Last Holiday on Terra

37

I sat down on my sofa, plate in hand when my door chime rang. I looked at my plate and asked the computer for the time. "19:30 hours."

Okay, so it shouldn't be Allie. Maybe it was Kia! I jumped up from the sofa and answered the door with a big smile on my face and not much else but my gym shorts. "Hey! Just in time for supper!"

"Hey yourself. Thanks but I already ate. I'm early. Sorry. You don't mind, do you?"

I literally felt my shoulders fall. "No, it's fine, please, come in?"

"Buzzkill—sorry, am I interrupting your dinner?"

"Who are you calling Buzzkill! But no, haven't actually started eating yet. Please have a seat?"

She stood next to me as I cut a piece of the plankton loaf and shoved it into my mouth. "Lots of protein on that plate," she said.

"Thought that was the idea," I replied grabbing a prawn in my fingers and swishing it in a light sauce, popping it into my mouth. "Sit."

She helped herself to one of my kelp berries and I turned my head to stare at her. "Sorry."

"If you're hungry, get something," I told her.

"I'm really not hungry—it's more like—stress-eating."

I nodded my head. "Mmm. Do tell?"

"I spent the afternoon with Jay—Kianda—dammit that's hard—"

I found that the quiet laugh was indicative of my mood. I felt her hand on my back and she hissed inwardly.

"Ooo! You lost the barb on your dorsal!"

I nodded. "Yup. Hurts like hell too."

"I'm really sorry Ro. Really."

"S'okay." I shrugged my shoulders only for me to hiss inwardly.

"Easy there. You know, I have a salve that might help with that, unless you just wanna be a big tough guy and suck it up?"

"I'm all for pain relief right now."

"Okay, I'll send it over."

I stopped chewing.

"Or not?" She moved away awkwardly. "I'm sorry you got hurt today."

"I think my pride got the worst of it," I replied.

"She thought it was hella impressive though."

"She did?"

"Oh hell yeah she did! Then later she said that you ought to have known better."

I nodded. "She's right."

"I told her that you're not in your right mind right now."

"You said WHAT!" I felt my cranials nearly stand on end.

"Yeah! You know—" She glanced quickly toward my bedroom.

"Oh that. Yeah, I guess so." I sighed. "I'd—I guess I just want things to be like they were before all this mess. You know? We were already married except for making it official."

"I know that. Rowan, I told her that you two were already literally joined at the hip and she said that she doesn't remember any of it. In fact, she said that she doesn't remember life on Abraxas at all."