by Nathan Jones
The latter won out and he settled onto the grass beside her, chuckling ruefully. “Too much?”
“Oh Tych, you're absolutely delightful.” Callista patted his arm fondly and lay flat for a few more seconds, catching her breath. Then she scrambled to her feet, frowning slightly as she finally noticed the excrement she'd narrowly avoided. Shaking her head, she grabbed his hand to pull him up, too. “Come on, let's take Lady on her walk and tour your gardens. I'm perfectly enchanted by some of these flowers.”
* * * * *
After a few hours of roaming the grounds of his estate with Lady they finally took the dog back to her yard. There Callista paused for a while, looking at the image of herself with an odd half smile on her face, before finally accepting Tycho's arm as he led her to the ground car.
Back at his manor they ate flaky fish on a bed of lettuce in his sunroom, which to his eyes seemed boring and spare after seeing Callista's. He resolved to do something more with it as soon as he could think of what.
After the meal the silvery-haired woman ambled over to the nearby couch and flopped down on it, staring up at the late afternoon sky. Tycho flushed slightly as he looked at her lying there, remembering the night he'd spent with Eva in that same spot not so very long ago. He tried to push from his mind thoughts of a repeat performance with Callista.
Which became harder when the woman invitingly patted the space on the couch beside her. “Best to let the food digest before we go on any more adventures,” she suggested.
Tycho hesitantly lay down beside her, at which point she promptly snuggled against him and rested her head on his shoulder. With a thrill of nervous anticipation he put his arm around her, wondering if things were about to progress further and whether their relationship was ready for that step.
But Callista seemed content to simply lay there with him, breath soft and even against his neck. Tycho held her as if she were made of glass and stared up at the sky, feeling content in a way he never had before when holding Eva this same way.
After a few minutes he looked down and realized she'd fallen asleep, and felt an odd sense of pride that she felt so comfortable with him that she could manage that.
Since it was hours until bedtime he didn't feel particularly tired himself. He lay for a while just enjoying being there with her, but eventually he started to get fidgety and decided he should leave her to rest before he accidentally woke her up.
Unfortunately Tycho didn't have any experience with disentangling himself from a woman without disturbing her, since that had never really been necessary with Eva, and he jostled Callista a bit too much as he slipped off the couch. Her eyes slowly opened, soft and sleepy, and she smiled at him.
“Sorry for disturbing you,” he whispered.
“Didn't mean to doze off,” she murmured back. “Long day preparing for the debate. Especially since I've technically been up all night.” She stretched, in her sleepy state not trying to be alluring and somehow the movement being even more appealing for that. “We'll need to do something about the fact that our sleeping schedules are pretty much opposite.”
Tycho smiled wryly. “You can sleep here, or Eva has a bed prepared for you.”
“No option for your bed?” she teased. When he hesitated she sobered, pushing to her feet with a weary groan. “Care to escort me to my ship, Mister Boralene?”
“Of course,” he replied, oddly disappointed by her decision to leave. He offered her his arm and guided her out the sunroom's door and around his estate to the landing pad. There, emboldened by his last visit with her, he leaned down and gently pressed his lips to hers.
Callista melted against him, arms wrapping around his waist, and for what felt like an eternity they simply savored the moment. Then she reluctantly stepped back, looking at him with some odd emotion in her smoky eyes.
“I want to take it slow, too,” she said quietly, surprising him. “I'm not sure what we have yet, but if it's something special I don't want to cheapen it with the same meaningless flings I've had so many times before.”
Tycho nodded and took her hand, kissing her fingers. “Good night, Callista.”
* * * * *
“I'm glad you accepted my invitation,” Zeres said, eyes on his cards as he shifted them around in his hands. “I was reading through the first written guide for Crani in the allnet's archives, and it mentioned that the game is as much about reading your opponent and anticipating their plays as it is playing well yourself.”
“I imagine companions aren't very easy to read, even if they're trying to mimic the right emotions,” Tycho replied dryly. He had no idea how his hand was even supposed to be ordered so he just left the cards as they were.
It had been a few days since his last visit with Callista. Apparently part of her idea of taking things slow was spacing out the times they saw each other, which hadn't exactly been what he'd intended.
But at least he wasn't left with nothing to do; in one of the silvery-haired woman's debates on the nature of humanity and social interaction she'd mentioned offhand her social visits with him in real life, off the allnet, and that had aroused a surprising amount of interest. In the time since several people had contacted him with invites to their estates or offers to visit his.
Even with Callista's endorsement this was a surprising development, but not one he was complaining about. Thankfully none wanted to get together for activities like Hollan's boxing, which was a relief. In fact, most were more interested in things like what he was doing now with Zeres Flittige. More cerebral pursuits.
Although there were more than a few people from the hub where he'd met Callista and ones like it who seemed interested in getting together for an amorous rendezvous. Tycho had turned all those down since they would complicate things with the silvery-haired woman, but a few had taken the rejection well and asked to meet for social visits instead.
He'd been hesitant to accept, worried they might try to push the visit in a more intimate direction anyway, but given how well this visit with Zeres was going he was rethinking giving them a chance.
