Synthesis, p.38
Synthesis, page 38
“Since I got kidnapped?” She said, raising an eyebrow and grinning. “It’s okay, you can say it – you’re the one who rescued me, after all.”
“Dawn had a hand in that too, but okay.” Kayden said as they stepped onto the transport tube. “I looked it up earlier – it looks like the neighborhood you were living in wasn’t hit too hard by the fighting. I was thinking I could take you back there and we could pack up the rest of your stuff together? I know it’s not exactly a romantic date, but…”
She leaned in and kissed him deeply as they shot through Port Vega’s residential neighbourhoods. “It is romantic. You’re literally helping me move in with you. Honestly I don’t have a lot of stuff there I really care about, but it’s sweet that you thought to check for me.” Her ears and tail twitched mischievously. “Besides, there’s a bed there I’d like to break in with you, and you can help me pick which outfits I should be taking with us to Sanctuary.”
He grinned in response. “I don’t mind that idea one bit.”
They exited the transport tube and made their way through one of Port Vega’s working class neighbourhoods. As much as there’d been a recent riot and change in leadership, if they ignored the bullet holes and occasional destroyed building, it felt relatively normal. The tall apartment buildings were painted a drab grey, and people came and went about their day – going to work, taking their kids to school, and generally doing all the mundane tasks life required. It was a far cry from the pumping music and neon lights Kayden associated with the entertainment district, but for him it was a welcome change.
When they reached the hallway of her 16th floor apartment, Kayden felt Selina tense up. She walked ahead tentatively while holding his hand, stopping in front of a door. She hesitantly reached out and keyed a code into a pin pad on the door, then swung it open.
The apartment still had the signs of struggle from when Selina was kidnapped. There were several dents in the drywall, along with a blood streak and broken glass on the floor. She gripped Kayden’s hand tighter as the two of them stood in the doorway.
“Shit, this was a bad idea.” Kayden said. “I’m sorry, this is probably traumatic for you. Let’s go somewhere else.”
“No.” Selina said, shaking her head. “I needed to face this anyways, and I’d rather do it with you. You make me feel safer.”
She led him into the small apartment. Beneath the debris of the fight, Kayden recognized the view that he’d seen dozens of times over video calls – the bare walls, a workstation in the corner, and a bed with a dresser in the back. There was a small kitchen area and a washroom in the corner opposite the bed. The whole apartment was maybe 8 meters by 8 meters.
“There’s just a few things I need.” Selina said, letting go of his hand and pulling a box out from below her bed. “The furniture belongs to the apartment building – it’s rented. This shouldn’t take long.”
She quickly filled the box with her belongings – a laptop, her clothes, some toiletries. Kayden walked around the apartment as she did, inspecting the damage. “Damn Selina, you really gave them hell.” He said, pointing at a broken chair.
“They knew the code to the door somehow.” She said, throwing another handful of clothes in the box. “They caught me while I was sleeping. I didn’t make it easy for them though.”
“It’s never going to happen again.” He replied protectively.
“I know.” She said, pausing to kiss him. She pulled out the cheap pair of VR goggles and grinned at him. “Remember these?”
“I do. Do you want to keep them?”
“No. The real thing is better.” She said with a smirk. Finally, she pulled her leather flight suit from the bottom drawer of the dresser. She quickly stripped out of her functional work clothes, then pulled it on – taking care to pull off the Black Company ID patches as she did. Kayden marveled at how sexy her lithe body looked in the leather, letting out a low whistle.
She grinned back at him. “I forgot how much you like me in leather.”
“You look like a sexy dominatrix – hell yes I like you in leather.”
“Good. Why don’t you help me by taking the box, and we’ll head back to the Broken Shackle?”
“I thought you wanted to break in the bed with me?” He asked.
Her face fell slightly. “I…kinda want to leave this place behind. As much as I feel safe with you, it…doesn’t have a lot of great memories.” Suddenly, her grin returned. “That being said, there’s a bed in the Broken Shackle. And that does have a lot of good memories associated with it.”
