I saved the Prom Queen [for Apollo Wilde]

[Purifier]

The gunfire had ceased, the foolish merchant now was defeated. Captain Rey, most notorious space pirate of this solar system, a legend already at the tender age of eighteen, boarded the surrendered, vessel by his side his two most trusted and experienced lieutenants: Oliver “the Warlord” Sikorski, a towering man of savage appetite, yet unquestionable valance and honour and “Blind” Jimmy Broussard, lean and mean like a rattlesnake, one of the most vicious and sadistic marauders of the galaxy. Although much older in years than their commander, both men accepted Captain Rey’s wise leadership, and looked up to him as their role model. Blasters in hand, the pirates advanced through the corridors of the vast merchant ships, the signs of the devastation caused by the pirates’ superior cannons visible everywhere. A foolish mercenary unwisely tried to sneak up on the victors, but was quickly reduced to ashes by a well aimed shot from the alert Captain Rey.

The vessel was his now, and there seemed to be no more resistance, the reminding survivors putting down their arms to escape a similar fate. All of them but one. One woman stood out among the cowering opponents, looking the pirate captain straight in the eye. She was quite a beauty, tall, lean, muscular, her body perfectly accentuated by the tight fighting uniform she wore. Her proud brown eyes looked right into the Captain’s and its was obvious that this stunning young woman was not ready to submit to her captor without a fight. “I suggest you surrender yourself immediately and I will personally guarantee that no harm will befall you” the captain now spoke, advancing slowly towards her. Captain Rey had a way with women, especially the proud, strong, intelligent ones. He wrapped them around his finger like it was nothing. It was a talent all of his comrades envied him for.

“Susi, stop standing around and get out the way!”

Abruptly Rey was torn out of his daydreaming, and violently tossed back into cruel reality as Greg, his school’s most successful linebacker pushed him aside. After picking up his glasses and making sure that they weren’t damaged, Rey tried to get up from the ground as elegantly as possible, dusting off his clothes in a gesture as smooth that it could have well befitted a spaceship captain. The giggle of girls that were watching was making the situation rather humiliating though. That and the fact that he had been called ‘Susi’ again. Reynold Susilo Simons, his full name, was in theory a rather cool name, showing the Anglo-Canadian as well as the Indonesian part of his heritage. But it really sucked being called Susi. Why couldn’t they call him just Rey like his gaming buddies did? Or Reynold, like the teachers?

He wasn’t sure why exactly he didn’t fit in at his high school at all. Well he didn’t fit in that well at his previous schools in Ottawa, Canada; Ipswich, UK or Jakarta, Indonesia, either. But never it had been as bad as here in Cary. It was a rather nice looking town actually, pretty green - lots of forests, trees, rolling hills. But he never was able to really feel at home. Was it because of him? Was he not able to cope with his parents breaking up? His mother now always being busy and his dad living hundreds of miles away? He was hold a enough now for a life of his own, it shouldn’t bother him that much. Or was it the other students? Were they more mean and cliquish then those in the other places he had lived? Or simply more focused on things that weren’t for him. Sports were a big thing here. And the only sport Rey was any good at was chess. Not the right sport to impress the females, to impress popular girls like Beatrice, who even though standing not far away from him was so completely out of reach.

He had volunteered to help with the preparation of the prom. An event he most likely wouldn’t even attend. Because honestly, which girl would go on a date with guy like him? The tiny bespectacled guy the others called ‘Susi’. Still he had been glad to get the opportunity to help. First of all to be able to be close to Beatrice. And secondly because they could use his technical skills. Sound and lighting on school events was pretty bad most of the time, because neither the janitor nor any of the teachers had any expertise at it. Rey on the other hand knew what to do. And if he did well in preparation he might get allowed to care for these things during the prom too. He liked the idea. Being responsible for sound and lighting would be perfect. He’d sit at an elevated spot away from the others, and would be able to put the spotlight on whom he wanted. On Greg when he was picking his nose again. Or on Beatrice when she was dancing, having fun, looking sexy…

Right now Rey wasn’t even able to start though. The speakers as well as the controls for the lights were still safely locked away, and the teacher responsible nowhere to be found. Rey wasn’t even able to help the others lifting chairs and tables and decoration, as since the accident he had years ago he was no longer allowed to lift anything heavy. He wasn’t even able to turn on and off those huge old spotlights hung overhead and test their functionality, as the switch was in a side room. The janitor, Mr Garrick, had turned them on, to make sure the students had enough light, then left and locked the door again.

 

[Apollo Wilde]

“Wow. What to be a jackass, Greg,” she snarled, her voice coming from behind the linebacker.

“Don’t get your panties in a twist, Harrison,” Greg replied, looking over his shoulder at her. “Lil’ Susi is just fine. See, look, he’s getting up. Not my fault he spaces out in the middle of the hallway.”

“Still a dick move.”

“You go to prom with me, I’ll show you how this dick can move.” A chorus of low hoots from the other football players flanking him.

“I dunno about all that - pretty sure I know how a limp noodle moves.” Another chorus of hoots, this time louder.

“Gawd, let us through, fer Chrissake’s,” sniffed a short blonde as she muscled her way through. Her hair was cut short, and her face was heart-shaped. Bright blue eyes were still rankled with disgust as she shoved through, followed by a taller girl. The taller girl had skin the color of hot cocoa, and her dark hair was braided back into a faux mohawk. In dark blue jeans and a white ballet leotard that left her shoulders bare, she moved forward confidently. On their way through the football players, the short blonde elbowed one of the snickering boys. “Asshole,” she hissed.

“Reynold, you alright?” It was the taller of the two girls that spoke now, Beatrice. She stood in front of him, unsure to offer him a hand. “Oh, wait…” She stepped closer, gently brushed some dirt from his shoulder. “Sorry Greg’s such an ass. I don’t think he can help it.”

“Probably not - doesn’t have enough braincells to give you his name and tie his shoelaces at the same time.” The blonde blew a large pink bubble, and proceeded to keep chomping on her bubble gum. “I can’t effin’ stand the way half the cheerleadin’ team slept with him. Like, gross.”

“Holly, please,” Beatrice said, with a soft laugh, rolling her eyes. “Really, though. Thanks for helping out, Rey. We appreciate it.”

“Yeah, totes,” chirped Holly from beside Beatrice. With another soft laugh, Beatrice kept moving forward through the gym, towards a group of other girls that were busying themselves with painting a banner.

Not that she had expected to go to prom herself - or to even end up popular once her and her mother moved here. It’d been quite the shock to find out she’d even been nominated FOR prom queen; it wasn’t until Holly confessed that she’d submitted Beatrice’s name that she even knew that she was in the running. Beatrice was blissfully unaware of her popularity - so caught up in her studies and her various sports pursuits that she hadn’t even really realized that she was starting to gain a reputation.

And for the football team and cheerleaders to capitalize on it. They were the ones who’d accepted her into their upward social strata, thereby shutting everyone else out. And to be honest, not only did she not ask to be put there, she could barely stomach being up there. But, like many others - she was trapped.

“I really don’t like how they treat him,” she said, with a long sigh as she began to color in a star with bright gold glitter. The theme was “Motions on the Moon” - with a suitably space-themed decor. “It blows my mind they get away with it.”

“Well, welcome ta the real world, hun,” said Holly, popping a bubble as she leaned forward to start splashing glow in the dark paint on a nebula.

 

[Purifier]

This was quite embarrassing. For so many times Rey had wished to gain the attention of Beatrice, have her dark eyes look into his. And now she actually walked right towards him, pushing those bullies out of the way, like only she and her friend Holly could.

“Yeah, I… I am alright”, he stammered, pretty sure that his round, boyish face was beet red right now. And then she touched him. Yes she really touched him. Not on accident, brushing past him on their way to class like she sometimes did. No she actually touched his shoulder, brushing away the hallway dust . It was just a brief touch. But he knew he would treasure it for a long, long time.

