by Ashley West
“I learned about cooking,” Draco said, voice a bit flat. “It was...eye opening. And dangerous. The...person I’m staying with here has a tendency to let things get too hot.”
Stephanie laughed at the mental image. “I had a roommate like that in college. Where are you from, actually?” she asked. “I don’t think you ever mentioned it. You know. When we talked that one time…” And honestly, could she be any more embarrassing?
“I didn’t,” Draco said. “It’s a place to the north. I doubt you’ve ever heard of it. No one has, really.”
“Small town?”
“Sort of, yes.” He stopped talking abruptly and then smiled. “I’ve lived there all my life, but I like to travel and see things. It makes coming back home even more special.”
She smiled at that. “I wouldn’t know. I didn’t really go very far from home. I grew up about an hour away from here, and I go back all the time to see my parents. I guess I never really got the urge to leave, even though I’d love to see things.”
“You should,” Draco replied, smiling back. “There’s a lot to see out there. And someone with your passion would love all the world has to offer.”
For a moment she was speechless, not really sure what to say to that. One of the reasons why she wanted to travel was to learn as much as she could and see things, and his words had resonated with her deeply. “Do you really think so?” she asked, voice soft.
Draco nodded. “I do. You remind me a lot of my best friend. He’s...in a position of power back home, so he can’t travel as much as he’d like, but I bring him things back from my travels and he hoards them and studies them and they make him happy.”
“It’s nice of you to bring him things,” Steph said.
“He’s been by my side since we were little kids,” Draco told her. “It’s the least I can do since he doesn’t have as much freedom as I do.”
Stephanie couldn’t help it. Every word he said was just making her want him more, and she bit her lip, fidgeting a little in place. It was right there on the tip of her tongue to say something stupid like would you like to get dinner with me sometime, but she kept it back, not sure if the fond smiles he was giving her were just his way of being polite.
Instead, she found something else to talk about. “So, I got to see the blade again the other day,” she said.
That instantly brought his focus back. “Did you find out anything new about it?”
“Just more dead ends, really,” she said. “I was talking to Nate, he’s one of the people in charge of doing research on it, and he was saying that they’re so stumped they’re joking that it might be something from another planet.”
Instead of laughing like she’d assumed he would, Draco looked thoughtful. “Is that so unbelievable? Logically, if it’s not something you can identify from your world then it has to be from somewhere else, right?”
“I...suppose so,” Stephanie said, chewing on her lip. “I just. Can we be sure there’s even anything out there to have made something like that?”
The smile on his face was indulgent. “Well, you almost certainly can’t be sure there’s not.”
“Point,” she admitted. “I’m not sure how we’d go about displaying something that came from another planet. How would we even be able to tell what planet it was from or who made it? Our knowledge is seriously lacking there.” Stephanie honestly couldn’t tell if she was kidding or not anymore. The thought of there being life on other planets and whole history to go with it was such a big thing to think about, but she knew that the second it was proven she’d want to learn everything she could about them.
Draco was watching her with a speculative look in his eyes, and she wondered what he saw when he looked at her. “I think you’d like it on other planets,” he said finally. “Assuming there’s life out there.”
And really, that was the last straw for her. She had to at least ask. If he said no, then she’d nurse her wounds and wait for him to go back to wherever it was he came from. And if he said yes, then…
Well, she’d deal with it.
“Would you like to get dinner sometime?” she asked him. “I mean. I know that we don’t know each other well at all, but I’ve really been enjoying talking to you, and I just. I think it would be nice. If you’re interested.”
He looked taken aback, but then he smiled. “Sure. I’d like that. You can show me what good food is like here.”
Stephanie felt so light with relief that she thought she might float.
Chapter 5: The Catch
It really was amazing to Draco that somehow he’d come to Earth to look for one specific thing and wound up with a date. That was another thing he could check off the list of things that had never happened to him before when he was looking for an Artifact. This was turning into the strangest trip he’d had to date, and that included the one where he’d ended up on a planet that was ninety percent water and inhabited by monsters with more tentacles than any living thing could possible need.
Presea had laughed herself silly when he’d told her (working up to telling Plintos), showing her sharp teeth and throwing her head back.
Draco still wasn’t sure what to make of her, but she hadn’t done anything to lead him to believe that she meant him harm, so he was treating her like a friend for the moment. After all, being on Earth was lonely since all of his friends were so far away, and he didn’t have to pretend to be human with Presea.
Still, when she was done laughing, he asked her for advice. She’d been living here for years, and he thought he could benefit from her help.
“Let her take the lead,” Presea had said. “She knows what she likes probably and you can just say you’re a tourist and don’t know anything about the area and she won’t suspect a thing. Also,” and she hesitated for a second. “Don’t lead her on. If you’re just using her to get close to the blade, then don’t give her false hope. That’s a really crappy thing to do to someone.”
