《Six Pack》


 Six Pack Chapter 11 - Back to Normal (What鈥檚 Normal?)

    Michael got up with a new frame of mind. Today is going to be better. He rolled out of bed to a supine position on the floor. He gathered himself up so that he could push up off of the carpet. His forehead grazed the carpet with a turn as he braced his fists on the floor.


    He pushed.


    His whole body shook with the effort. It didn¡¯t move, but it shook.


    Fuck it, let¡¯s try this. He lifted his legs from the knee and settled his feet to point position. Bearing down on his knees, he tried again.


    He pushed.


    Shakily his body angled up from the floor. He shakily returned it to the floor.


    One.


    He steadied himself for another go and pushed again. He lifted himself just enough to decide to swing his leg up to stand up. One is more than none. That¡¯s progress enough. Michael thought to himself as he walked out of his bedroom to prepare himself for the day.


    ---


    Many would say that the Shil¡¯vati Invasion and consequent occupation had led to great strides, nay, replacements for caretaking. They¡¯d all but cured cancer, rebuilt infrastructure, made life in general easier for humanity. That said, improvements didn¡¯t necessarily equate to ¡°fixing¡± people. Cochlear implants from the Shil¡¯vati could tap into many more frequencies than regular Human implants could, but it still wasn¡¯t natural hearing. Most hearing amplifications could let you hear more, but hearing more didn¡¯t mean hearing like the average person heard. An amplified person could hear a person talking in front of them, but they also heard every other conversation happening in the room. They also heard the buzz of heating and air conditioning at the same volume. Conversations with someone with amplification could still be interrupted by a spoon falling to the floor with a spinning clang across the cafeteria.


    All of this to say, Michael still had job security. Deaf people were still culturally Deaf, meaning they did not want to be fixed by the Shil¡¯vati. Deaf people call people who are hard of hearing ¡°little d-deaf¡± because as much as those people wanted to be considered hearing, even though they didn¡¯t want to be called Deaf and they had a degree more hearing than those who were Deaf; they still weren¡¯t ¡°hearing¡± enough for hearing people to not be compelled to correct their incorrect pronunciations. Not hearing enough, not Deaf enough; they were between worlds. Little d deaf people were still Deaf because, without their amplifications, their capacity to hear was limited. Even then, with amplifications, no amount of speech therapy or auditory training with hoops covering mouths or other clinical training can make a person who cannot discern a V from a B able to better understand those letters and many others when spoken.


    Interpreters will always have jobs.


    Having completed their morning routines, going down the stairs, Michael and Bill fell into Michael¡¯s car and swung into motion.


    Gazing out the window, at nothing in particular, Bill informed Michael, ¡°I had a dream last night.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah?¡± Michael asked in a reflected nonchalance, waiting for his turn to get on the main road.


    ¡°Yeah, you came in my room and started bugging me.¡± Bill tried to continue before Michael interrupted.


    ¡°Like I do¡­¡±, Michael falsely admitted.


    Bill must¡¯ve rolled his eyes before continuing, Michael couldn¡¯t tell; eyes on the road and all that. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t stop poking at me. I didn¡¯t want to get up.¡± He caught his breath before sharing, ¡°And I just started stabbing you.¡±


    ¡°You what!?¡± Michael exclaimed.


    ¡°Yeah, you know I keep a KBAR under my pillow, right?¡±


    Michael¡¯s eyes widened, but didn¡¯t leave the road, ¡°...Ok¡­¡±.


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t leave me alone so I grabbed my KBar and started stabbing you.¡± Bill wiped the sleep from his eyes. ¡°And it wasn¡¯t how much I was stabbing you--like how many times. It was how hard I was stabbing you.¡±


    Michael shut up any notion of interrupting again.


    Bill noticed and started chuckling to himself. ¡°Heh, your head was just hanging off of your body by a sliver.¡±


    Michael¡¯s mind flashed to Serca¡¯s body gushing on the parking lot. Fucking great¡­ But that was the recent past. Given his living situation previous to living with Bill, where he felt disrespected and ignored, the threat of death made him feel like he was seen. Whether he was seen as a target or not, he was still seen. At least I¡¯m present enough in his mind that I would be worth putting in the effort to kill me.


    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°You know, that doesn¡¯t bother me as much as you may think it would.¡± Michael finally replied.


    ¡°Oh?¡± Bill stopped brooding long enough to ask.


    ¡°Yeah, even hearing that, I still feel happier and safer living with you than I was in my own home. Doesn¡¯t even make me want to lock my door.¡± In fact, at this point, I might welcome it.


    Michael didn¡¯t want to hurt himself, but to no longer exist seemed better than any other situation in which he could envision himself.


    ¡°Dude¡­ I mean, I did kill you in my dreams, but that¡¯s fucked up.¡±


    Their ride continued in amicable silence.


    ---


    Work went as well as it usually did. Nothing terribly challenging so far this semester.


    It was fun going into a psychology class the first day and setting himself up at the front of the class, like he usually did. Interpreters stand or sit in the front of classrooms off to the side so as to not be more of a distraction than they already were. Michael, at 5¡¯10¡±, 270 lbs, in all black clothing, was kind of a distraction for most people in the best of circumstances.


    He¡¯d gotten himself settled in the front of the room and faced into the rows of seats to discern if his Deaf student was there yet or not. He decided not to worry too much about it yet and looked at his phone to check the time.


    At that point, the professor stepped near to Michael. ¡°You know, you might get a lot more out of the class if you faced the board.¡±


    Michael had smiled at the misunderstanding. ¡°Oh! No sir, I¡¯m your interpreter.¡±


    ¡°Interpreter?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯ve got a Deaf student this semester. In fact, here they are.¡± Michael motioned to the student who¡¯d just crossed the threshold. Michael began signing introductions.


    ¡°Oh...I see.¡± The professor settled back onto the table in the front of the lecture hall before beginning their lesson soon after.


    ---


    Though he was an interpreter, he worked with people who had disabilities, and there was no shortage of them around. War was hell. No matter the reparations the Shil¡¯vati made in the way of medical technology, economic resettlement, and other miracles Humanity was in no position to develop any time soon disabilities were still there. A missing limb could be replaced, but it did not make up for the real thing. Poor Rachel, I hope she¡¯s doing ok.


    Ultimately, not too much changed for him.


    Throughout the day though, Michael worried about repercussions from his weekend. Celeste was still in the office most of the day outside of her classes. Instead of her darkened camouflage, she wore a bright sundress. She didn¡¯t make a peep in front of Michael regarding Rachel or Amber nor any of the gruesomeness that¡¯d witnessed.


    Michael¡¯s paranoia extended to Bill as well. Not that Bill could attest to anything that had happened, he still had a bad habit of telling Michael¡¯s business. It hadn¡¯t gone any farther than Michael¡¯s head. Luckily enough for him.


    ---


    The day finished without much ado. Bill and Michael went home, noting dark storm clouds that loomed on the horizon.


    Bill was the first to speak up. ¡°Look, Mike, I¡¯ve been giving it a lot of thought. We are fat fucking slobs.¡± He sighed and opened a beer. ¡°We need to fix it. We gotta stop all the bullshit we¡¯re doing and start working out.¡±


    In the short time they¡¯d lived together, Michael knew where it was going. He grumbled audibly.


    Bill stayed standing at the island in the kitchen. He¡¯d brought out his sleeping knife and was sharpening it at the sink. ¡°Yeah, yeah, I know, you wanna keep living like every day is a vacation. But we can¡¯t keep pretending that everything¡¯s ok.¡± He began scraping the knife¡¯s edge against a whetstone. ¡°Dude, you got attacked. You have no idea how to defend yourself and--no offense--but you¡¯re too weak to defend yourself.¡±


    ¡°What? You think I can defend myself against 8 foot tall amazons even if I were fit? Didn¡¯t they annihilate the military? You know, the trained fit people? Why do you think I should get fit? Being fit and trained killed them.¡± Michael leaned back into the elbow of the sectional. ¡°Being fat has kept me alive so far.¡±


    Bill ground his knife slowly. ¡°Ok, but don¡¯t you think you¡¯d live longer if you were a little healthier?¡±


    Michael pitched his head back. Who wants to do that? ¡°You apes wanna live forever!?¡± he quoted Starship Troopers.


    ¡°But bro, you¡¯ve got kids. Doesn¡¯t that make you want to live longer?¡±


    Michael was already over this particular button getting punched. ¡°They¡¯ll be fine. My Dad died when I was 15, they can figure it out.¡±


    Seeing this particular road was blocked, Bill finished, ¡°Ok, fine. But I¡¯m going to make up a workout plan. You might as well join me.¡±


    ¡°Hey! I did a push up this morning!¡±


    ¡°Oh..? On your knees?¡± Bill chided.


    Michael wrinkled his face and nodded his head. ¡°So?¡±


    ¡°Well look, to do a proper push up, you¡¯ve got to have strong shoulders. If you wanna get stronger shoulders, you¡¯ve gotta do push ups.¡± Bill shrugged back.


    Michael flared his nostrils. ¡°That logic sure helps your argument.¡± Thinking further, ¡°You know what? Fine. You come up with a plan and I¡¯ll join you.¡±


    Bill shinged his knife from the stone. ¡°Ah ha! Our plan starts tomorrow!¡±


    Bill transitioned from a triumphant smile to looking from side to side. ¡°You, uh...ya wanna get a pizza?¡±


    ¡°Of course!¡± Michael didn¡¯t have to be asked twice.


    ---


    In the dark, green-gray of the rain, a red light utility vehicle skimmed the fringes of the Shil¡¯vati base where NAS Jax once stood. The driver awkwardly juggled the wheel and the gearshift with one arm. This made the ride a little less smooth than one might otherwise have expected from a random vehicle. The passenger didn''t gripe, not externally. They were able to hold the camera straight and still enough to take the pictures they had intended to gather.


    They dared to go onto the Shil¡¯way.


    Unbeknownst to them, soon after, a purple brick floated behind and above them. It looked a bit like a shoebox on its side. Though it didn¡¯t have wings, it did have its own lens on one of the shorter ends. The Shil¡¯vati drone followed the red jeep as it drove the length of the entrances to the base. Where the jeep occupants took individual pictures, the drone took video and pictures.


    With the jeep¡¯s license plate on record, its occupants identified by visual confirmation, and multiple other identifying features established, the drone returned to base; out of the rain.


    ---


    The storm had raged for a bit. Michael halfheartedly worried about the pizza delivery driver. Eh, they knew what they signed up for, he thought lazily. He¡¯d had a few drinks by this time. Not a full on rager, but enough to represent the end of the day and celebrate not going out any more today.


    There was a knock on the door. It seemed a little too pointed to be the pizza, but seemed urgent all the same. I would probably knock on the door like the damn police if I¡¯d been called out in the rain like this too. ¡°Get me outta the rain!¡± I¡¯d be screaming in my head. Maybe we should have figured something else out to eat tonight. Oh well, too late now.


    Michael scampered down the stairs, expecting pizza. He opened the door without bothering with the peephole. In front of him stood an enormous, hairy, wolflike figure.


    ¡°Uh, hi! I got caught in the rain. May I come in?¡± the toothy smile requested.

 Chapter 12 - Good Samaritan (Can We Keep It?)

    Chapter 12 - Good Samaritan (Can We Keep It?)


    Michael was not one to take any ol¡¯ invalid in off the street. He had a disdain for the homeless. Though the Shil¡¯vati had rendered homelessness a problem of the past, old habits and old opinions die hard. Working with Vocational Rehabilitation, his mentors had taught him that anyone can get a job. The job may not pay as well as you wanted. The job may not have perks or conditions you preferred. But if you wanted to earn a living and you had the ability to do something as menial as screw a bolt onto a nut, they could find employment for you.


    However, given his recent experience with the Shil¡¯vati where he had discerned that he was all alone, despite being surrounded by ¡°superior beings'''', he felt a pang of guilt. If all they need is to come out from the rain, I guess that would be fine. How bad could it be?


    Michael¡¯s disposition visibly changed from horror to disbelief and finally to pity. No matter what I think of those shiny eyes, ¡°What big eyes you have, Grandmother!¡± and that toothful mouth, ¡°My, what big teeth you have, Grandmother!¡±, they¡¯re still asking me for help. Why not?


    ¡°Um, er...Sure, come on in!¡±


    The huge, dark, wet figure stepped into the light; she was a massive werewolf-looking being. Over a foot taller than Michael, she stooped to step into the doorway. Dripping profusely, she thanked him, ¡°Oh thank you! I was out for a jog and I thought I could beat the rain. The weather sure can turn on a girl here.¡±


    ¡°A jog, huh? A jog from where?¡± Michael asked, expecting the answer to be from the Shil base.


    ¡°From the Shil¡¯vati base. I started off on a light run across the bridge and by the time I¡¯d realized that the rain was coming and I wasn¡¯t going to make it back.¡± The wolf woman explained as Michael closed the door behind her.


    She put a foot on the first step before she vigorously shook herself. Michael had started to say that that seemed like a little too far for a leisurely jog. However, he was doused by the mini hurricane created by her shaking. Rainwater was flung from her pelt as if the droplets were slung from a million tiny slingshots. The walls were painted wet all the way to the ceiling and halfway up the stairs.


    Michael did not have the expectation or reaction time to close his mouth, cover his face or in any way defend himself from the sudden gush that enveloped him. His surprise was followed swiftly by annoyance and a hint of regret. Gah! Why did I let her in!? This is not what I signed up for tonight!


    Good news is that I¡¯ve been drinking and can understand her.


    All the same, he was not impressed with the repercussions of his decision.


    The werewoman, now in the brighter light of the stairway, turned to face Michael. Her pelt was blonde. Now dry and well-lit, Michael could see that her face reminded him of a Corgi or a Shiba Inu. Despite being drenched, he couldn¡¯t help but think to himself: hold on for dear life.


    When she realized that in drying herself she¡¯d wetted him, her demeanor was instantly shrouded in shame and apology. ¡°Oh my! I am so sorry! It¡¯s kind of an instinct. I did not mean to do that on purpose!¡± She held her hands open toward him, then recoiled at the thought of getting herself wet again. ¡°Do you, um, do you have any towels or something?¡±


    Michael swept water away from his eyes with the backs of his hands. He opened the door again to spit out the mouthful of water that had been recently put there. He closed the door back and tried not to slip on the newly wet tile floor. ¡°Yeah, uh, hmm. Bill?¡± He called up the stairs.


    ¡°Oh, you have a cohabitant?¡± She regained her composure and courtesy, ¡°What a blunder!¡± She held out a furry hand to him, ¡°You don¡¯t even know my name. Greetings, I am Linnet.¡±


    Bill poked his head above the wall that was the top bannister to their stairway. He held a frown as his bodiless head slid around the side to the top of the stairs, finally revealing the rest of his body. ¡°What the hell!? Is that dog woman talking?¡±


    Linnet¡¯s ears bent back at the noise of Bill coming around the bend upstairs. Her head turned in suit to greet him as well. She gave him a wave, ¡°Hello! I¡¯m Linnet!¡± Then turned back and extended her half of a handshake to Michael.


    Michael looked at the dubious looking claws sprouting from the tips of the hairy fingers. The pads on the palm side of her hand looked finely textured. As Michael reached up to shake, Bill spouted, ¡°You¡¯re a Goddamn talking dog!¡±


    One of Linnet¡¯s ears bent backward. ¡°What did he just say? Does he not understand Shil? How do you understand Shil?¡±


    Michael shook her hand. Her finger pads were textured, but not as rough as he thought they would be from his visual assessment. If anything, they were relatively soft. He wasn¡¯t sure which question to try to answer so he started with the easiest to interpret. ¡°He¡¯s impressed that a dog can talk.¡±


    ¡°I am no such thing!¡± Linnet spat angrily. ¡°I am a Rakiri! I am an engineer in the Shil¡¯vati Imperium stationed at the base across the river! I am not a dog! I am not a Human pet!¡±


    Bill stood fast, not waiting for Michael to tell him what she said.  ¡°What did you do to the stairwell?!¡±


    Linnet¡¯s offense was held at bay for a moment. ¡°That is¡­¡± Her anger stifled, ¡°...My bad.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s apologized for that,¡± Michael called up again, ¡°Bill, can you throw some of my towels. There should be a couple in my bathroom.¡±


    Bill was unphased. ¡°There¡¯s a Goddamn talking weredog standing beside you! Why did you let it in!?¡±


    Linnet squinted at Michael. ¡°I heard that word, did he just call me a ¡®dog¡¯ again?¡±  Her anger was renewed. I know she¡¯s speaking Shil, but looking at her, I can¡¯t help but hear some growling accents in it. ¡°I am not a dog! I am a Raki--¡±


    Her retort was interrupted by a sharp knocking at the door.


    Fuck me, what¡¯s next? Michael rolled his eyes in sync with his body as he turned to open the door. He took a moment, this time, to look through the peephole. Finally, he thought. He swung the door open wide revealing Michael, looking like a drowned rat; Linnet, fangs bared and hackles raised still, though now facing out the door; and Bill standing at the top of the stairs with his hands on his hips, bobbing his head like a chicken.


    ¡°Uh, pizza?¡± The delivery man held the pizzas aloft, trying to guard himself from the rain in the doorframe.


    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯ll be taking that.¡± Michael said flatly. He slung water unintentionally as he reached for the food.


    The delivery man stood in awe of what he was seeing. At least he¡¯ll take a story back to the pizza place, Michael thought, trying his best to keep his footing on the wet tiles. He smiled and took out another fiver from his shorts pocket. ¡°Uh, thanks for coming out in this weather. Sorry.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, sucks out here. But, um, you have a good night.¡± The delivery man¡¯s eyes never departed from the Rakiri¡¯s mouth, even after she put her teeth away.


    Michael closed the door on him in a deliberate fashion. He twisted the door knob lock into place. He started to slide the bolt into place and turn and balance the pizzas and gravity got the best of him. The top pizza box spun with extra momentum as Michael lost his feet.


    Michael¡¯s left foot lost traction. His left leg skidded on its heel and smacked into the stairway door to their garage. He managed to tuck his right leg under himself to soften the transition to his butt. He barely caught his right forearm to the opposite wall. His right arm scuffed the paint as it stretched out to grab the handrail up the stairs. It did little to help him catch his fall.


    Linnet was far too late to help him.


    Bill was still at the top of the stairs.


    Michael bounced a bit as he landed in a heap on the floor. The pizzas stayed upright though.


    Linnet stepped down to help.


    Bill started bounding down the stairs.


    Linnet lent a hand for Michael to pull himself up.


    Bill threw himself at Linnet, tackling her down the stairs. They landed in a pile on top of Michael. Linnet got the wind knocked out of her; when she got it back, she started to growl. Bill held on tight with an arm while getting in a few cheap shots with the other.


    ¡°BE CAREFUL OF THE PIZZA!¡± Michael yelled at the top of his lungs in English, then repeated in Shil.


    ¡°BILL, THIS IS LINNET. SHE IS A RAKIRI, NOT A TALKING DOG AND SHE IS MY GUEST!¡± Michael cried in English from under the not-dogpile.


    Likewise, in Shil, Michael continued, ¡°LINNET, THIS IS BILL. HE IS MY ROOMMATE. DO NOT TEAR HIM A NEW ONE.¡±


    ¡°What new one would I rip into him?¡± Linnet asked in Shil.


    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°Guest? You let her inside. You understand her?¡± Bill overlapped in English.


    ¡°No. Yes. Get off of me, please.¡± Michael asked as calmly as he could. ¡°And don¡¯t tip over the pizza!¡±


    Moments passed as the three untangled from each other and headed upstairs. They each got a portion of pizza. Bill doled out some ice packs and pain medicine. Michael accepted gladly. Linnet did not. No one spoke as they all alternatively chewed and licked their wounds.


    Bill echoed his earlier question, ¡°You understand her?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I told you, as it turns out, when I¡¯ve been drinking, I can understand Shil.¡± Michael said after another swig of cider. ¡°What did you think was happening?¡±


    Bill admitted, ¡°All I heard was a mix between growling and ¡®graw graw graw¡¯, which made me think she was attacking you, so I tackled her to protect you!¡±


    Michael thought about that for a minute. Makes sense. ¡°I appreciate the sentiment.¡± He nodded to Bill. ¡°But you¡¯ve heard the Shils talking, right?¡±


    ¡°But she¡¯s no Shil. She¡¯s got the right build¡­¡± Bill trailed while trying to apply what he called, The Gecko Effect. He tried to look Linnet in the face, while also staring at the AA battery-sized nipples poking through her sports bra. ¡°She¡¯s a little hairier than I¡¯ve seen¡¯em.¡± He subtly transitioned from her chest to her face. ¡°Which isn¡¯t a problem for me. I don¡¯t mind a little hair.¡±


    Michael interpreted Bill¡¯s message to Linnet, then answered the questions he knew. ¡°No, she¡¯s a Rakiri, but I guess¡­¡± He asked Linnet in Shil to which she responded, then he answered his own question to Bill, ¡°Since the Rakiri were absorbed by the Shil¡¯vati Imperium they have to speak their common tongue.¡±


    ¡°Ok,¡± Bill accepted, ¡°But why is she here?¡±


    ¡°She said she was out jogging and got caught in the storm.¡± Michael answered from memory.


    Bill repeated his question, with emphasis, ¡°But why is she here, in our apartment?¡±


    ¡°I guess we were the only apartment with the outside lights on. We were expecting pizza and ended up with a new...friend..?¡± Michael turned toward Linnet and gave a cautious smile. She reciprocated the smile.


    ¡°Ok Mike, let me see if we can get a bigger picture here. Why is she still here?¡± Bill continued to pursue while he popped the complimentary banana pepper in his mouth.


    To Linnet, Michael asked for a more global explanation for why she was here.


    She replied in Shil, ¡°This place--Floreeda--is close to the equator relative to the greater United States. It is hot. The Shil¡¯vati find this to be a very appealing spot to set up and maintain operations.¡± She took a deep breath. ¡°But your domicile, it is delightfully cool. It reminds me of the climate of my home planet.¡±


    Michael would prefer the apartment to be a little cooler, but life in any relationship is a compromise. The thermostat was on Bill¡¯s side of the apartment. All the same, they weren¡¯t paying for the electricity of the apartment, so they didn¡¯t care to keep it somewhere in the 69-70?F region. Two fat men in Florida kept it chilly. Seventy was frigid in comparison to the regular triple digit temperatures in Jacksonville.


    As Michael interpreted what Linnet had said, his eyes grew. Bill¡¯s eyes joined his when Michael communicated ¡°Home planet¡±. We have a real live alien in our apartment, Michael thought and was fairly sure Bill had harmonized in his mind.


    ¡°Where are you from?¡± Michael and Bill said at the same time in Shil and English, respectively.


    ¡°Gurathu.¡± Linnet replied bashfully. ¡°You probably haven¡¯t heard of it. It¡¯s not a tourist spot in the Imperium. It¡¯s covered in ice.¡±


    Michael interpreted faithfully.


    Bill repeated, ¡°Gurathu¡± with a similar throaty voice. Linnet¡¯s tail wagged in approval.


    Michael and Bill shared the vision of a cold planet inhabited by dog people.


    Bill¡¯s military brain kicked in, ¡°Are you deserting your post?¡±


    Michael wasn¡¯t sure how to phrase the question, but tried his best.


    Linnet tried to skirt around the question, ¡°No, I thought I¡¯d explore the area and get some steps in.¡± She perked up, ¡°But they won¡¯t need me on base until morning. Is there any way I could stay here for the night?¡±


    Michael interpreted her questions and added, ¡°Can we keep her?¡± to the end, for good measure. He did his best puppy dog eyes expression for Bill.


    Linnet saw it and joined in. Her puppy dog face was much more convincing than Michael¡¯s mug.


    ¡°Fine, we can keep her.¡± Bill couldn¡¯t fight both of their pitiful faces. ¡°But only for tonight!¡± He straightened up and added, ¡°Make sure she doesn¡¯t poop on the floor!¡±


    In Shil, Michael reported, ¡°Yes, you can stay the night. The bathroom is over there.¡± He pointed at the bathroom on his side of the apartment. ¡°You can sleep here on the couch, it¡¯s comfortable, I promise. You can take my bed if you want.¡±


    With some relief, Linnet said, ¡°Yes, I was about to ask for the restroom.¡± Then more shyly, ¡°I¡¯ll check out the sleeping accommodations afterward.¡± She then made her way to the bathroom.


    Bill gave Michael the stink eye, ¡°I didn¡¯t know you were a furry.¡±


    Michael retorted with a whisper, ¡°You can¡¯t seem to get your eyes off her tits!¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re fuckin¡¯ huge, man! I can¡¯t not look at them when they¡¯re all served up on a platter.¡± Bill held imaginary beach balls on his chest.


    Michael rubbed his assorted aches and pains from falling. ¡°Jesus, I try and be a Good Samaritan and the first thing you think is that I¡¯mma try¡¯ta fuck her!¡±


    Bill smirked, ¡°Aren¡¯t you, though?¡±


    Michael¡¯s face was a faux-shock mask. ¡°No..!¡± He thought for a few seconds more, ¡°No, I am choosing to believe that she needs help and we can help her.¡±


    Bill stepped over to the couch and turned on the TV. ¡°And if she needs some help from behind, you¡¯ll have her back.¡±


    Michael tried to maintain a serious face. I mean, he shrugged and spoke his mind, ¡°I¡¯ll try anything four times.¡±


    Linnet returned from the bathroom. ¡°What does that sticker say?¡±


    Michael blushed, it might not translate well. ¡°It gets me every time, it says that ¡®even pirates wipe their booty¡¯.¡±


    Linnet pulled her head back and cocked it to the side. Seems it did not translate well.