All in all, though, his schedule was suddenly looking very busy. Callista had even face-to-faced him a few hours ago to tease him about all the social visits and travels to other planets that were showing up on his profile.
She'd also pushed up their next visit to tomorrow instead of the day after. Tycho wasn't sure whether that was a good sign or not, but he was happy for the chance to see her sooner.
Across the table Zeres nodded in admiration for the fact that Tycho hadn't arranged his cards, as if the man thought he was executing some brilliant strategy. He was a studious sort, tall and pale and with sticks for limbs, as if he tried to avoid physical activity.
His estate and manor reflected that, the grounds almost completely undeveloped, nothing but wide open lawns, and his manor sparsely decorated aside from a few rooms Tycho had passed that were optimized for allnet full immersion. Including at least three sensory deprivation vats that he'd seen on the way to this small, cramped parlor where they were playing their game.
Also smoky; the man was clutching a primitive stimulant, in the form of a fat, tightly rolled tube of combustible herbs, as he played. Tycho absolutely loathed the smell and was certain Eva was going to have to detox his lungs or something of the sort, but he was a guest so he didn't complain.
Although he'd refused when Zeres offered him one of the rolled tubes of his own.
Finally satisfied with the ordering of his hand, the sticklike man tossed a card between them and took a puff on his tube, speaking through the exhalation. “You're not wrong about companions being inconvenient to read . . . mine are sadly lacking when it comes to Crani. Either no emotion at all or they make them so laughably obvious for my sake that they might as well not even try. It also doesn't help that I know they can calculate probabilities and likely win every hand with ease if they wanted to, so if they don't they're just letting me win.”
The man waited expectantly for Tycho to play his own ca
rd. After a bit of furious thinking, and hoping he remembered the rules correctly, he cautiously set one down. “What about on the allnet?” he asked.
Zeres smiled wryly. “A bit better. I can see and hear human opponents on there, at least, and that lets me pick up a lot of their tells.” He waved towards Tycho. “But I just wanted to see what it would be like to have an opponent in the same room. Put all the senses into play, get a better feel for you in general.”
Tycho wasn't sure this was his thing if smelling and even tasting the stink of exhaled smoke was putting the senses in play. But his host was proving to be excellent company, at least.
They played another round, and even with his total inexperience with Crani Tycho realized he was already on his way to losing badly. “So you were considering meeting with humans in person before you saw my query?”
Zeres snorted. “Not in the slightest. I was actually in the process of creating my own Crani hub, implementing all five senses for the experience. No one had ever done the game in full immersion before and I figured that would vastly improve the experience.”
“Then I came along and offered you an alternative.”
“Not exactly.” The other man tossed down his next card and took another drag on his stimulant tube. “This is more like research for my hub so I can achieve perfect realism. I'm not sure how much I'd really want to turn my estate into a revolving door of strangers coming and going to play a few rounds of a game, even if it happens to be my favorite.”
Tycho spent an embarrassingly long time considering if he had any cards that would get him out of his current predicament, then finally went with what he felt was his best option. “Well I'm glad I got a chance to meet you in person. I'm enjoying this.”
“So am I. You seem like a very pleasant person, and I've enjoyed trying something new.” Zeres idly flipped a card down. “Even if you're complete garbage at Crani. Round goes to me.”
Tycho confirmed the call with a wry shake of his head. “Well played.”
A few hours and several dozen rounds of Crani later Tycho gave his host a final wave goodbye and unsteadily ascended the ramp to his ship. Zeres's companion had been providing them with various snacks that were convenient for eating and likely not terribly healthy the entire time, as well as more than one pitcher of a fermented grain beverage that tasted almost too awful to drink, at least until he'd had a few cups and a warm buzz settled over his mind.
Which hadn't improved his Crani skills any, unfortunately.
In any case Tycho felt stuffed, even overstuffed, as he closed the ramp and turned to Eva. “I'm crammed full of various toxins. While you're decontaminating me go ahead and take care of those, too.”
His companion looked amused as she began scanning him. “Even the alcohol? You're not in the hangover phase yet.”
Tycho wobbled and grimaced, stomach suddenly queasy. “Especially the alcohol. That foul swamp muck his companion kept filling my glass with is doing terrible things to my system.”
Eva laughed lightly and took his arm, gently pulling him towards his stateroom. “Maybe you should lie down while I work.”
He grinned at her back, playfully catching her by the hips and pulling her to him. “We do always have fun that way,” he said as he kissed her neck, “but finish decontaminating and detoxing me first.”
* * * * *
As it turned out, Tycho's extensive practice with improving his balance in tumbling didn't translate well to strapping a slippery board to his feet and sliding down a mountain slope of deep powdery snow on Rykos 5.
He wasn't sure which irked him more, the fact that he kept falling on his face as the board slipped out from under him or the fact that Callista kept shrieking laughter whenever it happened, usually while gracefully slicing through the snow around him as if she'd born sliding on snow like that.
It was a bearable annoyance, though, because in spite of his frustration with learning this new sport he was having a great time with the silvery-haired woman. And he had to admit the view of the snow-clad mountains around him was breathtaking.
