Lover Laid Bare (continuation of Lover United)

Part 15

Malina sat next to him in the guest bed, neither of them touching, and very sparce conversation. BJ couldn't bring himself to discuss what she read, explain his friend's strange ways, or even find the energy to explain it to himself. The sun firmly locked them into the house together, which was both terrifying and comforting to him. After she cried herself dry, she stood and walked to the bedroom, sitting herself down, and stared at the wall. Soon he followed suite and that was where they stayed.

"So, was it everything you dreamed?" she asked lightly, taking him by surprise. 
"Hm, was what?" Looking over at him, she brushed her hair behind her ear. 
"The baseball game, being a professional player. Was it what you always imagined it would be like? When you were little?" He smirked. 
"Yeah, it was. And then some. Thank you," she said nudging her lightly. "For doing that for me. I don't think I properly thanked you before." She blushed and looked down, fixing her hair as it got into her face again.
"I think you kinda did," whispering mostly to herself. 

"Yeah, I think it's time to retire from baseball though," he said stretching his arms up in the air and groaning. "It was fun and all, but I'm ready to move on. Bigger and better adventures are out there."
"Like what?" she asked.
"I dunno. I'm kinda leaning towards fireman. Another boyhood dream of course, like most kids the age of five or so. I just remember watching the trucks go by and thought, 'Man, I'd love to drive that thing! What about you? You have your artwork hanging in a prominent home of a well-to-do gentlemale. Tell the audience Malina, what will you do next?" He held an imaginary microphone up to her as she giggled. 
"Alpaca wrangler," she said without hesitation. "Definitely alpaca wrangler." BJ found himself breaking into a fit of laughter, which sent them spiraling into hoots and hollers. BJ tried forming sentences between his gasps of breath,
"You... with a lasso..... and their long necks. Oh my god I can't breathe.... and if you wore cowboy boots!"
"Don't forget the plaid," she said and they burst into fits again. 

When they settled down, BJ wiped a few tears from his eyes, his gut hurting momentarily. "I'm serious though," Malina said between giggles. "It's crazy but I think alpacas are so damn ugly they're cute. Their wool is so soft and they're just funny animals. I'd love to be around them."
"Donkeys are way better," he said slicing through the air with his hands as if it was no contest. "I had a donkey, well I had a lot of animals, but there was this donkey names Surge. Best damn ass out there, I'm telling you. He'd let the Rosa and Bhane ride on him, sometimes we'd sneak him into the palace and he would send the doggen into a frenzy. Flowers would be chewed to bits, curtains shredded. Watching them trying to get his stubborn ass out of the palace was a treat. Once they just made him a plate for last meal because he wouldn't leave."

"Christmas, 2072, I'd had a petting zoo for about 6 months. Everyone thought I'd shut it down earlier in the month because it was cold-"
"I'm sorry, but you had a petting zoo?"
"Yeah," he replied eagerly. "A real honest one. Rosa, Jhinx's sister and my younger brother were 9 and 11, and they loved feeding them, hanging out with all the different animals. I'd even taken them a few times into town and let some of the community see them. Anyways, I'd actually just moved them to an old farm area that a guy let me buy off him. Heated barn and all. They had it made. But the guys and I decided to bring them over on Christmas Eve, while everyone was sleeping so when they woke up Christmas night there were animals everywhere. There were a lot of new palace rules made that night."
"Like what?"
"Well, no zip lining is a big one. No more baby oil can be in the castle unless confined to the nurseries. No alcohol in the throne room, EVER. We almost melted Wrath's chair." 

"You have quite an adventurous life," she said looking up at him, moving her hair again.
"I've always tried to find the adventure I guess. You can find fun if you try hard enough." She looked at him sullenly. 
"Not always." Looking down again, she fiddled with her nails. He took the opportunity to study her face, small button nose sprinkled with small brown freckles. Thrashe came to his mind, the brute of a male that should be taking her as his mate and he felt himself grow angry. She was his, all of her beauty and humor and grace and kindness. All of everything she never showed to anyone but him. Sykes was wrong about her, he had to be. BJ wouldn't allow it to be any other way, and he was going to get to the bottom of it.