Page 20 of Alien on the Moon (Thryal Mates #3)

Rylan

“Breakfast is served,” Rylan said, placing a plate of freshly cooked eggs in front of Elena. He didn’t know what creature the eggs had come from, but they were all the rage with the royals lately.

They could’ve easily gone to any one of the kitchens and had breakfast made for them. But Rylan found no joy in that. He found that watching Elena eat and enjoy his cooking filled him with immeasurable pride. So, he’d do it every chance he got.

“Oh, thank you,” Elena said, finally looking up from the stack of reports on the table. She’d been poring over them since they woke up. She quickly scarfed down the breakfast before returning her attention to the reports.

Rylan couldn’t help but smile as he watched. A lesser man might’ve wanted Elena to give him some attention at a moment like this. But not Rylan. This was how he liked her.

Headfirst in her work, figuring out a tough equation or mapping a new solution. Rylan loved to marvel at her as she worked. She was like nothing else he’d ever seen. He never wanted it to stop.

He grabbed his own plate of eggs and joined her at the table. As he ate, he studied her face. The way her lips moved as she read to herself. How her eyes darted around the paper. The crease in her forehead that tipped Rylan off that something was off in the report.

“Something isn’t adding up here.”

“Really?” Rylan pretended to be shocked. “In what part?”

“The tests we ran yesterday… I think we miscalculated. We should get to the institute early to run them again. Hurry up and finish eating.”

“I just sat down,” Rylan protested.

“I know,” Elena said, standing up. “That’s why I told you to hurry up! I’ll be dressed and ready to go in five minutes. You should be, too!”

Rylan simply laughed as Elena raced off to the bedroom. He ate his eggs and watched her move, certain he could not be any happier.

Once again, he thought about how a lesser man would be angry at Elena. They’d want to be treated with “respect” or something and be allowed to eat at their own pace.

But that’s far from what Rylan wanted. He wanted Elena, quirks and all, and that included how blindingly dedicated she was to her work. It was awe-inspiring to him. And he felt gratified that he got to work alongside her.

To the second, five minutes later, both Rylan and Elena were ready to get to work. They met at the door, gave a quick kiss, grabbed each other’s hand, and walked out.

Since Rylan moved in with her, they’d been upgraded to a full apartment within the palace. It gave them great privacy while also giving them plenty of room to share. It was just another perfect part of their newly perfect life together.

The pair walked hand in hand through the palace. They headed out a side door and toward the institute, where the most prestigious royal scientists on Thryal worked. It wasn’t far, technically still on palace grounds, and the two of them liked how much quality time the walk gave them. Because once they strode in, it’d be all business.

Rylan held the door open for Elena as they stepped into the institute. They may have arrived early, but no one would know that. At all hours of the day, the building was packed with scientists working away at a variety of projects for the kingdom.

On the way to their lab, they passed all sorts of exciting developments. The team making a weather machine was covered in snow. The team making jetpacks was covered in soot. The man in charge of discovering how to regrow limbs had a new hand, though it was the wrong color and on his back. Something was always going on.

However, Rylan and Elena were the first of their team to arrive. Their lab was still dark when they stepped in.

“We shouldn’t expect the others for a few hours,” Rylan said, putting on safety gloves and goggles.

“Perfect,” Elena said as she did the same. “Then we should be able to get some work done.”

The two of them immediately got to work on what was their third project since coming to Thryal. The first, a test to see if they were actually smart enough to work there, was to figure out a way to flash freeze living organisms without killing them. Then the second was to develop a new type of mining machinery for the mines of some far-off moon.

Working together, they finished both projects in record time. So for their third project, they were given a team and a problem that had stumped the royal scientists for a long time.

Space travel wasn’t very efficient. The kingdom was always in need of a better fuel source—a cheaper way to get from one end of the universe to the other. If they could crack the code, they’d be legends.

“You know,” said another royal scientist one day in the break room. He had a smug look on his face. “Your project is another test. They give it to all the hot shots that come in with a big head. It’s to humble you. If there was a better fuel source, it would’ve been found centuries ago.”

“Well,” Elena said without even looking at him, “if it’s another test, I plan on passing. Like no one else before.”

“You heard the woman,” Rylan said as he followed her out of the room.

Maybe it was a truly impossible task, but they didn’t care. Working together was all they wanted. And they were actually making some headway on a solution.

In their lab, they cleared a board of equations and started writing down new ones. They didn’t even need to communicate verbally. They were just naturally on the same page.

Elena would start to write an equation, and Rylan would finish it for her. He would reach for a reference guide, and she’d already be handing it to him.

By the time the rest of their team arrived, they were ready to conduct the newest tests, a series of simulations. The simulations came up with exactly what they were expecting. No new fuel source, but they were on the right path. Rylan could feel it.

The whole team got back to work. Some were drafting blueprints of new engines. Others began researching space travel techniques of other cultures, some from centuries past. The remainder were writing out more equations.

Other bodies in the lab didn’t stop Rylan and Elena’s in-sync workflow. Rylan knew right when to bring her a cup of coffee. Elena could tell when Rylan was getting frustrated and what snack from the break room would calm him down.

They could work together effortlessly. If any problem arose in the lab, it would not be between them. There was no competition. No rivalry. No jealousy. Rylan just loved her and knew she loved him back.

At one point in the day, Rylan and Elena made eye contact from across the room. They both just smiled at each other and carried on. It was all they needed.

They didn’t need to constantly be right next to each other or working on the same exact thing. But as long as they were working toward the same end goal, Rylan was happy, and he knew Elena was, too.

Once again, Rylan was feeling like a broken record in his own head. But it was all he could think about. Any spare moment was populated with a single belief. He was fucking lucky to have Elena.

