.Chapter twenty-five.

The next day, I had gone out to pick something up for Augie and when I came back, near closing time, the waitresses had kinda congregated around the front desk; as I walked past I could just see that there was a male Triceraton in the group too. I walked into the back room and started to pack away what Augie had wanted me to pick up. I heard Augie telling the girls that it was closing time and I heard some of them asking if their new male friend would walk them home, but, I'm guessing, he refused, because I heard several disappointed 'aww's.

"See you tomorrow, girls," I heard Augie say, as he ushered them out.

"See yah," said several of them to their male friend.

I heard a male's voice shortly after the door closed addressing Augie, but I couldn't quite tell what he was saying.

"Right through there," replied Augie.

I continued to pack away Augie's shipment until I was interrupted by someone picking me up from behind. I squeaked slightly in surprise, but was silenced quickly by the guy who had picked me up kissing me. I struggled to free myself from this rather forward fella; when I finally succeeded in breaking the kiss, I frowned at him, but then smiled when I saw who it was.

"Cloak?" I asked.

"Hey babe," he smiled back, as he set me back down on my own two feet.

"Cloak! What are you doing here?!" I quickly put my arms around his neck and hugged him.

"Don't you remember? I said as soon as I was given leave I would come back to you." Cloak put his arms around my waist and pulled me closer to him in a hug.

"Now I do."

Just as Cloak and I released each other from our embrace we heard a clang and the next thing I knew I was supporting Cloak's unconscious body.

"Cloak!" I exclaimed, as I tried to keep him up.

"That's him sorted," said a familiar voice.

I looked up and saw Carix holding a frying pan in his hand.

"Carix! Why did you do that?!" I asked in a squeaky voice.

"I was given the charge of keeping you out of the hands of any other males until your boyfriend, Cloak, returned," he replied.

"Carix, this is Cloak!" Cloak was starting to get a bit heavy for me to hold up.

"It is?" Carix just looked at Cloak a bit oddly.

"Yeah!"

"Sorry."

"Never mind, just help me get him back 'round."

Carix helped me move Cloak onto a bench in the back of the room, then he went to fetch an ice pack for the back of Cloak's head to bring down any swelling that may have started from his hitting him with the frying pan.

After sitting with Cloak's head on my lap for several minutes, stroking the side of it gently in hopes that it would wake him up, I eventually got a response in the form of a groan.

"Cloak," I said softly.

"Cal?" he asked groggily.

"Cloak, you okay?"

"What hit me?"

"That would have been me," said Carix; he had stayed with me while I waited for Cloak to regain consciousness.

Cloak looked at him out of the corner of his eye.

"Who are you?" he asked, as he started to sit up.

"I'm Carix; I was appointed to take care of Cal until you returned."

"How does clobbering me with… whatever you used…"

"A frying pan."

"Right; how does clobbering me with a frying pan come into this?"

"I didn't know who you were; I was simply told to make sure no males got too close to Cal until you came back and… when I found you holding Cal…"

Cloak merely smiled at Carix.

"It's okay; you didn't know," he smiled.

Carix just smiled weakly at Cloak and then at me.

I smiled back at him, but my attention was soon brought back to Cloak as I felt his hand on my shoulder.

"Shall we get going?" he asked.

"Going? Where?" I asked.

"I told Augie that you would be resigning when I returned."

"What?" Carix and I asked in unison.

"Didn't he inform you?" Cloak asked.

"No," I replied, as I shook my head.

"Well, that was the deal; your replacement arrives tomorrow."

"Oh."

"You'll be staying in the apartment just a few doors down from mine; it belongs to a friend of mine who's gone on holiday."

I couldn't help but smile at Cloak.

"But what about a job?" asked Carix.

"I'll find something," Cloak replied.

"You okay with this, Cal?"

"I'm getting used to it," I replied.

Carix just gave Cloak an odd look.

"Now, go get your bag and we'll get going," said Cloak, as he gently pulled me closer and gave me a soft kiss on my forehead.

"Okay," I smiled, as I got up and headed for my room to fetch my things.

Once I had fetched my things I rejoined Cloak and Carix.

"Ready?" Cloak asked.

"Yeah," I smiled.

"I guess this is goodbye then, huh?" asked Carix.

"No, just until next time."

Carix just smiled at me; I could see in his eyes that he wasn't betting on that.

"Come on, Cal," said Cloak, as he began to lead me out of the back room.

I waved goodbye to Carix over my shoulder as Cloak and I left the room; he waved back just before the door closed behind me.

It didn't take long to get to Cloak's friend's flat, where I was supposed to be staying. Cloak unlocked the door and handed me the key card afterwards.

"I hope you like it here," he smiled, as he walked in ahead of me.

As I walked in after him, I saw that the apartment looked similar to Cloak's.

"I'm sure I will," I replied with a smile.

"Good; I'll leave you to get settled then."

"Thanks."

With that he began to walk back to the door.

"I'll be back to check on you in a helate," he said, as he opened the door.

"Okay, see you then," I smiled.

He nodded as he stepped out and closed the door again. I smiled to myself and then set about finding the bed room to put my stuff down.

The apartment was very homey; I placed my bag in the bedroom and then went for a quick exploration. After finishing up my little one man tour I went into the living room area and sat down somewhat gingerly on the sofa to wait for Cloak. I didn't have to wait long; not one trigon later I heard a knock at the door.

"Who is it?" I asked, as I walked over to the door with the key card in my hand.

"Who do you think?" I heard Cloak say on the other side.

I slid the key card through the lock and opened the door, but when the door opened I was surprised to find two Triceratons on the other side.

