“And me,” Carl piped up.
“See?” the man said, as if that proved his point.
The other guy who’d not spoken simply nodded his head.
“That’s it, easy now,” Carl said softly, breathing with me once more.
I felt my heart start to slow its racing, and everything came into proper focus once more, including the sounds. As the guy who insisted he couldn’t get matched because Carl and I had begun to talk about how he hoped he got to run a saloon as he’d always wanted to own a bar, he didn’t sound strangely far away as they had just moments before.
Hathrup appeared in front of me, and I looked up, seeing the cup of water he offered me. I gratefully took it, telling him thanks before sipping it slowly.
“Good thing he’s not a colonist with that ticker,” the silent guy said, speaking at last.
“There are excellent medical facilities available, and he would not be in a position that would jeopardise his health,” Hathrup informed him icily.
“Jeez, sorry. I didn’t mean to offend.”
“It’s alright, just ignore them. Lots of people live with high blood pressure. It’s pretty common.” Carl’s hands moved to give my shoulder a gentle squeeze.
I nodded, hoping my mate showed up to get me very, very soon so I could meet him and start falling in love with him so I didn’t have to fight the urge to lean against Carl and take further comfort any longer.
The door opened, revealing two Dragonii in the hallway.
“Jesse Wilson, Samuel Lamont, And Kyle Porter, if you’ll come with us, my assistant and I will get you sorted and on your way,” the one in front said.
The three men rose and followed them out the door. That left just Carl and me.
“I’m okay now,” I said, and he blinked.
“Oh, yes, um, good.” He moved back into his own space as if suddenly aware of just how close we’d been.
“It won’t be long now. Would you two care for something to eat or drink? I can use the replicator to get anything you might want while you wait,” Hathrup offered.
“Looks like our matches are on another ship or on Earth still,” Carl said to me. “I fancy a coffee and a French cruller. How about you?”
I nodded. “Decaf regular coffee with hazelnut creamer, please, and um, a chocolate donut, the kind filled with custard.”
“No problem!”
Moments later, the three of us were sipping coffee and eating donuts as if we were at a church after-service social instead of waiting for our new mates to show up and take us home to do bonding stuff. It felt kinda weird, knowing that Carl and I were here to get picked up from an office in the sickbay so we could go and get fucked by whomever the computer just matched us with. It was also a little funny, I decided, and let out a giggle.
Carl looked at me quizzically.
“What’s going on in that head of yours?” he asked, with a soft smile.
“Prescription: sex,” I murmured, and he let out a low chuckle.
“You’re right. This is kind of like a weird intro into a porno, huh?” he waggled his eyebrows, and I completely lost it then, which set him off even more.
Hathrup merely sighed. “At least you’re taking this well so far,” he said, returning his attention to his donut.
22
KITTINIR
“So it’s agreed that colonists who originally signed up for a Mylos scholarship and who are already attending classes, who choose to opt into the Dragonii mate match program, will have two choices depending on circumstances,” the Dragonii ambassador, Helkohr, said. “In the first instance, if matched, and their mate is within Dragonii space, the Dragonii in question will have their notification sent and travel arrangements made for them to meet at the nearest convenient space station to the designated colony world. The human mate will be given an escort to said space station without delay, their institution of higher learning will be notified, and arrangements made for them to complete their current course at a distance. Their scholarship will carry over to the Mylos-Dragonii extension courses being set up for the Dragonii colony worlds, Outer Rim, and space stations hosting human military personnel. In the second instance, where they have yet to begin their studies, the human mate shall be given the option to start their education via the extension courses, switch over to job skills and/or agricultural studies on their world, or postpone such further studies until they decide when or if to do so.”
Murmurs of assent went around the conference table.
