The sun woke TO up the next morning, shining uncomfortable rays of light through the windows of the weapons bay. They moaned, covered their head with a wing, and turned to nuzzle into DH’s warm, comfortable chest.
They hadn’t dreamed again, but they hadn’t slept well either. It had been a very long time since they saw GiDi in one of their dreams, and having them make such a sudden and unexpected appearance threw them off. They didn’t know why GiDi was there, and though they were glad that it wasn’t another case of GiDi being sprawled on the table with half their organs removed, it still brought their worry for their small friend to their mind.
If the insurgency had them as a captive, they wanted to get them away and safe. If they found GiDi, they’d have to bring them back to King Decon.
They clung tightly to DH, listening to the hum of their heart and trying not to think about what would happen if they actually found GiDi.
Thankfully, only a few minutes later, a distraction came. TO’s communicator alerted TO to a new message; the chair that they had ordered for Lendulin only yesterday was here.
======
“I can never repay you.” Lendulin said, sitting in the chair as TO made adjustments to it, raising the seat so that it was just right, and so that she could more easily get in and out.
“It’s electric, and I noted you had no plugs in your room.” TO said, “That’s why I got the generator too.”
The generator was a simple, very basic thing; meant for camping trips and emergencies. One part of it sat in the water, the flow of the currents turning the gears within and charging the batteries. It was easy enough to set up, but DH was doing more than just setting it up.
“Ideally, you shouldn’t use this constantly; it’ll wear out too quickly and break. I tinkered a little to make it a little more effective and make it last a little longer.“ They reached into the mess of wires, detaching things, snipping wires, and putting them back together, “On another note, the wire organization of this thing is awful. It’s a mess. It’s like they didn’t bother to measure the lengths needed and just crammed whatever they had into this thing!!”
Lendulin giggled, “I thought you were just merchants of something, but what, you’re actually mechanics?”
“A rich merchant with practical skill.” Petra said from where she sat at the table, “I never thought I’d see it.”
“I’m pleased to surprise you.” TO said as they finished adjusting the chair. They turned to Lendulin, “There, can you get in and out of this alright?”
In response, Lendulin pulled herself from the chair and onto the floor, twisting herself into the water. She dove under the surface, then jumped out and pulled herself onto the chair once more. She struggled a little as the chair was lighter than she was used to, and tipped as she put her weight on it.
“It’s so comfortable!” She said, the tip of her tail twitching, her eyes wide and her smile wider than TO had seen it so far. They noticed for the first time that she had pointed teeth.
“Rustproof too, just keep it oiled up.” DH said as they bound up the leftover wire and tucked it away in the toolbox. They closed up the generator, screwed it shut, and put away their tools.
“Is there anything I can do for you?” Lendulin asked. She played with the controls of the chair, making it go back and forth.
“Just be careful when you have to go over stairs.” TO said, “I got a lighter one since I knew you’d have to carry it over stairs, but try to keep it on its wheels so the controls don’t break.”
“I’ll be very careful!” Lendulin promised. She perked up, and turned to Petra, “Oh! Get me the envelope?”
Petra went over to a box and pulled out a thick envelope of creamy paper. It had a crest on it that looked like a conch shell. She passed it to Lendulin, who immediately passed it on to TO.
“Tickets to that art show.” She said, “It’s the least I can do.” She glanced at Petra, “She’s right; if I didn’t have this chair, I wouldn’t be able to go at all.”
“You didn’t need to do anything for us, really!” TO said, “But… DH is excited to go.”
DH suddenly brightened, “Yes! I am! The dress I ordered- “ They stopped, remembering Lendulin’s issues with getting a dress. “Well, I’ll have something nice to wear.”
“Me too.” Lendulin said, “We figured out how to get some detailed fabric for my dress.” She grinned at DH, “We’ll have to have a little fashion show once we’re there.”
The way DH lit up when she said that made TO relax. They were happy that DH could talk to Lendulin about clothes, since fashion and dresses seemed to be one of the few civilian things that DH didn’t have disdain for. Well, that and musicals.
DH had a few things in common with Lendulin, a few things that softened their distaste for civilians. Today, TO was going to use that to their own advantage.
“You know…” TO said, unable to keep their ears from flicking down in disgust, “I… well, DH, why don’t you get some of those uh.. Bugs on sticks.”
“Cocopods?” Petra said, perking up as she looked at TO, “You want to eat cocopods? I thought you were going to faint last time you saw them.”
