15. Chapter 15

Kendra

I stand inside the first door of the shopping mall, waiting for Grihul. When beings walk out of the mall, the door behind me opens to give warmth, but the door facing the streets threatens to freeze me.

It won't make a difference if I wait inside the mall, but I want to meet him sooner rather than later.

Something has to be wrong with me for me to think about him all the time since we met. Maybe he grinds my gears on purpose.

Where is he?

The sky is still gray, but it isn't snowing. It shouldn't be hard to locate this place. This is one of the biggest shopping malls in the city. It looks like a castle from way back in history of Earth, at least that's what my parents said when they read my stories from that time period. It felt like so far into the past that... Maybe it's completely fiction, but maybe there are some bits that are real, not sure.

When the weather is nice, the mall will have an inflatable dragon on the outside of the castle. But that's not there today and probably won't be there for another while, not until the storm season is over.

Grihul has four hands, so driving his way here should be easy. He is taking his sweet time, for sure.

I tap my feet on the floor, trying my best to be patient. I don't even remember the last time I was so eager to meet someone.

It takes a while, but he shows up. I can see those arms from afar. Kot'olls are also pretty rare on this planet, so it is easy to spot him.

He grins as he sees me. I go over and hug him. He chuckles. "Looks like someone misses me tons."

My gut flutters. I suppose I do miss him, but I don't want to let him think of himself a bit too highly. "I'm glad you managed to find your way here."

He hugs me. I like it when his arms wrap all over me. With his strong arms taking up space, he almost covers my whole upper body with four arms. His warmth melts me. It will be great if this can happen every day. But that's not very realistic.

I shiver when a cold breeze comes from the outside. He chuckles. "Let's get into the mall first."

Now that I take a step back and focus on something more than his face. "How are you wearing that and walking outside? Are you serious?"

He looks at himself. "What's wrong with my hoodie?" He lifts his arms and looks around. "Are there holes in it?"

I roll my eyes, but can't help snorting a laugh. "No, I mean, won't you be cold?"

"Not at all. Now I see. You have a coat with you."

I nod. "I don't want to get sick even though it's just a brief walk from the parking lot to here."

"You look great in this." His praise seems to be a bit tense, if not made up, but I suppose I should appreciate his attempt.

"Thank you. I still can't figure out how you and some other beings don't mind the cold. If you only need a hoodie for this weather, I suppose you'll be running around naked in summer."

He winks. "Are you looking forward to summer?"

I suck in a breath, rolling my eyes at him. I'm never forgetting that he is just here to annoy me. "Summer, yes. Your naked body, no."

"What? You aren't looking forward to my sexy strong body?"

I ignore him and go into the mall instead. He chuckles as he follows me around. "Come on, I'm just joking."

"I know. You're just annoying."

He chuckles. "Maybe that's the point. You love me that way."

I halt and he almost bumps into me. He halts right before impact. "Geez, is this also how you drive?"

I stare at him, having no words in my head. Maybe I should be angry at how he insulted my driving skill when I'm a great driver and I caught criminals on a spaceship, chasing them down. Or maybe... I should think about whether I like him, let alone love him that way.

He waves his hand in front of me. "How many fingers are here?"

I smack his hand. "Just shut up... You don't have to keep annoying me."

"Well, I'm just trying to make this interesting."

"I didn't figure you'd be this talkative."

He blinks, seemingly thinking about it. "I suppose... Maybe I didn't get a chance to talk a lot most of the time, so when I could, I got carried away. I can keep quiet if that's what you prefer. I don't want to be the kot'oll who embarrasses you in front of others."

"No, no. I don't mean that. You are perfect the way you are. No one's gonna have a word when I have a strong one right by my side."

He gives a weak smile. Maybe I said something wrong, or not right enough. I reach for his hand and he takes it into his big hand. I give him a squeeze. "Here, let's get some food. Maybe you'll want to try some human food."

"Sure. I'm hungry for actual nice food."

"The food on your spaceship isn't that bad."

"That's because you were starving. Trust me, that isn't that good."

I nudge him to start walking. This mall is one of my favorite places to be in. I hope the restaurant I plan to go to is open. That one is opened by humans and we're the hardworking bunch. I'd expect them to have reopened the moment the weather alert is over.

