Chapter 22
Chapter One
“Now, open your mouth in preparation,” Jace told Khoth, trying to hide the wide smile that wanted to bloom on his face.
“I do not understand the purpose of this endeavor. If we are going to eat the popcorn, would it not be better to place a piece in our mouths instead of trying to catch a piece you toss into the air?” Khoth sounded dubious about the whole endeavor.
“There is a greater than even chance that we might miss it altogether.”
“And you won’t eat dirty popcorn? You don’t know about the five second rule.” Jace let out a chuckle.
“Five second rule?”
“Food touches the floor for less than five seconds and it’s perfectly clean. The dirt does not have time to adhere to it and--”
“That is not scientific. You must know this,” Khoth interrupted him. His whole face scrunched.
“I know that, but I still tell myself it’s true,” Jace said.
“So you believe something you know is not factual?”
“All the time.” Jace winced. “That’s one of the good and bad things about humans. It often leads to bad things, I admit. But not the five second rule.”
“It will if the food becomes contaminated and someone becomes ill though it is unlikely that you will get ill. I am assuming that the Osiris has upgraded your digestive tract.” Khoth’s head shifted.
There was no clack of selchitte when he did so.
The Thaf’ell frowned and one of his hands lifted to his head, but he firmly lowered it to his side.
Jace mourned the loss of those beads, too.
He wondered if there was something that he could give Khoth to replace them.
Something that would represent his new family.
But maybe that was incredibly presumptuous.
Maybe it wasn’t something that Khoth would want.
Selchitte represented family and rank in the Thaf’ell.
Would it seem lesser to Khoth to have non-Thaf’ell “family” and rank?
He would have to ask Thammah about this before he even considered speaking to Khoth.
“You have to take risks, Khoth, even if you don’t have a cast iron stomach like me. Because it’s all part of the experience of popcorn,” Jace told him. “You have to throw some up in the air and catch it in your mouth to truly understand this superfood.”
“Why?” Khoth was doing that furrowed brow thing that Jace loved and the smile kept threatening to bloom.
“Well… it’s just a thing you do with popcorn,” Jace answered, finding that his ability to speak seemed to become reduced the more those eyebrows drew together.
“Does it taste better?” More dubiousness and frowns though they were hard to see as the two of them were laying on Jace’s bed on their backs.
“No.”
The ceiling up above them was showing worlds that Jace wanted to explore that might have manufacturing facilities to create ships for Earth.
They were supposed to be napping. Or, Jace was supposed to be napping, but he’d found a second wind the moment that they’d come into his quarters.
So food and planet gazing were the plan.
But it had led to popcorn and cuddling. Well, sort of cuddling.
Deeper frowns. “Does this act make the popcorn more nutritious? Though I cannot see how that would be.”
“No, it’s just… fun,” Jace explained.
The bowl of popcorn was between them. One side resting against Jace’s hip and the other against Khoth’s.
They were one popcorn bowl apart from cuddling.
Both of them had kicked off their boots and taken off their jackets.
But they weren’t undressed. They were very far from undressed and Jace wondered if he should press this issue.
But Khoth, for all his strength, seemed so fragile still.
“This is very perplexing. I am beginning to think that I do not understand the meaning of the word fun,” Khoth told him.
“Just try. See if you like it,” Jace suggested and picked up a single kernel.
The popcorn was perfectly buttered and salted.
A few grains of salt stuck to his fingers and there was a faint sheen of butter too.
The Osiris had sent it up, along with a bunch of other snacks.
It had also refreshed Khoth’s lunch, though it had sent up a different dish that his mother hadn’t made for him, but was a favorite.
The dishes for that were empty by the side of the bed.
Now there were just the snacks surrounding them.
Khoth’s handsome face was filled with interest. There was none of the emotional strain he’d seen there after they left the elevator. That relieved him though he was under no illusions that Khoth was “fine” yet. But a stress valve had been opened and some of the steam had been released.
I really wonder if I should have made that deal with his mother and not gone with someone else, even if they were a lesser known quantity, Jace thought.
But he realized that even if Nova Voor wasn’t the High Councillor, it wasn’t like Khoth was going to forget her.
And he might think of her anyways every time he faced whoever took over for her.
It would probably have hurt more. Not to mention that he thought Khoth maybe needed to deal with his feelings about his mother, his father, his sister and his exile.
