He was startled from his thoughts when Michelle came up with a bowl in hand, which she set in front of him. A slightly saccharine fragrance wafted from the bowl. Inside was an orange soupy liquid, steam lightly wafting along the top like fog. It looked like there were bits of bread inside as well.
“What is this?” he asked.
“It’s a dish from Angelisia,” Michelle said. “I had to substitute the ingredients with the human equivalent, but it tastes about the same. Please tell me what you think.”
Alex took the spoon and dipped it into the soup. It was thick. He hadn’t realized it at first, but the soup was less of a soup and more like gelatin, or maybe half soup and half gelatin. As he stuck the spoon in his mouth, Alex, unsure of what to expect, was surprised by the sudden burst of flavor.
“It’s very rich,” he commented, taking another sip. “It’s sweet, but the sweetness isn’t oversaturating the flavor. It tastes like tangerines and… almonds?”
“I used more than just almonds and tangerines.” Michelle’s ears wiggled as she explained the dish to him. “On Angelisia, this dish is made by combining three different fruits and using a unique native plant as a thickening agent. For this, I used tangerines to give it that tangy taste, then added bananas and blueberries to make it sweeter. Then I added starch and milk to thicken it, and crushed almonds and walnuts to add texture. I also fried bread chunks in cinnamon and oil and added them into the dish. What do you think?”
“It’s pretty good.” Alex ate some more of the soup… stuff. He wasn’t sure if he should actually call it soup. “I’m not sure I would have used starch to make this thicker. I think gelatin might have worked better, but I don’t think we have any of that right now.”
“You don’t,” Michelle said. “I checked your cabinet to see if you had any.”
“I thought so. Still, this is pretty good. The flavor is unlike anything I’ve ever tried before. I’m not sure how to describe it, but I do like it.”
The relieved smile that Michelle wore as he told her this made the slight tension in his shoulders ease.
“I’m glad to hear that,” she said.
Nyx and Alice came in as Alex continued to eat. While Alice sat down on the other side of the table, Nyx sat on his immediate right. Michelle gave them both a bowl of her soup-thing. Alice looked at it like she was staring at a foreign entity, but Nyx dug right in. Alice looked at him, then Nyx, and then went back to the bowl. She took a tentative sip. There was a slight pause as her eyes widened, and then she began eating with more enthusiasm.
For some reason, Alex felt just a little jealous. Alice rarely ate with that much excitement unless he made curry.
Ariel came in next, greeting them all with a standard “hello” before sitting down on his right. She didn’t say anything. She just sat down and started eating.
Then Gabrielle came in.
“Good morning!” she greeted everyone cheerfully as she stepped into the kitchen.
“Morning, Big Sis.”
“Good morning, Honorable Sister.”
“Troublesome.”
Ariel, Michelle, and Alice greeted Gabrielle, but Alex couldn’t, even though he wanted to. His voice had become stuck in his throat as he watched her sweep into the room. She was wearing yellow pajama bottoms and a long-sleeved button up shirt. Her silver hair fell freely about her face. She looked the same as always. Beautiful. Lovely. Bright.
Alex couldn’t talk. It wasn’t because of her beauty, but because today she would be going on a date with Prince Arthur.
As Gabrielle sat at the table, far from him, he noticed, Michelle came up and put a bowl in front of her.
“Today’s the big day, right?” asked Michelle.
“Big day?” Gabrielle just looked confused.
“Your date with Prince Arthur.”
“Oh… oh!” Gabrielle stole a glance at him, but she quickly looked away and nodded. “That’s right. Today’s my… date with Arty. Yep. I’m sure it’ll be… fun.”
“Do you have your outfit all ready?”
“Of course. I bought a dress the other day with Selene and Ryoko.”
“I bet you’re excited, huh?”
“Erm… yeah…”
Alex felt awkward sitting there, listening to this conversation. He wanted to say something. He wanted to interrupt them, to tell them that Gabrielle shouldn’t go on this date with Prince Arthur, that she should call the whole thing off.