The floor is made up of bricks, or at least looks to be bricks. The walls are made of old-fashioned brown and red bricks. It feels like I'm in a fantasy world here.

Near the pillars, there are knight statues with shiny armor. This is the best mall ever when every other mall nearby is just boring silver walls. They may look newer and fancier with technology, but what I like is the older version of things.

Grihul looks around as he walks. His big hand is still holding mine. He seems oblivious to that. I don't mind holding his hand. Somehow, being with him calms me down.

I don't need a big guy protecting me, but when he's the one with me, it feels better than when I'm alone.

"Here." I point at the restaurant next to us. It smells great already.

"Oh, looking nice."

I'm not sure whether he will like this type of restaurant though. I hope he does.

We head to the door. No one is at the counter waiting for us. I go straight to a spot for two. A waitress with aprons, who is the same middle-aged woman who has worked here for longer than I can remember, gives us a nod. I wave two fingers at her. She points to where I'm heading to and goes the other side.

Grihul blinks. "Hey, are we in the—"

I pull him along. Maybe he isn't used to this.

We take a seat at the table by the wall. The waitress is back and gives each of us a glass of water.

The waitress takes out a notepad. "So, you're having the usual, right? And your friend? The same as yours?"

I nod. "Sounds good."

She scribbles something on the paper and walks off.

Grihul stares at her back for another moment. "So... Is this how you order things here? Sounds like you've been here a lot."

"Yes. There's a wide variety of food." I point at the table. There's a piece of glass covering the whole surface of the table, and the menu is under it.

"Oh, I see." He reads the menu. "What did you order?"

I wink. "You'll know when the food arrives."

He lifts an eyebrow. "You love to be a mystery."

"Is that working?"

He gives a dumb smile, which sends my heart pumping. I like that smile. It feels like...

Two plates slap their way onto the table, sliding until they reach both of us. I shudder, pulling my gaze back to myself. He also blinks, seemingly yanked out of his thoughts.

He stares at the bread. "What's this? I've never seen this before."

"It's pineapple bun."

He pokes the bread. "So... Where's the pineapple?"

I roll my eyes at him. "It's the look of it, there's no pineapple inside."

He scowls. "Sounds like a scam."

"Geez, don't be silly. Look at how the golden yellow crispy top has cracks that make it look like a pineapple."

He studies it, a bit too seriously, but looking funny. "I suppose..." He pokes the top of the bun. "What's in the middle?"

"A thick slab of butter." I pick up my bun. "Better enjoy while hot."

I love this a bit too much, even though too much butter isn't good for my health. When the cold butter, warm bread, and sweet topping melt together in my mouth, that's perfection.

He picks up the bun and takes a bite. A few shreds of the topping fall off onto the plate. He chews and blinks. I wonder what's in his mind. He has to like this, right?

I take another bite, enjoying the taste of it. This is more commonly eaten as breakfast or snack, but I don't care. I want it now, for dinner, and that's what I'm going to have. The ones working here know me, I always order the same thing. Well, when I don't, I'd order something else, but that doesn't happen a lot.

I lift my brows at him, waiting for his response to the food.

He chuckles. "I like it. It's not exactly like pineapple, but it tastes great."

"The name is just a metaphor."

Speaking of which, plates of scrambled egg and bacon slide to us. Grihul watches the back of the waitress who served our food and is gone before we can see her face.

Grihul asks, "Is she in a hurry?"

"It's how this place works. Feels like it's bustling with life all the time."

He tilts his head to the side. "This is interesting. She just… threw the plates at us."

"I suppose this way of serving patrons has become an attraction on its own." I pick up my fork and fork up the bacon. "So... This is more like a breakfast set, but I hope you don't mind. I love this, so I'd order regardless of the time of the day."

He picks up the pineapple bun again. "I don't mind that for sure. I just want good food, and the timing isn't that important."

I finish a piece of bacon before diving back into the pineapple bun. I like every food in the order, only hating how quickly it disappears into my stomach.

He grins as he enjoys his bun. I'm happy. Being with him is great.

The waitress is back, and she puts down our bowls of noodles, finally, instead of sliding them across the table.

Grihul stirs the noodles with his fork. "So, what's this? Meat and... green thing? And pieces of chili?"

