I lay there planning to sleep for the next forty-eight hours. This plan ensured a few things that I found beneficial. First, no Rina (I hoped). Second, no more robots, or aliens, or massive ships. Third, I could pretend it had never happened. The less I knew the better.
This plan was ruined mere hours later as my door bell rang. Looking at my clock, I saw it was not even three in the morning. I got up grumpily and hauled myself to the door. Opening it, I saw a gorgeous female, and next to her was Rina. “You are the boy? And here I thought Tatyana’s son would be more… imposing. Are you sure this is him?” She looked at me and spoke to Rina. My disgruntled look became even more displeased as I began to shut the door. The woman’s foot blocked it from closing all the way. “Look lady, you show up at this ungodly hour, tell me about not meeting my mother’s standards or what have you, and are apparently trying to force your way into my home. Excuse me if I’m not feeling overly hospitable.” Her face looked hurt before I said anything, so I needed to ram home my displeasure with the whole situation. She overrode the door’s close protocol from where she stood saying simply, “We need to have a discussion here.”
Having admitted the battle was lost, I went to the living room and we all sat down. That’s when the talking started. “I am Zinnia, lead inspector for the government sanctioned ‘Bureau of Encounters” or simply ‘BE’. According to the events submitted in today’s report, we have an inquiry on our hands, and you my dear child are our subject. I shall be brief here, I am to observe your every movement. Your life is in my hands, are we clear on this point?” She smiled politely as she spoke, her tone was one of bubbly enthusiasm. It made me feel sick. I blinked at her, it was all so much to take in at one shot. What I understood was that she’d be moving in to determine if/when I will die because I accidentally got involved in something. Great, another mad female to add to my collection. I’m sure my thought process played across my face, because Zinnia’s face tilted slightly.
“I was informed that you’d be rather disagreeable to this whole thing, but I have even less choice than you do.” She seemed to believe that’d win me over. “Look, I told her how much you dislike the idea, and how much you seem to reject any feminine figure in your life, but her boss is higher up than my boss, so I couldn’t do anything. Sorry.” Rina tried to plead her case as well. Sleepily glaring at the two of them I spoke my mind. “I’m too tired to fight with you annoying women right now. If she has to stay, until my mind sorts this all out, and until I’m rested, she may use the guest room. But keep it down, I need to sleep.” And with that I went to my room and fell into a deep sleep.
Light hit my eyes at some point after that, and I rolled over to try and keep sleeping. My motion was cowed, and my hand hit something soft. Now I’m only human, so I made the mistake of squeezing said object to ascertain an idea as to what it was. A low moan was heard from right in front of my face, which made my sleep addled mind place events together. “Rina, I told you to let me sleep. Go home.” I mumbled, but the round object under my hand moved slightly to a giggle. “Wait a second…” I said as I opened one eye to see what was actually going on. My hand was traceable to the buttocks of a female other than Rina. My mind was about half a second behind my new observation, and I freaked out and fell out of bed. The groggy face of the girl peered over the side of the bed. “Pillow…?” and with such a simple word she fell on me. I’m use to Rina doing stupid crap like this, and I’m use to her chest choking the life out of me, but never had a realized that there could be bigger ones. Seconds of squirming later got me only a face full of stomach. And really, this was ridiculous by any standard.
I needed her to get off of me, and I had no ideas how to accomplish this goal. With Rina I could stick my tongue on her and she’d freak out and call me a pervert and get a nosebleed. My other option was to slap this female in someplace almost offensive. So, being as I didn’t want to lick her, I had to determine where would have the most effect, even if that means I get smacked in return. I decided to hit her hindquarters. “Oh yes!” came a rough voice, and likely it was her still mostly asleep. So that didn’t work. Where is my terminal? I need to call for help. I heard my door open and tried my best to make myself seen. Waving about my arms and trying to catch notice made the body above me move and moan.