    ¡°¡®Cause a pirate¡¯s treasure is called their ¡®booty¡¯¡± Michael explained.


    Linnet nodded in agreement.


    Michael continued, ¡°And we call our butts our ¡®booty¡¯¡±.


    Linnet nodded again.


    Michael looked at her, waiting for the joke to register. He even added jazz hands to punctuate the punch line.


    She leaned forward and asked, ¡°Why would pirates wipe their treasure?¡±


    Michael stood helplessly in the kitchen. Why would pirates wipe their treasure? ¡°Ok, it doesn¡¯t make sense that way around, but it¡¯s in the bathroom, so the joke lends itself to the butt slash booty joke.¡± He saw she wasn¡¯t appreciating the humor. ¡°It¡¯s potty humor posted in the potty.¡±


    His last attempt to defend his taste failed spectacularly. Linnet shrugged and looked toward the couch, the first place Michael had offered for her to sleep. Bill sat in the middle of it. Linnet sneered toothily.  ¡°May I see your bedroom? I don¡¯t mean to be rude, what was your name again?¡±


    ¡°Michael.¡±


    Linnet crooned. ¡°May I see your bedroom, Michael?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± What am I getting myself into? And so soon after the last bedroom debacle?


    Bill looked back from the couch. He made sure Linnet was in the room and out of sight before he cupped his mouth with one side and mouthed at Michael, ¡°Throw her a bone!¡±


    Michael scrunched his face up in response. He followed Linnet into the bedroom. She had to duck to pass through. The room seemed much smaller with both of them inside. If she wanted to, Linnet could probably stretch out on the floor and touch opposite walls with her hands and feet.


    ¡°This is where you sleep?¡± She asked redundantly.


    ¡°Yup. It¡¯s not much, but it does it for me.¡± Michael admitted.


    ¡°Very well.¡± She said before getting on the bed, on top of the sheets and comforter.


    Michael didn¡¯t protest. ¡°Goodnight then?¡± He said questioningly without actually meaning it as a question.


    Linnet curled herself up into a bundle. ¡°Yes, good night.¡±


    Cool cool cool. I¡¯ll just, um, try to grab some of this cover here and¡­ He took off his glasses and placed them on the bedside table. He lifted about a foot¡¯s length of the loose comforter up and tried to tuck himself into bed. It did not work well. Maybe it won¡¯t be too cold tonight, he thought as he tried to make a Michael-sized spot for himself.


    He laid quietly for a few uncomfortable minutes.


    This isn¡¯t going to work.


    He rolled toward Linnet to see if he could somehow fit an arm or leg around her. He couldn¡¯t without feeling like he was being entirely too forward. Instead he held his arm up and around her to catch the purchase of available bedspace. I feel like I¡¯m Vanna White, he thought outstretched. Despite all this, he tried to accept the suck and try to sleep.


    Linnet¡¯s tail wagged happily in his face.


    This is not ok.


    He gave her a slight nudge, intending it to communicate, hey, give me some room.


    She leaned further into the space he had made for himself.


    Fuck this.


    Michael climbed on top of Linnet. She unfurled herself to catch him. He straddled her and held her arms down.


    ¡°This is my bed, you are the guest. You will not take up all of the space in my bed.¡± He commanded as he pulled one of her arms over to her side of the bed.


    Eyes wide, Linnet took in the order. She shifted her head away as if to ignore him.


    He leaned himself further over her, keeping contact with the one eye he could still see.


    Linnet took a breath and audibly sighed deeply.


    There we go. Michael thought to himself before settling down on his side of the bed. Just like a puppy, you just hafta show it who¡¯s boss.


    Michael covered himself fully and faced away from Linnet. She turned herself about in the bed so that she also was under the covers. She swept her arms around him and pulled him close. He resisted the embrace for a moment. How come I¡¯m the little spoon!? His stiffness melted as he realized that this was the first time he¡¯d been held in a long time. Too long. He closed his eyes and let her envelop him. Even his aches and pains from falling and being fallen upon seemed to feel better.


    Warm and comfortable, Michael let himself accept that he was being freely offered her soothing embrace. It wasn¡¯t long before he fell into a deep sleep.

 Chapter 13 - Strange Bedfellows (Dogpile)

    Chapter 13 - Strange Bedfellows (Dogpile)


    In the dark of the morning, a Shil¡¯vati drone hovered almost silently. It¡¯s routine scans proceeded as normal. Until it spotted an unusual heat signature who paced across the Buckman Bridge. The drone zoomed in closer.


    The bouncing red dot of a heat signature increased in size, revealing itself to the drone to be a Rakiri. Closing in more, the red Rakiri outline developed a line that grew off to the side and named her in Shil¡¯vati runes. From the name, a menu dropped down with several other runes.


    The thermal imaging gave way to what could be described as a visual representation of odor analysis. Intermingled with the Rakiri scents were human scents. Another menu in the drone¡¯s HUD appeared. It revealed a picture of Michael. Shuddering, as if in recognition, the screen released its sights from the Rakiri. It followed her scent trail, which led to the general vicinity of Michael¡¯s apartment complex instead.


    The drone estimated the distance from its current post to the apartment complex. An indicator in the lower left of the HUD showed insufficient charge. The drone¡¯s screen turned away from the targeted direction and returned to the Shil¡¯vati base.


    ---


    Michael woke up cold. He reached for a partner who was no longer there. She sure was quiet. He pulled the comforter up from around his feet and snuggled in. Sweet comfortable darkness overtook him.


    Perfect time for his alarm to go off. Though not ready to be awake, Michael thought, how does Bastille¡¯s song Flaws make for the perfect song to lull me to sleep while also being the perfect song to jolt me awake. How do they do that?


    He and Bill got back to their routine and eventually back to the car together.


    ¡°How was it? Did you make her beg and roll over?¡± Bill asked with the voice of morning grogginess.


    ¡°No! We slept together but we didn¡¯t sleep together.¡± Michael protested. ¡°I have no idea when she left either. I went to sleep and when I got up, she was gone.¡±


    Bill grunted, ¡°She was gone about 4 A.M.¡±


    ¡°How¡¯d you know?¡±


    Yawning, Bill complained, ¡°I heard the door close around then. I was in the middle of a great dream,¡± he paused, ¡°About you.¡±


    Michael gasped, ¡°About me?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you know how I¡¯ve been talking about how we need to exercise and whatnot?¡± Michael nodded. ¡°In my dream, we were out on the track. I had a clipboard and I was setting up a sheet to keep track of our sprinting times.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± Michael turned the car toward work.


    ¡°Well,¡± Bill chuckled. ¡°We were at the starting line. I told you to run fifty meters and off you went. I looked down at the clipboard, you know, writing down the date and our names.¡± Bill looked over at Michael. ¡°And when I looked up from the paper, you weren¡¯t twenty meters from the starting line and you were on the ground. I was like, ¡®Oh shit!¡¯ and I ran up to you. You were on your back and you couldn¡¯t breathe! I leaned over you and said, ¡®You better get it together, because I¡¯m not going to give you mouth to mouth!¡± Bill laughed at Dream Michael¡¯s misfortune. ¡°And I laughed so hard in my dream¡­¡± Wiping his eyes as he said, ¡°That I woke myself up laughing!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Michael couldn¡¯t grasp what was going on because of all of Bill¡¯s laughing.


    Bill clarified, ¡°I laughed so hard in my dream, that I woke up laughing at the dream.¡±


    Michael finished, ¡°The dream about me dying on the ground after running just twenty meters.¡± He nodded with understanding. ¡°Cool¡­¡±


    ---


    Despite doubts from everyone, including his roommate, Michael got along fine during his work day. On this day, he had little in the way of classes but more in the way of office work and proctoring. Students who had documented disabilities could come to the office at the university and take their tests in private, proctored rooms. Some students needed extended time, a distraction-free environment, scribes or sometimes readers.


    Though blindness could be ¡°cured¡±, that led to mixed results. Sight could be restored in many cases beyond natural vision. Shil¡¯s had probably developed vision enhancements that could see through clothes, but that was much more than average civilians were permitted. Maybe even smell-o-vision, Michael quipped to himself.


    A student called to Michael from the door of his office. ¡°I can¡¯t get into this section. I need help again.¡±


    ¡°No problem.¡± Michael said cheerily as he got up from his desk and followed the student to their assigned room. ¡°You can read the tests just fine, but¡­¡±


    The student grumbled. ¡°Right. I can¡¯t get into them.¡±


    Michael looked at the screen. ¡°So what does this look like to you?¡±


    The student strained their eyes to see the screen. ¡°It¡¯s just dots and boxes.¡±


    To get into the next section of the test, the computer asked the user to find and click the blocks of the image featuring crosswalks.


    ¡°What an oversight. You are not a computer.¡± Michael clicked obediently.


    ¡°My eyes are, though.¡± The student smirked ironically.


    ---


    Upon arriving home, Michael and Bill were in for a surprise.


    ¡°Uh, hey Linnet! Did you bring a friend?¡± Michael asked in English knowing they wouldn¡¯t know what he was saying, knowing the answer anyway.


    Around the doorway to their apartment stood two Rakiri females. Linnet with her copper-gold locks. And a new friend whose dark fur made Michael feel bad for her.


    Michael¡¯s usual attire involved dark colors to contrast his white skin tone. This is a norm in the interpreting community, you wear clothes that contrast your skin so as to make a less distracting and more pleasant background to have while reading an interpreter¡¯s signs. Michael learned the consequences of such a work uniform when he moved to the south: dark clothes in the southern heat makes for an unhappy fat man.


    Who knows exactly how long the Rakiri stood on the blacktop of the parking lot, waiting for the boys to get home, but it had been enough for them to seek shade while waiting. They¡¯d come forward when Linnet spotted them walking to the apartment door. Her tail wagged with anticipation. Her companion unabashedly panted.


    ¡°Welcome home. I hope you don¡¯t mind that I brought a friend. This is Bel¡¯a.¡± Linnet squinted in the sunlight.


    Bel¡¯a pulled her tongue in for a brief moment before giving a slight ¡°Howdoyoudo? Can we go in?¡±


    Michael had no idea what they said. Their grawgraws seemed friendly enough. Their body language indicated they wanted to go in. He smiled and put his key into the doorknob lock.


    Bill grumbled a bit at the uninvited company.


    Both Rakiri stopped panting long enough to give Bill silent regard. They resumed when the door opened.


    Bel¡¯a sighed in relief at the gust of cool air that followed. ¡°By the Empress..!¡± She barreled into the apartment, not quite pushing Michael on the way up the stairs, but not not brushing herself against him on her way up.


    Michael didn¡¯t know who was feeling who up in this exchange, but it wasn¡¯t necessarily unwelcome.


    Bill sarcastically grunted the polite phrase, ¡°Oh no, after you.¡± And held the door open for Linnet to enter before him.


    ¡°Thank you kindly.¡± She replied with her ears bent back.


    ¡°¡®Graw graw¡¯ to you too.¡± Bill replied with sarcasm that was clear beyond a language barrier.


    Upstairs, Michael offered the girls a drink. ¡°We¡¯ve got water, milk, cider, beer. Whatcha want?¡±


    They both looked at him, flummoxed at what he¡¯d said.


    As an aside to Linnet, without turning her head, Bel¡¯a said in Shil, ¡°I thought you said he spoke Shil.¡±


    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    Bending her ear a bit, Linnet replied, ¡°Yeah¡­about that.¡±


    Bill butted in between them and grabbed a beer and a cider from the fridge. He handed the cider to Michael and groaned, ¡°It¡¯s five o¡¯clock somewhere.¡± He then got down two bowls from a cabinet and filled them with water. He put both bowls in front of the girls.


    Both of their sets of ears pulled back and they sneered slightly.


    ¡°Oh, you two wanna share a bowl?¡± Bill shrugged, ¡°My bad.¡± He grabbed one of the bowls and started to pour it down the sink.


    Michael grabbed Bill¡¯s hand to stop him. He took a big swig of the cider then pulled two water bottles out of the fridge. He gestured at the bottles and split his eye contact between the two Rakiri and the bottles.


    They were a bit more persuaded by this offer, but took the bowls as well as the bottles.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to be rude,¡± Michael said to Bill, ¡°Treat them like you¡¯d like to be treated.¡±


    They looked on as the Rakiri women turned away from them while audibly licking the water out of the bowls.


    ¡°Sure thing, Mikey.¡± Bill smirked.


    Michael took another deep draw of his bottle of cider. ¡°Let me get this party started and we¡¯ll work out the kinks.¡±


    Linnet lapped gingerly at the bowl. ¡°Seems that Mike only speaks and understands Shil when he¡¯s had some alcohol.¡±


    Bel¡¯a frowned at that.


    Linnet nodded in agreement. ¡°I know, baby steps, just enjoy the cool air and try to behave yourself.¡±


    Bel¡¯a opened the water bottle and took a drink from it. She then poured it into the bowl. ¡°That one just gave us tap water. The nerve!¡± She lapped greedily from the bowl. ¡°But he was nice enough to give us proper drinking receptacles.¡± Her messy drinking dripped water onto the coffee table and couch. It came dangerously close to Bill¡¯s PS4 controller.


    ¡°Hey!¡± Bill yipped at her. He started to roll up a magazine as he fast stepped toward Bel¡¯a.


    In the best Shil Michael could muster he said, ¡°Please don¡¯t spill on our stuff!¡± It didn¡¯t come out clearly, but the girls got the gist.


    ¡°Hang on a sec, Bill!¡± Michael hissed.


    Linnet wiped at the coffee table with her hairy hand. Bel¡¯a started to lick at the droplets of water on the couch.


    Bill, momentarily paused, but returned to his self appointed task of disciplining Bel¡¯a and raised the magazine over his head.


    Bel¡¯a stood quickly and grabbed Bill¡¯s forearm before he could swing the magazine at her.


    ¡°Don¡¯t even try it, Human.¡± Bel¡¯a towered over the short and stout Filipino man.


    Michael heard and understood that message in Shil, but also in terms of sheer size difference. ¡°Ok guys. Let¡¯s take a breath!¡±


    Bill was unphased. ¡°Tell her she needs to be careful with my stuff.¡±


    Michael interpreted.


    Bel¡¯a guided Bill¡¯s hand to his side. Linnet slipped the glossy magazine out of Bill¡¯s hands.


    ¡°Oh, Game Informer.¡± Linnet read the cover aloud in the best English she could muster. It came out sounding a bit more like Gum Eenfornr but it¡¯s a worthwhile effort.


    ¡°Ok, who else is hungry?¡± Michael inquired in Shil and then in English.


    Bill¡¯s eyes hadn¡¯t disconnected from Bel¡¯a¡¯s. ¡°Order some Chinese.¡±


    It took Michael a split second to recognize the implication, though he caught it before he interpreted it. ¡°That seems a lot racist.¡± He thought a second more, ¡°And species-ist¡­¡±


    ¡°Racist!?¡± Bill jerked his head around to look at Michael, ¡°I¡¯m Asian!¡±


    Michael rolled his eyes. ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll make stroganoff.¡±


    ¡°Do we even have the stuff to make stroganoff?¡±


    ¡°We have some meat. We have some noodles. We can¡­¡±, Michael¡¯s eyes widened in disgust, ¡°scrape off the mold from the top of the sour cream. ¡°


    Bill was spurred to action, ¡°Hey, I¡¯ve got an idea.¡± He turned back to the Rakiri. ¡°Do you girls like to hunt?¡±


    Michael interpreted, though it was tinged with dubiousness.


    They looked at each other as though it were obvious and nodded, ¡°Um, yeah.¡±


    Bill rubbed his hands together, ¡°Maybe y¡¯all can tussle us up some grub.¡±


    After a little back and forth between Michael and the ladies about what ¡°grub¡± meant, Bel¡¯a asked, ¡°You mean like this?¡±


    She pulled out, from what had seemed to be a small hip bag, a dead snake.


    Bill clapped his hands in approval. ¡°Heh. Yeah, but we might need a little more than that.¡±


    Linnet wagged her tail for having caught Bill¡¯s approval. She grasped the concept of ¡°more¡± as well. She produced her own handful of snakes. Then Bel¡¯a pulled out a second one.


    Bill gathered up the snakes from the Rakiri and slapped them on the kitchen island. ¡°There¡¯s your meat!¡±


    He knew they were dead, but the glassy, limp bodies dropping on the island made him jump back. I ain¡¯t touching those fucking things. ¡°Why do you even have these?¡± Michael felt sick. ¡°Where did you get these?¡±


    Bel¡¯a replied first, ¡°They¡¯re everywhere. We tried to catch the little lizards, but they¡¯re quick!¡±


    ¡°I think those are called ¡®anoles¡¯.¡± Mike confirmed with a nod. ¡°Their necks have a different color and they puff out when they¡¯re showing off; trying to find a mate.¡±


    Linnet followed up, ¡°Ooh, handsome.¡± She winked at no one in particular. ¡°But these big tube lizards were easy enough to get. In fact, some of them came after us.¡±


    Michael¡¯s eyes became unusually large.


    ¡°That¡¯s probably because we were near their nests.¡± Bel¡¯a conceded. ¡°Which is fair. All the same, that¡¯s nature.¡±


    I¡¯d leave those fuckers alone if I knew I was near their nest and they were trying to defend themselves. Or, you know, existing near me at all.


    ¡°What¡¯s a matter, Mikey?¡± Bill slithered around the island. He straightened up before declaring, ¡°Wait just a second!¡± He ran into his bedroom and came back with his KBAR. ¡°Check it out! Remember my dream?¡± He nudged Michael.


    Michael chuckled lightly and uncomfortably.


    ¡°You can use it to prepare dinner.¡± Bill grinned mischievously.


    The knife shook in Michael¡¯s hand.


    ¡°C¡¯mon girls, help him out!¡± Bill waved the Rakiri to join them. ¡°Seems our boy Mikey¡¯s got a little fear of snakes.¡±


    There¡¯s no way for me to interpret that in a way that shows me in a good light. Fuck. Michael succumbed to his fear and stepped back from the table. He motioned with both hands for anyone else to take the stage.¡°Y¡¯all have fun..¡±


    I didn¡¯t have to tell them twice. Linnet, Bel¡¯a and Bill took to the work of gutting, skinning and deboning the snakes. They each took equal pleasure in the ripping, squishing sounds. Bill even let Linnet use his knife. She was gifted. In minutes all five snakes were cut into pieces, seasoned and ready to cook.


    Michael used the largest burner to boil the water to be ready for the noodles. Bill greased a large pan. The meat sizzled when it landed. Linnet watched, her tail wagged with a mind of its own. Bel¡¯a settled down on the couch.


    Bel¡¯a grumbled, ¡°Why are we bothering to cook? The meat was perfectly good as it was.¡±


    Linnet chided, ¡°You¡¯re on an alien planet. You should be willing to try new things!¡±


    Alien planet? Michael thought. I guess we are the aliens to them. And they are choosing to spend time with us. When compared to how I¡¯ve been treated by the Shil¡¯vati, I get it.


    Bill was too busy flipping the meat for Michael to bother interpreting.


    Speaking of trying new things, I¡¯ve never eaten snake. Maybe it¡¯ll taste like chicken.


    After adding a little of this and a little of that, Michael was happy with his snake stroganoff. Dinner was served.


    Bill and Michael took their places on the couch. Linnet and Bel¡¯a took spots around Michael. Before they could begin eating, Bill searched Netflix for something to watch. Michael poked around until he thought he¡¯d gotten a respectable bite of meat and noodle on his fork. Linnet had had a good amount of her plate finished. Bel¡¯a was already licking the plate.


    By the time Michael looked up from his plate. Bill had found what he wanted to watch. Old Yeller showed on the search bar. Michael gave Bill the death stare.


    Bill giggled and deleted the text. He opened up Pacific Rim instead. Huge robots and huge monsters, that¡¯s better?


    They all kind of dozed through the movie. Dinner hit the spot. Drama and violence could do nothing to stop sleep from overtaking them. Michael decided to hit the sack before Raleigh even got to Gypsy Danger. The Rakiri girls went with him. Bill found himself alone.


    ¡°Meh,¡± Bill admitted, ¡°Everyone¡¯s a critic.¡± He made sure he heard Michael¡¯s bedroom door click closed before he switched the movie over to Sixteen Candles.


    In his bedroom, Michael asked Bel¡¯a, ¡°What made you come here?¡±


    Bel¡¯a yawned and stretched in an extremely doglike simulacrum before replying, ¡°Linnet said that coming here was worlds better than staying on base.¡± She gave Linnet a nod, ¡°And she wasn¡¯t wrong. It¡¯s not hotter than the Void in your home. I can recognize what I¡¯m eating.¡± She raked her claws along the horizontal length of the bed. ¡°And I hear you have a nicer bed than we have on base.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how much this bed can take.¡± Michael questioned without enough care to not get on it.


    He got into his spot. Linnet got into hers, not without a little bit of shoving from Bel¡¯a. The bed seemed small with just Michael and Linnet, now with Bel¡¯a, he didn¡¯t know how it would work out. She managed to squeeze her way onto the bed around the footboard. There wasn¡¯t a single inch of mattress that wasn¡¯t covered by someone. Limbs piled on top of each other like logs. Any part that could have gotten cold through the night could have been blanketed by either Michael¡¯s comforter or someone¡¯s furry body parts.


    I¡¯m not sure what they¡¯re getting out of this, but it sure feels nice to not sleep alone.


    ¡ª-


    Outside of Bill and Michael¡¯s apartment, in the cover of night, a shiny purple brick circled the parking lot.


    It settled in behind Michael¡¯s dirty snowball colored LaCrosse. The HUD indicated that records verified that this was, indeed, Michael Greer¡¯s vehicle.


    The brick seemed to nod slightly before it bobbed higher. It spun in a circle, scanning all of the apartment buildings in the horseshoe.


    Heat signatures revealed several living entities in various places in multiple apartments.


    The HUD displayed Michael¡¯s drivers license. It showed an address in Yulee. The address was put in for a cross reference search. Jessica¡¯s driver¡¯s license appeared, overlapping Michael¡¯s in the HUD. Then they both slid into place side by side. A gigantic ? covered the address on the license plate. Large red text appeared which, in English, said ¡°Driver¡¯s License Information Does Not Match¡±.


    The purple brick seemed to rev, as much as a hovering brick powered by forces unknown to humanity could, and shot off in the night toward the Shil¡¯vati base.

 Six Pack Chapter 14 - Billy鈥檚 Day Out (KLANG!)

    Six Pack


    Chapter 14 - Billy¡¯s Day Out (KLANG!)


    Bill Zornosa had been close enough to the initial attacks on the day of the Shil¡¯vati Invasion that he felt the explosions before he saw anything. Michael had ditched him to go have a meal with Rachel. Michael knew, Bill knew, but Rachel didn¡¯t know that that meal would be the last one she would share with Michael as a couple. Fuckin¡¯ chump didn¡¯t even make her pay for her half of the meal. Couldn¡¯t even keep it together to break up with her after they¡¯d paid.


    Eh well, can¡¯t blame him. First time doing anything is never easy. That said, his second rebound, after that meal that didn¡¯t happen, came all too easy. He was out of the house before we could celebrate his newfound freedom.


    Then the Shil¡¯vati Invasion. Bill had tried to fight against the Shil. The arsenal he¡¯d amassed was of no use against the Shil¡¯vati foot soldiers who¡¯d come to clean up the city. Though he had fought back unsuccessfully, he hadn¡¯t gotten caught. His SERE training must¡¯ve gotten him through the tough times between invasion and occupation. He didn¡¯t talk about it much. He didn¡¯t talk much about his long history of violence. Those who Michael¡¯d met that knew didn¡¯t say much either. Some fucked up things have been honored, buried and will remain that way. It does no one any good to bring up memories that have been settled.


    And now, here ol Mikey is, shacking up with some dog women. Sleeping with a pack of bitches. Heh heh, I crack myself up.


    Bill had been awake in the early morning when the two Rakiri left this morning. He gave them his best impression of the Queen¡¯s wave as they quietly padded through the kitchen.


    Well fuck this. I don¡¯t need Mike. I¡¯ve dealt harder shit before.


    Michael came out of his side of the apartment, having finished his rituals and ready to go to work. He grabbed a banana from the counter and a coke from the fridge. When he turned to the living room, he paused to ask, ¡°You...uh, not coming to work today?¡±


    Bill was laid out on the couch, like one of those French girls, flipping through various menus on the tv. ¡°Nope. Not feeling it today.¡±


    Michael¡¯s face read like what Bill¡¯d just said did not compute. Michael followed up, ¡°You feeling ok?¡±


    Bill waved him off. ¡°I¡±m good. Have a good day. I¡¯ll see you later.¡±


    Michael¡¯s face was still unconvinced, but he let it go. ¡°Cool cool...see you later.¡± He proceeded down the stairs and out the door.


