NOVEL NEXT 76: Flowers Made of Moonlight
RYST
Dream Journal
Everything was black. Then there was a light. It was a solitary lotus bud, just beginning to bloom. It was lit from within like it was made of moonlight. I moved to touch it—
My eyes flickered open, dazed and drowsy, to a dimly lit room. Why was I so heavy today? Something pinned me, and I was too drowsy. I sighed, starting to turn over, and something moved. I startled completely awake. "Ryst?" asked a soft voice. Realization dawned in my sleepy morning mind. "Sunshine, my Ahtah!" I said in Shurwinn. I felt kisses and a smile against my right shoulder.
"Greetings, Methela," and something more murmured that I couldn't understand because it wasn't a language I knew.
"How many languages do you speak, Minister?"
Nayth pulled back and looked pensive, "Umm, fluently? Nine. Passable? 27."
"WHAT?! What kind of super brain do you have?"
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He smiled, "Well, I grew up with Sturm, Florian, and Universal because we traveled between the spheres frequently and my family speaks all three. Then I had big aspirations, and my father was Sturm Minister of Manufacturing, so I kept learning languages. And then, I fell in love with a woman I couldn't see. So I traveled the galaxy looking for her and built hotels all along the way. I had a lot of time on starliners and learned the languages and customs of all 27 spheres where I built hotels."
He waggled his eyebrows and tapped me lightly on the nose. "Little did I know she was hiding away in Shurwinn, the only separatist sphere in Andromeda! All of my plans, just cast aside. . ."
I chuckled, "Except, in the end, it's probably Shurwinn that got you to say 'yes' to my dinner invite, wasn't it?"
"Decidedly. Rahel hasn't delivered an invite like that to my 'Please Respond' folder in years." He shrugged then looked thoughtful. "What are you doing today, Ryst? I've got some things to take care of at LaGrange, but. . . ."
He looked at me a little cautiously, "Do you want to stay here—"
I interrupted him, "No, I want to come home with you, Ahtah. But I have something to do in town first. How about I let you know once I've gotten my schedule arranged?" I was getting an IUD immediately, even if I had to knock on every obgyneca door in the city! No more annoying condoms.
His face softened, "Okay, would you like me to take your luggage to LaGrange for you?"
"Hmm. Tempting, but actually. I didn't pack that huge trunk. My tailor did, and I need to go through it. She dropped it off as I was leaving my house to go to the Transfer Station, so I'm not sure what all is in it."
He nodded once, then smiled as he returned his lips to my shoulder, picking up where he left off. And there was another condom discarded before he finally got dressed in last night's suit jacket.
It wasn't until I'd showered and packed up that I realized my travel-sized mango seed butter was missing. "Hah! My Ahtah is a lube thief!" I thought, chuckling to myself.