“I’ll make sure you’re off the schedule for the next week, but you can come back any time after that.”
“I’m going to feel like crap for a week?” All I can think about is a week of fighting my glitchy apartment while also potentially cursing the existence of my uterus.
“Oh no. You’ll be fine in a day or two, tops. But I’m not going to clear you until that week’s over.”
I take the pills. “Okay. And thanks.”
“Literally anything else you need, tell me and I will make it happen.”
I believe her.
CHAPTER 3
There’s a store on level six that carries imports from Earth. It’s probably another one of Phantom’s properties… If not, I’m sure the shop’s owners are paying them a heavy import tax.
But right now, I don’t really care as I pluck a chocolate bar and a bag of salty chips from the shelves. I stop and stare at an eye mask for a little too long. It would be nice to have if my lights decide to come on at random again, but I know I’ll just rip the thing off in my sleep.
It won’t do me any good if it’s on the floor on the other side of the room.
Snacks and fizzy drinks acquired, I make my way to the front, not really paying attention to anything else around me.
Which is why I don’t see Sirin before he tells the cashier to charge my pile to him.
If a tentacle wasn’t wrapped around my waist, I might think he was a sleep deprived delusion.
“What are you doing here?” I ask as the cashier scoops my hoard into a bag and hands it across.
“I came to find you.”
“Oh,” I say, feeling silly as he leads me out of the shop.
When we’re outside, he takes me to the nearby bench and sits me down, lowering himself, like he’s kneeling in front of me.
“I have a confession to make.” He strokes my cheek and presses his lips together in a grimace before he says. “I used the station cameras to track you down. It’s a gross misuse of my position, but Kita came to scream at me and… are you okay?”
Swallowing, I tell him the truth. “I don’t know.”
“Let me take you home and take care of you.”
“We won’t fit in my place.” Kita and I squeeze in, but he’s bigger than she is.
“I meant mine.” He brushes my cheek again. “Please, Cherry. Let me do this.”
“Okay.” I’d rather be with him than alone, even if my apartment didn’t run the risk of glitching on me.
I don’t pay attention to the route he leads me on as we go through the station, taking two different elevators.
I don’t really feel “awake” until the door closes behind us and I blink at the round living room with its glittering viewports.
“This is nice.” Likereallynice.
“I just moved, actually.” He sets my things on a low table beside a sealed carafe of water and a jar of the sour candies I told him I liked once. “I had hoped I might need space for two soon.”
Wrapping his tentacles around me Sirin pulls me close and presses a soft kiss to my forehead. “What do you need?”
“You’re not going to tell me I should keep them?” I don’t have any clue how Opodeans feel about this sort of thing.
“I just want you to be happy and safe. You’re not happy and having them probably isn’t safe.”
