“Well, it is pretty far for me to go now just to go bowling,” I joked back.
“Mmhmm,” he replied, sounding as sarcastic as possible.
“So, what is it exactly you are doing now? Or is it hush-hush? “ He waved a dismissive hand. “I’ve heard all the public announcement stuff about joint Dragonii-Mylos this and that. I need details.”
I shrugged. “I’m not certain exactly. I’m supposed to meet with my Dragonii counterpart tomorrow. He arrives later today with the rest of their delegation, so we will be attending a formal dinner tonight to mark the start of our joint venture. Hopefully, between tonight and tomorrow, things will become clearer, and we’ll be able to get started. The sooner we do, and I can return to my students, the better.” Carl shook his head, a look of genuine sadness crossing his face. “I dunno. Somehow, I get the feeling you won’t be back. That the distance class you’ll do for the short remainder of this term will be the last. You’ll create this new program and be working within it to make sure it succeeds.”
”But Rivinder has been a partner in our exchange program almost from its inception,” I argued.
”And it might still be, but with you up there as an administrator rather than a professor.”
Fuck. He was probably right. By making me one of the architects of the new program, they’d all but guaranteed it. How had I missed seeing it?
Carl sighed. “Just let me know when you have a free weekend, and we can arrange for me to come up to see you. I can catch a ride on a supply shuttle, surely.”
”I’ll ask about that,” I promised. “I’ll point out that you’d be a valuable consultant too.”
“Gee, thanks. Maybe they’ll move me up there, too. If they do, they’d better let me bring Lulubelle and Francine.”
“I’m sure they’d let you move your cacti,” I replied dryly. “After going through decontamination.”
“Good. I’ve had them since I was in grad school. I can’t abandon them now.”
He really was ridiculous. It was part of the reason why I liked him so much, though. He brightened a room instantly. I really hoped they’d let him ride a shuttle up, as I was already missing my friend terribly.
“Alright,” Carl paused to clear his throat noisily. “I hate to break up our little chat, but I have a faculty meeting I’ve got to go to myself, and papers to grade. Talk to you later.”
“Later,” I agreed. I stared at the space where his face had been for a few moments after the call ended and the screen reverted back to wall. I scrubbed a hand down my face, looking around at my new quarters. I still had boxes to unpack, having declined the assistance of the males who’d brought me my belongings from the shuttle bay, beyond placing the pieces of furniture and carrying in the boxes. I stood up. “Best get started,” I muttered. Something told me that if I didn’t get it done today, I’d be living out of boxes for weeks. I couldn’t be dealing with that stress on top of everything else.
I really had a hard time dealing with unknown quantities and this business with crafting a new course framework and whatnot was most definitely that. Hopefully, tomorrow’s meeting would yield more answers and the Dragonii would prove easy to work with. Despite Carl’s pessimism, I really did hold out hope that once this wrapped up, I could return to Rivinder. I’d carved out a place for myself there and enjoyed the work I was doing. I even had taken a shine to those awkward bowling lessons and found myself looking forward to watching those odd vids Carl was constantly scheduling us to watch. Carl himself was a fixture in my life that I knew I was going to miss, even if we could work out shuttle rides for him. Those visits would be around both our schedules and I knew eventually, he’d find another friend to fill up his spare time with, probably one who already knew all those vids he so loved and who was great at bowling and joined the team. They’d be so great, they’d beat all the other departments and local teams, bringing home the league trophy.
I swallowed hard as I looked at the book I’d just taken out of the box. It was a cookbook for kids, one his mother had given him as a child. He’d gifted it to me when he discovered I was used to eating out or replicating food. He’d written These are so easy a child could do these, even if the child was me. As a grown up Mylos, I’m sure you can too. With much affection, Carl.
I opened the cover, tracing my hands over those words now. I had indeed mastered the recipes within - the layered Jello-o dessert, the fudge brownies, the octopus shaped hot dogs, the homemade beef burgers grilled under the oven broiler, and all the rest. I regularly made the cheesy popcorn and the caramel and peanut popcorn when it was my turn to host Movie Night. I sat down, my throat constricting, suddenly feeling oddly bereft.
11
CARL
I thought I’d been really getting somewhere with Kittinir. He’d been so shy when he’d first arrived on campus, one of those guys who was engaging and enthusiastic in front of his class, but out of it? Quiet and definitely on the introverted side. Little by little, I’d drawn him out, and over the past few years, I liked to think we’d become close. Last year, when I’d given him that silly kid’s cookbook my mom bought me at the school book fair she’d helped with as part of the PTA, I thought I’d really nailed it as for at least being his best friend.
Heck, I’d not only gotten him to do the movie night and TV series binge watching thing with me, but to agree to host half of them at his place, and make popcorn for us to eat. Not to mention, I’d cajoled him into coming out to the bowling alley with me to learn how to bowl, on the pretense that I wanted him to join our department’s bowling league team. It was actually a multi-department team as our university had three. One was made up of science, math, and engineering, while English, history, and philosophy were another, and a third was entirely made up of students. Would I have liked for him to join the team with me? Hell yeah! But the real joy was just spending time with him, hoping he’d start to see me as mate material, because gosh darn it, I’d taken one look and fallen hard in crush with him, but over time it had grown to full on, head over heels love.
Sure, I knew I could go and see if we matched, but I’d wanted him to feel that pull to me on its own. And truth be told, I was worried that I might end up matching someone else entirely, and then what? Okay, sure, that someone else would supposedly be my perfect match, but what if I was the first guy they got it wrong with? What if I matched this other guy an infinitesimal amount more than I did Kittinir, so they put us together, but all I could do was look at him and not see Kit? Or worse, realize that he was a Temu version of Kit?
I wasn’t ready to give up yet, though, which is why I was sitting here on a shuttle carrying up stuff people living aboard the Fleet’s ships had ordered from goodness knows how many stores, as well as things their extended human families sent up as care packages and gifts.
“Thanks for letting me ride along,” I said to the pilot, who was named Rantyr.
“No problem! Xeranos cleared you, and there was space for you to sit down,” he replied cheerfully.
“So, have you had anything to do with what’s going on with the Dragonii?” I asked.
“Me?” he chuckled. “No. Not yet anyway, who knows what’s in store for us down the line, am I right? I never would have imagined this new program happening here. But the Dragonii are nice people. A little reclusive, but they’ve had their reasons. I think it’s great they are participating more in Galactic affairs.”
“Yeah, I guess. I was wondering because my friend had to return to the Fleet to help with the new educational stuff.”
“Yeah, the Dragonii are sponsoring alternative energy studies and homesteader skills workshops, I heard. Oh! And animal husbandry and exo-biology with grants going towards research on hybrids crossing Earth animals with similar ones within the Alliance.”
