12. Chapter 12

Grihul

I take a breath as I get out of the room. It feels like reality is striking now.

It was... a weird night.

Was it a dream?

At the driving dashboard, I turn off the siren. The green light for communication is up. I press it to connect with whoever that is. "Yes, what's up?"

"Hello, it's Grihul, right? We are fixing the power and, hopefully, you can leave in an hour or so. We are sorry for the inconvenience." Maybe it is the other police here.

"I understand. Sounds like the storm got worse."

"Indeed. The whole city was snowed in for the whole night. The storm is still raging, so... In fact, I suggest you stay indoors. We can arrange a room for you to stay in before the weather is clear. I suspect your destination will remain closed anyway, so you may not want to be driving your cargo around."

I silently let out a breath. "That will be good. I don't have any phone connection."

"By the way, did you see the officer who is supposed to notify you about your release?"

"I do. She is here with me."

There's a sigh from the other end of the call. "I see. That's good. Thank you for helping her."

"It was cold last night. It was the right thing to do." Maybe this is Kendra's boss or something.

"Okay. I'll meet you when the repair is done."

Maybe he is nearby, but the spaceship's driving dashboard is lifted, so I can't see what's closer to the ground when I'm here. "Sure."

The communication ends and I let out a breath. I hate all these administrative things.

"What did they say?" Kendra comes to my side. She is in her police uniform again. The uniform is wrinkled, but not too bad.

"They are fixing the power now. It should be good to go in an hour or so."

She lets out a breath. "Finally, I can go home."

"But he says the weather is still bad outside and he will give me a room to stay in until it's safe to leave."

She frowns. "Oh..."

I won't be seeing her anymore soon... I don't know whether I'd be happy about that or not. "Can't wait to get away from me?"

She shakes her head. "Absolutely not. Oh... I mean, I..."

She has to be hiding something. I wonder... She was going to tell me, but the siren cut her off. Maybe she isn't ready yet.

It takes her a moment. Her gaze drifts from the dashboard to me, then to the floor. "I... Maybe you're the one wanting to get away from me."

I lift her chin and make her look me in the eye. "I wonder. Are you fine? Like, for real?"

She sniffs and her eyes are filled with tears almost at once. "I'm not fine. I don't even know how to put it into words."

I pat her shoulders. "It's okay to take your time." Maybe I'm not one she'll feel comfortable talking to, which is reasonable. Why would she want to talk about something this important to someone she barely knew?

Maybe it was our interaction that tempted me, that raised my interest in her. Or maybe it was the time we spent together on the spaceship when we were locked up.

I pull the drawer to the side, under the driving dashboard. "Here you go. It's..." I tilt my head to the side when she is gone and behind the other side of the dashboard. "Well... Do you think I'm going to shoot you or something? Don't be silly."

She lets out a breath, so much so I can hear it from a distance. "You should've warned me."

"You're a bit too tense. Maybe we aren't best friends. We aren't enemies either."

"You're right." She takes the gun from me and puts it back on her belt. "So... We're saying goodbye to each other soon."

"I suppose." Thinking about that makes my gut twitch, but there should be no reason it bothers me.

"I mean, you're heading back to your planet after delivering the things."

"Yes, that's the plan."

"And you've already overstayed."

"Well, I don't have the next shipment lined up already. So I suppose I can stay in the city for a few more days."

"I see..." She stares at the floor again. There are question marks written on her forehead, except I'm not sure whether I want to be the one asking. I don't want to scare her.

My cock twitches. I want to hold her in my arms and...

But maybe she doesn't want that. Maybe she was too bored back then, that she decided that she'd entertain herself with my cock and that's all about it.

"Kendra, can I have your number? I drive from planet to planet all the time, and I may be back in this city at some time."

"Sure!" She seems a bit too happy. She takes my phone and types in her number, almost as if that's something she has been wanting to do. "And I'll have your number too."

I take her phone and put in mine. I'm not trying to peek, but when I give it back to her, one of our fingers swipes the screen. Her phone's background photo is herself, geared up, probably at a ceremony of some kind. She seems to be happy, which is a stark contrast to how she is. She seems to be stressed. Maybe being police is a ton.

She seems to be oblivious and puts her phone back in her pocket just like that. "Maybe if you're staying in the city for another while, I can show you around when the weather gets better."

"Sounds like a plan." My arms twitch to hug her, but maybe I shouldn't.