But he didn’t.
It was not his place to say anything. He was just her shield. That was all Alex could be. He protected her from unwanted marriage candidates, but he couldn’t stop her if she found someone she liked.
“I really do love you.”
That’s a lie. It has to be. If it’s not, then I…
Alex shook his head, stood up, and grabbed his bowl. Gabrielle, Michelle, and even Ariel looked at him, their heads turning with a glacial slowness as though expecting something from him.
He gave Gabrielle a smile. “I hope you have fun on your date. Anyway, I have some errands to run, so I’m going to head out.”
Before anyone else could speak up, Alex put his bowl in the washer and left the kitchen. He didn’t want to be around people anymore.
1
Gabrielle bit her lip as Alex rushed out of the kitchen. Her chest felt tight, like something was constricting her heart. It hurt. Was this how everything was supposed to happen? The whole plan was that she and Michelle would talk about her date with Arty today, Alex would overhear it, get jealous, and tell her that he didn’t want her going on a date with Arty because he loved her. That was the scenario Michelle had planned out.
“Michelle, I don’t think this is working,” Gabrielle said.
“What are you talking about? That worked perfectly,” Michelle countered.
“Really? It didn’t seem that way to me.”
Twirling a strand of hair between her fingers, Michelle smiled. “That’s because you’re too impatient. Alex was clearly bothered by what we were talking about. He doesn’t like the idea of you going on a date with Prince Arthur, which is why he left the room. It’s only a matter of time before the frustration from all this becomes too much for him. Just watch, by the end of today, I promise he’ll be so bothered by your upcoming date that he’ll tell you he wants you to forget the prince and go out with him.”
“Do you really think that will work?” asked Ariel as Nyx and Alice continued eating. It didn’t look like either of them were paying attention to what had just happened.
“Of course it will,” Michelle said with the utmost confidence.
Gabrielle looked back at the door that Alex had left through. She didn’t like all this dancing around. All she wanted to do was go up to Alex, hug him, and tell him that she loved him. Pretending to like someone else so he would confess to her was such a hassle, and it made her chest ache. She didn’t like it.
Why did love have to be so difficult?
2
Saturdays for Alex often involved stocking up on groceries, which was what he decided to do after breakfast. He needed to get it done early anyway since he was meeting Kazekiri later that day. Alex really needed someone to talk to.
I feel bad for unloading on Kazekiri and asking for help, but I don’t know who else to turn to. Everyone living with me is going to have a biased opinion. Well, maybe Nyx won’t, but she’s an assassin, so I doubt she’ll have any good advice to offer in matters of love.
Gabrielle usually went shopping with him. She didn’t this time. Alex assumed she was getting ready for her date. He’d read a holonet article that said girls took hours to get ready for dates—not that he would know, having never been on a date himself.
That didn’t mean Alex was alone, though, since Nyx had decided to join him. She walked by his side, staring at the items that sat on shelves as they walked down various isles. She didn’t talk. However, Alex had come to expect her to remain silent unless something really interested her, or he spoke to h
er first.
“Do you have any dinner requests?” he asked as he placed several bags of banana chips into his basket. They would be a good snack to add into Alice’s, Ariel’s, Gabrielle’s, and Michelle’s lunch boxes.
Nyx tilted her head. “Dinner requests?”
They moved out of the aisles and into the produce section. Almost a dozen stands were filled with numerous kinds of fruits and vegetables.
“Is there anything specific you would like to eat for dinner?” he clarified as they walked among the produce.
“I do not know.” Nyx followed his hand with her eyes as he tapped a watermelon several times with his knuckles, testing it. This one was no good. He moved on to the next one. “I am not well-versed in human food.”
Hmm… Alex tapped another watermelon several times, listening to the thump-thump sound that it made. This one is good. I’ll slice up some watermelon tomorrow for a snack.