    Bill waited until he heard Michael¡¯s car ignition turn over before he announced to no one but himself, ¡°Well...time to get to work.¡±


    Bill got up and put his dirty dishes in the dishwasher. Picked up his dirty clothes and tossed them into the washer. He took a shower and shaved. Then he opened up his computer. After a good amount of browsing and checking his accounts he announced, ¡°That¡¯ll do pig. That¡¯ll do.¡±


    He ordered himself an Uber and took a trip from the city, to the country, over the Buckman Bridge. This was all familiar country. He knew the Orange Park area pretty well. Though, he had to admit his daughter knew the area a little better. Andrea had designed the traffic flow through the whole Blanding Boulevard.


    She¡¯s a good kid. Bill¡¯s mind slipped to wee Andrea. She came out a strong, independent woman. That said, she was undeniably his. The only two people who he had the strongest claim to were Andrea and his own mother. Bill kept Andrea¡¯s mother as far away as possible. Sometimes cultural pressure and informally arranged marriages do not work out. Their break up did not break his love for Andrea. In a way, he was her father who knew what was best; in other ways, he grew up with her. Sure he¡¯d had military training and battle experience, but when you go home afterward, you have to learn to live again.


    This was a whole new world for him. He should have picked up the signs. Andrea¡¯d had boyfriends, but they weren¡¯t anything that Bill had thought were ¡°true love¡±, if such a thing did exist. When Andrea went off to college things changed. A boy got her pregnant and refused to accept that the child was his.


    It was a shitty, shitty situation. Lawyers got involved. Ultimately, nothing good came of it. Andrea disavowed all romantic relationships with men. Bill didn¡¯t know what a windfall that would be for him. His anger subsided when she¡¯d invite her sorority sisters to his place to party. He didn¡¯t ever take advantage of his daughter¡¯s peers, mother-henning them more than anything else; but he accepted the fact that hot coeds were in his area.


    Plus, he got to spend time with his granddaughter. Tiana was an adorable, vibrant, bottle of joy who infused Bill with new life. Andrea was a phenomenal tiger mom. Tiana¡¯s tricks could fool Bill, but Andrea would not stand for it. She held the line for her daughter to become a strong, independent fighter who could fight her own battles.


    Bill¡¯s reverie ended, a bit abruptly, when the Uber arrived at his destination. His introspection had brought him back to where he¡¯d been that morning. He had had a hand in raising two fine, independent women and he, too, was a strong, independent person--for whom jealousy of his civilian roommate getting all the tail and envy of having transportation would no longer hold him back.


    He thanked the driver and quickly rated them on his phone. He looked at his bank account app. He looked at the craigslist advertisement. He was at the right place. He looked around the farmhouse.


    A man came out of the front door and welcomed Bill. ¡°You the fella interested in the bike?¡±


    ¡°Yessir.¡±


    ---


    It¡¯s not that Bill was desperate for a bike. He wanted the freedom the idea of a motorcycle gave their riders. It wasn¡¯t his first bike and he didn¡¯t figure it would be his last. That said, he had only test driven it for a mile or two before he paid the man and headed home.


    He should have talked the previous owner¡¯s price down a bit. It wasn¡¯t a hunk of junk, but it wasn¡¯t worth what he¡¯d paid. The first red flag was when the motorcycle sputtered to a stop near the apex of the Buckman coming home. He pulled over and stepped off to see what he could figure out.


    He eyed the connections on the battery. I¡¯m not about to disconnect and remove the gas tank to be able to dick around with the battery. While he was there, he noticed a switch that pointed to ¡°1¡±. On a 30 degree angle from the 1 was a ¡°2¡±. Oh, the reserve tank. He switched it over to two and mounted the bike again. He gave it a shimmy, as if that¡¯ll make the gas pass through to the right places, his mental sarcasm barbed back at him.


    Sure enough, it started up again. Bill managed to make it the rest of the way home with a few more snags. The clutch took a little more effort than I¡¯d¡¯ve liked to have had to use. It¡¯ll shift, but not all that smooth. I¡¯ll have to work on that when I can. Ah well, something to worry about later. He trudged up the stairs and looked through the upstairs living room window at his new toy. He grinned with satisfaction before laying back down on the couch and promptly falling asleep.


    ---


    Bill woke to the sound of the doorbell. Who the fuck would be ringing he doorbell? Fuck, did I fall asleep? The room swirled as he sat up and yelled, ¡°Hang on a minute!¡±


    To his surprise, he heard a voice come up the stairs. He couldn¡¯t tell who it was exactly, but he knew it was one of those damn dog women. He almost made it to the top of the stairwell before he collapsed on the floor. He saw the familiar figure of Linnet come up the stairs and place two armfuls of groceries on the kitchen counter. Her new, unknown accomplice, gasped before following suit. Linnet asked a few growly ¡°graw graws¡± before lifting Bill up and putting him back on the couch.


    He figured they were strong, but he did not expect that any one of them could pick him up. Nor did he expect to be placed so gently. The new Rakiri spoke to Linnet who promptly left Bill¡¯s side and brought a coke from the refrigerator.  Bill took a few sips. In a few moments, the room stopped spinning; he had a sheen of sweat that he hadn¡¯t noticed before.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Bill woozily asked no one in particular.


    The new Rakiri asked in loose English, ¡°Now day, you eat?¡±


    Huh, did I understand that? Damn, did I eat today? He shook his head, half in answer to the question and half in trying to get his wits about him.


    ¡°Sugar drink help?¡± The newcomer asked.


    Ordinarily, Bill wouldn¡¯t have taken a whiskered face asking him health questions as a sign that he was coming to, but life is weird like that sometimes. ¡°Yeah¡­¡± He breathed a big sigh of relief.


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    ¡°Good. Think you need to lay down more.¡± The stranger suggested.


    ¡°Who the hell are you?¡± Bill asked groggily. ¡°How did you even get in my house?¡±


    The newcomer held a hand to her chest. ¡°Me are Fala.¡± She held a hand out to shake his, ¡°Please to meet you.¡±


    Bill reached up to grasp Fala¡¯s. ¡°Mmm, pleased to meet you too.¡± He rubbed at his eyes, ¡°And how did you get in?¡±


    Linnet came in from Bill¡¯s side of the apartment with a wet pair of socks. She handed them with a ¡°graw graw¡± to Fala, who shrugged and accepted the wet socks. Fala placed them on his forehead. Fala answered, ¡°Door open.¡±


    Bill sat up, but held the socks to his forehead--the hell I did? But man these cold socks feel nice right now. ¡°No way! I know I closed the door.¡±


    Fala followed through, ¡°No. Door open.¡± She pointed at herself and Linnet. ¡°We see you on two wheel. We see you go in. Door open.¡±


    You gotta be shittin¡¯ me.


    ¡°Door open. We not come in before touching belly-button.¡± Fala put a hand on his shoulder and let his head fall into the other; she rested his head on a pillow Linnet had grabbed after a return trip to Bill¡¯s bedroom. ¡°Bel¡¯a and Harley look your two wheel.¡±


    Belly button, that¡¯s some funny shit. ¡°It¡¯s not a Harley. It¡¯s a Kawasaki.¡± Bill laughed with his eyes closed, leaning into the pillow.


    KLANG!


    ¡°The fuck was that?¡± Bill¡¯s eyes opened wide as he sat up straight. He sat up a little too fast as a sharp pain knocked around his head like a screw in the bottom of a metal bucket. Determined, he stood up, walked around the end of the couch and stood at the window.


    Fala rushed to his side. He looked at her, then at Linnet, who was putting grocery items into the refrigerator. Fala steadied him, but he wasn¡¯t easily swayed from the window. In the parking lot, where he¡¯d parked his motorcycle, Bel¡¯a and another new Rakiri had the gas tank of his motorcycle on the ground.


    Bill knocked at the window and yelled, ¡°HEY!¡± down at them.


    Their ears bent back and they slumped over in shame, tails between their legs. The newer newcomer grawed something up at them. Fala translated as best she could, ¡°Oops.¡± Her bashful face, ears drawn back and head down was almost enough to make him sorry for being mad.


    It wasn¡¯t enough though. Bill angrily pointed at the two Rakiri women in the parking lot and hollered, ¡°CAREFUL! I JUST GOT THAT!¡±.


    With that, Bill relented to Fala¡¯s gentle guidance back to the couch. He laid back down and returned the socks to his forehead. They were warming up. ¡°Fala?¡± He squeaked before she got too far away from him.


    She turned back to face him. Linnet banged around the cabinets, grabbing pots and pans. Fala squinted and turtled her head into her shoulders. ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Can you find the aspirin?¡± Bill held his thumb and first two fingers out in the vague shape of a pill bottle.


    Fala¡¯s head turned slightly to the side.


    Bill attempted to restate his request. ¡°Pain medicine? Pills?¡± He pointed at his forehead and made a pained face, ¡°Ouchie go bye bye circles?¡±


    Fala shook her head in affirmation and headed to Bill¡¯s bedroom.


    Bill lifted himself slightly off the couch. ¡°They should be behind the mirror!¡± He relaxed again for a moment, before considering again, ¡°Or maybe by the sink!¡±


    Finding his continued efforts disturbing, Linnet came to Bill¡¯s side and tried to coax him to calm down. Her efforts didn¡¯t bring much comfort, nor did Fala¡¯s return with a medicine bottle that was not exactly what he¡¯d asked for her to get. He looked at the label and returned it to Fala¡¯s hands. ¡°Take that back and look for a white bottle. Not one of these see through ones.¡± Bill hoped that that would be enough.


    Thinking beyond his aching head, Bill griped, ¡°What¡¯re they doing to my bike!?!¡±


    Bill heard the front door close.


    ¡°That¡¯s your bike!?¡± Michael exclaimed from the bottom of the stairs. ¡°Cool!¡±


    Bill rolled his eyes. ¡°Hi honey, welcome home!¡±


    Michael got to the top of the stairs and saw Bill on the couch. ¡°Well, you obviously moved.¡± He frowned, ¡°But you¡¯re in the same position I left you in this morning.¡±


    Michael turned to see Fela coming out of Bill¡¯s bedroom. ¡°Uh, who are you?¡± He frowned in confusion, then saw the pill bottles in her hands, ¡°I don¡¯t think Bill wants strangers rifling through his stuff.¡±


    Bill called out, ¡°Did she grab the aspirin?¡±


    Michael looked at the labels, his mouth buzzed with his speed reading. ¡°Bill Z. That¡¯s a big word that I¡¯ve not heard of here. There¡¯s a couple whole pills and a couple half pills in here.¡± He turned the other bottle in his hand, ¡°And this is the Cialis you got from me.¡±


    Bill groaned, ¡°No, I¡¯ve got a splitting headache. I should have some aspirin or something in my bathroom.¡±


    Michael held onto the other two pill bottles and replied, ¡°I¡¯ve got some ibuprofen in my bathroom. Want some?¡±


    ¡°Whatever dude. Anything.¡±


    Michael turned square with Fala. ¡°And, who are you again?¡±


    Fala put her hand to her chest, but Bill replied for her before she could speak. ¡°That¡¯s Fala.¡±


    Michael was taken aback. ¡°Since when do you speak Shil?¡±


    Bill took on an wizened affect, ¡°You have much to learn, Grasshopper.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, ok, Fala, can you put these back?¡± Michael pretended she knew English.


    ¡°Ok.¡± Fala replied.


    Michael made a face that spoke to his lack of surprise. ¡°Much to learn, huh?¡± He turned to Bill, ¡°Like this one speaks English?¡±


    ¡°Meds, please!¡± Bill clasped his hands in false prayer.


    Michael handed Bill¡¯s pill bottles back to Fala and turned to walk to his bathroom. He tried to stop by the fridge to grab some booze on his way. Linnet closed the fridge and pointed to Fala. He turned back to Fala and made a face that effectively communicated, what the hell, without him having to say it.


    Fala spoke again, ¡°No drink. We speak straight tonight.¡±


    Michael flared his nostrils and lifted his eyebrows as if to say, have it your way. He spun around with that face on only to have Linnet lean into him. She had the most Mom face he¡¯d ever seen on a dog...like alien. He straightened up and continued his pursuit in the bathroom.


    Michael came back out with a family sized bottle of ibuprofen. ¡°I hope this¡¯ll do.¡± He said, proffering the bottle to Bill.


    ¡°It¡¯ll be fine.¡± Bill accepted the large bottle, then asked, ¡°What¡¯re they doing with my bike?¡±


    Michael looked out the window to the parking lot. ¡°When I came out, it was in pieces, but now they seem to be finished and coming in.¡±


    Bill hummed in acceptance.


    ---


    Overhead, a purple metal brick hovered out of naked eye sight. It zoomed in on two Rakiri women walking into an apartment building.


    It fell to a level where it could see into the window. The heat vision HUD displayed the two Rakiri going up the stairs. Two other Rakiri were on the further end of the apartment, working on a surface heated table beside a cold, blue prism. On the couch was one human male. At the window was another human male.


    The heat vision swiped away, replaced by the visible spectrum view. The HUD zoomed in on the face in the window. From the brackets that framed the face grew a line that led to a display of a driver¡¯s license. The driver¡¯s license picture matched the face of the man at the window. A green check flashed atop the line between the faces on the HUD.


    The drone buzzed again before lifting up and out of view.


    ---


    ¡°Hey Bel¡¯a!¡± Michael chimed in her direction as she entered from the top of the stairs. She gave him a toothy smile and wave along with her tail wag. ¡°And our other new friend is..?¡±


    Fala interceded, ¡°This Harley.¡±


    Bill chuckled, ¡°Oh, her name is Harley!¡±


    Harley tilted her head at his laughing at her name.


    Michael smiled and tried to explain as reassuringly as he could, ¡°Harley-Davidson is a brand of motorcycles. Bill just got a motorcycle,¡± He turned to Bill, ¡°but it¡¯s not a Harley, is it?¡±


    ¡°Kawasaki Vulcan. I thought I got a deal on it, but now I¡¯m not so sure.¡±


    Now it was Bel¡¯a¡¯s turn to explain. Unfortunately, her target audience didn¡¯t understand her.


    Fala interpreted, ¡°Battery almost dead. Clutch crap. Lousy Human fuel. Tires old.¡±


    Well fuck me, I got duped. Bill complained to himself, then asked, ¡°What can do better than Human fuel?¡±


    ¡°Shil¡¯vati fuel¡± the Rakiri seemed to say in unison.


    ¡°The fuck do Shil¡¯s use for fuel?¡± Bill chided.


    Fela conveyed what Bill¡¯d said for the rest of the women.


    Bel¡¯a and Linnet began overlapping descriptions to answer Bill.


    Fala panicked a bit, looking from one proponent to the other. She turned to Bill and replied, ¡°It¡¯s complicated.¡±


    ¡°Ugh, I¡¯ll get around to fixing all that.¡± Bill grumbled, ¡°But you don¡¯t have to worry about driving me to work everyday.¡± He gave Michael sarcastic jazz hands.


    Fala relayed Bill¡¯s comment to the others. Harley replied.


    Fala responded to Bill¡¯s comment with Harley¡¯s answer, ¡°No worries. All fixed.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Bill doubted them.


    Michael confirmed, ¡°They had it back together before they came upstairs.¡±


    Fala conveyed the message and came back with this answer from Bel¡¯a, ¡°Definitely all good. We fix. No problem.¡±


    Bill was perplexed, ¡°How?¡±


    Fala circled the room, pointing at each of them:


    ¡°Linnet, Engineer.


    ¡°Bel¡¯a, Mechanic.


    ¡°Harley, Mechanic.¡±


    She then pointed to herself, ¡°Fala, Medic.¡±


    Michael thought back, ¡°Then do you know what those pills of Bill¡¯s were?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re for my cancer.¡± Bill answered before anyone could guess what they could be. ¡°I have prostate cancer.¡±


    Michael was shocked.


    Fala added, ¡°And maybe diabetes.¡±

 Six Pack Chapter 15 - Here鈥檚 a Piece of my Soul (CRASH!)

    Six Pack


    Chapter 15 - Here¡¯s a Piece of my Soul (CRASH!)


    Well I did keel over this afternoon. That could¡¯ve been low blood sugar. Shit. Bill¡¯s mind raced about as much as Michael¡¯s seemed to be running.


    Michael shook his head and held his hands up in exasperation, ¡°Any other surprises for me today?¡±


    Bill didn¡¯t move.


    Michael looked from Bill to their new guests. Then he looked directly at Linnet, ¡°Can I drink now? I think I have enough reason now.¡± He turned to Fala, ¡°You¡¯re doing great...Fella?¡± Fala shook her head and began to correct him, but he interrupted, ¡°It¡¯s weird for me to not be interpreting. Let me have a few so I can talk directly to y¡¯all.¡±


    Linnet bent her ears back with a squint and a slight reveal of teeth. She looked around at the rest of the room. She grawed exasperatedly before Fala interpreted, ¡°No. Must learn. No drinks.¡±


    Michael groaned, ¡°Fine. But when do I get to give up and drink?¡±


    The quartet of Rakiri gave Michael a collective look of concern after Fala communicated his new terms.


    ¡°Fine. Go. What shall we talk about then?¡± Michael flippantly replied.


    Linnet made an exuberant statement that made her compatriots smile and nod. Michael was clueless. Bill remained motionless.


    Linnet tried again, ¡°Hhhungry?¡±


    Bill silently rose into a sitting position.


    ¡°Oh. Yes please.¡± Michael replied, he heard Bill before he saw him. He turned in time to see one of the two socks fall off of his forehead. And then the other. Bill¡¯s eyes opened. Bill¡¯s reaction was reminiscent of a clockwork figure coming out of its hiding place to ring an hourly bell. Michael then answered for Bill, ¡°That¡¯s two votes for food. Yes.¡±


    Linnet and Harley took to the stove. Within a handful of savory smelling, crackling minutes, the meal was ready. Some portions Michael recognized. Some he did not. All were delicious. Most were meat. I keep hearing that I should eat something green, but all these women are svelte from this meaty diet.


    Grease dripped down Michael¡¯s chin as he chewed on a link of some form of thick sausage. ¡°This would go great on a hotdog bun.¡±


    ¡°Why you gotta make everything about your preferences?¡± Bill cracked a rib open and sucked on the marrow.


    After some back and forth from the Rakiri, Fala reported, ¡°We willing try this ¡®hot dog¡¯. What different?¡±


    Michael eyeballed the phallic meat that he was consuming. ¡°It is usually housed? Seated? Straddled by? What word am I looking for here, Bill?¡±


    Bill scanned the room before putting his plate down. He picked up his sausage, whatever kind of sausage it was, then he pointed at his crotch. He pointed at the nearest Rakiri, who happened to be Harley; rather than a general point in her direction, he indicated between her legs. Then with the hand pointing at Harley, he made a circle with the thumb and forefinger of one hand and put the sausage through it. He snickered shamelessly.


    Michael screwed up his face in disapproval. The Rakiri gave a range of reactions, from confusion to what may have been arousal, while all wagging their tails. The rainbow of emotions was perfectly bookended by Michael¡¯s frown--gradually changing to more and more amused--to Bill, who was almost rolling off the couch to the floor at his own humor and their reactions to it.


    ¡°Boy, I wish someone had taken a picture just then,¡± Bill said between laughing spurts.


    Michael whipped out his phone and mirthlessly took a picture of the couch occupants. Then he opened up a browser to look up hot dog images. Linnet and Bel¡¯a looked at the picture, unamused. Fala nudged Harley to grab Bill before he fell off the couch; though they were chuffing along with him.


    Bill managed to grasp Harley¡¯s forearm, her brown fur gave way an inch or two before he connected with her actual arm. They both seemed somewhat surprised, as though Bill didn¡¯t expect her arm to be so deep into the pelt; Harley didn¡¯t expect him to grasp as firm or fast as he did, so her whole body jerked toward him. Fala came around to the other side of Bill and picked him up with little effort.


    Bill¡¯s face was framed in the crook of her arm and the girth of her bust. I¡¯ve never seen him smile so big before, Michael mused at Bill¡¯s situation.


    Fala announced, ¡°I think it¡¯s time we get our patient to bed.¡±


    Bill nestled in a little deeper, gave her d¨¦collet¨¦ the side eye, then murmured a barely audible, ¡°Mama¡±.


    ¡°Goodnight all.¡± Fala said as she carried Bill to his room. She stopped, noting the resistance she¡¯d picked up. Bill still had a hold onto Harley¡¯s arm. Fala gave Harley a huff and a nod to follow in their direction. Harley excitedly scampered behind them.


    ¡°Fair enough.¡± Michael agreed. He, Linnet and Bel¡¯a carried all the dishes to the kitchen to clean up. Then they headed to Michael¡¯s side of the apartment.


    After the Rakiri women, it was Michael¡¯s turn to visit the bathroom. He heard Linnet and Bel¡¯a commenting on his way to his bedroom. ¡°What was that?¡± He asked.


    Bel¡¯a spoke first, ¡°Not understand sticker in bathroom.¡±


    Linnet interjected, ¡°Michael enjoy. Leave alone.¡±


    Michael took off his shirt and scratched his chest. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you all rather me be able to speak Shil, instead of you all working in English?¡± Did I draw out the ¡®ish¡¯ too much? Or did I blatantly say that their speech was ¡®English-ish¡¯?


    Linnet looked down, ¡°Want Michael know Shil straight.¡±


    Bel¡¯a followed with, ¡°Clear head.¡±


    ¡°So, it¡¯s a problem for me, to be drunk?¡± Michael tried to clarify.


    Bel¡¯a grabbed Michael by the hand, ¡°Problem? No!¡± She pulled his hand between her breasts.


    Linnet threaded her hand through Michael¡¯s hair, pulling it away from his face, ¡°Want...to be sure.¡±


    Michael was dubious, ¡°Sure of what?¡± I don¡¯t know that I like where this is going. It feels like a trap.


    The Rakiri suddenly pulled away from him and laid sullenly on the bed, tails between their legs. Linnet answered, ¡°We saw you on couch. That night.¡±


    Bel¡¯a looked away, ¡°We know Pennar¡¯dun, you...¡± Her voice trailed off for a second, ¡°We heard bed. Loud. Later, we see you sleep on couch.¡±


    ¡°Serca. Friend.¡± Linnet¡¯s voice choked up a bit. ¡°Miss her.¡±


    Bel¡¯a pulled Linnet closer to her. ¡°Not words for you forget.¡± She gestured as though she was lifting an invisible cup to her lips.


    Michael looked at the pair on his bed. For a moment, though, he didn¡¯t see them. He felt his chest ache. Like he couldn¡¯t breathe. He heard ¡®Gwen¡¯s¡¯ voice in his head.


    ¡°You Pink stiff.¡±


    ¡°...you fat fuck! You slut!¡±


    He shook his head and looked up.


    Goddamn. That really happened. And they really know. And they saw me. What a vulnerable position to be caught in! Ugh. They knew. They saw. But they¡¯re still here. More than that, they probably sought me out. They wanted to know more about the human who knew Serca.


    ¡°Can tell?¡± Linnet managed to get out before the dam burst and she started crying. ¡°Her last words?¡±


    Oh...yeah, I guess I can understand them asking that instead.


    Michael knelt down and took Linnet¡¯s hands in his own. He put a leg on the bed and tried his best to come close to her face without being too close. He thought better of saying it, but he thought bitterly, No...I couldn¡¯t tell you what she said. I WAS SOBER AND DIDN¡¯T UNDERSTAND HER!!


    However, before he could voluntarily say what his brain wanted him to say, the bed he¡¯d trusted so far, failed him. The footboard under the corner of the bed where Michael had leaned wasn¡¯t structurally sound enough to handle the weight of Michael, Linnet and Bel¡¯a together; metal side rail tore through the footboard and dropped to the floor. Two Rakiri and a not small man added up to a weight that caused the wood to splinter.


    CRASH!!


    Amidst the exclamations and recovery from surprise, two pairs of padded feet came running from the other side of the apartment.


    ¡°Are you all, alright?¡± Fala asked while she burst through the door. Harley nosed her way above Fala¡¯s shoulder to see inside the noisy bedroom.


    What they saw was a toppled trio of laughing bodies. Linnet¡¯s tears were still fresh as she managed to back herself up and over the back end of the bed that was still standing. Bel¡¯a had been the most impacted by Newton¡¯s laws as she had practically flipped over the bed from the furthest corner from the door to the nearest. Her face had landed precariously near to Michael¡¯s crotch. Michael, however, had rolled from his one-legged position on the bed to his back as the bed gave way. To defend himself from falling objects, he had held his hands up and out to block his face; unfortunately, this left him in a position where he had a handful of Bel¡¯a¡¯s chest and the other hand smashed between her stomach and his face. He found his way out from under her thick black fur through her legs. The only choice any of them had was to laugh or cry, since Linnet had already cried most recently, she started the laughter.


    Bel¡¯a lifted her head to look up at Fala and Harley in the doorway, ¡°Oops?¡±.


    Harley was quick to come to conclusions, ¡°Ooooh.¡± She winked, nodded and went back to Bill¡¯s room.


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    Fala scratched her head and mumbled something in Shil, then backed away and closed Michael¡¯s bedroom door.


    Michael retracted his hands from Bel¡¯a¡¯s body. She lifted herself from Michael and what was left of the bed. Michael rolled his way to a sitting position and up off of the floor. They all kind of scratched their heads before Michael suggested for Linnet to lift the bed up off of the frame. She and Bel¡¯a held the box spring and mattress in place as Michael lifted the rail hooks out of the head and foot of the bed.


