OK, Keiko thought, time to push the other button. "Why are you so terrified of Jasim anyway?"
"I'm not terrified." Julio answered a little too quickly and a little too loudly. "I'd just rather not deal with someone who hates me that much."
Ah, Keiko thought, male ego. You could always rely on it. It was striking how easy it was to view male mammalian behavior from the outside now.
"Maybe you should have it out with him, then. You and he are on the same side, after all."
"That's not the point!" Julio was close to shouting now. He demonstratively threw down his discard, which Keiko immediately picked up.
"Well, what is the point?" Keiko asked in precisely that sort of reasonable female tone that she knew drove angry men to distraction.
"The point is that Jasim thinks I'm an abomination! He hates everything that doesn't fit into one of his neat little categories!"
"Maybe you should talk to him, show him that you're harmless."
"I'm not harmless! I mean, I am, but I'm not some wimp--I'm just as tough as Jasim!"
"Gin."
"What?" Julio had lost track of the hand, and paid for it in points. Keiko was a just a couple of points behind now.
Suddenly, Julio grinned. "Very funny, kitsune, but it won't work twice." He began to deal the cards for the next hand.
++++++
"This is really creeping me out" Luna whispered, as they watched Samir and his family lose much of their individuality to the collectivity of the city.
One of Jake's memories flitted across Kyriel's consciousness. "All will become one with the Borg." she muttered.
Meanwhile, Shaykh Abu Isa was arranging for an audience with Tamthis. The fox king was eager for any recognition from the outside world, and the mysterious oil shaykh seemed like a good place to start. The tricky part was avoiding facing Tamthis alone. The adviser Abu Isa was dealing with now seemed a bit dubious about the Shakyh's all-female entourage.
"And of course for the duration of your stay your wives will be offered hospitality in the Amir's harem."
"Very well, but my wife Kyriel is an important adviser and I want to have her with me when we meet."
"A woman! Surely this is men's business!"
The Shaykh snorted in derision. "Are we bedouin of the desert? This is the modern world--we use all the assets available, including the wits of our wives!"
"Very well."