“All right. I will open my mouth. You,” Khoth turned his head to look at Jace, “will aim well, Jace, will you not?”
“Oh, most definitely,” Jace said.
In truth, the Osiris was already giving him the exact angle and speed he needed to send the popcorn piece up into the air to land it perfectly on Khoth’s blue tongue.
Jace turned off the assistance. He aimed.
He threw the popcorn piece. It landed in Khoth’s right eye.
Khoth made a sound sort of like a cat’s hiss.
“I’m sorry! Oh, Khoth, I’m sorry!”
Jace couldn’t help but laugh though and he curled onto his side towards Khoth.
The popcorn bowl tilted precipitously. He wondered if they could put all the popcorn back in the bowl before the five second rule expired.
But Khoth saved all of it and placed the bowl on the ground, safe and sound.
The popcorn bowl was not the only snack in danger.
There was a crunching sound. A bag of Cheetos had slid under Jace’s butt.
He reached back and nudged it off of the bed.
“You are causing destruction, Jace,” Khoth said slightly disapprovingly, but one of his arms had slid around Jace’s shoulders.
That felt amazing.
“I know. I can’t help it. Your face… you were so upset about the popcorn,” Jace chuckled. “It was very funny.”
“There is salt in my eye,” Khoth muttered as he dabbed said eye with a napkin. “And butter.”
“Not space paste meant to taste like butter?” Jace asked.
“You would be a better judge than me about that,” Khoth pointed out.
“It tastes pretty real. I think the Osiris ordered some take out. I wonder how it got the snacks up to the ship,” Jace thought out loud.
I sent several of the cleaning bots to the Con-Ve and took all of its stock, the Osiris answered.
Uhm, please tell me that you paid for the snacks… wait, you don’t have any money and I don’t have enough money to cover it so…
I merely created the funds. Your currency is mostly a construct so I--
Created it out of whole cloth?
Ones and zeros actually, but yes, the phrase is applicable, the Osiris answered.
Oh, God… I’m going to have to teach you about right and wrong, aren’t I? Jace muttered.
I am well aware of all philosophical views on these concepts. Shall I enumerate them for you? The Osiris almost sounded chipper at the idea.
No, no, that’s okay. We’ll talk about this another time, Jace said. Just don’t take over any planets while I’m distracted.
I will attempt not to, the Osiris stated.
Jace was intent on being distracted. He cuddled against Khoth, resting his head on Khoth’s broad chest. He was pleased when the Thaf’ell’s long fingers trailed through his hair.
His fingertips ghosted over the bare flesh at the base of Jace’s neck.
That was one of Jace’s most sensitive places.
Though it was where collars brushed, it felt somehow intimate to have another person run their hands over it.
“Did you discover your answer?” Khoth asked. “Your eyes glow blue when you communicate with the Osiris or Gehenna.”
“They do? Cool though I think we’ll have to turn that off when I’m in combat. Give me away if my eyes are always glowing,” Jace laughed. “Well, I did get my answer. It was a sort of down the rabbit hole trip.”
“Down the rabbit--”
“Long, long story. The Osiris is potentially a criminal mastermind,” Jace told him.
“The Osiris got the supplies from Walter’s shop.
It transferred funds to Walter’s account.
Except, of course, the Osiris doesn’t have money itself so…
it created some. I’m afraid if I know much more than that I might be the Osiris’ accomplice in many crimes. ”
“This concept of currency you have makes no sense. While some have more money than they could spend in twenty lifetimes, there are plenty who starve to death for lack of funds,” Khoth mused.
That was a terribly good point.
“The Thaf’ell don’t have money? You barter or something?” Jace asked.
“Citizens are tested at a young age to see what they are proficient at. These jobs are assigned after they reach the age of majority. No funds are given for their work. All are given a home, food and the ability to enjoy life,” Khoth explained.
“Wait, so there’s like no money? And people don’t, uhm, hoard stuff? Like keep all the best stuff for themselves?” Jace asked.
Khoth was frowning again. “Why would they do this? Hoarding is illogical. One cannot eat all the food. One cannot appreciate all the art. One--”
“Yeah, yeah, but people like to have more than the other guy,” Jace pointed out.
“Humans feel this way? Yes, they do. I saw that in my research. It is most illogical,” Khoth said with a shake of his head.
“Yeah, it is. I just find it hard to believe that all Thaf’ell are so… good,” Jace admitted.