Chapter Three
Spy Games and Pizza
~When I had you to myself,
I didn't want you around
Those pretty faces always made you
Stand out in the crowd
But someone picked you from the bunch
One glance was all it took
Now it's much too late for me
To take a second look~
~I want you back by The Jackson 5
Korvo's POV
Terri-with-an-I…
The stupid name of Terry's pervious lifemate. Someone Terry only mentioned twice since becoming Mission Partners. The first time was when they went back in time to Homeworld to grab his wallet and accidentally messed up their Timeline on Earth. Their whole purpose was to figure out how that annoying bastard Vanbo came along with them to Earth, only to get distracted by something even more irritating. While he was following Past-Terry, he got a close look at his Lifemate, a fellow Pupa Expert, who was quite pretty even for Schlorpian Standards. An utter disbelief was his first reaction. How the fuck did Terry get a Lifemate like that and how did someone like her find Terry's laziness and rule-breaking personalities worthy enough to "Bond" with. It can only happen one time, one Lifemate, and Terry was her best Option? What's worse was finding out Terry's true feelings about him and their Mission. How Terry wished he could take Terri-with-an-I instead of him out of space. That he was a total Derf with a flat-ass. Call it a punch to his Pride and Ego or unrecognizable jealousy at the time, but that hurt and it completely pissed him off. They ended up fighting that day, actually putting hands on each other and throwing punches and kicks while rolling all over the floor. Apparently, Terry found out about his Past-self calling him an Idiot to his fellow workers to care about putting him second place compared to his Lifemate. Looking back at it with common sense, he could see why Terry would choose his Lifemate over him, that was the whole purpose of a Lifemate, and maybe he would have been more understandable if Terry mentioned her before they evacuated, but he never brought her up. He did recall catching Terry looking at a light green gem the first couple of days in space with this awful dreadful look on his face, but didn't confront him about it since he was keeping his distance. They were still strangers after all and he didn't know how to approach him yet.
The second and last time Terri-with-an-I was brought up was during one of his sleepless, stressful nights. Too much tossing and turning while feeling hot and cold at the same time, like he had to start all over molding his body-shape back in his King size bed. Which made sense, it was his first night back home after running away to live with the other Shlorpian Team in London and sleeping in the Ship's sleeping pods again, the bed felt odd and out of shape. It was enough to wake up Terry to voice his concern.
"Can't sleep?" Terry whispered while cracking one his eyes open.
Unlike Terry, he hated the nights. The dark and quietness would make him uncomfortable and fragile to all the pressure in his head. It was just hard for him to turn off his mind and would just ramble on and on with every single thing he bottled up. Terry would be half asleep to remember their conversations in the morning so it made it easier for him to vent without judgment. "It…just feels weird being home, I guess." He said, staring at the ceiling, watching the ceiling fan spin and create dancing shadows.
Terry yawned and proceeded to scoot closer to him, "I know the feeling. The bed was a lot bigger when you were gone." Trying to make a joke out of it.
A little peeved, he rolled his eyes, "If it bothers you that much, I can sleep on the couch."
"For fuck sake Krovo, you just came back, do you really want to fight." Terry said, sitting up to rub the sleep out of his eyes. Bending his knees up so he can rest his arms and head on them, he sighed, "Do you need anything? Water? Need to Talk? If you want, I can sing you a lullaby-"
"A fucking What?" He asked, looking up at him, seeing the glowing outline of Terry's body thanks to the moonlight.
"Sorry, I'm just going down a list Ter-I mean someone I knew would suggest when I'm having a bad day…or night in this situation."
"Oh…" He said, twiddling his fingers a bit as the silence between them went on longer than he expected. "Sooo…this-this Shlorpian would"...He cringed, "...would sing you lullabies?"
Terry chuckled, "Yeah, she had a nice voice. No words either, just hums and whistles, but it would always put me to sleep or relax. Especially during Selection for Evacuation Teams. I honestly didn't think I would get picked to be part of our Team. She was already assigned to one right off the back and-" Blah blah blah.
Yeah, he always wondered if there was some sort of mixed up when it came to assigned Pupa Experts since Terry didn't show any passion or knowledge when it came to the damn slug, but Homeworld was long gone before he could voice his complaint and fill out the proper paperwork for a new one. His Paranoia grew worse during their time in space. Being in a mass, dark void for months on end with low supplies, he thought teaming up with Terry was some sort of for not being perfect enough to lead.
"Did you ever have a Lifemate, Korvo?"
He snapped out of his self-loathing thoughts by Terry's question. A small warm blush spread across his cheeks. "What was that?"
Terry sighed, "And you say I don't pay attention. I was wondering if you had a Lifemate or not?"
"No, my life was my work and studies." He said, rather quickly. Which was true, he was too busy trying to make a name for himself to pay attention to other Shlorpians and the rare times he went on "Dates," they thought he was too weird.
"Right…right, you did say you made a lot of love to math equations." Terry said, with a sad chuckle. Looking more sad than amused by his own joke.