“Well…” Their stomach lunged. They did not want to eat cocopods. They wanted nothing to do with the foul creatures, especially after their dream and after waking up to hundreds of tiny bugs all over themself. “DH hasn’t been able to stop talking about them, so-“
“You know there is other food here aside from cocopods.” Lendulin said. She turned to Petra, “Do you want to see what street meat we got today?”
“No no, it’s our treat!” TO insisted. They turned to DH, “You go with Petra and get some food… I need to make a few more adjustments to the chair.”
“Really? It looks perfect.”
“There are a few things I need to do yet.” TO said. It wasn’t a lie, and they felt bad for dodging the truth like that with DH, but they had to do it, and they knew that in the end, if it ever came up, DH would understand.
Petra gave Lendulin a long, serious look, asking questions without a single word. After a moment, Lendulin just smiled.
“You go with DH. It’ll be fine.” Her tail flicked, and after a moment she got up from her seat, nodding.
“Alright, come on.” She said to DH, “Let auntie Petra show you where all the good food is.” DH turned to TO as Petra took them by the arm and led them to the door.
“TO, are you sure-”
“Go on.” TO said. They didn’t like the idea of being away from DH in the outer ring, but it was in the middle of the day. They knew Petra wasn’t an insurgent, and if something happened, DH could defend themself. TO had to remember that, remember how quick DH was with a multi-gun.
As soon as the heavy metal door closed, TO turned to Lendulin. “I lied.” They admitted. Though it wasn’t an important lie, they still felt bad about it. “The chair is fine. I just needed to talk to you without DH around.”
Lendulin’s lips pressed together, and she floated back away from the edge of the water. “Alright.” She said, her voice low and careful. Under the water, TO could see her hands turn to fists. “What do you want?”
“I’ve never taken DH out on a date before, not really.” TO admitted. “DH and I have been together for… Well, really, not that long? It was just before we got here-”
Lendulin’s whole demeanour changed. She gave a laugh, and came back to the edge of the water, “Wow.” She said, “You two hooked up and then ran to another planet?”
“We were heading here anyway, we just… Well, it happened on the way.”
She grinned, “Ahh, space love.” She leaned forward, her arms on the water’s edge and her chin resting on her muscular forearm, “So many great romance stories about that kind of thing.”
TO felt their ears flick down and flush, “Right, well, I’ve never DH out on a date. I mean, there was this one time where I got a bunch of food together and we watched shows, but that was different and we had another friend with us, so it wasn’t really a date. Oh., and there was one time where we ended up having some quiet time together on the ship on the way here.. And we jokingly called that a date, but it was really just us wanting some quiet time.” They realized they were rambling, so they stopped, cleared their throat, and tried again. “Right.. So, I don’t have a lot of experience with taking someone out on a romantic date… and DH likes romance. They like romantic stories and settings, and we’re going to a fancy restaurant tomorrow-”
“Right! You forgot about it until DH reminded you!”
TO felt their ears twitch down as a pang of guilt hit their stomach, “Yes, that.” They said, “I want to make up for forgetting, and I want to make it special. I want to do a real romantic date for DH… but I don’t know how.”
Lendulin smiled and stared thoughtfully at TO for a few moments. “I have questions before I come up with ideas.” She said. “How much time tomorrow do you have for this date?”
TO blinked, confused, “How long does a date normally take?”
“It can take the whole day if you plan it.”
TO said, their ears flicking back in worry. Was this something they were already supposed to know? How would they make this a success if they didn’t know such simple things? “Let’s assume I could make the whole day work if need be.”
“And…” Lendulin hesitated, biting at her lip, “This might be a touchy question, but do you have a budget for this?”
“Let’s assume money isn’t a concern.”
She tensed up, her eyes twitching just slightly and her lips pursing once more, but she said nothing and a moment later she was back to smiling. “I see.” she said, “And you’d call DH a romantic?”
“A romantic? I mean… we’re in a romantic relationship…”
Lendulin laughed, “No no, that’s not what I mean.” She said, “I mean, they like things that are normally considered romantic. You know, late night walks under the stars, flowers and jewelry, picnics somewhere secluded and private.”
“Yes… yes they do.” TO said. DH had loved the egg-pod gem that TO had given them and the makeshift picnic they had in the emergency transport thrilled them until Kei caught them.
The memory of that made them sick, remembering how Kei had looked at them, and knowing that they still created a chance for TO and DH to be separated.
“Alright.” Lendulin said, “I got some ideas.”