“Say no more.” Kayden said, picking up the box.
***
12:14, June 13th, 2134
Kayden was in an exceedingly good mood as he reached the main shipyard. The moment they’d reached the Broken Shackle, both his and Selina’s clothes had come off. They spent the next few hours in bed, making love and just being together, talking.
I could get used to this kind of life. He thought to himself.
Looking around, he saw Anna standing next to a large box with tubes and wires sticking out of it. The moment she saw him she frantically waved him over, and he was only too happy to comply. She was wearing a pair of coveralls which looked like they were made for a dwarf. They were cinched around the waist and partially unbuttoned down the front, giving a very enticing view for Kayden. “I’ve got a present for you!” She shouted, as soon as he was within earshot.
He came close to her and scooped her up in his arms, kissing her deeply as he did. She groaned into the kiss and he pressed her against the nearest wall, making out for several minutes before an embarrassed onlooker coughed politely to let them know they had an audience. Breaking the kiss, both of them were grinning when he put her down.
“Want to see your present?” She said, taking his hand and leading him to the box.
“Yes! What…is it?” He asked.
“Well, I finished giving the instructions to modify the Emancipation to my crew. Then I showed the mechanics how to attach magnetic locks to the interceptors and bombers, so they’re working on that now. Then I started thinking about how else I could help, and I came up with…this.”
“Anna, I’m sorry – I still don’t really know what it is.” Kayden admitted, examining the black box.
“It’s a really big fucking bomb!” She said excitedly, causing him to quickly pull his hand back. “I know you said you wanted to blow up the shipyard. They recovered one of the engines for the carrier we took out – it was surprisingly intact! I figured we shouldn’t let it go to waste, so I hooked up enough explosives to it to cause a cascading reaction.”
“Is it…safe?” He asked.
“I think so. It’s as safe as a bomb with enough power to crack a small planet can be, I guess.” She responded, pressing a few buttons on a tablet. “There, it’s now connected wirelessly to the Broken Shackle. We can set it off from there. I’ve already arranged for them to carefully load it onto the ship.”
He grinned, shaking his head before lifting her and kissing her again. “You are the best goblin girlfriend a man could ever ask for.”
“I know. But I like to hear you say it.” She said, running a hand through his messy black hair and scratching his now-scruffy bearded neck. “Now, what did you want to do for our date?”
“I was thinking a lot about what you said earlier, about your childhood and how you used to go hiking. There’s an arboretum habitation dome here, with trees and a fake lake. I know it’s not exactly the same but I thought you might want to go for a walk through it with me?”
“I don’t know.” She said shyly. “It’s not that I don’t want to – I do, I promise. There’s just…going to be a lot of people there, families and stuff. When I’m here everyone respects me because I’m ‘Anna the Mechanic’. Out there, I’d just be a goblin. Besides, I don’t think the arboretum dome has a lake.”
“First off – you’re not just a goblin, you’re my goblin girlfriend. Secondly, would it make you feel better if it was more private? You’re probably thinking of the public one, which is used to generate oxygen for Port Vega. I’m talking about using the private one that was reserved for Black Company executives – it’s strictly designed for ‘leisure’.”
Anna’s eyes lit up. “Really? I didn’t know that was a thing.”
“Oh it’s a thing.” Kayden replied before leaning in and whispering conspiratorially. “And if you want, we can even go skinny dipping in the lake together.”
Anna groaned in response before kissing him happily. “Yes please. That sounds like the perfect date.”
***
17:01, June 13th, 2134
“Right on time!” Dawn said as she noticed Kayden.
“I didn’t want to keep my sexy imp waiting.” He replied, kissing her then taking her hand.
“You clean up pretty good.” She said, biting her lip and admiring the slacks and white dress shirt he was wearing.
“You don’t look so bad yourself.” He said, grinning at her strapless red dress and black heels. She’d even put on makeup for the event, but to Kayden the best-looking thing she was wearing was her smile.
