It was ten minutes past eleven now, and I was not going to gulp down my cereal like a little kid running late for the school bus. Nor was I going without a shower, so the 12:15 it was. I could watch episode one while eating, put my dishes into the recycler, jump in the shower, get dressed, and have Xero light my way to the shuttle bay.
“Play this episode and then turn it off, please.”
“Understood.”
Check my messages before 8:30 indeed. Though I got his point. While it was my day off from the bowling alley, I did have outstanding training sessions and the mate match thing due to be scheduled, and they could very well be on days I would have otherwise been off. I just hoped that any class time I had on days I wasn’t scheduled to work led to me getting my work schedule altered so I still had days off that week. I made a mental note to ask Xero about that later. I could read my contract to find out, but asking was easier.
My bowl of cereal was soon empty, as was the glass of banana milk. I found myself getting antsy, despite knowing that the episode was nearly finished and I had time to shower, change, and get to the shuttle bay.
“Damn it,” I muttered. “Xero, stop the program. I’ll rewatch it this afternoon when I get back.”
“Okie dokie, smoky!” The screen vanished, and I hurried to take the dishes to the kitchen, quickly putting them in the replicator, pressing the button that recycled them back into base atoms for reuse later.
“It’s nothing to worry about,” I said, giving myself a pep talk as I walked to the bathroom. “The odds are millions, if not billions to one, I’ll even get matched. But, wow, if I did, they’d be my perfect other half.”
I began fantasizing about what my Mylos mate might look like as I stepped into the shower, then when that Kit guy’s likeness invaded my fantasy, I quickly reminded myself he might be a Dragonii, and I could end up completing my training while living and working on a colony world. I knew what Dragonii looked like, and they were as sexy as the Mylos, only with their scales always on display and a tail. A tail, which no doubt could be used during sexy times to do very naughty but extremely nice things. Too bad my imagination was failing to give me even a vague notion of what my dream Dragonii mate might look like.
“Ugh!” I quickly rinsed off and stepped out, rubbing myself dry roughly before stalking over to my closet. Even though the odds were against me being matched, I still wanted to look my best in case I won the Mate Lottery. No way did I want my mate’s first look at me being in a worn to the point of threadbare softness T-shirt and baggy sweats or worn out jeans. I didn’t want to look too overdressed either. I quickly settled on the navy blue combat trousers and a white button down shirt with baby blue and pink thin lines in a sort of plaid pattern, which I paired with the pair of black Vans I kept for best. Then I quickly combed my hair, noting how the dark brown strands were now past my collar. I needed to decide if I was going to get it cut or let it grow out, but that was something to mull over later.
Grabbing my data pad in case I needed it, I hurried out the door.
“Xero,” I called out. “Show me the way to the shuttle bay, pretty please.”
My watch began playing the theme tune to Sesame Street even as the corridor lit up to show me the way.
“Very funny!”
“Good luck!” Was all Xero had to say to that.
“Thanks. I think I really do hope to be matched.” Then I wouldn’t fall into more silly instant crushes, as my perfect fit would already be mine.
“Sending positive vibes, then, out to the Universe.”
20
CARL
I’d signed on the dotted line just as I’d planned, only to find that while they completed updating the mate matching program, that service was on hold. I asked Xero to keep my transfer and official quarters assignment secret just a little bit longer, as he had informed me that they were mere days away from starting it back up, and I would be included in the first batch to get tested. So, I spent my days arranging my current classes to be taught at a distance and my future classes to be announced once we knew where I’d officially be - here aboard ship or on some as yet unnamed Dragonii colony world. Officially, that is, as I knew down to the very depths of my soul that I’d be right here, with Kit. Well, after we got back from our honeymoon, anyway.
I also arranged for which items I wanted to bring up and which I wanted to go in storage for now, and for the rest to be donated - books, dishes, and stuff like that to the college thrift store and the rest to the one here within the Fleet, as apparently thrifting was a popular hobby even here among the stars. My TA was staying at my house to keep an eye on everything, and I’d promised he and his friend could rent it from me at less than market rate if they made sure all the things went to their designated places. The things coming here to our quarters were being secured in the garage until I got the official mate notification, so the surprise was well and truly in no danger of being even partially revealed. As for my car, I’d arranged for it to be stored at a place that specialized in secured, private parking for vintage vehicles. I’d paid a month’s rent, hoping that no more time than that was necessary, as after that, it was to return to the garage at my house, which was large enough for two cars, so my TA or his roommate could park inside and the other in the driveway on my car’s side.
I let out a squeal of pure glee Monday morning when my tablet beeped, and I saw I had a message to report for my testing.
“Something exciting?”
“Um, yes. There was a burst pipe in the ladies’ room down the hall from my classroom, so all classes are canceled. I don’t have to go back today, and possibly tomorrow,” I fibbed, thinking fast.
“Then we should make the most of you getting another day. But instead of going bowling yet again, how about we eat at the Caribbean beach cafe on Kalife’s Blade?”
Ohh, that would be perfect. I would be matched this morning, and instead of dinner, we could go there for lunch and enjoy a romantic stroll along the simulated beach, planning our future together. Then we could come back, fuck like bunnies so he could claim me Mylos style, cuddle afterward, and nap, then enjoy a lazy dinner in bed, have more sex, do more planning, and tomorrow, well, tomorrow I’d wait in for my stuff to arrive and Kit could help me rearrange everything, getting rid of the stuff he had that we didn’t need.
“Sounds good,” I replied happily. “What, why are you looking at me like that?”
“You look like you’re plotting something.”
“Pop quiz. After I’ve been away and they’ve had a sub, and then this pipe bursting, they’ll never expect it.”
“You’re evil, you know that? That’s what they’ll say.”
