Aero saw Felicity again at dinner that evening. She was hunched over her tray with a darkened expression whilst Cody's Feral, Thomas, whispered secretively in her ear - probably badmouthing the Dolls.
"How did your sparring session go?" Tyron's voice made Aero jerk his attention back to their own table.
They were pointedly not sitting with any of the Ferals that evening, although Aero suspected Zach might have joined them if it wasn't for a scheduled medical appointment. Tyron seemed to be the only one actually getting on with his slobbering animal partner.
"She has potential," Sienna answered, automatically assuming the question was for her, "but the way Hannah fights - it's so rough."
"As opposed to gentle fighting?" Cody smiled.
"As opposed to polished fighting," Sienna replied, ripping open a packet of cheese squares. "Don't give me that look Cody, I'll bet you hated every minute of your dog fight."
Cody shrugged and took a swig of his nutrient juice, "It was what I expected I suppose - me on top."
There was a choking sound from the nearby Feral table and Aero looked over to see Thomas red in the face and glaring furiously at them.
"Say - Ferals have enhanced hearing right?" Aero murmured, turning back round.
"Oh I do hope so," Cody smirked, "and what about you Aero? What was all that fuss about with your partner?"
"Oh apparently I'm the prettiest belle at the ball," Aero grinned widely, "I had another Feral wanting to be my partner instead."
"The girl with turquoise hair right?" Sienna narrowed her eyes, "I suppose she’s probably less likely to murder you than the original one."
"Probably very true," Aero nodded, "however, it's not my decision and Dr. Itagawa already vetoed it. I'm stuck with growly-face over there."
Aero made a gun shape with his finger and cocked it towards the dinner queue where Jago was standing. The Feral tightened his grip on his tray, making his juice carton fall over.
"I wonder if I can get him to skip two meals today from Aero-induced rage?" Aero wondered out loud, frowning at the target.
"You're going to get your throat slashed while you sleep," Tyron chuckled, shaking his head.
"Maybe I should share a bed with someone for safety?" Aero winked at Tyron as Cody groaned loudly.
Aero knew that Cody didn’t approve of his pseudo-flirtation with Tyron, but then again, Cody rarely approved of anything that wasn't related to improving oneself as a Doll.
Aero figured regular sex would improve him though. After all, every toy needs to be taken out and played with once in a while.
"Jago’s already been partnered with a Doll before, you know," Aero announced to distract Cody from judging him.
"What?" his friend frowned with confusion. "How do you know that?"
"I heard Dr. Itagawa talking about it with her brother- Jago was with a Doll named Vera - hey you don't think he meant Vera Nilsson do you? The red haired one? She was Cody's mentor when we were ten."
Cody's frown deepened, "She just disappeared one day..."
"She was retired," Sienna sniffed, shrugging at Cody's look of horror, "I overheard some Handlers discussing it in the corridor but I didn't want to upset you at the time by telling you - you were really attached to her."
"Fuck..." Aero murmured, shaking his head, "Well anyway, yeah - apparently she went 'rogue'," he mimed quotation marks.
"Dolls don't go rogue," Cody replied automatically. Aero pulled a face, "Yeah, that's what I said."
"So what you're telling us is that Jago potentially got his last Doll killed?" Sienna asked, nibbling on her cheese square thoughtfully. "Are you sure you can't just choose the other Feral?"
Aero grimaced and glanced back across to the Feral table where Jago had just sat down and was pointedly not looking at him.
It was going to be a long mission. Or a very short one depending on how quickly Aero's Feral murdered him.
After dinner, they were escorted to a special guest dorm room.
"I think there's been a mistake," Aero frowned, "Sienna may be the best at math but my counting skills are pretty honed - and there are only two beds in here."
The Ferals' official that had led them there shrugged apathetically, "This is the room number I was given."
"Are there other rooms?" Cody enquired, narrowing his eyes at the official. "Ones with more beds?"
The man shrugged again and closed the door behind them on his way out.
"Well fuck. Looks like I will be sharing with someone after all!" Aero laughed grimly.
"This is ridiculous," Cody snapped, even Tyron looked unimpressed. "It's just a blatant disrespect of Dolls. Trying to make an infantile point."
Sienna sighed, "If it had been the other way round Aero would probably have replaced all the bunk beds with kennels."
Aero snorted loudly to confirm it. Cody shook his head and chewed on his lip.
"Even so, it's this way round. How are we meant to be at peak performance if we don't get good night's sleep?" He turned on Sienna, "How are you not furious? You're normally far more high maintenance than me about this kind of thing!"
Sienna gave him a pointed look then motioned to the beds, "They're not that small, you and I will fit perfectly in one and I know for a fact that you're not an annoying sleeper."
"What's an annoying sleeper?" Aero questioned absently.
"You," everyone replied in unison.
"Someone who sleep-talks...and sleep-fidgets," Sienna explained at Aero’s affronted expression.
"Sometimes you even sleep-dance," Tyron giggled.
"There's a reason you have a bottom bunk," Cody nodded. Suddenly realizing that if he and Sienna were sharing that meant...
"Well, d'ya wanna be my dancing partner tonight Tyron-boy?" Aero grinned toothily at the other Doll.
"I'll share with Aero," Cody cut in quickly earning a betrayed look from Aero.
"You and Tyron are both light sleepers, you'll end up kicking each other out of bed," he explained, giving Sienna a 'trust me' look.
Sienna promptly backed him up and that was how Cody found himself being bashed in the face at two in the morning by an enthusiastically tangoing Aero.
Comments (3)
See all