again.
“Daisy.” He grabbed me by my upper arms, staring at my face intently. “What happened? Are you ill?” He slid his hands up, cupping my face. “You look more colorless than usual.”
“Thanks.” I smiled at the way he put it.
The fur on the back of his hands softly tickled the base of my neck as he inspected my face. The concern in his eyes was genuine, and I liked that way too much—he truly cared. “I’m good, now, I promise.”
My smile eased the worry on his face.
“Was something wrong with the recols?” he asked.
Was anything right about those things? Even their name reminded me of the word “recoil.” How fitting.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to spoil your celebration, but I don’t think I can ever eat those... I would prefer not to watch you eat them, either.” A shudder ran through my entire body. “Please?”
He dropped his hands from my face to my shoulders but didn’t remove them from me, and I liked that more than I should have. I loved the feel of his warm, large hands on me.
“Earthlings don’t have foods like that?” he asked.
“Oh God, no!” I shook my head quickly, then thought about it more carefully. “Well, there are fried crickets, but they would be already dead when you eat them. Lobsters are boiled alive, which is kind of icky when you think about it. Oh, and raw oysters. Some find those really gross... They’re alive when you eat them, but they don’t wiggle.”
“So, the recols’ moving was what upset you?”
I touched his hand on my shoulder, stroking his short fur on it the way I used to pet my cat. It felt similarly comforting.
“I think it’s the whole package, to be honest—their shape, their color, and yes, their wiggling too.”
“I didn’t order the recols to upset you,” he explained, and I believed him. “I didn’t expect you to react this way.”
“I understand. Promise not to hold it against you.” I smiled again.
I wasn’t upset with him, not at all, but I wouldn’t go anywhere near those things again.
He stared at me for a brief moment, his intense gaze lingering on my smiling lips.
“Come, we’ll eat something else.” Finally taking his hands off me, he stepped back, and I leaned after him involuntarily, as if drawn by some gravitational field toward him. “I want us to have dinner together.”
“Sure. As long as it’s something less wiggly, please.” I followed him back to the dining room.
The bowls with the slimy creatures had been thankfully removed from the table. The usual checkered trays stood in their place.
“I’m sorry. You said those things were expensive,” I said. “I hope they don’t go to waste.”
He huffed a laugh. “Don’t worry. I’ll have a most decadent lunch at work, next week. The entire office will be drooling.”
“Are they really such a delicacy?”
He lifted an eyebrow, giving me a lop-sided grin. “Insanely self-indulgent.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t appreciate that.”
“Stop apologizing.” He shrugged, tossing a piece of meat into his mouth. “I’m sure there would be more than one thing I’d find repulsive about Earth, too.”
“Well, all those human toes, for one!” I laughed and he joined me.
“Toes aren’t that bad.” He shook his head. “I could absolutely get