Zac
The buzzing of his alarm woke Zac the next morning. It had taken him a long time to fall asleep the night before, tossing and turning in the big bed in his quarters, and he’d had only about three decent hours of rest. Not enough, considering the day he had ahead of him.
Why had Laila run away? He’d called out to her as she had left, racing into the hallway after her, but she had disappeared.
“Cancel alarm,” he growled, rubbing a hand through his short hair as he swung his legs over the side of the bed.
What had happened? Everything had been going so well. Had he done or said something? Had his scarred face been too much for her? He thought she hadn’t minded the way he looked, but maybe he'd been wrong.
And then there had been the call about T'arq.
Pushing thoughts of Laila aside, Zac smirked as he thought back to the previous night.
It was not the first time he had had to extract his wayward friend from a sticky situation. Quite literally.
T’arq had been covered in copious amounts of sticky boozy syrup—clearly someone had thrown a cocktail at him—and he was pissed. He’d been muttering drunkenly about fickle humans and their tempers. Hopefully T’arq had learned his lesson about the correct way to sweet talk a human, as whatever he’d tried hadn’t worked.
Not that Zac could say he’d done any better. Dropping his smile, he stood and walked the few short steps to the small bathroom of the quarters he was temporarily using on the space station while the Starship Zataras was undergoing maintenance.
By the time Zac had convinced the head of security to release T'arq, it had been well into the early hours of this morning. Far too late to track down the woman who had intrigued him so much.
Shaking his head, he quickly showered and dressed in his uniform, the black shirt and trousers fitting him like a second skin. He considered putting the coffeepot on, but dismissed the idea, instead opting to go to the officer's mess to meet with T’arq for a quick breakfast before their meeting.
Zac left the upper levels of the wing where the officer's temporary living quarters were located. The quarters weren’t permanent, more like a guest room where Zac stayed when he was on the space station. The barracks were lower down, large rooms accommodating multiple recruits while they completed their training. Once posted, they were each assigned single quarters on a battleship, moving into couple's quarters when they found a mate.
Ifthey found a mate.
Zac shook his head to rid himself of the thought. He had always assumed he would live in the couple’s quarters one day, but now? He mentally shrugged. Lots had changed.
He took the elevator down to the officer's mess and swiped his wrist over the scanner at the door, gaining entry. He collected food and coffee for himself and T’arq before making his way to a table.
A server brought his coffee and Zac wrapped his hands around the mug, breathing in the aroma that had become part of his morning ritual. The Earth beverage was a huge hit with the Taureans. Despite their ability to create food as tablets or bars that met nutritional needs, there was a lot to be said for chewing and enjoying the taste of food and drink. Psychological health was not to be discounted, and actual food went a long way to making a warrior feel satisfied after hard training or a battle, in Zac’s experience.
Taking a long sip, he savored the slightly bitter drink and nodded at T'arq as he slid into the chair opposite him. His friend pulled one of the steaming plates towards him and ate quickly, pushing the plate away when he was finished to settle back in the chair, smirking. He lounged with his legs splayed in front of him, crossed arms over his chest. How T’arq could look so cheerful and well rested when he’d had so little sleep, Zac would never know. It was a talent.
“So...,” T’arq began, “Who was the woman you left with last night?”
Zac scowled at his friend and tried to ignore him.
“I can't remember the last time you actually spoke to a woman, let alone…” His irritating friend winked at him over the rim of his coffee mug.
“Leave it,” Zac scowled. “Besides, it's not like I'll see her again, anyway.”
T'arq's eyebrows shot up, and he gave Zac an incredulous look. “Oh, really?” Kicking his chair back to rest on the rear two legs, T'arq lifted an eyebrow. “So why did she leave with you then?”
That was an excellent question, and one that Zac could not answer. Laila was beautiful, and she had not seemed even close to being bothered by his scars… that is, until she had left so suddenly. Time to change the subject.
“What exactly happened last night? What was it you had dumped on your head, T’arq?” Zac lifted an eyebrow at his friend.
T’arq scowled, refusing to answer.
“She was that good, huh?” Zac couldn’t resist grinning.
“Not a woman. Not this time.” T’arq scowled. The big Taurean was a notorious flirt and did not limit his romantic dalliances to one gender. “Turns out he had a girlfriend and she dumped her drink on both of us when she caught him flirting.” He dropped his chair back on all four legs.
Zac broke into a full belly laugh at the thought. “Oh, I bet that went over well.”
A small smile pulled at the corner of T’arq’s lips. “I suppose it is funny.”
