Chapter CXXI: One of Those Days

June 30, 2544 (UNSC Calendar)/

New Alexandria, Viery territory, Reach, Epsilon Eridani System

"Sometimes it's just one of those days…"

"Punch, punch, punch," Schitzo groaned. "I get it, you want to distract yourself, but trust me, I'm not going to go away."

I just punched the punching bag harder. Making it swing unevenly. I had been doing this for the past week. I'd get up and go to the gym, I wouldn't run or do weights or anything, I'd just go towards the punching bag and punch the hell out of it for as long as my body could take it. I know it wasn't healthy, but it was moderately good as anger management.

I finally let out a slightly more violent punch before taking a step back. My shirt was drenched in sweat and my face was completely wet, my hair was even stuck to my head from all the sweatiness. I grunted while taking deep breaths and wiped my face and hair with a towel I had brought with me. The gym regulars just ignored me. I had gotten a few weird looks the first time I came here, but now they were just mostly used to me. I went towards the showered and cleaned myself up before changing into more comfortable clothes. Cargo pants and a shirt. No one would have any trouble telling what I did for a living when they saw me.

"Pavel calling," my phone warned me.

I groaned loudly before reaching for the device. For some reason I had decided to buy this stupid retro thing instead of going with regular in-ear phones. "Yup?"

"You taking the rocket?"

"I'm about to," I replied.

"Good, Amber cooked and everything."

"Did she make those cupcakes?"

"No."

"Oh, tell her to make some man, they're good."

Pavel's voice went suddenly quiet. "I told her, but she just snapped at me. I thought that I had missed the worst of the mood swings during her pregnancy."

"You don't need to be pregnant to have mood swings…"

"Bro…"

"Fine, fine, sorry. I might be late, just fifteen minutes or so, don't worry too much about it."

"I'm worried about you." Pavel had a penchant for trying to be the team dad. It didn't quite work for him. "You've been acting weird. Well, weirder than usual ever since Fumirole."

"I'm fine," I assured him.

"You sure?" His voice went quiet once again. "Does killing people bother you? I mean, it's normal, you know?"

"It's not that," I said truthfully. I hadn't really thought about all those insurrectionists that I had killed in cold blood. Truth be told, normal people would have at least a little bit of regret, even if they knew that they did what they had to do. I knew why I did what I did and knew that it was a necessary thing for the greater good of humanity. So yeah, no nightmares for me. "I'm fine, nothing to worry about. At least not for now."

Pavel didn't seem so sure, but he knew better than to press the issue. "Ok, good, tell me how the rocket ride was, I've never ridden one."

"It's just a train Pavel," I said. "Like a maglev, nothing fancy."

"Train…you keep saying that word."

"Goodbye," I said, ending the conversation.

I had one thing to do before leaving New Alexandria. I hadn't called Marie ever since I last saw her here. I owed her at least an explanation or something. Well, letting her know that I was alive would've worked just fine too. Besides, I could get some free food from the restaurant she worked in.

The restaurant (I keep forgetting its name) was relatively crowded, it was a lunch time and several hotshot bankers and lawyers came here to get the most expensive food they could find. You'd think that paying off their student loans would be a priority.

"Frank!"

Crap.

"Hey Ems," I replied cheerfully, hugging her lightly. "How you been?"

"Good, better now." Yup, there was definitely a devilish grin on her pretty face.

"I'm just passing through," I explained. "Letting you know that I'm alive and all that."

"Just passing through? I can take my break in a couple of minutes."

I shook my head lightly. "That doesn't sound like a good idea."

"Oh," she took half a step back. "Who is she?"

"A medic," I admitted.

"How cliché," Marie noted. I was relieved when she said that with a hint of a smile on her face. She wasn't secretly in love with me or anything, apparently she really did just think of me as a reliable sex buddy. Go figure. "Well, if it doesn't work out…"

"You'll be the first to know," I assured her. "I have some friends that I could introduce you to…"

"No, that would be weird, besides, I don't want that kind of reputation."

Don't say anything now…

"Fine, fine, suit yourself, "I smiled at her. "Hey, I gotta run, bye."

"Bye."

That was probably the most mature thing that had happened to me in a long while. No screaming, no cursing, no crying. I was surprised with the way that I had handled it too, didn't mess up. Marie was the real winner there, she took my rejection with grace. Not like she'd have much trouble finding someone to give her attention, with looks like those she probably had an army of admirers gunning for a spot in her bed. Hell, she was probably the main reason why the restaurant was so successful.

