Decay

 

 

Eavesdropping wasn't usually a pastime of Alan's. He thought it rude and unbecoming of a military officer to gossip and listen in on business that didn't belong to him. However, there were some things he heard that he couldn't unhear, nor did he want to. Sometimes, those things piqued his interest so much so that he had to get more information. Which was why he stood outside of his commanding officer's door that was opened only a crack.

“I guess, I just don't understand why you want to call off our research on The Doctor's injection. You know what it is doing to the Earth youth. It's mutating them, giving them gifts, and sometimes even killing them. If we can understand the drug, then we can understand what the Gelandrosimbol is doing with it,” one of Alan's shipmates said. He wasn't someone Alan saw often enough to remember his name.

Sir Oriol took in a slow breath. “We will return to that project momentarily. However, there is another mission I must spend my time preparing for. If you wish to keep pursuing the drug on your own, be my guest, but I will not be able to assist you anymore.”

“I understand sir. Does this have to do with the location of the artifact? The Yumsaltanz transmission said they found the Ilotus.”

“They did find it, yes, and they are willing to share its technologies with us. This is a huge advantage we cannot pass up. However, they're going to want something in trade.”

“What sort of thing?”

“Our labor, and a favor from us in the future. The latter is what makes me most nervous,” Sir Oriol said.

Alan's comrade laughed. “The Yumsaltanz are harmless and almost pathetically passive. I can't imagine the favor being anything horrible enough to be considered a risk.”

“I agree, but that doesn't mean we should underestimate them either.”

“No, this is true. I will begin researching more on the Ilotus.”

There was a shuffling of feet. As much as Alan wanted to stay and find out more, he decided it best to move on and not get caught eavesdropping. He didn't know much about the Ilotus. The rumors of its power were those of myth and legend on Altura. He'd keep his ears open to find more, and he would figure out a way to be involved as well.

 

 

Two days after the new year, Orlando Holmes went to his ex-girlfriend's house for what promised to be the best holiday of his life. Standing in front of him was the woman of his dreams, Tait Darling. She was as beautiful as ever, her long blonde hair cascading down her back all the way to her waist. The exposure of her mid-rift was a tease, completely countering the otherwise conservative red sweater she wore. If she was trying to get him hot and bothered it was working, and he hated it.

“Thanks for coming over,” she said once he got his coat and shoes off. She took them from him and put them away. “Did you have a good Christmas? What did you do?”

Orlando shrugged, trying to buy time so he could think of how to answer her question honestly without coming off as depressed. “It was fine. Spent time with my sister, had a few friends over shortly after. Did the heartfelt, mushy, gift giving thing.”

“You mean you gave away sappy gifts with other people who aren't me? I feel like I've just been cheated on,” she teased, and then immediately bit her lip as if she regretted saying the words. Her choice of words was more than a little awkward given their current relationship status.

He let the words roll off his back and slapped on his coy smile. “Yes, I do have other friends besides you.”

“Most of my time has been spent with only family,” she said.

Nodding, he tried to not show his discomfort. He and family did not mix well.

She rubbed his shoulder gently. “I suppose your parents didn't come home for the holiday?”

“No,” he muttered. “We'll celebrate Christmas with them when they come back again. Probably in the summer. That's when they usually make their yearly appearance. Don't look so bummed out because I'm used to it. My sister and I have been doing just fine.” He stopped being disappointed by it a long time ago. All he felt was angry when he thought about his parents for too long. Why continue to put himself through that kind of emotional torture?

“Well, I promised you an amazing holiday, and it's time to deliver. Come on, we'll go up to my room,” she said.

Orlando swallowed, not sure if he wanted to venture up to a place so private with his ex. He didn't know what she had up her sleeve, or if she had any kind of agenda to try and win him back.
No matter what happens, stay strong. You can't get back together with her – regardless of how you feel.

He'd never been inside of Tait's home before. While he followed her to her room, he took in the sights of what a “normal” house was like. When his best friend Dallas had been alive, his home had been much like Orlando's, obnoxiously large, sophisticated décor, and empty in emotion. Even when he was friends with Jesse Jordan, his home had been showy. Most of the rich kids from Morningtide he used to hang out with grew up in similar environments. He'd only been in the entryway of JD's house, and he imagined it would be a lot like Tait's on the inside.

The first thing he noticed was the family portrait hanging on the wall over a table. Everyone smiled, genuinely happy. On the table itself were pictures from different family outings. They walked through a short hallway that had at least ten pictures that displayed family members spanning over generations. Orlando had never seen a picture of his grandparents. He'd never even met them. He had no clue if he had uncles and aunts either. So much of his family was a complete mystery to him.

Not far off he could hear someone humming in the kitchen as well as a ventilator from a stove top. The voice was female, so he assumed it belonged to Tait's mother. Would he finally get to meet her formally? Disappointment filled him when he and Tait rounded a corner and made their way up a flight of stairs.