Unfortunately, my body takes the hit. A foot slamming into my abdomen is followed by a violent screaming. “HER? REALLY? YOU DON’T TRY THIS STUFF WITH ME, BUT YOU TRY IT ON HER? YOU ASS! I THOUGHT WHAT YOU AND I HAD WAS SPECIAL!” Dear god, it was Rina freaking out. Trying to explain only caused more movement from the body on my face. After another minute of Rina’s screaming and my flailing, Zinnia (for that was who the mystery female had to have been, at least by process of elimination) woke up. “Oh, this isn’t good.” She spoke in such a strange voice, a mix of embarrassment and sleepiness. “I believe I have a little explaining to do now, do I not?” I recovered my terminal from the floor where it had landed during the disaster, and typed out a message: Explain later, get off now. She obliged my request, and I could again breathe correctly.
I cooked breakfast and we all sat around the table to listen to Zinnia’s tale. “So there are a few minor points I should go over since I shall be here for a while. I guess you discovered my sleeping problems. I cannot sleep without another living being by me. My sister served as my sleeping companion for the longest time, and now I only sleep every so often. My irregularities force me to be a rather heavy sleeper, my apologies.” I knew we were in trouble, and since I’d been on the receiving end of all that, I made the executive decision to inquire further. “What else should we know? I don’t need another fiasco. Do I make myself clear?” Reinforcing my stern words, I glared hard enough to freeze lava. “Okay, well I guess that I could start somewhere. I am twenty-two years old, but I am not buying you any alcohol. I eat quite a bit, but I never gain any weight. I sleep in next to nothing, and as I have already stated, I have to sleep with another human. I have to wear contact lenses to avoid drawing attention to my eyes being different colors, and I eat a lot of sweet foods for my low blood sugar. I cannot think of anything else I need to mention. Is that acceptable?”
Wait, twenty-two? The government hires that young? That can’t be right. Not to mention they leave her with a teenager. What mental problems are we having here? “To be clear here, that incident just now, was that a rough estimate as to how mornings will proceed? Can’t we change how this all goes? I mean you could live over at Rina’s place right?” I tried my hardest to remedy the situation. “Nope. That is impossible, you are the subject of observation, so I have to keep on you every second of every day. You could try to protest, but I think you would just end up in prison or executed.” She pondered for a moment before saying anything else. “I could try sleeping without the shirt, or without any clothing at all. Would that make things better?” I turned bright red while shaking my head.
Rina intervened here. “How do we plan to explain any of this to other people?” As they pondered this, I had a startling realization. I have to adjust the shopping, my budget reworked, clothing bought, everything. “We shall be engaged! No further complaints, do we all understand?” Zinnia shouted to be heard. I hear this terrible news, my ears fill with a shattering sound, and I’m sure all color is sapped from my face. I lost everything in mere seconds. “E-engaged? And I don’t have a choice here?” I about started crying at her feet. Rina seemed almost murderous, but Zinnia seemed unexpectedly smug. Looking between the furious yet silent Rina, and the ever increasingly happy Zinnia, I ascertained exactly one thing. They do not like each other one bit.
I went and got dressed in anticipation of the upcoming shopping event that we were going to have. And when I returned, both girls were waiting for me in street clothes. The animosity between the two was palpable. So we left home in silence. Zinnia hung off my arm as soon as we hit the public eye, and she really seemed to enjoy how much it pissed Rina off. “You really should play along better.” Zinnia whispers almost imperceptibly. “Not if my life depended on it.” I curtly whisper back. She put on a pouty face and continued walking, “Fine, but you had best hope that the plebeians buy your pathetic acting.” Oh this was only going to get worse, I could feel it.
We arrived at the shopping center of the colony. Very few people felt the need to go and buy anything since they could order things from home and it would be almost instantly delivered. But I am slightly old fashioned in a sense. I found the market to be soothing, and I needed that now more than ever. Unfortunately the peace I normally had when it was just myself or Rina in tow was gone. People were staring, probably because there was another girl clinging to me and Rina was a few steps behind. Please let go, I just want the peace and boring of a day at the market. I hate this new attention.
