Brida Pact (14 page)

Pausing at the door, he turned back around. “Make either
myself or Wheaton aware if Demascus makes an attempt to approach you. I would
not listen to anything he says if he does come to you. Remember, he is a
cunning politician and can say things that people start to believe if repeated
enough.”

“Don’t worry, Dathrow. That man has been high on my bullshit
meter ever since I met him.” Patting him on the back as he walked out, she said
good night and turned to her silent new quarters. Tonight was going to be tough
by herself. She had grown used to having Wheaton around and this room reminded
her of her first week on Squadron One.

In the bedroom, she found that her larger bags had been
stacked next to the bathroom door. Unpacking her items, she spread out her
stuff the way she’d had it back in the apartment. Only thing missing was
Wheaton, she thought with a sad smile. When her stomach growled she was reminded
of how late it was. Figuring she would be dining alone tonight, Poppy made
herself something to eat and sat down to flip through channels on the view
screen. The ship had basically any and all channels she could ever imagine and
when she logged in it had her most recently watched movies.

“Let’s avoid anything that will make me reach for the
Kleenex.” Talking to herself again, she grimaced. It was going to be a long
night.

Waking up with her face stuck to the leather couch was not
the best start to her morning. Rubbing her eyes, Poppy tried to think of what
had happened after she’d started her movie. She surveyed the room for any signs
that Wheaton had come by after she had fallen asleep. Figuring that he would
have carried her to bed, she guessed he hadn’t been able to come to her new
quarters last night.

Hoping she was early enough to catch him before breakfast,
she went to the door to buzz their old room. Not getting an answer, she decided
he must have already gone to his morning meetings. Seeing the second button
down and remembering what Dathrow had said, she went ahead and pushed it.

“Yes?” Dathrow’s deep voice came through the speaker.

“Dathrow, I couldn’t get hold of Wheaton. Do you know where
he might be?” Poppy asked.

“Poppy, he was called to an early morning meeting with the
Council. Did you need anything? I can send him a message if needed.”

“No, don’t do that. I just woke up and wanted to talk to
him. Have you had breakfast yet?” Poppy figured she might need to find some
company so she didn’t go completely crazy. She hadn’t been around Dathrow too
much and felt like he might actually be a friend she could use while they
waited for this double-bride problem to resolve itself.

“I have not had my morning meal yet. I will be right over,”
he replied in a pleasant voice.

With a beep ending the call, she quickly got ready. Dressed
in her standard yoga pants and long tunic, she slipped her shoes on after
pulling her hair up into a bun. Makeup today would consist of a little mascara
and some lip gloss. The effort of putting on more of a face today seemed too
much of a chore right now.

Poppy raised her eyebrows in surprise when the doorbell
beeped. That was quick. Opening the door, she swept her arm back as if she were
welcoming royalty into her quarters. Dathrow smiled at her and bowed as he
entered.

“Thank you for the invitation, Poppy. I normally eat alone
or go to the cafeteria for meals so I have company. Eating alone is not very
fun.”

“Don’t you worry, Dath. You’ll have a bride soon enough. One
who will drive you just as nuts as I drive Wheaton,” she said while moving
around the kitchen counter. “Do you want the standard eggs and bacon? Wheaton
really likes the pancakes that I have programmed to my band too. Have you ever
tried those?”

“I love eggs and bacon but have not yet tried pancakes. I
would like to though.” Scooting his stool out so he could sit at the small bar
area, he sent her a questioning glance. “Why did you call me ‘Dath’?”

“Oh, sorry…I should have asked you before I shortened your
name. I often give nicknames to people who I become friends with. Valerie
became Val, Pixie is Pix and now Dathrow is Dath. Is that okay?” she asked,
handing him his plate that was now filled with a stack of pancakes.

“You call Wheaton his full name, though. Why is that?” he
asked. Dathrow stared at his plate, obviously trying to figure out how to eat
the flat cakes.

Pouring syrup on her own pancakes and then on his, she
motioned with a knife and fork and showed him how to cut off pieces.

“Well, ‘Wheaton’ can really only be shortened to ‘Wheat’,
and that’s a type of food on my planet. It would sound a little silly,” she
said with a wry grin. “But I have called him ‘sweetie’ and ‘babe’ a couple
times. He reacted funny until I explained it was a term of endearment. He was
insulted when he thought I was calling him an infant.” Giggling at the memory,
she looked down at her food. She didn’t realize how hungry she was until she
started shoveling her food into her mouth as if she were in a competition.

