Scouting For Romance

Entry 6 Part 1

Day 11, Month 14, Year 572

0200 Hours

It got colder in the middle of the night, and I was woken suddenly by Tytus climbing over to my chair and hugging me for warmth. It only took me a second to realize he was still asleep and doing it subconsciously. It wasn't a surprise, obviously his desire for comfort far outweighed whatever dumb objections he had about how I acted yesterday. As much as he might say he's 'mad' or he's 'putting his foot down', it never lasts.

While him waking me up reminded me of the hunger pains, as I was still starving, it was easier to ignore with him around.

I snuggled deeper into his arms, then promptly fell asleep once more.

I wouldn't wake again until 0700, when the staff turned the lights on and announced breakfast.

"Hngh?!" Tytus jolted, I felt him look around. "Wha-?" He whispered as he looked down at me and realized the position we were in, "tsk... Good thing she's a heavy sleeper." Slowly, he removed his arms from around me and returned to his chair. "Brrr, I hate winter..."

As great as it could have been to jump up and mock him for cuddling with me despite his words, I had to bite my tongue. Over the decades, I've convinced him I can sleep through almost anything and have seen so many great sights because of his lowered guard.

Once, like five years ago, I was sleeping on our couch. Tytus came out and figured that, since I wouldn't be bothered, he'd do some cleaning around the apartment. The song he sang and the dance he did while he swept up dust and clutter was the. Funniest. Thing. I had ever seen in my life.

No, I take that back. Later that day, when I was cooking us lunch, I decided to hum that song as I worked. Tytus's face went pale, his ears drooped, his eyes rounded, he was in a total panic.

"Wh-wha-what... what kind of hum is that, Malina?"

"I do not know. It has been stuck in my head all morning."

I played it off like his song subconsciously transferred to my brain, but he was still so sheepish for a while after that.

But, back to today, Tytus made no effort to wake me up. Not even when that waitress came around to take his breakfast order. They started shamelessly flirting, again, and I had to do something.

My eyes shot open, I rose from the chair, then turned my head to them. "Breakfast?"

"Oh, hi Malina," his voice was indifferent and he lazily passed his menu to me, "here. Anyway!" He turned back to waitress-bitch and started chatting again.

"..." I sighed deeply. "Waitress." I said loudly, cutting into their conversation. "I am ready to order."

She smiled an evil, wicked smile. "Oh don't worry hun, I already talked to the staff about your little 'medical problem'." She said the words mockingly, clearly insinuating once more that I was fat. "It's not right for a soon-to-be soldier to bankrupt herself like this, but you're still so hungry, so we're getting the chefs to cook you one of everything. Free of charge, of course, and they should be preparing it now. There are some new meals in there too, so let them know what you think, okay?" Without waiting for a response, she turned back to Tytus.

She got me. By God, she got me. There was nothing I could do.

The chefs were already cooking so I couldn't tell her to leave and deliver our orders.

The staff were doing such a massive favor for me, giving me all that food for free because I'm enlisting, that I'm honorbound to accept without complaint. Under no circumstances could I say something dumb like "but I want the food done a certain way" as an excuse to send her away. They'd already gone so far for me, I couldn't ask them to go farther.