It was really sweet that she did this. Rey stammered a “thank you”, even though Beatrice and Holly were on their way through the crowd again.

A tough battle of will and of wits it had been. But in the end Princess Beatrice, heiress of the merchant empire of Aurum, had submitted herself to the might Captain Rey. Now they were back on his ship, the Spirit of Victory, alone in the Captain’s private chambers. His back turned towards him, Beatrice slowly, seductively began to slip and slide out of her tight white uniform, her dark skin glistening in the spotlight he had centered on her. Captain Rey lingered on his couch, sipping on his rare Terran wine as he watched her dance just for him, the most notorious womanizer in the galaxy.

He could smell her perfume, her skin, her excitement, her lust for her manly captor. All this was mixed with another scent, one that was vaguely familiar but he couldn’t remember from were. It was so hot in cabin, and he began to loosen his shirt too.

Then suddenly he was torn out of his daydream as he recognized the smell. The spotlight above them! Above her!

He remembered that smell all too well. Five years ago, when he still lived in Indonesia. Another school event. His mother and a dozen other voices screaming, “Awas! Awas!” A blazing ball of fire and shattered glass. Rey, daydreaming again, was pulled out of the way. Almost too late, as parts of the flaming debris hit him. He survived with a number of broken bones, a few scars. But he had been just inches from being killed.

He looked up now and saw the fire. Did no one else notice it? It didn’t matter it was almost too late. Running like had never ran before, not even when Greg and the other boys were chasing him to give him a sound beating, Rey charged towards Beatrice, “AWAS!” he screamed as he rammed against her, using his full strength to push the much taller girl out of the way. Then a blaze of fire, steel and broken glass exploded behind them, as the burning spotlight crashed into the ground.

When Rey opened his eyes again, almost everything around him was sterile white. The bed that his aching body rested in, the walls around him. All but a pair of dark brown eyes, watching from over him, and a beautiful cocoa brown face.

 

[Apollo Wilde]

Her expression melted from concern to nervous excitement.

“Oh, god, hey, you’re finally awake! I, um, I got you some flowers,” she gestured to a vase full of brilliant yellow blooms, complete with a ‘Get Well’ balloon. Underneath the flowers was a plate of cookies, covered by plastic. “And, I made some cookies, but I didn’t know if you were allergic to anything, so I just made chocolate chip, I’m sorry if you don’t like chocolate, I mean, you won’t hurt my feelings if you don’t eat them!”

She was stumbling over her words, fidgeting. The last few hours had been a whirlwind. Reynold’s shove had knocked the wind out of her, sent her tumbling head over heels. It was only when she heard the screams that she realized what had happened - and she’d rushed over to Rey’s side while Holly dialed the ambulance on her cell phone. They had to nearly shove Beatrice away to get Rey loaded up - and she’d run home, quickly making the cookies to dispel the anxiety.

“I…um…I…” She looked down at her hands, then back up to him. “You saved my life, Reynold. I wanted to thank you. Words and flowers…they aren’t enough, though. I just…why would you do something like that? I mean, you could’ve been killed!”

Suddenly, she wiped at her eyes. Tears spilled down her cheeks. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to yell. This whole thing has me super shaken up. Everyone at school was totally freaked. They’re thinking about putting off prom for a few weeks until the gym gets checked out. And some assholes were pissed about that. Can you believe it?”

She played with the small pockets on her jeans. Her white top was smudged with dirt down one side; she hadn’t even bothered to change. As if noticing her appearance for the first time, she blushed. “I’m sorry; I didn’t even change. I look awful. I just…”

 

[Purifier]

It took Rey some time to understand what had happened, to realize why he was there in the hospital. And Beatrice was there, acting with a nervous excitement he had never seen any female express in his presence. She was talking to him, but his head felt too dizzy now to understand what she was saying. He was dreaming obviously. She appeared in his dreams almost every night after all. Tentatively he reached out his hand to touch her, expecting to wake up, just like he always did when his fingers were just about to touch her skin. But the excruciating pain in his bandaged wrist when his fingertips reached her arm, told him he was indeed awake. His face contorted in pain for a moment, but he managed not to scream. Instead, he stammered an excuse. “I am sorry, I just…”

So yes this was real. What was she talking about then? It took Rey some time to concentrate on her words, as his head felt so very dizzy and numb. She obviously had brought him gifts. Flowers, a balloon, cookies. The last time any girl had brought him gifts was at his birthday parties in primary school – and he still had kept most if these. “Thank you”, he said looking at those presents, then back at her. Rey wasn’t sure what else to say. This wasn’t a situation he’d usually find himself in, not even in his daydreams. Slowly he began to realize that this was maybe the best day in his life. Sure he was in hospital again, didn’t even know yet how seriously he was injured – he tried to wiggle each and every part of his body now, and realized that while everything was aching, only his right wrist hurt really bad. But a girl was there by his side, seriously concerned about his well-being, with a bunch of presents she brought him, and even better, it wasn’t just any girl. It was Beatrice, the heroine of his constant daydreams.

Alone again with the beautiful merchant princess, the beautiful woman naked and bound to the wall by an invisible force field, Captain Rey smiled wickedly, as he reached into his box of robotic toys…

Stop!

This was not the time for drifting into imagination. This was real. It always had been very hard for Rey to look anyone, especially a girl, in the eye without nervously averting his gaze. But now he forced himself to turn his eyes to her, and keep looking at her, as he listened. He really hoped he didn’t stare too much, didn’t come across was weird. But Beatrice obviously didn’t care about that now. He saved her life after all. He was a hero. Now it was time for him to say something cool, something heroic. What would Captain Kirk say in a situation like this? Or Captain Mal Reynolds? Dr Who? Han Solo?

If his head wasn’t that numb, Rey might have possibly come up with some cool quote. Something hero worthy. “You really don’t need to cry”, he started, desperately searching his aching head for the right words. His hand reached out to try to wipe off her tears, but stopped as intense pain shot through him again. “I … I am sorry, I didn’t mean to ruin the prom for everyone.” Did he really just say that? Damn it Reynold Susilo Simons, you really are a hopeless case.

As much as he had tried to keep his eyes on her, he really had to look away now. Seeing her cry was painful enough, but it complete inability to say anything that made sense right now made it even worse. It was as if every brain cell of his was cramping, and screaming in pain at his stupidity.

Before he could get lost in his negative self-image again though, he was driven to focus on her again as he heard her words. “I’m sorry; I didn’t even change. I look awful. I just…” Did she really just say that? His head turned towards her again rapidly. “Beatrice… you don’t need to be sorry for that. You look fantastic, no matter what you wear.” Did he really just say that? He blushed deeply. Okay, the last words were a bit mumbled, and he hoped she had still been able to understand them. But apart from that, he did it. He just said something that was at least vaguely hero worthy. Well at least he hoped so. Hopefully it didn’t make her feel uncomfortable.

 

[Apollo Wilde]

“Reynold, what are you apologizing for? Who gives a fuck about that stupid prom?!” She stood up so fast that the chair she’d been sitting in fell behind her with a deafening clatter in the room. Whirling around to the noise, she felt her face grow hot. Quickly bending over to pick it up, she sat back down, flustered.

Realizing that she’d sworn in front of him, she quickly covered her mouth, her cheeks growing hotter.

“Fuck, I’m sorry, shit! I mean, god, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” she ran her hand through the carefully tended frizz of hair on the top of her head. “I didn’t mean to swear at you. Or yell at you. But seriously…the prom is stupid. Your life is more important. Why would you ever think that a silly dance would be worth more than you?”

She pulled the chair closer to the edge of the hospital bed. Reaching over, she carefully grasped his left hand, careful to avoid the splint of his right hand. Her fingers were soft, and her grip feather light. Looking into his eyes, she let go of his hand long enough to wipe at the tears that were threatening to spill again.