As was his host, clad for the snowboarding trip in cozy winter clothes that hugged her lithe curves the way Callista herself hugged the slopes as she sliced her way down them.
Tycho was fairly satisfied with his improvement on the board, actually able to stay on it for minutes at a time without falling and even able to maneuver a little, by the time they finally called it a day. They returned to Callista's estate for hot drinks served in the warm sunshine of her hilltop picnicking area, and he had to admit the heat felt glorious after the frigid air that had nipped his cheeks and nose and made his eyes water.
“So, four visits with other humans now,” Callista murmured, cautiously sipping at her still scalding drink. “I think that's some sort of record.”
“I almost wonder if it would be sad if it was,” Tycho mused. He'd set his own drink aside while waiting for it to cool, and now settled back on the sun chair with his arms behind his head, staring up at the blue sky.
Along with Callista, Hollan, and Zerin, just today a few hours before meeting Callista he'd met with another woman named Gellie who wanted to take him on a horseback ride across her estate.
That had also been an interesting experience, and he had to admit that aside from dogs he might have a new favorite animal in horses; they were gentle and majestic, and Gellie's had been well trained and very affectionate with her, nosing her for treats as she patted their noses and rubbed their necks. She'd given him treats to give them, too, and soon they were nosing him as well.
He might just have to get some horses for his own estate. Perhaps he'd even surprise Callista with their own horseback riding trip on one of her visits.
The silvery-haired woman took another sip of her drink. She looked oddly tense for some reason. “And did you enjoy your visit today? With Gellie Ballademager? Planning to visit her again?”
Tycho thoughtfully picked up his cup and finally took a sip of his own drink, wincing as it nearly burned his tongue. To be honest he wasn't sure: by the end of the trip Gellie had been practically nuzzling him the same way her pets were, and he'd gotten the strong sense she might be interested in riding more than just horses.
He'd cut his visit short then, feeling oddly guilty at the thought of intimacy with a woman other than Callista. Besides, he'd been fairly clear the visits were intended for socializing; Gellie hadn't even been one of the people from the intimacy hubs who'd wanted to socialize with him after he turned down their offers for a fling, but for some reason the visit had still gone in that direction.
“It was very enjoyable, and Miss Ballademager was a pleasant host,” he replied cautiously. “I'm not sure about another visit.”
“Really.” The silvery-haired woman abruptly set down her cup, so hard it rattled on the table, and stood with none of her usual provocative grace. “I'm a bit tired from snowboarding. I think I'll go have a rest.”
Tycho stood as well, a bit taken aback at her curt tone. “All right. Thank you for the enjoyable visit.”
“You're welcome. Bruce will show you to your ship.” Without another word Callista turned and stalked down the path, her body language somehow making it very obvious she didn't want him to follow.
He stared after her helplessly, wondering what had just happened, then glanced at Bruce. “This way, Mister Boralene,” the companion said politely, motioning to the path that would lead him to his ship.
“I know the way,” Tycho replied. “Miss Ensom seems as if she might, um, have need of you.”
Bruce's pleasant expression didn't change as he firmly started towards the ship. “Her instructions were quite clear.”
Back on his ship Tycho described the bizarre encounter with Eva as she decontaminated him. His companion listened with solemn attention, although he caught a hint of a smile about her full lips. “Do you have any idea what's going on with her?” he asked after he finished.
“I believe that would be the human emotion know
n as jealousy, my love,” she replied.
He stared at her blankly. He knew what that emotion was, of course, but he'd never really had an opportunity to see it put in practice. “Because I had a non-intimate visit with another woman?”
“I believe that's the most likely reason, yes.” Eva's smile had turned sympathetic.
“But that doesn't make any sense! Callista's had dozens of actual intimate encounters with real humans, so why would she care?”
His companion rested a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Irrational behavior is expected when dealing with humans.”
Tycho walked away from her mid-scan and made his way to his bed, slumping down at the end of it with his head in his hands. Eva calmly followed and continued the decontamination. “What do I do?” he asked her after a minute or so. “Should I apologize?”
She briefly paused. “No, that would likely not have the result you're hoping for. A much less desirable result, probably. I would recommend you simply let Miss Ensom know you enjoyed the visit, extend an offer to see her again soon, and leave it to her to take the next step. Most likely she'll get over her irrational jealousy and the incident will soon be forgotten.”
“What if she doesn't?” he asked, stomach churning at the thought of the silvery-haired woman staying mad at him.
“Then I suppose it'll be something you have to work out between you if you want the relationship to continue.” Eva patted his knee. “This is one of the complications of dealing with humans in real life, you're aware.”
“I wasn't, but I'm starting to be,” he grumbled.
Chapter Ten
Formalities
Tycho eagerly slipped out of the data stream for his work when the notification of an incoming face-to-face arrived.
He'd been waiting for some sort of word from Callista for almost a full day now, and it was a huge relief to finally hear from her. And while he accepted Eva's warning that this might be an awkward, perhaps even difficult conversation, depending on the silvery-haired woman's mood, he was looking forward to getting it behind him so they could start seeing each other again.