“You mentioned Pixie—that is your sister, correct?” Dath
asked his question nonchalantly although Poppy read more into it.

“Yes, she was with me when we first met. Remember?” Hiding
her smile, she took another bite.

“Is she mated?” he asked, his face slightly red.

“Well…yes and no.”

When Dathrow looked up at her confused, Poppy went on.
“She’s been dating a man for a few years. They aren’t married or engaged.
Personally, I think he’s too boring for Pixie. She is so full of life, ya know?
When she first started seeing him it was all good. He seemed to pay a lot of
attention to her and she was so happy. Then the longer they dated the more I
noticed she seemed to change. It was the little things at first like her
changing her hair or the type of clothes she wore. Believe it or not she had a
collection of yoga pants that rivaled mine. Now she seems… I don’t know. I
guess dull would be the word I would go with. She thinks he’s going to propose
but a part of me is hoping that he doesn’t do it yet.” Poppy made a face. “That
sounded awful, didn’t it? I just want her to be happy and I haven’t really seen
a
happy
Pixie for a while now.”

Poppy sat silent for a moment before gesturing back to the
food they both had seemed to have forgotten. “Eat up before it gets cold. Or
worse, soggy. Soggy pancakes are nothing to joke about.”

Nodding his head and chewing his food, Dathrow made “mmming”
noises while eating half his plate in record time.

“Good huh?” she asked with a smile.

“Wonderful! I could eat this every meal. Can this liquid be
poured over other food items?” he asked while licking syrup off his lips and
studying the bottle.

“Only if your name is Buddy the Elf,” she quipped quickly
and then began laughing at the confused expression on his face.

“That was a joke, Dath.”

“Ahhh.” Still not getting it, he was quiet for a moment
before he asked, “Does Wheaton call you anything special?”

Remembering some of the sweet names he had called her
recently made her heart hurt.

“He has called me his ‘little flower’ before,” she said with
a sad smile.

“Because Poppy is a flower…and you are also little,” he said
in understanding.

“Wheaton asked me when we first met if I was named after a
flower.” Smiling, she went on, “And I wouldn’t be so little if you warriors
weren’t a million feet tall.”

Laughing, he helped her clean their plates and put the syrup
away in the cupboard.

“We are the standard height for most warriors. Wheaton and I
are both under seven feet. Skrammon warriors are actually taller and I have not
seen many under seven feet. Since they are a warrior breed, they use their
height and bulk to their advantage when fighting,” he explained.

“I haven’t had a chance to see many of them on the ship. Are
they around?” Poppy asked.

“We have warriors from each delegation on the ship but a
majority of the Skrammon congregate in the rec area and spar during their free
time. If you have no plans today, I could take you around the ship,” he
suggested as he moved from the kitchen area.

“Ummmm…sure. I’m assuming Wheaton will be in meetings all
day and I can’t keep hiding in here so yeah, let’s do this.” She clapped her
hands together and followed him to the door.

Walking side by side down the corridor, she paused slightly
when they reached the apartment she’d shared with Wheaton. Wondering where
Hannah was if Wheaton was at a meeting made her completely stop in her tracks.

“Dath, if Wheaton got called to a meeting then why didn’t
Hannah answer my call this morning?”

“Hannah accompanied Wheaton to the Council meetings this
morning,” he replied.

“Wait—she went with him to a meeting? The same type of
meeting that I’m not able to even hear about, much less go to? I realize
Demascus gave her permission, but I just can’t believe Wheaton went along with
it.” Apparently her anger was starting to come out in her tone of voice,
because Dathrow turned to face her.

“She has a background in politics, and I assume that Wheaton
would rather have her occupied during the day where he can keep an eye on her.
I do not believe he trusts either Hannah or Demascus.” Frowning at Poppy, he
realized she was really upset.

“So, it was okay for me to sit by myself when I got here? I
wanted to bang my head against a wall from boredom it was so bad. Yet Hannah
gets to follow him around and be a part of his daily life?” Poppy took a moment
from her hissy fit and noticed the frightened look on Dathrow’s face.

