2132:Phoenix

Chapter 26

"Pancakes?" I almost squealed when Cale set down the most perfect pancakes I'd ever seen.

"I remember you talking about them, and I wanted something sweet." I nodded eagerly as I drowned them in syrup. I didn't know it was possible to want so much syrup. "We still need to talk about where we're going." I pretended not to hear him, and cut into the delectable-looking pancakes. I was about to stab one when his hand caught my wrist and he looked at me like he knew something even I wasn't sure of yet.

"We can just float around out here for the rest of time," I teased. I didn't mean it as a joke though. It was simple out here. No one judged me. No one was trying to hurt me. It was just Cale and I, and that's all I wanted.

"I have family that will hide us, if you don't want to go home." Had he lost his mind? Wasn't it his father who put him on that ship in the first place?

"She's my aunt, by human standards. She despises my father. She despises the Torexx's need for war. I think that would be our best option, until we find something else."

"What if we're caught?"

"She doesn't live on the homeworld either. Do you trust me?" Did I? He hasn't steered me wrong yet. I was afraid, that seemed to be my only emotion anymore. I didn't think it was wrong, but I wanted to know how to correct that fear too.

"I do." His smile was huge as he let go of my hand and let me go back to the syrupy mess in front of me.

He followed my lead and dumped a huge amount of syrup on his plate. Watching it I could almost forget the fear. Seeing him happy made the risk worth it. He made the pain worth it.

I didn't sleep much on our journey to his "aunt's" house. I could barely force myself to eat. Every jump made me sick to my stomach. I shut Cale out as best I could, but I could still see the effects. My stomach would turn and he would flinch. He'd rush to my side to make sure I was alright, but he knew I was terrified. We tried everything to stop it. I even let him sedate me for a few hours. Nothing would calm me more than simply arriving at our destination, but the journey took longer while Cale plotted lesser-used routes. The ship counted down the number of jumps to our destination. The closer it got to one the more upset I became. Calepus was calm, or as calm as he could be with my emotions screeching through his brain like an f15.

"You have to eat something. You'll get sick if you don't." My body flipped when he offered me a spoon of some soup he'd concocted.

"I'll be sick if I do." He blew on it a bit again and smiled like he had an idea. "What are you thinking?" He shrugged his shoulders and began to inch the spoon towards my mouth again.

"The choo choo is going to crash if the tunnel doesn't open. Chug... Chug.. Chug, chug chug chug chug CHOO CHOO." I was a bit stunned before I laughed. I didn't know where he'd learned that trick. Before I could close my mouth he laid the spoon on my tongue and waited for me. I was too caught up in his stupid smile to remember how nervous I was, so I swallowed it. "I did not think that would work."

"I didn't think I'd ever have someone do that to me." We were both laughing at that point but he took the advantage to feed me more soup. I was sloped back in the chair when the speakers on the ship beeped.

"One jump until arrival." The ship's voice was robotic, worse than Siri, and twice as loud.

"Let's try to nap."

"I feel haggard," I sighed. My eyes started to itch so I scratched them, but it was hard to open my eyes again.

"If that means exhausted, you look it. I can tell you a story to put you to sleep," he offered and I swatted his shoulder.

"I am not a toddler."

"I think Choo choo would say otherwise," he smirked, but I was much too tired to be embarrassed.

"You caught me off guard, won't happen again."

"What kind of story would you like?"

"The one where the big bad alien got sick from eating too much syrup." He scooped me up mid-stride and I laid my head on his shoulder.

"I suppose you think that was funny?"

"Funnier than when you thought I was dying."

"I did not know you bled that much," he defended, but it was still funny. I hadn't realized I'd started and when I stood up the chair was a pool of blood on white leather. I was just glad to be on my normal cycle again, all the stress of the ship ensured that it was never regular, and I was always guessing at what was wrong.

"Did you drug me?" I felt normalish, I didn't exactly know what normal was anymore, but at least I wasn't trying to puke up lunch.

"Do you feel unwell?" He inspected me as let me onto the bed, but I smiled at him.

"The opposite actually. Better late than never I suppose." I guess he didn't know that saying either, because he tilted his head and chewed on my words. Then smiled and lay down.

"Better late than never," he chirped. I didn't even think he could chirp. I fell asleep smiling into his chest as the ship whirred and cooled down from its last jump. I'd either be proven right at this place or be pleasantly surprised. Calepus thought it would be fine, and I trusted him no matter where that led me.