"Don't make it sound dirty, Terry. Get your mind out of the gutter." He said, while sitting up in bed. Making a mental note to buy a new mattress tomorrow because fuck it. "What brought this up anyway?"
Terry shrugged, "I don't know, just making conversation. You never talk about your life on Homeworld and we've been on this mission for almost three years now." Though it looked like there was more to Terry's explanation than what he's leading on.
"It seems like an invasion of privacy, I mean I don't go around asking about your life or your Lifemate." He said, crossing his arms while looking away. Realizing he put a lot of sneer on the word Lifemate since how could he forget that pink Hottie Terry somehow got together with.
"Ok, what do you want to know?" Terry asked, like it was no big deal, but that was so like Terry. He was more willing to open up just as long as they were talking to each other. It was no wonder the Replicants would go to him first to vent and rant or whatever before seeking him out. He wasn't an open book like the Second Command.
(Was she really better than me?) He thought, biting his lip to prevent himself from saying it out loud. Terry never answered the question the first time he asked since they were fighting and throwing punches. "I saw her when we went back in time-"
"You mean when we pretended to go back in time?" Terry questioned.
"I don't know, I'm still trying to figure out that day. We weren't drinking or drunk, that's all I'm sure of. Anyway, you seemed…really fond of her…I'm surprised you never mentioned her and didn't you find it weird that both of you were named Terry of all things? Like-like was that just a coincidence or did you really seek one out that shared the same name and how the hell did you end up with someone like her. It makes…no sense." He asked, letting all the questions pour out like a waterfall while making sure he didn't ask the burning one.
Terry chuckled quietly. "You know you're not the only one who pondered about that. Terri had a lot of potential mates trying to snag her away from me, but according to her, I knew how to make her laugh-"
"Make her laugh?"
"Yeah, she valued her work studies which can be stressful…I lost count how many times I would visit her to find dancing gooblers all over the place and all I had to do was make her laugh and boom that sweet smile of hers would return. I just knew how to calm her down and…she adored me for that." Terry said, in a bittersweet tone. He let out a small sigh before staring down at the sheets. "It doesn't sound much, but to her it meant a lot."
He grumbled, "That's stupid. You can't base a Lifemate on humor alone. There has to be more to the equation." He said, lying back down before covering himself with the blanket.
"I didn't look at her like a math problem. We just clicked I guess…till of course, she dumped me an hour before our Homeworld blew up. I guess she couldn't do long distance relationships." He ended with a deep, long yawn.
"Oh yeah, I'm sure she did that when you suggested taking her instead of me. She probably thought you were crazy for trying to ruin two teams' destinations with your stupid ideas."
"Well, if she was here, I'm sure she'll agree with you on that." Terry said, lying back down as well. He shifted and he could feel Terry's eyes staring at him even in the dark. He couldn't help, but turned over til he was facing his Mission Partner, who was trying his hardest to keep his eyes open. Trying to be there for him since he was having a hard time sleeping. "It shouldn't matter if we made sense or not to you, Korvo. She's gone and I try not to think about her anymore."
"Yet you brought her up tonight?"
Terry sighed while closing his eyes. "I don't know Krovo…" He whispered, clearly losing the battle to his much-needed sleep. "When you left…it just reminded me of…when she left…it sucks when people you care about…leaves…"
There was a light snoring after that, leaving Krovo alone with his discomfort and deep thoughts. Maybe it was best not to bring up Terry's Lifemate anymore. Like Terry said, she was gone and bringing her up just made everything weird between them. He closed his eyes, forcing himself to go to sleep, but couldn't get the last thing Terry said out of his head.
"At least I came back…"
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Yumyulack wasn't kidding about Jesse having tons of pictures of Terry and his little Coffee Girl. (It was easier to call her that instead of Terri-with-an-I) After picking up Jesse's phone and walking away for some privacy, he swiped through the pictures with disgust and anger. A lot of selfies between Jesse and the Coffee girl doing silly "girl poses" like puckering up their lips, laughing with big smiles and adding little stars or stupid emojis in the background. Then there was some Jesse took from afar of Terry and Coffee girl talking by the counter, one of Terry playing with the girl's short pink and brown hair, another of her wiping whipped cream off his upper lip with a napkin after drinking his Starbucks drink, and the last one Yumyulack told him about. The one of her surprising Terry with a small kiss on the cheek. He gripped the phone and would've cracked the screen if it wasn't for Jesse calling out to him.
"Korvo, come on, give me back my phone." She shouted from behind him while they and Yumyulack took the floating stairs up to the ship. He had some things he needed to research.
"You gave in too easily Jesse, I was this close to getting money for those pictures." Yummers complained.
"Will you stop with the money, I think we have a more serious issue here." Jesse snapped back at her brother.
"There is no serious issue here, Jesse" He sneered as he stood next to the ship's main computer. Tossing the phone back to Jesse before typing in his password and codes to access old files.
"Then why do you look like you're about to squirt gooblers out of your head again?" Yumyulack asked with his usual Deadpan look.
"And what are you looking up on the computer?" Jesse asked.
"Just doing some research…" He muttered, remembering they still kept everyone's files after releasing those Nano-bots in the City's water system, so chances are there was one on this..."Terri" human.