“I’m sorry,” she said at the same time he had, and, in a rush of relief and awkwardness, she started to laugh, letting go of his hand for fear of accidently hurting him further. The laughter came easy, a much welcome break for the tension in the room. “I’m crying because I’m relieved, you dork,” she managed to gasp out between the laughs. “I was so worried that…I just…well, I don’t wanna talk about that anymore, otherwise I’ll start crying and in a bad way.”

It wasn’t that she hadn’t heard his compliment; she was still too flustered by everything else for it to fully register. But, when it did, her face grew a little red, and she looked down with a soft chuckle. “I’m being silly – you’re here in this bed and I’m thinking about how I look. I’m the worst, right?”

Smiling now, she took his left hand in hers again. “I owe you my life, Reynold. And not just the idea that I could’ve been killed, but if I’d been injured…I don’t even know how bad it could’ve been. And I don’t want to think about it. We’re both very lucky. I’m probably luckier because you were brave enough to push me out of the way.” Her expression grew more serious. “I know you’re going to be out of commission for a while…so anything you need or want from me, you got it. Absolutely anything for as long as you need it,” she stressed, looking deep into his eyes. “Because I can’t say thank you enough.”

Realizing that she’d held onto him for an inappropriate amount of time – inappropriate because, well, she hardly knew him, she was being too familiar, too clingy…-, she flushed, and let her hands slip from his again. “So, um, it looks like they’ll discharge you by tomorrow. What do you say, I come by and pick you up? Maybe make you dinner?”

 

[Purifier]

Had he made her angry? As Beatrice stood up with the chair falling down behind her, he for a moment thought that she would storm out of this room in anger and leave him behind, abruptly ending this quite wonderful situation. He had to be more careful in what he said. Rey knew so little about girls and what to say to them. The only woman he really talked to was his mom. And that was different because his mom was his mom, of course.

Beatrice apologizing to him was sweet though. She didn’t have to really. But he loved it when she took his hand in hers. Such a tender, soft touch. His first impulse was to pull back because it just felt too good, too good to be real. But fortunately he resisted that impulse. He wouldn’t complain if the rest of his life would be like this. Lying there in bed, with her, the most popular and beautiful girl of his school holding his hand.

“You don’t need to worry about me, I’ll be okay.” He said with a shy little smile on his lips. “It’s not that much pain, I can deal with it.” He shifted a bit on the bed, turning to his side, towards her. It hurt about more then lying on his back, but this way he could look at her better. And he hoped he was able to better hide the bulge that was forming under the sheets. Just from her holding his hand. He was resting in a bit of an awkward position now, on his side, with one leg crossed above the other. But it was good that he was able to look into her face when she said what she said next.

Seeing her blush alone was already priceless. He now finally realized that she was just as nervous as she was. As afraid to say something wrong. This relieved a lot of tension for him. But only for moment. Then he realized what it meant. If he did everything right now, this wouldn’t just be a singular incident… Don’t make a mistake Rey. Use that chance! It was Blind Jimmy’s voice talking to Rey in his mind now. Blind Jimmy who once in a while shared his wisdom about how to deal with women to Rey. Wisdom that was quite useless to the younger male though, because to put it to use he’d have to gather the courage to talk to a girl first.

And now, Rey, listen! This is important.

Did she really just say that? Did she offer that? Now how would he politely refuse in a way made her refuse his refusal? Instead of accepting it? “Ummm, its so great that you came here and visit me, but I…” His eyes nervously shifted from their hands to her face, back and forth, as if he was afraid that saying anything wrong would make her withdraw her touch. “You know you don’t have to do that, but..” Now he looked into her eyes for a moment. “Thank you”.

Hopefully she wouldn’t see that as refusal.

She let go of his hand though. So damn. He botched it. Or not? Dinner? Hell yeah! “Sounds good”, he mumbled, his heart beating like a drum that was being drummed by a frenzied cyborg with fists of titanium and an overheated battery. He just looked at her now, with a big damn happy smile on his face. As the drumming faded just a little he could hear two female voices from somewhere in the distance. And one of them was his mother’s, sounding rather agitated.

“My mother’s coming,” Rey said, looking at Beatrice regretting that their time alone together was now coming to an end. But there would be tomorrow! “Thank you so much for visiting me. I will see you tomorrow.” He paused for a moment, his eyes focused on Beatrice, taking in every detail so he had an exact picture of her in mind for the time until they met again. There’d be just seconds until his mother would rush into the room. There was one last question though that was forming on his mind.

“Really anything?”

 

[Apollo Wilde]

“Yes, anything.” She smiled as she leaned forward again to lightly kiss his forehead. “I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

_____

Leaning in front of the oven, her reflection was distorted. It wasn’t her reflection she was concerned about - it was the cake within the oven that held her attention. Beatrice was no stranger to the kitchen, true, but everything tonight was a new recipe - and that made her nervous. She felt that it wouldn’t be right to stay to her kitchen standards - she had to push for something new and exotic. It was the least she could do. Reynold DID save her.

Leaning back against the kitchen counter, she wiped her sweating hands against the apron she wore. She ran through the checklist in her head for the millionth time - she’d called and told him her address, made sure he didn’t have any food allergies, told him the time…Everything was in place.

Well, almost everything. She needed to shower and change. She’d been up for the better part of the day going from one bubbling pot to another, and had opted to wear some comfortable sweats. Her mom was nice enough to let them have the house to themselves; her mom was on a lecture tour and wouldn’t be back for another week. When Beatrice called to let her know what had happened, her mother had been a little hesitant, but ultimately had given in. Well, that was after all of the near tears and hysterics. The school had called her mother first, and Beatrice had to spent a fair part of the conversation on the phone reassuring her mother that she was indeed fine - but she had to at least make Reynold dinner.

And what a dinner. At least, that’s what she felt.

Garlic roast with rosemary and a horseradish sauce, baked red potatoes, oven roasted asparagus and garlic, and now a honey cream cake. As the timer went off, she put on her oven mitts and pulled out the cake. Taking a long whiff of its aroma, she grinned to herself. Perfect. Absolutely perfect. And, looking over her shoulder to the clock, she still had about 45 minutes before he arrived to get ready.

Placing the cake on the top of the oven to cool, she took another look at the glaze for the cake simmering, and quickly ran upstairs.
_______

She was fastening the buckles on her sandals when she heard the doorbell ring downstairs. Taking a deep breath, she looked at herself in the mirror for long last check of her outfit. She wore a loose, sleeveless Greecian style cream dress with a flowing skirt and knee high sandals - causal, but still a little dressy. The dress wrapped about her waist and her bust, showing a hint of her figure, but not too much.

Taking another deep breath, she nodded to her reflection, her gold earrings swinging in her ears. Rolling on her perfume, she stepped out of her room and dashed down the stairs. “Coming!” she shouted, before stopping behind the front door. Okay. She could do this. Nothing to be nervous about. It was just dinner with a guy she barely knew and had barely spoken to. But he’d still gone out of his way…it was….wow. Well, if she kept thinking that way, she’d be too nervous to be a good host.

Opening the door, she smiled. “Hi.”

 

[Purifier]

When Beatrice visited him in hospital, even held his hand, Rey wouldn’t have minded if he to stay like this forever. But as soon as she had promised him dinner the next day, he was as eager as possible to leave. But not that fast. His mother came to visit soon after, smothering him with hugs and kisses, so relieved that he wasn’t badly hurt.

And of course she asked him dozens of questions about Beatrice. For his mother there was absolutely no question that this was her possible future daughter-in-law. And she bombarded Rey with questions about Beatrice’s family, asked him if the girl drank or smoked, what church she belonged to and what her grades were. Rey said as little as possible. But hearing that Beatrice had good grades and that her father was a professor seemed enough to get his mother’s approval for now. Of course she insisted he’d invite her over to have dinner together. Rey could already see his mom questioning Beatrice in a way that made the Spanish inquisition seem like the least curious people in the universe. So no. That wouldn’t happen anytime soon. At least not as long as his mother was home.

