ZER

TWELVE

"DAI, I'm bored. What can I do to kill the time?" I ask loudly.

Time is the indefinite continued progress of existence and events in the past, present, and future regarded as a whole, it cannot be killed.

"I mean... what can I do to keep me busy?"

Exercise.

Seriously? "Anything else?"

Reading.

Oh God, "Anything else?"

Painting. Cooking. Walking in the garden. Call High General Zer—

"I can call him?"

Would you like to call High General Zer?

"Yes, please."

Calling... private number or office?

Hmm... "Private number."

"Yes?" I hear his voice suddenly.

I gasp. "Zer!"

"What's wrong?" His voice sounds fully concerned.

"Nothing, I'm bored, the movers came already and I have nothing to do. How's your day?"

He pauses for a few seconds. "Busy."

"Ah... okay, you're still coming home for dinner right?" I ask him.

"Yes, I will be home for dinner."

"What would you like to eat?"

"Any is fine with me."

Somebody isn't in the mood to talk. "Okay... I will leave you now, bye."

"Goodbye, Kate,"

I smile, he bids me goodbye, that's something. "Goodbye husband." I can imagine him flinch when I say that word.

DAI has pointed me to the home gym, which is in the basement, like, the whole basement is the gym. There are some weights, cardio equipment, and a simulation room. Apparently, my husband usually wakes up at five in the morning and train here. According to DAI, his favorite is the simulation room, where he can join other people who have the same simulation equipment to train, something like virtual reality. I think that's pretty cool.

The only books my husband owns are a small bookshelf across the sofa in the living room, and they all are written in funny writing. So instead I ask DAI to read me Tzar history for a good 45 minutes before my eyelids begin to drop. After that, I walk outside to enjoy nature. I bring a small round device that acts as a speaker/tracker/telephone so I can have DAI with me outside. He tells me where are the small river and a meadow not far from our place.

Our place.

I like that. When the sun starts to go down I ask DAI to leads me home, I take a long shower and start to prepare for dinner. I don't want DAI to cook the same dish the same as yesterday so I ask him to prepare something else.

"Does my husband like Spicy food?" I ask DAI. Maybe starting tomorrow I need to familiarize myself with the ingredients here in Tzar. I want to cook something for Zer, I want to chop the greens myself and add salt and paper to my liking, I want to cook from scratch for him.

I hope he will like that. Then I smile, he probably will choke if I tell him I cooked the food from scratch for him. By the time the food is cooked, I hear DAI greeting Zer.

"Hello, welcome home." I walk to him and tiptoeing, he takes a step back horrified and I laugh at him. I grab his shirt and pull him to me. "I won't bite," I say as I kiss him. "You don't like me to kiss you?"

His eyes fixed on mine as he looking for a proper answer. "It's very... intimate." His lips curl.

"You don't want to get intimate with me?" I thought I'm some kind of savior for Tzarian, and surely they expecting me to try to have a baby with Zer soon.

"We have too, that is the point of being paired." He replies.

"But you don't want too." That is a statement, not an answer. "If you want me to stop you can say so."

He looks anywhere but I before his eyes find mine again. "I'm not sure if I want to."

I smile so wide my cheeks hurt, I push myself on my toe and shower his face his kisses. His body becomes rigid and I know I have to stop. "You make me happy, thank you."

"I didn't do anything." He said somehow defensive.

"You're giving us a chance, and let me be myself. That means a lot to me," At first I see in his eyes that he doesn't believe me, but as they said, Rome wasn't built in a day. "I prepared the food already, would you like to eat first, or would you like to freshen up first?"

"You're one strange female."

"Excuse me?" I put my hands on my hip.

"Strange is not bad." He adds quickly, I narrow my eyes not believing his words. "I'm going to freshen up first. If you want, you can start."

"I'll wait for you, husband." I simply say and sit on the chair.