Things were moving fast, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that the proposal didn’t have merit. In a more perfect world, where our two people were on a more convivial footing, I’d have happily pursued him. He was everything I could ask for in a life partner. Quick witted, honorable, driven to succeed without being an absolute prick about it, not to mention sexy as could be.
There was a big difference between taking the time to get to know someone much better, take him out on dates, get to know his family, and all that and getting hitched because I not only was interested in him, but it would be politically advantageous. Could I do that?
This wasn’t that rose-tinted glasses’ existence, though. This was a reality where our arrival had been romanticized and the native inhabitants had been made into a sort of bogeyman while the so-called spooky aliens worked to return their world to a pristine state as a historical preserve, all the while trying to work with our Council to edge our people into uniting as one community dedicated to their cause.
Plus there was the whole thing where I’d be marrying a sort of Prince and there’d been mention of me having a voice for the human inhabitants. That sounded an awful lot like I’d go from being an officer of the law to a lawmaker of some kind. How would that even work? Would I become like the Councilmen’s mates, putting a word here and there in the ear of another society husband, hoping they’d raise it with their spouse and garner support? I really wasn’t a schmoozing sort of guy. My idea of a good party was sitting around, drinking ale, maybe playing some cards, or a good hog roast celebration that the township would put on.
But could I let that stop me? I’d found out we’d had important information withheld from us all for the personal benefit of the few. Homes burned down in winter from chimneys going alight, candles got knocked over from time time, and so on, as we simply didn’t have general access to the sort of tech our forebears did and the Council pretended that the Ilyirzi were being harshly selective in what they shared of their own. That and making out that they weren’t all that advanced, being planetbound and their technology limited in scope. In fact, there’d been hints that they were a dying civilization, even, that what we saw, the railway and such, were what was left after their civilization fell and nature took over after some unknown event. Lies, lies, and more lies.
Becoming Pilar’s alpha mate though, that would give me status among the Ilyirzi and some measure of protection, which I could hopefully extend to Richard. I could maybe get him a position within our court of whatever they called it; to work alongside me as I raised awareness among our people about the truth and worked for change that would better the everyday lives of ordinary citizens.
If we tried without the overt and immediate protection of the Ilyirzi, we’d probably have to keep running from various Councilmen who’d try to shut us down as it would threaten their positions.
“You thinking about taking him up on it?” Richard asked me.
“Was it that obvious I was sitting here trying to decide which way to go?” I asked him with a small, wry grin.
“Only because I know that look really well. You know I’ll follow you, right? Ever since we were kids, I knew you were a leader I’d not hesitate to support. You chose me as your deputy and I’ve been right honored. This is no different, in fact, it’s about justice in its own right, yeah?”
I mulled over his words. Justice. Yeah, it was really, wasn’t it?
“But what if we get married and then I find it’s too much, being around all those galactic government types?”
“Mmhmm. I notice what you ain’t saying, cuz. I’m not hearing ‘what if I find out I don’t love him in a forever sorta way’. I also don’t hear the words, ‘what if living with aliens on another planet is too strange?’ You’re worried those politicians will think you’re a bumpkin. And you know what? Who cares? Some folks, human or not, will like you and some won’t for reasons they make their minds up about. The real question is do you love him enough to try to make a life with him and work with him and his brother, and hopefully me, to make things better?”
“When’d you get so smart?” I snarked at him.
“When your brains fell out after your daddy dropped you on your head one too many times. Mine scooped them up and shoved them in through my ears.”
I shook my head at his silliness. “Thanks, Dick. I needed someone else to state the obvious. I was going round and round in my head.”
He sighed. “That name’s gonna stick now, isn’t it?”
I grinned at him. “Yup. Payback’s a bitch, ain’t it?”
“You’re an asshole. Remind me again why I just offered to go into outer space and work with blood-drinking aliens with you?”
“Because you know we’re awesome,” Miljack said, appearing behind him. “I also have a question. Why are you named for a phallus?”
Richard turned bright red. Poking my chest with his forefinger, he spluttered. “You…You…! This is all your fault.” He stomped off.
Miljack gave me one of what I’d come to realize was a trademark shit-eating grin. “Is two words that sound the same but different, yes?”
Pilar strode over, seeing Richard’s expression as they passed each other. Looking at his twin, he smacked the back of his head. “What did you say or do now?”
“I only asked about his name! It’s not my fault ‘dick’ means ‘phallus’,” he protested.
Pilar narrowed his eyes. “He was introduced to you as Richard. You knew that Dick was some kind of nickname.”
“Yes, but why?”
I snorted in amusement. “For some weird reason, a very long time ago in a country called England back on Earth, they decided Dick was a short form of Richard. I started calling him it as a joke, because he was being a bit of a prick.”
Pilar rolled his eyes.
“I knew there was a reason I liked you,” Miljack said, clapping me on the shoulder.
“I’m going to go talk to Richard, see if I can smooth things over,” Pilar said, turning to follow Richard who’d gone back into the dining car.
It struck me then, we were already starting to act not only like we were close friends, but maybe family.
Huh. How about that?