To the maglev station!

"Hi Frank! Come on in!"

I hugged Amber lightly and walked inside their apartment building. It was a decent place by most standards. Nothing fancy, but Amber seemed to have a knack for decoration, the place looked good. I ruffled through my hair, I don't know why I did it, but my longer hair seemed to be perfect for ruffling. In fact, I would've asked Hanna to ruffle it for me if I felt like she'd go with it.

"Where's the little critter?" I asked. "I was promised an audience with her."

"She's asleep," Amber explained.

Cue to the noises of a baby crying through the wall.

"Or not."

"Hey Frank," Pavel greeted me. His eyes had bags under them and he looked tired. My friend was used to going days without sleep while fighting and evading the Covenant, but somehow the wails of his firstborn child managed to break him. "Good to see you."

"You too," I replied. It had been a while since I had last seen Pavel. We lived together, worked together, and were usually together all the time. It was unusual if more than one week passed without seeing him. "So, where's Lavanya?"

"I'll get her," Pavel told Amber, kissing her on the cheek before disappearing into the room.

"Pavel tells me there were a few mishaps during your last top secret mission."

I smiled nervously. "You could say that." I still had a large scab covering the bridge of my nose and a smaller, fading scar on my cheek. To most people it would look like I had been in a fight.

"Must've been rough," she said, examining my healing injuries.

"Not that much," I shrugged. Although it was certainly unexpected.

"Ah, there she is."

I turned around and saw my best friend with his daughter in his hands. The little kid was wrapped up in black ODST pajamas, making what was quite possibly the cutest sight in the history of ever. I immediately rushed towards him and all but yanked the infant from my friend's hands. Pavel made to complain but I shut him up. The little baby was cute, she looked like a baby should look like.

"Isn't she beautiful?" Pavel asked me with the biggest smile I had ever seen on his face.

"She takes after her mother," I replied. Amber giggled at that.

"Stop flirting with my wife."

"Sorry, it was meant as an insult to you, but I see your point."

I looked down at the bawling baby. I had to admit that the charm of the newborn girl was kind of lost by the drool and boogers covering half her face. She improved a little when her mother cleaned her, but the crying still made her somewhat annoying. I rocked her back and forth while Pavel smiled and shook his head. Eventually, with some help from Amber I managed to calm down the baby.

"She's missing a hat," I said. "To protect her little head."

"She must've taken it off," he shrugged. "Now let's have dinner."

"Sounds good," Amber agreed. "Sit down, will you? I'll go get the food."

"Sure you don't need any help?" Pavel asked.

"You sure don't offer your help when I ask for it," I grumbled.

"That's why he married me, Frank," Amber's voice came from the kitchen.

When she finally came back she was carrying a pair of pots with her. One of them had some sort of homemade stew and the other one was full of pasta. I got the honor of having the first dish because I was a guest. I didn't waste any time digging into it, no matter how rude it was for me to do so. I can't say I was sorry for it.

"Your cooking is amazing!" I exclaimed in surprise.

"I took some cooking courses while in college," she admitted modestly. I could tell that she was glad I had said that.

I dug into my pasta while picking at my stew. I could tell that Pavel was enjoying the food almost as much as I was. He had had at least a week to get used to the quality of the food. I had been living off of fast food joints and the occasional bar food. Not like bar food was much better than fast food joints. The change was remarkable, this woman could cook with the pros, at least that's my own personal humble opinion. I'm not going to describe the taste because I'm just going to make you hungry, but just know that even my messed up brain added a completely unnecessary choir of angels when I took the first bite.

"So," I spat through half-chewed pasta. "When is the little Klaus going to enter kindergarten?"

"She's not even one month old Frank," Pavel informed me.

"I know, but if you want her to have a good education you should start saving places in schools from early on."

"What would you know?"

"Actually, I think he's right," Amber said. "One of my friends told me that it's a good idea to save her a place."

"Huh," Pavel huffed. "What da ya know."

We kept talking about that for a while and eventually the topic deviated into politics. I wasn't that surprised by it, all conversations have a high percentage to go change topic into politics if they go on for long enough. Still, all of us had similar political opinions, so the dinner didn't turn into a terrible, terrible debate about who would make a better governor for the Viery territory. After a while, that topic died down too. All the food was gone and I was beginning to consider leaving to catch a few drinks in the Grenadier before going to sleep.

