16. Proslo
16
PROSLO
W e had successfully completed our mating bond, but I could still feel my bride holding herself apart from me. Not physically, but emotionally. I seethed at how battered her soul was from the damage done by the inconsideration of the previous males and the violence of the last before me.
Pumpkin had ignored our meal so she’d asked me to warm them up once she’d gotten out of the bath. I’d done so and later she grinned with delight as she replicated something I’d seen in the vids as a prime meal shared with loved ones - meatloaf and mashed potatoes with a side of green beans. She even served us peach cobbler afterwards. This meal told me all I needed to know - she was as committed to me as I was to her, and while I had already fully given myself to her, heart and soul, she was carefully unwrapping hers because she still felt a need to mentally shield herself. It stung, but I understood it. She understood she was safe with me and felt the same draw of our bond, but emotionally, her scars had yet to heal enough to fully share herself. That was fine. I was a patient male and as she got to know me better, she’d become increasingly more comfortable. Our shared affection for our fur young, Pumpkin, would help draw us ever closer, as would our love for the young human social services would bring us. We would become a true family, hearts and souls fully bound together into one joyful unit. Simply had to give it all time.
Today was, as they said in the vids, a red letter day for us. Today we eloped together so that tomorrow, we could have our human ceremony, adding another layer to our bond. The ride down was not in one of the express shuttles this time, but we were in a close enough orbit to Guam that the journey was only just over two hours long. It would have only been an hour at most if we’d gone to Hawaii instead as we were geosynchronous with Honolulu.
Betty had decided that our time travelling was spent watching a vid called The Wedding Singer. She found it amusing and while I thought it had a few amusing moments, mostly I was aghast. Was that what most weddings were like for humans? I now better understood why she wished to elope. Normal human weddings looked tedious and full of unfortunate personal interactions with guests and participants alike during what they called a reception. Which apparently was about getting drunk enough to vomit, having sex with your mate or even someone else who definitely wasn’t, and making questionable moves on a dance floor to songs being sung by people who couldn’t otherwise make a living in the music industry.
“Look, she’s already here!” Betty crowed in delight as we exited the shuttle at the Dusit Thani. She ran forward, arms outstretched towards the older female hurrying towards us.
“Betty!” the other woman shouted, kissing her on the cheek. “You know, I was joking when I said to go to Guam, but I’m not complaining. This place is pretty swanky!”
“Are you serious?” Betty replied, eyes wide. “Are you saying you pulled Guam out of your ass?”
Mrs. Titchmarsh laughed. “Kinda. I’d seen it on the cover of one of those magazines for retired people at the doctor’s office. It was one of the ‘less traveled destinations to paradise’ they did an article on.”
Betty giggled. “Well, it is pretty hot here, so maybe that’s why.”
“Let’s go inside,” I said, urging them both towards the lobby. “It will be much cooler inside.”
“You should see the oceanside pool,” Mrs. Titchmarsh gushed. “I plan to put my wrinkly ass in my bathing suit and go for a swim.”
“That sounds heavenly.” Betty turned a wistful look towards me.
“We can do that, but only if you both put on a high factor sunblock that is water resistant,” I replied.
“Yes! Wait - did we bring any?”
“They sell it in the shop,” Mrs. Titchmarsh said. “I went and bought a bottle. I’ve been here almost an hour. It was expensive too. Probably because it’s reef safe and this is a fancy pants place.”
“I hope you charged it to your room,” I said.
“Yeah, the guy asked me if I was the lady who came on the shuttle and did that.”
“Good. All of your expenses are covered. If you wish to leave the resort, please let me know. I have a card to use for that.”
“I like the sound of that,” she cackled, following us inside. “A truly all expenses paid vacation. Even if it is only three days, it’ll be the best one I’ve ever had.”
“You’ll have to come up and visit us,” Betty told her. “The ship we’re on is truly amazing. There’s this one deck that’s got to be several stories tall and it has a sky with clouds that move and breezes and has a park with real trees and grass and everything.”
