Room 333, Saturday Morning

[child_of_rer]

Sov had been trying not to think about it, but there was no avoiding the fact that they would be in kemmer very soon, probably this evening. Since arriving here they had never felt so much alone. This was not a time to spend among strangers, aliens, who might not even know how to react. Also, they were sharing a room with someone they didn't

Comments

[i_am_the_rat]

"You know, I'm pretty sure that thing is broken," Hank pointed out. "You wanna borrow my Walkman?"

[child_of_rer]

"I'm fixing it," Sov replied, shifting a little on the chair. "I was thinking. Do you have any plans this weekend?"

[i_am_the_rat]

"I'm going on dates!" Hank answered. "A lot of them. Yeah, I'm just that awesome. Stick with me, and maybe I'll rub off on you."

[child_of_rer]

"Dates? What are dates?" Sov asked, a little distracted. But perhaps this meant that Hank would be away anyway and that there would be no reason to ask.

[i_am_the_rat]

"You know, dates," Hank explained. "When you go dating. With a girl." Hank would be away all right, but only for part of Saturday evening. They weren't very long dates.

[child_of_rer]

"I'm not sure I understand exactly." Sov frowned a little. "But does it take long? Are you going away all weekend?"

[i_am_the_rat]

"Ummmm... no. Why, did you need the room to yourself or something? Is someone... special coming over?"

[child_of_rer]

Well, Sov wished Sether would be coming here, but that wasn't going to happen. "No," they said. "I just need... to be alone. All weekend."

[i_am_the_rat]

"All weekend?!?" Hank whined. But this is where I keep all my stuff!"

[child_of_rer]

"It's really important," Sov countered. "It's... we always do that on my homeworld. Once a month."

[i_am_the_rat]

"Once a month," Hank echoed. "So, what, you're, like, on your period? Or you go through a hideous transformation when the moon is full?"

[child_of_rer]

"We just need some time alone," Sov said, not wanting to go into details. Hank would most likely not understand anyway.

[i_am_the_rat]

Heck, Hank still didn't understand that Sov wasn't male. Details would just confuse him.

"Ohhhhh, alone time," Hank replied, acting like he understood. "When you can't be near other people, lest something awful happen... You are so totally a werewolf. 20 bucks."

Hank paused and blinked. "Did you see that? I totally used the word 'lest' in a sentence!!!!" For the moment, Sov's lycanthropy could wait. Hank was busy being proud of himself.

[child_of_rer]

"Werewolf?" Stories about people turning into wolves once a month had somehow never been a part of Gethenian folklore. Then they just shook their head. "Yes, that's it. Totally. Just don't tell anyone."

[i_am_the_rat]

"You can count on me!!!" Hank answered, with a conspiratorial wink. "...But if you break any of my stuff, I'm totally telling."

[child_of_rer]

"I won't... break stuff." Sov promised. They would have to look up what a werewolf was.