Chapter 33 #2
They smelled beautiful, almost sweet in a way, and they bobbed in an artificial breeze as the old male, San, took them to the glass stairs in the center of the room that began moving as he stepped on them to bring them up.
“I’ve kept your room for your return, Chee,” he said as he led them all around.
“And I’ve put the rest of your rooms in the same hall.
There is an intercom system in the room, you can order whatever food or drink you like.
You can also comm me through the system if there’s something you need that you can’t find, and I’ll be happy to provide. ”
“Hyde must pay you very well,” Trove said as he looked around. Even the hallway they walked down was bright and airy, one entire wall nothing but glass that looked out over the beautiful grounds. This place was lovely and peaceful and far too wealthy for his tastes.
“Hyde is a good master to serve,” was all San said as he reached the first door.
Chee didn't need any encouragement to open it, telling him that this must be her room.
A thought that was confirmed when they walked inside and he was hit with her scent.
It was mostly scrubbed, probably cleaned since she left, but it still lingered thanks to the belongings she had filling the space that were most definitely hers.
They didn't at all fit in with the rest of the room and he was suddenly extremely curious about them as she pulled him inside.
“Thanks, San,” she beamed at the older male. “We’re probably going to go out later tonight.”
“Then, I’ll have a hover prepared for you,” he said, inclining his head before moving further down the hall, bringing the next person to their room.
Chee shut the door and turned with a big stretch, beaming at the familiar space as he looked around.
It was a beautiful room, mostly done in yellows and white, but it was a bit too bright for his liking.
The bed was low to the ground, oval in shape, with a large canopy hanging over it, draped down from the wall.
Ornate furniture decorated the room, almost old-fashioned in style as there were drawers and dressers instead of shelving and hidden spaces in the walls.
There were two doors in here – one he imagined led to the privy.
The other, however, was made of glass and let out onto the wide, open balcony that he could see through the wall of glass.
More flowers in planter boxes decorated that space, and it held a table with two chairs that offered a wide view of the grounds.
But he was far more interested in the stuff that very obviously didn't belong. The old style, fabric suitcases in plain black placed in the corner. The worn and bright red blanket tossed over the arm of the couch in the corner. The book – a paper book – on the stand beside it.
And there, on the bedside table, a paper photograph. Old fashioned, but the colors were still rich and the picture quality pretty good. It was set in a pale blue frame decorated like a youngling had chosen the little beads and glitter placed haphazardly along the edges.
The people in the photo were not ones he knew, but he was familiar with them. The female had Chee’s facial structure. The male had her frizzy red hair. They were beaming out at the camera, a small, frizzy-haired girl standing between them, smiling, missing one of her front teeth.
He couldn’t help himself. He picked up the photo and stared at the image of the happy family. Chee must have been very young indeed when they took the photo. Just like she had said, she was all gangly limbed and hadn’t developed her hips yet.
She was cute though. And the two adults with her looked so happy. The female glowed with love and the male stood tall with happy pride.
“That’s my mom and dad,” Chee spoke softly, pointing over his shoulder at the pair. “Her name is Eliza, and his is Blake.”
“You look just like your mother,” he said, unable to miss the wideness of her hips in the older female. They were more rounded than Chee’s were now, probably as an after effect of giving birth. And he found himself longing for the day when Chee similarly changed.
He might not care one way or the other about younglings right now, but the idea of breeding his female, of seeing her body grow and change, suddenly seemed very nice.
“I think I was like seven when we took this picture,” she said, resting her head on his shoulder. “That frame is so ugly, but it was a school assignment and they helped me make it. I thought it was so stupid at the time, but now… I think this is my most prized possession.”
“You all look happy.”
“We were happy,” she agreed. “Things were easier back then.”
He couldn’t relate. He didn't have pleasant memories full of nostalgia. He didn't have mementos from his past that meant so much sentimentally. There were no easier memories of his childhood, of a sweet past, to make him long for better days.
But he had a present that was better than anything he had reason to expect. He was living in his better days.
No. His better days were in front of him.
Right beside him. Leaning against his arm, a bittersweet smile pulling at her lips. Her warmth, her joy, her presence.
She was his better days. And it was only going to get better from here.
***
Everyone wanted to do something different while waiting for Hyde.
Sorbet and Tebros, in their stoic, grumpy way, asked why they couldn’t just be paid through his proxy and move on already, but they perked up visibly when San said that hunting was permissible in the wild district right next to theirs and there was some big game to be caught there.
Haven and Vytln were going to head to the barrier gate to check out the machinery there.
There were large walls that separated the districts, and barrier gates between them that kept the districts travelable but separated.
People lived in the walls and under the ground of Holotulle, and those people tended to be more like the two of them.
And San informed them that there was going to be a lot sale there tonight and both of them acted like it was a hot date night.
Rok was going to be escorting Goldie, who was going to the biggest landmarks to take pictures and videos of herself for Alred.
Sway and Grace were going to a high-end restaurant to have a fancy dinner night.
Tanin and Garnet were going to go to an exclusive smoke bar – which was not at all what humans would call a smoke bar.
All of which had been found and arranged by San and paid for by Hyde.