    Michael stepped over the twin mattress that was already covering the majority of the closet floor. He stacked the metal rails and stood them against the corner on the inside of his closet. He did similarly with the wooden head of the bed and footboard.


    ¡°Why small bed in closet?¡± Bel¡¯a asked in her broken English.


    If tonight wasn¡¯t already a cocktail of pain, Michael thought of his daughter, Katherine. ¡°That¡¯s where my daughter sleeps when she stays with me some weekends.¡±


    ¡°You have...child?¡± Linnet inquired.


    ¡°I have two. Doug and Katherine. Katherine is older; this closet is big enough for us to pretend that she¡¯s got her own room with a door.¡± He shook his head in despair. ¡°I can¡¯t give them much, but I give them what I can.¡±


    Bel¡¯a and Linnet looked at Michael with pity, but kept themselves busy getting the bed back into a condition where one could sleep on it. That¡¯ll do for now. The mattress, pillows, sheets and comforter were set up on the floor. Better than nothing, he supposed.


    They seemed to drop the previous subject after all of the kerfuffle of breaking the bed. I know what I wanted to say, but maybe the bed breaking was God or Fate or Who Knows What¡¯s in Control telling me to not say that. What can I say instead? Michael pondered for a moment before he settled into what was left of his bed. He gave Linnet a sad look. She returned it, then gave him a smooch on his forehead.


    ¡°We all hurt.¡± Linnet whispered before she put her nose under Michael¡¯s neck and settled in with a nuzzle. Bel¡¯a looked at the door one more time before also curling up on his other side. As he had done the past several nights, Michael settled into a comfortable pile of limbs, fur and flesh and fell into a comfortable slumber.


    ---


    Later, perhaps much after Michael fell asleep, perhaps not, he was awoken by an unfamiliar noise.


    ¡°aaAWOOOOHHhh¡±, a voice rang out.


    Bel¡¯a and Linnet¡¯s ears twitched, their heads turned before the howl ended. If the noise hadn¡¯t woken Michael up, the sudden jerk of his bedmates would have.


    ¡°What is that?¡± Michael asked with a few suspicions in his mind. ¡°Well, which one of them is that?¡±


    Bel¡¯a responded without hesitation. ¡°Bill.¡±


    ¡°Bill!?¡± Michael exclaimed.


    Linnet sniffed deliberately. ¡°Yes, Bill.¡± She moved to get up.


    In utter confusion, Michael finally asked, ¡°What is going on?¡±


    Were they not in the darkness of the bedroom, Michael would have seen Linnet¡¯s pupils widen. ¡°Mating.¡±


    ¡°Mating?¡± Michael¡¯s whole face took a sarcastic slant. ¡°He gets some attention for the first time in who knows how long and he takes his one opportunity to get lucky.¡± He laid his head back on his pillow. ¡°Son of a¡­¡± He hesitated to use the word.


    Bel¡¯a and Linnet alternated huffing air.


    ¡°And you two have been in my bed the last, what? Three nights? And all we¡¯ve done is sleep.¡± Michael held his arms up in the air in disbelief.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Linnet said, grabbing Bel¡¯a around the waist. She kissed Bel¡¯a feverishly. Bel¡¯a kissed back, reaching for the side of Linnet¡¯s face to pull her closer. Linnet put her hand up to Bel¡¯a¡¯s head, gently rubbing her pointed ear flat before grabbing the nape of Bel¡¯a¡¯s neck and pulling her to the bed. Bel¡¯a yelped in surprise, then moaned in pleasure as she found herself being mounted by Linnet.


    What a selfish bastard, Michael thought, threading his fingers through his hair, slightly scratching his scalp. The sound of nails on scalp was as calming to him as the feel of it. I mean, sure, it¡¯s a scary thing that he passed out or whatever. And it¡¯s probably a good thing that those new girls were here and knew how to take care of him. But still, you don¡¯t need to check his thermometer to check his temperature.


    Bel¡¯a swept her hands up Linnet¡¯s sides and pushed the sports bra she was sleeping in off of her and onto the floor. Though dirty blonde fur covered Linnet¡¯s head, back and outer portions of her limbs, her undercarriage was lined with a thin, white, felt-like undercoat. Her nipples were dark brown beacons in a sea of white. Bel¡¯a¡¯s mouth followed her eyes to them. She kissed and licked at them greedily. Linnet moaned deeply.


    I mean, if that¡¯s a kind of ¡°treatment¡±, maybe I should ask if I need a check up. Michael kept scratching his scalp. Jeeze, isn¡¯t that kinda weird though? To be turned on by people you basically called ¡°dog women¡±? Beastiality or something like that?


    Linnet grabbed her breast from Bel¡¯a¡¯s mouth; it was removed with an audible pop.


    The sound broke Michael¡¯s meditation. Howling and now popping? What¡¯s going on in here?


    Still straddled over Bel¡¯a, Linnet reached behind her and pulled Bel¡¯a¡¯s shorts off of her. She felt for Bel¡¯a¡¯s wet warmth.


    Michael stopped looking at the ceiling and looked down at where the two Rakiri were grinding against each other. Aghast, he whisper-yelled, ¡°What is going on? You hear them getting it on and you two need to too?¡±


    Bel¡¯a didn¡¯t speak; she breathed in a high pitch. Linnet continued her digital exploration with one hand and used the other to latch onto Bel¡¯a¡¯s still covered breast, her grip tight enough to form finger-filling billows of flesh and fabric. ¡°Smell sex. Jealous.¡± She turned her focus back to Bel¡¯a¡¯s face, which regained its expression of appreciation.


    Smell sex? Are pheromones enough to get them going? Where the fuck is my head at that I¡¯m trying to analyze what¡¯s going on instead of just enjoying myself?


    Oh, the beastiality question¡­


    Fuck it, I¡¯ll try anything four times, but I¡¯ll not avoid watching something new happening when it¡¯s happening right in front of me.


    He let his tent start to pitch itself.


    Linnet fingered the bottom of Bel¡¯a¡¯s sleepshirt up so that she could expose Bel¡¯a¡¯s velveteen abs. She pushed the shirt further up and fanned her fingers across Bel¡¯a¡¯s bright pink nipple. Michael watched Linnet¡¯s exposed chest jiggle with the lift of Bel¡¯a¡¯s hips to the rhythm of Linnet¡¯s hand. Bel¡¯a was recognizably more endowed than Linnet, Michael realized as Linnet grabbed Bel¡¯a¡¯s nipple like a car key, twisted and pulled. Bigger than I thought, though I didn¡¯t really let myself think about it until just now. Bel¡¯a panted in a mixture of pleasure and pain; faster and faster as she approached climax. Michael felt his eyes widen in anticipation. The jiggling and the panting and the general ludicrousness of what he was witnessing overtook his overthinking. Bel¡¯a let out a final high pitched squeal as she arrived at Linnet¡¯s intended destination. Her body still shook, even when Linnet removed her hand and looked hungrily at Michael.


    His face flushed in a mix of fear and guilt from his perspective of voyeurism and the consequences thereof. Linnet¡¯s sultry crawl toward him made him try to cover his face with the comforter. Covered for only a second, he peeked from the top in time to see Linnet¡¯s hand come between his hands and jerk the comforter from him and off of the bed. There he was: his arms up defensively at his face again, his legs splayed out, his member almost poking out of his boxers.


    Linnet swung her body to one side as she slid her own shorts off of herself with her free hand then settled herself astride Michael. She leaned her breasts into his hands, which were still up in unneeded defense of himself. He melted them a bit to form molds of her chest to support her.


    ¡°You want,¡± Linnet¡¯s tail swished teasingly, ¡°Me?¡±


    Michael hesitated. The last time he¡¯d been in this position, he felt threatened. He was being called names. He was being told what he was going to do. That was not the position he was in now. This situation was a question. Linnet was clearly a motivated party in this instance, hypnotized by the pheromones carried forth by an old man howling from across the apartment, but she was still asking for his consent. In for a penny¡­


    He nodded, smiling weakly, determined, but not gung ho about it.


    ¡°Sure?¡± Linnet tilted her head questioningly.


    Michael saw Bel¡¯a recovering behind Linnet. She put a hand on the bed and started to join them. He turned back to Linnet and said quickly, shakily, ¡°Yes¡±.


    Bel¡¯a said something in Shil to Linnet. Linnet¡¯s ear tilted Bel¡¯a¡¯s way.


    Linnet said something resembling ¡°Ready too?¡±. That¡¯s how Michael initially interpreted the statement.


    He repeated, more steadily now, ¡°Yes¡±.


    Linnet grinned mischievously before straddling Michael again. While she did that, Michael felt two hands grab his boxers and pull them off from under Linnet¡¯s hips. Linnet¡¯s own hands were on either side of Michael¡¯s head. It took him a split second to recognize that it was Bel¡¯a who removed them. Ready too might¡¯ve meant ¡°Ready for two?¡± instead. He felt an unseen hand grab his erection and hold it in place while another lined Linnet¡¯s hips into place. The grip held as Linnet¡¯s lips brushed his tip and kissed the head, they could go no further for the hand that held him in place. Linnet chuckled as she was being teased as well. Bel¡¯a whispered more Shil.


    Linnet hissed, ¡°Ooh no, Bel¡¯a..! Bad girl!¡±


    Michael felt a shift as the hand removed him from inside Linnet to instead be used to glide her inner wetness to her surface. Bel¡¯a¡¯s using my dick to stimulate Linnet¡¯s clit! I¡¯m no more than a joystick to them. He soon banished that thought. I can be used without being, he searched for the right word, exploited. They¡¯re not using me for their own pleasure. They¡¯re using me to extend their pleasure. A handjob and sex in one go-round, these girls are efficient.


    Linnet slightly growled ¡°Stop!¡± She then begged in Shil, in hushed tones, to Bel¡¯a.


    Bel¡¯a responded with an ¡°Aww¡± and more hushed Shil.


    Michael didn¡¯t know the words that were being said, but could gather the context as Bel¡¯a¡¯s hand released finger by finger and Linnet replaced them bit by bit. Linnet and Michael smiled as they swam deeper into each other''s eyes. She held him for a minute. Bel¡¯a put her hands behind Michael¡¯s knees and lifted them so that his feet propped his folded legs into place. In doing so, she lifted both Michael and Linnet into a kind of wheelbarrow before she let them down. They both let out small yelps of surprise. This new arrangement had given Michael a new angle and a bit more leverage. Who knew how much geometry was involved in sex? All this jostling though, would have broken the bed for sure!


    All the same, Michael took to the new angle with enthusiasm, lifting Linnet until she got into a pistoning angle that pleased them both. He moved his hands down to her hips to hold her in place. All of her solid joists in place around him, he delighted in her fleshy cones jiggling in his direct line of vision as he penetrated her. Almost all of her was solid as steel, he thought, moving his hands from her hips, up her abs, framing her breasts, behind and over her shoulders, then down her triceps to finally grab her wrists to anchor himself to further lean up and into her.


    This is going pretty well, but I¡¯m not sure how much longer I can keep this up. Michael panicked a bit before feeling something tickle his inner thigh. No way those are whiskers.


    Michael faltered at the sensation he thought he was feeling. He, unintentionally, dropped Linnet onto himself. Between the tickling he thought he felt and the sensation of a Rakiri¡¯s full body weight on his hips, he was kind of off track. Linnet wasn¡¯t though. That last push was enough to send her over the edge. Her whole body shook in place on top of him.


    There it is again, that tickling. It wasn¡¯t long before he felt what must¡¯ve been Bel¡¯a¡¯s hot breath on his inner thighs and balls. Then he felt her tongue. Linnet shivered again. Bel¡¯a¡¯s tongue was painting a picture on and around his undercarriage. Linnet shivered again before whispering Shil and hopping loopily off of Michael.


    Now it was just Bel¡¯a and Michael. She had had her fun and was now coaxing him back into readiness with her mouth. Her tongue spread warmly from the tip at his butthole up to where she had lapped his balls into her mouth. Her sucking and gentle tugging had him battle ready sooner than he had imagined he would be. Then, ready for round two, Linnet lowered her head down to kiss a trail from his stomach that lead to her taking in his mouthful. Bel¡¯a mumbled something in Shil to Linnet with a mouthful of her own. Linnet released Michael and replied in kind to Bel¡¯a. They snorted at each other before they were on either side of him again. Linnet at the base and Bel¡¯a at the head, tonguing him excitedly. Bel¡¯a¡¯s breasts hung to either side of his leg, slapping him occasionally in her fervor.


    Though they were all having a good time, Bel¡¯a decided to have a turn. Her jugs smacked him like extra appendages up his thigh, on either side of his dick, up his chest until they pressed between her arms and onto his face, smothering him enjoyably.


    ---


    From outside of the bedroom window, the purple brick saw a dark colored Rakiri on top of a human. Their heat signatures indicated their shapes and species. Their outlines grew lines that became runes that indicated their names; Michael¡¯s driver¡¯s license dropped down from below the Shil¡¯vati runes that were his name; Bel¡¯a¡¯s military ID fell from the runes indicating her name. Another heat signature, which already had Linnet¡¯s military ID hanging from her runes, leaned its head toward the juncture between the first two heat signatures.


    With positive identifications, the drone lifted up and away from the window.

 Six Pack Chapter 16 - Mikey鈥檚 Day Out (A Three Hour Cruise)

    Six Pack


    Chapter 16 - Mikey¡¯s Day Out (A Three Hour Cruise)


    Michael woke up with a start. He felt like he couldn¡¯t breathe. There was something blocking his airway! He opened his eyes to find himself lower on the ground than he was used to when waking up. He coughed and hacked away at the dry feeling in his throat. He sat up and used the full force of his diaphragm. There it was. He could feel it. Just a few more strong coughs and he¡¯d have it.


    Kurrgh!


    Reaching into his mouth, he finally found the culprit: a wad of hair the size of a golf ball came out with his hand. A Rakiri fur ball. Damn. That¡¯s a new experience. Three more times and I¡¯m going to have to decide whether the actions that lead to this consequence were worth it.


    He laid back down. He fully remembered the writhing bodies. The warmth of their juncture. The feeling that they were having a good time and wanted him to have a good time with them. Yeah, it was worth it. He smiled and closed his eyes, savoring the memories.


    When he got up, ready and out, he and Bill made scant eye contact.


    ¡°Hey.¡±


    ¡°Hey.¡±


    They shuffled around each other before sitting down on the couch. The couch and the whole apartment seemed empty.


    Bill made a circling motion with his cup, watching the water inside swirl, ¡°You uh, ok in there? I thought I heard you cough up a hairball.¡±


    ¡°I did.¡± Michael glazed.


    ¡°Yup.¡± Bill took a sip. ¡±That checks out.¡± He looked at his phone, ¡°Do you think they¡¯ll be back tonight?¡±


    Michael, whose eyes were still glazed over, stretched out some hip soreness he¡¯d developed overnight, ¡°I reckon.¡±


    Bill tilted his cup and finished it off. ¡°Yup.¡± He got up and went to his room. When he returned, he had his riding gear on; he wedged his motorcycle helmet under one arm and jingled his keys in the other hand. ¡°I¡¯ll see you at work, then.¡± He said as he practically skipped down the stairs.


    All Michael had to say was ¡°See ya,¡± he doubted Bill even heard it. He went back to his bathroom to brush his teeth again. Finally accepting that he¡¯d lost the fight between satisfaction that his mouth was hairfree and the clock, he set out to leave for work.


    He¡¯d locked the apartment door and turned around when he saw that he wasn¡¯t going to be able to drive his car to work. It was blocked in, behind it, was a red Jeep. Michael wasn¡¯t sure how to take this. On the one hand, he was pretty sure that this was Rachel; on the other, the last time he¡¯d had a night of sex and confronted Rachel in a similiar timeframe, the Shil¡¯vati had invaded. What would happen today?


    ¡°Hey Rachel! I¡¯m glad to see you¡¯re out and about!¡± Michael tried to sound encouraging.


    ¡°Get in.¡± Rachel ordered blankly.


    Michael turned his car key in his hands, ¡°Yeah, I need to be at work, there, Rachel.¡±


    ¡°Call in. You¡¯re coming with me today.¡± He couldn¡¯t see her eyes for the reflective sunglasses she wore, but the rest of her face made it clear that she meant business.


    ¡°Uh, sure.¡± He said as he pulled his phone out of his pocket to call work and walked around the back of the Jeep. When he opened up the passenger side door he saw it, her prosthesis. I don¡¯t know what I expected. Jophrena told me she¡¯d refused to accept the Shil prostheses, but I guess I didn¡¯t expect what she would get to look ancient. The shiny plastic of the prosthesis gave a degree of uncanny valley to Michael¡¯s view of her. She had an arm, but it wasn¡¯t the one he knew her to have. It hadn¡¯t moved with her the way her natural arm would have moved. The more he stared, the more he recognized that it was essentially strapped to her side and seemingly attached to the gear shift. He noticed with slight shock that the ¡°hand¡± did not have fingers. It was more of an ice cream scoop that fit well enough over the knob of the gear shift.


    Rachel scolded, ¡°If you¡¯re done gawking, get in and close the door.¡±


    Michael gave a piddling apology and got into the jeep. He called work and let them know he wouldn¡¯t be available today.


    Rachel drove him to a house he knew wasn¡¯t hers since she, like him, didn¡¯t own a house. This house, this neighborhood, was out of Michael¡¯s price range. Hell, the apartment I do live in is only in my price range because I¡¯m splitting it with Bill. I think I''m too poor to be driving around in this neighborhood. Where¡¯s the gate where I buy a ticket to get into this place?


    Passing by several extravagant houses, Rachel parked them in the driveway of a house that was still, obviously above Michael¡¯s financial ability, but didn¡¯t impose quite like some of the others. It had an open design so he could see all the way to the kitchen from the windows that framed the front door. She got out and grabbed a tote bag which landed heavily on her side. Michael tried to spin from his side of the jeep to help her. Rachel diverted her path from his and walked to the front door to knock.


    At their knock, Ricky came to the door. Michael knew Ricky from the interpreting community, but did not know him. The term ¡°acquaintance¡± was too familiar as well. He was amongst Rachel¡¯s end of the local interpreting community that Michael simply did not know. Why had become obvious to him, they clearly did not run in the same circles. All the same, Ricky was a shade younger than Rachel and younger still than Michael. His chocolate hair matched his eyes. His skinny frame was fitted with a pastel green polo shirt, khaki shorts and some sort of slip on shoes.


    ¡°Oh hey!¡± Ricky ejaculated, hugging Rachel. He didn¡¯t quite give Michael the stink eye, but Michael was made to feel that he was not nearly as welcome as Rachel was. Michael only watched as Ricky¡¯s hand got caught in Rachel¡¯s prosthesis as he withdrew his hug.


    Ricky gave a quiet apology to Rachel then gave Michael a brief wave, for courtesy¡¯s sake.


    ¡°Come on in, I don¡¯t think Jack is ready yet. Do you want something to drink? We¡¯ve got water, orange juice, cranberry juice, a couple different wines¡­¡± He had already made his way to the refrigerator door by the time he added, ¡°We may have a beer or two, if you¡¯d prefer, Mike?¡±


    Goddamn¡­ Michael thought as he looked at the interior of the house, the woods, the pastel draperies, the abundant pillows. The picture frames were often underlined by gnarls of decorative driftwood. Rick and Jack were a happy couple according to the tasteful number of pictures of the two of them and their friends and family that surrounded him. His ogling was not interrupted by Ricky¡¯s question. My name is ¡®Michael¡¯, not ¡®Mike¡¯; ¡®Mikey¡¯ if I know you, but if I don¡¯t...it¡¯s not my name, so I¡¯m not going to answer to it.


    ¡°Uh, Mike? Drink?¡± Ricky tried to break Michael¡¯s gawking.


    ¡°Yeah, uh, no. No thank you, sir.¡± Michael babbled.


    ¡°Sir?¡± Ricky¡¯s face turned dramatically sour. ¡°That¡¯s my dad.¡±


    Rachel chided Ricky, ¡°I¡¯m impressed you don¡¯t call Jack ¡®sir¡¯. How much older did you say he is than you?¡±


    Ricky smiled mischievously right back at her, ¡°No, sometimes I call him ¡®Daddy¡¯.¡±


    Not knowing the guests were already in the house, ¡°Yes dear?¡± Jack¡¯s voice called as he approached. He was a tall, skinny man who seemed significantly older than Ricky. His gray hair topped off his eagle-like face. He wore a navy polo shirt, darker khakis than Ricky, but of a similar style. He, too, wore the same slip on shoes; they seemed like they would not be comfortable for a long walk, but could breathe and likely dry off quickly.


    Ricky¡¯s face flushed red. ¡°Jack, you remember Rachel.¡± He held his hand toward her.


    ¡°Ah yes, Rachel!¡± Jack breezed past Michael on his way to hug Rachel. He, too, got his arm tangled with her prosthesis, but took a second to not retract, but to beg her pardon as he pulled a few straps tighter. ¡°Good to see you. How are you and Lefty, getting along?¡±


    Rachel¡¯s eyes looked down as she answered. Michael¡¯s eyes followed her as far as the dusting of freckles on her cheeks. ¡°We¡¯re still working things out between us. Still haven¡¯t gotten the knack of getting her on tight enough by myself to keep her from getting loose when I shift gears.¡±


    Jack smiled broadly at her, ¡°You know, we have better equipment at the hospital, if you wanted you could swing by the office sometime this week and grab one of the new Shil¡¯vati models.¡±


    Rachel smiled back, but her eyes said ¡°hell no¡± in a way she would never say aloud to the man who had seemed to have outfitted her with the prosthesis. Ricky, behind her, motioned with his hand across his neck while mouthing ¡°don¡¯t¡±.


    Jack turned to Michael, ¡°Or you could get this big fella to help you out with that old rig.¡± Michael smiled back politely. His eyes begging Ricky to also intervene here.


    ¡°Been there, done that. No thanks.¡± Rachel replied curtly.


    Jack looked at Ricky, who again gave him a slight nod and wide eyes. Jack was surrounded by three sign language interpreters who were trying to speak to him without words. He held his hands up in exasperation, ¡°Rick, honey, can you unmoor the boat while I grab a couple things for the cooler?¡±


    Ricky cleared his throat and straightened his shirt before turning to go outside. Jack gave him a deliberate butt pat as he did. Michael looked at Rachel, again with his eyes and a shrug, asking what was going on or what he was supposed to be doing here. I¡¯m a fucking fish out of water here. She gave him wide eyes and a quick thumb to follow Ricky.


    Rachel pulled a too shiny flesh-ish hand to the top of her tote bag then ratcheted the ice cream scoop ¡®hand¡¯ attachment off of her prosthetic and put it into the tote bag. She then pulled the ¡®real¡¯ hand attachment from the top of the tote bag and ratcheted it onto the prosthesis. With that done, she turned to Jack, ¡°Is there anything I can help you with?¡± While Jack¡¯s head was in the refrigerator, she jerked her head in Ricky¡¯s direction for Michael to go, ¡°I brought some sunscreen and a towel¡­¡± She continued as Michael went further out of earshot.


    Michael tried to navigate his way outside and around the house to the back where he found Ricky was already on a boat tied to what appeared to be their personal dock behind the house. What is their life? Michael mused, not envious exactly, but mentally estimating the cost of the properties and materials he found himself surrounded by at the moment. Ricky flipped switches and checked dials and got the boat started with little preparation.


    If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°Is there, uh, anything I can do?¡± Michael asked not knowing what else to say.


    The question didn¡¯t stir Ricky¡¯s focus from the controls of the boat. He looked Michael¡¯s way as he hopped off the boat and said in passing, ¡°Make sure it doesn¡¯t go anywhere.¡± Then ran up the steps toward the house.


    The boat¡¯s engine was running, but not engaged. The water rippled with the purring of the boat¡¯s engine. It wasn¡¯t a sport boat though definitely not a pontoon, the cabin cruiser looked used but not uncomfortable. It tugged at the rope which held it in place, but not angrily.


    ¡°Sure thing.¡± Michael answered quietly back, not sure what he would do if it did go anywhere. He looked from the boat to the waterway behind it. There were gigantic waterfront houses in the distance. He looked back at Jack and Ricky¡¯s house with it¡¯s relative modesty. Looking over to the right of the house to the steps he¡¯d just come down, he saw Jack and Rachel sauntering toward him; Jack with a large cooler and Rachel with her heavy tote bag.


    Jack swung one end of the cooler onto the side of the boat. The boat shifted but didn¡¯t turn. He proceeded to hop both legs over onto the boat and slid the cooler into some unseen compartment. He returned and offered a hand to Rachel. She handed her tote bag to Michael and took Jack¡¯s hand. Together, not without effort, they hoisted her onto the boat. She motioned for Michael to hand back her bag.


    He held it up by the straps toward her. He tried to support this effort by grabbing the bottom of the bag. His hand slipped on a plastic bottle, which moved easily but caught on a hard metal prism. He tried not to think about Rachel packing an uzi with her, but that¡¯s what his hand told him she had as he lifted the bottom of the bag toward her.