He also got to go home with her every night. He got to catch her smiling at him while they worked. He got to feel her subtle slap on his ass as she walked past him in the lab.

Lucky and happy. That’s what Rylan was. He felt he couldn’t possibly be in a better position, and nothing was ever going to change that.

Around midday, an alarm went off on Rylan’s communicator. He stopped what he was doing and took a deep breath. He knew that reminding Elena of this engagement on their schedule wouldn’t be easy.

He walked over to where she was hard at work. Her eyes were firmly glued to the diagram of an engine before her. Yet her body language made it clear she knew he was behind her.

“Did you solve those equations already?” she asked.

“Not yet. I’m working on it. I’ll have them done after lunch.”

“After lunch? Why wait?”

“Because it’s lunchtime now.”

“I think I’ll skip today.”

“You can’t skip today, Elena.”

“Why not?”

“Because we have plans to meet your sisters. If just I showed up… again, I don’t think they’d be thrilled.”

“Right,” Elena said. She pursed her lips for a moment. “Maybe we can reschedule.”

“The royal scientists won’t stop being impressed with you if you go out to lunch one day. I love how dedicated you are to your work, and I am, too. But it’s okay to relax for a bit, even just one lunch.”

“Fine… fine… but I think we should stay late tonight. You know how long my sisters can chat.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Rylan said with a laugh.

The two of them strolled out of the lab, which was now empty since everyone else had already gone to lunch. They walked out of the building and down the path, off the palace grounds to a café in the nearest village.

The place was bustling with customers for the lunch rush. Luckily, Elena quickly spotted her sisters who’d already grabbed a table.

“Elena! Rylan!” Sofia called out as they approached. “You made it!”

“We were worried you’d get too caught up in work again to come!” said Carmen.

Both sisters hugged Elena. Then they hugged Rylan, too, which still always surprised him.

He’d spent a lot of time with the family since meeting Elena, but he was always stunned by how easily they welcomed him. Beyond the initial interrogation early on, they’d been nothing but kind toward him. It was almost like he was already a member of the family.

“Yeah, that wasn’t happening today. Elena has been very excited about this lunch,” Rylan said as he and Elena sat at the table.

Both of Elena’s sisters burst out in laughter.

“She forgot again. Didn’t she?” asked Carmen.

“Yes, of course, she did,” Rylan said as the three of them laughed.

“We have very important work! I was focusing on that!”

“Well,” Sofia said. “Tell us about it! We barely get to see you anymore. What are you two working on? What’s this big project that has all of our sister’s attention?”

“They have us working on finding a new fuel source,” Elena said quickly. “Something to make intergalactic travel faster and cheaper.”

“That sounds very interesting,” Sofia said.

Rylan leaned back in his seat. He knew he wouldn’t have to say much more at this lunch. They’d set Elena off. She could, and likely would, talk about the project for hours.

“You see, different cultures have used different fuel and different engine combinations for millennia.” Excitement could be heard in every syllable as she spoke. “So, the best one might be found somewhere in there. Or not all. It’s all about testing different fuel sources with different engines. Building new types of engines. Developing new fuels.”

“And how do you test for that?” Carmen asked.

From there, Rylan started to look at the menu. Elena’s sisters knew exactly how to keep her around. Any less interesting conversation and she’d be scarfing down her lunch to hurry back.

Eventually, Elena was done talking about what they did every day on the project. She finally turned her attention to the food Rylan had ordered for her ages ago.

“And what about you Rylan?” asked Sofia. “How are you enjoying your new position?”

Once again, Rylan was shocked that they cared enough to ask.

“It’s been absolutely fantastic. Never thought I’d actually get to work at the Royal Institute. It’s obviously a huge step up from the station on that moon.”

“I can only imagine,” Carmen chimed in.

“And working alongside your sister has been a dream, of course. You know how smart she is. Every day, she shows me just how brilliant she is. Just when I think I’ve seen it all, she does it again.”

“Yeah,” Sofia said, “that’s our Elena.”

Rylan looked over at her. She looked beautiful even as she shoved her food in her mouth.

“Together, I don’t think there is any project we can’t tackle. There is no problem this distinguished group of royal scientists can throw at us that’ll trip us up. Together, we’re nothing short of unstoppable.”

“Elena always was the smart one,” Carmen added.

“Of course, she is. She just needs someone who will remind her to stop working long enough to eat and sleep.”

Elena tried to protest, but her mouth was full of food.

Rylan and Elena’s sisters all laughed.

“Yes, she definitely needs that,” Sofia said. “And you think you can do that? Take care of our girl in that way?”

“Yeah,” Rylan said confidently. “I think so… Well, I mostly can. She can be as stubborn as she is smart.”

Both sisters nodded in agreement.

“But,” Rylan continued. “There is no one I’d rather argue with about when it’s time for dinner. Or when is a good time to go to bed. Or wake up. For her, I’m happy to do it all.”

“You better be,” Elena said after swallowing the last of her lunch. “It’s time to get back to work.”

Elena stood up and hugged her sisters. She then looked at Rylan, holding out her hand for him to take.

“Right,” he said. “Let’s get back to it. Carmen and Sofia, wonderful to see you as always. We should do this again if I can drag Elena from her work.”

“Even if you can’t,” Carmen said. “We’re happy to eat and chat with just you. You’re in the family now. Get used to it.”

Rylan stood up and took Elena’s hand as they headed back to work. As they walked together, Rylan came to a realization.

He could get used to it. All of it. Working with Elena. Spending every day with her. Lunches with her sisters. Trips to the spa. Private chefs on special occasions. He could get used to it all.

As long as he was with her, he knew everything would be all right.

Thank you so much for going on this journey with me and the Flores sisters as they find love and happiness on Thryal!