Amber looked at me and smiled. "So, I hear that you have finally gotten yourself a new girlfriend." Her tone was teasing in a way that showed that she meant no harm, but it still put me slightly off.

"She's not my girlfriend."

"How many times have you gone out?"

"Just once."

"Better ask her out again soon or she might get tired of waiting."

"I think that being deployed halfway across the galaxy is a good excuse."

"Aw, c'mon, Weyland isn't that far."

Pavel immediately looked down before grabbing his babbling infant child from the armpits and raising her over his head, avoiding looking at me all the time.

"Oh," Amber said, covering her mouth when she realized what she had done. "I'm sorry, but you know I won't tell."

"I know," I said. "I trust you, but these things have a way of getting out."

"Fine, next time I won't ask," she conceded.

"And Pavel won't tell."

"Fine," he mumbled.

"And I get to hold Lav."

"Lav?" Amber asked. "Isn't it a little bit soon for nicknames?"

I shrugged while Pavel passed me his child carefully. "Not really. You might as well tell her that I'm uncle Frank. I plan on spoiling this child."

"Why don't you spoil your own children?" Pavel suggested.

"I'm not sure that I'm parent material," I admitted. "I barely remember my dad and my uncle was never much of a dad. Sure, he raised me well enough, but for some things he just wasn't cut out for it."

"I'm sure you would do a great job at it," Amber said supportively. "Especially if you get a good wife."

"Whoa, marriage?"

"Well, if you're talking about kids…"

"I don't have to get married to get someone pregnant. Hell I don't have to get married to start a family."

Amber didn't seem fazed. I knew that she was a more traditional kind of girl, but at least she had an open mind. "Well, tell me about this new girlfriend of yours."

"Not my girlfriend," I reminded her. "What do you want to know."

"What does she look like?"

"Here, I've got a good picture."

"I don't think Amber wants to see that."

"Not that kind of picture," I groaned, pulling my phone from my pocket. I tapped the screen and placed it on the floor before it displayed a full color hologram on the table. Lavanya seemed surprised by it and tried to grab it, but I pulled her back before she could topple from my arms.

"Wow," Amber nodded approvingly. "She's Navy?"

"Corpsman," I confirmed. "Medic for a platoon adjoined to our ship."

"She's pretty."

I nodded while looking at the picture. It was a good picture. I took it with my helmet cam. I had just returned from that Spartan mission, Hanna was sitting down on a chair talking to some friend. She was only wearing the lower half of her armor and a flak jacket over a gray tanktop. Her blonde hair was tied up in a ponytail with a couple of strands covering her face. I had caught her with a smile from some joke or other.

It looked almost like it was staged.

"She is," I agreed with Amber's statement. "She's perfect."

"Awwww!" Pavel exclaimed loudly. "Frankie!"

"Shut up," I told him while smiling. "You don't get to tease me because you didn't invite me to your wedding."

"I told him we should wait," Amber affirmed.

"What? You're the one that wanted to get married as soon as possible!"

"Aha!" I exclaimed loudly, standing up and pointing at Amber with one finger while holding Lavanya with my other hand. "So it was your fault."

"Don't startle Lavanya," Amber deflected.

"Do not change the topic woman! You didn't allow me to organize Pavel's bachelor party."

"And yet she had her own bachelorette party," Pavel said sadly.

"It was just dinner with some girlfriends."

"I bet they ordered sausage," I said slyly.

"Frank! You're disgusting!" Amber exclaimed. "And not in front of my daughter!"

I placed her on my lap and covered her ears with my hands. My hands were almost large enough to cover her whole head, prompting her to look side to side while cooing playfully. "I bet they ordered-"

"Ok, I get it," Pavel chuckled.

We talked some more about pretty much nothing. I got to hold the youngest member of the Klaus family the entire time I was there until I decided that it was time to leave. I stood up and gave Lavanya to Amber before giving her a goodbye kiss on the cheek. I shook Pavel's hand with a smile. I had fun, it had been a while since I had last had fun without being drunk. Granted, I had fun while on that date with Hanna, but I was nervous the whole while. This was pure, healthy fun.

"Bye," I said finally before walking out the door with my bag in my hand. I had my dirty gym clothes in one bag and the rest of my meager belongings in another one.

I picked up my bags and walked a couple of blocks. Eventually I stopped. My hotel was only a few blocks away. I dropped the bags and reached for my phone again. I stared at it before finally sighing deeply and dialing a number.

