Dry days

Today was Cia's birthday. And also something she called Dry day after a fire ceremony from her home world. Her Engineer, Mitch, set up some forcefields to contain the heat and flames, and then walled the hangar with flames. He also mounded some earth or something, and carved a ditch through it also filled with fire, with bridges over the ditch.

Cia was wearing a spectacular red dress, with a matching red jewelled necklace. She looked really good. But she looked tired. Like she needed a rest and a hug. At the end, when I said goodbye, I wanted to hug her very badly. That's not my place any more. I can't do that again until I'm invited.

In any case, I'd gone to the party with Sara. We gave Cia matched cookbooks - me from Matari cooking, and Sara from Caldari. I think she liked them. I hope she liked them.

Cia was the centre of attention, so Sara and I went and stood on one of the bridges and looked at the fires. We talked. She's asked me to take her to Michel's. Just the two of us.

It's a lot less up-market than I'd expected, but then I don't think the price of the food matters to Sara, and I know they have her favourite brand of tea.

I must have rubbed the bruise where she hit me in sparring, since she asked me if I was alright. When I told her it was where someone punched me, she laughed and said I was tough, I could take it. I told her I was a sensitive flower and she laughed again and called me a tough sensitive flower.

We talked. About different sides. Tough and sensitive. She said she'd always had more use for tough. That was hardly a surprise. She's been hard all her life. I wonder if I have introduced some sensitive into her life.

I asked if she liked coming to parties like this, with lots of people. I think she prefers to be alone. She said she probably wouldn't go if I didn't invite her. I asked her if she'd prefer to come to these sorts of things, or to go somewhere just the two of us, and she said she didn't mind.

I wondered if she meant that what she liked was spending time with me, but I'm probably imagining things.

Sara said Amieta had been very enthusiastic about arranging time off for her to see me. That Ami thinks she needs to get out more. I must talk to Amieta about that sometime. I told her not to let Ami push her if she didn't want to, but Sara said she'd been enjoying herself.

I told Sara that I had to leave early. To go to Matar for a ceremony for Auntie Yana. I offered to escort her home first if she wished. She said she would stay and match names with files... I guess that's her job, but it surprised me a bit.

As I was leaving, escorting Matariki from the hangar, I turned to look at Sara. She was watching me leave.

And she was smiling at me.