"We should probably get a room at a hotel near the palace." I offered.
Zai agreed.
Hotel rooms are mainly small cottages, separate from one another, that must be rented to enter.
Some of the cottages are suspended in the air, and they all light up, resembling paper lanterns from the outside but decent-sized one-bed suites on the inside.
We showed the wedding invitation to the receptionist and were given a pass to one of the rooms at a discounted rate.
The pass teleports us directly inside the room we purchased.
In the front on the floor was a hot tub with a barrier around it, keeping the steam from circling the whole room.
The barrier looked like a translucent egg.
All the furniture was white, and the floors were tan but each wall was painted a different neon color, much like the home I grew up in.
There were no windows or doors.
Giving us complete privacy.
"I... like this," Zai mumbled.
I felt a twinge of joy.
Finally, something on Infaniya that Zai likes!
His sharp eyes darted across the room, and then he approached me and held me against him.
"Isn't it kind of exciting, how I'm not supposed to be here, but here I am... on an enemy planet, with you... one of its people, and I'm about to f**k you on one of their beds," he muttered.
Is that what he's excited about?
I jumped and pulled away from him, blushing immensely.
"No, Zai!" He pouted. "I still need to buy a dress, and the rehearsal dinner is in two hours; we don't have time."
"I can be quick," He suggested.
"Don't lie to me!" I shouted, making him pout again.
Even if he can do one round quickly, he always gets excited again immediately after.
"Fine... let's go dress shopping, you can show me around. Maybe I can meet more of your friends," he said.
I sure hope not.
I powered up, which felt like finally getting to stretch after being stuck in a cramped space.
Zai did it with me. It's been so long since I've seen him like this, and the last time I did... we weren't dress shopping.
The flashbacks are making me hot.
His hair was silver once again matching his eyes, which were pulsing with waves of electricity.
Even his lashes and eyebrows had changed color.
He was beautiful in a different way than usual.
Together, we wandered through the shopping district I remembered but most of the shops had closed or changed names.
I found a place where we could have our outfits ready before tomorrow.
I picked a red dress split along both sides to the hip and decorated with gold embroidered flowers.
Zai chose a matching red suit with a black shirt buttoned all the way to his neck.
The tailor took our measurements and told us to come back in 5 hours. So I went to a ready-made clothing store to buy a less fancy dress for dinner tonight.
I barely managed to get done in time for the party.
Thankfully, Zai teleported us to the location of the dinner, which saved us a lot of time.
The restaurant wasn't as full as I imagined. It was a political wedding but it seemed only the heads of the Celestial families were invited and family.
That made me even more uneasy about why I was here.
"Name please?" the host asked at the door.
"Snowe Stratus and this is my plus one," I answered.
He led me to a table, surprisingly close to the main family, then walked away.
Zai sat next to me and held my hand under the table.
My heart was racing unsteadily when two people approached the table.
Smoke and a girl, clinging to his arm, that I can only assume is his fiance.
She and I had similar proportions. Her hair was light gray, almost white, and cut into a bob that curved inward toward her chin. Her eyes were mostly black with silver crescent moons in each iris, and her skin was slightly lighter than mine.
For a moment, I couldn't shake the feeling that we looked alike.
I'm not crazy, right?
"You came," Smoke said. Relief crossed his face as he looked at me, then his eyes shifted to Zai.
Zai smiled at him, seemingly polite, but I could feel tension building in the room.
Oh no! I just realized I never mentioned Smoke to Zai!
Even when I recalled my time on Infaniya.
Zai doesn't like it when I bring up other guys anyway so I subconsciously avoided mentioning his name or gender.
It was too awkward telling the love of my life about my first crush.
It shouldn't matter, we didn't even get to hang out much and I'm sure he only considered me a friend.
"Yeah... I wasn't sure if you were the one who invited me." I mumbled.
Smoke and the girl on his arm separated and sat down.
"My fiance is the best friend of the groom so she's going to be busy... I thought we could catch up. This is Crescent by the way." Smoke said while pointing to her.
"Hi," I greeted, shyly.
She waved but seemed completely uninterested in me, bored even.
"This is Snowe," Smoke stated while tapping her shoulder and looking at me, then she frowned and said,
"She's cute... You never told me she'd be so cute," she remarked coldly.
I blushed and got so hot that I wouldn't be shocked if I was steaming.
"I didn't think it mattered," he argued so she sighed and got up.
"It's nice to meet you, gotta go," Crescent muttered as she strolled away.
"She has to sit at the main table," Smoke explained... "Who is this with you?" he asked, glancing at Zai once again.
"Oh... this is Zaikel," I replied.
"I live on Earth, that's how I met Snowe," Zai said, finally getting into the conversation.
"Oh... so you're her boyfriend?" Smoke asked, this time turning his eyes to me.
"We're pretty much married.... No we're actually married," I answered with my eyes down.
Smoke's face looked shocked.
"It was love at first sight for me, didn't take me long to realize how much I needed her in my life," Zai confessed.
As he said it, Zai turned toward me, and I looked away shyly.