    From behind Michael, Ricky swooped past and lifted himself over the side of the boat without using his hands. Michael huffed jealously and readied himself to do something similar. His brain told him that wasn¡¯t going to happen before he¡¯d taken his second step toward the boat. His hands grasped the side when he perceived that Jack had told Ricky something and that something was now being conveyed to Michael. ¡°Would you mind untying the rope?¡±


    Michael¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°Sure. The rope.¡± I¡¯ve not untied anything more complicated than my shoelaces. This can¡¯t be worse than that, can it? He thought as he let go of the boat. He took the few steps to the tiedown on the dock. He grabbed the loose end and pulled a bit this way and that. It came loose rather easily. Surprised, he wrapped the rope around his arm and made to throw it up to Ricky. There, that wasn¡¯t so bad. He thought as he grabbed the side of the boat and instead of pushing down to swing his leg over the side, he accidentally pushed it away from the dock. His caution paid off, as he didn¡¯t blindly swing himself into the water.


    He smiled knowingly at the rest of the crew. ¡°I knew that would happen. I, uh, I meant for that to happen.¡± He brushed off his inner panic and pulled the side of the boat toward him. Again, surprising to Michael, it came nearer though not without effort. He braced himself to get on again, this time making sure he didn¡¯t push away again and instead he pulled toward himself while pushing down to get his leg over the side.


    Gracelessly, he stepped onto a seat and swung his other leg around and into the boat. I¡¯m in! Michael celebrated internally. The others on the boat weren¡¯t as impressed. Jack pulled a baseball cap from the dash, put it on his head and turned the steering wheel viciously before pushing the accelerator and carefully backing the boat out and away from their home.


    The engine roared and the wind whipped loudly enough that audible communication was useless. Ricky and Rachel signed about work inanities for a bit before giving up. Michael sat there, understanding the context of the conversation, but unable to participate since that wasn¡¯t anything he had anything to do with; so he sat silently, trying to take in the sights without getting too worried about what the hell he was doing on a boat in the intercoastal waters of Jacksonville. Just enjoy the ride while it lasts.


    Eventually, Jack got the boat sidled up to a dock beside a restaurant that Michael had never paid attention to in the past. It was along the side of the McCormick Bridge; he had seen the sign and been curious, but not curious enough to go to the Clam Stamper Inn. Curious destination, given his company, but this was their destination.


    Everyone got off the boat and to a table. Drinks and food were ordered. Michael was bewildered by the menu and it¡¯s exorbitant costs. The most cost effective choice for him was the Bloody Mary Buffet. Never had a Bloody Mary, so I don¡¯t know if I like it or not, but I see some big ass glasses filled with a plateful of food skewered atop...I¡¯ll try anything four times.


    When drinks were tabled and food was coming, Rachel got down to business. ¡°I need your help.¡±


    Jack swallowed his mimosa faster than he¡¯d¡¯ve preferred. ¡°More? Help?¡±


    Ricky tried to smooth over the rough start. ¡°She thinks we could help her make some¡­¡± He scoured the deck for interlopers, ¡°Changes.¡±


    ¡°Changes, huh?¡± Jack looked around to try to figure out what Ricky was suspicious of, ¡°Well haven¡¯t we had enough changes around here? The invasion had forced all of us to adapt to things.¡±


    ¡°Those are the exact changes I¡¯d like help to¡­undo.¡± Rachel swept the deck with her eyes.


    ¡°Uh huh.¡± Jack grumbled then took another sip. ¡°What changes do you think we could help you make?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been probing for weaknesses at the fort.¡± She picked a pickled pepper skewer from her Bloody Mary and poked it at her plate. ¡°And there aren¡¯t any. Not directly anyway.¡± She waved the pepper skewer from the plate over to Jack¡¯s cap on the table between them. ¡°But I do think we can hurt them with an indirect attack.¡±


    Jack waved her on, ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡±


    Rachel nudged her tote bag over to Jack. ¡°Look under the towel?¡± She took a bite of the pepper.


    Jack did as she asked. His head and shoulders bobbled from the seat as he quickly put the towel back. ¡°Is that what I think it is?¡±


    Is it a gun? A gun would be ineffective. What else could it be?


    Rachel smirked, ¡°That is a container of plastique and a stick of dynamite.¡±


    Jack spun his head around to Ricky, he whispered angrily, ¡° Did you know she had this shit on my boat!?¡±


    Ricky gave a faux shrug.


    Rachel soothed, ¡°It¡¯s not armed. I just wanted to show you how serious I am. If I could get some capital from you, I could buy three hundred of these--¡±


    ¡°And do what!?¡± Jack rasped.


    ¡°Blow up the power station out in West Jax! That could take out their power source for at least a few minutes.¡± Rachel insisted.


    Jack put his glass down forcefully. ¡°Rachel, you¡¯re a sweet girl; I can appreciate how angry you are at the Shil¡¯vati for taking your arm, but getting revenge is not going to lead to you feeling better. You get revenge on them, then they come back on us--If you don¡¯t blow up my Goddamned boat while you¡¯re scheming.¡± Jack crossed his arms. ¡°And why¡¯d you bring this guy? I suppose he¡¯s supposed to back you up.¡±


    Michael had, thus far, been picking at a piece of burnt bacon atop the other toppings that he had found unsatisfactory. He saw Jack¡¯s finger point at him and tried to respond. ¡°I don¡¯t know what I¡¯m doing here. Like, at all.¡±


    ¡°If anyone, Mike has the most reason to get revenge on those Purple Bitches.¡± Rachel hissed, ¡°They raped him!¡±


    ¡°Fuckin¡¯ yikes!¡± Michael recoiled along with the two other men.


    ¡°You can¡¯t say that they had any right to belittle and abuse you!¡± Rachel cried.


    Michael thought for a minute before he answered, ¡°What they did was unacceptable. I am not proud of my behavior and I am not glad for what happened to me. I must insist that what happened to me was not done by all of the Shil¡¯vati. There was a very specific ¡®Purple Bitch¡¯ who actually assaulted me.¡± He summoned a bit more courage. ¡°I¡¯m sorry that they took your arm. We don¡¯t know who exactly did that and that¡¯s hard to take. Whoever did it, she was probably following someone else¡¯s orders.¡±


    Rachel¡¯s face steadily turned red.


    Michael continued because he was on a roll, ¡°You were, and I guess are still, an aggressor in this relationship. Of course they¡¯re gonna come gunning for you after you sent those guys in on a suicidal ambush on the base!¡±


    Ricky sucked steadily on his Bloody Mary as Michael spoke.


    ¡°And how different is what they did to me to this: You using Me as an excuse to get your revenge? What the fuck, Rachel?¡± Michael¡¯s voice had risen to a volume that people at the surrounding tables had taken notice.


    ¡°Well well well, Mikey.¡± Jack noted, ¡°Seems like there was a reason she got with you. Too bad she got the business end of your ire this time.¡± He turned to Rachel. ¡°Look, your boy here is right. You have no business blowing anything up. I¡¯m not going to help you with that.¡± He saw the disappointment on her face. ¡°Look, it¡¯s devastating to lose a limb, I work with amputees everyday. With the Shil¡¯vati technology available to us now, we can make for you an arm that, frankly, would be better than the one you had: stronger, faster, with the ability to feel up to a certain threshold--that you can adjust! Hot coffee will not burn you! Cold can be felt as cold as you want it but no colder.¡± He looked around, to make sure everyone was attending their own business again, ¡°You don¡¯t need that primitive prosthetic. You should see the sexy new ones we can make. We can put a vibrator function in it, if the big guy over here doesn¡¯t do it for you in bed¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯M NOT WITH HIM!¡± Rachel burst! ¡°He doesn¡¯t do anything for me! He cheated on me!¡±


    ¡°Then why is he here with you? What am I to think of all this? You ask to hang out with us, then you bring this guy--which is fine, turns out he might have a point or two--but then you try to use his plight as leverage to ask me for money? So you can try to blow up a power grid that might take out the base¡¯s power for a few minutes?¡± Jack spoke each sentence in a more hushed tone than the last. ¡°I know Ricky loves you to pieces and I¡¯m happy to work with you for your wellbeing, but I will not be a party to your terroristic threatening!¡±


    Rachel looked down at the table. For a moment, Michael could see the rage flash from within her. In the next, she was cool as a cucumber. ¡°Ok. Well, no reason to ruin a good trip with friends. The best I could expect was yes. The worst...well, the worst could be that you say ¡®no¡¯ and think I¡¯m still with Michael, I guess. And now that that¡¯s done, I guess we should enjoy the rest of our day.¡±


    Ricky saw his place to speak up, ¡°Rachel, you¡¯re a strong, independent woman and I¡¯m sure you--¡±


    Rachel cut him off with, ¡°Thank you, Ricky. I heard the message loud and clear.¡±


    With that, the rest of the meal, the boat ride back to their home and the jeep ride back to Michael¡¯s apartment was filled with mundane conversation that Michael would rather have not heard than to have to ignore.


    When Rachel dropped Michael off, she apologized, ¡°I am sorry that I tried to use you. When I heard what you did to me, to get to Amber, I felt so used. And then even more was taken from me right after I heard.¡± She gestured at her arm as if she needed to emphasize her loss.


    Michael roiled his best response, ¡°I know it was a series of shitty decisions. I don¡¯t have any reasons or excuses or anything that can bring you comfort other than the fact that I am a shitty guy. You deserve better than the person I am right now. And then we both lost our friend. And your loss. And the loss of my dignity and credibility and¡ª¡°


    Rachel cut him off, ¡°Mike, Mike, stop. No apology is going to fix this. And you¡¯ve got a point, I was using you, you took advantage of me. Maybe time can make this work, but I cannot forgive those purple bitches.¡± Her arm squeaked as she shifted.


    Michael saw her anger on her face. ¡°The Imperium may be awful. There may be a few bad apples. But there are good ones. Maybe the other races aren¡¯t that bad either. The Rakiri I¡¯ve met have been nice enough.¡±


    Rachel hooked an eye at the door to his apartment. ¡°I can tell from all the shedding hung up at the bottom of your front door. You got a puppy mill going in there?¡±


    Jesus, I hope not. Michael panicked as internally as he could but not as internally as he¡¯d wanted.


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re fucking dog people now?¡± Rachel straightened her glasses.


    Michael raised his hand to find a defense. ¡°I¡¯m going to go before I incriminate myself further.¡± He stepped out of the Jeep. The sky was still a strong cyan to the east, but the clouds were rolling in from the west. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡± He sighed deeply, ¡°In general.¡±


    Rachel gave him a flat smile, a nod and drove off.


    Michael fiddled with his keys for a moment before stepping for the door. Rachel finds out about Amber the same time she loses her arm. I go fuck Amber the same night as the invasion. And now, at the end of this Rachel¡¯s shitshow, she finds out about the Rakiri. I didn¡¯t even say anything! She could tell. Fuck. All that and I had the gall to enjoy last night. This may be what I deserve. Again.


    ¡°Was that Rachel?¡± Beside him a voice asked in passable English.


    Michael defensively threw his keys in the air while covering his face. Through his fingers he saw Linnet. She caught his keys by the ¡®I ?? Jesus¡¯ lanyard he kept them on; they jangled when their inertia was halted.


    ¡°Jesus, Linnet! You almost gave me a heart attack!¡± Michael breathed.


    ¡°Who is this ¡®Jesus¡¯ you call for?¡± Linnet read the lanyard. ¡°You also keep their name on your keys?¡±


    Hands still on his chest, Michael responded, ¡°One question at a time. May I have my keys so we can go in?¡± He let go of himself and got the keys back from Linnet. ¡°How¡¯d you know that was Rachel?¡±


    Linnet casually said, ¡°You mention her in your sleep sometimes.¡±


    Since his poker face wasn¡¯t working well today, he turned to hide his surprise and move on to the next subject as he unlocked the apartment door. ¡°Jesus is a central figure in Christianity. It¡¯s kind of a big deal around here. I was raised in the church but fell out of practice a few years ago. I mostly keep this lanyard as a theft deterrent; no one¡¯s going to steal the keys from a ¡®good Christian¡¯.¡±


    ¡°You mock your God?¡± Linnet mused.


    Michael tried not to huff up the stairs, ¡°I mean, yeah?¡±


    Linnet chuckled behind him, ¡°That checks out.¡±


    Suspicious, Michael asked, ¡°How¡¯s your English getting so much better?¡±


    Linnet shrugged, ¡°YouTube.¡±

 Bonus Chapter - Peace of Candy (I鈥檓 a Real Unicorn!)

    <div>


    <div>


    Bonus Chapter - Peace of Candy (I¡¯m a Real Unicorn!)


    Halloween Contest 2021


    ¡°They thought I was crazy when I left my pod and went with the missionaries. But I was over it, you know? After conquering so many planets and expanding the Shil¡¯vati Imperium, I started wondering, ¡®Are we the bad girls?¡¯ Not to mention the things we¡¯ve done to those we¡¯ve conquered, the willing and unwilling alike; those are, to my mind, some of the most grotesque.


    ¡°Why do we do what we do? We, the proud Shil¡¯vati, with our royal colors shown in every facet of our lives: our armor, our clothes, our equipment. Purple is a majestic color indeed, but when it¡¯s everywhere it becomes overwhelming. I ask why, but in many cases, I know why; the Rakiri had a makeshift society including their own ¡°nobility¡±. What a laughable farce, indeed. Treating those hairy beasts as though they were equal to our Empress. Ha! They needed to learn their place. The Helkam, well, I don¡¯t give those slimy dregs the time of day. One day, though, by the Sea of Souls, we will have the Ulnus; they will meet the treads of the Imperium¡¯s boot.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what it is about these Humans though. They have struck me as a people with some, I don¡¯t know what to call it, but they have some kind of pull on me. I mean, sure, they do have visual appeal. Eye candy is what it is, I¡¯m only a woman. But more than that, the chaste among them are just so endearing. There¡¯s something beyond my crustaceous brain, that the beliefs of the Humans are...universal?


    ¡°Now I¡¯ll admit the first piece that caught my eye was the man wearing only a loincloth, suffering so on the tree; my instincts demand that I respond to a damsel in distress, if you will. Then all the other iconography showed his peaceful demeanor with the woolen beasts. There is one piece that I have hidden away on my omnipad in a folder named ¡°Reports¡± where this mythical man is shown wielding a whip. But again and again, his long hair, his bare chest, his smouldering eyes that see into my very soul--there are feelings, longings that I cannot describe in enough detail in this journal.


    ¡°And yet, more than that, his disciples range all around this planet. His disciples speak about giving to the poor, a concept below our Shil¡¯vati constructs, but good for them for trying before we came to show them how it¡¯s done! They all claim peace. I didn¡¯t know how much I longed for peace until I came to worship with them. They are kind enough to have large, though shallow, benches in his house of worship where a girl can sit and not feel cramped like most of their other seating accommodations. They wear formal robes and stoles and take great care to show the majesty of their lord.


    ¡°The first time I came to service, as they call it, I found comfort in the ritual. The order of things calmed my being. They seduced me with thoughts of harmony between everyone under ¡°God¡¯s love¡±. I¡¯ve been raised in the Imperium, where the only love I¡¯ve received has been that of the Empress: cold, dark, mysterious and distant. Here, in their house of worship, I could feel the presence of the lord. They did not make me feel like an outsider. These pink-skinned lilliputians welcomed me with open arms. They even invited me to a meal after the service.


    ¡°This ¡®lord¡¯ of theirs was no stranger to meals as well. The ¡®potluck¡¯ was a jovial affair where various attendees brought items from their homes with them to share with others. It was an amazing spread! ¡®Pastas¡¯, ¡®casseroles¡¯ and baked or fried meats; small stacks of meat, cheese, a leafy vegetable on bread; baked tubers called ¡®funeral potatoes¡¯; sliced and fried tubers called ¡®potato chips¡¯; beverages of a dark variety called ¡®tea¡¯ and of a lighter variety called ¡®lemonade¡¯ and other foodstuffs aplenty! And the desserts; oh, what a joy! There were ¡®cakes¡¯; smaller, wrapped bundles of cakes, ¡®cupcakes¡¯; ¡®Chocolate¡¯ pies and tiny wrapped bricks with different fillings.


    ¡°And just like that, I was full of food and full with ¡®the spirit¡¯. I left there to return to my barracks. It was a crisp evening in autumn. The Human homes between the church and the base were covered in webbing, hollowed and carved gourds and other items which I learned were a part of a seasonal custom referred to as ¡®spooky¡¯. These Human customs were unfamiliar, but not entirely without charm. I had heard several youths debating their costumes for an evening called ¡®Halloween¡¯. The more I heard the more I thought about shopping around the idea with my pod. A common cryptid was the ¡®witch¡¯. They often had green skin, according to the conversations I overheard; how odd would it be for me to take advantage of my purple skin--an oddity to the Humans--to dress as a witch?


    ¡°I¡¯d given it a week before I returned to the church service again. There were more services during the week, but I had my own duties and thought the extra services seemed a bit excessive. I had, however, given serious thought to going if they did make a call to the altar during this service. I think I would like to give my life to Christ. Perhaps I could be forgiven for my sins, as they called them. I have done awful things in the call of duty. I¡¯ve witnessed others do worse. But maybe, just maybe, if I can be forgiven, so can they.¡±


    The voice reading aloud from the omnipad ended the last sentence with a mocking tone that transitioned into a laugh. ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ll forgive you, sugartits.¡± The reader took a long drag from his cigarette before dropping the omnipad from his face to his left side. He blew his smoke into the writer¡¯s face.


    She turned her head, clamping her eyes and mouth shut as best she could. The dim lighting of the fellowship hall kept the side of her face hidden in darkness. When she turned her face back toward the reader, he saw the dirty tube sock that was bound around her face covered the sock¡¯s partner which was stuffed into her mouth. Her right eye shone wetly with a fountain of blue that flowed down her face.


    ¡°You know, Boss, that was some sick shit you did, but it worked. She wouldn¡¯t open her eyes to open the omnipad, but you were right.¡± The reader lifted up his right hand to reveal a twelve and half inch fixed blade army knife. The tip of which had skewered upon it an eye with a black sclera and gold-rimmed iris. The blackness of it reflected the single overhead light as well as the tied down body of the Shil¡¯vati author on the table. The reader also saw, behind him, several of the church¡¯s parishioners; their smiles grew as they saw themselves reflected in the eye¡¯s blackness as the reader turned the knife in the air. ¡°The omnipad only needed an eye to unlock.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your cooperation in this endeavor.¡± The person referred to as ¡®boss¡¯ turned toward the light to regard the reader. Her cherubic face smiled down on the Shil¡¯vati author. ¡°And thank you, despite your lack of cooperation.


    ¡°We will, of course, be paying you in the fashion we can once we get more information out of this omnipad; whether that means lasers, technology we can glean from the omnipad itself or just plain cash.¡± The boss swept her good arm toward churchgoers the author could recognize even with one eye while being tied down to the table.


    One of the elders amongst the group held up a hand, ¡°Oh no, it¡¯s our pleasure to rid this place of just one of these purple devils.¡± Anger radiated from the once, oh, so welcoming, crowd. ¡°We only hope that this is a step toward ridding the rest of the world of them.¡±


    Once again, the boss graced them with her angel¡¯s smile.


    From the table, the author pleaded, ¡°But peace? I thought that you people wanted peace in all the universe?¡± Tears welled and spilt from her good eye, ¡°I thought if, like you, I could ask for forgiveness from Jesus--¡±


    ¡°Keep HIS name out of your filthy devil mouth!¡± Someone in the crowd shouted amongst similar vehement murmurings from the crowd.


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    The boss reached up to the author¡¯s face, grabbing her right tusk with a heavy prosthetic hook. With her left hand, the boss twisted the clamp tighter then leaned down, giving her metal arm an angle on the table. She then lifted her metal arm in the air, still attached to the tusk so that it bent at the elbow at an unnatural angle. The author¡¯s head lifted up from the table. The boss then gripped the bicep of the metal arm and swung her full weight down toward the floor beside the table. She dropped and, with a crunch, her hooked arm came down with her.


    The crowd and even the reader were first aghast for a moment, then curious, leaning closer to see if the boss was ok.


    The author sprayed blue blood from her mouth and hooted, ¡°Fuck!¡±


    The crowd backed up at the blue mist that rose from the table.


    The boss noisily clambored herself up from the floor. Metal arm scraping the faux wooden floor, her legs swept ungracefully around and under her so she could lift. From the other side of the table, her chubby face pooched into a smile that was misted with blue. She looked down, clipped and latched some prosthetic arm apparatuses into place before lifting her hook in front of her face. The author¡¯s bloody tusk was held fast by the hook. A few in the crowd looked away at the macabre sight. Others smiled with glee at the continued punishment of the purple devil.


    The boss pointed with her good arm and hooked a finger as if to say ¡®come hither¡¯ to someone in the crowd. A small girl, no older than 9, came forward. A smile was plastered on her face. She held out her cupped hands. The boss held the hook above the small girl¡¯s cupped hands, untwisted the clamp and let the removed tusk fall. The girl clasped her hands as tight as she could. She turned back to the crowd, put the tusk between her pointer and thumb, then put the tusk on her forehead. She squealed, ¡°I can be a unicorn for Halloween this year!¡±


    ---


    ¡°Well, it doesn¡¯t really fit the theme,¡± Michael screwed his face up in consternation.


    Before him stood Fala, who was wearing a neon pink tiara, a poorly (or excellently) fitting pink bodysuit, sparkly tutu, sparkling wings and a neon pink magic wand. ¡°I don¡¯t care. I am a fairy princess.¡± Her nose rocketed to the sky in defiance of Michael¡¯s assertions.


    Michael scratched his head and tried not to mess up his hairdo. ¡°You know what? The fourth one is an ¡®Indian¡¯, which isn¡¯t kosher to say or be or do nowadays, so,¡± he ceded to her desire to go as a fairy, ¡°Yeah, why not?¡±


    Fala pirouetted happily away from Michael to drool over the big bowl of candies on the island in the kitchen.


    Linnet approached Michael next. ¡°Is this wax mustache really necessary?¡± She wiggled her snoot and the mustache fell, as if unhinged, from a side of her muzzle.


    Michael grabbed the loose end and angled it back up into place. ¡°GLUE!¡± he shouted over his shoulder. Katherine came running from Michael¡¯s bathroom where she was attending to the other trick or treaters in their party. She schelacked another layer to Linnet¡¯s ¡®mustache¡¯. Michael thanked her and bid her to continue what she was doing. ¡°It¡¯s a part of the schtick.¡± He said as he looked in her eyes, then he kissed her and pressed the mustache back to her face.


    Linnet didn¡¯t mind the kiss, but still wrinkled her brows and commented, ¡°What a strange custom.¡± She straightened her aviators over her eyes and pulled the blue costume back into place under the utility belt. Michael appreciated the placement of the gold cloth badge on her chest before she stepped away. Now is not the time, but I do see that she has handcuffs. Woof. Michael smiled mischievously.


    Harley knocked on her yellow hard hat as she walked past Michael. He gave her a sly nod as she passed. The safety vest fit her well as well. She went over to the couch to sit with Bill.


    Bill was wearing camo pants, a camo vest, a red headband and a serious amount of black and camo paint on his face. He cautioned Tiana, his granddaughter, to be careful with his ¡°Rambo knife¡± as she pulled it from its scabbard. She waved it around like a wand. ¡°It¡¯s no fair!¡± Tiana pouted, ¡°Fala has a wand and I don¡¯t!¡± her nostrils flared.


    Andrea heard the alarm of her daughter¡¯s tone and came rushing over, ¡°You are a ballerina, not a fairy princess!¡± Her demeanor broke the character that her heart-shaped sunglasses, tie dyed headband, shirt and pants would have otherwise announced. She was not being relaxed and groovy.


    Tiana huffed after being corrected. When hippy Andrea departed, Fala leaned toward Tiana, ¡°Here sweet girl, you can have my wand.¡±


    Tiana beamed. ¡°And your wings?¡±


    Bill and Fala glanced at each other. ¡°Don¡¯t push it.¡± Bill advised.


    Tiana gave Bill back his plastic knife in favor of the pink wand.


    Katherine pulled Bel¡¯a out of Michael¡¯s bathroom toward him. Bel¡¯a let herself be dragged by her hand, but had to use the other to keep the overlong fire helmet in place. ¡°What a smokeshow!¡± Katherine hubba-hubba¡¯ed.


    Michael kept his mouth stiff to try to not react inappropriately. Bel¡¯a¡¯s grey undershirt and strategically placed suspenders held up her duct taped black jeans, she smiled awkwardly, ¡°It¡¯s not too much, is it?¡±


    Michael clicked his tongue at her and held up an ¡°okay¡± hand. He took a deep breath and walked into his bedroom. ¡°You ready, son?¡± He asked the miniature spiderman on his bed. Doug was playing Roblox; he gave a half hearted thumbs up. Michael put his plastic teeth into his mouth and leaned down to bite Doug¡¯s neck. Doug held Michael back at arm¡¯s length. He then made a hissing sound to mimic the shooting of webbing into Michael¡¯s face. Michael wrenched back and tried to scrape the pretend webbing from his face. Seeing that Doug was back to playing his game, ¡°Ok, well, we¡¯re about to go.¡± Michael cautioned as he stepped out of his bedroom.


    ¡°Dad, can you help me?¡± Katherine asked sweetly.


