Birun smiled.“No need to apologize.Ready to continue your walk to your quarters?”
“Yes, please.”She eased away, but he kept an arm around her shoulders.He was soft and fuzzy and warm.She was doomed.She glanced at him, and he had a slight smile on his lips.Yup.Doomed.He laughed.
Her quarters were on the left, down a hall.When the room was keyed to her, it opened, and she blinked.“Oh, pretty.”Pale blue, silver, and ice white.The bed was huge with thick bed hangings to keep warmth in at night.
“That is more of an affectation than a useful feature, but it is pretty.The room works on vocal commands.Lights, bedding, emergency spills.Just say what you need, and bots will be dispatched.”
Trin looked at him.“Thank you.Boss has already infiltrated your systems.Is there soundproofing in the room?”
“No.Why?”
“Um, I have difficulty getting restful sleep.Nightmares.I am apparently fairly loud.”
“My room is through that adjoining door.If you need help, I will be here in a moment.”
She looked at him and swallowed.“Okay, so take sleeping off my list.”
He sighed.“I can just sit with you until you fall asleep.I am still downloading news from the last three centuries.Would that work?”
Trin stared at him.“What?”
“I can stay here with you, or you can come to my room, and I will be there if the terror strikes.”
“You are serious.”
“I am serious.No unwanted or uninvited contact, but you need to feel safe, and there is no place on this planet safer than at my side.”
She blinked.“I am guessing you have a desk or something in your room?”
“Yes.”
“Let me see it.I like an informed choice.”
He nodded and walked to the wall, putting his hand on a glyph that appeared when he got close.
“That’s handy.”
He smiled and took her hand, walking her through the hall that was lit with glyphs and carvings as the light source.He opened the door on the other side with the same press contact, and she gasped.The room was walled with glass, the snow and wind, the drifts and the endless stars above.“Oh, wow.”
He chuckled.“Thank you.It is of my own design.”
She walked toward the window and looked around.“Your bedroom is a snow globe but in reverse.”
He frowned, and she provided him with an image of a child shaking a snow globe and watching the tiny village inside.“That is very cute.”
She smiled and saw the large bed swathed in midnight blue.Birun would stand out on it.He certainly couldn’t sneak up to her in it.She would see him coming.
“I just have to get something to sleep in.Where is the nearest clothing generator?”
“In your room.”
She smiled and went to the wall.The item lit up, and she pressed the glyph.She sprinted down the hallway and laughed when she saw a long-sleeved but pretty nightgown coming into being in the fabricator.
It chimed, and she took the dress and returned to Birun’s room.He had settled at his desk and was going through files on his screen.She had the fabric in front of her.“Bathroom?”
He gestured to the left, and she skittered over to the bathroom.She used the lav, washed her face, scrubbed her teeth with her finger, braided her hair, and then draped her suit in the cleaning unit.With her toes cooling as she crossed the warm floor, she said, “Can I just crawl into bed?”
Birun turned, paused, and nodded slowly.“Do you always dress to sleep?”