My prayers were answered soon after as we came to the clothing market. That’s about when realization cold-clocked me. I am a friggin’ pack mule! But if my arms are full of bags, I can’t be clung too right? Hallelujah. I was wrong, horribly, terribly wrong. I was loaded down with the bags of both women and still Zinnia found ways to cling to me. But after hours more of shopping for clothes and food stock, we returned home. I was so tired I didn’t care to cook, so I ordered pizza. Something nagged at me, and I couldn’t place it in the least. I could swear it was important, but it was just out of my grasp. Whatever it was, I felt really sad.
I left it until the next morning. I looked in my closet, and my tux called out to me for some reason. I looked around the room, and then I poked my head out and looked around the living room. Gazing at old holographs of Rina and my childhood I felt something was out of place. “There isn’t any important matches, I’m not slated to play chess today, so what is it?” I mumbled aloud. I stopped at the silver and gold rose we had, and I thought about it. Then I looked at the holograph next to it, where Rina and I were with both our parents. And then the weight fell on me. Pain shot through my chest, and a self loathing rang throughout every fiber of my being. Today was the anniversary of Rina’s parents passing, and I had forgotten. I of all people should have remembered; Rina is with me every day. I was on the colony that was attacked, I was on my way to see Rina with her parents when the pirates attacked.
I was running ahead of them, and I heard something crack loudly. It was like firecrackers, except so much louder. Rina’s parents reacted by sending me ahead to meet with Rina, and they turned and ran to investigate. I found Rina seconds later, her mother showed up covered in blood and forced both of us into the nearest escape bunker. I had tried to help fight the pirates, like any little kid wants to be the hero, and she got shot protecting me. I turned and ran back to Rina and I made us take off. My face and clothing covered in her mother’s blood, and all I could think of was saving my own ass. I didn’t even give her a chance to say goodbye or any of that. I ran, pulling her along through time. We were one of the lucky few bunker pods that didn’t get blasted, but we didn’t know that until the nearest naval ship showed up to take us home to my parents. We cried on each other, but I knew I had cost Rina her parents. If I hadn’t suggested it, if I hadn’t been such a stupid little git back then, maybe they could be here with us.
I went and donned my tuxedo, traveled to the flower shop, and I bought a massive bouquet of purple hyacinth, pink and red carnations, bellflowers, corylus, and zinnias. Now, most people don’t know about the fact that flowers are another language. With my flowers, I told them I miss them, they will not be forgotten, I told them that I was unworthy and begged forgiveness, but most of all, I told them of my promise to honor them. I walked the back roads to the cemetery where the monument and ashes of all of the people who died during that attack were, and I knelt before it. I set my flowers down before it, and got on my hands and knees, and I cried. I probably looked really stupid, sitting there, crying on a monument for a whole colony, but no one ever came over or made fun of me. The tears stopped eventually, and I stood up. I walked back the way I had come and returned home.
Rina and Zinnia met me in the lot out front, both were terrified of where I had gone without notice. I walked up and held Rina as close as I could, and I burst into tears even more than I had believed I had. We stood there, in the parking lot, like a pair of fools for the better part of ten minutes. They finally got me inside the building. We sat in silence for hours after that, and finally Rina spoke up. “You went there didn’t you?” Her gaze was both pained and angry. “Yeah. I left flowers, and I begged with the universe, but the universe told me it didn’t do trades like that.” I sounded hollow, but I knew she must hurt all the more. The hot stinging sensation that crossed my face brought me back to the room where we all sat. With tears of rage streaming from her face, Rina screamed at me. “I TOLD YOU BEFORE, DON’T YOU EVER EVEN THINK OF TRYING TO SWITCH YOUR LIFE FOR THEIRS! THEY DIED SAVING YOU AND I BOTH! YOU THINK THEY WOULD WANT YOU TO WALLOW IN THE SELF PITY AND… and… the hurt… DID YOU EVER THINK ABOUT HOW I FEEL KNOWING YOU BLAME YOURSELF FOR THIS?”
I met her eyes, and she slapped me again. I knew I deserved worse, but the beating I deserved never came. Rina ran from the room, and Zinnia just sat there, dumbfounded.
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