He decided not to tell her he’d be visiting Beatrice. Instead said he was going to a gaming night next day, and promised everything would be alright. Oliver had worked as a medic in the past after all. He absolutely hated to lie to his mother. But having her know about it, giving him dozens of tips and then interrogating him after returning. Nope.

Much to his surprise Blind Jimmy and Oliver came in later too. They had brought him a cyberpunk novel, and a bag of his favorite chips. It disappointed them a bit though that Rey said he had to cancel the gaming night tomorrow because his mother had said he needed his rest.

He felt quite a tad guilty afterwards. But telling the guys the truth? Never. He had no interest in hearing Blind Jimmy’s bizarre sex tips before going, and then having them question him how it went later, being tormented by ambiguous remarks for months. Like it happened to Oliver when he had that one date with the school secretary.

So yes, The next day out of the hospital and back home, Rey felt like he was on a secret mission. His mother had just left for work, but he had to be careful not to be seen by any of the neighbours as he sneaked out. He didn’t have any clothes appropriate for dating. But he hoped the new pair of dress slacks, bought for when his aunts and uncles from Jakarta were coming to visit next month, together with his best black shirt would do. And then he was on his way.

To a date. His first date. With the hottest girl in the whole damn school.

It was good none of his classmates saw him as he danced though the streets. It turned a few heads though. He wanted to buy her flowers. But then realized he had left his wallet home. He usually didn’t wear these pants after all. But at least he had a little gift for her, hidden in the inner pocket of his jacket. A gift of which he wasn’t yet sure if he’d be able to gather the courage to give it to her.

And then he stood there in front of her door. Took a deep, deep breath. And she opened. Looking like a Greek goddess. For a moment Rey’s jaw dropped and he just stood there, motionless. During the night, in hospital he had fantasized on what to do with her, had made her the star of scenes even more wicked then his usual day dreamed fantasies. Had her bound and locked into the strangest devices, dressed up in the sexiest costumes.

She had said she’d do anything for him after all. Really anything.

And now the brave Reynold Susilo Simons, lifesaver extraordinaire and imaginary interstellar rogue, stood there in front of her, unable to even say a word. He blushed as he finally muttered a “Hi,” in return, “how are you?”.

 

[Apollo Wilde]

“I’m good,” her smile was shy, a little nervous. “I’m alive! Thanks to you!” Opening the door wider, she threw her arms around him, pulling him close. Her face pressed against the side of his neck, she struggled to blink back tears. She’d been unable to do this in the hospital – what, with him in the bed and all. And even now, she was careful to avoid his injured arm and wrist. She was redolent of sandalwood, softened by a lingering trace of vanilla.


For long moments, she held the hug, before remembering that she hadn’t even invited the poor boy in yet. With a self-conscious laugh, she let go of him, slowly. Dusted his shoulders, as if there was any dirt on his immaculate black shirt. Stepping back, she playfully let her eyes run over him, from top to bottom. “Wow, Reynold. You look good! I didn’t think you’d be dressed up…” But then again, so had she, although she’d tried telling herself that she hadn’t. She knew the moment she’d gotten out of the shower that she wanted to be at her absolute best.


Was she trying to impress him?


If she was going to be honest with herself, she knew the answer…though she was too embarrassed to openly admit it. It couldn’t be anything romantic, could it? It’s not like she actually knew him…they had a few classes together, but they’d never spoken.


“I’m sorry; ambushing you before you can even make it through the door. Come on, come on,” and she waved him through the inside of the house. Her home was warm, fragrant from the meal she’d cooked, and from a few scented candles that were burning, lacing the air with top notes of cinnamon. It was a modest home, clean and neutral, with tan carpets and dark brown furniture. Potted plants hung from the window, and the walls were covered with family photos. She had soft classical music playing (figured it would be nice, right?), and nearly pulled him past the living room, through the kitchen, and into the dining room.


“It’ll just be the two of us tonight, if you don’t mind. Mom’s at a lecture tour, and dad…” she trailed off, took a deep breath. “My dad died a while back, so usually it’s just me and mom here.” She said it all in a rush, not wanting to linger on the subject. “Mom’s a pretty big shot professor,” she said with a small laugh, trying to distance herself from her father. “After dad died, she got a position teaching here at the university. I guess she really threw herself into her new research, because…” She stopped, counting down on her fingers, “I guess, maybe about a year or so after we first moved here, her research just exploded and she’s been super busy since then. I’m usually here alone, but it’s no big. It’s really cool to see my mom getting what she works really hard for. She’s like, a superstar,” she finished, leaning against the side of the dining room table. “I told her you were coming over. She was a little nervous for me to have a guy over, but after she found out what happened, I think she’s okay with it. I know she most definitely wants to meet you once she gets back!”


Realizing that she’d been caught up in talking and hadn’t actually, you know, been that great of a hostess, she flushed, and gestured to a chair. “Please, have a seat. What would you like to drink? We’ve got water, juice, and I made a big pitcher of sweet mint tea not that long ago. If it’s not all the way cold, we can add ice to it.”

 

[Purifier]

Wow. Just wow. What happened next left him completely speechless. Beatrice threw her arms around him and held him close. For as long as he could remember, the only people that ever hugged Rey were relatives. His mother, his father, the aunts. This was way different though, getting hugged by a girl his own age. The girl he had a huge crush on, and until yesterday considered to completely out of reach. Winning the lottery wouldn’t have been half as good as that. At first he went stiff like a plank when being hugged. He simply wasn’t used to it, and wasn’t sure what to do at all. And then when he started to relax and enjoy it, loving the feel of her body pressed against his, she let go.

“Thank you for inviting me in”, he said, smiling shyly as he felt her hands on his shoulder. “And, um thank you”, he shrugged at the compliment, then at the last moment before it was too late to reply, added, “you are the one looking great, not me”. He followed her inside, loving the fragrance of sexy that was on her body – he knew these fragrances most likely had a name, but that really was not his field of expertise. Never before had he met a girl who smelt that good. It was perfect. Did it mean, she….?

He had a look around in her home. It was less stuffed with all kinds of things than his own, more tidy and modern. A really nice place. He had a look at the photos, then as she talked to him turned towards her again, feeling a bit like someone being caught snooping. “My mom is pretty busy too, usually.” He said. “So if you like I can show you my place next time.” Did he just say that. Would she? He chewed his lips nervously for a moment. But then remembered her promise in the hospital. Sure she would. Calm down Rey. Her mother was a ‘big shot professor’, though. And Rey’s mom just a waitress. Would Beatrice think less of him if she knew? Well at least his father was an engineer. “We got the house for ourselves too, she and I, since my dad’s moved back to Canada,” he said, then added, “I am sorry about your dad, I didn’t know he…”
Rey knew so little about her actually. Until now he had only admired her from afar, filling up the blanks with stories he had daydreamed. He wondered how much the ‘imaginary Beatrice’ and the real Beatrice had in common. Had he known she was so nice, so approachable, he would have talked to her sooner.

“Oh I do like talking to you”, he smiled at her and took the offered seat, then pondered, “you know I’d really drink everything as long as it is served by you.” With her still standing and him sitting he turned towards her to have another good look at the girl. Damn, she really looked fantastic. He was about to drift into day dreams again, imagining all the things he could do with her. Never would he have thought to end up all alone with such a beautiful girl. And her being so nice to him. And even better her being Beatrice. He wondered if she’d like the gift he had for her in his pocket.

