Chapter 13
Holly
Days passed in a similar pattern. Holly would wake up, take the mats outside, and Romival would be waiting for her there.
They would do yoga together – he was getting really good, really fast – then they would do some self-defense training.
After that, they would go inside, drink water and eat a light, fruity breakfast, and trade off questions.
Only a couple times did she get a message that he, unfortunately, would be busy and so he couldn’t make it that day.
When that happened, at his bidding, she did the exercises he set for her.
They left her just a little bit sore, but in that satisfying way of a job well done, not from muscle exhaustion.
Most days, however, he was there and worked her out himself.
The questions asked afterwards seemed random, but they were all focused on her.
One day, he asked her to describe her family, then listened without interruption as she talked about her dad and his military career, her stay at home mom, and her five rambunctious, protective, younger brothers.
Another day, he asked what she used to do back on Earth and again listened with that highly focused expression as she described a rather boring life as an employee in a testing center who still lived with her family because her parents were content to slowly transition to living with her rather than her living with them.
On a different day, he asked her to describe her education – both hers specifically and education in general.
Holly had a few questions about various things that came to her throughout the day, but Romival had an actual list. Like, written out.
She soon ran out of things to ask off the top of her head and instead of taking turns, he would just ask his questions and, whenever she thought of a new one, she would pepper it in whenever.
And occasionally, they kissed.
It wasn’t every day. Not at first. Sometimes, it would be a quick peck after yoga or training.
Other times, it would be deep, passionate make out sessions that completely derailed question time.
She sometimes found her hips jerking against the bulge under his robes that both enticed and intimidated her.
He would growl in approval, but never tried to press for more.
Holly wasn’t sure what was happening. If they were dating or just talking or if he really was treating her like an experiment, but it was the best two tendays she had enjoyed on Turv since she got here.
She had practically forgotten what it was like to be afraid.
She woke up each morning looking forward to seeing him and went to bed each night looking forward to waking up in the morning.
One day, she stole a kiss goodbye before he could leave, a quick kiss as he was late because he spent too much time listening to her describe common pets on Earth, then she just stood in the door leading out of the common room, smiling like an idiot.
That was how Hattie found her, stepping out of her room in a fluffy bathrobe she had custom made for herself. She gasped exaggeratedly, putting a hand to her chest.
“What impropriety is this!?” She declared, aghast.
Holly started, looking across the room to where she stood. “What?”
“Sitting there, dreaming about boys,” she tossed her head with a drawn-out gasp. “Children these days. So quick to jump into bed with each other.”
Holly squeaked, her face flaming. “We weren’t in bed.”
Hattie beamed, eyes sparkling. “Was it against the wall? The floor? No! The tub! Ugh, that thing is huge. I bet it would be great for some hanky-panky.”
“There is neither hanky nor panky going on in this room.”
“Right, and that’s not a hickey,” Hattie leveled a finger at her neck.
Holly gasped, slapping a hand over the spot Romival had been sucking earlier. Hattie threw back her head, cackling.
“That son of…” Holly grumbled, turning to run into her privy. She heard Hattie’s bare feet padding quickly after her as she rushed to the mirror.
Romival had, indeed, left a large, circular hickey right there on her neck. Right above where the collar of her dress reached.
She grumbled curses, rubbing at it uselessly, knowing it would do nothing. It wasn’t a stain that was going to wipe off, but some dumb part of her brain had to try anyway.
Hattie cocked a hip against the counter, grinning knowingly. “Holly, you degenerate. I’m so proud of you.”
“We didn’t have sex,” she said, sighing because her rubbing was only making it worse.
“And that makes you feel…?”
Holly glared, making her laugh. “No. I am still not discussing this.”
“Oh, come on!” Hattie pouted, following her as she left the bathroom. “I’m trying to bag my own alien. I need some tips. Domini aren’t like humans. My old trick of giving him ‘do me’ eyes and shaking my butt isn’t getting me anywhere.”
“Weird, because I’m pretty sure that’s all I did,” she mumbled, thinking of how Romival couldn’t help checking out her butt whenever she was in downward dog.
“Mine is a tough nut to crack.” Hattie sighed, frowning. “It doesn’t help that he’s been out of town for some reason. Hard to give ‘do me’ eyes when he’s not here to see them.”
Holly looked back at her, one hand on her hip. “You’re after the big one, right?”
Hattie’s expression went all dreamy. “Yeah. Tuvo.”
Holly couldn’t help but grimace. First Warrior Tuvo was the biggest, buffest domini she’d seen – and that was saying something considering everyone here, male and female alike, were muscular.
He was always wearing camocloth – fabric that changed colors with their skin to always blend into their environment – had a short, military style haircut, and was covered in scars.
His tail was even kinked like it had been broken and ill set at least once.
“I mean, to each their own,” she mumbled, shuddering. Tuvo scared her. She was glad that she had very little reason to ever be around him.
“How did you get Romival into you? Did you, like, do something specific? Is there a secret to getting their attention you’ve noticed? Did you have to save his life like Peony?”