"Hello?"

"Sarge," Grigori's voice came in. "What do you want?"

"Are you in New Alexandria?"

"Uh, no, Esztergom."

"Great, meet me at the Grenadier in fifteen minutes, can you do that?"

"Um, sure."

"Good, I'll see you there."

I hung up and hailed down a taxi. I promptly signed in at a hotel, leaving my bags in my room before going back out and getting in another cab. I was really starting to get frustrated with the AI controlling these things. It seemed like it had taken to being exceedingly friendly with me. Not many people bother to talk to city-controlling AIs. Most of the time you just forget that they're there. Me, in my mentally impaired state, had a good time chatting with the cab. I only realized this after I had gotten off from the vehicle. The strip club made for a tempting detour as always, but I walked straight inside the bar.

"Hey Cap," I greeted Montgomery once I managed to shove all the drunk marines out of my way. "Has Grigori come in yet?"

"Caboose? Yeah, he got a table over the corner."

"Thanks, tell Lys to get us some beers, will ya?"

"Sure thing sonny."

I walked through the pub, elbowing my way as I went. It was pretty crowded to be this early, but I heard that a battle group had returned from 'patrol' so I assumed that the survivors were here to celebrate being alive. It pains me to say this, but the war made for great business for drinking establishments. I just hoped that no marine decided to get cocky with me. I'd hate to have a fight in Cap's establishment. After all, the man had been nothing but kind to me.

"Ah, there you are," I said, sitting down in a chair in front of Grigori. He just looked at me.

"What do you want."

"To talk," I said truthfully. "The face is looking better."

He scoffed. "Yeah, thanks."

I wasn't going to apologize, I was going to fix things. "Listen. Honestly, I don't care about your past. You could be a…troublemaker, but if you honestly left that behind I see no reason why I shouldn't trust you. Don't get me wrong, being an ONI spy means that I pretty much don't trust you by default, but I have no trouble fighting with you."

"Isn't that contradictory?"

"I don't trust you with anything outside of combat," I affirmed. "You're not my friend, I wouldn't invite you to my wedding, I wouldn't want to go to yours either. But when I'm kicking ass out there, I'm going to trust you with my life. I don't expect you to do the same, but-"

"Sarge," Grigori interrupted. "I'm not proud of my past, but I'm not going to change it. I'm not suddenly going to stop reporting to ONI either." He thanked Lys for the beers and took a swig from his drink. "If you want me on your team, that's your choice. I'll do my job like I'm supposed to."

I nodded. "That's all I wanted to here." I grabbed my beer and downed it in three long swigs before putting it down on the table. "Damn, that's good." I reached into my pocket and produced a couple of credit bills. "Here, drink's on me. Have some fun, maybe get laid. You look like you need to relax a little." With those wise words of advice I departed. I only stopped to say hi to the boys before leaving the Grenadier. A couple of guys were outside smoking cigarettes, I looked at them before glancing at the strip bar. I probably didn't want to go there. Well, one lap dance wouldn't hurt anybody, just my wallet.

Well, it ended up being more than one lap dance, but it was past midnight it meant that it was two for one Wednesday. A couple of hours later I realized that it would probably end bad for me if I stayed any longer. I thanked the girl, managing to look her in the eyes as I did so and left after paying her. I really should've stuck to my one lap dance goal. I went straight to my hotel room and face planted on my bed after taking off my shoes and my pants. I was asleep before I could get under the covers.

Ah, morning.

Fuck.

I was most certainly not a morning person. I could wake up at midnight after half an hour of sleep and be ready to kill aliens nonstop for a couple of days, but when I was on leave it was almost impossible for me to get up from my bed the moment I woke up. This time it was no different. I rolled around in bed while trying to fall asleep again, but since I was sleeping over the covers and the air conditioner hit me right in the neck I couldn't. In hindsight, it was probably for the best. Waking up early is good for you, I hear.

I had no plans for today, so I didn't bother with changing my clothing. Eventually I remembered Amber's advice and caller Hanna. My heart was beating wildly by the time she answered.

"Hello? Frank?"

"Hi Hanna," I greeted awkwardly. "Hey, I was just wondering if-"

"Of course, where?"

"Wow, so assertive, you're changing."

She giggled. "So are you."

"You like Italian food?"

"I love it," she replied.

Her eager reply made me smile. I was glad that nobody was seeing me grin like an idiot. "There's this nice little place that Amber recommended."

