Page 20 of Klora (Mates of the Mylos #6)
CHAPTER 20
ADRIAN
Between the hot shower that had unkinked all my muscles, the delicious warm food that filled my belly, and the cadence of Klora’s accented English as I listened to him in the warm afternoon air, I found my eyelids drooping.
A loud knock startled me, causing me to jerk as I realized I’d been about to drift off mid-conversation.
“You still have food on your plate!” Klora said, jumping up with a look of excitement. “Take it inside while I get the door! I bet that’s the TV!”
I glanced down at the scant few bites I had left. There was no way in hell I was going to be able to eat another bite, much less the five or six that remained. And I seemed to recall seeing dessert back on the cart. I groaned and was about to tell him so, but he’d already raced away.
“Hello! Yes! Please hook it back up!” I heard him telling the two members of hotel staff who were holding a large flat screen TV. A glance through the patio doors, as I heaved my sluggish body out of the chair, revealed he was hopping from foot to foot. I smiled, the sight of all that energy being expended making me even more tired. Man, when the side effects from taking the antihistamine wore off, he was going to crash.
I dragged my sorry ass to the bathroom, knowing I’d better pee now or end up waking up desperate later. When I returned, the two men had hung a bracket one of them must have been carrying and were maneuvering the TV onto it.
“Don’t mind me, I’m just gonna…,” I gestured at the bed.
“No problem,” one of them said. “We’ll be out of your hair in just a few more minutes.”
“Did you finish your dinner?” Klora asked me and I shook my head.
“Too stuffed,” I admitted.
He huffed. “That was just your first serving! There’s enough for us to have seconds! And there’s also dessert!”
“Maybe after I have a nap,” I attempted to placate him.
It seemed to work, as the next words out of his mouth were sighed, “Okay. You can rest while we watch Five-Oh!”
One of the men chuckled softly, hearing this. He gave me a conspiratorial wink and I flushed, realizing he thought we were here on a romantic getaway, possibly a honeymoon or even our own wedding, and that I was subtly trying to get my mate into bed with me for a very different activity.
The other man picked up a remote from on top of the dresser and pressed a button on it. The TV came to life and he pressed a few more buttons to make sure it was operating properly.
“There you go, sir,” he said, handing Klora the remote. “Tap the button that looks like a house to reach the home screen. You’ll be able to access the streaming apps from there and log into your accounts.”
“Thank you!” Klora sang. “Can you believe he’s never watched Five-Oh?” he whispered loudly and the man chuckled.
“Really? Well, he’s in for a treat then! You can watch a couple and then go see the places shown in the episodes.”
“Yes! We’re going to The Shrimp Shack!”
“On the North Shore,” he replied knowingly. “You’ll want to rent a car for that. Just ask at the front desk, and they will help you make the arrangements. You should both book some beginner surfing lessons for that visit. There are taster sessions, but you have to book in advance.”
“Woooo…” Klora’s eyes grew comically wide in awed surprise. “Yes! McDuffie! We can go surfing!”
Alarm shot through me. Me, stand up on a narrow foam board floating on moving water that wanted to rise up towards the sky and crash back down? There might even be sharks!
“I..I…”
“If I like it, I can sign up for regular lessons aboard ship!” he continued and now the two men and I gaped at him.
“You have a beach simulator on your spaceship?” one of them finally asked him.
Klora nodded. “Yep! A whole beach! With waves, and tide pools, and sand, and palm trees! We practice hula and run on the beach and climb the trees as part of our physical fitness and cultural exchange programs.”
They both stared at him slack jawed for a moment, while my eyes blinked rapidly as my brain tried to assimilate this new information.
“Like a holodeck?” I asked.
Klora snapped his fingers. “Yes! That is what the humans all call it! Like on the Star Trek vids. I haven’t watched those yet. Apparently there are also tribbles and unicorn dogs and rocks that kill people.”
I giggled. Today had gone from great to shitastic to decidedly offbeat yet fun.
“Just call down to the desk if you need anything else,” one of the two men finally managed to get out.
“Yes, and thank you again!” Klora sang out as they opened the door to leave.
“Hula dancing aliens,” the one said to his friend as he pulled the door.
“Very Lilo and Stitch,” I heard before the door finished closing.
I couldn’t help it. Klora’s suddenly sunny, bouncy demeanor unlocked a memory of Pleakley as he assimilated into island life. I began giggling.
“What’s so funny?”
“N…nothing,” I gasped out.
“Oh,” he brightened. “I bet it’s just all the stress releasing!” he frowned. “I thought you were getting into bed!”
He was right. I was still standing next to it, so I slipped off the flip flops I’d worn out to the balcony and folded down the coverlet to get in.
“Okay! Now I just gotta find where to watch Five-Oh on this thing and what the Fleet account name and password is.”
I slid under the covers as he spoke, the cool sheets whisper soft against my skin. I groaned in delight at the wonderfully firm way the mattress supported my body and how just right the pillow was. My eyes drifted shut, not caring that the room was still filled with light, and that the TV was on.