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Krel was squirreled away in his lab working on something, Zadra was running through a training exercise, the Blanks were tucked away recharging, and Luug was quietly sleeping off the extra large dinner Aja had given him earlier. Everything else was as ready as she could make it. Now she just had to get ready.
She stood in the middle of her room and cleared her throat. “Mother, ready limited transduction!”
[As you command, my Royal.]
It wasn’t a very big change, not compared to becoming human. But this was the first time Aja had ever reconfigured her normal, Akiridion body partly instead of completely. It felt a little disconcerting for the changes to stop halfway, like going outside only half-dressed.
Which, Aja thought as she looked at herself, she basically was. She’d chosen a rather modest swimsuit design from the choices on the human datanet (some of the others were too outlandish to consider) and adjusted it to suit her… unique limb requirements. All the same, there was much more bioluminescent blue skin on display than usual. Her sleeves, pant legs, and boots had all dematerialized, leaving mostly just the torso behind. She’d made sure to retain the curved glowing lines on her upper body, but the material itself was now a smooth, shiny black.
She twisted slightly, trying to get a look at the back of her new outfit. “What do you think, Mother?”
[I predict you will be most chilled, my Royal.] The ship sounded doubtful and somewhat disapproving. [Choosing to submerge yourself in liquid after sunset may result in the human condition hypothermia, a rapid and detrimental cooling of the body.] Mother’s voice grew even more stern. [Particularly when you are clad in such a scant garment.]
“Then make sure the water temperature is sufficient to prevent that,” Aja chided. “Is Steve here yet?”
[No, my Royal.]
“Hmf.” She wrapped a large towel around her waist and picked up her phone. R u close?
After a moment, her phone chimed. 5 min1! C U soon QT!
Lively! Aja skipped into the living room, a wide smile on her face.
Steve was as good as his word. The doorbell rang just a few minutes later, and Aja’s hand was on the knob. He grinned as he leaned casually on the doorframe dressed in a t-shirt and eye-wateringly loud shorts, a gym bag over his shoulder. “Evening, miss,” he said in a comically deep voice. “I hear there’s some water you need help investigating?”
Aja giggled and gave him a light shove. “Two delsons to plan for our little swim, and that is your best line?”
“What do you want from me?” he laughed. “I’m a football player, not a swimmer. You’ll be lucky if I don’t drown tonight.”
“Perhaps we should acquire some of those little human-child flotation devices,” Aja teased, closing the door behind him. “What is their proper name again?”
“Floaties?” He grinned and shrugged. “I’ll wear those if you do. We’ll just need to get you two pairs.” He glanced around the house. “Where is everyone?” he asked in a would-be casual voice.
Aja snickered. “Do not worry about Zadra. She barely just started her training routine, and it always takes her precisely two and a quarter horvaths to complete it.”
Steve still looked a little nervous as he followed her out to the backyard. “You did tell her I was coming over, right?”
“I told her, I told her,” Aja assured him lightly. “I also gave her a royal decree she was not to be unfriendly while you are here.”
He grinned nervously. “That’s good, unless she finds a friendly way to stab me.”
Aja gave him an indulgent smile and kept walking towards the pool. “Do you want to swim or worry?” Without waiting for an answer, she tossed the towel away from her waist, took three running steps, and leaped into the water.
A second later she burst through the surface again. “That is v-vERY c-c-cO-COLD, MOTHER!”
[I did caution you, my Royal.]
Aja tried to get her teeth to stop chattering long enough to bite out a retort, but-
“Cannonbaaaaaaaaaall!!!!! ”
She let out a startled shriek as Steve exploded into the water, throwing an icy wave over her head.
He surfaced blowing water from his mouth, hair plastered over his eyes. “Oh m-man, that is chilly! ”
“I n-noticed!” Aja splashed at him, catching him in the face with her own much smaller wave. To her amused dread, Steve merely grinned wider and submerged. A second later, she felt a hand seize her ankle. She had just enough time to grab a quick breath before he pulled down and the water closed in over her head. There was a brief second of not-quite panic when she couldn’t surface, then Steve’s hand vanished. She opened her eyes and saw him swimming to the far side of the pool, his own eyes clamped shut against the stinging water.
You will not escape me so quickly, my oaf! Aja rolled over in the water and kicked towards him, much faster than she’d expected to be able to move surrounded by all that liquid. She caught up to Steve just as he began to surface and clamped her upper arms around his shoulders. I have you nooOOWWHOOA!
Aja was quickly realizing water could be quite the equalizer in terms of strength. Steve broke through the surface easily carrying her weight. He caught the edge of the pool with one arm, her right hand with his other, and grinned over his shoulder at her. “You’re b-beautifu-ful when you’re f-freezing, you kn-now that?”
