Rema hummed a soft laugh. “The palace? Very large. It has well over a thousand rooms. But don’t worry, I asked Anu to download a map for you. Do you remember how to access maps with your nano links?”
I sighed, focusing my thoughts inwards and thought ‘map for the palace’ and blinked. A holographic GPS type map glowed in front of my eyes, with Rema and I yellow dots in the hallway. “Yeah, I remember.”
His big hand settled on my waist, warm long fingers sliding low across my hip bone. “Good. Now, our rooms are already highlighted on the map. Can you find them for me?”
Another blink and a yellow line shot forward on the map, all the way down the hall we were in before stopping on a highlighted door marked ‘Patricia Dells’. Directly across from my room was Rema’s.
“Found it,” I said, trying and failing to keep the whine out of my voice.
“Only eight more days to wait, Patty,” Rema said, chuckling.
I grumbled as he pulled me along until we were outside my room, the deep purple door etched with swirling silver lines.
Rema passed his hand over the door and the silver swirls lit up, strobing for a few seconds before a lock hissed and the door slid sideways into the wall.
Rema held out his arm. “After you, please.”
I swept past him, taking in the room I’d been given. It was the height of luxury, opening into a sitting room with the palest pink lace cloth cascading from the sapphire crystal chandelier to cover the ceiling in hanging loops before flowing over the walls and ending at the floor, where little twinkling jewels hung that seemed to be there to help weigh down the fabric. A set of gorgeous cream couches took up the center of the room, surrounding a round silver table. A massive vase of exotic flowers sat in the middle of the table, their intoxicating sweet fragrance saturating the air, and tickling my nose until I sneezed.
Fluffy rugs in various shades of pink, purple, and orange covered the floor, and a long ornate buffet table took up most of the left wall. It was covered in an assortment of dishes holding treats and possibly a tea set, though the tea pot was shaped all wrong.
I stepped further into the room with Rema close on my heels. Across from the door leading out into the hallway was a set of glass doors that opened outward onto a half oval balcony, vines and flowers covering the stone ground and flowing over the sides. There were no railings to keep someone from pitching over the side, which was a little disconcerting.
I could see chairs and loungers through the glass of the door, inviting me to come and take a seat to enjoy the view of whatever lay below. The pale lilac of the sky was all I could see from my spot by the door. I bypassed the balcony doors to explore through another door to my right which, upon Rema’s waved hand, opened into the sleeping quarters. It was cute that he seemed to always open my doors for me.
A massive bed covered in fluffy cream covers with enough pillows to build a fort took up most of the room. The frilly peach canopy over the bed added a whimsical feel to the room. There was an armoire-looking thing set off to the side of the door, and a plush padded bench placed at the end of the bed with a gold box sitting on it, complete with a bow. A very human looking gift.
“Someone's been talking to the aliens about humans,” I said, my head spinning from all the splendor.
Rema’s ears pinkened as he came around me to pick up the box and hold it out to me. “I may have sent along some information ahead of our arrival.”
I took the box from him, looking up at his ever darkening face through my lashes. “Oh, did you now? Just what kind of information, hmmm?”
Rema’s blush was a bright red now, spreading down his neck. “O-only what I thought they would need to make your time here comfortable.”
Chuckling, I ripped the bow off, tossing it on the bed and lifted the lid. Inside was a gold gossamer fabric. I put the box downon the bench and pulled the shimmering fabric out to hold up in front of me.
Laughing, I held it in front of my body and turned to Rema. “What is this?”
It was a dress, though it barely qualified. The fabric was sheer, more glitter than dress, and judging by the sweep of it, it was very nearly a Grecian design, only with a little stripper thrown in there.
Rema’s mouth opened and closed several times, his eyes avoiding mine, until he finally managed a strangled croak of jumbled words. “That— that is NOT what I sent. That— that is— that is a— Patty,” he said helplessly, looking from me to the dress.
I batted my eyelashes at him, grinning. “Rema, if you wanted me to dress for your viewing pleasure, all you had to do was ask.”
He stuttered a few more times, waving all four of his hands at me, before pausing to run one hand down his face, stopping the second pass to cover his eyes. His head dropped forward and laughter shook his wide shoulders.
I bunched the dress under my chin, biting my lip to keep the giggles in.
Rema dropped his hands to meet my eyes for only a moment before his laughter deepened into a fit, his head thrown back, two hands coming up to clasp behind his neck.
“I have no idea who sent this,” he said finally, still chuckling, dropping his hands from his neck to pull the dress out of my hands to hold it up, his heated gaze roaming over it.
I looked back into the box and found a little round holorecorder tucked under the silky wrapping paper. Plucking it up into my palm, I held it out.
The holorecorder spun around in my hand a few times before it clicked and Ohem’s miniature popped up out of it.
Rema placed the dress on the bed and came to stand behind me.