“So tell me: where are we going that we had to dress up?” She asked.
“I mean, we don’t have to dress up for where we’re going.” He said as they stepped onto the transport tube. “But this event deserves a little class.”
They got off at the ruined government quarter. Not wanting her to get her dress dirty, Kayden scooped up Dawn in a bridal carry, and walked through the street while they giggled together. Somehow, the ruined buildings and bullet holes seemed to melt away as they just focused on being together.
Finding the tallest intact building, Kayden carried Dawn into the elevator and rode it all the way to the top. He didn’t stop there though – he followed the hallway to a staircase and continued to climb, pushing the door open to the rooftop.
There, they were greeted by Mr. Miyagi. He bowed to both of them, then ushered them towards a candlelit table with two chairs. Dawn hugged Mr. Miyagi quickly, then let Kayden help her get seated before he sat down as well.
“I wanted to take you back to Mr. Miyagi’s restaurant – after all, that’s where we first had a chance to really talk. It was destroyed, but he was willing to do something special for us.”
“This is amazing!” Dawn said before looking out on the city. “Did it have to be in the destroyed section of the city though?”
“Yeah, actually. Because otherwise you couldn’t look up and see that.”
Dawn tilted her head skywards and her jaw dropped. Without the normal light pollution of Port Vega, she could see a sky full of stars overhead. She looked back at him, then up at the sky, then back at him again. “Okay, I see your point.”
“I know noodles aren’t the most romantic dinner…” He said uncovering the steaming bowls of ramen in front of them. “…but it seemed appropriate.”
She giggled, then leaned forward and kissed him deeply. “It’s absolutely perfect. It’s very ‘us’. Thank you.”
“Anything for you.” He said, kissing her again. “Dig in!”
Having both had long days, they ate with gusto and loud slurping noises. The stars overhead twinkled as they laughed late into the night, telling stories about their day and pointedly ignoring the battle ahead. To Kayden, it felt amazing to just let loose and be with her. It just felt right – like a piece of his heart had been missing all his life, and now was finally filled.
“Dawn, I…need to say something.” He said hesitantly, putting down his spoon.
“Uh oh. Sounds serious.” She replied teasingly.
He locked eyes with her and took her hand gently, rubbing his thumb across the back of her hand. “When we met, I was searching for freedom to do whatever I wanted – even if I had no idea what I wanted to do. You’ve made me realize what I want. When we win tomorrow and I get my neural link fixed, what I want to do is spend lots of nights like this on Sanctuary, on the Broken Shackle, and wherever else our adventures take us. I guess what I’m trying to say is…I love you, Dawn Parker.”
A tear formed in her eye, and she squeezed his hand in reply. “Do you really mean it? You’re not just saying that because of what we have to do tomorrow?”
“I really mean it.” Kayden assured her.
“Good. Because I love you too Kayden Reynolds.”
She kissed him deeply, her soft pink lips pressing against his as she played with his hair. His hands pulled her closer to him, until she was finally sitting on his lap, her tail sliding up and down his leg. “What about Anna and Selina? Do you love them too?” She asked.
He searched his feelings for a moment. “I need a little longer with both of them, but…it’s definitely going that way, yeah. Do you?”
She nuzzled him carefully, doing her best not to prick him with her horns. “I feel the same way. Selina is caring and nurturing, and Anna is playful. We need both of them in our lives.”
“Don’t sell yourself short here: you’re clever and intuitive. You’ve got this amazing read on all our emotions – even when we don’t know how we’re feeling, you seem to always know.”
She kissed him again, then smiled. “I know how you’re feeling right now.”
“Do you now?” He asked playfully.
“Yes. You’re feeling like you want to take me back to the Broken Shackle and see the surprise that the girls and I worked on for you in our bedroom.”
