The Outsider (Outsider #1) ✔️

Chapter 51 : Late!

The rest of the evening was amazing for both. After dinner (and somehow every dinner with Luke seemed to be a new experience for Dusk), he suggested they do something mundane...

They decided to watch a holo-novel. There was a holovision projector in one of the rooms of the yacht. It was unlike anything Dusk had seen. While every holoprojector she had seen before basically showed 2 dimensional images, this one actually showed a 3-D. There was place in the front of the room where the images played. It was somewhat like wearing a gaming VR glass.

Luke chose an old romantic story from the ancient period, of the time before the Empire was formed. The story was set in a small city and the houses, the transport system, the shops, schools, libraries, everything was so different!

They sat in a slightly rounded couch in the middle. It was a private showing room, so the seats were not in a normal auditorium setting. They had the place to themselves, and even the service robots would not come unless Luke called them.

However, Luke was tired. He had work for 14 hours every day since he was called him back to Regis. Even that day, he had been up at 7 in the morning and after a whole day at work, he had flown 2,500 km to Ci'gazze. The good dinner and a few drinks had made him relax. The absence of work pressure and many people wanting his time made him really relax...

In fact, he was so relaxed, he actually fell asleep while watching the show.

They had been sitting together silently enjoying the story. Luke was sitting at one end of the couch, with his back resting partly against the side-rest. Dusk had leaned into him, till her head rested against his chest and her whole body was fused against him. She had slowly ended up with her legs on the couch tucked against the side-rest on the other side. She was holding one of Luke's hand in her own but facing away from him.

It took some time for her to realise that Luke had actually fallen asleep. She carefully lifted her head and turned to look at him. Yes, he was indeed asleep. She was a little miffed that he would go to sleep when she was with him. But she herself was tired, and so she could understand... She knew that she should be getting back to the Dorm, but Luke looked so cute and innocent sleeping on the coach, that she did not want to wake him just then.

"Let him sleep for half an hour, then I will wake him up and go back." She decided. Then she switched the holoprojector off and the lights in the room automatically mellowed. She settled and snuggled more closely against Luke, with her smile going wider as she looked up at his face.

When she went to sleep herself, she had no idea...

... ...

Luke woke up with a start. Luckily, he collected himself in time, so he didn't disturb Dusk who was sleeping on his lap, with her hands round his waist. He turned to his wearable computer and found that it was almost 3 am.

"Shit!" he cursed as he realised that he should have taken Dusk back to the university many hours back. He queried the AI and realised that the yacht had come back to the bay and was sitting there quietly for quite a few hours, protected by the warships.

He considered his options and wondered what it would be like if he were to take Dusk back to the university at this hour. She would wake up her Dorm-Mates and they would want to know where she was... It would be a difficult situation.

Further, she looked so happy and peaceful as she slept there, he had not the heart to wake her up.

He instructed the AI to have one of the robots prepare the main bedroom. The AI did not have to do anything really because the bedrooms were already in perfect condition. When he got the confirmation, he slowly and gently picked Dusk up in his arms. She was not very heavy, and he was more than capable of carrying her. After all the year in Military had him carry heavier things.