    ¡°Sure thing, babygirl.¡± Michael took the costume attachment from Katherine and centered it above her butt. He tied it around her so that it was held in place. They tested it to make sure it stayed. Her green tights and rhinestone covered top made her look like an adorable peacock.


    Michael tied on his cape and began to rally the troops. ¡°Alright, are we all familiar with what¡¯s going on out here tonight?¡±


    The Rakiri nodded together hesitantly.


    Andrea led the directions, ¡°First, we knock on the door.¡± Then she looked around the room for someone to take the next step.


    ¡°Then we say ¡®trick or treat¡¯¡±, Linnet repeated the phrase carefully. ¡°But if we do not get candy,¡± she looked at Michael for assistance. ¡°We have to trick them?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a phrase. We aren¡¯t actually going to trick anyone.¡± Michael clarified.


    ¡°Unless someone needs to be tricked.¡± Bill said menacingly. ¡°But they¡¯ve got to draw first blood.¡± He licked the edge of the plastic knife with his eyes wide open.


    Tiana scrunched up her whole face and drew back away from Bill, ¡°You¡¯re weird, Papaw.¡±


    ¡°And then,¡± Katherine chimed, waiting for a response.


    Doug popped into the common room from Michael¡¯s bedroom and tried to hop onto the couch, but awkwardly fell off. The room suppressed a chuckle. He then hopped up successfully and proclaimed, ¡°THEN WE GET THE CANDY!¡±


    Michael smiled through plastic vampire teeth, ¡°And say ¡®thank you¡¯.¡±


    Bel¡¯a finished the round, ¡°And then we walk away.¡±


    Michael nodded his approval. ¡°We¡¯re all ready then?¡± He clapped his hands together.


    Doug swung his arm toward the stairway and exclaimed, ¡°Paw Patrol is on a roll!¡±


    Michael swung around, ¡°What?¡±


    Doug innocently pointed at Linnet, ¡°That¡¯s Chase¡±. Then Bel¡¯a, ¡°That¡¯s Marshall.¡± And finally he pointed at Harley, ¡°She¡¯s Rubble.¡±


    ¡°Um, what?¡± Bel¡¯a cocked her head to the side. Linnet and Harley echoed her head cock.


    Michael grumbled, ¡°It¡¯s a kids show. I didn¡¯t think of that when I thought you all could be the stereotypical Village People.¡± The Rakiri heads did not move. ¡°Older people will know you as one thing.¡± He pointed at Doug, ¡°Young people will think you¡¯re another. It¡¯s fine.¡±


    Andrea agreed, ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡±


    Bill chuckled.


    Tiana copied dutily, ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡±


    ¡°Ok, let¡¯s roll out!¡± Michael announced.


    The crew marched downstairs toward other buildings in the apartment complex. Along their way, they passed several other trick or treaters. The parents recognized the Village People. The children recognized the Paw Patrol. And so it was.


    Katherine commented on another girl who passed, ¡°That¡¯s a good Rarity costume.¡± She winked at the girl who was dressed like the white and purple unicorn from My Little Pony.


    The girl glowed, ¡°Thank you, I¡¯m a real unicorn. It¡¯s not plastic.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, where¡¯d you get it?¡± Bel¡¯a asked. She nudged Linnet.


    Linnet lifted her sunglasses because she couldn¡¯t see well with sunglasses on in the dark.


    The girl cooed, ¡°My friend Rachel got it for me.¡±


    Michael was already far ahead in the front of the crowd. Linnet caught up to him. ¡°Don¡¯t you have a friend named ¡®Rachel¡¯?¡±


    Again tonight, Michael held his mouth stiffly to try to not emote what he was feeling. ¡°Uh, yeah, why?¡±


    Linnet looked at Michael, looked back in the direction of the little girl with the tusk-looking projection on her forehead, then at the ground. ¡°Maybe something we should talk about later.¡±


    Michael¡¯s stomach sank with worry. ¡°Sure thing.¡± He got into place behind Doug and Tiana and urged them forward.


    Tiana knocked on the door. It opened. A vampire, Rambo, a ballerina, Spiderman, a peacock, a hippy and a very wolf-looking group of Village People and a wolfish fairy princess smiled and rang out harmoniously, ¡°Trick or Treat!¡±


    <div>


    <div>

 Six Pack Chapter 17 - The Big Dogs (Michael Let The Dogs Out)

    Six Pack


    Chapter 17 - The Big Dogs (Michael Let The Dogs Out)


    Once home and settled into the apartment, Michael and Linnet were soon joined by Bel¡¯a, Harley, Fala and Bill. Bill was the last to come into the house and didn¡¯t seem all that pleased to have his couch covered, but his mood soon changed. He was welcomed by the pair of Harley and Fala, who took him into their bosoms on the couch. They¡¯d all settled into a cozy pile when there was a knock at the door.


    Michael looked at Bill. Bill¡¯s eyes had been dozing comfortably and he tried to ignore the knock; he reluctantly met Michael¡¯s eyes. Michael gave Bill a disappointed lip puff. When the second knock came, which was steady and deliberate, Bill widened his eyes and gave Michael a point with his chin to go get the door. Michael rolled his eyes and got up with a grunt. Bill closed his eyes dreamily and nuzzled himself into Fala¡¯s chest.


    By the time Michael had mosied down to the bottom of the steps to the door, the knocking had begun a third time. ¡°Hold your horses!¡± Michael griped on his way down. Opening the door, he welcomed a pair of strangers. He wasn¡¯t sure how to react, but he felt like he was supposed to stand at attention and salute. Since that wasn¡¯t programmed into his muscle memory, he instead greeted them with as formal a stance as he could in shorts and an undershirt, ¡°Hello! How can I help you?¡±


    At the door stood a stout Rakiri who wore green fatigues, his fur was a fascinating mixture of black, white and grey. If given enough time, Michael might describe it as looking like an oreo blizzard from Dairy Queen. Quivering behind him was a much smaller Rakiri whose coloring might follow Michael¡¯s food theme by being compared to a Ritz cracker, a gradient of browns. They both were more formally dressed than any of the Rakiri he¡¯d encountered so far. That said, he¡¯d only met the four upstairs so far and they were distinctly feminine; these two however were not.


    The stout Rakiri regarded Michael first, ¡°Good evening, sir. I am Staff Sergeant Remmington with the Imperium. It has come to my attention that some of my officers may be quartering in your residence. I have come to gather my pack.¡± From behind him, the shaking subordinate gripped an odd iPad-looking device; he looked between Michael, Ssgt Remington and the device with a nervousness that was infecting Michael.


    This bug eyed Rakiri spoke in a faltering, high pitched tone, ¡°Hmm, yes. We¡¯re looking for Lance Corporal Fala, Corporal Linnet, and Privates First Class Bel¡¯a and Harley.¡±


    Michael, and no doubt these men-wolf newcomers, heard shuffling upstairs.


    The Staff Sergeant shuffled a bit, then prompted the shorter Rakiri with him, ¡°And your name, Private?¡±


    ¡°Oh, uh,¡± the smaller Rakiri lowered the device and fiddled their fingers along the edges. ¡°Private Finley.¡±


    The Staff Sergeant seemed to chew something. It seemed to be a sign of irritation to Michael. The large Rakiri took a half step forward, ¡°May we come in?¡±


    Michael was still unsure what to do. He didn¡¯t understand what was happening exactly, but it didn¡¯t seem good. Ssgt. Remington stood patiently, but his nose was working in overdrive. If Michael could assume that a Rakiri nose was as powerful an inspection device as any other canine he¡¯d encountered on Earth, he knew it was probably too late to hide the women in the closet or under Bill¡¯s bed. He grumbled inwardly. ¡°Uh, yeah. Drop your shoes down here before you head up the stairs.¡± It was a house rule that he rarely enforced, but it was still his house and he had the authority to tell guests what they needed to do to be welcome in his home.


    ¡°Yessir¡± the Staff Sergeant replied to Michael before stepping inside. Michael went up a few steps to make way for his new ¡®guests¡¯. To the private, Ssgt. Remington ordered, ¡°Untie my boots.¡± Michael thought this was unusual, but he had almost no military experience.


    Finley¡¯s ears drew back, but he did kneel down to untie his superior¡¯s boots and hold them in place so that the Staff Sergeant could remove his feet with minimal effort. He then untied his own while he was already kneeling.


    ¡°Mmm, that¡¯s nice.¡± The Staff Sergeant commented when his plodding had gotten him to the top of the stairs.


    ¡°Oh?¡± Michael asked, having made way for the two Rakiri at the top of the stairs. He glanced up to what he remembered to be a comfortable pairing of Rakiri lounging on the sectional. Now, instead, he saw them all standing in full gear in a row, as if anticipating an inspection once the Staff Sergeant caught his breath.


    Between huffs, the Staff Sergeant replied, ¡°It¡¯s so much cooler in here than outside.¡± He took a final deep inhale before putting on a facade of authority. ¡°Marines!¡±


    The women snapped to attention.


    ¡°I assume you all know why I¡¯ve been sent here.¡± The Staff Sergeant asked rhetorically.


    ¡°We are not on base.¡± Harley replied.


    ¡°Indeed.¡± He confirmed. Beside him, Finley shakily took attendance on the device. ¡°And why is that?¡±


    ¡°The base is suited to the Shil¡¯vati, not for Rakiri.¡± Fala chimed.


    Bela piggybacked that comment, ¡°Staff, the base is too hot.¡±


    The Staff Sergeant shook himself as he paced in front of the soldiers. His whole body shook, rattling metal that Michael assumed was part of the uniform. Perhaps medals or chevrons, are chevrons metal? Michael asked himself.


    ¡°That it is, private.¡± The Staff Sergeant acknowledged Bel¡¯a¡¯s comment. He stepped forward to the end of the line where, beside Linnet, Bill was comically small. The Staff Sergeant leaned down and squinted at the Human. ¡°And who are you?¡±


    Bill stood at attention with the Rakiri women. The stance was costing him considerable effort as the last time he¡¯d done it, his muscles were used to balancing less weight. ¡°Lieutenant Bill Zornosa. US Army. Silver Tigers.¡±


    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    Staff Sergeant Remington¡¯s jaw dropped. He stood to attention at once. There was a slight hesitation from the ladies, but they too saluted and made an about face toward Bill. Finley nearly dropped his device snapping to attention and saluting so quickly; he was clearly following what the other male Rakiri was doing and was caught as unaware as the Staff Sergeant. Even Michael stood a little taller given the situation. Did I ever know Bill¡¯s actual rank? I guess he was a big deal--er, seems like he¡¯s still a big deal.


    Bill saluted back. ¡°At ease, officer. I¡¯m retired.¡± They all relaxed a bit.


    Ssgt. Remington replied,¡°We studied Earth¡¯s war tactics for a long time before we--arrived here.¡± He broke eye contact with Bill for a second and smiled before looking at him again. ¡°Your actions in Desert Shield are a required part of our studies. You disobeyed orders of your superior officers in light of what you knew in the field. You showed discipline and honor that saved a lot of lives, sir.¡±


    Michael interpreted, ¡°But those were Human lives. I mean, wouldn¡¯t that have made it easier: to have less of us for you to fight?¡±


    Ssgt. Remington glared at Michael, ¡°This man took care of his brothers when he was told not to. That means something to everyone.¡± He looked back to Bill with respect. ¡°Everywhere.¡± He looked back at Michael shamefully. ¡°It¡¯s a shame you don¡¯t acknowledge that.¡±


    Michael stuttered, ¡°I-I-I didn¡¯t know! He doesn¡¯t talk about that stuff!¡± He waved his hands toward Bill, who stood beside Ssgt. Remington bashfully. The women all seemed to regard him more highly.


    ¡°Of course,¡± Ssgt. Remington replied. ¡°Such a warrior would also be exceedingly humble.¡± Admiration shone on Bill from everyone but Michael.


    What a bunch of bullshit, Michael thought angrily. Wait a second! They¡¯re speaking English! Michael thought before interjecting, ¡°How do you know such formal English?! Why aren¡¯t you speaking Shil?¡±


    Not taken aback, Ssgt. Remington said, ¡°I am a guest in your house. I have no authority over you or the Lt. Bill Zornosa.¡± He looked at Bill admiringly again. ¡°Why would I speak a language foreign to you in your presence where you have dominion?¡±


    ¡°Good, uh, good point. Where¡¯d you learn to talk so good?¡± Michael replied, himself taken aback by this distinguished response.


    ¡°Your internet has commingled with our datanet. Languages are of interest to me.¡± The Staff Sergeant replied.


    ¡°Now,¡± Ssgt. Remington resituated himself toward the female Rakiri. ¡°I¡¯ve gotten¡­reports that you soldiers have abandoned your posts every night for a while now.¡± He looked around the apartment.


    ¡°We have completed our duties everyday. We have requested similar accommodations in the past. The Shil¡¯vati have refused them.¡± Fala protested. ¡°Here we have comfortable sleeping arrangements¡ª¡°


    ¡°I¡¯m sure.¡± Ssgt. Remington interrupted. ¡°And it seems some of you have better taste in bedfellows than others.¡± His eyes flickered accusingly at Linnet.


    ¡°Serca was killed in front of him!¡± Linnet clamored in defense.


    ¡°I''m sure he is as heartbroken as you are about her death.¡± Ssgt. Remington chided. ¡°And I¡¯m sure you came to comfort him¡ªa new stranger to ease the pain of the loss of the first one night stand.¡±


    ¡°Oh, fuck you,¡± Harley jabbed then hesitated.


    Bel¡¯a had her back, ¡°If you can have respect for Bill, a Human warrior, the least you can do is recognize how much Serca meant to Linnet and therefore the rest of us.¡± She stuck a furry finger at him, ¡°Even you would want to know her state of mind before she was killed.¡±


    ¡°I suppose, if he would know.¡± The Staff sargeant and the rest of the company turned to Michael. ¡°Did she have any last words?¡±


    Michael searched for anything to say. He¡¯d avoided it thus far, but there was no escaping it now. He had to talk. ¡°Well, she didn¡¯t know they were her last words.¡± As if that would be enough to say. It clearly wasn¡¯t. He addressed the group, but he looked at Linnet. ¡°I-I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t actually speak Shil.¡±


    ¡°Then how did you make it on base?¡± Ssgt. Remington asked knowingly. ¡°Oh, because you got picked up for a fling like so many other Humans?¡±


    ¡°No! I mean, yes, probably, but I can speak Shil when I¡¯m drunk.¡± Michael rebutted unsuccessfully. ¡°But no, I don¡¯t know what she said the morning after.¡±


    The whole crowd seemed dejected by this admission.


    Michael continued, ¡°I should say that she was sympathetic and supportive of me after what happened with Gwen? Penn?¡±


    ¡°Pennar¡¯dun. Yes, we¡¯re all familiar with her.¡± Harley groaned.


    ¡°Watch your tone!¡± Finley scolded aggressively. ¡°Staff Sergeant Remington is a superior officer!  He was met with doubtful, punishing faces.


    ¡°At ease, Private.¡± Ssgt. Remington commanded the private. When he looked away from Finley and at the rest of the apartment, he had calmed down. ¡°I suppose I can understand the need for more appealing accommodations. Being away from certain members of the Shil¡¯vati Imperium has its perks. But believe me when I say, they have eyes and ears, even here.¡±


    Fala frowned and looked at Harley. Bel¡¯a also shared a look between them before saying, ¡°The drones.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± the Staff Sergeant confirmed.


    Bill let out a breath, ¡°Fuuuck.¡± He sat down in a heap on the couch, staring at the floor.


    ¡°¡®Fuck¡¯ indeed, sir,¡± the Staff Sergeant agreed. ¡°Heat vision, the same silent void engines as the Shil¡¯vati ships; it seems they initially tracked you by scent. Then they caught up to your heat signatures and have been monitoring activities here since.¡± He let them think about what that meant for each of them. ¡°So if it¡¯s all the same to you, we need to return to the base. Perhaps having seen the place now, I might be able to vouch for your reasoning for coming here.¡±


    ¡°Now?¡± Michael whined. ¡°When do you think you¡¯ll come back?¡±


    Ssgt. Remington corrected, ¡°¡®If¡¯ is a more present concern than ¡®when¡¯.¡± He took a deep breath of the cool air. ¡°But as I said, I could make a case for the benefits of environmental adjustments on base--if not there, then, perhaps, this arrangement may still be acceptable.¡± He spun back to the Marines. ¡°Now gather your belongings, if you have any here, and let¡¯s go. Our ride¡¯s outside.¡±


    Deflated, the ladies grabbed what they needed and left without protest. They gave longing, mournful looks to Bill and Michael before they departed. Michael watched through the window as all six of the Rakiri piled into a large transport vehicle.


    Michael joined Bill on separate segments of the sectional. Michael blew a lungful of air out in sadness.


    ¡°Strange fucking day, huh, Bill?¡± Bill had scarcely moved his eyes from the floor. ¡°What¡¯s up, Dude?¡± Michael followed up. ¡°How was work? I¡¯ve gotta tell you about my day. I was on a boat.¡±


    ¡°Dude, there¡¯s thermal video of me getting blown by a dog-lady.¡± His eyes were still on the floor. ¡°I let Fala put me in the hucklebuck.¡±


    ¡°Goddamn dude...I mean, me too.¡± Michael, too, looked at the floor.


    ¡°Welp,¡± Bill slapped his legs with his hands, ¡°shall we go get a drink?¡± He stood up and walked toward his end of the apartment, Michael assumed to go change clothes.


    ¡°Fuck it. I guess so.¡± Michael shook his head. I¡¯m not going to get any sleep tonight: alone, bed on the floor, sober. Fuck that.

 Six Pack Chapter 18 - Billy and Mikey鈥檚 Night Out (Coping with Loss Poorly)

    Chapter 18 - Billy and Mikey¡¯s Night Out (Coping with Loss Poorly)


    Flipping his collar down, Michael looked at himself in the mirror in his bathroom. Yeah. Fuck today. Fuck everything. He looked over at the novelty sticker. What a stupid Goddamn joke. He started to peel it off of the wall. Then he stopped himself. No. Now is not the time to redecorate. Now is the time to get fucked up.


    He opened the door and stepped into the kitchen where Bill was ¡®North Florida Dressed Up¡¯ as well: button down shirts, khaki shorts and their finest leather sandals. Hell yeah. Keys in hand, wallets in pockets, hearts on sleeves, the fellas headed down the stairs.


    Getting in Michael¡¯s car, Bill started the conversation, ¡°I just started having fun when that stick in the mud came and took our bitches!¡±


    Michael tisked him, ¡°They weren¡¯t ¡®our bitches¡¯. They were companions who were too good to be true. Good things never last as long as you want them to.¡±


    ¡°I was trying to do a play on words with the dog-lady alien--it doesn¡¯t matter. That zen bullshit doesn¡¯t fly with me, Mikey, you had that corgi-looking bitch at our place for days before Fala and Harley showed up.¡±


    ¡°And?¡± Michael stalled.


    ¡°Bro! You can¡¯t tell me you weren¡¯t getting some from her for days!¡± Bill exclaimed.


    ¡°I did not.¡± Michael stated indignantly. ¡°We slept together, but we didn¡¯t do it.¡±


    ¡°Fuck you. You¡¯re telling me that you haven¡¯t bumped uglies?¡± Bill refuted.


    ¡°That is not what I said.¡± Michael retorted. ¡°Nothing sexy happened until that night we heard you howling!¡±


    ¡°Oh, that night that you all broke your bed?¡± Bill winked.


    Michael admitted, ¡°I mean, yeah. But we weren¡¯t having any sexy times then.¡±


    Bill laughed in a way that said ¡®yeah right¡¯.


    ¡°My bed crapped out under the pressure of three above-Human-average bodies.¡± Michael waved Bill¡¯s laughter off. ¡°It was only after Fala and Harley assumed we were doing it that I guess, we kinda thought, if that¡¯s what you assumed we were doing... like, we assumed you were--that we all might as well be going at it too.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s how it is?¡± Bill winked again, ¡°Monkey assume, monkey do?¡±


    ¡°I mean, I guess?¡±


    ¡°Fair enough, Mikey, fair enough. Glad to hear we both were getting some.¡±


    ¡°Hey, we might still be able to, in the future.¡± Michael sought the silver lining.


    Bill acquiesced, ¡°Here¡¯s hoping.¡±


    Michael pulled into the Beer Globe, where he and Bill went when they planned to get schnockered. The doorman, Derek, was a larger man around Bill¡¯s age. He wore a leather vest festooned with various patches. His hair was long enough to have a French braid down the back. The chin of his beard stuck out about four inches further than the rest of it. They showed IDs and tapped fists with Derek and settled down at a table with the best available view of most of the TVs. Bill assessed the scores while Michael brought up his BG app to see what they¡¯d had and needed to add to their scorecard.


    ¡°Whatcha need, boys?¡± Their regular server asked with familiarity.


    The games alone wouldn¡¯t be enough for Michael to go. The drinks alone weren¡¯t enough. The eye candy alone wasn¡¯t enough either. However, when all three were combined, he was happy to go.


    Bill pulled his eyes away from the TV, ¡°Oh, Jennifer, my dear! What sweet serendipity brings us to the same bar?¡± He was laying it on thick.


    ¡°I work here.¡± Jennifer replied flatly.


    ¡°Ah yes, of course! Well, I¡¯ll be having the Paulander Hefewizen and my good man Mikey, here will have¡­¡± Bill waved at Michael with a flourish. Michael answered with a simple nod. ¡°The same. Thank you kindly.¡±


    ¡°No problem.¡± Jennifer blew her bangs out of her face as she walked away.


    ¡°Why do you always flirt with the waitresses?¡± Michael asked.


    ¡°Why not?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not going to get with them.¡±


    ¡°I got Jenny¡¯s number last time I was here.¡±


    ¡°Get anything out of that?¡±


    ¡°I might, now that I¡¯ve got a motorcycle that runs.¡±


    ¡°I guess.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t win if you don¡¯t play.¡±


    ¡°Touch¨¦.¡±


    Jennifer returned with their drinks.


    ¡°Prost!¡± They rang out together, tapped their drinks on the table and so the night began. Bill was in no rush, sipping at a couple German beers. Michael, however, planned to get fucked up and pray he got sober enough to drive them home.


    Michael followed the Hefeweizen with a cider. Once those two unmixable alcohols settled in, he followed with a Warsteiner Dunkel that Jennifer recommended.


    The bar had gotten crowded by this point. Michael caught her attention as he drank the last of this final drink, ¡°Jenny! Jenny, this drink hurts my feelings. Why would you recommend a drink that would hurt my feelings!?¡± Bill got up to go to the bathroom.


    Jennifer laughed and shrugged and walked away. She melted away in a swirling mass of limbs, clothes and bar stools. Michael¡¯s vision blurred. The TVs spun in place with the rest of his vision. The spiraling football flew from the quarterback¡¯s hand in a loop around the frame of his view and into the receiver¡¯s chest, oriented a three quarter clockwise turn from square. He closed his eyes to then feel his stomach turn instead.


    Michael opened his eyes only to clap them shut again. I know that I¡¯m seeing things fucky, but am I seeing things? Was that Joph¡¯rena? Can¡¯t be, she¡¯s walking on the walls. Nope. Shit. That part is the alcohol. That¡¯s really her though. Her little black dress could probably fit on Michael, but he wouldn¡¯t be able to fill it like she did. For her, it was proportionally delightful. As she stood, he could practically see her bellybutton. I hate having a penis sometimes, I hate this particular Purple Bitch. But I am just a boy. I¡¯ll take in the sights, as unsteady as they are in this state.


    ¡°Hey Stranger.¡± Joph¡¯rena said as she slid up to him.


    ¡°Mmm,¡± was all he could say at first. It took him a moment to accept that she was going to spin if he continued to look at her. ¡°Mutha...Joph¡¯rena! What a surprise!¡±


    Joph¡¯rena looked him up and down. ¡°Yeah, long time no see. What¡¯cha been up to?¡± Did she always talk like this? With an accent?


    ¡°You know, working...stuff. Trying to act like things are normal.¡± Michael took what, to him, seemed like a long, deep yawn. I need some oxygen. Maybe that¡¯ll straighten my head. Oh, or some water.


    ¡°There you go, keep breathing, that¡¯ll help.¡± Joph¡¯rena coached.


    Jennifer spun into Michael¡¯s view. Joph¡¯rena spoke to her in English, ¡°Red Grail.¡± Funny how I can understand her in both languages in this state. Jennifer nodded and bobbed away. Turning back to him with a smile, she asked in Shil¡¯vati, ¡°You¡¯ve gotten yourself drunk off of something other than my stash; I¡¯m happy to see that.¡±


    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°What do you want from me?¡± Michael asked.


    ¡°Are you recruiting the Rakiri for a rebel group?¡± Joph¡¯rena didn¡¯t play.


    Michael squinted at her, ¡°What rebel group?¡±


    Joph¡¯rena leaned in, her dress revealing more skin. ¡°You tell me.¡±


    Michael slurred, ¡°The fuck you talkin¡¯, ¡®Josepha¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Ooh, you¡¯re picking up on the Shil¡¯vati slang, huh?¡± She smirked, ¡°I bet you and those Rakiri do some language tutoring, huh?¡±


    ¡°Suffice to say,¡± He paused, hoping that he wouldn¡¯t spin out of place for a moment. ¡°I¡¯ve been picking a few things up.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t doubt that you have. I bet you have to carry a doggie bag when you¡¯re with them.¡± Joph¡¯rena laughed at her own joke. Jennifer delivered the bottle of Red Grail to their table. Bill is still in the bathroom?