The name gave him chills, but when he got a good look at the girl in the pictures, he was left speechless. Humans were disgusting as it is and would never compare them to the much more advanced Shlorpians like himself, but for some reason, he could actually see some similar facial features between the two Terri-with-an-I. Did Terry know about this or did the name blinded him from the "Elephant in the room."
"Research? You mean spying?" Yumyulack complained while crossing his arms.
After bringing up all the people's files, he sized it down by name and gender only to be disappointed by the long list on the screen. "It's not spying!" He said, turning around to face the replicants. "Call it…making sure Terry doesn't get into trouble. Who-who knows, she could be a criminal or into some weird shit you see on the Dark Web or so sick creature like Debbie"
"You mean to see if you can measure up to her?" Yumyulack chuckled, "I'll save you the time and say no. There's no way Terry is going to give up "That" for a whiny, miserable Being like you."
Jesse frowned, "Korvo, be reasonable. This is going to hurt and confuse Terry. Just let him be."
"Besides, instead of doing all this "research" do what any normal, crazy Stalker would do and look her up on Social Media pages. Chances are she has one or two."
"Don't tell me to be reasonable, Jesse." He said, looking at the little clone of his partner. "I should be the one upset with you…not the other way around."
"Why me?" Jesse asked, stunned.
"Yeah, Jesse, this is all your fault, you stupid idiot!" Yummers said to play along and suck-up.
"Do you think I'm blind or deaf, I know you've been encouraging Terry and helping him "Woo" the stupid human. Trying to show Terry this could be some romantic relationship instead of him just using her to "Put another notch in his belt." He stated, using the same phrase Terry accused him after the Red Goobler's wedding. "And for what? Those stupid, sugary, overpriced Cake Pops?! Was it worth it?!"
"Hey, don't point fingers at me. I even asked Terry about that too and he said no! I'm not lying when I said he truly likes her and she likes him too." Jesse shouted back.
"Oh and you're perfectly ok with that? Are you willing to let him abandon you and the rest of the team if things get serious with the Coffee Girl? Did you forget the shit he went through after getting involved with that Ansel Asshole!" Though that relationship was short because Terry didn't know what "Marriage" was about back then when he went along with it. Still, it hurt the team when he left to be with that guy and even worse when he came back after their disastrous break-up. Of course, he can't really talk since he left too to go to London. Ah Fuck, why is he thinking about all these abandonment issues, the whole team sucks. There. He said it. Moving on.
"Her name is Terri and don't try to fill my head with guilt because you can't stand seeing Terry with someone else. You had your chance and didn't want it, now let her have her chance to make Terry happy!" Jesse spat before turning on the heel of her white shoes to leave.
"You have no right to talk to me like that!" He shouted.
"That's why I'm leaving." Jesse said, pressing the button to close the hatch door, but not before getting in the last word. "By the way, I hope she wins."
He rubbed his temples, trying to prevent more gooblers from escaping and noticed Yumyulack smirking at him. "What? You think I was too hard on her?"
"Oh hell no, but I know what you're thinking and I'll be glad to help." His little clone said.
"Help with what?"
Yumyulack smiled and pulled out his ray gun, complete with a laser pointer attachment. "With your problem. I really don't care, but the fact you're getting all worked up tends to lead to drastic measures and excessive force. So, should I shoot her right between the eyes for a quick death or in the stomach so she can bleed out? Or if you want, I can get them both while they're sucking each others' lips off."
"What! NO! Stop that!" He shouted while grabbing the ray gun out of his little clone's hands. "You know you can't kill people." He lectured though the thought of getting rid of the Coffee Girl didn't sound like a bad idea.
"Oh, so it's ok for you and Terry to do it, but not me?"
"Terry and I never killed people."
"Bullshit! What about all the damage and fatalities that Funbucket monster caused or that mass slaughtering your Robot Wife did at the Dave and Busters restaurant?" Yumyulack questioned.
"They killed those people, we didn't. Big Difference."
"You and Terry created them?"
He smacked his forehead, "What am I, on trial here? I thought you said you wanted to help."
"I do, so again…" Yummer said, pulling out another ray gun, "Right between the eyes or in the stomach."
"Without using excessive force, dumbass!" He shouted, snatching the second ray gun away. Seriously, how many ray guns does his Replicant have.
"Well, I would say I could use one of my Napadoodles to hunt her down, but you told me to release them in the wild. Why not turn her into a Rat like Terry did to that Basic Bride you guys hated."
He had to think about that one. That would be simple and quick. It's illegal to kill a human, but a rat? He could turn the Coffee girl into a rat then stomp on her with his own boot and all his problems will disappear like a magic magic trick. ….but…He grumbled. "Easier said than done. Terry won't be very forgivable about it."
"What makes you think he will find out?"
"Because you and Jesse can't keep a secret for one and two, if something happens to her Jesse is going to point fingers at us…mostly me." He said, crossing his arms.