"Amber?"

"Pavel's wife," I explained.

"Oh, right."

"I'll send you the address."

"Why don't you just pick me up?"

"I'd love to," I replied. "I just don't have a car and they're not giving me my rental until tomorrow."

"How about I pick you up then?"

"Sounds good, dinner or lunch?"

"Dinner sounds good. I'll be by your hotel at about…nine?"

I shrugged and scratched my head. "I feel like I should be taking the lead in this conversation, but sure, that works for me."

I could hear the happiness in her voice. "I'll see you then."

"Until nine, bye."

"Bye."

I put the phone down and smiled proudly to myself. I only stopped until I caught my reflection on the mirror. I was wearing the same shirt that I had worn all day, it was badly stretched and looked and felt dirty. My underwear also looked baggy, I don't even know how that's even possible. The look of my bed hair only served to make me feel more like an idiot. I shrugged and turned on the shower, it took almost an hour before I finally managed to gain the willpower to get out from the awesomely awesome shower. If there's two things I liked about hotels it was their beds and their showers.

Now I only had over half a day to kill. Sure, I could get drunk as fuck and get relatively sober before Hanna even left her home, but that seemed like a bad idea. On the other hand, I could also spend the whole day sleeping and doing nothing, but I was what you'd call a man of action.

"What to do? What to do?" Schitzo asked me.

So to the gym it was.

I quickly packed a bag full of spare clothes and changed into my still dirty gym shorts and a new shirt. I wasted the day away with some running and a regular routine. I was extremely tired by the end of the routine, but still Schitzo persisted on fucking with me. I went towards the punching bag and really started getting into it. It was about fifteen minutes of consecutive punching before my arms finally gave way. I leaned against the sand-filled bag and slowly took deep breaths. After a couple of minutes a younger man approached me. He tapped me on the shoulder.

"What?" I asked tiredly.

"You look like you know something about boxing," he said.

"I do."

"My sparring partner stood me up, do you mind?"

"I can barely stand up," I groaned. "You want me to spar?"

"I'm in no hurry," the kid replied. "I'll get warmed up on the punching bag while you get some air back."

I groaned and looked at the clock on the wall nearest to me. I had a lot of time left to kill, and the kid in front of me didn't look like prize fighter material, so I guess I could spare the time. "Fine," I said. "Give me fifteen minutes."

The kid nodded and put on his boxing gloves before getting started on a light routine on the punching bag. I, on the other hand, just stood up and took deep breaths while drinking some water. I took advantage of my rest period and observed the kid. He was most certainly not as good as I was, not nearly, but he wasn't bad either. He was fast with his hands but lacked the footwork that marked a skilled fighter. Granted, he was working on the punching bag, but he barely moved his feet while punching.

"Ok," I announced. "I'm ready."

"Great," the kid said eagerly. "I'm Mike by the way." He offered me his gloved hand.

"Frank," I replied, bumping it. I reached for my gloves and put them on, they were still a little bit warm and sweaty from my work out on the punching bag, but otherwise had that comfortable feel that used gloves had.

"Mine are fourteen ounces," Mike explained. "Yours are sixteen, you sure that doesn't bother you?"

"Nah, it's fine," I said.

Mike laughed nervously. "Maybe I made the wrong decision approaching you."

I smiled. "Maybe you did."

"So, full force to the body and light taps on the head?"

"Sounds good," I agreed, climbing inside the boxing ring that the gym had. "How long do you want to make the rounds?"

"Two and a half minutes."

"Fine by me." I stood staring at the clock and ordered it to give us a two and a half minute timer. I walked to one corner and Mike did the same thing. The clock ringed loudly and we approached one another.

This could be that 'absorbing blows' kind of practice, I thought to myself.

We circled on another for a few seconds before I closed in. Mike let out a quick pair of jabs to keep me at bay, but I just leaned back to dodge them. He was certainly fast.

I was faster.

I delivered a quick counter and hit him in the ribs. He grunted in pain, making me realize that I hadn't toned myself down enough. At that point I walked closer to him, making myself a bigger target. He delivered a quick combination that I half-heartedly blocked with my forearms. I jabbed softly at his chest, not surprised when he blocked it. From that point on I purposely opened my guard so that Mike could get some punches in. He was fast enough to get punches in, but he lacked the waist movements that would deliver strength with the punch. He was the kind of guy that you'd say had natural talent but not training.

