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Page 25 of The Royal’s Bumblebee (Operation Colonise #2)

Connect me to Alaric Fitz

Billie

I crawled backward out of bed the next morning, hungry, and walked down the spiral stairs down to the hygiene tier to go through my morning routine.

Fresh and clean, I use lens wipes on my glasses as I continue down the stairs to the bottom tier of our home.

I pressed my com-gem once in the kitchen and make my morning cup of coffee.

“Good morning.

Allico Inc operator Georgia Astan here.

How can I connect you?”

“This is Billie Blac.

Connect me to Alaric Fitz.”

I stir my sugar into my coffee and put my slices of bread into the toaster.

“Mam? I can’t just connect you to the leader of the—”

“Yes you can.

Ask him and he will accept my call.

Do it now please.

My shift is supposed to start in 30 minutes, and I answer directly to him.”

I gather a plate, a tub of butter from my fridge, and hold a knife ready.

As predicted, Alaric accepts the call before my toast pops.

“Billie, good morning, is everything okay?”

“Izule’s father is dead.”

My toast is done so I carefully grab each slice by the corners and place them on my plate.

“…yes, I heard.”

He sighs softly.

“Please pass on my condolences.”

Why? It never helped me when my parents died.

“How is he?”

I don’t know how to answer that, so I don’t.

“I am going to take care of him today.”

I nod firmly and go to the sink to fill a wide glass with water.

“I can’t do that and work.”

I turn off the tap and collect my breakfast on the way back towards the stairs.

“…are you asking for a personal day?”

“Yes?”

Wasn’t that obvious? I didn’t say I was sick, so what other kind of leave could I be asking for?

“Well, Billie, I get that your sponsor is in mourning, but your work is very important to our colonisation efforts.

Global communication is vital to the next step of our plan to attain a wider reach across Thelia.

Not to mention the sister planet AU 418.”

I nod, listening, but I don’t care.

Yes, Thelia’s sister planet on the opposite side of its orbit, and therefore in the same ideal conditions for life, is interesting.

It’s the same distance to the sun.

There is evidence it has both water and an atmosphere.

A lot of my work with our new satellites has been to do with the decision to do maintenance on our vessels, with the aim of travelling to AU 418 and colonising it as well.

It’s very interesting, but not today.

“It’s already done.

You’re just doing system checks, and those are automated.”

I start walking back up the stairs.

“Izule’s Dad is dead.”

“Well yes, and like I said, your sponsor will of course need some time to—”

“Izule is more than just my sponsor.”

“Is he?”

Alaric chuckled.

“Yes.

I’ve claimed him as my…I’m not sure what the Ucfeni call them, but we have romantic and sexual feelings for each other.”

I nod and Alaric chuckles and says aw.

“Well…I believe that you would be called lovers or partners.

If a long-term commitment is made, then you become bonded mates.”

He clears his throat and continues.

“So you are asking for the day off to take care of your lover as he mourns?”

“No, I’m informing you of my intentions, and as no one else can coordinate and maintain the systems as I can, you have no choice.”

“…so it would seem.”

He snorts and chuckles.

I pass the middle tier and head back up to the upper nest.

“When my parents died, I had Hannah to take care of me.

Izule has taken care of me since the moment we met.

It’s my turn to take care of him now.”

Izule is awake and watching me as I kneel on the bed and shuffle over the bulk of his tail to sit with my legs crossed next to him.

“I am not going to answer my calls or my emails today.

Goodbye Alaric.”

I bite my toast and offer the glass of water to Izule.

He stares at me for a moment and then shifts on his elbows to accept the glass.

“…goodbye Billie.”

I press my com gem and hang up and nod to Izule.

His tongue flicks into the water and I watch his throat scales as he swallows.

“My parents died in a car crash when I was 16.”

Izule pauses drinking and looks up at me.

“Hannah made me hot chocolate with my favourite little marshmallows in every few hours.”

I blink at him and look at his parted scaly lips.

“I ate whatever I wanted, slept whenever I wanted, and cried whenever I wanted.

Hannah was my rock.”

I chomp through my toast and shrug at him.

“I’m no rock, but if you tell me what you need I’ll take care of you.”

He stares at me for a while so I finish my toast.

I make sure to eat over the plate so I don’t get crumbs in our bed.

“I got you a glass of water, because you don’t have the same dietary requirements as I do.

What is your version of comfort food?”

“…”

Izule’s tail makes a curved arc behind me and presses into my back.

“Comfort is exactly what I need.”

He turns on his back to place the glass on his bedside table, and then rocked back over.

“Not food, but yes, comfort.

Comfort me Billie.”

His tail slides back down my back and curves around my backside and crossed legs.

“I don’t know how?”

If he tells me what to do then I’ll follow his instructions.

This would be easier if I could just make him something to eat.

Maybe he wants to listen to music?

“Yes you do.”

I see his mouth curve into a smile and he scoops me closer to him.

“You’re already doing it.”

He slides his tail so I tip slowly over onto my side to lay beside him.

“You are here with me.

You’ve put me first.

I…am your mountain, but you are here right now, letting me lean on you.”

He slowly leaned forward and pressed his mouth to my brow through my fringe.

The kiss is gentle and I close my eyes to focus on the sensation.

His smooth scales nuzzling through my fringe and the occasional dart of his tongue at my skin to taste me.

“There aren’t words for how much this means to me.

This is comfort, and I need it more than I can ever express.

Be here with me Billie.

That is what I need from you.”

“Okay.”

I shrug and snuggle down.

I’m clean, fed and comfortable.

If all Izule needs is for me to be in close proximity, then I can do that easily.

“I might fall asleep.”

I warn him when he plumps cushions beneath us both and tucks my duvet around us.

Odd? He doesn’t usually come under the blanket with me, but I relax as he cuddles me close to his chest.

I check his bandages and he chuckles at me as I make sure his wound hasn’t bled again.

“Feel free to sleep in my arms.

Today, tonight…and every night.”

“Okay.”

I close my eyes and relax.

“I mean it, Billie.”

I open my eyes and look at his mouth first, then dart up to his yellow eyes.

“I want you to sleep in my arms every night.”

“Okay.”

I’ve been doing that for months now anyway, so I don’t know what point he’s trying to make.

He smiles at me and closes his eyes, holding me and relaxing in readiness for sleep.

If this is how to comfort Izule, I can do this.

I didn’t speak for days when my parents passed, and I have no idea what to say to help Izule, but I can be here for him.

In his arms, just like this.

“Thank you…my sweet Bumblebee.”

I smile.

I’m pretty sure he doesn’t know what a Bumblebee is, but he knows the pet name is precious, so he’s calling me Bumblebee based on its value to me.

“My Billie.”

He kisses my brow again and I smile.

“My love.”