Jay and Kay were in the kitchenette getting their morning coffee when
they heard the dsturbance in the hall.
"Just Elle and X, Slick," Kay said as Jay headed for the door to look
out. As he reached for the cream, he wondered what the pair were arguing
about this time.
"I can't believe my mother is doing this to me!!" X cried as he stalked
into the kitchenette carrying a large tote bag on his shoulder with the
sleeve of a white shirt and what looked like part of a pair of boxers with
little smiley faces sticking out. Elle was following right behind him.
"X, will you calm down?" Elle demanded. Normally she would enjoy seeing
her partner so freaked but she didn't really want to have to put up with
Zed's complaints, which would surely be heaped upon her once X was gone.
"You almost gave U a heart attack. Or a concussion. I'm not really sure
which."
"What's going on?" Jay asked curiously. He knew that X did tend to blow
a fuse pretty easy but this was upset even for the alien agent!
"What's going on is that there was a shuttle crash on my homeplanet and
my fourth cousin twice removed managed to get himself killed in it!" X
yelled as he jerked out a paper and started to wave it around in the air.
The worms wisely decided that this place might not be the safest at the
moment and fled out the door with their mugs and the coffeepot.
"Sorry to hear that," Kay said in his usual monotone. Somehow he had
managed to sit calmly drinking his coffee during X's entire tirade.
"Nothing to be sorry about. We removed him for a REASON! What's the
problem is that my mother expects me to come home right away for the funeral!
I hated the guy! Half of our family hated him! The other half faked
amnesia whenever his name was mentioned! Why do I have to go to his
funeral?!!"
As X yelled and ranted about the unfairness of the entire situation and
the horrible inconvenience and disruption of his life, Kay picked up the
paper he had dropped onto the table as he waved his hands in the air. His
eyes moved rapidly down the paper scanning only for the paper to slip from
his suddenly numb fingers a moment later as he read one name, a name listed
as killed. Aileen.