From that point on I mostly spun around the kid, trying to get him to work on his feet. He was very slow when it came to footwork, but he made up for it with the punching. Well, would've made up for it if I had been on his level, but unfortunately for him I was way beyond him. He landed a lot of punches, most of them were light ones, but there were a couple of good ones delivered to my stomach and kidneys. On the other hand, I barely delivered any punches. The few that I did were mostly to have him close his guard.

"Man," he huffed as soon as the round was over. "You're good."

"I do my best," I replied noncommittally.

"Whoof, where'd you learn?"

"Corps," I informed him.

"Huh, I guess I could've picked someone else for a sparring partner."

"Want to go for another round?" I suggested.

"Sure," he groaned. "Just tone your punches down, that first one almost knocked me out."

I raised my eyebrow. "Ok."

A second round started. This time I barely let out any punches, instead focusing on dodging as opposed to absorbing. I could tell that Mike was starting to get really frustrated by how he started just flailing his punches. Frankly, it just made it easier for me to dodge them, but I decided to give him a break and let a couple of them hit me. By the end of the round I was starting to get bored and Mike could barely stand on his feet.

"Man, that was a workout," he exclaimed.

I refrained from saying anything.

Mike, however, was unfettered. "Have you considered giving lessons or something?"

"Not really, don't have the time."

"You'd make a great teacher," he said. "The guy that teaches me probably couldn't take more than three rounds with you."

"Probably not," I agreed.

He chuckled loudly. "Well, are you going to be around here for long?"

"Don't know," I admitted. "I can get deployed any moment."

"Oh, well, I'm here on most days. I take it you wouldn't mind another sparring session?"

"Not at all," I replied. "Anyways, I gotta go, see you around."

"Ba-Bye."

I stood up stretched my arms before taking off my gloves. Mike was leaning against one of the corners, taking deep breaths. I smiled and turned my head so that he wouldn't see me. The fight had actually been more of a cooldown than a workout. Poor kid was way out of his league. At least he had helped kill some more time. The watches on the walls told me that it was about time for me to down a burger and a milkshake. Perhaps two burgers considering the workout I had just been through. Now, the only question left was which fast-food joint I would go to.

After some very careful consideration and balancing out pros versus cons I reached a consensus. Burger King had better burgers than McDonald's, but Carl's Jr had better burgers than BK. The only thing that McDonald's had going for it was their incredible fries. The shakes were pretty much the same everywhere else, so after careful consideration I concluded that what I really desired to ingest was a tasty hamburger as opposed to good fries. Under that conclusion it became obvious that the establishment that I wanted to go to was Carl's Jr.

And it was fucking delicious.

Finally I just stayed at the hotel room watching some old reruns on the television until Hanna came to pick me up. Surprisingly enough I wasn't as nervous as I should've been. I was already showered so all that was left to do was to change.

Look guys, I'm sorry that I'm describing step by step how I put on my socks and boots, but I'm currently really bored and that second date has been one of the highlights of my life, I just want you to know exactly how it went.

I answered my phone on the second ring. "Hey?"

"It's Hanna, I'm waiting outside."

"I'll be right down."

You don't really want me to describe all the smushy stuff, do ya?

Well, I'll be quick, I promise.

"You know," I said as soon as I climbed in the car. "I'm pretty sure it would've taken you twice as long to come down if I picked you up."

She chuckled. "What kind of girl would I be if I came right the moment you rang? I don't want to look desperate, do I?"

"Eager?" I suggested.

"Francisco! What kind of woman do you think I am?"

"A lovely one," I said cheekily. I smiled as she blushed once again and suggested that we should go.

"Did you make a reservation?"

"Crap, no, but we probably won't need one."

The line wasn't too bad, we just had to wait for fifteen minutes before we were led into a two person table. This restaurant was one of those fully automated ones. It was slightly weird because the robo-waiters were hanging from the ceiling as opposed to sliding on the floor. At least it made it nearly impossible to crash into them, that was some smart thinking.

"What are you going to order?" I asked after looking at the menu.

"I dunno, you suggested this place."

"I have never been here before," I admitted. "I don't know what's good."

"Ask a waiter."

"A robo-waiter?"

"Yeah…"

I shrugged. "Talking to machines."

"You talk to Eliza all the time," Hanna said. "What's the difference?"

"Liz is sentient, these are just computers."

"You have a point."

