9
"Iwant to get Tina a gift," Kolvin said to Marcin as the three of them walked through Disguised Serenity.
Marcin stared at him. "Is she becoming essential to you?"
He nodded. "Very much so," he said. "The nights are less dark when she is with me."
The nightmares seemed to be less strong. While he still had them, they were not as powerful. She helped ease his pain. It would likely never go away unless Master System has some new protocols, but that only mattered if he could connect to Master System again.
That probability seemed to be getting less by the day.
So yes, for him, Tina was becoming essential to live. She may stimulate his Craving, but she also seems to satisfy it as well.
Marcin nodded. "It seems almost too perfect, these females."
"I do not understand why this has happened in this way for us. We don't deserve this."
"We don't. We're lying," Solkan said.
Kolvin glanced at him. "You are right." He did not like it, either. Lying to the Intergalactic Dating Agency bothered him. They were using resources that another customer would be able to use, and he experienced guilt over that. They could tell the IDA lady, Re-lee, that they were the wrong humanoids.
Then they would have to find a way to get to Sol, where the rest of the Rhimodians were. At the time, Vinka had said to not say anything to them. Why she felt this was the right thing to do, he didn't know, but it was the protocol they were following for now.
Today, however, they may have learned of a way to end all the roadblocks and return to their original path.
To get back to Sol.
"How trusting is your source for this information," Solkan said.
"Average. Worth exploring." One of the vendors had given Kolvin and Tina a tip that some Rhimodians would be arriving at the station, that they came on a somewhat regular basis to sell wares and acquire supplies.
"They are sure it is Rhimodians."
"Yes."
"What are they going to do?" Solkan asked.
"Bring us home," Marcin said. He glanced at Solkan. "Do you not want to be home?"
"Home is a foreign concept," Solkan said.
Kolvin understood that. He carried apprehension for meeting other Rhimodians. Would he be able to adapt back into the Rhimodian society? Anything would be better than where he'd been, but the last few days, here, with Tina, he was not sure he could go back to being just a Rhimodian without her.
And Rhimodians did not have mates.
"We will know when we see them," Marcin said.
"If they come," Solkan said.
"It is merely a rumor that they will be arriving to sell their wares to the vendors. The war may have changed everything," Kolvin said.
"The war is over," Marcin reminded him.
"You are far too optimistic. Did you get an upload we don't know about?" Solkan asked.
"I refuse to let the past further influence my future," Marcin replied.
"The past will always influence your future," Kolvin said.
