Chapter 1: Pavarti’s Cold Side

Cold. Cold is what I’m constantly being called. I finally found myself at my wits end, traveling on the Unreliable from planet to planet fighting monsters in outer worlds. Come to think of it the worst monsters are the ones with a logo etched on their space suits. Always consuming, always expanding. Its because of this mentality I never fully knew my mother. I was shipped off with my father since his position at spacers choice was deemed of lower importance. My father was solid. Taught me all i know about mechanics and through that landed my first job maintaining machines. Machines are easy to understand. Hear something squeak? Throw some lube on it, see something rusty? clean it with some auntie cleo’s WD-3000. Not humans tho. Humans need passions to run, something to get the internal gears running, something to inspire and entice the senses, something that makes warm blood gather in droves, and gives way to goosebumps.

After being raised in edge-water I met a man named Luke. This man was caring and giving and best of all he knew how to get to people. It’s almost as if this man had a silver tongue and he kept on getting me into trouble i would never agree to. I learned a lot from this Luke. We used to go atop the Saltuna cannery roof at night, daily so we could watch people from the roof.

One night we saw a couple fighting, they were screaming so hard you could practically hear them from outside edge-water. “Damn it Vicky! I work too hard to care what i smell like after work!” I heard. “you best make your way to the tub if your wanting a warm dinner tonight!” she yelled back. We saw the man pacing the room muttering to himself in frustration. He paced and paced and then we saw his wife grab his face and pointed toward hers. She gave him a smile and a wink and the man seemed to calm down. Me and Luke had no idea what the wink was for and decided to watch intently as the man went into the bathroom to shower. The windows were not as clear but we did manage to see the mans silhouette as he lay in the tub. What happened next confused me so. The wife, Vicky’s silhouette was seen walking in the room and seemingly unbuttoning her blouse as the man cleaned himself. I saw Luke’s face turn pink as if he knew exactly what was coming up next. Confused, i kept watching as i saw Vicky head bob up and down relentlessly near the husbands waist. Luke’s face was now red and it seemed like he was trying to hold something from coming out from his pants. I was perplexed to see just what we were watching was affecting Luke. I must have stared at him for too long because when he looked back he looked deranged, like something had triggered him to a state of being petrified. I tried to calm him down but he ran from me, taking the stairs to the floor and out into the city. I just stood there wondering what had he been thinking about. Could he have been aroused just watching the married couple shower?

The next morning I decided to talk to Luke about what had happened. After a day of work thinking of why Luke had reacted the way he did I was stumped. I asked around town for the whereabouts of Luke, and After scouring the town twice I spotted him walking outside edge-water in the cemetery looking kinda lonesome. “Luke! wait up!” I yelled. I ran towards him and he looked nervous. “Look Luke, I’m sorry if i made you uncomfortable yesterday”. His eyes widened and brows were raised. “ No, I’m sorry Parvarti.” Luke responded “I left in such a hurry because i was embarrassed”. This confused me greatly “Luke ... why would you be embarrassed of something you had no say in planning”. I responded. “because ... because i was thinking about you the entire time Pavarti”. Suddenly his actions made sense. He had left the awkward moment because he was fantasizing about doing the same actions we were seeing together. I was stricken back, in my heart of hearts I cared for Luke but I did not see him the same way he saw me. Now it was my turn to have nothing to say. I didn’t run but I did get nervous myself. “listen Pavarti, I have heard around town that you can be cold and non-reciprocating of others affections, and i don’t want us to drift apart as Friends” this angered me greatly. How dare he bring up my past and assume our situation. “Luke were you ever going to tell me what you really think of me?” I told him. “Pavarti wait, I am not saying that I agree with such rumors. Only that you puzzle me so. In the way you show affection”. He responded. “Its not my fault you get turned on with a mere mention of the word: blow, Luke!” I responded. We argued with each other for so long we didn’t notice the sun was going down past the hills littered with tombstones on the horizon. Suddenly Luke turned on his gift and coerced me to calm down. “Hey I know your angry and iv’e made some grand assumptions about us but i believe we can still work on our relationship and have these conversations.” he assured me. I calmed down, i knew he was right so I decided to say goodbye and walk home.