say? I knew he was right, which was why I needed thinking time to regroup so I could argue with him.
“Yes, I agree, Nik,” I said to his continued stare. “...In principle. But I’m not going to talk particulars with you right now. Or here. We’ll do that at home.”
There was a pause.
Then Nik nodded.
I didn’t see anything in his expression relax.
I found myself gritting my teeth when I remembered how little he’d listened to me when he had that Bundy guy dangling from the lamp post. Nik might say he would listen to me more, once I’d explained things to him, but I had my doubts. Nik barely toed the line when he’d been a slave, all of his pretend subservience aside. So yeah, hanging around with me clearly wouldn’t be enough to keep Nik from doing dangerous things.
But I forgot about all of that when Nik spoke next.
“I would very much like to talk to you about the status of personal matters between us,” Nik said. He made a motion I recognized from Palarine as a gesture of respect, almost an asking of permission. “Is it possible to request that of you now? Or would you rather if I asked again later? When we are more likely to be able to speak in private?”
Jake burst out into a laugh, sounding more like his old self again.
“I think you just did ask,” he told Nik cheerfully. Clapping both me and Nik on the shoulder with his arms and hands as he pulled us three of us closer together, Jake grinned at me. “Well, Dakota? Are you going to answer your yummy friend? Personally, I found it quite sexy when he stood up to you just now...even apart from taking on that demented ape all by himself.”
Looking between the two of them, I felt my frustration worsen.
Without a word, I extricated myself out from under Jake’s arm, sliding out of the space opposite of Nik before I turned, walking down the sidewalk on those ridiculous heels to get away from both of them.
“Chicken!” Jake called after me good-naturedly.
When I glanced back, however, Nik hadn’t moved.
He watched me with narrowed eyes, a slight frown on his lips, and an expression that held more than a little frustration, too.
6
The Return of Razmun
The three of us bussed it home.
Once I got there, I spent about an hour comparing notes with Irene back at the house.
Gantry showed up while I was still chewing on a sandwich from one of Irene’s rickety couches out on the porch. I’d just been sitting there, really, looking out over a view of the city and that stunning blue sky as it faded into indigo blue with the sunset.
I’d learned a long time ago to take the time to appreciate weather like this. It wasn’t unheard of in Seattle, sure, but blue skies were far from a given.
Anyway, I was still enjoying being on Earth.
The city seemed to wake up when the sky cleared, partly because we all appreciated it, I suspect, but also because a lot of things that looked gray normally suddenly brightened with color. It could be difficult to remember what they even looked like under direct sunlight...or even what color they were...until the clouds cleared.
Like Irene’s house for example.
I remembered now that it was a peculiar shade of washed out, dingy, lime green, with peeling white trim gone gray with car exhaust and whatever else. It was a color you could only really get away with in a place with weather like Seattle’s.
It also made me realize that the lime green thing was kind of a pervasive motif in Irene’s life in general. Although it still didn’t explain some of her choices in furniture.
Tomorrow, I knew her house might well dim back to that blander, green-tinted gray. Even now, I could see mountain-shaped cumulous clouds massing over the water in the distance, fading from their dramatic oranges, reds and golds against that dark blue from the setting sun. By full nightfall, that cloud cover would be back to blanketing the city.
I didn’t care. You really have to learn to live in the moment, when it comes to
“Yes, I agree, Nik,” I said to his continued stare. “...In principle. But I’m not going to talk particulars with you right now. Or here. We’ll do that at home.”
There was a pause.
Then Nik nodded.
I didn’t see anything in his expression relax.
I found myself gritting my teeth when I remembered how little he’d listened to me when he had that Bundy guy dangling from the lamp post. Nik might say he would listen to me more, once I’d explained things to him, but I had my doubts. Nik barely toed the line when he’d been a slave, all of his pretend subservience aside. So yeah, hanging around with me clearly wouldn’t be enough to keep Nik from doing dangerous things.
But I forgot about all of that when Nik spoke next.
“I would very much like to talk to you about the status of personal matters between us,” Nik said. He made a motion I recognized from Palarine as a gesture of respect, almost an asking of permission. “Is it possible to request that of you now? Or would you rather if I asked again later? When we are more likely to be able to speak in private?”
Jake burst out into a laugh, sounding more like his old self again.
“I think you just did ask,” he told Nik cheerfully. Clapping both me and Nik on the shoulder with his arms and hands as he pulled us three of us closer together, Jake grinned at me. “Well, Dakota? Are you going to answer your yummy friend? Personally, I found it quite sexy when he stood up to you just now...even apart from taking on that demented ape all by himself.”
Looking between the two of them, I felt my frustration worsen.
Without a word, I extricated myself out from under Jake’s arm, sliding out of the space opposite of Nik before I turned, walking down the sidewalk on those ridiculous heels to get away from both of them.
“Chicken!” Jake called after me good-naturedly.
When I glanced back, however, Nik hadn’t moved.
He watched me with narrowed eyes, a slight frown on his lips, and an expression that held more than a little frustration, too.
6
The Return of Razmun
The three of us bussed it home.
Once I got there, I spent about an hour comparing notes with Irene back at the house.
Gantry showed up while I was still chewing on a sandwich from one of Irene’s rickety couches out on the porch. I’d just been sitting there, really, looking out over a view of the city and that stunning blue sky as it faded into indigo blue with the sunset.
I’d learned a long time ago to take the time to appreciate weather like this. It wasn’t unheard of in Seattle, sure, but blue skies were far from a given.
Anyway, I was still enjoying being on Earth.
The city seemed to wake up when the sky cleared, partly because we all appreciated it, I suspect, but also because a lot of things that looked gray normally suddenly brightened with color. It could be difficult to remember what they even looked like under direct sunlight...or even what color they were...until the clouds cleared.
Like Irene’s house for example.
I remembered now that it was a peculiar shade of washed out, dingy, lime green, with peeling white trim gone gray with car exhaust and whatever else. It was a color you could only really get away with in a place with weather like Seattle’s.
It also made me realize that the lime green thing was kind of a pervasive motif in Irene’s life in general. Although it still didn’t explain some of her choices in furniture.
Tomorrow, I knew her house might well dim back to that blander, green-tinted gray. Even now, I could see mountain-shaped cumulous clouds massing over the water in the distance, fading from their dramatic oranges, reds and golds against that dark blue from the setting sun. By full nightfall, that cloud cover would be back to blanketing the city.
I didn’t care. You really have to learn to live in the moment, when it comes to
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