"Oh! Who's your friend?" I asked.

"Uh… Cal, this is Boomer; he's my new boarder," Cloak replied a bit uneasily.

"Right. Hi."

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Sweetness," Boomer said, as he took my hand and kissed it rather sloppily; he was an almost yellow coloured Triceraton, about Cloak's height and was dressed rather casually for any Triceraton I had ever seen. I cringed inwardly at the gesture; Cloak gave him a glare, put his hand onto his shoulder and pulled him back.

"Easy Romeo; she's mine. Remember?" Cloak asked, as he walked in ahead of Boomer.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah; I know. Don't worry," Boomer smiled.

Cloak gave Boomer one last look and then turned his attention to me.

"So, what do you think of the place so far?" he asked, as he put an arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer to himself.

"It's great. Thanks," I replied.

"Good." He squeezed my shoulders slightly and smiled.

I just smiled at him and rested my head against his chest; it had been so long since we had seen each other that I was just glad to see him again.

"Miss me?" he asked.

"You know I did," I replied.

Cloak smiled, turned to fully face me and kissed me gently.

"I missed you too," he said, pulling me closer in a hug.

"Aww," said Boomer in the background.

I saw Cloak wrinkle his snout and curl his lip at Boomer in an attempt to shut him up; course it didn't work.

"So, what's new in your life since we last saw each other a few orbital cycles ago?" I asked, as I looked up at Cloak.

"Not too much," he replied with a smile.

"You sure?"

Cloak just nodded.

"No problems with Zanramon?" I asked.

"Of course not," he replied.

I gave him a probing look; I wasn't entirely sure if he was telling the truth.

"Would I lie to you?" he asked.

"I guess not," I replied.

"'Guess not?'!" he squeaked in mock hurt.

I couldn't help but giggle and smile at him.

"Sweetheart, I would never lie to you," he said, pulling me closer and nuzzling his head next to mine gently.

"Never say never," I smiled.

He just gave me a gentle nudge to tell me not to ruin the moment.

"What about that big bash you're supposed to go to?" asked Boomer in the background.

"What?" I asked, as Cloak released me slightly to glare at Boomer.

"It's nothing," Cloak replied, as he looked down at me with a gentler expression.

"A personal invitation from the Prime Leader to meet with him to recognise the guys who did the most work in the fight against the Federation isn't nothing my friend," said Boomer.

"Uh…," Cloak said, unsure what to say next now that the cover was blown.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah," he admitted a bit unhappily.

"You weren't going to go… were you?"

"It's just so… formal and not to mention embarrassing when my family gets wind of it."

I giggled slightly; having met his family I understood what he meant by that.

"I see," I smiled.

"Good," he smiled.

"So you're definitely not going?"

"Yes."

I just nodded.

"Then your family will be travelling from their farm for nothing?" asked Boomer.

"What?" Cloak asked.

"Yeah, got a phone call a few weeks back; they'll be here soon."

Cloak's eyes went wide at the news and I bit my lip slightly; this couldn't end well.

"And you didn't tell me?!" he asked in an almost growl.

"Didn't I?" Boomer asked.

Cloak was fuming to say the least.

"You want to take this outside?" I asked.

"Thank you," Cloak said, as we released each other and Cloak stalked over to Boomer. He picked him up by the collar and tail and hauled him outside of my apartment with Boomer protesting all the way.

Unfortunately for Cloak nothing could be done about stopping his family from coming out and that meant that he had to go to this shindig. The day before the event he and Boomer came to visit me.

"Sorry about not being able to get you a job just yet, Sweetheart," he said, as he rested his back against the backrest of the sofa and squeezed my hand slightly

"Don't worry about it; I've sorted it out," I smiled.

"How?"

"Bumped into Zap on the way home the other day; apparently Bruno needs someone to stay with him at the training hall during the day."

Cloak smiled and chuckled silently.

"When do you start?" he asked.

"Beginning of next week," I smiled.

"Great."

He sighed somewhat uneasily.

"You okay?" I asked, putting my free hand onto his shoulder.

"Yeah, just…," he started.

"You're not comfortable about going to this thing tomorrow."

"Yeah. What makes it worse is that you're coming."

"Hey! You know full well that I'm a quiet person by nature and that I won't be over the top like a certain cousin of yours."

Cloak chuckled at my protest.

"I mean because you and Zanramon will be in the same area," he explained.

"Oh," I nodded.

"I'm not embarrassed by you, no."

"Good."

He chuckled a bit more.

"So…," started Boomer.

Cloak and I looked over at him.

"What you gonna be wearing to this thing, Cal?" he asked.

Cloak narrowed his eyes at him.

"Just curious, Buddy," said Boomer.

"You'll just have to wait and see, Boomer," I smiled.

"Ah, come on."

I just smiled and shook my head.

"Fine," he said in defeat.

I just nodded.

"Well, we better get back home, Boomer," said Cloak, as he prepared to get up.

"Yeah. You need to check that you have everything for tomorrow evening," said Boomer, as he got up from his chair.

"See you tomorrow, Cal."

"See you then, Cloak," I smiled, as I stood up alongside him. We quickly gave each other a kiss and then he left to head back to his apartment with Boomer in tow. I smiled as I watched him leave, but my expression soon turned serious once Cloak and Boomer were out. I knew why Cloak wasn't too keen on this event; I think he would much prefer to be back at his post fending off Federation soldiers by himself than deal with the no doubt awkward and difficult situation of tomorrow evening and he wasn't the only one feeling like that by the way.