Episode 246: Morning Grumbles (Greg)

Greg’s future wife tried to slide out from under his arm when the sun was barely above the horizon.

He stretched his arm across her, protesting, but she climbed out anyway and let his arm flop onto the bare sheet. “Good morning,” she said.

Hm. Maybe to some people who hadn’t been tortured last night.

He opened one eye to see what she was wearing, but she was definitely dressed, in periwinkle and white striped shorts and a camisole. It was almost disappointing, except they fit her so well.

His future wife. He tried to wrap his mind around that, around how he could be with two different women in only a week, after a lifetime of monogamy.

He didn’t know, but he liked it more than he expected. The idea of the challenge appealed to him; of getting to know this fierce-but-soft girl who’d charged right back into danger without a second glance.

It was hot.

“It wasn’t a dream,” he fake-groaned.

She sat on the bed, close enough to touch, and braided her long hair, without really seeming to think about it. “How are you today?” she asked.

The blue in her camisole set off her eyes.

Twinkle twinkle, periwinkle.

That was a dumb pick-up line.

He forced himself to sit up. “Totally better. We have students? What kind of schedule does this place have?”

  He had saved his sons. He was never going to know them. If he did, it wouldn’t be for a long time yet, because something that happened here was going to trigger a journey somewhere else, a new mission. Like in video games when you set out on a quest and end up with a thousand little side quests that make the main quest last forever.

He just wanted his kids. Why was that too much? Other people got to have their kids. Shitty people who didn’t deserve them got their kids, but he couldn’t get his.

  At least they were out of this place.

“Early mornings,” Em told him. “Class, food sometimes. I don’t know.”

  “Very recently promoted?” he teased, except she didn’t laugh. He’d have to figure out how to tease her better. This place needed more laughter. “Does that mean we need to decide the schedule?”

“Cecil was in charge of the fourteen-year-old class and his boyffff…your son. Was in charge of the six-year-old class. Cecil does the six-year-olds as of today and we have the fourteen-year-olds. Yesterday there were ten, today there are four.”

  On second thought, he was glad his kids weren’t here.

The ones who still were, wherever they slept, were probably waking up terrified right now. If they even knew yet.

  “And the kids have to think the others are dead, that’s the idea?”

“They are dead,” she corrected, because cameras. “Except Thayer.”

  “Right. But we have to make sure the rest of the boys know it? Or do we just imply it by their absence?”

“Imply it.”

It should’ve been deliciously ominous, but it wasn’t. He didn’t have the stomach for this bullshit. He just wanted his kids, not this other stuff.

“That’s nice and scary,” he muttered.

That made her laugh, for some inscrutable reason. 

“You just sounded like Asa,” she told him, and all the sickness in his stomach writhed like a fish on land.

He forced a laugh. “Thanks for killing him,” he said, in a tone he hoped sounded pissed. As pissed as he should feel about all of this. But maybe a little pulled back, like he was trying not to be pissed.

“That honor was Cecil’s. I killed his girlfriend.”

  “Do you always kill by gender?” he asked. Might as well try again with the teasing, see if anything worked with her or if she was with Rhyss because she was into boring. If that was the case, which he didn’t think, he had no idea why luck said they were getting married.

She laughed, thank God.

“Yes. Always. That’s why I need you. A class of boys…”

“I’ll try not to attach to any of them. Did anyone bring clothes?” He doubted that a t-shirt and boxers would be approved of for teaching.

“I’ll check.” She stood, which made the bed shift a little without her weight. “You have a nice body, by the way,” she said, opening a drawer of the sterile white dresser on the far wall. She brought him a stack of clothes – grey drawstring pants and a grey v-neck shirt. They really stood out against all the white in the room.

“I have a nice body?” he teased. “That must be why they wanted me.” He appraised her, with the eye of a future husband rather than that of the guy about to sacrifice himself for his sons. Last night’s near-death opinions didn’t count. “Yours isn’t terrible either.”

“You don’t think so?” she asked. She removed her shirt – facing away from him – and her bra, before walking towards her dresser.

It reminded him of when he’d stripped in front of Aadya. He almost laughed, except Em wouldn’t get the joke.

He stripped, though. He bet she’d get that joke.

Or kill him.

He’d survived worse.

When she turned around – in a new bra and embellished white blouse – he stood there beside the bed, as naked as when he’d seduced Aadya.

It was becoming a trend with him.

Her mouth popped open when she saw him, and then closed slowly like a door creaking shut. “Feeling better, then?” she asked.

“Hm? Just getting dressed.” He pretended to look for his clothes, shifting the bedding.

She folded her arms. He had a feeling she was trying not to smile.

“So, what do you want to know about our class or this place?” she asked.

“What are the boys like? The last three alive?”

“Neron is the star of the class, the chosen one, with Asa gone. He is incredibly intelligent and always scanning his environment. He and Brendan have a thing maybe. Brendan is tough and contained and brave and anxious. Then Thackery. He’s hard-working and gets along well with others. He doesn’t show much of his personality, but he has a sense of humor.”

“And we’re just…” he waved his arm. “Babysitting them?”

What was the point of that?

“My first lesson to them was etiquette. They have weapons training and learning about girls and tons of physical activities. They need some life readiness skills too.”

Life readiness? What the hell was that? “Like…not walking into traffic or don’t do drugs or what?”

Her smile grew, just a tiny amount. She was such a challenge. A puzzle he couldn’t figure out. For example, why was she still way over there when he was over here?

“Like, yesterday they learned how to use zippers and buttons. If you are assigned the class, your skills.”

His skills were about noticing things by accident on an intuitive plane that people either had access to, or didn’t. He had no idea how to teach that.