Maybe he was putting way too much thought into this. It's only been a month and it was only one "Date." Terry couldn't possibly have strong feelings for this human just because she was similar to his old Lifemate. Part of him still believes once Terry gets what he wants from the human, he would dump her and move on to the next target. His mind was telling him that, but that tightening gut feeling was warning him of a potential threat. "We can't kill her. I-I-I just want her gone."
"Gone, huh? Like shrinking her down and putting her in an Art-farm style prison behind a wall?" Yumyulack snickered.
He raised a brow, "No, what in the world are you talking about?"
His clone laughed nervously, "Nothing, just high off of sugar that's all."
He blinked at Yummer's behavior. "So how can we get rid of her?"
Yummers pulled out his phone, "Well, we can go back to research as you put it. What better way to take down your enemy than know everything about them on Social Media." He said, basically going back to square one. "It works for the "Woke" people."
"Ok, fine, but how in the world do we find her in these social places, there's like tons of "Terris" in this city." He asked, completely annoyed he's turning to Yummers for help.
"It's not that hard, you Boomer." Yummers said, pressing a few buttons on his phone. "I have Jesse on Facebook and Instagram, knowing her and how her simple, needs-friends mind works, she probably added Terry's Terri to her friend's list." He smirked from the results on his phone and handed it over to him to see.
Yummers was on his "Book of faces" app with a profile displaying a woman named Theresa (Terri) Salas on it. There was a picture of the Coffee Girl smiling at the camera while holding up a Starbucks cup. He couldn't help, but read her recent post which only read: Date Night with Terry-Berry. Not sure where, he told me just to dress warmly.
At least he got her full name. That he can work with for his own research.
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He spent the next few hours on the ship looking up whatever he could find on the Coffee Girl. Everything from what he forced himself to go through on social media and what old files the Nano-bots picked up after finding her out of all the city's population. He thought he could find something freakish or Unholy he could use against Terri. Fuck, most of Terry's friends, companions and sex-stuff people had deep, dark secrets that were deal-breakers to the Pupa Expert, so he was sure this One was no expectation. Yet, after reading more information on Coffee Girl that he was sure even she didn't know about herself, he found nothing. Nothing that would make Terry back off and "Ghost" as humans would put it. She didn't have deep dark secrets, in fact, she was very open about her life (Everything from being Pansexual to celebrating five years clean from her drug addictions) and lives by "Will try anything once" quote he found on her Facebook. She was pretty much like Terry in a sense which will make it hard to get Terry to push her away.
"Well, this fucking sucks." He said, looking at the computer screen that had the Coffee Girl's profile and Facebook page up. He begrudgingly scrolled down her posts and noticed she was keeping tabs on Terry over the weeks every time he went over to her job to visit. There were also pictures she's taken of the two of them and a few with Jesse also. Terry was smiling brightly in each one. It was so...so…
He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a loud slurping sound from behind him. He turned around to find the Pupa standing there while drinking a soda. He grumbled, he told the Replicants over and over again not to give the Pupa soda since it makes him sick like candy, but worse. While the candy makes the slug vomit, soda tends to give him "Toilet Troubles" to put it lightly. "What are you doing? You're not supposed to drink those." He said, walking up to the slug to snatch the soda can away from him.
The Pupa whined and tried to reach for the can with his stubby hands.
"Trust me, it's for your own good." He said, finishing the soda in three gulfs. Trying to keep himself from going down stairs to the Manc Ave to get drunk. After that thing in Las Vegas, he swore off the booze.
The Pupa sighed then noticed something behind him. "Terri! Human!"
He slumped, "Don't tell me you knew about her before I did too?"
Pupa shrugged, "Jesse."
Of course. Why is he not surprised? Jesse was known to have a big mouth. He was pretty sure the mailman, Cashiers from the Market, and even that Hobo that lived behind the Taco Bell knew about Terry's Terri before he did. He tapped his foot and scanned his surroundings before sitting down on the floor in front of Pupa. "So, you're genetically design to store all of Shlorp's data to terraform when the times comes, right?"
Pupa blinked, staring at him with those big, dazed eyes.
He rubbed his arm, "Which means you should be smart and you should know everything about every Shlorpian, right? Like-like certain information about other Pupa Experts?" He asked, sounding stupid. All that info was long gone when Shlorp blew up and anything that personal was blocked that even Aisha couldn't get into. He can find out what Team the pink Shlorpian was assigned to, but personal data was out of the question. Which makes sense, he sure doesn't want others to know deep, hidden secrets about him.
Pupa burped, "Soda!"
He groaned and rubbed his face in frustration. Why is this bothering him so much? So what if Terry is seeing someone else and so what if that someone looked and named like his previous Lifemate, he didn't want a relationship with the Pupa Expert so why does he feel so…forgotten…
Terry has always been very open with his feelings towards him, could it really be that easy to replace him? "So Terry…you don't think he's serious about this Coffee Girl, do you?"
"Terry likes Terri." Pupa said, pointing at Terri's profile picture on the computer.
He scoffed, "I'm better than some cheap knock-off."
Pupa blew a raspberry before giving him a Thumbs-down. He was about to say something when he heard the door hatch opening, believing it was probably Jesse and Yumyulack, he didn't bother to look up till he heard Terry's voice.
