Page 25 of The Pacifist
When the door of the drone opened, a cold blast of air made my hair blow back. “You weren’t kidding. It’s freezing.”
Jonah’s smile warmed me. “Come on, Miss Sunshine. You’re much tougher than you think.”
As we walked the three minutes from the drone parking to his apartment building, Jonah pulled me close to his side to shield me from the cold wind. At one point I slipped on black ice and we came close to falling on our behinds, which had us laughing.
“Please don’t get injured while you’re here. Your father already threatened to punch me once today, and I really enjoy my straight nose.”
“I’m sure he was only kidding.”
Jonah was quick to change the subject and pointed to the facades of the buildings that all had vertical gardens in front. “The city is much prettier in the summer when the flowers are in bloom.”
“Which one is your building?”
“The red one just down there. Be careful, there might be ice on the steps.”
Jonah’s apartment turned out to be slightly smaller than my room at the Gray Manor. It had a small bathroom and an open room that served as kitchen, living room, and bedroom.
While clearing away some socks and pants from the sofa, he asked, “What do you think of my place?”
“It’s perfect.”
“You don’t think it’s too small?”
“No. My head is already spinning with ideas on how to decorate it.” Walking over to a poster on the wall I crossed my arms and looked back at him. “Are you very attached to that one?”
“Not really, it was here when I moved in and I figured it added a little color to the room.”
“What is it even supposed to be?”
Angling his head, he made a guess. “A cloning attempt gone wrong?”
“Hmm. It looks like the artist couldn’t decide if he wanted to make a goat, a horse, or a cow. It’s creepy.”
Jonah used his foot to push some flat boxes under the sofa. “I would have cleaned if I’d known you were coming back with me. I’m planning to get a house-bot at some point, but you know…” He didn’t finish his sentence.
“It’s okay. I have messy siblings and my dad isn’t the tidiest of people either.”
Walking over to the bed in the corner he began pulling off the sheets. “That’s funny, because I once heard him reprimand one of his soldiers for being a slob.”
“I know, but that’s just my dad playing big bad wolf with his men. They expect it of him. It’s like he has to live up to their image of him as the strict disciplinarian.”
“The dynamic between men in the Northlands is fascinating to me. I don’t understand why anyone would scold another adult for not having clean shoes. Why does Magni even care?”
I picked up a pillow to help change the sheets. “It’s a military thing. To be honest I think they make up all sorts of weird rules in order to exercise power over lower-ranking soldiers. It’s how they train them to not question authority.”
Jonah’s hands, with the other pillow, lowered. “People have to question authority. They have to, Mila. You too.”
I watched him open a drawer and find clean sheets.
“I’m not a soldier.”
“No, but you’re not exactly a rebel either. You’re pretty obedient when it comes to your father.”
I sat down on the bed. “It’s hard when your parents are hotheads like mine.”
“Yeah, I’ve noticed that they don’t take criticism well.”
Nodding my head, I added, “There’s that, and they’re not exactly good at communicating how they feel in general.”
