Ellipse wanted to stay near the back of the crowd, of course. She stood just a tad shorter than average for Titan girls, so she would blend in as long as she did not wind up right against the crowd control tape, but it was still safer for her to stay toward the back.
But Tejal wanted to be at the front, for obvious reasons, and with him around, it was almost too easy to push through the crowd. People shuffled out of the way for him, either because they did not want their toes run over, or because they were decent folks, and before Ellipse knew it, she was closed in on all sides. Tejal and Focci sat in front of her, and too-warm bodies pressed in on her from everywhere else, and still worse, her face was in the open.
She wanted to crouch and hide behind Tejal’s chair, but then people might give her weird looks and she would draw even more attention. Maybe she could get away with just not looking at Andra head-on.
Trying to look natural, she bent over so that her head was level with Tejal’s, and rested lightly on the back of his wheelchair. She glanced down the makeshift aisle where Andra would walk, noticed a wide, opaque glass door set into the far wall, and turned to face the other way. But then her nose brushed against Tejal’s icky, somewhat greasy hair, which was super gross, so she had to lean away from him.
“Why are you standing like that?” Tejal asked. A moment later, Mouthbot translated into Trade Siren for Focci.
“Why are you standing like that?” Focci repeated.
Ellipse sniffed. “So the people behind me can see. I am being considerate.”
“For once,” Tejal muttered.
Gills quivering, Focci tilted his head and wrinkled his snout. “Why do you not…” He made a scrunching motion with his tail, as if trying to act out the word. “Why not half-sit?”
“Squat?” Ellipse sang. The word floated off her tongue almost too easily. It came from an earthling song, probably, since sirens and their fellow Triune system species could not squat.
“That, yes,” Focci said, twisting his face in distaste. “Your earthling rhythms are stupid.”
Shrugging, Ellipse patted one of her thighs. “It would make my legs sore, and I cannot see over the top of Tejal’s head if I kneel.”
A few seconds later, Ellipse heard the robotic imitation of her voice stumble in translation. “I cannot see over. Tejal’s. Head if I. Famous primary melody from the. Wedding March. In Wagner’s opera. Lohengrin.”
“What the heck?” Tejal mumbled.
As Ellipse debated over whether or not to explain Mouthbot’s mistranslation, the crowd eased into quiet. The press of bodies from behind grew stronger, and when Ellipse looked around to see why, she noticed teenagers and children and adults all stretching towards those opaque glass doors. Whispers popped up every so often, carrying questions about what Andra would wear, or which bodyguard would be in the entourage today.
Then, just as Ellipse let her gaze slide over the doors, they burst open. Whatever plans she originally had, to turn away or to hide behind Tejal or to slip to the back of the crowd, flew into the void of space. Her jaw clenched, and her breath stopped in her throat, and the first of Andra’s guards, in their pitch-black suits, strolled onto the red carpet.
She stared at them, knowing her eyes were too wide and wishing she could act the part of the fangirl, like everyone else lined up against the tape. Heck, if one of the guards recognized her, she would be absolutely dead. She would be more dead than if Andra recognized her.
“Ellipse,” Tejal said, just as a series of screams washed across the crowd.
She jerked her head to him and remembered, finally, to relax her eyelids. “Yeah?” she shouted.
“Can you see Andra’s earrings?”
There was a widespread theory that the type of earrings Andra wore could clue observers into what gender Andra was leaning towards that day. Usually the theory was right, but sometimes the publicity and wardrobe people overrode an earring choice.
“No,” Ellipse replied.
Frowning, Tejal craned his neck and pushed up in his chair. “You could probably see if you stood up, you know.”
“I do not want to obstruct anyone else’s view.”
Piquing an eyebrow, Tejal settled back down. As the procession continued, and Ellipse kept her head turned down towards Focci, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck raise up. Tejal was probably sending her suspicious sidelong glances, trying to piece together the inconsistencies in her behavior. The crowd pressed in closer, and the cheers grew louder, and Ellipse curled her shoulders in, making herself as small as possible. She was definitely acting weird now, but it did not matter. She needed to stay hidden, and everyone else was too busy with Andra to notice her.
“You look sick,” Focci sang, pitch so low that his voice cut under the surrounding screams.
“I am bad with-
Someone tapped Ellipse’s shoulder. In a less stressful situation, maybe she would have ignored it or slipped into some kind of act, but now she froze. Her breath hitched, and her eyes squeezed shut, and she hoped to the ends of the universe that whoever had tapped her was not from Andra’s guard.