Before I can say a thing, she wraps her arms around me and buries her face in my chest. "Thank you for helping me."

I hug her back, with all my arms. "Thank you for being here. It would be boring otherwise."

She flinches in my arms. "I suppose."

Oh... I wasn't expecting that, but maybe my words can be seen as a reference to our sex, which kind of ended awkwardly.

I pat her back. "It's going to be fine." I clear my throat. "I think I've talked all my quota for the year."

She snorts a laugh, which makes me happy. It's better to see her smiling even when she's laughing at me than to have her upset for reasons I can't help.

She says, "But I get it. Maybe you're used to flying. Not too bad when you're on your own. I suppose they won't send you to dangerous places."

"They won't. The company operates within this galaxy. Usually, the travels aren't too long, but it depends on luck with the portals."

She nods, but her mind's seemingly elsewhere.

There's a beep and the light for communication lights up again. I press the button, and that police officer, tell us to get out of the spaceship if we want to.

Outside of the spaceship, when we weren't watching, the lights came back on.

Kendra lets out a breath. "Let's go?"

"Sure. But the weather is still bad, so you probably can't go home either."

"Guess we'll be stuck with each other for even longer."

"Is that a good problem to have?"

She grins and pats my chest. "Maybe."

Outside of the spaceship, there are two staff there. They look at Kendra, then at me. I swallow, resisting the urge to step to the side. They don't feel like the friendly ones, but maybe the poker face is their professional working face.

Kendra says, "Thanks a lot. I'm so glad the power is back."

One of them nods. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, He gave me a place to rest."

I lock the spaceship as we arrive at the floor of the parking lot. I suppose I should keep my spaceship here, and there's no safer place to park than in the basement of a police facility, but it still... doesn't sit well with me.

The parking lot is dim, probably because we are the only beings here, so they didn't turn on all the lights. There have to be cameras around. There are always some of those in public places, but I've never been that aware of those.

Kendra nudges me. "Are you coming with us?"

I blink, trying to focus on what's being said. "It means... I don't want to cause inconvenience." I have no idea what they are talking about, so I pretend to be saying something relevant.

Kendra has a smile on her cute face. "It won't be an inconvenience. You can stay in the break room. No one will interrupt you there."

So they are talking about where I can stay. I don't mind staying in the spaceship. "Look, I don't work here. It feels like I'm in jail or something, with beings watching over me."

She shakes her head. "No, that's not going to happen. It's a room for those working here to take a break between shifts or when guests are coming over for one reason or another. It's just a room. No one will watch you."

But... Those two staff are watching, I hope they won't find me rude to refuse that.

She winks. "Not to mention, there'll be a window and signal for your phone. Your spaceship will be safe here."

"I don't worry about my spaceship, that's for sure, it's just..."

The staff who's been talking says, "You can have a look. If you don't like the place, you can come back. To be honest, this place isn't meant for beings to stay for long outside of their withholding time. In our book, keeping you here is keeping you in jail or something equivalent. So we don't wish for you to overstay too. When the storm calms down and traffic is clear, we'll notify you."

Kendra watches me with a naughty smirk as if she is planning to do something to me. I swallow, but my cock twitches, somehow...

No way... What am I even thinking about? That's just going to be a room with a window and...

I swallow again. Maybe I should focus on something else first.

It doesn't take long before we're up in the building. It is cold here and I shiver at the almost metallic gray walls. The interior of my spaceship looks similar, but these walls are colder. It almost feels like a hand will come out of the corner and grab my throat.

Kendra doesn't seem to care. She walks with a hop on her steps. She is the one leading me down the corridor. The two staff didn't stay long after we left the elevator.

She is a bit too excited, almost more excited than me. Maybe for her, she's free, but for me... I'm still in the building and it feels like I can't relax yet.

We aren't running into anyone. Maybe everyone's still busy.

This place looks like a maze.

I rest my hands on my waist, but I have no idea where to put my two other arms. It feels like... I'm too big for this place and having my arms with my body will make me a target. I don't think anyone is out there to catch me, but it feels like...

I take a breath. It's okay. This is the first time for me to be in a place where the average civilian isn't allowed, so it is normal to feel out of place. I'm a good kot'oll and I'm not going to be ashamed of my own presence.

Kendra smirks at me as she opens the door. "Here we go."

Now this doesn't feel right...