Page 22 of A Mate for Vasek
It wasn’t exactly like pizza as she remembered it, but all the flavors were there, and it hit the spot. The cheese was a little richer and creamier than she was used to, and the meat crumbles weren’t quite pepperoni, but this was the closest thing to home she’d had in years.
She had thought she’d never taste something like that again. Pizza hadn’t even been something shelikedwhen she lived on Earth, but the way the cheese melted and got all ooey and gooey and stringy, the pepperoni-like flavoring they’d added to the meat bits, and the real, honest-to-goodness tomato sauce was the best thing she’d ever tasted. The spices and the sauce weren’teven the same, but they were close enough, and dared she say, better?
She was sure that if she compared this side by side with pizza from Earth, she would find it lacking, but all she had were her memories. And according to those and her taste buds, this was a close enough facsimile.
It reminded her of all the evenings she’d ordered in with her best friend and roommate when they’d been too lazy to cook. It reminded her of the pizza lunches at school when she was a kid.
Then suddenly she was crying. Yep, crying. Again! God, what was wrong with her? She’d managed to hold off the tears for years, and today she was making up for it by crying buckets.
She had to pull it together. There was no space for sentimentality out here. She could only blame having a stressful day so many times before it started sounding like an excuse even to her. She quickly wiped the tears up with the back of her hand and prayed that her sobs had been quiet enough that Vasek hadn’t heard any of the sniffles. The last thing she needed was for him to think she was even weaker than he already did.
She ate every last bite even though she was so stuffed by the end of it that she wasn’t sure she could ever move again, which was fine because she planned on hiding out here for as long as she possibly could. She wasn’t sure Vasek would trust her with a personal computer again, and there really wasn’t much to do. If he found a job for her, he could come in here and ask her himself. And not to mention, it was spacious and comfortable enough for her to sleep in here. They wouldn’t need to share the bed if they didn’t have to.
She didn’t want to wake up to find herself climbing him like a tree again and invading his personal space.
Vasek
Dawn sat on the floor of his shuttle, wearing another of his favorite shirts, sorting through his equipment and supplies. It had taken her a while to come out of the transport after they started their journey to Vosthea.
She’d been staying there for most of the trip and sleeping there as well, since she could lie down in the transport’s seats quite comfortably. A good thing too, because in his haste to leave the planet after the violent run-in with Morad, Vasek had failed to return to port to grab another mat. That was the thing about leaving from the wilds: there was no waiting for port officials to give the go-ahead.
But it meant he was down one mat, and one canister of olfactinull. He was going to have to get the almost-empty can to last until Vosthea. Dawn staying in the shuttle had helped, since he’d only needed to respray the shuttle once after she’d snuck out of the transport in the middle of the galactic night cycle to use the facilities. After using the facilities and returning the used “pee-zah” platter to the food replicator, she’d scurried back inside.
He’d elected to use a less direct path between the two planets that looped around one of the moons. It would take longer, but this path was less traveled, and he’d be able to set a proximity alert and let the shuttle fly on its own. If he did that on one of the regular routes, the alert would be going off constantly. In the past few years, travel between the major ports and planets in the outer planets had increased quite a bit, and he didn’t want any trouble on the way.
It was midway through the second day of the trip when Dawn wandered back out, probably from boredom. She saw him struggling to find something in the mess he called his supply cabinet, and offered to reorganize it for him. It had been their first interaction since she’d answered his question before they took off.
When Vasek told her that she didn’t need to do anything for him, she replied that she wanted to. Realizing she must be bored out of her mind, he let her. It was strange having someone in his ship and touching his personal stuff, but an organized supply cabinet would make his life so much easier.
His collection of equipment and supplies had long outgrown his space. When he’d worked for the Dominion, they ordered supplies when things got low, and new stuff came in just as old stuff went out. But working alone was different. Manufacturers sold things like robotic arms in sets, and Vasek often only needed parts of it.
Take Morad for example. Vasek used a full ocular enhancement set for him, but due to extensive damage to his nerves, he’d had to “borrow” an extra ocular nerve fromanotherset to extend the first one so he could have feeling in his face. So now he had an eyeball with no nerve to go with it. It was a good eyeball too! He’d have to take the nerve from somewhere else when the time came to use it.
Shortly after taking over his cabinet, Dawn had shooed him away, claiming that there wasn’t enough space for them both. She’d assured him that she was a professional at organizing and running offices and businesses. She’d turned Kotch’s arms dealership into a well-oiled machine. And she’d been an executive assistant at a real estate development company back on Earth.
The shuttle was suddenly filled with feminine, mirthful giggles. Vasek turned to see Dawn with a drawstring sack open in her lap. She was holding up a prosthetic penis. He’d forgotten he’d had those in there.
“It’s a literal bag of dicks!” She twirled one in the air as the giggling turned into cackling.
Vasek frowned. “The males who need those do not find it funny,” he said, trying to keep a straight face. It was difficult because her laughter was contagious.
“Right.” She cleared her throat and pasted on a solemn face.
“They are state of the art, and work just like the real thing. Better than the real thing sometimes.”
“Mm-hmm.” She nodded, her face still a serious mask. “Are you speaking from experience?” Her eyes went wide for a moment. “I mean your arm. Not…”
Vasek tried to manage his strict demeanor, but it lasted only a few seconds before he cracked a grin. “I can assure you that my cock is all natural and works very well. You are welcome to see for yourself.”
The slight bit of lust reached his nose, reminding him to top up that olfactinull soon. But even without his sense of smell, he could see her tan cheeks redden just a hint. “Ugh! Men!” But it was clear she was trying to hide a grin.
He lifted his hand. “I meant my arm. Not…” he said, copying her words.
She laughed. “You’re horrible!” She stuffed the dick back into the bag and tossed them over to join the ever-growing pile of artificial limbs.
“Another question,” Dawn said. She’d been asking questions the whole time, having him clarify what things were, and putting everything in neat little piles all over the shuttle floor on top of disposable plastic sheets she’d laid out.
Vasek had no idea how everything was going to get back into the cabinet, but she seemed to know what she was doing.