 

[Apollo Wilde]

“That’s kind of funny,” she said, with a self-conscious laugh. “Not that our dads are gone. Not about that at all. But that we end up with the houses all to ourselves.” Standing on her tiptoes, she reached into a cabinet and pulled out two sets of glasses. “I think most kids would throw insane house parties all the time. Sex and drugs and rock and roll,” she laughed over her shoulder as she moved to the fridge. “But all I do is study or train. Or both at the same time. Audiobooks are the best thing, you know? I never would have thought about using them until my mom introduced me to them.”

From the fridge, she retrieved a heavy pitcher, and quickly filled their glasses. “Is it like that for you, too? I mean, the studying and all. I don’t know anything about you, other than your name. I’d…I’d like to change that. At the very least, I can find out more about the guy who saved a complete stranger’s life. And I hope you’re hungry!”

She went back to the cabinet, and got out two plates, and begin to load them down with the food she’d prepared. “So tell me about yourself, Reynold. I mean, like I said, I don’t know anything about you, other than your name. And the crap that the other kids say, but most of it’s pretty mean. I hate the jocks - they’re such assholes. I can’t believe half the crap they say, and just…I dunno,” she waved her hands, looking for the words, “just don’t care about anything other than themselves. I don’t get how people can be that way. And I’m supposed to be like that, just because I’m good at sports. If it wasn’t for Holly, I swear, I don’t think I could deal with that clique.”

Setting down a plate of food in front of him, she set one down on the side opposite him, so that they would be sitting face to face. “It’s funny how people do that. Pick groups and sides, I mean. And then, once they’re in their little group, they get all high and mighty about them. Before I moved here, I was never in any ‘group’, actually. It’s so weird.”

 

[Purifier]

He turned to look at her as she reached for the glasses. Rey felt like he should get up and help her. But he was a good bit smaller then her, these glasses would have been completely out of his reach. And right now he wasn’t able to be much a help anyway. His wrist. So all he really could do was watch and listen. “We could have insane parties just by ourselves”, he replied, then bit his lip. Did he really just say that? Lets see how she reacts.

Study and train. Her life sounded so surprisingly similar to his. Well almost. What he did was study and construct. Or draw, or write adventures to play with his group Blind Jimmy and Oliver. Training on the other hand wasn’t for him. He really sucked at all kinds of sports, and it felt horrible to always be the last to be picked during team sports. “I like audiobooks, too”, he added. “We could have an insane audiobook party together.”

He was getting a bit bolder now, no longer as hesitant as he spoke. But he was wondering if anything he said would make sense to her at all. Or if she’d see him as a complete fool. Why couldn’t he just ignore all these doubts and just talk to her? Like normal? Like people do? Like he talked to his mother? And Blind Jimmy and Oliver? Maybe because his mother was his mother, and his gaming buddies were guys in their early forties. And Beatrice was not only a girl his age, but also the most beautiful one he ever met.

She asked him about himself now though, what he did. He never really talked about that with anyone in his school, no one ever even bothered to ask. “I read”, said, then paused. His hobbies weren’t really cool. Tabletop gaming, constructing robots with his legos – even his mom said he was too old for that. And a bit of this and that, you know, gaming with my buddies…” his voice faded out. Maybe it was a good idea to give her his gift now, to show her what he did. But he had missed the opportunity. Now the food was on the table, and he didn’t want it to get soiled with food. So yeah, after dinner.

What she told him about groups and their dynamics was pretty interesting though. He had never seen it like that actually. For him it was just something to avoid. Staying away from the jocks, the cliques meant to stay out of trouble, that was what mattered for him. His world was inside his head really rather than anywhere else.

“You’re lucky, that you have a good friend like Holly”, he said. At the other schools he was before, he has been pretty much as much of an outsider as here. But at least he always had had one or two good friends there. Kids with the same fate as he. That had made life a lot easier in the past. In a way Beatrice really had a lot in common with him. Just that she had been lucky when moving here, and he, well he botched it. Things were getting better now though. Way better.

The food smelled fantastic. And it smelled great too. Rey looked at the plate in front of it, and then at Beatrice, a big smile on his face. “You made all this? All by yourself?”

 

[Apollo Wilde]

" ‘Insane audiobook party.’ I like it. I think you might be on to something, Reynold.” She laughed, imagining it. A few people in the living room, headphones on, each lost in their own book. Bowls of popcorn and soda cans everywhere, the lights turned down low. She chuckled a little, thinking about it, and began to cut into her roast. Perfect; it nearly fell apart at the first press of her fork. Taking a small bite, her eyes closed in bliss. She loved it when a meal came together like this. Chewing and swallowing, she nodded.

“I like to read, too. And what do you mean, ‘a bit of this, a bit of that’? I’m sure you have really interesting hobbies. I mean, most people would think that reading was way boring, but I think you and I both know that isn’t true. If anything, training gets really dull. Do the same thing over and over, have stupid diet restrictions, ugh. I can’t wait until I can actually stop doing so much of this. But, the fun part? It gives you something to look forward to: cheat days. I made a cake, so this is totally going to be my cheat day.”

“Oh, yeah, Holly’s great. She has a total gutter mouth and knows everything about everyone. I keep telling her that she’d be a perfect journalist. Something that requires connections and investigations.” She began to methodically cut up the roast in front of her, her eyes focused on him. “You’re going to sit here and let me ramble half the night,” she said, laughing. “So tell me more about yourself! And yes, I did make all of this. I like to cook; my grandma showed me a lot before we moved down here. And with mom being out most of the time, it gives me a lot of opportunity to practice. Mom’s a good cook, too. Whenever she gets back, she usually makes a huge meal. In the kitchen for hours.”

She paused, looking over at his plate. Chewed the corner of her mouth, and then, with a deep breath, said, “I’m sorry if this comes off as condescending, but…do you need help cutting anything up on your plate? I didn’t even think to do it or think about it, with your wrist being all banged up.”

 

[Purifier]

She was right. He could have just sit there, and let her ‘ramble half the night’. It felt good just sitting there, listening to her, watching her as she talked. He began to memorise all her features, every little gesture, the details of her dress. And as long she was focussed on talking she didn’t realize how much he was struggling with the food. It was a bit frustrating. What she had cooked was really delicious. But every time he tried to cut into it he felt the burning pain in his wrist. He tried to do not put pressure on the broken wrist but that didn’t seem to work either. He wished he had some kind of mechanical arm now.

Beatrice asked him to tell more about himself. But kept talking on. So he just smiled at her and waited until she took a pause. And then realized he wasn’t sure where to start. Hobbies? Yeah. “Well I read science fiction mainly. And steampunk. Those are my two favorite genres.” He nodded to emphasize his own point then suddenly became a bit more agitated as he added, “I like graphic novels of these genres, too. I actually…”

Suddenly, Rey stopped, pondering if this was the right moment to show her his gift. But he had to do so at one point, otherwise he’d most likely take it back home with him in his own pocket again, and lie awake all night cursing himself for not finding the courage.

He blushed at her offer of help. Rey wasn’t actually being fond of needing anyone’s help. That’s why he had begun to craft all these devices and machines, to deal with his physical inadequacies, being small, and not very strong, and still having to deal with the consequences of his first accident, the one in Jakarta. But Beatrice had promised him her help yesterday in the hospital. And he felt it would be more rude to not eat this delicious food than it would be embarrassing to accept her offer.

“Uhmmm, yes, thank you” he said, “would it be okay for you to cut this for me? I…. I’ve got something for you, to give to you after dinner…” He’d said it now. Now there was no turning back.

 

[Apollo Wilde]

“Oh, it’s no big,” and she reached across the table, taking the plate from him. She neatly cut up the roast, keeping her eyes on him and nodding when she could. She liked the sound of his voice.

Come to think about it, she’d never actually heard him talk at length about…well, anything. He was quiet in class, and in their social circles, there was little to no overlap, except, well, when she stepped in when bullying got to be a little too out of hand. And now, seeing him like this, she felt a cold curl of shame in her stomach. She could have done more, said more to keep Reynold from having such a rough time.