"Korvo?"
He jumped, nearly kicking the Pupa, and instantly stepped back to cover the computer screen with his body. Hoping Terry didn't see Terri's profile plastered all over while sweating in pure panic. "Terry!"...He shouted, nervously. How much did Terry see?!
Terry, still dressed in those fancy clothes from this morning blinked, his lips pressed thinly. "Were you…were you talking to the Pupa?"...
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Later that night…
"You Suck, you said we were going out to get McDonalds." Yumyulack scoffed while giving him an ugly look.
Sitting in the car in the City Park's darkest part of the parking lot, Korvo rolled his eyes at his repcliant's fussiness. After a rather embarrassing and ego-crushing conversation with Terry, he decided to track down the Hover Platform's location for a little spying on the "Happy Couple." He brought Yumyulack along for the company and the fact he had the gear to pull off this type of mission since he was a Bounty Hunter and all.
"I only said that so Jesse wouldn't get suspicious." He said, staring straight at the Park that was slightly lit thanks to the sunset. There were still humans out here, parents letting their brats play on the playground, some walking in circles in those stupid workout clothes and others just sitting on benches enjoying the polluted air with a happy smile across the faces. All of them ignoring the Hover Platform floating quietly above the open field. They were too far away, but he can definitely see Terry and the Coffee Girl sitting down on the Platform, enjoying each other's company. The Light Poles were beginning to turn on as it got darker. "Do you have anything we can use to hear them?"
Yummer rolled his eyes, "Seriously, is that the reason you brought me so I can help you spy like some crazy ex-boyfriend slacker?"
"Don't act like you're above that, Yumyulack. You live for this shit." He argued back, and decided to sweeten the deal. "Beside, if you help, I'll take you to McDonalds afterwards."
His Replicant thought about it before taking something out of his pocket. "Fine, I better get a McFlurry." He muttered while handing him a small little device.
"What's this?"
"It's similar to your Nano-Bots, but this one can fly around and has a camera embedded in it. To others it will only look like a small bug."
He smirked, "Impressive and here I thought you didn't get anything from me." He said, looking at the well-designed tech. Cleaner too. This one didn't have to be swallowed and peed out.
"Yeah, and it has Bluetooth, so you can see what it sees on your phone or tablet." Yummers said, before revealing an Ipad decorated in stickers of hearts and boy-band pictures. "Which I have stolen when Jesse wasn't looking."
"And it can pick up sounds?" He asked which Yummers nodded. "Excellent. Maybe we can use it to figure out what Terry sees in this cheap little knock-off human"
"Oh, that's harsh, where did that come from?" His Rep asked.
"No where." He muttered to himself while rolling down the car's window. "There's no way I'm going to let Terry go after calling me a Bitchy Diva." He whispered to himself.
The nerve of that Asshole, getting close to him, nearly kissing him right there in the ship only to smugly leave to see that Coffee little harpy. Terry even went as far as thanking him for "Setting" those two up in the first place. Fuck that guy. With that in mind, he released the device, watching it float away and could see Yummer guiding it with a small controller in his hands. He grabbed the tablet and turned it on just in time to see the device flying over to the Hover Platform, going under it before flying above to see Terry and his Date from behind. He grumbled from the set up. Terry went all out for this simple date in the park. A thick blanket was spread out over the platform, he had his phone's flashlight on for light while playing soft music from his playlist. There was a large plate between them full of different types of snacks complete with a wine bottle chilling in a small cooler. They were talking, while sitting on the edge with their legs dangling over.
"I can't hear them." He said, looking at Yumyulack.
"Just turn up the volume on the tablet, Genius" His Clone said sarcastically.
He rolled his eyes and turned up the volume only to flinch when the device was getting very dangerously close to the Coffee Girl's cleavage while hearing Yummer snicker like a pervert. "Yumyulack, stop that!" He shouted.
The device was gently swatted away by the Coffee Girl's hand. "Damn mosquitoes." She said, clearly grossed out. He gestures to Yummers to be quiet so he can listen in clearly.
The flying device flew back to get a better view and he could see Terry laughing. "They can't help it, you're just sweet."
The Coffee Girl smiled and playfully hit Terry in the arm. "What I don't get, how come they're not biting you."
"I guess Alien Blood doesn't count." Terry said, stretching out his arm to look at his green skin. "I never even heard of them until we landed here. We didn't have these types of bugs on Homeworld."
The Coffee Girl laughed before taking a small sip of wine. "Sounds like a nice place to live from what you've been telling me. Clean air, No wars, advanced technology…as you put it the "Perfect Utopia."
"You do know I was being sarcastic on the "Perfect Utopia" part, right?"
"Oh I figured that out when you started "Planet Shlorp was the Perfect Utopia…" in that deep, scratchy voice."
Terry laughed, "That was just a poor imitation of my Mission Partner. He would start everyday telling us how great Shlorp was before you know…blew up."
Yumyulack laughed only to receive a smack on the back of his head. He shushed him before turning back to the screen. The Coffee Girl fed Terry a piece of cheese before stroking his cheek. "You never talk about your Partner. Except he's part of your team and he has a Replicant like you do. What's he like?"