    Michael scrunched his face, ¡°I don¡¯t think that word means what you think it means.¡±


    Joph¡¯rena looked down the bottle toward him as she drank. ¡°Hmm?¡±


    ¡°A doggie bag meant you were taking leftovers home, like, a million years ago.¡± Michael held one side of the table down harder than the other to keep it from spinning. ¡°But I think you mean it like a dog poop bag. You know, like a pooper scooper!¡± He thought harder. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what you mean. The joke doesn¡¯t quite have the same ring to it as ¡®doggie bag¡¯ so I understand your confusion and possible frustration.¡±


    Joph¡¯rena scowled at him, ¡°Why are the Rakiri gathering at your house and how have you seduced them?¡±


    Michael squinted one eye, the one on the side that was holding the table down, ¡°I¡¯ll have you know that no one is seducing anyone.¡±


    ¡°Not according to the thermal scans.¡± Joph¡¯rena shook her head and smirked.


    Michael couldn¡¯t hold the table any longer. He closed both eyes and gave his head a single slight shake. ¡°Good to know.¡± That seemed to put the room in its right place for the moment. ¡°I don¡¯t know why the Rakiri are coming to my house exactly, but I hear the Shil¡¯vati amenities are lacking.¡±


    Joph¡¯rena rolled her eyes. ¡°They can touch the thermostat when they figure out how to pay the bill.¡± She leaned in, ¡°I know that Bel¡¯a and Linnet were in the same pod as Serca; is that why they¡¯re meeting with you? Are you their liaison to the rebels?¡±


    Michael shook his head again. ¡°I am no one¡¯s liaison to anybody.¡± He thought a moment longer, I¡¯m kind of a liaison as an interpreter. ¡°Whatever. I don¡¯t know anyone fomenting a rebellion against you.¡± He took another quick, deep inhale. ¡°You sound like Darth Vader.¡± Joph¡¯rena looked insulted for a moment. ¡°Not like, with the wheezing and the whooshing noises, but talking about ¡®Rebels¡¯ and a ¡®Rebel base¡¯. The fuck is that about?¡± He contorted his face with confusion and humor.


    ¡°Shut up and talk to me!¡± Joph¡¯rena scowled. And just how the hell do I do that? ¡®Shut up and talk?¡¯ Man, why do people have to say the most confusing things to me when I¡¯m inebriated? Michael¡¯s confusion grew. My face feels tight when I make these funny faces. I should make more of them. ¡°Well which one do you want?¡±


    ¡°Which one of them?¡± She looked at her drink before taking another slug. ¡°Well, I guess Linnet is the highest ranking one. I¡¯d choose her.¡±


    Michael flared his nose. Then he flared his nose again. Man, that feels funny. ¡°Why is it that I¡¯m drunk enough for my face to tingle, but I can still understand that you¡¯re missing the point of what you¡¯re asking me?¡±


    Joph¡¯rena stared at him a second before recognizing her error, ¡°Talk, damn you!¡±


    Michael started pinching his cheeks, ¡°What was the question?¡±


    ¡°Are the Rakiri going AWOL?¡± Joph¡¯rena hissed.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± He pointed a finger up at the imaginary group of the Rakiri women. ¡°They¡¯re strong independent women,¡± then pointed at himself, ¡°And they don¡¯t need no man to make themselves happy.¡±


    Joph¡¯rena tugged at her tooth. ¡°Do I need to take you back to the base?¡±


    Michael raised his hands up into quotey fingers, ¡°What and get another one of your ¡®friends¡¯ shot?¡± Michael immediately regretted this tease.


    Joph¡¯rena grabbed his middle fingers faster than he could react, slammed them to the table and pulled them to her side. She jammed her thumbnails up into his fingernails. Michael let out an involuntary whimper at being grabbed then a sharp high pitched squeal when she used her thumbnails. ¡°Oh, stop being a baby, you¡¯re barely bleeding.¡± She¡¯d leaned over so that no one could see anything but a man being pulled into purple cleavage. A small squeal would be understandable in that instance. ¡°You wanna run that by me again? You¡¯re going to snipe another one of my,¡± she jutted her fingernails in a little more, for emphasis, ¡°friends?¡±


    Ffffuck. That was stupid. ¡°I don¡¯t know anything about any rebels. I mostly know that the Rakiris are coming to me because you bitches are horrible hosts.¡± His face grew redder, either in pain or in anger.


    Either way, it seemed enough for Joph¡¯rena. She looked over Michael¡¯s shoulder. It made her let go of his fingers. He recoiled them as quickly as he could. He pressed the nails of his middle fingers down with his thumbs. He inhaled sharply in pain. She leaned in closely, ¡°You¡¯d better be telling the truth. We¡¯re watching you.¡± As suddenly as she¡¯d appeared, she was gone.


    Michael looked down at his fingers. They were bleeding only a little bit. Fuck that hurt. I¡¯d¡¯ve told you that she ripped them off of my hands. He said to himself, feeling ashamed of himself for not being able to take the pain.


    Bill sidled up to the table across from Michael, ¡°What¡¯s up, buddy?¡± His eyes were racing from home base to first already.


    Michael put his hands on the table. He hoped, despite them both being drunk, that Bill might notice his fingers were red or swollen or have any other indication of injury. Bill did not notice. Fuck. I¡¯m a puss. He shrugged his shoulders, ¡°No, you about ready to go?¡±


    ¡°Already? It¡¯s only been an hour.¡± Bill looked up from where he¡¯d checked his watch. He could see the look of mild panic on Michael¡¯s face. ¡°...Ok buddy. Let me get one more and we¡¯ll get out of here.¡±


    Michael huffed and pressed his nails.


    Moments later, when Jennifer squeezed her way back to their table, Bill ordered two more drinks. Michael asked for his check. Why does this shit happen to me? To think, I was missing having the Rakiri ladies at my house; little did I know the other shoe was going to drop: it just put me on Joph¡¯rena¡¯s radar again. Fuck! What bullshit! The room wasn¡¯t spinning so hard anymore, but it was still disorienting. God, I hope I can drive home. He reached into his pocket and palmed his key ring. He pressed his car key against his fingernail as hard as he could. This¡¯ll keep me grounded.


    Michael kept this masochistic action going long after Jennifer returned with Bill¡¯s drinks, well into the drinks. Bill¡¯s brown irises ran the perimeter of his eye lashes and sometimes beyond. This was not atypical for Bill. Michael tried to get rip roaring as soon as possible for a couple of reasons, but the main being that he might be able to get sober before they left depending on how much he drank and how long they planned on staying out that night. Bill, on the other hand, started slow and then started pounding more drinks when Michael was ready to go.


    It was a strange relationship, but it was what it was.


    Finally, Bill¡¯d paid off his bill, folded the receipt up before putting it in his back pocket as he got up from the table. He checked in with the doorman before they left. ¡°How¡¯s it going, Derek?¡± They bumped elbows before Derek got a good look at the two of them.


    ¡°You driving, Mikey?¡± Derek asked, not sure he was happy with that answer either. ¡°Bill sure ain¡¯t. You good?¡±


    Michael gave Derek the most serious nod he could give, then a thumbs up.


    Derek nodded back and resumed checking IDs.


    Bill practically fell into the LaCrosse. Michael flared his nostrils and pressed his fingernails. Why do I agree to this shit? Turning the key, he made sure not to run over anyone backing out of the parking spot.


    They got home and up the stairs. They said their goodnights and went their separate ways.


    Fuck, I forgot. The bed is on the floor. Michael took off his clothes and slumped onto the bed, inches from the floor. He covered himself with his comforter and imagined warm fur covered limbs surrounding him. It¡¯s definitely not the same. He stared at the ceiling. They¡¯re watching me, huh?


    Why?


    Why would they waste any resources on me?


    I¡¯m not special in any way that might be meaningful to the Shil¡¯vati. I can¡¯t even take a little fingernail pain. He laughed at how pathetic he felt. The ceiling didn¡¯t spin, but his core still felt wobbly. He closed his eyes, which was still a bad idea as it accentuated the unsteadiness of his stomach. Opening them again, taking another deep breath, Michael had no choice but to think.


    Why would they bother with me? Even if the video does become some kind of a legal event, won¡¯t they just try to pay me off or sweep it under the rug? I¡¯m sure that that video will do no one any good.


    Surely it¡¯s no big deal that I understand them when intoxicated. Who cares? There must be people who can understand them without being in such a state.


    He then thought of Linnet and how she¡¯d been trying to teach him to understand Shil all while she¡¯d been studying English. Man, she¡¯s a godsend. I probably should try to figure out how to get it when I¡¯m sober.


    And I can get it when I am sober, if I apply myself enough.


    I could probably do anything if I truly applied myself.


    That¡¯s it! I¡¯m not applying myself! They¡¯re after me because all of these circumstances overlap with me. I am the center of the Venn diagram of dissent against their rule in Jacksonville: unhappy humans, unhappy soldiers on the inside, access to people with money, video documentation of the abuse of their authority. Goddamn. No wonder Joph¡¯rena has her sights trained on me.


    If I actually wanted to, I could do a lot of damage to them.


    And so, with a newfound sense of belief in himself, Michael settled into a restful night of sleep.

 Six Pack Chapter 19 - Rakiri Redemption (Good for the Gander)

    Michael¡¯s body was ready for the alarm. He felt an odd calm, holding his phone and watching the minutes add up to seven o¡¯clock. He had a peace about him that was unusual. I make a difference. I am somebody. He turned the alarm off the moment it rang. It is going to be a good day.


    And it was. For the most part, work was work--which for many means a slog from 9 to 5. Michael liked his work. More than that, he loved it. When things between himself and Jessica were at their worst, work was a safe haven for him. He recalled that one day he told his boss that he felt more respected at work than he did at home. That hadn¡¯t changed. His home life, obviously, had. That said, he did his best to co-parent with Jessica as much as he could. This was his weekend with the kids.


    Katherine and Doug were 11 and 8, respectively. Michael remembered that not long after he¡¯d moved out, Jessica had let a boy stay the night with Katherine. ¡°What the hell!¡± Michael had thought.


    ¡°Oh, believe me, it¡¯s not a big deal.¡± Jessica had said. Believe me. Hell of a thing to say to your ex husband¡­ Eventually, that boy was going with them to a gathering for Katherine¡¯s birthday. Michael met the group at the facade of the Cheesecake Factory.


    Together, there was Jessica, Jessica¡¯s friend Anna, Doug, Katherine and her new ¡°friend¡± Christian. Michael wasn¡¯t one for authority or putting on authoritative airs, but this was a boy who, he could only assume, was making moves on his daughter. Michael nodded his hello¡¯s to the adults, picked up Doug and held out his hand to Christian. In an unnecessarily deep voice, he said, ¡°I¡¯m Katherine¡¯s father, Michael.¡±


    Christian initially refused to meet Michael¡¯s eyes. He did hold his hand out to shake and responded with a lisp, ¡°Hey! I¡¯m Christian.¡±


    Michael took his hand and looked up at Jessica. Her face silently said, ¡°I told you so¡±. Michael smiled and heartily shook Christian¡¯s hand. It took a bit to keep him from embracing the boy with his free arm. Jessica later told him that Katherine and Christian had stayed up all night knitting together. Doug had spent that evening running into Katherine¡¯s room, farting, then running out.


    Michael shook his head, remembering fondly. He did trust Jessica, as much as he had to; he just couldn¡¯t live with her. Her job kept her and the kids taken care of well. Much more flush than he could ever hope to provide. Though, he was paying child support. It¡¯s a shitty thing to do when I earn less than half of what she does, yet I have to pay her because she has custody of the children. Ultimately, he figured that it was the ¡°right¡± thing to do and kind of literally the least thing he could do to support them.


    The work day ended, Michael said his goodbyes, waved to Bill saying, ¡°We¡¯ll see you in a bit.¡±


    Bill nodded back, ¡°Are we going to get the girls as well? Heard anything from them?¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡± Michael said, checking his phone, texting Jessica to tell her he was out of work and on his way to pick up the kids. Then, thinking aloud, ¡°I don¡¯t actually have their numbers. They just kinda...show up.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough, see you later.¡± Bill acknowledged before putting on his helmet and mounting his motorcycle.


    ***


    Michael jockeyed with traffic around the southbound bypass of Jacksonville. He had time enough to look while traveling the entire length of the Buckman Bridge toward the Shil¡¯vati base. Where the hell did Rachel make that shot? Even at the end nearest the base-side of the bridge, it seemed an impossible shot. Yet it had happened. Michael could still feel the hot spray on his face. He gritted his teeth and kept forging ahead. Though forging ahead is the only choice many of us have, it¡¯s hard to see when we¡¯re lost in thoughts of what ifs and hows. He took the exit to go south, away from the base and toward his children.


    The rest of the drive was a blur. Michael was running on autopilot until he got to the designated pick up spot. He saw the kids excitedly take off their seatbelts and visibly shake with excitement to see him. He was glad he could still do that: to them, for him. It was hard to say who was happier to see whom.


    Michael got out of his car and opened their doors. Jessica got out of her side and grabbed the kids¡¯ bags. Doug was getting hard to pick up, but Michael managed it for as long as he could. He couldn¡¯t do the same for Katherine, but she wrapped herself around him when she was out of the car as well. Squeezing hellos aside, he and Jessica exchanged the usual pleasantries before he got the kids in his car and headed out.


    Feeling like he should give the kids a heads up before they got to his place, Michael said, ¡°Uh, hey kids, we may have some friends over at my place tonight.¡±


    Katherine started to ask, but was interrupted by Doug, ¡°Who? Who!¡±


    Katherine made an irked face, ¡°Will Tiana and Andrea be there?¡± Michael thought for a minute, he didn¡¯t actually know. Andrea was Bill¡¯s daughter and Tiana was hers. They would often hang out at his and Bill¡¯s place.


    ¡°Maybe. I don¡¯t know for sure, but maybe.¡± He quietly took a breath, ¡°It could be some of my new friends. They¡¯re not like our normal friends.¡±


    ¡°Are they purple, Daddy?¡± Doug asked earnestly.


    Michael cleared his throat before clarifying, ¡°They¡¯re not Shil¡¯vati, but also aren¡¯t from Earth.¡± He looked back in the rearview mirror to see their faces before moving on. ¡°You know the ones who look kinda like people and kinda like dogs?¡±


    Katherine cheerily replied, ¡°Rakeereeeee! They¡¯re my favorite!¡±


    Doug said in a hushed tone, ¡°Werewolves.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re not werewolves, dude. They don¡¯t change during the full moon.¡± Michael held up a hand like a claw and imitated a howl. ¡°Awwooo!¡±


    ¡°Rakiri are so much cuter than the Helkam; they look slimy to me. Though the Shil¡¯vati and the Nighkru are kind of appealing.¡± Katherine seemed to hum with admiration.


    Michael scrunched his face toward her in the rearview. I¡¯m not going to follow what I think I¡¯m hearing right now. That¡¯s a discussion for another day. Katherine did not meet his gaze. Maybe seeing strong females ¡°win¡± a war was a good thing for an impressionable young woman to see.


    ***


    ¡°Daddy. What happened?¡±


    Aww shit, the bed! Michael grasped, ¡°Oh nothing Katie, Daddy was wrestling too hard and broke the bed.¡±


    ¡°Who were you wrestling with?¡± Doug asked innocently.


    That was not a good dodge. ¡°Nobody. Daddy just broke it getting in the bed.¡±


    Doug giggled, ¡°You¡¯re not that fat!¡±


    ¡°Gee, thanks kid,¡± Michael felt the duality of lying to his children and them defending him.


    From the living room, a voice mocked, ¡°Yeah, who were you wrestling?¡±


    Bill. Fucking Bill is so helpful. ¡°Look, the bed broke. Now it¡¯s on the floor.¡± Michael stated with finality.


    ¡°And some of it¡¯s in the closet too. Hey! I sleep here!¡± Katherine grumped, ¡°Where am I going to sleep?¡±


    Michael grunted, ¡°Here, I¡¯ll get it.¡± He slid in beside Katherine and nudged her out of the closet. He grabbed the broken footboard off the twin bed, and stood it on its side. Then, he swung the footboard out of the closet and tried to angle it out the bedroom door. ¡°Hey Doug, you¡¯re a big strong boy. Why don¡¯t you help me out?¡±


    Doug had already turned the Xbox on, ¡°You¡¯re not big enough to break the bed, I bet you can handle that workout on your own.¡± He crossed his legs and settled on the floor with his back against the bed.


    ¡°Mmhmm.¡± Even my youngest recognizes I need some exercise. Cool.


    ¡°Yeah, Dad.¡± Bill smirked from the couch.


    Nostrils flaring, ¡°¡®Preciate your help, buddy.¡±


    Bill gave him a slight, two fingered salute. ¡°Don¡¯t hit the wall going down the stairs.¡±


    ¡°I got it.¡± Michael huffed. He looked at the scar of splintered wood where the rail used to live. Dang. I¡¯ll need a more heavy duty bed if the girls ever come back. Thinking back, what were the beds on the base made of? Where would I get that? Can I afford that?


    Thunk.


    Out of Michael¡¯s spiral, he looked up. He¡¯d hit a knob of the bed against the underhang of the wall where the upstairs floor met the cut out for the stairs. Shit.


    Michael could hear Bill¡¯s eyes rolling, ¡°Yeah, that wall. You wanna be careful of that wall, Mikey.¡±


    ¡°Heh, yeah, sorry. My bad.¡± Michael called as he deliberately lowered the end of the footboard so that it would fit in the space available.


    He managed to get the door open and the bed piece outside. He leaned it against the brick framing the door, between the front door and the garage door. I¡¯ll deal with that later.


    He turned around. Forming a silent semicircle around him were the Rakiri. Michael didn¡¯t quite have words to greet them as they¡¯d scared him half to death. ¡°Hey everybody!¡± He half squeaked at the wall of fur that towered over him. They were all there, even the Staff Sergeant, well, all but the little bug eyed one. They all had, what he would guess to be, bashful smiles on their faces. If he were as tall as they were, it might seem to him that they were hanging their heads.


    Linnet began to speak but was interrupted by a push from behind her. What¡¯s the name of the bug eyed one? Michael had to search for the right name before remembering that it was Finley. Finley pushed beyond Linnet, licked his lips and copied the behavior; though this time, he was short enough for Michael to recognize that they all had their heads down. Linnet shuffled her feet to make way and get back in position. ¡°Michael. Hello. We have been told that we may not stay at your home every night.¡± Her tail was firmly tucked between her legs, as were the tails of all of the others.


    Ssgt Remington spoke next, ¡°It is against Imperial regulation for us to stay with you off base.¡± He shifted slightly. Michael noticed that his tail was leaving his legs and was tentatively in neutral space. ¡°However, we have petitioned our superiors and the physical plant technicians that we should get our own barracks. It won¡¯t be anything spectacular or luxurious. It will, however, be much colder than the average Shil¡¯vati barracks.¡±


    Michael didn¡¯t know what he was supposed to say to this. Great for you. ¡°That sounds great, gang!¡± His enthusiasm was completely fake, though he hoped that it didn¡¯t show. He did notice that the previously tucked tails were now positioned precariously close to wagging.


    Bel¡¯a interjected, ¡°That¡¯s not all.¡± Her tail went into full wag mode; so much so that her hips were swinging.


    This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    Michael cocked his head to the side. ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°There was also another request that has been approved on our end,¡± Ssgt Remington added, ¡°But it also needs your approval.¡±


    I have no authority here. What could they need me to approve? Trying to hide his obvious lack of confidence, Michael instead pulled his pants up and stood a little taller. ¡°Of course, what¡¯s the request?¡±


    ¡°Our Rakiri collective at the base report to different officers with different roles; we have different functions on base.¡± The bug eyed private shivered, ¡°We have requested that you be our liaison between offices.¡±


    ¡°Me?¡± Michael blurted without thinking. ¡°Why me?¡±


    ¡°You have treated us better than the Shil¡¯vati ever have. We are both peoples subjugated under the Shil¡¯vati Imperium.¡± Fala explained, ¡°They often absorb the locals into their ranks. And though you have no military qualifications, you could mediate relations between ourselves and our Shil¡¯vati commanders.¡±


    Michael was dubious. ¡°Who in the world would approve that idea?¡±


    Linnet stepped in, ¡°We know you don¡¯t know everyone on base, so we can¡¯t imagine you¡¯d know her. Her name is Joph¡¯rena. She¡¯s an intelligence officer. She is in our and Serca¡¯s pod. She¡¯s good. We told her of our¡­ concerns since your first night there and the treatment we¡¯ve received from you in the time since. She thinks it would be a great idea. She pushed it through her chain of command and it seems they agreed.¡±


    Michael didn¡¯t hear anything after ¡®Joph¡¯rena¡¯. That bitch. She wants to keep me under her thumb by ¡®offering¡¯ a position on base. Fuuuck.


    As the possible consequences of this series of events unraveled in Michael¡¯s mind, his audience became aware of his processing face. Harley chimed in, ¡°You don¡¯t have to decide now.¡± She looked at the rest of her cohort, ¡°And we¡¯d like to bring Bill along too. He does have military experience; we think the two of you could provide the assistance we need as well as blend humans into the ranks of the Imperium.¡±


    The bug eyed one almost cooed, ¡°It would be an honor to work with the former Lieutenant.¡±


    Michael chuckled under his breath. ¡°Ok everybody. It¡¯s getting dark. Are you all available to come in tonight?¡±


    Grins broadened across all of their faces. Tails wagged uncontrollably.


    Michael offered a heads up, ¡°I have to tell you, my kids are here.¡± The Rakiri smiles grew more somehow. ¡°Doug is the boy one. Katherine is the girl one. They are wee.¡± He looked at all the bared teeth that met him as he talked. ¡°I¡¯m going to need y¡¯all to put the teeth away for a little bit. I know you¡¯re happy, but these kids could be intimidated by all of your pointy pearly whites.¡±


    The pack closed their muzzles, but their tails remained at full tilt.


    Michael encouraged his newly begotten entourage to all take a deep breath together before they headed upstairs. When they all did, he pretended like they were going to knock him over. Three little pigs, six wolves, what is my house made of? I hope it¡¯s sturdy enough to handle what I¡¯m about to do to it.


    He led them up the stairs. He carefully stepped into the living room, pressing the side of his pointer finger to his lips so that Bill wouldn¡¯t say anything. Bill raised his eyebrows and looked back at the TV. ¡®Your funeral,¡¯ he seemed to say.


    ¡°Hey Katie, Doug?¡± Michael called from the living room.


    ¡°Yeah dad?¡± They harmonized.


    ¡°Can you come in here? I want you to meet my friends.¡±


    Michael heard a grumble after the sound of gunfire coming from his TV was paused. The first one out the door was Doug.


    ¡°Whoa.¡± Doug stood in silent awe at the wall of fur that stood before him.


    Katherine scooted out of the bedroom with her eyes on her phone. When she looked up, she was perplexed. Her brows furrowed for a moment before she squealed, ¡°RAKEEEEEREEEE!¡±


    The Rakiri company bent their ears back defensively. They look pained.


    ¡°Katie! We don¡¯t yell at new people!¡± Michael scolded.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Daddy, but I¡¯m so excited!¡± Katherine clasped her hands together.


    ¡°Sure honey, but-¡± Before he could finish his thought, Katherine had scampered up to Bel¡¯a and grabbed her hand.


    ¡°Ooh, your pads are so soft!¡± Katherine approached without asking. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±


    ¡°Bel¡¯a. I believe you are Katherine.¡± Bel¡¯a kept an ear back, but looked over at her cohort, her mouth agape at having been chosen first.


    ¡°No one calls me ¡®Katherine¡¯ except when I¡¯m in trouble. I¡¯m Katie.¡± Katherine tugged Bel¡¯a toward the bedroom.


    Michael reminded, ¡°Katie, you know there¡¯re five other friends to meet.¡±


    Successfully pulling Bel¡¯a from her footing, Katie answered, ¡°I know, there¡¯ll be plenty of time for that. Bel¡¯a¡¯s my new friend.¡±


    Michael tried not to see the swing of Bel¡¯a¡¯s curves as she passed him. Hmm, I don¡¯t understand that girl, Michael shook his head both to resist the vision and trying to understand what would attract Katherine to Bel¡¯a.


    ¡°Well Doug, thanks for sticking around.¡± Michael patted him on the shoulder. ¡°This is Remington, Finley, Harley, Fala, Linnet and you saw Bel¡¯a get dragged away by your sister.¡±


    ¡°Is that real?¡± Doug asked blankly.


    ¡°Yes, of course they¡¯re real, they¡¯re people, you aren¡¯t imagining them.¡± Michael corrected.


    ¡°No, Michael,¡± Ssgt Remington corrected Michael, ¡°I believe he means this.¡± He said as he unholstered his laser pistol. ¡°It sure is. Do you want to see it?¡± He held it out for the child.


    Doug nodded his head yes. He looked at Michael for permission. How do I say no? I mean, I¡¯m not going to hand my kid a gun, but what do I know about laser pistols? He¡¯s the professional soldier; he must know what he¡¯s doing. Michael hesitantly nodded Doug forward. Wide eyed, Doug sprang forward and grabbed for the weapon.