“There are several parks on board, all with playgrounds,” I murmured before coming to a stop in front of the check-in desk.
“That sounds amazing,” I heard the older female tell my bride before I tuned out the rest of their conversation in order to focus on my interaction with the desk clerk.
“Dr. Proslo, I presume?” the male quipped as if finding his words witty for some reason.
“Yes, and my bride, Betty.”
“Betty Lewis, yes, I have you both right here,” he said, the keyboard clacking quietly as his fingers flew across the keyboard.
“You’re on the thirtieth floor,” he said, handing me a set of room keys. “Ramon will bring up your bags…” his voice trailed off as he took in the lack of luggage, unless you counted Pumpkin’s carrier as one.
“You do realize there is an extra charge for the cat?” he said, recovering from his surprise.
“I do. That’s fine,” I smiled at him in what I hoped was a reassuring manner. Our mating was still new enough that I kept my teeth carefully hidden, all too aware that they were still a bit sharper than most humans were likely to be comfortable with. I hadn’t missed the way his eyes kept straying towards my scales.
“Excellent. Um, as I was saying, once your luggage arrives, Ramon will bring it up.”
”No luggage,” Betty told him breezily. “We decided to buy everything here. We can bring the clothes home with us, as practical souvenirs.”
He blinked. “I see.” His smile widened. “I’m sure you’ll be able to find what you need to outfit yourselves. Just take the walkway over there to The Plaza, where you will find a variety of shops and places to eat.”
“That’s where I found the shop I got the sunscreen from. I thought that mall was part of the resort.” This from Mrs. Titchmarsh.
“Oh, goodness no.”
“Well, the gentleman asked me for my room number so he could charge it.”
“Were you at the small pharmacy, by any chance? The one closest to the entrance?”
“Yes.”
He smiled. “We do have an arrangement with them for that. You’ll wish to make sure you have money at the rest of the stores, however.”
“I’ll give you one of the cards,” I told her, reaching into my trousers’ pocket to pull out the slim card case the quartermaster had had waiting for us at the shuttle this morning. “They gave me three.”
“I’ll not splurge too much,” she giggled, “and give it back to you before I go home.”
I smiled down at her. “I know you will and please, don’t feel you need to be cheap.”
“Oh, he’s definitely a keeper,” she told Betty.
“Good thing, because we’re already mated,” Betty laughed.
“Could you recommend a place to eat?”
“I might be able to get you reservations at the Taotao Tasi Beach Dinner Show,” he replied. “Most of our guests recommend it, and it has excellent reviews.”
That would sort out our evening meal and tonight’s entertainment quite nicely, I decided.
“Yes, please.”
“For two or three?”
“Three.”
“Should I call your room or text the number we have for you to let you know if I’ve been successful?”
“Text please. We’ll go up and let the cat out, then we’re going shopping for sunscreen and clothes.”
“Just so you know, we don’t provide a litter box or bowls.”
“There’s a folding one in the back pouch along with a zip top bag full of a small amount of litter, and his bowls are inside the carrier. We will buy more litter and cat food while we are out.” I knew Pumpkin would be fine for a couple hours as he’d used the box and eaten before the trip down. That, and Betty also had a can of cat food inside her purse.
“Oh, I almost forgot. I need to verify your card before you go up. The software needs me to enter its information before it will let me complete the check in, sorry.”
I handed him one of the cards. “They are all the same, so please make sure to change Mrs. Titchmarsh’s to this card instead of whatever she used.”
He swallowed. “Right away, sir.”
I handed Betty one of the room keys so she could take Pumpkin on up while I stood and waited for him to finish checking us in and altering Mrs. Titchmarsh’s entry.
“Done,” he said after a few minutes, handing me back my card.
“Thank you,” I replied simply and hurried towards the bank of elevators I’d watched my bride and her friend disappear into.