"An old Fart to put it simply." Terry said, though he didn't think the Pupa Expert was joking from that statement. That Son of a Bitch. "He dedicated his life to our Homeworld, who knows what kind of cracks formed in his head when he saw the whole place blow up. He saw it as a Perfect Utopia, but I didn't. At least here, your planet has freedom to do and be whatever you want. Ugh, I can still hear the Elders back on Homeworld chanting while we work and study in the Academy: Conformity is Cool, Conformity is cool, Conformity is cool, over and over and over again."
"Wow, that's some crazy Disney Brainwashing crap right there." The Coffee Girl said, looking a little creeped out. "I guess that's called for in order to keep things as beautiful as it was. We may have more "Freedom," but that doesn't mean everything is perfect here on Earth." He tightened his grip on the tablet when Terry scooted over til his side was pressed up against the Coffee Girl, going as far as wrapping his arm around her back to pull her even closer. She leaned into his touch, letting her head rest, happily, on his shoulder. "So what were you like on Homeworld?
That made Terry jump, "Oh, yeah, that…um…you know I was pretty much the same there as I am here."
Defected would be the word for Terry on Homeworld. How the Pupa Expert survived so long on Shlorp was still a mystery to him. His thoughts were interrupted by Yumyulack scrolling, "Ugh, this is so lame, can I just leave and play in the park or something."
"Shut up, I'm not going to risk getting caught. You have a phone, play some Candy Crush or something."
"Fine, you take over the controller then." Yummer smirked while tossing the controller to the Nano-bot at him.
He freaked when it slipped through his fingers and landed at the bottom where the gas and brake pedals were. Panicking, he bent down to get it, hitting his head on the steering wheel and honking the horn loudly. "Fuck!" He shouted, grabbing his forehead while trying to reach for the controller. He could hear Yumyulack laughing and the conversation Terry was still having with the Coffee Girl on the tablet. He quickly sat up, rubbing the spot he hit on the steering wheel, and stared at the tablet's screen. It was dark and the voices were now muffle. "What happened? Did I break it?"
Yumyulack shook his head, "No, it landed in the opened Cooler next to the wine bottle."
"Shit, shit, shit, did they see it?" He asked, trying to figure out how to use the control. This would be so much easier if he was freaking out and gooblering all over the place.
"I doubt it, by the way they were looking at each other, they're probably going to make-out." Yummers said, calmly while grabbing a pair of night-vision binoculars from his suit.
"They're WHAT!" He shouted, slipping his thumb over the control's stick without even thinking. The Device flew right out of the cooler and hit Terry in the back of his head before he had a chance to kiss the Coffee Girl.
"Ow!"
Yummer laughed again, "Direct hit, but easy on the Nano-bot. Those take a while to build."
"Shut up!" He shouted, before looking down at the tablet. On the screen, Terry was rubbing the back of his head while looking around. The Nano-Bot was safely flying away from them and was now floating above their heads.
"Are you ok?" The Coffee Girl asked.
"Yeah, it felt like something hit me." Terry said, while the Coffee Girl took a look.
"I don't see anything, maybe it was a bug."
"Probably…" Terry said, shrugging before putting on a small smile. "What was your question again?"
"Oh, I was curious if you had friends and family back on Homeworld?"
"Friends, sure I had a lot of friends. You could say I was the "Class Clown" and knew how to cause shit to get a laugh." He said, with pride. "You wouldn't believe all the stuff I did just to piss off those Tight-Ass Professors and their Brown-Nosing students. As for family, that was sort of unheard of on Homeworld. I never met my parents and I was introduced to Jesse the day we had to evacuate."
The Coffee Girl frowned in pity. "Aww, that's awful. So you were always alone at the end of the day."
"Yes, I mean there were some that had Lifemates, but yeah, most of the time, you just go back to this tiny room, go to sleep and wake up to do the same thing just like yesterday. Heh, it sucks that today was like yesterday and it will be the same as tomorrow, you could say. Those with Lifemates or Rich lived differently though."
The Coffee Girl smiled, "Did you have a Lifemate?"
Now he was really concentrating on the tablet screen, tuning out Yummers' cussing and the stupid music of Candy Crush playing in the background to see how Terry was going to respond to that question. He didn't know if the Coffee Girl saw it, but he did, the slight movement of Terry's mouth frowning before forcing a small smile to hide it. "No…"
No? Did Terry actually say No? Yummers blew a raspberry while looking through his night-vision goggles. "Terry having a Lifemate. That's a laugh. Only a stupid dumbass would like Terry enough to bond like that." His clone chuckled then noticed the deep glare on his face and rolled his eyes, "I mean no offense, Korvo."
"Keep it up and there will be no trip to McDonalds." He threatened before looking back at the tablet.
The Coffee Girl pulled away from Terry's embrace and raised an eyebrow. "That's hard to believe. You didn't have anyone special back at Homeworld?"