Draco had nodded and taken that to heart. The last thing he wanted was to hurt her, even if he was technically planning on using her. She was just a nice and bright young woman, even for a human, and he didn’t want her to be caught in the middle of his need to get the blade and get back home.
They’d made plans to go out that weekend, after her shift on Friday, so there was plenty of time for him to get himself together.
Plintos managed to wait until Wednesday before calling again, and Draco answered him with good humor, pleased that he looked like he was at least getting more sleep when he saw his face on the comm screen.
“Hello, Draco,” he said. “How are you? How’s Earth? Do you see how I’m asking questions about you before I get to the inevitable point of this call?”
Draco laughed, leaning back on his bed. “Yes, very good, Plintos,” he said. “I’m fine, thanks for asking. Earth...continues to be baffling. I think I have a date, and no, I haven’t gotten or seen the blade yet.”
“What is taking them so long?” Plintos complained.
“Well, they don’t know what it’s made out of. In fact, Stephanie was telling me today that they were joking around about the idea that it might be from another planet.”
“Finally caught on, have they? Humans are rather slow on the uptake.”
Draco shrugged at that. “You have to give them the benefit of the doubt. They are much further behind when it comes to knowing that there are other things out there besides them.”
“I suppose that’s true.” Plintos sighed. He opened his mouth and then closed it again, face screwing up in an expression of confusion. “Did you just say you think you have a date?” he asked.
“I was wondering how long it was going to take you to pick up on that. Yeah, that’s what I said.”
“Is it with this Stephanie person?”
“How did you know?”
“Because you’ve mentioned her by name every time we’ve talked, and your face does that smile thing when you do.”
He made a face. “I don’t know what you me
an. Anyway, it’s not important, really. She’s probably going to be my best bet for getting the blade, so it makes sense to keep her close, doesn’t it? If I can get her to trust me, then she might let me see it, and then I can grab it and go.”
Plintos looked skeptical, but as the plan was going to get him closer to what he wanted, there wasn’t much he could say in argument. “Just be careful,” was all he said, which Draco took offense to because he was always careful.
When he ended the call, it was with the distinct feeling that there was something Plintos wasn’t telling him, but he had that feeling a lot and figured it was mostly because one of them was a king and one wasn’t. It was impossible for them to be as close as they had been and share everything, and he was just going to have to make his peace with that.
In the mean time, he needed to see if Presea had anything he could wear for this date.
When Friday rolled around, Draco found himself nervous. It was ridiculous since going out to dinner with one human woman shouldn’t have been such a big thing, but he didn’t have much experience in this matter.
He’d kissed females before and done many other things with them as well, but the way humans did dates was different from what he was used to, and it was imperative that he didn’t seem too...well, alien.
They were meeting at the museum, which was a neutral place, and Stephanie had offered to drive when he’d told her that he didn’t have a car, neatly avoiding the whole thing about not knowing how to drive, and he got the distinct impression that she found his strangeness charming. That boded well.
For...being able to get close to her to get what he wanted and not for any other reason. Of course. Because it wasn’t like he wanted her to like him, and it wasn’t like he was considering this a real date.
That would just be silly.
He walked to the museum that evening, grateful that some of the heat had broken with a late afternoon thunderstorm that had rolled away into nothing almost as soon as it came. The pavement was still wet from it since the sun was setting, and he sidestepped puddles neatly until he reached the front of the museum.
And there she was. She was standing in front of her car, hands twisting somewhat nervously in front of her while she stood there, glancing nervously up and down the street every few seconds.
Draco knew he wasn’t late, so it was probably just anticipation, which he found sort of cute. When she spotted him, her face broke out into that bright smile, and Draco sighed, admitting to himself just this once that it was going to be hard to keep his mind on the mission when she was so appealing.
“Hello,” he said when he drew level with her, smiling and letting his eyes rake over her. She was wearing a lovely blue dress that flattered her figure and drew attention to the bit of cleavage he could see peeking out above her neckline. Her hair was loose, falling to her shoulders in slight waves, and she blushed lightly under his gaze, pushing her glasses up and grinning at him.
“You look great,” she said.
“As do you. Really quite lovely.”
She blushed darker and then motioned him towards the car.
His first car ride wasn’t anything to brag about. Stephanie was a cautious driver, and for someone who was used to hurtling through space, the speed limit was slow at best. He kept his eyes focused on the road, though, asking Stephanie questions about the blade and what she thought the time line for it being put out would be, just so he could say that he was keeping his mind on the important stuff.
That quickly faded, though, as he listened to her talk and they moved from topic to topic. She asked often about him and the places he’d been, and he did he best to answer her without giving too much away, describing the places and letting her fill in the blanks he left with whatever she wanted. There were probably places on Earth that she was picturing as he described wet places and arid places and places older than anything else he’d seen.
The wonder in her voice as she asked him to elaborate on some point or another was nice, though. Plintos liked to hear about his travels, but for the king the important bits were what he brought back. It was nice to meet someone who cared about the journeys themselves.