    Ssgt Remington withheld it for a moment, ¡°Hang on, you don¡¯t just grab a weapon.¡± He opened the chamber, Michael guessed to check that it wasn¡¯t loaded, and guided Doug¡¯s eyes to the inner workings of the pistol. ¡°You make sure that it¡¯s safe.¡± There was a slide of hard materials against each other. I sure hope he¡¯s unloading that thing, Michael¡¯s face drew into a mask of fear. He looked to the other Rakiri standing before him. They seem satisfied with what¡¯s going on, I suppose I should relax.


    Across the living room, Michael saw a red dot appear on the wall. He recoiled, fearing smoke would rise from the dot. He envisioned the red dot on Amber¡¯s face, the back of her hands. The hole that was removed from her head. He heard the meat of Rachel¡¯s arm hit the desk. ¡°Ah! Don¡¯t let him shoot that!¡± Michael screamed.


    Ssgt Remington raised from his kneeling position with Doug, ¡°It¡¯s ok.¡± He assured Michael in close whispers, ¡°I¡¯ve got the ammunition. That¡¯s just the sight.¡±


    Michael tried to swallow his heart. ¡°Oh. Ok. I need to sit down.¡± His head was swimming. He took a few meandering steps toward the couch. Linnet and Fala came to his side to assist him. ¡°I¡¯m ok. I¡¯ll be ok.¡± He reassured them. ¡°It¡¯s just kind of a lot to take in right now.¡±


    ¡°No problem.¡± Fala sat down on one side of Michael, between himself and Bill. ¡°Hey Bill, could you get him something to drink?¡±


    Bill gave her the side eye, ¡°Water or something stronger?¡±


    Fala frowned at Bill then turned away from him. ¡°Harley, could you grab some water?¡± She nodded obediently and retrieved a bottle from the refrigerator. Fala continued with Michael, ¡°How about you take some deep breaths?¡± Then demonstrated breathing deeply, not dissimilar from how he had demonstrated for them at the front door before they came into the apartment. ¡°Feel the couch. Feel our hands on your arms. Look at the coffee table. You are safe. You are grounded.¡±


    Michael breathed and identified what he could see and feel. ¡°Couch. Table. Controller.¡± He took another deep breath, ¡°Paws. More couch. Water.¡± Inhaling more smoothly, ¡°Whew, ok¡­¡±, what I was envisioning is in the past. It¡¯s over. It¡¯s not happening now. I can¡¯t change it now. Breathe.


    ***


    The rest of the evening proceeded as one would predict, uneventfully. The Rakiri loved the children as the children loved them. They watched TV together. Played Xbox together. Eventually, they all settled for the night. Bel¡¯a and Katherine crammed together on the twin mattress in Michael¡¯s closet; bliss was written on both of their faces. Michael, Doug and Linnet were piled together on Michael¡¯s bed on the floor of his bedroom. Not sure where Ssgt Remington and Finley ended up, but I¡¯m sure Bill¡¯s got Harley and Fala in his room.


    The rest of the weekend went along similarly. Michael took time to ponder the pros and cons of taking the liaison position for the Rakiri on base. Yes, I¡¯d be under Joph¡¯rena¡¯s thumb, the middleman, but also, I might get a real bed. Maybe my own living space. It would be, relatively, a safe place for myself to stay and the children to visit. I wonder what the pay would be? Do I need to keep my day job? Would I be happy if I weren¡¯t interpreting anymore? What kind of rent would I be paying? Who is paying for all this? I don¡¯t know if this is something I want to commit to. And on and on he wondered until Sunday.


    It was time to hand the children over to Jessica.


    Katherine and Bel¡¯a nearly shed tears at their departure. Katherine had made several drawings of herself and a large black dog-creature which was obviously supposed to be Bel¡¯a. There were hearts between, around and everywhere else amongst them. That¡¯s cute, Michael thought when he saw them.


    Doug and Harley had made some headway on various Halo and Call of Duty missions through the weekend. He was enamoured with the military lifestyle that she shared with him. The thought of traveling vast distances, meeting new people and killing them had massive appeal to Doug. I can¡¯t say I share that perspective, but I understand how that draws a lot of young people; Michael tried to wrap the thought of his only son going off into space. I sure would miss him and I would be afraid for him--but I guess all military parents feel the same way. I guess all I can do is empower him to make decisions that get him where he wants to go and what he wants to do.


    All of this drew to a close as Michael parked his car in Orange Park. He opened his door and the trunk to grab the kids¡¯ things.


    ¡°How¡¯d your weekend go, my babies?¡± Jessica asked when the kids got themselves out of the car.


    ¡°Momma! Daddy introduced us to his Rakiri friends!¡± Katherine impulsively answered.


    Jessica gave Michael a look. ¡°Oh yeah?¡±


    ¡°Harley and I kicked butt!¡± Doug pumped his fist and pointed at imaginary targets, ¡°And I got to hold Remington¡¯s laser gun!¡±


    ¡°Oh did you?¡± Jessica renewed her accusing look at Michael.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t loaded,¡± Michael responded, sheepishly.


    Jessica herded, ¡°Ok kids, hop on in the car. I need to talk to your father.¡±


    Michael braced himself. I should have known better.


    Once their doors were closed, Jessica turned to Michael, ¡°I thought we talked about this. What are you doing still fucking around with those Shil¡¯vati?¡±


    Michael tried to parry, ¡°They¡¯re not Shil¡¯vati, exactly, they¡¯re Rakiri.¡±


    ¡°Whatever. Not the point. You do what you need to do, that¡¯s your prerogative, but there¡¯s no need to get the kids mixed up with them.¡±


    Michael tried not to grind his teeth. ¡°Jess, they¡¯ve offered and I¡¯ve decided to accept a position as the middleman between the Rakiri and the Shil¡¯vati.¡± His decision was made. ¡°I¡¯m going to live on base, so the kids are going to see a lot more of them.¡±


    Jessica scoffed, ¡°Oh, you are a master negotiator.¡± She drew a breath, seeing that maybe she¡¯d cut a little too deep judging by the face Michael was making. ¡°Fine. Maybe you can do this. I have an opinion, but I¡¯m not the one offering you the job.¡± She settled down a bit more. ¡°If you think it¡¯s the right decision for you, good luck. I just don¡¯t want you to get in over your head and fuck things up for the kids.¡±


    Michael stood fast, ¡°I won¡¯t know what it looks like until I get there. After all, I thought I¡¯d made solid decisions in the past. And look where that got me. Maybe it¡¯s high time for me to take some risks.¡±


    Jessica looked at the pavement then at the kids shaking her car. ¡°The Shil¡¯vati are buying out my work.¡±


    ¡°The mill?¡± Michael wondered what the Shil¡¯vati would want with a paper mill in the middle of Florida.


    Jessica looked up, ¡°Not just the mill. The whole company.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Michael was shaken. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Some kind of resource management, I guess it''s global.¡± Jessica waved at the kids to get them to calm down, ¡°Anyway, I¡¯ve been selected for a promotion.¡±


    ¡°Of safety at the mill?¡±


    ¡°Safety in the North American region. I¡¯ll get to stay here for now, but I¡¯ll have a lot more travel in my future.¡±


    Michael did the math in his head. ¡°Oh, so you¡¯re going to be in the Shil¡¯s pocket as well?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an offer I couldn¡¯t refuse.¡± Michael met her eyes with concern. Jessica continued, ¡°They didn¡¯t put a horse¡¯s head in my bed or anything. It¡¯s an opportunity for me to dream bigger.¡±


    Michael probed, ¡°And you¡¯re going to need me to pick up the slack with the children?¡±


    ¡°Not necessarily. What I¡¯m saying is that they need stability. I¡¯m going through changes. You¡¯re going through changes. We¡¯re going to have to work together to give them the best life we can.¡±


    ¡°Agreed. We¡¯re all in this together.¡±


    Michael and Jessica gave each other the kind of acknowledging nod that people give when they agree to disagree. This wasn¡¯t over, but they¡¯d both thrown wrenches in each other¡¯s works for not the first time--nor would it be the last.


    ¡°Ok, see you in two weeks.¡± Michael bid her farewell. ¡°I¡¯ll let you know what gets worked out between now and then.¡±


    ¡°Likewise.¡± Jessica agreed. ¡°See you in two weeks.¡±

 Six Pack Chapter 20 - Becoming a Part of the Pack (Geyser)

    Michael had a lot on his mind: a new job possibility, moving for the job, moving onto the Shil¡¯vati base, moving closer to the current bane of his existence, Joph¡¯rena¡­


    Talking to Jessica had kind of forced his hand that he had decided to take the job. That said, he wasn¡¯t completely convinced yet. She had given him grief about working with the Shils, but then she revealed that she was ultimately going to be working with them as well. How dare she scold me for taking risks with unknown entities when she was doing the exact same thing? I think ¡°unknown¡± but I have had personal experience with them. Did she? Did she? Michael hadn¡¯t considered that she might have had experience with the Shil¡¯vati. Surely, her experience will have been different than his. He didn¡¯t think the ¡°Purple Bitches'''' would be aggressive with Human women. But who knows? He hadn¡¯t even considered that she would. Maybe she had had her own problems with them but couldn¡¯t do anything about them because no matter who you were or what you did, there wasn¡¯t anything you could do about the invaders.


    No matter, there''s a great, big, beautiful tomorrow coming. There was light and life and hope¡­


    And if all that was the case, why do my innards want to be outtards?


    Nerves, no doubt. All of this is new and new is scary. New is unknown and unknown is not familiar and so on and so forth goes the spiral of anxiety. Swirling in his head; swirling in his guts.


    ¡°You okay in there?¡± Bill asked from the other side of the bathroom door leading to the kitchen.


    Michael answered with an involuntary trumpet.


    With minimal hesitation, Bill took that as a no, ¡°Ok, I¡¯ll tell them you¡¯re out today. Feel better, buddy!¡±


    I guess we¡¯ll talk about these things later on. Besides, he¡¯s got to go to work. Fuck, I¡¯ve been missing a lot of work. Maybe shifting to this new role will be a good thing for me.


    When Michael¡¯s stomach had calmed down enough to walk away from the bathroom, he went back to his bedroom. He squatted to get down to his bed on the floor. He rolled onto his side. Looking at his tv, he saw the reflection of the ceiling fan above him and the window behind him. He caught a glimpse of something odd. There was a cube in his tv; rather, in the reflection of the window on his tv. He started to turn his body and he saw the cube shift a little. It was no longer a cube, it was a little longer at the new angle. As uncomfortable as it was, he rolled to his back, stomach churning again. He looked at his ceiling fan. From his periphery, he could see the object, like a dark shoe box. Or maybe a camcorder from the 90s, America¡¯s Funniest Home Videos type of a camera. Is that a drone?


    When he turned all the way around to face the window, it was gone. No matter. His stomach overtook him again.


    Though, when Michael returned to his bedroom he made no outward appearance to look at the window. He looked at the floor. He looked at the bed. He curled his arm under and around his pillow, covered himself with his comforter and feigned closing his eyes. There it is. The dark object appeared again in the window.


    Michael squinted at the tv. How much attention am I being given? Do they watch me 24/7? He shifted his legs dramatically. The object shifted upward in reaction to his shifting coverings. He chuckled quietly to himself. He kicked his legs again, scissoring them in an orientation opposite from where he¡¯d begun. The drone swung in a counterclockwise arch around the window. Michael counted in his head. Twenty seven. Twenty eight. Twenty nine. Thirty! He spun himself to face the window. He saw the purple Shil¡¯vati drone for what it was for only a moment before it spun around and shot into the sky away from his window.


    Well hell, maybe Joph¡¯rena would save on manpower, womanpower?, if I lived on base and they could keep cameras and microphones nearby whereas they weren''t allowed to put cameras in my private residence; so instead they maintained a drone presence. What do I think of that? Ultimately, what¡¯s the difference? I''ve been told that drones have been watching me, but now that I¡¯ve seen one for myself, what is the difference? If I live on base, I¡¯m sure there¡¯ll be cameras everywhere watching me. Here, I have a drone that follows me. In either case, I¡¯m going to be watched. I might as well have my rent paid, probably a new bed, probably a comparable income. There I know I¡¯ll be watched. So far, it sounds like a better deal.


    But what about this new job? What about living on a military base? I don¡¯t know anything about the Shil¡¯vati military? I mean, I guess I could talk to Bill about the human military, but if my family is any indicator, it¡¯s not a good place.


    ¡°I¡¯mma deck you old man!¡± His uncle¡¯s words rang in his head still.


    Not only that, but I don¡¯t like...what¡¯s the word? Authority. I don¡¯t care for people yelling at me and giving me orders. Never joined a team because I didn¡¯t want some dude yelling at me to do something that I didn¡¯t want to do. Would that apply to me with this role on base? It¡¯d almost have to, right? I¡¯d become a cog in their machine.


    Michael thought about his future a bit longer before deciding he needed to eat something that might settle his stomach. He got up and grabbed some crackers from the kitchen. He threw the unopened package onto the couch. He grabbed a plastic cup and noisily added ice and water.


    Michael plopped himself down on the couch with the crackers, grabbed the remote and turned on the tv. What should I be doing with my time? Video games? A movie? Or maybe something a little more useful?


    Michael opened up the smart apps on Bill¡¯s big tv. He arrowed over to the YouTube app on the television.


    ¡ª-


    Several hours later there was a knock on the door. Michael got up to look out the window. He saw Linnet¡¯s tail wagging curiously at the door. He knocked on the window to see her tail shift into a happy gear when she saw him through the window.


    Michael held a finger up and mouthed ¡®Be right there¡¯.


    Linnet nodded and licked her lips in anticipation.


    Michael carefully padded down the stairs. His bare feet plopped on the tiles. He opened the door and welcomed Linnet in; he didn¡¯t usually hug people, which was odd, why don¡¯t I hug more people? Michael thought as he grabbed Linnet into as big a hug as he had given anyone in greeting.


    Linnet went with it. ¡°How are you?¡± Despite the odd timing, she leaned into the hug with her whole being.


    ¡°I¡¯m so happy to see you.¡± Michael said in passable Shil¡¯vati.


    Linnet¡¯s face was aghast. She asked in Shil¡¯vati, ¡°You¡¯ve been drinking?¡±


    ¡°No. I¡¯ve been on YouTube all day.¡± Michael smiled. In Shil¡¯vati he continued with the best Keanu Reeves in Matrix voice, ¡°I know Shil¡¯vati.¡±


    Linnet crinkled her muzzle and shook her head, ¡°Let¡¯s be realistic, you know Shil like I know English.¡±


    Michael¡¯s response was choppy Shil¡¯vati, ¡°Few hours clean learn no enough?¡± He held Linnet¡¯s hand and pulled her upstairs.


    Stepping up, Linnet corrected ¡®sober¡¯ from ¡®clean¡¯ and continued in English, ¡°Not quite.¡± Her smile betrayed how proud she was of him.


    They both sat down on the couch so he could show her what he¡¯d been watching.


    Michael smiled in English, ¡°So maybe I¡¯m at a third grade level?¡±


    Linnet gave him a sly side eye, ¡°Maybe. Maybe lower.¡± She saw his face droop and nuzzled him under his neck. He lifted his head again with a tickled giggle. ¡°Does this sober dedication to learning the language mean that you¡¯re going to take the job on base?¡±


    Michael¡¯s smile dissolved as he continued in English, ¡°I guess so. I don¡¯t know.¡± He looked down at the coffee table, ¡°I kinda told Jessica I was taking it.¡±


    Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Linnet tisked, ¡°You told her you were taking it and now you have to take it?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. It was kind of a heat-of-the-moment kind of thing, like, I felt like I had to commit to it then.¡± Michael admitted.


    Looking at him, her pupils grew bigger. ¡°Why?¡±


    Michael pursed his lips, ¡°Well, I-I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m not beholden to her for anything but child support and attempted coparenting.¡±


    Linnet¡¯s head cocked to the side, ¡°Beholden?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t owe her anything.¡± He stumbled on his words, ¡°Except for you know, the money and the parenting thing.¡±


    ¡°Ah. Yes. Didn¡¯t you say you would be married to her, for life? Isn¡¯t that what your human matrimonial ceremonies state?¡± Linnet stopped for clarification. ¡°And how did that work out?¡±


    Michael smirked, ¡°You mean, like I¡¯ve already backed out on one promise to her, I don¡¯t have to keep my word as bond with her regarding this job?¡±


    Linnet gave a low whine, ¡°You learn a little Shil and you think you¡¯re a big shot. Then you go back to use these complicated concepts in English; you¡¯re kind of an asshole for that.¡±


    Michael smiled and shrugged. ¡°Sorry?¡±


    Linnet put her hand up to pat and smooth over Michael¡¯s hair. ¡°I¡¯m saying you¡¯re over complicating things.¡± She pinioned her head so that they were looking into each other¡¯s eyes. ¡°Do you want the job?¡±


    Michael sighed deeply, ¡°I don¡¯t know what the job even is.¡±


    Linnet blinked slowly, ¡°You know how awful the Shil¡¯vati can be. You know how to treat people fairly. We have elected you to come help us make life bearable. You¡¯ll be helping us. You¡¯ll probably help other people on base who have complaints but don¡¯t have anyone to turn to; your job is to help the peoples under the Imperium rule on base deal with the Shil¡¯vati.¡±


    ¡°Why would they listen to me and not you or your superiors? I¡¯m nobody.¡± Michael whimpered.


    ¡°Because you are a male. Your planet is filled with males who don¡¯t know a matriarchy like most of the rest of us do. You have a knack for languages. Those ¡®Purple bitches¡¯ will listen to a man who will stand up to them.¡± Linnet reasoned.


    Michael contemplated that, I have spent a lot of time avoiding conflicts¡­


    Seeing his lack of confidence, Linnet also bolstered with, ¡°Plus, you¡¯ll be a part of our pack.¡± Her eyes held a kind of welcoming feeling that Michael hadn¡¯t felt in a long time.


    Michael melted into this feeling. However, accepting that someone loves you is a hard thing to do for people like Michael. Instead of letting himself feel that, he interrupted with, ¡°Oh, I did see the drone this morning.¡± Michael cleared the happiness out of his throat and mind.


    Linnet¡¯s keen eyes held for just a moment longer before replying casually, ¡°Oh? You¡¯ve finally noticed them?


    ¡°Finally? Like you¡¯ve known about them the whole time?¡± Michael said exasperatedly.


    ¡°It¡¯s a part of living under Shil¡¯vati rule that I have accepted.¡± Linnet admitted. ¡°It¡¯s kind of hard to let go, but also, it¡¯s sort of comforting. Your people always have your phones and watches and other devices? They do practically the same thing.¡±


    The phone buzzed psychosomatically in Michael¡¯s pocket. ¡°I guess so.¡± He tried not to be paranoid about that kind of thing, to the point of accepting that the cameras on his phone or on the computers at work and everywhere around him were likely transmitting his visual information to someone; so what was the difference? ¡°I guess you¡¯re right. I¡¯m being watched anyway, so what difference does it make?¡± He concluded.


    ¡°Only now, you¡¯re closer to the people who are watching you. You¡¯d be a person and not so much a target.¡± Linnet smiled mischievously. ¡°Isn¡¯t there some Human movie about keeping enemies close?¡±


    ¡°How do you know about the Godfather?¡± Michael blurted out.


    ¡°Classic Human culture. It seems to be a thing.¡± Linnet shrugged.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t even watched all of the Godfather.¡± Michael admitted, ¡°But I know that line.¡±


    Linnet folded her arms and sat back on the couch. ¡°See?¡±


    Michael sat back as well. ¡°Hmm, could there be a movie night on base?¡±


    Linnet leaned in closer to Michael, ¡°It could be your job to set that up.¡± Her whiskers entwined with his beard. Her warm breath against his ear. He shivered.


    ¡°I could,¡± He paused until the shiver¡¯s intensity had diminished, leaving only goosebumps up his arms, ¡°Get used to that.¡±


    He turned his head to face hers. Eskimo kisses were exchanged.


    Before things could get too much farther, the apartment door downstairs opened. ¡°How ya doin¡¯, Poopsie?¡± Bill¡¯s voice rang out. ¡°You still a shit geyser?¡±


    Following Bill¡¯s voice was a mixture of laughing and shushing. Seemed the whole gang had arrived with him. Harley, Fala, Bel¡¯a, Staff sergeant Remington, and Finley all tromped up the stairs with Bill. Who Michael hadn¡¯t anticipated coming up the stairs was Celeste.


    ¡°Good afternoon, Mikey!¡± Celeste cheered.


    Trying to appear unperturbed and not like he was just about to jump Linnet, Michael replied, ¡°Good afternoon! And what brings you here? Have you met all of our friends?¡± He got up from the couch and stood behind it, offering seating for all of the guests.


    ¡°I did, they¡¯re very friendly. We all got to talking outside of the apartment. It was clear that we¡¯re all heading the same direction. You¡¯ve become,¡± Celeste looked around the room, ¡°Very popular.¡±


    ¡°Despite your illness.¡± Fala stood closer to Michael with a concerned look. ¡°Are you feeling better?¡±


    Michael unconsciously touched his stomach, ¡°Yeah, I think I¡¯m better now.¡±


    Celeste didn¡¯t know what Fala asked, but got the picture. ¡°I just wanted to tell you that the lawyer we sent the video to has said that there¡¯s likely to be a class action suit. You''re not the only person who the Shil¡¯vati have been ¡®assaulty¡¯ to; it¡¯s an issue.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I could tell from the bus full of men ready to give their lives to make sure a few fewer Shils were around to hurt them.¡± Michael said quietly.


    Ssgt Remington asked, in clear English, ¡°You have a video? Of Pennar¡¯dun¡¯s sexual assault of yourself?¡± He shifted in his seat. Finley copied the movement in a shaking pantomime, trying to get everything right. It¡¯s clear to me that Finley thinks doing what Ssgt Remington does will get him promoted as well.


    Celeste answered for Michael, ¡°Yes, he managed to record it on his phone.¡± At which, Remington and a few of the others exchanged glances.


    Michael tried to read the room. ¡°Does that mean anything to you all?¡±


    Harley spoke up, ¡°Michael, no offense meant by this, but are you an idiot!?¡±


    Michael chuckled in self deprecation, ¡°Depends on your perspective.¡±


    Bel¡¯a chuffed, ¡°You¡¯re not getting that job on base then.¡±


    Celeste broke in, ¡°You¡¯re taking a job on base?¡± She put her hands on her forehead, ¡°Are you an idiot?¡±


    Michael grabbed the back of his neck, ¡°That seems to be the consensus.¡±


    ¡°Wait,¡± Linnet interrupted, ¡°Why do you think that¡¯s idiotic, Celeste?¡±


    Holding her hands out emphatically at Michael, Celeste answered, ¡°He¡¯s going to go back to where he got attacked?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll be there now,¡± Linnet corrected. ¡°He¡¯s going to be in a facility for us.¡± She reached behind her and grabbed Michael¡¯s arm and felt down to hold his hand.


    ¡°For you?¡± Celeste followed the path of Linnet¡¯s hand, then searched Michael¡¯s face. ¡°You¡¯re going to protect him?¡±


    Finley cut in, ¡°Yes!¡±


    Ssgt Remington added, ¡°Though his new job would be about protecting us.¡±


    Celeste was flabbergasted by the thoughts running through her head. ¡°What? How does any of this make any sense to anyone?¡±


    Michael smiled and shrugged, ¡°I don¡¯t know what it¡¯s going to look like exactly,¡± he gave Linnet¡¯s hand a little squeeze, ¡°But I believe we can figure it out.¡±


    Celeste palmed her face and put her other fist on the waist of her jeans, ¡°They¡¯re offering you a job protecting Rakiri--¡±


    Finley cut in again, ¡°And other species on base. There¡¯s a diverse population of--¡±


    Harley interrupted, ¡°A diverse population of no one suing the Imperium!¡±


    Bel¡¯a rolled her eyes, ¡°You¡¯re not getting this job.¡±


    Bill held his hands up to get everyone¡¯s attention, ¡°Hey now, are we actually hearing each other, or are we letting our assumptions lead us to panic?¡± He took a sip of his beer. ¡°When Celeste mentioned the video and the lawyer and all of that, you all seemed surprised. Did none of you know about this?¡±


    The Rakiri gathering all shook their heads no.


    ¡°Then we have reason to assume that the Shil¡¯vati don¡¯t know either.¡± Bill proposed, giving Michael a wink, ¡°Maybe that¡¯s your ace in the hole.¡±


    Michael mouthed ¡®Ace in the hole¡¯ at Bill. What are you talking about?


    Celeste got it, ¡°If they don¡¯t know yet, they¡¯ll still give you the job. By the time it amounts to anything, you¡¯ll already be there. It could either give you armor or paint a target on your back.¡±


    The room murmured in agreement.


    Michael quietly addressed the room, ¡°What¡¯s the worst that could happen? I¡¯m willing to try anything four times.¡±


    Linnet squeezed Michael¡¯s hand and looked at the other Rakiri in the room. ¡°And, you¡¯re a part of our pack now, right everybody?¡±  Linnet began a howl in which everyone joined, including Bill. Celeste joined for the hell of it.


    Besides, what was the worst that could happen?