Well. That was the past, and now she had to move forward. She had to fix things for the future. Passing the plate back to him, she nodded. “I read..” she started laughing a little, a soft little sound to herself, “The Sonic the Hedgehog comics when I was younger, but that’s about as much exposure as I’ve had to them. What do you like about graphic novels? About those particular genres?”

Returning back to her plate, she took in a few mouthfuls, waiting for him to answer her questions. At least this time, she’d allow him to actually talk!

 

[Purifier]

She wanted to know more about his interest in graphic novels? That was excellent. He could give her his gift soon. This would be a perfect time. Rey was getting excited. His eyes sparkling as he looked at Beatrice. Where to start though?

“I like Saga by Brian K. Vaughan.“ he replied. “That’s my favorite at the moment. A true epic. I also like Alan Moore, especially his steampunk works, Neil Gaiman, and the classics like Moebius and Jodorowsky. You have to read them really.” Rey was much more animated now then usually, as he begun to talked about his favorite authors. “The fascinating thing about science fiction is that so much is possible, that our own world doesn’t have yet. Life would be so much greater if you had space travel and could visit far away galaxies, or robots that could do tasks for you are not able to do.” Rey would have so much loved to get away to a faraway galaxy to no longer have to deal with bullies like Greg, or with Mr Springs, the sadistic PE teacher.

“If properly programmed or designed, robots could do so many tasks for humans, like…” he paused for a moment and there was a slight blush on his face as he suddenly had to think of the sketches he had been working on before his accident. A robot Beatrice for him to keep him company in any possible way. “… like cleaning the house, or doing dangerous jobs”, he quickly said, to finish the sentence.

“There are dangerous too of course, a lot of people have warned of the dangers of artificial intelligence”, he went on, “although I sometimes thing that the biggest danger for humanity is humanity. Authors dealt with this in many different ways.” Rey now paused for a moment, taking a bite from his plate before he added. “Let me show you something.” He took a really deep breath now, gathering all his courage as he reached into his pocket, pulling out an old exercise book. “I .. I made this for you, but I never thought I’d actually get to give it to you”.

Inside the unassuming exercise book was the work of about half a year. Rey had sketched it secretly during class, then colored it at home or during breaks when he was hiding from Rey and his bully friends. It was the first one in a series of three actually, the third one not finished yet though. The steampunk story of Professor R.S. Simons and Lady Beatrice, fighting together against the evil Baron Springs, and his warforged – half man, half machine – henchman Gregarious.

Rey would have loved to put it into a cool cover, but back when he made it, the simple outward appearance was necessary to protect it from confiscation or unwanted interest. And now his broken wrist had made him unable to draw something.

 

[Apollo Wilde]

Of course, she had no idea what he was talking about.

She’d read a few comics, sure, watched a few cartoons, but she was in no way an expert. The only thing she remembered were the cartoons that her nieces and nephews watched, but those were few and far in-between. Still, though, seeing the normally quiet and somewhat downtrodden boy light up the way he had, the way he was, caused her to smile at him. Somewhere along the line of his explanation, she’d stopped eating, rested her chin in her palms, and leaned forward, eager for more of what he would tell her.

“…I’ve got to admit, Reynold, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said, with a soft laugh, “But I like hearing you talk about it. Maybe one day you could show me?”

She had to admit, she was a reader, but solely of English Literature - especially Shakespeare. “Oh, I dunno, there are some pretty wonderful things here, right on planet Earth. You just have to be open to seeing them. “ ‘One touch of nature makes the whole world kin,’ and all of that.”

She grew quiet again, listening to him talk. It was…honestly refreshing. Being around the jocks (regardless if she wanted to be or not) meant that she very rarely got to hear anyone say anything of substance. Anything that sounded like real thought was put behind it. Sure, there were the rare times that she sat in on one of her mother’s classes or wandered the campus, but no one really took her all that seriously - which stung, she had to admit. Seemed like the “good at sports, idiot in the classroom” stigma would follow her into higher education.

Funny how the both of them were trapped based solely on the perception of others.

When he said he had something to show her, she realized she’d been leaning towards him, and sat back, with her eyebrows raised. What could he possibly have to give her? They hardly knew each other. Intrigued nonetheless, she scooted out her chair a bit, and moved closer to sit beside him, instead of across from him. She looked confused at the book, and, for a moment, her gaze on his was uncertain…Then she took the book from him, and opened it.

Her jaw dropped.

She didn’t read the words, no, not yet. The art itself had absolutely riveted her. Reynold was, quite simply, one of the best student artists she’d ever seen. And…that was her! That was her face on the lead female, this brave, confident woman with a rapier. Turning page after page, her thoughts showed plainly on her face - amazement, mirth. Closing the book, she gently set it down on the table, and closed her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she looked at him. Really looked at him - like it was the first time she’d truly seen him.

“Reynold….I…This is absolutely amazing! Why haven’t you taken any art classes? Have you taken any art classes? You could totally get a scholarship to UNC on this! It’s fantastic!” The words spilled out of her like steam out of a boiling kettle. “I want to show everyone this! Once your wrist gets better, I can see if mom can't get you into one of the college art classes or meeting with one of the teachers there. You really, really have a gift....Thank you for including me in it."

 

[Purifier]

“Oh yes there are wonderful things on this planet indeed.” He nodded and smiled at her. The most wonderful thing on this planet was named Beatrice. “I will show you all that I like, and you show me what you like yes?” He blushed briefly as he realized that his statement was quite ambiguous. But then on the other hand, who knew what would happen next? Now that they were so close.

‘One touch of nature makes the whole world kin’

The quote sounded somewhat familiar. Rey had read Shakespeare in school, just like anyone else. He wasn’t really a fan of poems, but he liked the plays. The plots, the characters. He didn’t know for sure where that quote was from. Maybe he was wrong and it wasn’t Shakespeare at all. So he said nothing about that, not wanting to make a blunder.

But then it was that big moment. The time he gave his gift to her. In a way it was like placing his very heart on the table before her. When she moved next to him, he felt paralysed, as if he stopped breathing and his heart stopped beating. Then she opened the book. Would she like it? Would she be disappointed? Offended that he drew her with asking for permission? There was nothing explicit in the pictures, but he did make her look sexy in them, when she was fencing, climbing, jumping over chasms.

At first he mistook her reaction to shock, and was about to start explain, apologize. But then he was so relieved when he realized she liked it. He leaned in closer to her as she turned the pages, even daring to place one hand lightly on her shoulder. How good it felt, so warm, so smooth and yet so strong. He could feel her muscles move against his fingers as she turned the pages.

He watched her as she looked at his work, and for him it was like reliving the process of making it again. The lessons when he had sneaked the exercise book out of his backpack, watching her as she sat there, listening to the teacher, reading, chatting with Holly, oblivious to his existence. Oblivious to the fact that he’d been watching her, sketching her carefully, his heart racing as he was afraid to get caught, afraid to have the teacher or one of the bullies take the exercise book and see what he was doing.

Never would he have dreamed that she’d ever look at his work together with him, even seeming to like it. Sometime he explained a bit of what she was seeing, especially when there were some of the futuristic devices in use. “Look this is a sonic gun in Baron Springs hands. It would cause severe pain when used, but no external damage.” “Do you see this clockwork dog? In the appendix there is an engineering drawing of it. It should actually work”. There were technical sketches of most of the clockwork devices in the appendix. Rey was very keen on drawing things that could actually work, some he had even build as a small scale model.

