12. Solon

12

SOLON

Abbey seemed considerably calmer than she had been earlier, which was a good thing, Solon thought. She didn't say much but she wrapped her small hands around his elbow and held on tightly as he led her away from the Docking Bay and through the massive Monstrum Mother Ship.

She stumbled several times, but Solon put that down to stress. He wished he could put an arm around her shoulders and draw her closer to him, but he decided she probably wasn't ready for that yet. At least she was touching him voluntarily—that was good, right?

He tried to tell himself it was. He just wished he could feel her emotions but since he was wearing his long-sleeved uniform shirt, her hands weren't touching his fur or skin, so he couldn't Feel her. As they walked, he pointed out several landmarks.

"That's the tram station—we don't need to use it now because my suite is fairly close to the Docking Bay," he told her. "But later we can take it and I'll give you a tour of the whole Monstrum Mother Ship—well, everything but the Dark Side. Over there is a nice little bar, if you ever want to go for drinks."

Abbey didn't say anything and she also didn't look in the direction that he pointed. Was she ignoring him for some reason?

Before Solon could decide if she was or not, they reached the entrance to his suite.

"This is my suite—where we'll be staying for the next month during our Claiming Period," he told Abbey.

He placed his palm against the silver door and it whooshed to the side almost silently, revealing the darkened interior.

Solon started to step forward but Abbey was hanging back, still holding onto his arm but clearly unwilling to step into the living area.

She must not like how dark it is, he thought. Aloud, he said,

"Lights, medium," in a clear, commanding voice.

The lights blinked on at once, bathing them both in a golden glow. They came from a special vine growing on the ceiling called a glownus which had small, white, bioluminescent flowers. The Monstrum had bio-engineered them to be sensitive to sound and to respond to voice commands.

"Oh!" Abbey gasped, turning her face towards the light.

"It's all right—come on in," Solon urged her. "I've tried to make sure it's neat and clean for you," he added, wanting her to know he'd made an effort. He wasn't what the humans called a "slob" but he did have a tendency to let his living area get slightly cluttered if he didn't watch himself. He'd picked up and put away a lot to get his suite ready to be seen by his future mate.

At last she spoke for the first time since he'd buckled her into his ship.

"Do…do you have a bathroom in here?" she asked faintly. "I…I'd really like to use it."

"Oh, sure—it's just over there." Solon pointed but for some reason her eyes didn't follow the motion.

"Could you show me?" she asked. "I've never been up here, on the Monstrum Mother Ship before. It's…strange."

"Certainly." She was still clinging tightly to his arm, so Solon walked her through the living area and took a left into the short hallway which led to the fresher—what the humans called a "bathroom."

"This is the fresher straight ahead," he told her. "The door to the left is my office and the one to the right is my sleeping chamber. Actually our sleeping chamber, since the rules of the Claiming Period state that we must sleep in the same bed every night."

She stiffened against him and he wondered if he shouldn't have mentioned that. Still, she would have to find out sooner or later.

"Please don't worry," he told her. "This first week is our Holding Week—we're not allowed to touch each other without our clothing on yet."

She stiffened further but said nothing except,

"Is there some way to lock the bathroom door?"

"If you're worried I might walk in on you, I won't," Solon said, slightly offended that she might think that. "I'll give you your privacy. But yes, there's a locking mechanism to the right of the door."

"Thank you. Er…can you turn on the lights?" she asked, staring into the darkened fresher.

"Of course. Lights on medium," he said in the same firm, commanding voice he'd used to turn on the other light-vines. The glownus vines were keyed to his personal voice commands—he would have to make sure to add Abbey to the command system as well so she could also control the lights.

"Thank you," she said again and let go of his elbow. "I might be a minute," she added.

"That's fine—take as much time as you need," Solon told her. He was glad that she'd calmed down and seemed more resigned to her new situation. He hoped that soon she would see that living with him wasn't so bad. If she would just give him a chance to prove himself, he would do his best to make her happy.

The fresher was a large room with the relief facilities in the far corner in a small alcove. To the left was a 3D viewer and a shelf for toiletries. And directly ahead was a large bathing pool ringed with pleasure vines. The vines had a variety of dark red blossoms, both male and female, which could be used for sexual stimulation while in the bathing pool.

All the suites aboard the Monstrum Mother Ship had this amenity but Solon's bathing pool was extra large—big enough to swim a few laps in and deep enough for him to submerge himself completely if he wanted to. He looked at it now, anticipating their Bathing Week, which was the part of the Claiming Period where he and Abbey would wash each other and he could massage her with special scented oils. It would be his pleasure to bring pleasure to her by rubbing and caressing her sweet, curvy body.

Abbey stood there for a moment, hesitating. Then she took a tentative step inside. Turning, she fumbled for the door, clearly wanting to shut it.

"The switch is to the right of the door, there." Solon pointed helpfully. She didn't seem to see where he was pointing, but she did move to the right and began running her fingers over the wall, which was very strange, he thought. It was almost as though she couldn't see the switch.

Before he could ask any questions, she found the door controls and the silver panel slid shut with a whoosh separating them. A moment after that, he heard the click as the lock engaged. And then, silence.

For some reason, Solon felt uneasy about leaving her alone in the fresher. But he told himself he was being silly. She was an adult—she could look after herself. And he didn't want her to think he was going to be constantly bothering her. Even during an intense time like the Claiming Period, everyone needed some privacy.

"Take your time," he called to her through the door. "I'll make us a drink in the living area."

There was no answer and after another long moment of silence, he moved away from the door. He had heard from other warriors who were already mated that human females could be very secretive about their fresher habits. It was good to let her know he was leaving her entirely alone, he told himself. So she could do whatever was necessary to feel comfortable.

He just hoped she wouldn't take too terribly long—he wanted to get to know his new bride and spend time with her.