“Something other than cheese sandwiches? It was nice enough last night, but I can’t go back to just eating them and ramen again like a uni student.”
“OK, shit, sorry, I’m giving you a bit of a show here. I hate wearing clothes to bed. Too restrictive,” Flea said, glancing down. He didn’t do anything about the partial reveal of his erect dick though. Instead, he looked at me with a slight smile, a little glimmer in his eyes.
“It’s OK, it’s just morning wood. It’s natural. Happens to all men, doesn’t it? Sign of a happy, healthy male?” Shit, I’m babbling. His smile widened slightly and he pulled the sheet up slowly, turning on his side to curl his body around mine.
The door opened and Miazydar flew in, looked at us, then snorted and said, “I wouldn’t have credited it, but there was another spider in the shower. It’s almost as if they are deliberately seeking you out, Tess. I dispatched it and checked all the cupboards and walls in the bathroom. You’re safe now.”
“Thanks.” I stood up, even though I didn’t want to. I wanted to yank the sheet off, set it on fire and then jump on the bed and Flea and have my way with him, but considering I was still on Mission Impossible: Study or Die I said, “I better get ready.”
Flea nodded. “So will we see you for dinner?”
“Yeah, expect me most days. I need to work, not socialise.”
Turn around, walk out the door, go have a shower, don’t look over your shoulder as you leave, I moved to go. I never knew when to take my own advice. I glanced back as I left to see a completely naked Flea, sheet gone, stretched out in glorious technicolour, scratching idly at his groin. My eyes went wide, my mouth dry and he turned just in time to catch me looking. I left the room with the sound of his chuckles in my ears.
He was gone by the time I had my shower. I wasn’t sure if I was happy or unhappy about that. I yanked on my clothes quickly and then rushed to the lounge to pick up my books. Miazydar sat on top of one pile, looking them over. “Are these those texts that ridiculous fool was speaking about in your ‘history’ class yesterday?”
“Some, along with anatomy, logistics, animal husbandry, geopolitics, military strategy. Why, want to do some light reading?” I said, watching his razor-sharp claws turn the pages with not a small amount of anxiety.
He made a dismissive noise, letting the paper fall free. “Don’t you need me in the first session today?”
I glanced at my timetable and nodded, “I guess, I mean, it says Dragon Combat, so I assume bringing
you along is kinda compulsory. Shit, I better put on some workout gear.”
I rushed down to the bedroom only to see Flea had returned and was pulling on a t-shirt. I looked at my phone to see how long I had, then flung it onto the bed, stripping off my clothes, folding them quickly so I could take them as a change after the morning’s class. I was amused to see Flea pause what he was doing to watch my very unsexy striptease but didn’t have the opportunity to enjoy it like he had, jerking on yoga pants, a loose tank and a zip-up jacket. By the time I’d balled up my spare set of clothes and shoved them in a bag, Flea waited by the door. He drew me in as I tried to walk past, an arm around my waist.
“Have a good day,” he said, pushing a strand of my hair behind my ear. “Don’t let them kill you. I’ll have a nice meal on the table waiting for you.” He pushed something into my bag. When I looked down, it was a small pistol.
“I can’t take a bloody gun to class. I don’t even know how to fire one!”
“Safety’s on,” he said, demonstrating putting it on and off. “You might not be able to shoot anyone, but you can make enough noise to freak someone out.”
“Every damn man in my life is trying to turn me into GI Jane,” I said with a shake of my head but I took it. Maybe threatening to bust a cap in someone’s ass would stop people shoving me down flights of stairs. When I looked back Flea’s smile had gone, his body had stiffened. Ah, he obviously didn’t like Keel.
He seemed to force himself to loosen up, reaching down to brush a kiss across my lips. “Have a good day. I’m about to try and get Jez’s arse into gear.”
I was left standing there, my whole focus on the now tingling sensation on my mouth. Then I heard the faint sound of the dining room bells and I legged it outside, a small Miazydar flying by my side.
17
“What are you wearing?” Alden said as I walked over to the table.
“What? This is workout wear on Earth. I assume we’ll be working hard this morning?”
“This is an Earth custom I vote women adopt,” Rylen said, eyes fixed on my legs. He gestured for me to spin, but I just stuck my finger up at him. I’m sure everyone knew what that meant.
“Well, you missed a huge incident,” Vella said as I took a seat. Her eyes bugged a bit when she saw Miazydar curling up on the table.
“Yeah, what happened?” I said, taking a cup of coffee with a smile from Alden as he sat down.
“About a quarter of the merits came down with food poisoning,” Grey said, placing several big plates piled high in front of us. He waved his crystal bracelet over it all and it shone green. I snagged something that looked like bacon and took a bite. Yum! It appeared it was part of the natural evolution of civilisation that at least one country would come up with the deliciousness that is bacon in any given dimension.
“Someone’s been reading about the antics of 2212 and thought they’d go old school, trying to knock out some of the competitors,” Alden said.
I looked around the room and saw there were a lot of empty tables. “Shit, is everyone OK?”
“They used keletha, so only time will tell. Why the long face? Less merits means less people trying to take your dragon from you. The VC will investigate and it will be put down to some menial, who’ll be dismissed without a reference,” he said with a wave.