Holly laughed, taking a seat on a lounging cushion in the central area. Hattie followed after her, plopping down as well, looking at her with all seriousness.
Holly could only shrug. “I don’t know. I’m pretty sure Romi is primarily interested in me as a research experiment.”
Hattie gave her a dull look. “Puh-lease. Girl, no scientist is dedicated enough to their science to spend ten minutes sucking face with it. And I’m pretty sure that’s some kind of ethical bias if they do.
He may be into studying you, but he’s really into learning that biology, if you know what I mean. ”
“That is the worst joke!” Holly laughed, throwing a pillow that Hattie caught then immediately clutched to her stomach.
“Come on. Don’t be selfish. Tell me your secrets. All Peony will tell me is that Atem just knew, and she was happy to go along with it.”
“I mean… same?” Holly made a face at how unhelpful that was. “I don’t know why Romival keeps coming back to me. I think he likes how easily I blush.”
Hattie grumbled, sitting back. “That does nothing for me. Maybe I should just go up to him and tell him I’m DTF.”
Holly snickered. “Maybe not. Some guys appreciate the direct approach, but are you looking for a relationship or a couple nights of fun?”
“Definitely a relationship. So, I guess maybe not that obvious.” Hattie sighed, flopping back. “What’s a girl got to do to get noticed around here?”
It was a rhetorical question, so Holly didn’t respond to it as she gestured her combot closer so she could check the lunch menu for today.
She had spent so much time with Romival that breakfast had not just settled but fully digested.
She thought that maybe Hattie was being a bit conservative with the ten minutes of face sucking estimation.
They were silent as Hattie considered her options in regard to Tuvo and Holly put in the order for her lunch.
She asked Hattie what she wanted before putting that in, too.
She then moved on to reading the news – preparations for the Seven Victories Festival, score updates for a sports game called trikball that appeared to be a universally popular game, and discussions on what appeared to be a humanitarian crisis on a planet called Hurvi Ia.
“We’re never going home, are we?” Hattie asked suddenly, her voice dull as she stared up at the ceiling, not really looking at it.
Holly lowered her hand from the holo display, a frown pulling at her features. It was a thought that seemed obvious, but still hurt to have. A truth she had been avoiding because she didn’t want to think about being separated from her family forever.
But they had been here long enough that even Holly, who was the most reticent to get comfortable, was starting to put down roots. It was inevitable. Peony was pregnant, Scarlet was getting a job, Alanna had tons of friends, Hattie was developing new skills, and Holly…
Holly was in a maybe relationship?
Regardless, they were making themselves at home. They were finding their places, finding new purposes, new friends, new families. It wasn’t Earth, but they were safe and cared for and they were moving on.
And it hit her all at once how sad that was. The acceptance, the knowing, that their home was lost to them settled over her all at once.
She sniffed, her vision swimming as her eyes filled.
“Romi’s going to do his best, but…”
“Yeah, I know, but…”
Both of them couldn’t bring themselves to finish their sentence. It was too final.
“I miss my parents,” Hattie mumbled.
“I miss my brothers,” Holly added, pulling her legs up to hug her knees to her chest.
“I miss cheeseburgers.”
Holly laughed, but it was a sad sound. “I miss cheeseburgers, too. And nachos.”
“Yeah, nachos. And daiquiris. I swear, nothing is alcoholic on this planet. Oh, and coffee! I think I would kill someone for even some crappy office coffee right now.”
Holly laughed. Hattie had told her once that she was a coffee junkie, and she never missed her morning or midday or afternoon cup from her local coffee shop.
She loved trying the different varieties and flavors and seasonal options.
Holly had gone through caffeine withdrawal too, but not nearly as badly as Hattie.
She couldn’t tell if the primarily blood drinking domini never developed a taste for stimulants or booze or if the whole planet was on a health kick, but neither of them had found a replacement for either beverage thus far.
Intak, the drink that was the closest substitution they could find, acted more like a muscle relaxer. It wasn’t the same.
And that was just another loss that hit them at that moment.
“We’re going to be okay though,” Holly said, offering her a smile. “I’m going to enjoy my yoga dates with the sexy wizard nerd, and you are going to seduce big, bad, and burly and we’re going to live a good life here.”
“You bet your butt!” Hattie lowered a finger at her, sniffing back her own tears. “And maybe your sexy nerd can pull off a miracle. Who knows?”
Holly smiled, not really disagreeing with her, but Romival’s promise to spend the rest of his life searching if he had to didn’t fill her with anything close to hope.
It hurt, but she took a quiet hour that night, sobbing into her pillow, saying goodbye to her parents and brothers.
Wishing them well. Wishing she could see them get married and have kids and fulfill all their dreams. She hated that she was leaving them with a big question of where she went and why she had never made it to her parents’ house that night for Sunday dinner, but she hoped they were able to get some kind of peace and closure without her.
It was long overdue, but she finally accepted the truth of her situation and bid goodbye to the dream of ever seeing Earth or her family again.