8. Proslo
8
PROSLO
W as I pushing for too much, too fast? Perhaps, but then if we had not been a match, she’d already have set into motion these very same things, apart from our wedding and honeymoon. All I’d done was help set her on a path alongside me that put us six weeks or so ahead. Thanks to the treaty and our program’s in-depth screening process, anyone applying jumped the line. Of course, there were those who didn’t get a match and had a flag placed on their file but those were exceedingly few and far between. In fact, when someone went to book an appointment, they immediately had a thorough background check run by Xeranos for criminal history and such. Depending on what their troubled history revealed, they might not even get as far as getting said appointment.
“I need to find a dress!” she suddenly said, her eyes wide with worry. “Do I even want a white poofy dress? Or, since it’s on the beach, wear a sarong?”
She turned beseeching eyes towards me.
“Whatever you choose, you will be radiant.”
She snorted and pointed a finger at me. “Nice try, mister, but you aren’t side-stepping me like that.”
“Perhaps if you come up with a few ideas and show them to me?” I suggested helpfully.
“You have no idea about fashion, do you?”
I shook my head mutely. “I’m usually in uniform,” I reminded her.
She shook her head in dismay. “That’s a cop out, but valid so I’ll give it to you.”
“You are giving me something for my response?” I replied, wrinkling my brow.
“Um, no. That means I’ll concede your point.”
Ah. An idiom, rather like the Commander’s ‘doohickey’, ‘dumaflache’, and ‘thing gummy’. I’d thought he was making a huge joke until I heard Barney Fife use ‘doohickey’ in an episode of Andy Griffith at the suggestion of one of my junior medics. The show was full of useful tips, such as bringing chocolates and candy for your mate.
“I’m going to go sit down on the sofa and see what’s available in that Fleet store place.”
Thank the stars. I really had zero ideas as to what would be appropriate for the occasion. I hoped she found me something suitable as well.
I left Pumpkin to his explorations of my study and our bedroom to go take stock of what we were lacking. The aforementioned sofa was a standard bachelor’s quarters issue which we could return if she had something more suitable, unless she wanted two. A quick look in the kitchen revealed no dishes or cookware, but that was fine. The replicator served the food on individual plates and provided appropriate cutlery if you asked it to when choosing your meal. We could also dine out or order food delivery and again, everything we needed would be included. We’d never have to cook if we didn’t want to.
A chiming sound broke the silence and I held a hand up to let her know that I’d get it. As I’d expected, a crew of casual workers stood there with Pumpkin’s supplies. I ushered them in and they made quick work putting it where Betty told them to.
“Your household goods are en-route and will be here in three hours,” one of them said before saluting me and ducking back out the door.
“Guess it’s not an express,” she said wryly.
I shook my head. “It’ll be a cargo transport, so not as slow as a regular mixed transport but not as fast as an express.”
“Ah, well, I guess tomorrow we’ll be unpacking stuff,” she sighed.
“They do that for us,” I told her. “We just have to tell them where to put it.”
Her cheeks pinkened. “I’ll unpack my own clothes, thank you!”
“I’m sure that won’t be a problem.”
“Good. I hope Mrs. Titchmarsh was the one who packed my undies.”
I growled, thinking about another male touching something so intimate belonging to my mate. My vision blurred for a split second before resolving into even greater clarity than before and my skin began to itch.
“Whoa, your eyes! They turned black, but are slit like Pumpkin’s! Well, not completely black, you still have whites,” she babbled.
I rubbed the side of my neck where the itching was currently worse. “My mating display. Parts of my battle form will appear and remain until we complete the bond.”
She licked her lips. “Yeah, I’ve heard about that. You’ll get scales too, huh?”
I nodded. “It’s nothing to fear unless we don’t complete the bond before my full form emerges. We’ll have plenty of notice before that happens though, as I’ll go into a fever.”
Her eyes widened almost impossibly wider. “And what does that form look like?” she asked. Then she gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. “Oh gawd, that video! The one with the guy everyone called Godzilla Man. That wasn’t a stunt, was it? That was one of you!”
“It was,” I confirmed, “but please keep that to yourself.”
She bobbed her head in agreement. “Was he okay? Did he and his mate manage to ah…complete things?”
I smiled at her reassuringly. “They did indeed.”
She heaved a sigh of relief. “Oh, good. And he looks regular now? No battle form, I mean?”
“Mostly. Light scaling and shifted eyes are all that remains.”
She looked immensely relieved.
“And you guys can normally change in and out of that, anyways, like for fighting.”
“Yes. We can do a full or partial shift.”
“Oh, wow. I just realized! I’m mated not only to an alien but a shifter! That’s like two different romance tropes.” She beamed with happiness.
I laughed. “I’m glad you’re pleased about that.”
“Hell yeah! I love me some monster smut.” Her hand flew to her mouth once more. “Shit! Not that I think you guys are monsters for real. That’s um, okay, rude now that I think about it, even though that’s what it’s called a lot of the time in the book reader world. Um, non-human romances sound better. I’ll use that from now on, sorry.”
“It’s fine,” I chuckled. “I gathered that’s what you meant, but yes, please use non-human instead. We’re definitely not monsters, and neither are the other species I’ve met. There are those individuals with the souls of monsters, but that’s as far as it goes.”
“Yeah, we have people like that too,” she replied glumly.
I bent down and kissed the top of her head, knowing she was thinking about one male in particular. The last unworthy one who tried to claim her as his own and now was facing a lengthy incarceration. “And they can all stay far, far away or face our justice.”
She wrapped her arms around me, leaning into me, and I closed my eyes, relishing the press of her body against mine.
“I like the sound of that,” she said softly, and I wrapped my arms around her, letting her know that she was here now and she had me and the rest of the Fleet to help keep her safe.