Then when she turned to look at him, he withdrew his hand though, regretting it a moment later. But he had felt caught. As if he had been doing something he shouldn’t do. “I…. I never thought of that”. He replied, quite overwhelmed by her enthusiastic reaction. “I .. want to become an engineer actually.” The drawing skills would definitely help with that, and it made him feel so happy that she appreciated them so much. Rey had never seen himself as an artist, and considered his drawing as something technical instead. Even when he was creating his own stories, visualizing his daydreams. Maybe though he had more of a talent at it than he ever had thought?

“Thank you, I never knew if you’d like them”, he finally said and smiled as he looked into Beatrice’s eyes, now. He placed his hand – ouch, the wrong one! – gently on hers as he added, “please don’t show this to anyone yet. This is for you.” Rey had always lived in his own little world. Sharing this little world with her sounded so great though. But sharing it with everyone else? No, that would be too much. She seemed much more of a social person than he was though. Would she like hiding away with him? He would find out. Now that she had liked his comics it felt like a barrier was crossed. He was determined to show her more of what’s going on within his mind.

 

[Apollo Wilde]

There was warmth was on her shoulder. She glanced up from the book, momentarily, to realize that he’d placed his hand on her shoulder. With a shy smile, she leaned into it, continuing to go through the book. For pleasant minutes in silence, she continued to go through the book, stopping here or there as a particular illustration caught her attention. Several times she chuckled to herself - he’d apparently caught some of her expressions in class - how she looked when she was annoyed, or when she thought she was being sly…It was all there.

“Sounds like a date,” she said with a smile, leaning closer to him. “I mean, about the whole showing each other what we like.” She flushed, realizing that what she’d said could have been taken suggestively. “I mean, showing each other our hobbies and all. Although I doubt you’d want to go to any of my games. Not that I’d blame you.” And honestly, she didn’t - if she wasn’t playing, she doubted she’d go to any of her games. Well, maybe that wasn’t entirely true. There were some really talented athletes at their school. Such a shame that they were usually such assholes.

As he flipped to the appendix, all she could do was smile and nod. That was something she’d have to give more time to, once she had the book to herself. She didn’t know a thing about mechanics - the way things worked eluded her, and she hadn’t had much of an interest in it before. But, somehow, knowing that the young man that now sat nearly next to her could dream things up in such a way…well, that sparked her interest. Sheepishly, she laughed. “I have no idea what any of this stuff is,” she waved at the paper in front of them. “I’m not really big into machines. Maybe you could show me how, one day? And I definitely think you could be an engineer one day. Although since I don’t know anything about that sort of thing, you could maybe take what I said with a grain of salt.”

Gently closing the book, she felt him withdraw his hand from her shoulder. It hadn’t been unwelcome, but…It didn’t feel quite right without it there, either. She scooted closer to him, her hips lightly bumping against his own. She held herself there. “I still think you should check out some of the art classes. You’ve got a real talent - I’m not in the habit of lying. I’ll keep badgering you about it, too,” she lightly elbowed him in the side, careful not to jostle his injured wrist. All for naught, though, as he placed his injured hand over her own. Gingerly, she moved his hand away - only to replace it with his uninjured one. She laced her fingers in his and gave his hand a soft squeeze, before letting go. It was meant as a reassuring gesture - that she appreciated that he wanted to be close.

What a fascinating young man Reynold had turned out to be. Maybe she should have taken the time to get to know him, his friends, better. But, beneath all of that…she wanted to know why. Why had he taken the time to draw this out? Why had he saved her?

“Reynold…I’m not really sure how to ask this. And I totally don’t want to sound ungrateful, really, I don’t, but why me? Why did you spend so much time on this? You don’t really know me - and until tonight, I didn’t know anything about you. Why did you save me? I could’ve been a total ass like the rest of the jocks. And I never…paid any attention to you until now. So why me?”

 

[Purifier]

When she talked about showing each other what they like, he nodded eagerly. Did she really mean it that way? He wasn’t completely sure. But he hoped he could within time, really show her everything he liked. And that she would show him everything. He had to wait for the right time though, for the right moment. Didn’t want to ruin what was going so incredibly, unexpectedly well. “I’d love to watch your games. I really like watching you”, he said. He’d actually go to all of her games. Well if there wasn’t that crowd. You never feel more lonely than when you are in a crowd, especially if a lot of them are either hostile to you or ignore you. If he could watched all by himself he wouldn’t mind to watch her all of the time. Interacting with her was even better though.

“I can show you what I made so far, yes. I have made some machines. I…” damn it, do you really have to start every sentence with ‘I’, Rey, “If you like we can try out some of these things I made.” This was a bit of a dirty suggestion. But she didn’t yet know what he was working on, beside his spaceships and steam engines. He’d really love to show her though. Well after the spaceships and the steam engines probably. “How about you come over tomorrow, and you can see? I can teach you how to built something, too. It’s not really that hard, you just have to have a concept of what you want to do, and how its supposed to work. It’s simple physics really.” He could have gone on and on with that, explaining how many things in these scifi shows on TV looked cool but never could have possibly worked, while on the other hand there were some shows that undertook incredible work, unnoticed by most viewers to make their futuristic devices actually believable.

But then suddenly he felt her hips touch his and he stopped talking for a moment. Fortunately he was able to suppress that weird impulse to scoot away and instead just enjoyed, leaning into her just a tiny bit more. The way she squeezed his hand was just fantastic. She liked him, that was obvious now, she really liked him. Crazy! So far whenever he thought it couldn’t get any better, it actually did. He felt like jumping up and run up and down, screaming out his happiness. But of course he didn’t. That would have looked pretty silly.

And then when everything seemed to go perfect she asked him something that made it really, really complicated. Why her? Damn, that was a complex question. Because, if you don’t think you’ll ever get a chick anyway, you’ll at least fantasize about the prettiest one in school? Because she was so many things he was not? Like good in sport, and popular with everyone? Because she was so fit, so active always, that he would have loved to see her struggle in one of his steampunk devices? None of these answers seemed to be something he could possibly say. So for quite a bit of time, he just looked down and gingerly shuffled his feet.

Then finally, when the felt the silence become so crushing and uncomfortable, way too crushing and uncomfortable, he looked up at her again, “because I like you”, he replied, forcing himself to keep looking at her straight, against the huge impulse to avert his gaze and look down again. Did this suffice as an answer? “You seemed a lot more friendly than the others.” He added with a shrug. That was quite an understatement. Come on Rey, you don’t like her just because she’s friendly. That’s not enough. “And because you are the prettiest girl I ever met”.

Did he really just say that? He blushed. It was true of course. But it would sure make her feel uncomfortable. And he didn’t want that. Girls want to be complimented for their talents and intellect and not only for their beauty, at least he read that somewhere. Yet, he couldn’t take back what he said, of course. That would only make it worse. So yeah, did he mess everything up now?

 

[Apollo Wilde]

Silence sat between them.

It wasn’t awkward - but it was heavy. Beatrice was attempting to sort out how she felt about what he’d just said. It wasn’t that guys hadn’t asked her out before (and she turned them down flat - it was clear that most jocks were after one thing) - but not one of them had actually said that they liked her. She looked down at her hands, studying her nails, which had suddenly became fascinating. What could she even say to that? If she was being honest, she didn’t even know that Reynold even really existed until he’d saved her.

“I…uh…”

She was blushing so hard she felt her face was going to catch on fire. She pushed an invisible strand of hair behind her ear, bit her lower lip, looked everywhere around the room and finally back at him. Jiggling her left knee was the only sign that she was still incredibly nervous, not sure what to say next. “I…I guess I’m flattered?” It came out in a rush, followed by an incredibly nervous laugh. Realizing that what she said could have been taken the wrong way, she quickly lifted her hands and waved, “I didn’t mean that to come out like a question. Honest. I just…I don’t know what to do. No one’s told me that they’ve liked me before. And I guess I’m just confused why, I mean, we never even talked until like, a day ago. It’s almost like something out of a fairy tale.”