Terry sighed, "There was…one…she was something else. Always smiling and very patient. Which is saying a lot since she had to deal with my Antics all the time. She just…knew me…probably more than I knew myself. We were always together and the days we weren't…" He looked at the Coffee Girl deep in her eyes…"when I saw her again…it felt like we were never apart…"
"I guess Planet destruction ended that?"
Terry nodded. "She ended it before Homeworld blew up so I can't really blame the asteroid. She thought ending it would make it better, less hurt, I guess."
"Ugh, I'm going to be sick." Yumyulack said, looking away to gag. "Can we go?"
So Terry was keeping the Coffee Girl in the dark about his Lifemate Terri. Interesting…what are Terry's intentions leaving that as a secret? He shook his head when he saw Terry using the blanket they brought for their date to wrap it around the Coffee Girl for warmth before pulling her in for some more cuddling. Complete with them closing their eyes and touching foreheads. Enjoying each other's presence. The little tender affection left him stumped. He's seen the way Terry would act around humans. It was all about getting them to bed or drinking with them till they all passed out on the floor. Terry never showed this type of affection to anyone other than…him.
Something in him started to boil. Was this piece of Trash trying to replace him? And was Terry happy to let that happen. Jesse was right, Terry really did like this girl more than just another human to bed and fuck. Could his team really be on the verge of losing Terry again?
"NO, I won't allow it." He said, out loud.
"Great, just tell me when and I'll shoot her."
He looked to the right to see Yumyulack with his Ray Gun out and ready to fire. He could see the red laser beaming through the Windshield of the car and the red dot right on the side of the Coffee Girl's head. She was completely unaware of it since she was too busy sharing a soft, tender kiss with Terry. "For fuck sake, Yumyulack!" He said, grabbing the Ray gun only to accidentally fire it.
Their windshield cracked from the beam and barely hit the Coffee Girl's hair before hitting a nearby tree. There was a loud explosion, breaking the kiss between Terry and Terri and causing everyone at the park to stop and stare.
"Fuck." He shouted, turning on the car, "We need to get out of here!"
"Damn, your Aim is lousy, you know that" Yummers said, putting on his seatbelt.
"Not now, Yumyulack!" He shouted, while speeding out of the parking lot before Terry could spot them. Great, how is he going to explain a broken windshield?
"I had a clear shot!"
"I said not now, Yumyulack!" He shouted again, nearly hitting a car when he passed a Stop Sign.
"Now can we get McDonalds?"
000000000000
Weeks past like molasses in his mind. His once routine was now scattered all over the place and it seems like everyone was Ok with that except for him. Terry was hardly home anymore, spending his time at the mall to watch the Coffee Girl work or taking her on dates. Fuck, even Jesse was taking part of this Betrayal by tagging along with them for movies and ice cream and all that "Family Time" shit Terry would beg/force him to do a while back. He thought Yumyulack was on his side at the beginning, but Jesse somehow convinced his Clone to come along on their outings. He really thought Yummer was smarter than that, but even he couldn't resist those stupid cake pops, popcorn and fun entertainment the Coffee Girl would dangle like a fishhook. Unbelievable. He was more pissed off at himself than anything. He always dreamed for a peaceful and quiet home where no one would bother him and now that he has it, he hates it. All of them were replacing him with this human and they could care less.
He kept himself busy during the silence in order to keep himself from hitting the bottle or taking up Yummer's offer to assassinate the human by fixing the ship or doing home improvement projects around the house. As for Terry? They hardly talk anymore. The most he would get out of his Mission Partner was ten words or less a day and they were mostly short answers to who was going to pick up the Reps from school and what to order out for dinner. They don't even share their bed anymore. Terry pretty much took over the couch, claiming he didn't want to keep him at night talking on the phone or face-timing. Sure that was a good excuse for a night or two, but twenty nights? He was losing a lot of sleep without the white noise of Terry's snoring or humming though he would never admit out loud.
He sighed. He was depressed and with everyone supporting Terry and his new relationship, he had no one to turn to other than Ship's Computer Aisha, but even she was giving him shit about it.
Today was no better, it felt like he couldn't stay in the house or the ship, but didn't want to leave his comfort zone so he decided to go on the roof to give the ship a wash and wipe down. The last time he paid attention to the outside part of the ship was when Funbucket was around and that was nearly two years ago. With that, he carefully made his way to the rooftop with a long hose, a bucket of soapy water and a few tools and tried to enjoy the sunlight and populated air. Terry was once again out and about, but did promise him he would pick up the Replicants after school so he could concentrate on the ship and be left alone with his dark thoughts. He grumbled. He can't stand his inner thoughts, they would go on and on like a broken record, telling him how much better Human Terri was for the team instead of him. How much better she will treat Terry where he practically failed and he might as well jump off the roof and end it. It's not like they will miss you, they have the Coffee Girl and Cake pops to keep them company. The only thing he could do to block out those thoughts was to wash it out angrily by spraying the ship down with the hose. Letting the mist of the water sizzle on his pissed off face.