Before he knew it they were seated in a nice restaurant and a man was placing menus in front of them.
“What’s good here?” Draco asked, looking down at his and trying not to let his confusion show. He glanced around them, taking in the other diners and the light fixtures that gave the place its soft glow.
“Everything,” Steph replied. “It’s Mediterranean and as far as I’m concerned, they can do no wrong.” She smiled at him. “But the lamb is my favorite.”
He nodded and decided to take her word for it. “Why don’t you order for both of us,” Draco said in what he hoped was a neutral tone. “Since you know what’s good.”
She beamed at him and proceeded to have a lively discussion with the waiter about what the specials were that night, which culminated in her ordering what sounded like enough food to feed a small family.
Draco was glad that Presea had given him money for this and informed him that it was the polite thing for the man to offer to pay for the meal. That, at least, wasn’t different from home, though many of the females of any clan would take offense if you refused to pay for their half.
“So,” Stephanie said once the waiter had gone, taking a sip of her water. “I’ve got to ask. Why are you so interested in the blade?”
If he were going to tell her the truth, this would be a good time to do it, he knew. To explain about Plintos and how much his best friend wanted to have all of the Cillidan Artifacts. That could lead to a conversation about what the Artifacts were, which he knew that she would be interested in. But this seemed like neither the time nor the place to drop that particular bomb on her, and since he didn’t plan to see her again once he got what he came here for in the first place, it was irrelevant.
But she was sitting opposite him with her big, earnest eyes, and Draco found that he had to say something.
“My friend,” he blurted. “The one I told you about? He’s really interested in it. He loves all these old things like this, and when he saw the blade on the television, he wanted to get a good look at it. But, of course, he doesn’t have the time to come and look for himself, so he sent me. I was hoping to get pictures for him. And I was interested to see it for myself.”
A lie, of course, but fundamentally close enough to the truth.
“Oh,” Stephanie said. “That’s really nice of you. You know...if it’s not on display by the time you have to leave, I can probably get pictures for you. I know it’s not the same as you being able to see it yourself, but. It’s something, right?”
It was something, and Draco was touched. He smiled at her and couldn’t resist grabbing her hand where it rested on the tablecloth and raising it to his lips to kiss the back of it. “You’re a very kind person,” he said.
She blushed darkly. “Oh, I...I mean, no. I’m not really, I just. I want you to have something to take back, I guess. And then you’ll remember me.”
Draco didn’t tell her that there was no way he’d be able to forget her at this point, but it was true all the same.
The food was delicious, and Draco had second helpings of everything he tried, eating spiced meat on skewers and things wrapped in pita as well as sweet, sticky honey cake at the end. He was full to bursting when the check came, and he made Stephanie blush again by insisting that he would take care of it.
They walked back to the car together in silence, but it was comfortable, and Draco noted how relaxed he was.
He also noted that he didn’t want the evening to end. It wasn’t just that it had been a long time and he was wanting for company. No, it was her. She was just so warm and welcoming that even though he was a long, long way from home, he felt at peace and wanted to spend more time in her company.
He was trying to think of some way to phrase that so he wouldn’t sound like a creep, when she looked up at him. “I could take you back
to your friend’s place,” she said softly. “Or...we could go to mine.”
The invitation was clear, and Draco found the way she was twisting her hands nervously and chewing on her lip endearing. Quite without thinking about it, he leaned down, cupping her face in one hand before brushing his lips over hers. He could feel her soft gasp against his mouth, and then her arms were going around him and she was pressing up to kiss him back.
This was different from kissing others back at home. For one thing, he was sure that she didn’t have any sharp teeth or a forked tongue. For another, she didn’t try to turn the kiss into a battle for dominance (not that Draco had a problem with that), and it was sort of...very nice to have an armful of a soft, pretty girl, who seemed to be surrendering to his touch.
When they broke apart to breathe, Steph looked slightly dazed, and she gave him a crooked smile. “So. My place?”
“Yes,” Draco replied, pulling back reluctantly so they could get in the car.
It wasn’t a long drive to her apartment, and Draco took in her space as she let him in, smiling because it definitely seemed like the sort of place she would live. For one thing, there were books everywhere. Shelves were stuffed to bursting with thick books and the tops of them were lined with sparkly stones and other trinkets. It looked like the home of a collector and a lover of knowledge, and Draco wished he had time to explore more and see what else he might learn about her from her home.
At the moment, though, he had other plans. Namely pushing her up against the closed front door and kissing her until she couldn’t breathe.
Stephanie seemed more than alright with that plan if the way she had her arms wrapped around his neck was anything to go by. She kissed him back with just as much want and passion as she seemed to do everything else, moaning softly when he bit at her lower lip and then returning the favor, which got a smile out of him.
“I want you,” he breathed against her mouth, gratified to see her eyes flare with heat and then darken. Draco had to wonder how many other men had said that to her and if her reaction to them was the same as this.