“Okay,” he mused. Life readiness… “So cell phones? Not if they’re training for Elesara.” He had limited experience there, and most of it had to do with shirts that tied and finding little ways to get under Konrad’s skin. But they had a lore, and it mattered to them. He knew that at least. 

“I have some ideas,” he told her. “Geography and history lessons so they fit in better there. Adjust more easily.”

“And some fun,” she insisted. “Brendan, Thackery, and Brendan aren’t likely to survive long.”

Neither were they, at this rate. She was still across the room. Was she not interested? Was she one of those girls – he wouldn’t blame her if she was – that wanted an intense emotional connection before anything physical?

They didn’t have time for that kind of crap here.

“I can’t wait to kill them,” he joked. He gave up on sex, for now, and decided to focus on getting through the damned day.

Someone wanted them to sleep together. He could feel the pressure, with the luck. If they didn’t soon, it wasn’t going to go well for either of them, but he didn’t have it in him to be the guy who forced a girl to…anything.

Unless she wanted him to force her. He was all for that.

“Aww, already?” she teased. About his clothes.

She wasn’t interested. Was this some kind of game with her?

She pushed her braid back over her shoulder and straightened. “They all had their first night with girls.” At fourteen? “It was also their first night in non-dorm housing. The three younger boys are difficult to understand. They know a ton and they’re experienced beyond most people you’ve ever met. Cy is an experienced thief as well. Oscar is an engineer. Max is a prophet.”

“Experienced thief?” But a kid. The spaces kids could squeeze through, that adults couldn’t… “Is he any good? Experienced and skilled aren’t always the same.”

“He’s got many lifetimes of experience. I think he may be able to teach you a thing or two. Maybe you can compete on a thieve’s obstacle course for the class.”

Not a bad idea, as long as he kept it simple enough that it didn’t force him or the kid to reveal any of their true skills.

“Security is an important skill. Maybe they can hide something for us to find.”

That.

He liked that idea.

“Possibly,” she agreed. “Are you hungry?”

Ravenous.

After the bath, he’d expected her to be more involved, more driven, more wanty.

“I should eat.” If he looked like he was protesting, it might cause trouble. And he wanted his energy up. There was no point in refusing food that luck told him was harmless on its own.

He looked down at his feet. “No shoes?” he asked. Maybe they were considered weapons, here. 

Nope, she had some. She bent down to pick them up and brought them over to him. She set them on the floor and put her palm flat on his chest. “Do you want to make the boys wait?” she asked.

What. The. Hell.

Now she wanted him?

This was about power. About not looking weak or feeling trapped or some other bullshit.

Well, they were trapped and weak.

He didn’t think it was stupidity, which meant it was stubbornness. Desire to be herself no matter what.

His heart raced in his chest. She was so strong. Determined. Opinionated. Someday, if they survived this, they were going to have amazing arguments.

“Good,” she said. She stepped away from him.

Now what?

“Good what? What are you doing?”

“I wanted to make sure I have some sort of impact on you,” she said. She lifted her shirt over her head.

No one had ever done that to him before. Ever.

“That was a tease?” he verified.

She grinned. “And it worked well, didn’t it.” Her eyes strayed down to his sweatpants, where his hunger for her visibly pressed against the bounds of the fabric.

He stepped closer to her. “That’s not fair. It’s not like I can see my impact on you.”

She took his hand, deliberately, her eyes on his face, and slipped it inside her clothes. Ahhh.

She was going to torture him.

“Satisfied?” she asked him, one eyebrow arched.

Two could play at this game. He pulled away from her. “Okay, so class?” he asked.

She bit her lip. He could hear her breath, coming fast. “Class,” she agreed. She stepped away too; he hoped it was because she had to, before she could say anything else. “Have you ever taught before?” she asked him.

“Do you need a practice lesson?”

“You want to teach me how to teach?” he asked. She must be at least as bad as he was. He licked his fingers, tasting her.

She watched him, and then met his eyes. “We should go,” she said, like she didn’t want to.

“Good idea.” He bent down to pick up the shoes, but he picked her up instead and lifted her onto the bed, where he slid her pants down without any protest from her. Good.

He was not going to function well today if he was stressed about whether they’d work together, or if he was too turned on by her to think straight while they were teaching.

He could think about teaching later. For now, all he wanted to think about was her.

“What was the first lesson?” he asked. He ran his hands up her body.

“I don’t care,” She pulled him to her and kissed his jaw, his neck, his lips, pushing their bodies into better alignment on the bed. 

“Why do you want this?” he asked her. He had to make sure she did, for whatever reason. It didn’t have to be the same reason he had for wanting her, but he wasn’t going to let them force her into it.

“Because if we do this, it’s our choice. And I want something that’s mine. They’ve taken everything else from me.”

That was…borderline.

It would have to do.

“I can be yours,” he promised.

“Why do you want this?” she asked. “Or was I mistaken?”

“Because,” he kissed her again. He let the luck magic rise to the surface, showing him the life they could have together if they fought for it. “I can imagine our future and I want it.”

She kissed his shoulder and pressed their bodies together.

“What can you see?” she asked, later, when they could breathe again.

  He whispered, his face angled away from the cameras. This was them, their future.

“A boat in the sky. Kids. You, happy.”

  “Cy knows those boats, and Oscar can fly them.”

It was settled, then; if they lived, they would belong to each other. They would make the future luck wanted them to have.

  He would need to let go of Aadya. Em would need to let go of Rhyss.

That was going to have to be a decision, not an instinctive thing. He’d been so happy with her, so sure of their future.

  He wasn’t letting Em go, the way he’d let Aadya go. He’d saved his kids. Even if he never saw them again, they would have a chance at real lives. At happiness.

His future was here, with Em. He was prepared for the fight to keep it.

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