(Yeah I know it's really rough, my energy for this chapter got zapped by various things and i'll have to get it done, I'll revise it at a later point maybe when I format all the chapters into a proper book. At the start of next year)
The Star disappeared fully in the east. "You don't want to go back inside?" Timothy asked. "Kira should be finished by now. You shouldn't keep her waiting for too long."
I glanced at Timothy,a nagging thought screamed in my mind
, urging me to realise something. It slipped away before I could grasp it. I pushed myself off the railing. "Might be the best time now, I'd rather not have the pot boilover."
"Good luck, I hope tomorrow is a day you can look forward to." Again I had this unsettling tingling crawling all over me. My eyes narrowed as I looked at Timothy. Maybe he's causing it?
I brushed the thought off and headed back inside. "Welcome home," Kira said from my right. She wore one of my pink Aprons. The pot was already off the stove cooling down while she attended to other matters out of my sight…
"Hi …" I said unceremoniously. I blushed and looked away. I looked back up at Kira who was smiling ear to ear now. I hated myself for how much I cringed. "Thanks…" I scratched my chin uncomfortably. Even more so when it was not obscured by my scarf.
"Thanks?" Kira chuckled "Thanks for what?"
"For taking care of dinner." Feeling the contact of my finger nails when I'm nervous felt oddly alien. I managed to push those thoughts aside.
Kira chuckled heartily, "ever and always." The night took its expected turn and I couldn't help myself to reminisce about "Kitten…" Amanda again, would she have been able to finish the cooking part by herself? Kira was thoughtful enough to bake fresh bread…
Thoughts of her reached me again while I was soaking in the bathtub. I'll have to launch my own investigation and catch up with all of my squadmates. Maybe then i would find some answers.
I shook my head, creating waves in my water. I've spent too many days on a row on edge and forcing myself to study. Please let it be the fatigue catching up to me. Thinking about it, my life seems way too empty without "Kitten" hovering in my orbit.
The night passed, and a new day began. I did not feel comfortable sleeping in a bed with Kira again. It was impossible to read her when I broached the subject. It's even harder to say what the long term impact might be.
It was even harder to say what had gotten into me. I've searched for my various collections of combat knives and didn't find any of them. Even if it is supposed to be, beneath a Commissar's weapon of choice.
It was strangely uncomfortable to be stripped from half a dozen blades. The reassuring weight missed, waiting to be filled by something else.
"Are you ready, Commissar?" Kira asked, she had the sergeant insignia along the marking of a Commisarial aide.
"I appreciate your concern, Sergeant." On a few occasions have I seen Sabine address her underlings. This exchange was already getting awkward. "Hail the driver and inform me of my scheduled duties." I said opening the door of our apartment.
"As you will Commissar, Hoxworth sent his apologies in regard to your prolonged absence, apparently, and I quote 'such a fine male specimen is beyond your capabilities'"
"I'm not sure if it sounds like him or if it's you making sense of him but what else is on the agenda?"
"The Technocrats made your signature armament and the military proposed you could take on one of their adjutants as an additional aide."
My eyes narrowed when I looked at Kira. "Just the Military?"
"Yes, right, is it something the matters?" I suppressed the thoughts surfacing and Kira looked slightly flustered. Curious, I thought to myself.
"Well I look forward to either of them?"
"But I counted out three tasks for today."
"Hoxworth can wait, he'll come around if he gets bored."
We took the elevator down to the lobby and waited for the driver. The same informal guy from last time showed up and thankfully was quiet for this ride. We left him and the vehicle behind.
Walking up to the entrance with Kira in tow, for the first time I felt the long lost sensation of having someone salute me, and not one or two of the Guards at the entrance? No disdain or distrust. Not seeing me for the blood hazed bloodhound I'm made to be. But as an Commissar? A smirk creeped up my cheeks which I didn't manage to fight down.
The hallways at any military facilitiy were a curiosity. Open locker rooms where troopers are messing around, the next one one would get scolded by their sergeant and the one after would be empty.
The rustling and bustling side of various people hauling data screens of stacks of papers, fighting their way to their next destination. Curious. My subconscious notices. We strode further through the building, stopping only a couple rooms short of the command room.
I turned to the right into a comparably smaller room with an lieutenant diligently working away. I tapped on the wall twice to get her attention. She looked flustered up at me.
"Youre the adjutant which services were recommended to me?" I asked sheepishly.
"How would you know that Commissar?" she asked.