“Ellipse?” Oh, thank the universe it was just Tejal. “Are you okay?”
With a gulp and a shaky smile, she started turning back to him. She forced her eyes open, and the moment she did, she regretted it.
Andra stood in the middle of the red carpet, waving at the fans squashed together behind Ellipse. Tiny LED studs—today was a boy day—blinked from his earlobes, and his black leather jacket glittered with even more LEDs, all sewn in the shapes of constellations. He beamed, and then someone in the guard bent over to whisper in his ear, and he brightened even more, like a kid entering an amusement park for the first time.
He swung his head to look Ellipse’s way, and for a brief moment, panic flickered across his face. His perfect, thin eyebrows twisted, and his jaw tightened, and then he settled back into his public face and strode towards her.
Hecking heckity heck.
In a last-ditch effort to throw off the guards at least, Ellipse pulled her bangs low, so that they almost covered her eyes, and crouched lower.
“Hallo, hallo!” Andra stuck his hand over the tape for Tejal to shake. “Ni er?”
Ellipse grit her teeth. She had not anticipated anyone talking directly to Tejal during this stop, and with Andra and the guards right there, she could not jump in and explain the English that was bound to drop from Tejal’s mouth. This excursion had been such an awful idea.
“Sorry,” Tejal said back, “but my universal translator only does English for earthlings, and I’d like to include my siren friend.”
Ellipse almost fell over from relief. Staying down, she reached over and tapped four fingers against Tejal’s arm.
“Oh, and my name is Tejal,” he said. “That’s Focci, and that’s-
Before he could blow her cover, Ellipse pinched him. In the corner of her vision, she noticed Focci squint at her.
“That’s our captain,” Tejal finished, voice tight. “She didn’t have time to put makeup on before coming and so she’s kind of embarrassed.”
Ellipse resented that, but at least Tejal had saved her from having to come up with a story.
“Ah, well, I’m sure she’s very pretty regardless,” Andra said, still smiling. “Tejal, right? It’s wonderful to meet you and your friends. Do you want a picture?”
Tejal leaned forward so quickly that the chair moved with him. “Can we take it on my tablet?”
“Of course!” Andra lifted up the tape a bit and elbowed the guard on his left. “And why don’t you and your friends come through so we don’t have this awkward tape in the middle?”
Focci scooted under the tape, and the guards crawled under to block the rest of the crowd, and somewhere in the mess of bodies moving across the tape, Ellipse found herself shoved against Andra’s side. Focci had nudged his way under her arm, and Tejal sat on Andra’s other side, and Andra was holding the tablet up in front of them.
“On three,” Andra said. He grinned for the camera, and Tejal smiled, and Focci splayed his gills and curled his lips back just enough to show a few teeth. Ellipse quirked her lips to one side and looked up to make sure her bangs covered enough of her face.
“One, two, three!” The tablet screen blinked a few times, and then Andra stood and tapped it, keeping the tablet close to his chest where Ellipse could not see. A broad man from the back guard began to spin Tejal’s chair around, and a woman with hair dyed a multitude of purples ushered Ellipse back under the tape.
Another chorus of shouts blasted her ears as she stood, and once the flurry of guard activity died down, Ellipse caught a glimpse of Andra waving again. He passed the tablet to the broad-shouldered guard and shot Ellipse a smile softer and more subtle than his usual public grin, before pivoting on his heels and continuing down the carpet.
Broad-shouldered guard lumbered to Tejal and slipped the tablet into his lap. “Andra wanted to pass along another message to your whole crew,” he said, with a thick Titan accent.
Tejal nodded, eyes wide in pleasant surprise.
“Safe travels,” the guard recited. “Do not get into any trouble. I am not sure why he thinks you would get into trouble, but that is that.”
“Because we’re all pretty young?” Tejal guessed.
The man shrugged. “Perhaps.” Then, with a nod of his head, he left to rejoin the entourage.
As soon as his back was turned, Tejal whipped around to face Ellipse and pinned her with a suspicious stare. “You’re what’s keeping me fed right now, so I’m not going to ask,” he said, “but I know something’s up with you.”
Ellipse bit her lip, trying to come up with a response. She had definitely acted weird today.
“Tejal,” Focci sang, “do not read too much into it. Ellipse will tell us eventually.”
No, she would not. Tejal and Focci would figure it all out at the same time as the rest of the universe: after Andra-Media was destroyed.
Points: 91980
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