"Nice to meet you... I'm Smoke, her first boyfriend," Smoke declared and I gasped.
" I believe I was her first kiss too, right Snowe?" he added while cutting his eyes in my direction.
Is he trying to make this situation as awkward as possible?!
"You never mentioned having a boyfriend before me," Zai noted.
That's because we were only together for maybe three days with no confirmation of titles! Before I could get this out, music started playing and the party commenced.
The wedding celebrated the union of Serco and a human woman from Earth named Akina.
I could tell which guests were here for her because the energy surrounding them was very weak; there were three humans, two were relatives and one looked like she was a close friend.
The friend got up and gave a loving speech for Akina, I tried to focus but Zai kept stroking my leg, making me forget the whole speech entirely.
Once her speech was over, Crescent went on stage,
"Serco and I have been best friends since Primary school. He was always rough around the edges and abrasive, in fact, it seemed he just hated all people in existence.
I was an exception as his friend, BUT he was hard to be around, even for ME at times, he can be a real asshole! Still... after he met his bride I noticed he had gotten less... cactuslike and became kind.
I didn't realize it was her influence until I met her for myself then I couldn't deny that he needed her, they needed each other, and I..." She started to cry a little before continuing,
"I'm just so happy that my best friend finally found someone who can open up that side of him, I am astounded and honored that I get to witness it!"
Her speech was more heartfelt than I was expecting.
Since she came off as reserved or bad-tempered.
Once the speech was over she gracefully exited the stage.
Which was an impressive feat in her 6-inch stilettos.
Smoke downplayed his part in this wedding, sure Crescent is the best friend, but he's the brother, shouldn't he have a bigger part?
After the speeches concluded, we ate and drank. Smoke's fiance didn't rejoin our table so we chatted just the three of us.
"So... what did you guys do when you were dating?" Zai asked, I shot a glare at him but he sipped his elixir and continued with, "I've never been here before and I wanted to check out places Snowe liked to go, after the wedding," he clarified.
Smoke's face scrunched slightly and said,
"We mainly hung out at a mutual friend's house... and we planned to see a movie for our first date."
"Snowe hates movies," Zai noted so I tensed up and interceded saying,
"I haven't always hated movies... and I really like action films and superhero movies."
My comment seemed to annoy Zai, but Smoke smirked to himself.
Did I say the wrong thing?
"But... I never told you I hated movies... you really pay close attention to me Zai," I stammered.
My last statement caused him to relax, and then he kissed my cheek and started back eating.
After chewing and swallowing Zai said,
"From both of your reactions, I can assume you weren't together long."
I took a sip of my drink as Smoke replied,
"What does it matter?"
"Oh... I guess it doesn't... it's just you said you were her first boyfriend while Snowe seemed to think I was her first, it's kinda funny, really. I mean how could you be her boyfriend if she wasn't even aware of it? You must be delusional," Zai remarked calmly.
It got dead silent at the table after that, so I asked for another bottle of Elixir.
A few minutes later the dinner ended, and the people who knew the couple hugged them. Zai and I were the first to leave.
"Did you have a good time?" Zai asked, I was a bit tipsy but the breeze from outside sobered me up.
"Yeah... I was glad you were with me. Oh but! Don't be too mean to Smoke... he was really nice to me growing up!"
The Elixir was making me slur my words and Zai held my waist to steady me before teleporting us into the hotel room.
"You... need to stop standing up for people who just want to sleep with you," he noted coldly and I gasped.
"Smoke wasn't like that!" I argued.
"Oh... how long was he nice to you? The whole ten years of school?" Zai inquired.
I thought and shook my head no,
"For... about a month before graduation," I answered softly.
I was embarrassed to admit it.
"So... he was nice to you... because he wanted to sleep with you," Zai concluded matter-of-factly.
I pouted.
"But he was still nice to me and... never forced anything on me!" I retorted.
"That's normal Snowe... Not special." Zai's response had a chilling tone.
I started tearing up,
"No one else would talk to me until he and Ibij started to... and after he found out what happened to me, he... tortured the guy who raped me for ten years straight," I explained shakily.
Zai raised his eyebrows.
"Wow, and he never even got to hit?... Okay, I'm impressed now," Zai remarked, ripping a hole straight through the tense atmosphere.
I punched his arm playfully and pouted.
"Why do you gotta be so vulgar!" I muttered.
Zai put his arm over my shoulder, pulled me close and kissed me.
The kiss deepened and on instinct I rubbed my tongue against his, holding my breath.
When he pulled away, I was panting, and gazing up at him.
He licked his lips and said,
"I just like getting a reaction out of you... but... I guess he did care more about you than I thought..."
"Why do you think he invited me here? And... he picked up that I had fallen for someone else when I visited last time so, he kinda knew about you," I softly admitted.
"Wow... All this new info is... pissing me off. I'll go get our clothes from the tailor alone. I need a minute."
Without giving me a chance to protest, he disappeared, leaving only the sound of thunder in his wake.
Is he mad because I met up with Smoke last time I was here and didn't say anything? We weren't even dating yet... but I'll apologize, I can't stand him being upset with me.