Page 53 of Einar

Pushingmy now empty plate away,Ilean back in my freakishly large chair asItake in the male sitting across from me.Einaris not handsome in any sense of the word.Thinkingback on whatI’veobserved thus far,Idon’t think he is even considered good looking for his species.Severalof his brothers have more symmetrical faces with better cosmetic features thanEinarhas.Thedifferences betweenEinarandRobertcouldn’t be more glaringly blatant, andIhave to wonder if the universe did that on purpose.Robert, may he forever rot in hell, was classically handsome with silver dusted hair, dark brown eyes, and patrician features.WhereasEinar’snose is flatter, with a crook in it to suggest it’s been broken at least once, and his heavy, horned brow protrudes over his eyes, creating a shadowy overhang.Thenthere are the horns that hold his green tinted black hair off of his face like a built-in headband.

Itmakes me a bit jealous, sinceIhave to constantly push my long hair back out of my face.

Broadcheekbones, a massive square scaled jaw and a big mouth round out his face, creating a homely, brutish package.Yet, his yellow dragon eyes are caring every time they land on me, and his mouth is somewhat appealing if you can get past the two tusks that poke out past his full lower lip.

Hemust feel my gaze boring into him because he lifts his head to regard me curiously as he finishes chewing his last bite of food. “Isthere something you need, littleRowan?”

“No, not particularly.I’mcurious to know what you brought in that little bag with you, though.”

“Ah, yes.Itis a pop-up chair.TheZenithboasts a hologram simulation room.Itis not very big, but the function it performs for us is necessary, so we make do with the size.Myspecies was born and raised on a planet with life all around us.Beingon a ship for lunar rotations at a time, well, it started affecting us negatively, so we turned a small room we did not use into a simulation deck.Thereis only one chair within the room, soIbrought a second in the event you wanted to experience the room with me.”

“So?Thisis like dinner and a movie?”

Ihaven’t seen a movie in longer thanIcare to admit and even knowing it won’t be exactly the same doesn’t matter.It’llstill be some form of visual entertainment andI’mexcited, nonetheless.Einardoesn’t realize what he’s giving me by essentially taking me on a first date.

“Iam not sure what a ‘movie’ is, but you will be able to watch a variety of things in the simulation room,” he says with a bashful smile.

Hoppingto my feet,Igrab our plates and take them over to the counter. “Showme how to wash our dishes and let’s go watch an alien movie!”

Hestares at me for a second, obviously confused at my abrupt change in demeanor, before pushing his chair back and walking over to whereI’mstanding.Pickingup our plates, he places them back in the replicator and hits a black button, then a red button as he explains.

“Thereplicator stores all the ingredients for our meals as well as the cutlery and utensils.Itbreaks the non-consumable items down to the molecule, that way we do not waste space with cupboards full of dishes.Thereplicator creates the same set of dishes over and over.”

“Well, that is a handy piece of equipment, right there.”

Ican’t say thatI’mall that disappointed to find out that outer space doesn’t have dishes.Ireally despise doing dishes.Worstchore ever.“Okay, lead on to the movie room.”

Ican feelRowan’sexcitement and happiness flowing across our bond.Thatshe has been so obviously deprived of simple pleasures is apparent when something so simple as a hologram simulation invigorates her so.Thisis the first time since she gained consciousness thatIhave felt any semblance of a positive emotional response from her.

Leadingher out of the dining chamber,Iturn and take her to the room for her ‘movie,’ wracking my brain for something that she might find appealing as well as entertaining to watch.Inspirationstrikes just as we reach the simulation chamber, andIplace my palm on the scanner to unlock the door.Steppingback,Iallow her to enter the room first.Mymam would beat me ifIdid not offer myStarshinethat courtesy.Rowanseems to deflate a bit when she sees bare walls and a plain chair situated in the middle of the room.

Closingthe door behind us makes her jump a little and the scent of her apprehension makes the spines across my back rattle.Whichin turn makes her more nervous, as she takes a step away from me.Turningso that my back is toward her,Ienter the commands for the simulationIpicked out.

Forcingmyself to calm,Ipull my pop-up chair out and situate it next to the existing chair, smiling over at her asItake my seat.

“Comenow,Ihave something in mind thatIthink you will like.”

Patiently,Iwait for her to make the decision to sit next to me and sigh in relief when she settles herself into the cushioned chair at my side.Rightnow,Iam most thankful that we all decided that the simulation chair needed to be as comfortable as possible because my mate should be able to relax into something plush.Shortlyafter she settles herself, the walls light up with images andIcan tellRowanis captivated immediately.

“Einar!Thoseare dragons!”

Herbreathless words drag my eyes from the images playing in front of us.

“Ido not know what a dragon is, but this species lived long ago on a planet calledAtraxia.Itwas an exceptionally unique world where the males were all of a reptilian nature and the females of equine,Ibelieve, is the correct word.TheAynarinvaded it at one point but were met with hostility instead of being welcomed.Legendsays that the land itself rose up against the intruders and expelled them from the world.Unfortunately, theAynarmanaged to abduct several beings from the planet to harvestDNAfrom before the planet disappeared.Noone knows what happened to the world, and it is thought that the planet imploded, much like yourEarthdid.Atraxiahas not been seen on any star chart in centuries, nor has a single member of the species been seen since theAynar’sfailed invasion.Theseimages are a few of the only ones in existence.”

Iobserve my mate watching this simulator module asIhave seen this one many times over the orbital rotations on theZenith.Themassive, red reptilian beast and his delicate, pale equid mate make a striking pair as they play in the water.Awaterfall on the far side of the pool creates the perfect backdrop.Iknow the tic the pair shift to their bipedal forms becauseRowan’seyes shoot over to me … and the distinctive horns on my head.

Mymate is not slow of wit and her next words prove it.

“Youand that dragon man have the same horns.How?”

“Cleverlittle human.RememberhowImentioned theAynarabducted several of their people?Well, they used theDNAfrom those beings to splice myDNAwith.”

Herjaw drops.

“You’repart dragon??Noway!!”

“Yes,Iam partdragon,as you say, and so are several of my brothers.”

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