For a moment, she was tempted to push down on his shoulders with all four arms and forcibly submerge his infuriatingly amusing, handsome face. Instead, she darted forward to give him a peck on the forehead. “Yup!”
Then she dunked him.
They splashed around and wrestled playfully in the pool for what felt like a long while, the water feeling comfortably warmer while the air felt unpleasantly colder. Eventually, though, enough heat leaked from their bodies that both felt the need to get out of the pool. Aja pulled herself onto dry land and scooped up her towel, but to her dismay, found it thoroughly soaked by their aquatic antics. “Kleb! Now I have to go dripping across the whole house for a new drying cloth!”
[I would appreciate it if you not do that, my Royal.]
“H-Hey, hang on.” Steve clambered out of the pool, shivering as he trotted to his bag. “Here, use m-mine.”
“But,” she twisted her head, trying to follow him as he came up behind her, “what will you use, then?”
Steve hugged her through the soft, heavy towel and nuzzled her cheek. “The other side, babe.”
Aja giggled happily and sank into his embrace. “What a clever solution.” She found her cheek rubbing against his and took advantage, giving his ear a small nip. “With multitudinous advantages.”
“That’s why I like being your boyfriend.” Steve hugged her a little more tightly, leaned up, and rested his chin on her shoulder. “You teach me all these new words.”
Aja smiled and enjoyed being cozied up for a few more sectons. Then she noticed the bumps on Steve’s arms and the shivers starting to run through his body. Her eyes caught sight of the stretched out lounge chair nearby, and an idea occurred to her. “Come on, let’s go over there.”
“What for?”
“I do not like you suffering the avian skin-bumps.” She slipped out of his grasp and grabbed his hand with two of hers. “Come on!”
A moment later, Aja lay on the lounge chair, two of her arms around Steve, one of his arms around her, and both of them cocooned in the towel. “See? Is this not the ideal solution?”
“Super ideal.” Steve sighed comfortably and rubbed a foot on her calf. “Even good for some stargazing while we’re at it. See?” He started to point with his free hand; Aja caught it in one of hers, and he nodded his head in the general direction instead. “Platypus star.”
“I always did like that one best.” Aja squeezed his hand a little tighter, and they smiled at each other.
They lay like that for a while, enjoying the peace, quiet, and each other’s warmth. Aja found it very relaxing. Almost too relaxing, she suddenly realized. Her eyes were starting to feel quite heavy, and Steve’s head was settling comfortably onto her shoulder…
“Princess Tarron? Are you still out here?”
Steve’s breath sucked in sharply, his eyes widening quickly. “Oh, cra-”
“Hello, Zadra!” Aja quickly put her last hand to Steve’s lips and made a ‘shh’ face. “We’re over here, just reviewing stellar phenomena for human academics.”
There was a rustle of movement, more sensed than heard, and Zadra was suddenly staring down at the two teenagers. Her eyes narrowed as she took in Steve’s nervous smile. “Forgive me if I’m wrong, my liege,” she said in a suspicious voice, “but I do not believe your garment is typical earthling study attire.”
“Oh, of course it is!” Steve mostly managed to keep his voice from cracking. “We were just covering…swimming lessons before stars, that’s all.”
Aja noticed Steve suddenly had sweat dripping down his side, despite the cool night air. “And this is a traditional studying posture,” she offered with as much of an airy tone as she could manage. “Being close and in direct contact allows for…um…epidermal based thermogenic cosmosis.”
Zadra folded her arms. “Really. ”
Aja grinned weakly. “Yeees…?”
“Hm.” Zadra tapped her finger on her arm and continued to stare piercingly from Aja to Steve and back again. “You are quite certain he makes a...suitable tutor, my liege?”
Aja felt a small surge of hope. “Exceptionally good,” she said fervently. “I have learned much about earthling astrology-”
“Astronomy.”
“ Astronomy,” she corrected smoothly at Steve’s subtle whisper. “But there is still much more to learn.”
“Hmm.” Zadra’s gaze beamed down like a spotlight. Then, finally, she sighed. “Precisely how much more study time do you require?”
Seklos and Gaylen, is she truly… “Perhaps another thirty mekrons? Or maybe even one horvath?”
“Hmmmmmm.” Zadra continued to stare for another painfully long moment. “Forty mekrons. No more.” It could have been a trick of the shadows, but there seemed to be the smallest trace of a smile on her stern face. “Astronomy is a challenging subject, after all. You would learn best with the right tutor.” Without saying anything else, she returned to the house.
Steve waited until the door slid shut before he spoke. “How about that.”
“I told you!” Aja snuggled back down and pulled Steve tightly to her body. “Friendly by royal decree.”
“I guess so.” Steve brushed her cheek with a light kiss, then looked back at the night sky. “So, did I ever tell you about the Flounder Constellation?”
Aja giggled. “No, but I can hardly wait for you to.“