I sense that our evening has taken a more serious tone than either of us intended for it to.
There is a quiet intensity in Davies’ brown eyes as he watches me that makes me remember the pleasure I felt last night as I thought about him.
Something about this intriguing human resonates with me in a way I have not felt before.
In a way part of me desperately wishes to continue past tonight.
I also do not know if it is the alcohol he has consumed, or his true emotions bubbling to the surface.
“You might be facing quite the hangover tomorrow morning,” I note.
Leaving me to also wonder if he’ll even remember this conversation tomorrow morning.
“I’ve never had one yet from wine. Takes a lot more than this to make me sick. I’ll remember every word in the morning.” He tips his mug back and swallows, draining it.
“Honesty is first,” I say. “I do not know what I feel for you. Iamcurious to see where this goes, but I am not yet ready to declare myself your mate for life. Even if I was to do that, there is still the matter of a contract.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He slumps back on the sofa—which is small for me but more than comfortable for him—and stares up at me where I am sitting in a chair just across the low table in front of him. “We can be friends though, right?”
“Absolutely. At the very least, I find myself enjoying your company and do not wish miss any opportunity to spend more social time with you.”
Right now, though, he is very,verydrunk. When he attempts to stand, he sways a dangerous amount. “I do not think you should attempt to walk back to your hotel right now.” I am not sure he can evenwalk, much less successfully navigate his way around the space station.
Davies squints at me. “You might be right. Mind if I crash on your couch?”
“Will you be comfortable on my couch?”
He slides down onto it once again. “I’ve slept on far worse in my career.”
Still, that does not feel right to me. “If I let you sleep in my bed with me, will you behave yourself? Because I cannot sleep on my couch. It is barely comfortable for me to sit upon.”
He tips his head back to look up at me. “You smellreallygood, dude.”
I cannot help but be amused. He is adorable like this. I suspect he is far more complex than anyone knows, and usually keeps a defensive wall around himself when he is sober.
“So you said, but that does not answer my question.”
He draws an X over his chest with a finger. “Cross my heart. I’ll even keep my clothes on.”
“That is appreciated.” He starts to stand again, but wobbles so dangerously that I stand and scoop him into my arms.
He drapes his around my neck and stares into my eyes with a deep wonder in his gaze. “Duuuuude. That…that’s like frickingromantic!”
My pulse races. If this did not also feel so…right, I would face no conundrum right now.
“Then perhaps if you behave yourself tonight, we can repeat this experience. Asfriends. Unless we eventually agree to more at some future time.”
He nods and then lays his head against my shoulder. By the time I have taken the few steps from the living room into the bedroom, he is softly snoring against me.
Painful loneliness tugs at my heart. Perhaps it was not complete altruism on my part that prodded me to extend the invitation for him to share my bed tonight.
Perhaps it was the desire to see what it might feel like sharing a bed with another person for a change.
I carefully lay him on my bed and then remove his shoes and set them on the floor next to him. When I round the bed to get in on the other side, I realize I have a problem.
Usually, I do not wear clothes in bed. Nudity is not frowned upon in our culture, and beyond not pleasuring one’s self in public, there is no requirement for modesty. Clothes are worn more as an issue of practicality—pockets to hold things, or to keep one dry or warm in inclement weather, or to offer a modicum of protection when doing work in fields or a workshop. In the cities, clothing in public is generally accepted as the default, now that we have such an integration with non-Pfahrn species on our planet.
But even then, at schools, during recess in warm weather it is a common sight to see schoolchildren dashing about without clothes as they play. It saves parents having to wash garments as much.
