Chapter 21

It was only as I noticed their curious glances and smiles that I realised what I had just done. I froze. Fuck. That simple gesture, which I’d come to see as normal, must have looked really strange to everyone else. I glanced around. Yeah, it did, but pulling away would be equally bad, so I stayed with my head on her shoulder, pretending I hadn't seen it.

Did I really care? Not really, but the situation brought back all the questions about her I had managed to push away so far. To make matters worse, everyone seemed to follow the No Work chat policy during the meal, so I couldn’t even distract myself with that. The conversation I was now only half-listening to felt completely alien and irrelevant.

“How long have you known each other?” “What do you plan for the weekend?” “My brother is soo happy since he got married.”

Fuck. This was why I had started having lunch by myself. At least An’Ri was more than happy to talk to them. I left as quickly as I could and headed to Fenrir. We needed to clear the parameter before Monday.

At least they had seemed fine. Would they stay for the rest of the day, too? It made sense, I guess. She could get all the food she needed on my card. I tried to focus on my work, but the tasks were too mindless to occupy my full attention. At least that flower initiative seemed to be working out.

They were loading the Major’s Toyota with food boxes when I finally came back to the compound.

“Fu’Ri, we will drive the car later!”

An’Ri ran over to me, making me smile. Had he involved them in the food delivery, too? I helped them load and then gestured to Mai’Ri.

“Come, let’s get some food.”

The Major was inside, filling out some forms, and he smiled as he saw us. I gestured for them, and they followed me as I walked over to the shelves.

“Pick what you want.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, since you cook anyway. ”

The moment I said it, I realised how it sounded. I looked away, but didn’t she seem to have noticed it and was instead busy loading her box with food I didn't recognise. When she was done, I scanned my card at the entrance. She seemed happy as she carried the heavy-looking box to the car.

Major Takahashi came in, carrying a box full of unity flyers. He placed it on the table and pulled a pad from his bag.

“Fury, if you sign it, we can start with your initiative next week.”

He handed me his pad, and I signed it without looking at the form.

“Also, if I sign you up as a Unity consultant, you will get access to our internal database.”

I blinked and looked at him. Unity what? He just smiled and pointed at the box.

“I got you those for the market tomorrow, but having access will make it easier to help them.”

I sighed and looked at the flyers.

“Mai’Ri already signed up, so you could show her how to use the database.”

He looked at me.

“It will be easier for you.”

I sighed and signed the form, and he sent me login details to my email. Unity consultant. It kinda made sense. At least he didn’t comment on what he had seen earlier.

“We can go.”

He gestured for us to follow. Not that I would have left him to carry those boxes up and down by himself anyway.

We got into his Toyota, me in front and them sitting in the back between the boxes of military aid. The Major turned on the engine, and An’Ri yipped with excitement as we drove through the compound gate and towards the city.

“Do you want to come along?”, the Major called over the noise of the car.

I couldn’t hear their answer, but I assumed they said yes since he turned towards the centre rather than to our place.

The delivery took us even longer than last time, considering we also visited our friends from the market, surprising them with a box of food, and the endless teas and sweets we were offered, depending on whether we visited humans or Ta’al.

When he finally dropped us near our block, we were exhausted. I picked up a box from the pavement and watched with amusement as An’Ri tried to lift another. It must be too heavy for her, I thought when I suddenly felt the flow of Tau, and she lifted it without much effort. Maybe that stuff had some uses.

We brought all of the food to their flat. It must be the first time I actually went through the front door. Weird. It made sense to bring it all to them, though. It was she who was cooking in the end, and I still had plenty of rations at my place.

I went to my flat after that, had a quick shower, and sat down on the sofa to set up my access to the Unity database when they came in and sat with me.

“How did it go?”, I asked Mai’Ri.

She immediately began to flood me with details I had no way to remember, but she seemed happy with the outcome. I smiled.

“Shall we watch?”

An’Ri beamed in response.

“Yeah! Maybe we can rebuild a school after we are done with the flowers!”

I smiled and pressed play.

After just two episodes, An’Ri was fast asleep, snuggled between us, and only when the silence fell over the room did I remember what had happened earlier. Did I mind it? Not really, and part of me even liked it, and that was weird. I glanced at her. What did she really think about all of this? Sure, she probably didn’t understand how they saw it, but still. What did she really think about me?

She smiled and rested her head on my shoulder.

“Thank you, Fu’Ri”

It was the first time she had called me by my name, but I didn’t know if it meant anything, and asking felt like willingly walking into the minefield. I really didn’t want to fuck up anything, so what should I do?

I leaned towards her and rubbed my nose against her forehead. An’Ri had done it with me many times. Was this the next step I had been looking for?