Because they lived in climate-controlled domes, fruits and vegetables didn’t need to rely on seasons here like they did on Earth. The domes that specialized in agriculture were all regulated to create genetically enhanced produce. They lacked the size of Earth, of course, but they made up for that by using advanced terraforming technology to produce fruits and vegetables a lot faster.
“Well, what did you normally eat before coming here?”
“Rations.”
“Rations? Like military rations?”
“Yes.”
Alex frowned as he placed the watermelon in his basket. “That’s no good, Nyx. You shouldn’t eat just rations. Not only are those unhealthy if consumed too much, but they taste awful.”
“That’s what I’ve always eaten before coming here.” Nyx shrugged as if she didn’t care. However, after a moment’s pause, she continued by saying, “That said, the food you make does taste a lot better.”
“Well, I’m glad to hear that.” Alex tossed her a sardonic smile. “Once you become more accustomed to regular food, let me know what you prefer eating. I’ll be sure to make it for you.”
“Okay.”
It took about half an hour to get all the groceries he needed. Once he paid for the groceries, the two of them traveled back home. Alex had bought a number of perishables, including clone-produced beef and ham, which went bad in heat a lot easier than meat from live animals. Alex wasn’t well-versed in biological sciences, so he didn’t know the reason cloned meat soured more quickly. He assumed something important got lost in the cloning process.
Alice wasn’t in the living room when he arrived. She had probably gone to Jasmine’s. He believed she mentioned something about that last night. Nyx went into the living room and turned on the holovid, while Alex wandered into the kitchen and put away the groceries. Since it looked like he still had several hours before he had to meet Kazekiri, Alex went into the living room and watched the holovid with Nyx.
“I had no idea you were into documentaries,” he said as he sat next to Nyx on the couch. A holodocumentary about Marcus Denantien, the man who founded Mars City, was playing. It was supposedly the epic of his life growing up in a ghetto on Earth. Alex remembered learning about him in history class.
“I do not really enjoy documentaries,” Nyx refuted his claim. “However, I wish to learn more about this solar system, so I’m choosing to watch content with educational value.”
“Makes sense. What do you usually watch?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“I usually watch nothing.”
“Oh…”
Nyx really knew how to make things awkward. He didn’t think she was doing it on purpose, but it was just that every time he discovered something new about her, he felt awful because it showed how much better his life had been in comparison. It made Alex feel like he had grown up with a silver spoon in his mouth.
I feel kind of like Jameson right now.
He grimaced. Yuck.
The holodocumentary was not one of the more interesting ones, but then, Alex thought anything that wasn’t related to science or engineering was boring—documentary-wise, at least. In terms of what he liked to watch, his predilection was for holodramas involving cops and stories about heroes going on quests to save the galaxy. He didn’t think Nyx would like those.
“You shouldn’t be ashamed of yourself,” Nyx said suddenly.
“W-what?” Alex asked, startled.
Nyx was no longer watching the documentary. She was staring at him. Her eyes, bright red like the color of fresh blood, pierced him as though seeing beneath his skin straight into his soul.
“You are feeling ashamed of yourself.” Nyx tilted her head. “I do not know why, but I recognize the behavioral patterns you’ve displayed the past few days.”
“I don’t… know what you’re talking about.” Alex looked away.
“If you still feel guilty over touching me, then you should not,” Nyx continued.
“C-can we please stop talking about this?”
“If that is your wish,” Nyx said. “But I would like to say this before I stop: You have nothing to feel guilty over. I already forgave you. It’s time you forgive yourself.”
Alex smiled at her, but the curve of his lips soon left.
While he did still feel guilty over what he had done to Nyx, even if it had been to save her life, it wasn’t like that was the only reason he felt ashamed. True, it was a big reason. Even now the memory made him cringe with self-loathing, but there was another reason he felt this way. He wasn’t being faithful.
He and Gabrielle were not dating, but they were pretending to be engaged. Alex was also positive that he really did love Gabrielle. The problem was that his thoughts for several other girls, namely Jasmine and Selene, caused him to think about—and dream about—them in the same way he did Gabrielle.
It was wrong.