"It's rice noodles. The green thing is a marinated vegetable. It's slightly spicy."

He slurps the noodles as he tries it. "I like this, too. I don't get to try this kind of noodles a lot."

"I—"

Now, our milk tea arrives. Grihul watches it at once. "Is that coffee?"

"No, milk tea. Usually made with black tea as the base."

"Okay, this is pretty new too." He takes a sip. "Hm... I wonder what kind of milk they used."

"Cows." I take a sip. "Yes, boolon milk tastes different. This place uses cow milk, it's the flavor from home, or so it should be."

"Where's home for humans?"

"Earth."

He blinks, seemingly clueless about that. "Um... Maybe I'm not that well-versed. Where's Earth?"

I shrug. Even though I should know as a human, I don't know exactly where Earth is. "In the Milky Way, close to the Orion Arm, in the Solar System. Well, at least I think that's the case."

He muses and nods. "I suppose I'll pretend to know where that is. I... I've never been to that part of the universe."

"Makes sense. I've never been there either. I was born on this planet and grew up here. I don't think any of us are ever supposed to go there anyway. I heard that the planet is pretty backward in technology compared to us. Before they find some of the planets we've heard of, we aren't supposed to be there."

He says, "I suppose that's the case, but apparently, not everyone follows the rules."

I laugh. "Yeah, that's what I think too. Some time back then, my parents, or my parents' parents were brought out of Earth. Who knows what happened? Part of me wants to be there and look at how humans there live. That's the origin of humans, after all."

He scratches his head. "Yeah... It's a bit more complicated compared to kot'olls. I can head back there if I want to, but that planet doesn't feel like home the same way as where my home actually is. I've never spent significant time on that planet."

I let out a breath before taking a sip of my milk tea. "Maybe that's not that important after we settle on another planet. Home is where your heart is, right?"

Maybe I'm trying a bit too hard to convince myself. "I mean... I'm a human, that's for sure. Those on Earth are humans too, that's also for sure. But I don't think we share a lot of similarities past that. Do we speak the same language? Do we have the same culture? It can't be the same, right? Maybe it's just me, it feels... foreign. In some sense, I'd expect you and I to be different, but with other humans... Maybe I'm the weird one."

He blinks, seemingly trying to understand me. Not that I expect him to understand every bit anyway. Kot'oll‘s planet is mere galaxies away. If the portals work in his favor, he'd be there in a week. While Earth... I think some portals lead to there, but those aren't on any trade route for obvious reasons. Just getting to the outskirts of the Milky Way from here may take half a year. If the portals don't work out, it won't even work out for a few lifetimes for a human to even get close to Earth.

He pats the back of my hand. I shake my head, trying to pull my mind back. "Sorry, did I worry you? I wasn't expecting to be thinking about that."

He chuckles. "It's okay. Sometimes I do that too."

I let out a breath and get started with my rice noodles. "I hope you're enjoying the food."

"I am. This is so different from what I used to having. Maybe next time, I'll show you... I was going to say you should come to my place and my mother makes the best food. But..."

I swallow with my throat tight. I almost choke on the food. What does he mean? Maybe he realizes that he isn't going to invite a random female to his place just like that...

"Kendra... I mean... I know this is a pretty interesting restaurant with the waitress staring at us, and..." He glances to his side. "Is she going to come over and ask about how we're liking the food?"

I shake my head. "No. When she comes around the next time, she'll be picking up the dishes."

"The bill?"

I point at the side of the table, where the bill is already slid into the gap between the glass on the table and the table itself. "We'll go to the cashier for the bill."

He blinks, seemingly never expecting that. "This is interesting."

I snort a laugh even though we should be focusing on something else, for example... his attempt to invite me over to his place.

He stares at the last bite of his pineapple bun. "I bet some humans on Earth also enjoy this. So you do share something with them."

Is that what's in his mind? I nod. "I suppose. I think there is plenty of food coming out of Earth before most of the humans."

He chuckles. "I bet humans are good at making special food." He puts the last bite into his mouth with a wide grin, all while he cuts the bacon. "Good food."

I love watching him eat. If... If this is how life will be, I'd love that.

But... Maybe he thinks differently.