Chapter 16
KITTINIR
I walked into my quarters to find Carl had indeed set up a taco bar on the breakfast bar. Two plates of steaming burritos and chimichangas sat on one end, along with what I recognized as his Meemaw’s Watergate salad sitting in a self refrigerating bowl.
“Oh, hey! How was work?” he asked, coming out of the bathroom.
“It was productive,” I told him. “Jorel, the Dragonii I am partnered with, is very easy to work with and very knowledgeable.”
“High praise indeed, coming from you. And that’s great, working with someone you can’t stand is horrible. Bad enough having to rub shoulders with assholes in the department in general.”
I nodded, knowing quite well just who the two particular assholes were he was referring to.
Georgeson substituted once for his classes and didn’t follow Carl’s lesson plans for the two weeks he was gone to attend his Meemaw’s funeral and help his Pawpaw navigate the start of probate while looking around for an over 55’s community to move to along with Carl’s parents, who had decided to sell their house and downsize.
The stress of losing his beloved grandmother and facing his grandfather and parents moving several states away had been stressful enough, but he completely lost the remainder of his composure when he discovered the ‘fuckery’ as he put it, that Georgeson had committed.
Perlman simply was obnoxious to everyone, his narcissism and general passive aggressive belligerence giving him absolutely no friends.
“Why don’t you go wash up and we can get the party started. Um, just one thing…where is your TV?”
“Oh, you simply ask Xeranos to play whatever you wish to watch, and in what room. The walls are embedded with nanotech, so they will rearrange themselves into a viewing screen,” I informed him as I went to do as he asked.
“Really? Huh. So, I can sell my TV. Good to know.”
I heard him call out for Xeranos, his voice faint and unintelligible through the closed door and over the water from the sink.
Turning the faucet off, I heard the beginning strains of the vid’s theme song.
He’d also set up the TV trays I’d purchased from a thrift store and decided to bring with me, which was just as well, seeing as he was here, and they made eating on the couch much more comfortable.
We both loaded up our plates and sat down.
“I’m not too close, am I?” he asked, and I shook my head no, though it hadn’t escaped my notice that he’d not set up the trays on either end of the couch, but directly, next to each other.
I dismissed it as incidental because this was Carl, and he was my best friend. Best friends sat next to each other, like at the movies and stuff. It was completely within normal human social interaction.
Carl said, “Xero, episode one, please, the pilot.”
The selected episode began to play, and we settled in to eat and watch his beloved vid series, stopping only to get more food and drink.
All too soon, the food was gone, and I had to reluctantly inform him that I needed to go to bed, as I had PT in the morning.
“PT? Really? I don’t remember you having to do that before.”
“I went running and swimming, remember?”
“Well, yeah, but I thought that was just because you liked it. You didn’t seem to have a set schedule for it.”
“I did not, except for hula.”
“Hula?” Carl looked incredulous. “Every Sunday morning at 4 a.m., I participated in a hula distance course. Basically, we practiced dancing only, but now I’m here with the Fleet, I have to attend a more rigorous hula program.”
“Is this just you or everyone?”
“Humans may attend, but it is mandatory for all Mylos. The children have their own lessons at school and on the weekends.”
“Wow. I’d heard you guys had a whole deal going with native Hawaiians and heard that there was a hula school or two up here, but I thought it was for recreation while doing the whole "help preserve culture" thing you guys do.”
“It is, but it is also a wonderful way for a warrior to stay fit.”
“Can I come watch?”
I dipped my head in assent, as this was allowed, and guests frequently came to watch or join in a taster session.”
“Awesome!”
His thrilled expression only dimmed a very tiny bit when I told him we had to report there at six.
“I best get to bed then too, as the time difference is kinda messing with me.”
I let him use the shower first while I unfolded the couch to reveal the bed hidden inside.
I quickly made it up for him, and after muttering his thanks, I went to take my own shower in my ensuite bathroom.
I made it quick, eager to get to sleep so I would stop overthinking this business with Carl and his presence here.
My subconscious wasn’t having any of my rationales.
I woke up achingly hard, having endured a dream about Carl greeting me at the door in the nude, offering me cake as he was in his ‘birthday suit’.
Then he insisted I birthday spank him, and things got steamier from there.
I jumped in the shower, letting the cold water do its job.
“It’s your birthday soon, isn’t it?” I asked Carl as I sipped my cup of tea.
“Yeah, in three weeks. Hey! We should go check out the bowling alley that day. Be fun, like old times.”
“Sounds good,” I replied, relieved. One did not go in the nude to bowling alleys and get naked spankings, which hopefully my subconscious would take note of and quit with that uncalled for naughtiness while I was asleep.
It was probably just because of the stupid stuff I was thinking about over lunch, when I wondered for a hot minute if he was hoping to be matched as my mate, I told myself as we rode the elevator to the simulated beach. Yes, that had to be it.