"You know, Esztergom's AI is also sentient," Schitzo offered. "Maybe you shouldn't be so rude to it."

"Hey, waiter," I hailed down one of the machines. "What's the best dish here?"

"The dish that has more approving comments is the ravioli a la bolognesa."

"I'll have one of those then, you?"

"I guess it's the same for me."

Well, the ravioli were pretty damn good, but perhaps I could've ordered something else. Maybe a good old lasagna or something like that. At least the conversation was good. With Hanna it felt like I was actually doing the dating thing. Layla and I just sort of happened, we clicked. Marina was different, we had been great friends for a long while and knew each other pretty well, the next natural step was a relationship. With Hanna I actually got to know her likes and dislikes, I had to be careful not to say something she'd find offensive, I was on unknown ground. It was both scary and refreshing at the same time. I liked the girl. I really did.

"Oh, come on, you really going to pay?"

"Yes," I nodded. "My dad used to say that it was the gentlemany…gentlemanish? Well, what a gentleman was supposed to do."

"Really, I don't mind," she insisted.

"Come on," I smiled. "It's a free meal, what's so bad about that?"

"Fine, fine, if you insist."

I smiled to myself and confirmed that the restaurant could charge the meal to my bank account. I stopped myself from thanking the stupid robot thing and walked out of the restaurant. There was a pretty nice breeze flowing around.

"My house is just a couple of blocks away," she said. "Would you mind walking me there?"

"Of course not," I told her. "What about your car?"

"I'll have it drive itself there."

"You know, if it crashes you don't get insurance."

"Don't jinx it!"

"Sorry, sorry."

It was pretty cold for the season. My super-awesome, badass-looking, stylish coat was good protection from the cold for me. Hanna had a pretty nice sweater on too, so not to worry. That's why I was surprised when she snuggled up against me and put her arm through mine. I tensed at her touch, but immediately warmed up to it and let her lean on me.

You see, the difference between Esztergom and New Alexandria is the lights. New Alexandria is a much more modern city, filled with lights of many colors, a Technicolor spectacle. Esztergom is a bigger city, but takes up a whole lot of land, so the density isn't as high. Lighting wasn't as bright and flamboyant as New Alexandria, but there was a certain beauty to the old-fashioned look that this city had. The trees planted on every corner and little shrubs on the sidewalk certainly added to the ambience.

"We're here," Hanna said, stopping.

I looked straight up at the building. It was a nice looking building. "Nice place," I said.

"Thanks, I'm still paying it off."

I chuckled. "Well, it was a great night."

"Yeah it was," she said, looking down at the floor and then at me.

This is it Frank, the moment of truth. You know she wants it, just look at how she's buying some time.

Don't flatter yourself man, play it safe, just give her a peck on the cheek and leave…

What the fuck are you talking about? Go in for the kill!

Great, I didn't even need multiple personalities to argue with myself.

Well, Hanna had been uncharacteristically assertive the whole day, and for some reason (a good one) she didn't seem to want to stop now. Before I could even consider closing in she stood on her tiptoes and went in for the kill like a champ. She immediately pulled back and looked away. I just smiled and leaned into her, returning the kiss.

I didn't want to overstep my boundaries, so I stopped the kiss after a few seconds. I was practically beaming, she was too. Knowing that she had enjoyed it just made me feel better.

What the fuck is wrong with me? I'm supposed to be a strong man, no feelings and all that shit.

"Good night," she said with a big grin.

"You too."

She turned and walked inside the lobby, stopping one more time to wave goodbye again before climbing inside the elevator.

Suffice to say that I returned to my hotel room with one of the biggest smiles that I had had in my entire life.

Thanks to Sniper Fodder for proof-reading this.

Who would've thought that one of those days would be one of those GOOD days. Gotta say, it was nice to write a chapter where everything went well for Frank, I'm also satisfied with how the dates went, writing it and keeping it a natural read. Well, I hope that i succeeded in that, at least in your eyes. I didn't write the beginnings of Frank's previous relationships so I was on unknown ground doing this. Also, a friend of mine really likes the Hanna/Frank pairing, so you'll be seeing a lot more of it or my friend will chew my head out.

As for the bad news, I'll be leaving on a five or six week vacation with no internet whatsoever tomorrow first thing. That means that I won't post anything for over a month. Don't despair, I might sneak in one chapter or two, but I will certainly write during the vacation, I'll come back with a mega bundle.

Stay strong.

-casquis