It wasn’t fair to take out her anger on the poor guy. She
wasn’t even that angry at Wheaton when she thought about it. It was the entire
fucked-up situation that had her wanting to spit nails. Keeping Hannah under a
watchful eye made sense but she still felt left out. Considering he refused to even
talk to her about his work, it was like a stab to the chest. One day on the
ship and Hannah was able to see how the Council worked. Clenching her jaw, she
tried to smile through her anger at the poor warrior in front of her.

“Sorry, Dath. I’m not mad at you. I’m not even mad at
Wheaton. I just need to talk to him about some things. It isn’t fair for me to
take out my frustration on the messenger,” she admitted.

“I appreciate that, Poppy,” he heaved out on a relieved
sigh.

“Come on and show me this ship. Wheaton gave me the bare
bones tour, then more in-depth tours after a week or so. I watched him spar in
the rec room with Thorne but we never spent much time around any of the common
areas. I would like to meet some other warriors and maybe see if there’s
anything I can do around here. Do you know if anyone needs help with paperwork
or odd jobs?” Glancing over at her new buddy, she went on, “I wouldn’t even
expect to be paid. I’m just bored when Wheaton isn’t around and I can only
watch
Sixteen Candles
so many times before I set fire to something.”

When she mentioned “fire” his eyes got wide. Almost laughing
at his expression, she quickly said, “Well not really, but it’s better not to
let me get bored.” He would need to get used to her joking if he was going to
hang around and keep her company. Looping her arm through his, she bumped his
side as they turned the corner to the common area.

“We can check with the med center and see if the healers
need any help. They are always receiving new supplies, and with the men
sparring daily, they rarely have time to check the stock and catalog them,” he
suggested.

“That would be great. I actually worked in a doctor’s office
on Earth,” she replied with a happy smile.

Deciding to show her the med center first, Dathrow suggested
that they take the lift to another floor of the ship. Poppy realized that every
floor appeared identical, and if he hadn’t been guiding her around, she would
be hopelessly lost. When she had toured with Wheaton, she must have been paying
more attention to his fine ass as he walked than her surroundings. Making sure
to pay attention, she kept her eyes peeled walking with Dathrow.

Pointing out the doors that led to the common area
bathrooms, he explained that there were specific ones designated for the new
brides who would eventually live on the ship. Poppy had a mental image of going
to each floor and slapping a sticky note on the gleaming walls to help her
remember which were the men’s and which were the women’s. Walking into the
men’s room while a warrior was doing his business did not seem like a good way
to learn which was which.

“Dath, is there a reason why nothing is labeled? How do you
know which doors are for the bathrooms and which is for the rec room? Will I
just need to count my way down the corridor and try to remember each time?”

“There are small symbols illuminated on the side of the door
that tell you where we are.” Pointing to the small symbols, he explained which
one was female and which was male. “I know you haven’t had a chance to learn to
read our language yet and the translator only works with the spoken word so
maybe I can go over the most common symbols to help you learn them,” he
replied.

“That would be great. I hate taking up so much of your time.
If I’m keeping you from a job, please don’t feel you need to entertain me,” she
said when they approached the med center.

“I have been assigned as one of your escorts so it is not a
problem, Poppy. I enjoy talking to you. Let’s see if you can get a job here so
you can avoid setting fires.” He smiled as he let her enter the gleaming doors
ahead.

* * *
* *

On the other side of the ship, Wheaton was having an awful morning.
Trying to extricate himself from a clinging Hannah had proven harder than he
had expected. Last night, he’d answered endless questions while she sat staring
at him with wide, adoring eyes. In the past, he would have been flattered by
the attention of a beautiful female. Instead of feeling any type of attraction
to his newly assigned bride, he had instead kept comparing her to Poppy the
entire evening. It had been exhausting to try to keep as much physical distance
between them as possible. She had chosen to sit as closely as possible to him
no matter how far he tried to maneuver away.

He had been relieved when a few key Council members had come
by the apartment to meet his new “bride” later in the evening. The addition of
the Council members in his apartment had seemed to distract Hannah’s efforts to
get close to him. Unfortunately they had stayed so long it had been too late to
visit Poppy when they left.

Hoping to have some reprieve from Hannah’s company today had
proved fruitless as well. The Council had instructed him to bring Hannah with
him today to his meetings. Her constant chatter was making his head ache.
Gritting his teeth, it took everything in him to not yell at her to be quiet.
Shaking his head in frustration while rubbing his temple, he knew one thing. He
missed his Poppy.