Kayden felt like he’d never moved so fast in his life. Standing and carrying Dawn, he profusely thanked Mr. Miyagi before almost sprinting back to the ship, causing Dawn to cackle most of the way. When they finally reached it Ali had already lowered the boarding ramp and he ran up, throwing Dawn into a fireman’s carry and climbing the ladder two rungs at a time.
When he reached the bedroom, he opened the door to find Selina and Anna dressed in black lingerie, laying in bed. The room had been rearranged – one of the walls had been taken out to merge two bedrooms together, and their small single bed was now a much larger one – large enough for the 4 of them plus more, if they wanted.
Glancing around, he saw that Selina had moved into the room and occupied a dresser in the corner. Another dresser was filled haphazardly with small clothes, which he could only guess belonged to Anna. As he locked eyes with his catgirl and his goblin, Dawn dropped her dress behind him to reveal that she was wearing matching black lingerie.
Walking past him, she trailed two fingers along his arm and slid into bed between the two women. “Come to bed love.” She invited him, beckoning him with one finger.
How did I get so lucky? He thought to himself, tearing off his clothes.
Chapter 35
03:22, June 14th, 2134
Kayden’s eyes opened gradually to the sound of a message on his phone. To his left and right were Dawn and Selina, both curled up against him with their heads on his chest. Not to be left out, Anna laid directly on top of him, her arms spread as if to hold him. He laid there for a few moments and just basked in the affection of his 3 girlfriends at the same time.
This is my life. He thought to himself. This is home.
Gently pushing Anna off him, he got out of bed. As he did he noticed both Dawn and Selina scoot closer, snuggling Anna in their sleep. He gently kissed all 3 women and ducked out of the room without waking them. Each of them were normally fairly heavy sleepers, and with last night’s activities he wasn’t surprised they were still asleep.
The 4 of them had made love into the early hours of the morning in every conceivable position several times over. By the time they were done even Anna felt deeply satisfied. Kayden felt a deepening love for each of them and had to resist the urge to murmur it to them as they all fell asleep.
Checking his messages, he saw it was from Cassie and Daniel, asking him to call them. The fleet wouldn’t be ready for another 4 hours, meaning that he had enough time. He made his way across the hall to the mess where he sat and ate quietly.
Good morning Ali. He ‘said’ to her. Would you like to have our ‘date’ now?
[“Good morning Kayden. Yes please. Did you sleep well?”]
Yes, very. Thank you.
[“While you were asleep, a delivery arrived outside.”] Kayden furrowed his brow for a moment, thinking about what could possibly have been delivered. His thoughts were interrupted when Ali continued. [“When the delivery person approached, I opened the cargo bay doors and instructed them to carefully place it on the floor. They carelessly dropped it, so I closed the doors and trapped them inside until they apologized and I could be sure there was no damage.”]
Wait, what?
[“That was a joke. Between the end of the battle and now, I have been studying human humor. Did I amuse you?”]
Kayden threw his head back and cackled with laughter. Realizing that his women were still sleeping, he did his best to suppress it – unsuccessfully. Ali, that was amazing. Thank you. He said, catching his breath and wiping tears from his eyes.
[“You’re welcome Kayden. There really is a package outside though.”]
Kayden quickly dressed and retrieved the package. Opening the plastic packaging, he found 4 earpieces and a set of instructions with a handwritten note from Ashley. “The comms in your combat suits are shit. I got these for your little excursion.” The note read.
Ali, if I sync these to the ship, will you be able to speak to all of us through them?
[“Yes, Kayden. They are quantum entangled earpieces – quite expensive, but they should work regardless of range. It will give us a tactical advantage.”]
Amazing. I’ll ask Anna to sync these when we’re on our way.
[“Why not do it yourself?”]
Anna likes messing about with new tech, and she’s been looking for any way she can be helpful. Asking her to set these up will make her feel happy and useful.
[“I see.”]
How about you Ali? What makes you happy?
[“I…do not know. I enjoy speaking with you, and helping our crew. Without a physical body though, I am unable to experience the physical pleasures which you enjoy, such as last night.”]
