Barbaric

Chapter Eight

The next couple of days were rather rushed, and frantic. After the talk with Asurah, I had gone to bed with the intention of getting some rest before a busy day tomorrow, yet in the midst of the early morning, I had found myself taxed with drawing up plans for the little shelters I planned on having constructed. However...I was only an engineer in the electrical sense, so the art of architecture was pretty foreign to me, and the plans I had concocted made absolutely no sense to me. Well, other than the mechanical and electrical aspects of it. And once that realization came to me, I had thrown away what I had come up with in favor of getting some sleep.

The next day consisted of me trying to load the Torch Stones on a ship to send back to Teiken, since, I hoped, they had done their job in getting rid of the creets. After that was done, it was a rush to get ship A-14 completed before the deadline in the next couple of days.

So here I was, fixing the last bolt on the outer shell of the ship, nibbling at my bottom lip as I tightened it and took a step back to admire my handiwork. At the same time, I noticed a figure making their way over to me from the corners of my eyes, and when I turned, I was surprised to find Asurah standing there, looking a little more put together as he stared at the ship.

"It's coming along pretty nicely, Jox. I'm sure King Lunas will be quite pleased."

I sat the wrench aside and scratched at my chin, nodding my head as my gaze slid in the direction of my king. "Indeed. We have to please him if we're wanting to sign another treaty. How many planets do we now have at our beck and call, should we, gods forbid, get attacked? Fifteen? Twenty? Thirty?"

Asurah chuckled and placed his hands on his hips, finally turning to face me as his gaze searched mine. "I've actually haven't been counting, but it's nice to sign another one after...after the crap that's happened recently." A sad glint flashed in those white eyes, but it was gone as soon as it appeared, leaving me to wonder if I had imagined it or not. "Anyway, I was thinking...I should probably hire someone to help plan the construction of the shelters. I have someone in mind...but they haven't been answering my calls."

I furrowed my brows, concern filling me when I began to realize who exactly he was talking about. Delkele. Who else would he be talking about? The Narakkans were well known for their architectural abilities, and what went into constructing a building, especially underground ones. It was how most of them cooled off during the hottest days of the year. Of course, Asurah wanted to contact Delkele, he knew all about that kind of stuff. Or, well, he knew people who knew about that kind of stuff. It just made sense.

However, there was still a little problem with that plan, and that was the fact that Delkele wasn't even answering my calls, either. I voiced that out loud to Asurah, and watched as he frowned and pursed his lips, glancing at me from the corners of his eyes. "I'm going to have a serious talk with that brute when I finally see him," he said with a huff, crossing his arms over his chest. "I swear Joseph already talked to him though...guess nothing got through." The last part he grumbled; however, I was still barely able to hear what he said.

"So how are we going to get ahold of Delkele about the bunkers if he's not answering any of our calls?" I asked, feeling my lips pulling into a frown as I leaned up against the workbench behind me, eyes not really focusing on anything. "Hell, I merely just want to talk to him, so unless I physically show up there, I highly doubt we'll be able to get ahold of him." I glanced towards Asurah, only to find him staring at me with what resembled a smirk. Oh great, what did I say now?

"What?" I wondered, his lips only pulling further into a smirk as he raised his brows and glanced down at his immaculate, short nails.

"If only there was someone here that could show up there and corner him," Asurah began, not-so-subtly glancing at me from the corners of his eyes.

Oh. Oh no. I should have taken better care in picking out what had said, because now that I was standing here, I recalled my words from just a second ago.

"...so unless I physically show up there..."

Of course, Asurah would take my words literally. But I didn't blame him for wanting to get ahead with his emergency shelter idea. He had already lost too many of our people, between the war all those years back, and now with the whole Vexitan crap...of course he would want to bring forth haste for such an endeavor. So if he needed me to go there...who the hell was I to object?

I just couldn't shake the nerves that began to climb up my spine, my palms growing warm as I began to bite the inside of my cheek, careful to not draw blood. I mean, how would this look on me if I were to randomly show up there without his knowledge? I had no doubt he would be surprised and probably angry that I failed to inform him. What else could I do, though? He wasn't answering anyone's calls, it seemed, and we needed to get a roll on constructing the emergency bunkers, especially since I had no doubt they would take about a decade or more to have them all in place. So...if I showed up there, Del would just have to deal with it.

I sighed and dragged my hand down my face in exasperation before I threw a reluctant glance at my king, watching as his posture straightened. "Fine. After A-14 is done...I'll take a ship to Naraka and ask for Delkele's help with the bunkers."

Asurah beamed and patted me on the back, his hand cold against my warming skin. "Excellent! And maybe once you're there, you can yell at that little jerk for not answering anyone's calls. Like what is even up with that? Surely, he couldn't be that busy. Hell, doesn't he have any diplomatic calls coming in from other planets? He would have to be around his tablet, surely." He huffed and crossed his lithe arms across his chest, gaze on me as he shifted his weight to the side. "And hey...maybe you can talk to him too about your relationship, or whatever it's becoming. I know you must be worried about that." He patted me on the arm once again, this time much gentler. "Maybe it'll be good for the both of you."

I nodded my head with pursed lips, not trusting myself to say anything as I averted my gaze. My nerves were now crawling through every inch of my being, my heart pounding hard against my chest. What would I even say when I saw him? Do I even mention to him that I've tried to call him since we returned to Glacida? What would his excuse even be? Or do I just go straight to business and hope he's not angry that I called him like some clingy lover? Gods, and if he was mad...what the hell would I say?

Gee wizz, I was worried you didn't like me anymore, so I decided to all you an absurd, and definitely unhealthy, number of times.

Ha. Like that would go over well.

It took me another hour to completely ship A-14 done, and by then, I was already feeling like I was going to pass out. I don't even know why I was so worried and nervous about this. I mean...if Delkele didn't like me the way I liked him...he would have made it clear to me that he felt that way. Right? Even if he didn't like me anymore, it wasn't like I never had my heart broken before- with my ex best friend Luthiaer being the biggest hurt of my life.

So why the hell was I so nervous to see Delkele?

I had no idea, but I knew that wasn't going to stop me from, at least, hiring some of his people to help build, and design Glacida's emergency shelters. So, with that lingering thought in the back of my mind, I hastily packed a small bag and began to make my way to Planet Naraka.

A/N: Ohhhh snap, crackle and POP! Jox is finally gonna see his mannnnnnn. Though, I wonder what's going to happen when he sees a certain woman there. O.O Huhuhu, this is going to be so much funnnn!