I guess another time.
Orlando shoved his hands into his jean pockets and followed his ex into her bedroom. She shut the door quietly behind him and then went to her closet. He found a desk chair to sit in and took a good look around. The room was a lot more girlie than he would have expected. The walls were a pale pink, so faint he almost didn't notice the color. Her bedspread was white with small pink roses decoratively sown into the seams. She had one poster of the latest Hollywood heartthrob on the back of her bedroom door, a calendar with festively colored ocean fish on it, and a maroon colored carpet. There were a couple of stuffed animals on the bed as well. He was definitely surprised because it didn't match the image of the Tait he knew.

Then again, how well do I even know her?

“Here's your present,” she said before quietly stepping out of her closet and handing him a small box perfectly wrapped in shining red paper.

He took the box, a little surprised because he'd been expecting something a lot more elaborate. Tait was unpredictable. He originally expected to walk into her bedroom, and have her trying to seduce him into the bed. Not like he would have let her succeed, but the hints she had dropped the last few weeks had certainly suggested she planned to make an attempt.

Ripping the paper off, he found a small jewelry box inside.
She better not be proposing, but the box does seem too big to be a ring at least.
It could fit a necklace. Orlando didn't wear a lot of jewelry. An odd gift to give a guy, but he'd trust her. He picked off the tape holding the sides down and opened it up. Inside the box was a bracelet made from a simple black cord with a silver, circular cuff at each end making up the clasp. The cuffs themselves were encrusted with cubic zirconium. Despite the bling, it was a lot more masculine than he anticipated.

Orlando shook his head. “I can't take this. It's too much.” It looked expensive and out of the budget he assumed she had. She didn't work, and her family did not have much money.

“I bought it for you, and you're going to keep it. This is important to me. They're called cuffs of love.” Tait took the bracelet out of its box, and grabbed his left wrist so she could put it on him whether he wanted her to or not. “I know we aren't together right now, and maybe we never will be again, but I have hope for us. I'm not giving up on you Orly. Somehow, I'm going to prove to you that you're important to me. And I love you. We'll get through this. Once all of the stress goes away, it'll all be perfect again." She kissed his forehead. Not a gesture he wanted from her, but he savored the moment anyway. Who knew when the next time would be? But it made things difficult. How was he supposed to stay mad at her when she did things that were so sweet?

He had to remain coy, almost uncaring. “Cuffs of love? An interesting gift. Sounds almost like you're taking me captive.”

“Maybe I am. Do you have a problem with that? Just because we're broken up, doesn't mean I'm taking away the claim I have over your heart.”

“That so?” He didn't know what to think, but he admired her persistence. Somehow he needed to get over the way she had lied and hurt him.

Tait blew him off when he needed her, constantly, and that wasn't something easy for him to forgive. His parents did the same thing to him often. They told him they would be around and would come home again, but it never happened. All he seemed to get from anyone were empty promises. Tait knew this, and she still hurt him – intentionally.

Only she didn't know he knew the truth behind her actions. She still believed he thought her the victim of unfortunate circumstances. Orlando was smarter than that. The bottom line was, Tait had lied and played him like a fiddle for her own selfish purposes, and he wasn't going to let her get away with it. Unfortunately for him, he couldn't let on that he was aware of what was really going on. If he did, then his real secret would be blown. He also couldn't get over the feelings which had grown so strong over their short month and a half of dating. Tait wasn't easy to let go.

So, he played along and pretended to be blissfully unaware. For that moment in time, he welcomed the idea of being normal. Who knew when he'd get another chance? Being one fifth of an underground alien army didn't offer a lot of moments to be a simple teenager. When he wasn't doing homework, he was training both his body and the super powers he had received the fateful day that Alan had crashed through the roof of their local mall. Alan was an alien from Altura, a planet that was lightyears away from Earth. A planet that was raging war in Orlando's hometown, a war that both he and Tait were involved in.

She didn't know he knew of her involvement, even worse that it was for a group of aliens fighting against the tribe he had aligned himself with. In fact, she didn't know he knew anything about Altura at all. As far as he could tell, she thought he was just a regular guy with a lot of baggage and possibly her last chance at having a bit of normalcy to hold on to. Some days, he wished he could undo ever finding out the truth of her identity, so he could help her live the fantasy for a little longer. He certainly wouldn't have minded.

But it was good he knew the truth. Finding out her involvement with the blue tribe, a group with a much more complicated name he couldn't bother to remember, was a huge leap for his tribe. It brought the Alturan war one step closer to leaving Earth. When that happened, life could resume to what it was before. Then maybe he and Tait could actually be together again, once he figured out how to forgive the crimes she had committed against her own planet. He shuddered momentarily, doing his best to disguise it as only a chill in case she saw it and became suspicious. For the time being, he had to brush those memories aside, or they would turn the whole night sour. They were supposed to be enjoying the holiday together, not spoiling it.

“Come here,” Tait said. She took his hand and led him to her window sill. Pulling aside a curtain, she gave him a view he never expected. Outside in her backyard was a winter wonderland. An elaborate snow fort was near a large oak tree, strings of lights hung on the branches and the back porch, and of course there were snowmen, one that looked like her and another like him.