Looking at him now, she took in a deep breath, and let it out as a sigh. “I…uh, well, I’ve never…dated anyone, you know?” Her hands were folded in her lap now, she was still jiggling her leg up and and down as she tried to figure out what to say next. “So I don’t really know what to say or do and I don’t want to hurt your feelings by saying something mean. I have no idea what to do!” She laughed now, tilting her head back. “But you know…if you, I dunno…maybe wanted to catch a movie with me some time? I’d like to see your machines…but I can’t promise that I’d be any good at trying to put any together. And you can always come to one of my games and maybe we could grab lunch or dinner together afterwards?”

Unfortunately, there was always a crowd at the games - maybe not as many for the girl teams, but crowds nonetheless. And the closer it got to playoffs, the worse the crowds got. At least with her being on the tennis, swim, and fencing teams (if that wasn’t a mouthful; it was a wonder that the girl even slept), he had his selection of sports to see her. “The fencing matches are usually pretty quiet. No one wants to watch that when there’s basketball or football or whatever else.”

Studying him now, she was trying to keep herself from giggling out of sheer nerves. She’d never really looked at Reynold before, but he wasn’t unattractive. He wasn’t the captain of the football team big and blonde handsome…he was more willowy, almost delicate. A pretty boy, maybe, if he did something with those glasses, got a new haircut…A diamond in the rough, really. But it was honestly more about his shy personality than anything else. In such a short amount of time, she’d realized she enjoyed hearing him talk, watching him light up….and she wanted to see more of it. It made her feel special.

 

[Purifier]

Damn. He had put his foot in it for sure. There was so much he still had to learn about women. If only he had the suave skills of Captain Rey. And a spaceship. He enjoyed being with Beatrice. But right now, at this very point he felt he’d rather be about a dozen parsecs away. And he knew he shouldn’t have said it. He knew even while saying it. Why did he do it then, why did he crash this when it was going so perfectly well?

‘I don’t want to hurt your feelings’, ‘…catch a movie with me some time…’, ‘… maybe we could grab lunch…’, it was obvious. He had ruined it. And now that was her way of telling him so, trying not to be rude. Rey felt horribly for having put Beatrice into this rather uncomfortable position. And for having messed everything up. Minutes ago he had been so enthusiastic at showing her his works, his drawings, his machines, his roleplaying adventures. And now it all had been moved to Maybeland, on the beautiful day of Some Time.

Unsure what to say or do, Rey looked down at his shoes, watching them kick at each other. It seems his left foot was getting the upper hand over the right one. Hey maybe it wasn’t that bad. He could always go to her fencing matches and watch her, and dream about what he thought he could have had. He shrugged a little to himself, then looked up again.

And realized she was looking at him, studying his features.

It reminded him of something. The way he had been looking at her. So many times. Memorizing every detail of her face for his drawings. He had been good at quickly looking away though before she looked up and noticed him. Beatrice didn’t look away now.

He smiled shyly, as his eyes met hers. He didn’t avert his gaze this time, his eyes now moving over her face. This face he knew so well. Present in all of his daydreams. How much he loved her features, her eyes, the collar of her skin. There were so many things in this world he dreamed of making better by creating the right robots and devices for the tasks. Better schools, better public transports, better entertainment. But she, she was perfect, nothing he could create could be better than her. Gently his hand – the left one this time, not the broken right – reached out for hers, placing it on top of her hand.

Of course he could have said so much now, about him never been on a date either, having no idea how dating actually works. All that stuff. But that would have sounded awkward again, and things already were awkward enough right now. The situation demanded for something manly, cool, Captain Rey like. So he looked her straight in the eye, smiling the determined smile you smile when you are outgunned, your ship destroyed, and you are facing the imperial commander, knowing that you have one last trick, one last weapon they did not expect. When you think you’ve lost it all, all or nothing doesn’t sound like a bad thing.

“I asked about tomorrow, not about some time” he said, in a friendly yet determined voice – well at least he hoped it didn’t sound shaky.

 

[Apollo Wilde]

“Tomorrow?”

She raised an eyebrow inquisitively at him, and leaned back a little. It caught her by surprise, but it wasn’t unpleasant. If anything, it felt like he might be going through her thoughts – and she wanted to slap herself for being overeager to want to spend more time with him.

“I have to check my schedule,” she said, finally, with a small smile. She was aware it could have come off like she was dismissing him all together, but she didn’t want to seem too available. She’d said enough as it was about not having ever been on a date before. Ugh. She couldn’t believe she’d just told him that. How uncool was that – she might as well have screamed at him that she was an unkissed virgin as well.

Well, maybe the “virgin” part wasn’t that bad. It was the “unkissed” part that made her cringe a little. He thought of her as being so cool –apparently!- and to confess that she’d never been on a date…yeah. So, swallowing the lump of her tattered pride, she added, “It’s just that I have to practice a lot, with being on all of the different teams and all. Sometimes I have practice from one thing to another all day, and then sometimes it’s just in the mornings. I can take a look and let you know?”

She kept her voice optimistic – she didn’t want him to think that she was putting him off; she wasn’t. She did legitimately have to look at her schedule – but she was in no hurry to leave his side to check her planner. Crossing her legs, she smoothed down the diaphanous material of her dress, and quiet sat between them again. She wasn’t sure what else to say, or what else to do at the moment.

 

[Purifier]

Had he been too bold? Was he about to ruin everything just after it started so well? Nervously, Rey awaited Beatrice’s reply. Was it a rebuttal? Or a thin strand of hope to hold on to? He wasn’t sure yet. Why were women so complicated? She had said she never dated anyone before? Shouldn’t she be as eager as him? Well unlike him she mot likely had plenty of guys asking her for a date. And most likely she’d say the same to them. Maybe, some day, etc… . Was it foolish to even think he had a chance?

Calm down Rey, don’t get all gloomy again! She was smiling after all.

“Okay, promise me to check”, he told her finally. “There is some thing I could use your help with, if you happen to have the time? And if you feel uncomfortable about it, lets not call it a date? Just us hanging out and you helping me with stuff, because of…?” He raised up his wrist, then looked at her again, studying her to see her reaction. Did that come across convincingly? Hopefully. He had no idea what else he could have said on that matter. There was her promise from the day before of course. But he didn’t want to remind her of it more than he just had done by raising his hand. Maybe she’d get the hint, maybe not. Maybe she’d want to come over anyway?

Time to change the topic again, to avoid having things get all awkward. Or him sounding too desperate. But what to say? For a moment, Rey paused and looked down, as if he was hoping that there was a script pinned to the floor, telling him what to say next.

“Doesn’t it get too much for you to be training all the time?” he asked. She was good at so many sports which was quite astonishing. He didn’t want to discourage her from it. But maybe she really had no time for dates? And that’s why she had never been on a date before? If that was the case, maybe he could help her somehow? Maybe she needed an organizer for her training schedules? Rey was good at organizing and databases he could possibly help with that? For a moment his mind drifted off again…

Like glistening crystalline beads, the little drops of water covered Lady Beatrice immaculate body as she climbed out of the large pool in her mansion. Bare brown feet moved over the white tiles until she reached the towel, starting to dry her body. “Don’t you think its been enough training for today?” Professor Reynold’s who had been standing by the pool with a stop watch asked. “It’s about time to start the more pleasant part of the evening," He spoke, leaning in towards her now, placing a tender kiss on her neck. But she backed away. “It’s never enough training if we want to defeat Lord Springs and his mechanical minions,” was her reply, as she reached for a broomstick, and got into fencing position. “En garde!” She exclaimed as her towel dropped and she stood there in her naked glory, the broom stick pointed at him. Laughing, Professor Reynold reached for a long-handled pool-cleaning net, and adopted a similar stance, facing her. Soon a playful yet ferocious battle would break out between them and who ever had the upper hand would decide what they did in the bedroom tonight.