Gaz
The sun hasn’t even set yet, but already, Hayden is asleep. While drinking at Galaxy, she passed out at the bar, though it was from exhaustion and not drunkenness. When I scoop her up in my arms, a Mirroean approaches me.
“Everything all right, here?” He crosses his arms over his chest and jerks his head toward Hayden.
“Quite,” I tell the man. He’s shorter than me, but he’s muscular and looks strong. Though I’m sure I would win in a fight, there’s no question he’d give me a run for my money. “My friend fell asleep and I’m going to take her home.”
“You sure about that?” The man asks. It’s then that I notice the nearly invisible talk goo in his ear. So he’s working for someone. Whoever has the other piece of talk goo in their ear can hear everything the two of us are saying. It’s not an uncommon practice on Sapphira. Talk goo was discovered here, after all, but it’s still annoying.
“You security?” I jerk my head toward his ear, and he frowns. So that’s it, then. Galaxy is known for being one of the safest bars on the planet. Apparently, this is why. “Look, this is my friend. You can call my secretary if you like and confirm that I know this woman and that I’m just taking her back to her house.”
“Acceptable,” the man says, and I tell him to call Izzie. When an image of her flickers to life in front of the man’s communications unit, she starts talking a million miles a minute.
“What the hell is going on?” She screeches. “This is my afternoon off. I’m supposed to be relaxing! I don’t want to spend today dealing with jerks who can’t even be bothered to properly check that a woman is being kidnapped or not.” My body tenses because that’s exactly what’s happening.
This guy wants to make sure I’m not stealing Hayden.
He’s protecting her, just as I am, just as I wasn’t able to do when she was a kid.
“Ma’am, can you confirm the identity of your superior and the name of his companion?”
Izzie lists off our ID numbers and begins chewing the guy out. Meanwhile, we’ve drawn a little bit of attention, which I don’t like. The entire point of living on the Hidden Planet is to be, well, hidden.
I don’t particularly want people looking at me or taking notice of me. Fortunately, Izzie has two things going for her that I don’t. First of all, she’s blue. She’s got dark blue skin and dark blue hair and on the sapphire planet, those things matter. Secondly, she’s a woman, and she’s not afraid to use her gender as a way to get what she wants. While my methods of persuading the security guy might be reasonable enough, Izzie goes full mother-hen on the guy and guilts him for even considering that I might be a threat.
Finally, he turns and tells me I’m free to go.
“And tell the fucker listening in not to bother Mr. Oleandair again,” Izzie is saying. “You, sir, are a walking lawsuit waiting to happen.” Security Guy looks more and more overwhelmed before finally just ending the call between Izzie and himself.
“You should go,” he says to me, looking around. Apparently, the gathered crowd was actually listening to the things Izzie was saying and now, instead of looking at me like I’m a complete dick, they’re looking at me like I’m some sort of hero for taking care of Hayden.
That feeling is much better.
I take Hayden outside and gently lower her into my hovercar. When I climb in, I don’t bother trying to drive back to her place. Instead, I tell my car the address and sit back while it navigates the roads of Diamond back to Hayden’s home. I stare out the window while the car moves because I don’t want to stare at Hayden.
Looking at her now will only make me want her more.
Tonight we talked more about her kidnapping than we ever have before, and I got to see a side of Hayden I rarely see. I got to see her vulnerable. I got to see her open. Hayden wraps herself in a protective shell and keeps people out, but tonight, she let me in, if only just a little.
It’s not long before we’re at her house, and the car parks itself in front of her home. I get out of the hovercar, carefully lift Hayden from the vehicle, and head to the front of her tiny home. Modeled after Earth homes, her house is one of the quaintest on Sapphira.
Most of the houses here are large and overpowering. They’re all at least five or six stories tall and almost always completely blue or purple. Each floor might only have one or two rooms, but in Sapphira, height is the big draw when it comes to real estate.
Hayden’s though, is small. It’s also painted a soft shade of yellow, which makes it look delicate.
Like her.
She always swears she’s overweight, but Hayden is actually light as a feather as I bring her up to the front of the house. I press a button next to the door.
“Identify yourself,” a voice says.
“Gazley Oleandair,” I murmur, hating that Hayden used my full name when she programmed my ability to enter her home. She only did it to mess with me. She knows I hate that name and only use it for legal purposes at work.
“Please step forward for identification scan, Gazley Oleandair.”
I lean forward while the computer scans my face. After a second, I hear the door unlock and it slides open.
“Welcome, Gazley Oleandair.”
“Thank you,” I growl, and step inside. I hit a button and the door slides closed behind me. It locks automatically and since, to my knowledge, Hayden hasn’t given permission to anyone else to enter the house, no one is going to bother her while she’s sleeping.
I carry her through the tidy living room and over to the bedroom. I don’t know why she and her brother both chose Earth homes. There was a big craze a few years ago where developers modeled new Sapphiran homes to look like those from other planets. Both Hayden and Ezra love these things.
Me?
I’m happy to blend.
My own house has six floors. It’s tall and big and close to work, but there’s something special about Hayden’s house that mine is missing.
Comfort.
There are two couches in the living room and they’re both covered in throw pillows and blankets. The walls are decorated with pictures she’s painted or photos of Hayden with her friends. There are flowers and plants everywhere.
But there are no carpets.
Nope, Hayden doesn’t have carpets in her house.
When Quinn asked her why, she told him to fuck off, but her eyes caught mine, and I realized why.
It’s because she knows I’m Orchidian.
She knows I stuff my feet into shoes all day not because I have to, but to hide my identity, and she knows the pleasure that comes from an Orchidian being able to glide across the floor. We weren’t meant to wear shoes. When we’re barefoot, we don’t even lift our feet because we’re able to glide so effortlessly. It wasn’t until I moved to Sapphira that I began covering my feet, began hiding this part of myself.
Hayden lets me off the hook, though. She makes it easy for me to feel comfortable in her home because that’s the type of person she is. She’s kind. She’s gentle. She looks after the people around her.
And now, tonight, I get to take care of her.
When I get to her bedroom, I place her gently on her bed. She’s got a top-of-the-line hoverbed that naturally adjusts to the appropriate temperature. If your body is warm, it will cool down. If you’re cold, the bed warms. The bed was a gift for her last birthday, and she thanks me almost every time she sees me.
Spoiling Hayden, when she’ll let me, is one of my favorite things to do.
As soon as she’s curled up on her bed, I leave the room and go sit on one of the couches. I’m guessing I have about half an hour before she wakes up from her little nap. It’ll be supper time by the time she gets up, so I yank off my shoes and run my feet over the cold tiles of her floor. Then I pick up my communications unit and order two meals to be delivered at seven.
Once I’m satisfied that everything is taken care of, I close my eyes, too.
Just for a little while…