Gabrielle had confessed to him. She had told him her honest, heartfelt feelings, but here he was, looking at other women, thinking about other women, in the same manner that he thought about her. What’s more, Alex got aroused too easily. Nyx had aroused him when he was saving her life. Kazekiri, Jasmine, Selene, Ryoko… all of them gave him these feelings, this intense desire.
He was ashamed of that.
This was the reason he wasn’t stopping Gabrielle from going out with Prince Arthur. He was sure that the prince would prove to be a more loyal husband than him.
Time must have passed more quickly than he realized. Ariel joined him and Nyx at some point, and Gabrielle and Michelle also came down several minutes later.
Gabrielle was wearing a dress.
It was a simple one-piece dress, silver, and with several rhinestones that made certain parts sparkle as the light hit it. There was no back. It was probably so she wouldn’t have to cut out holes for her wings to fit through. Those tended to limit what she could wear, unless she wished to modify all of her clothing.
“What do you two think?” asked Michelle as Gabrielle spun around. “Doesn’t she look lovely?”
“You look beautiful, Princess,” Nyx stated.
“Thanks.” Gabrielle’s smile was not the same one’s she usually gave. It wasn’t the joyous beam that had become her signature look. This one was smaller, more understated.
“Alex?” Michelle said as Gabrielle looked at him. “What about you? Don’t you think Gabrielle looks pretty?”
Of course she looked pretty, but Alex couldn’t say that, not because he didn’t want to, but because he was afraid that saying it now would break his ability to keep silent on her date. He didn’t want her to go on this date. He wanted to tell her that. However, he couldn’t stop her either. She wasn’t his. Even if she said she wanted to be, he couldn’t let her do this when he had so many issues bogging him down. In the end, all Alex could do was nod and look away.
Almost as if knowing when Gabrielle would be finished changing, there was a knock on the door. Seconds later, the door burst open with a loud crack that all of them could hear from the living room. The
n a voice spoke up.
“Princess Gabrielle, I have come to pick you up for our date!”
Prince Arthur strolled into the living room after slamming the door open. His sleeveless crimson doublet wrinkled slightly as he walked, appearing soft to the touch, and the long-sleeved collared shirt he wore was white and featured numerous ruffles. Black paneled pants contrasted with the white shirt. They were tucked into a pair of equally dark boots. Slicked back hair. A single bang falling in front of his face. The crowned prince of Camelot looked like someone who had stepped out of the early 15th century on Earth.
Is the fashion in space that out of date, or is older-looking clothing popular in the galactic community?
Prince Arthur took one look at Gabrielle, and then, in a booming voice that made the house vibrate, he said, “You look splendid, Princess Gabrielle! Truly, you are a beauty unlike any other, a flower which only the most sophisticated of men could admire!”
“Um… thank you,” Gabrielle said, leaning back.
“You see that, Alexander S. Ryker!” Prince Arthur shouted as he pointed a finger at Alex. “Gabrielle thanked me for the compliment! She thanked me!”
“Yes, yes,” Alex said, trying not to let his irritation show on his face. He was already annoyed by this entire situation.
“Well, shall we be off, Gabrielle?” Prince Arthur asked.
Gabrielle did not move from where she was standing. Staring at Prince Arthur with wide eyes for several seconds, she soon shifted her gaze over to Alex. She gave him a look that he couldn’t interpret. It was like she was expecting him to say something, but he had no idea what she wanted him to say.
“That’s not true. Don’t lie to yourself. You know exactly what she wants from you.”
“I have to agree with Asmodeus on this one. You already know what Gabrielle wants, and I think you both want the same thing. Why are you hesitating?”
If the two voices in his head, who constantly bickered with each other like squabbling children, were agreeing on something, then that was probably a sign. However, Alex could not let himself do what he wanted. He couldn’t let Gabrielle, kind and innocent and deserving of love, become tied down to someone who was so filthy, so unfaithful, and so utterly repulsive.
A Most Unlikely Hero, Vol 6 Page 13
