It wasn’t a meet-the-king-and-queen outfit, as such.
But they were just his parents here.
Right?
I hit the living area feeling vaguely nauseous becauseIwas not so vaguely nervous and was greeted not only by a loud meow fromComet, even if he was still licking his chops after consuming breakfast,Iwas also greeted with the knowledge thatAllainhad not lied.
KingFillion,QueenCalisa,PrincesTimotheeandErrolwere there.AswereGayle,CatandMr. andMrsTruelock.
AndSirk.
They were all assembled in the luxurious built-in couches and freestanding armchairs that were positioned with a talented designer’s eye in the sunken living room.
Good news: none of my beings looked like they wanted to launch themselves at me in order to throttle me.
They didn’t appear entirely comfortable (saveMr.Truelock), but they also didn’t seem homicidal.
I further noted, somewhere along the line,Alekseihad donned a white, long-sleevedT-shirt and another pair of jeans, these less faded than the ones he wore last night.
Last,Germainewas in attendance, pacing the landing close to the bottom of the steps.
And the instant she saw me, she took all my attention, because she announced, “Ohmy gods, she is just so perfect…Icoulddie.”
“Uh…hey,”Isaid to her.
“Stunning, natural, casually stylish, relatable.DeadWintercame early to me this year,”Germainewent on rhapsodizing about me.
What she didn’t do was greet me.
I wasn’t sure about this female.
She was making me uncomfortable, andIwas already feeling mightily uncomfortable, soIturned my attention to the seating area and began to do my thing for the king and queen.
“If you curtsy,I’mthrowing their asses out,”Alekseiwarned.
Seemed the grouch was back.
“Over here, with me,” he ordered.
Since he was holding a coffee mug,Iwent over there, to him.
He poured me a cup, manually, from a glass carafe that was set inside some kind of shiny, black electronic unit.
He then dolloped cream in it from a little pitcher (likewise shiny black), doing this also manually.
He stirred it (manually).
And he handed it to me.
“Um…”Isaid.
“I don’t have aBev-Buddyeither,” he replied to my unasked question.
Righty ho.
I sipped and found it was better thanBev-Buddycoffee, or at least the brandIsupplied myBev-Buddywith.
By a lot.