An hour later, he heard a car drive up and the voices of the Replicants getting out of the car and racing into the house with Terry following. He was hammering a few wooden boards on the roof when he saw Terry climbing out of the Replicants' bedroom window at the corner of his eye. He didn't bother to say hi to him and made it clear he didn't want to be bothered by hammering the nail down louder and harder. It was hard being around Terry since he would always come home smelling like that's Bitch's perfume. At least Terry was home for now and not out there with that human. It's good to know he's keeping her away from his comfort zone. The last thing he wants is to see her face to face.
"So…um…Terri is coming over for the night…"
He missed the nail and hit his fucking hand with the hammer and screamed.
"That looked like it hurt." Terry said, calmly.
He gripped his hand to see a faint blue bruise already forming around his knuckles before picking himself up to balance himself on the roof. "What?"
Terry rolled his eyes. "Terri is coming over for the night around dinner time-"
"No." He said, plain and simple.
"That wasn't a question, Korvo." He said, picking up a used towel to wipe the ship down. His weak kind gesture to butter him up.
"What makes you think I would allow a human into my house?! You remember what happened the last time?"
"You mean when we invited everyone over from college to party and you killed them with ice lava?" Terry questioned.
"That YOU started by shooting me with the Dumb Ray! After that, I told you, no more humans in my house. It took me forever to wipe their ashes off the walls and furniture."
"It's my house too, Korvo." Terry argued.
"It doesn't matter, Terry. No humans." He repeated again, while grabbing another board to nail down.
"It's just Terri. Her stupid roommate's boyfriend came over for a nightcap and didn't want her there. That Whore didn't even give Terri time to grab some things before bolting the door shut."
"Am I supposed to be sad about her problems? Tell the human to stay at a hotel or something."
"Terri, Korvo, why is it so hard to call her Terri and I already told her she can stay here so she doesn't have to be alone." Terry said, getting slightly offended for not calling a human by their first name.
The last thing he wants is to have both of them under his roof. Talking, touching, and exchanging kisses right in front of him and the Reps and filling the house with that stupid fruity perfume. "And what? Do you expect me to welcome her with open arms and feed her and entertain her with a smile plastered all over my face." He asked, pointing the hammer at Terry.
Terry sighed and put on a desperate smile. "Come on Korvo, it's not like she's just going to take advantage of our hospitality. She's willing to order pizza for all of us for dinner and brought over a movie for us to watch as a Thank you."
"Pizza?! It's Tuesday so it's tacos and manual reading night."
"Since when did we start doing that?"
He grit his teeth. "Seriously?! Do you not pay attention when I talk to you? We always do that on Tuesday, I had to fake my own death just to get you and the Replicants to attend, remember?!" He said, throwing the hammer down on the roof before picking up the hose to rewash the ship. Hoping the cold water will cool down his fuming face again.
"We can switch it tomorrow. I even told her to get Stuffed-crust knowing it's your favorite. Plus, the movie she picked out is pretty cool. It's about a ship that crashes into an iceberg and most of the humans freeze to death. Apparently it's historically accurate. It's called the Titanic."
He did love Stuffed-Crust Pizza and movies that involved mass killings of humans does sound interesting. He looked over at Terry and was compelled to spray him with the hose because he was giving him that sweet, pleading face. Terry smiled. He sighed and nodded. "Fine, she can stay, just stop making that face." He said, turning his attention back to washing the non-existing dirt off the ship.
Terry grins big, "Thanks Korvo, you're the best! Also, is there any way you can take the couch tonight!?" He said rather quickly.
He whipped his head around to face the Pupa Exert again, "Say WHAT!?"
"I know it's a lot of ask, but I want Terri to be comfortable-"
"You want HER in OUR bed!"
"No, well yes,...ok, she doesn't know we share a room-"
"You mean she doesn't know we share a bed-"
"I didn't want to freak her out. As far as she knows, we have separate rooms-"
"That never stopped you before! I lost count how many times you brought humans into our room and they were perfectly happy with it"
"And you bitched about it all the time! Hey, I don't mind if you want to stay and watch us sleep, Korvo-
"TERRY!?" He shouted, blushing a deep purple.
"But I'm just thinking about Terri. She's…different."
"You want me to sleep on a very uncomfortable couch so you can bang that human in our bed?!"
"Or sleep in the ship, whatever is better, can I please just have the room to ourselves?"
"NO." He shouted, gripping the house really tight. Technically, there was a third room, but it was caved in thanks to the front part of the ship thus making it unlivable. He was going to fix it, but was later put on the "back burner" since everyone was ok with their sleeping arrangements. "If you want her here so badly, make her sleep on the fucking couch."
"Stop being so petty. It's only for one night!" Terry shouted, while rolling the washcloth into a ball.
"It's either the couch, a hotel or get "Sandwiched" by us. I'm not giving up the bed." He said, firmly while smirking at the frustrating look on Terry's face. It was a flat out lie, he'll lock himself in their room before letting Terry take over, but he just wanted to piss Terry off as much as possible. There was no way he's going to give Terry that chance to do "Sex Stuff" with that Coffee Bean Floozie.
Terry threw the washcloth at his face which he retaliated by spraying him with the hose. Nearly knocking him off the roof….