It took us a few hours to get to Amundo, since the moon was further away than we had thought. Asurah filled the time by talking about himself and about how he became king, although he left his parents out, mostly, claiming that they died. He never elaborated how they died, although, unbeknownst to him, he had already told me back at the Hewon Ball when he had gotten drunk. Which, I was surprised knowing that aliens could feel the effects of alcohol, just as humans could. I was gaining more knowledge about the worlds outside Earth, and it was so very interesting, and diverse.
He even told me the main planets he usually went to, one of them being a small moon with the best "fluff drinks", whatever the heck those were. He went into a little more detail about his people, telling me that they had a holiday they had dedicated to him, much to his embarrassment. They would celebrate him by dressing up like him, creepily, in my opinion, then would carry on with dances, eating contests, and even painted each other's face with vibrantly colored paint. He went on to say that the celebration usually ended one full day, and that by the end of it he was usually super embarrassed.
"I guess I'm still not used to all the praise." He said, a faraway look in his eyes. He glanced at me, leaning against his seat as the ship coasted closer to Amundo. "I used to be a little punk when I was younger, I'm not going to lie. Not many of the servants wanted anything to do with me, and only served me on my patéras order. It was when my parents died, that I decided I needed to be more mature in order to save my people. So, I shaped up and I guess my people liked it if they're throwing a celebratory holiday for me once every year."
"That's understandable. I usually was never associated with, either. In fact, I was always that one bullied kid while I was a cadet. Kids would laugh at me, and poke insults at me. Now look at me, top of my class in basically every category, with a perfect record."
Asurah frowned at me. "That's abhorable! Why would your own peers make fun of you? I was even an irritable child, and yet no one insulted me." He then paused and crunched up his nose. "Then again, they would have been banished if they insulted me, since I was the prince, and all."
I shrugged, and hit a few buttons on the consol, making us slow down as we neared the moon's hangar. "Meh, it's all in the past now. I'm more concerned about the future than what happened 5 or 6 years ago."
Asurah gave me a soft smile that had my stomach doing flips. "Those words could never be truer." He rubbed his palm against his pants, bringing up another point I wanted to ask.
"So, I thought Glacic's couldn't wear too many clothes?"
Asurah blinked and glanced down at his pants before smiling sheepishly at me, a small, almost unnoticeable, blush on his cheeks. "Well, these are specially made. They are lined with cooling stones that cool me down. You know, in case Amundo is warmer than I thought. Precautions, and such."
"Ah, I see. Makes sense."
We landed in the hanger and left the ship, paying a small blue man a bit of credit for the "parking fee". I glanced around, surprised to see the many large, rounded buildings that, admittedly, looked like a futuristic version of a human mall. There were holographic signs everywhere in front of shops, and there was a giant crystal fountain in the middle of the building, the water looking like something out of a fantasy film. Instead of the clear liquid I was used too, this water was completely rainbow, making it look utterly mesmerising. I glanced over to Asurah to see him typing at a small wristband on his wrist, pressing something before a small holographic layout of the mall came up.
"We're at the beginning of the shops. Hm...where should we go to first? Oooh, there's a Fluff Stuff shop here! Let's go there first, and then we can go wherever you want to go to."
I nodded and followed the albino, faintly feeling like this was a date, even though I knew it wasn't. It just had a "date" feel about it, which only made my stomach twist and churn. Asurah was extremely ecstatic and was trying to explain and point out many things in the mall, going on a small little rant that had me smiling. He even gave a little lesson on the small blue guy we met at the entrance, saying that he was an aquatic species that was able to shift between their tails, and legs.
Mermaids exist too? I thought in amusement, my eyes never leaving Asurah. I watched the way his cheeks flushed as he talked about the stuff he loved, the way his full lips moved with each syllable he muttered, his eyes sparking as he spoke. Just watching him in general was a like a fantasy, one that would inevitably turn to a horror at the end.
With that thought, I looked away, glancing ahead of us to see the Fluff Stuff shop. I had expected to see little stuffed animals, or stuffed goodies, instead, I was surprised to see that the Fluff Stuff shop, was a beverage shop, with different foamy drinks on display. Asurah had a large grin on his face as he walked up to the counter, a tall, stout woman clasping her hands together excitedly.
"Oooh! We have royalty within our mix! Whatever can I get for you, Your Highness?"
Asurah clasped his hands together in front of him, cocking his hip to the side as he briefly glanced up at the menu. "I'd like a large Fluff McMoon, please. Hold on the bluegoo, if you will." He the glanced at me. "And what would you like Jo?"
At the sound of the nickname, I raised an eyebrow, my heart going into overdrive as he stared at me. Feeling awkward at the staring contest, I cleared my throat and looked up at the menu with a shrug. "I'll have what you're having."
Asurah nodded and repeated my order, waiting for the stout woman to make our drinks. Once they were done, Asurah took them from the woman after paying, handing me one of the tall, slim glasses. Asurah held up a finger, indicating for me to wait a moment, before he came back and placed a silly straw into my drink, making me raise an eyebrow.
Asurah actually blushed darkly, averting his eyes as he sipped at his drink. "What? Fun straws are better than the boring straight ones."
I chuckled at his logic, which only had him blushing harder. He looked so perfect when he blushed. His pale cheeks would fill with color, and he would look away and nibble at his bottom lip, which had caught my attention. Ashamed with my thoughts, I looked away and took a sip of my drink, pleasantly surprised as a fluffy blue-raspberry taste rushed through, making me glance at the drink with raised eyebrows as I took another sip.
"Is it good?" Asurah asked, looking at me with a hopeful expression.
I nodded, wiping some of the fluffy liquid from the corner of my mouth. "Actually, it's freaking amazing. Way better than any of the drinks on Earth, I can tell you that much."
Asurah grinned, proud of himself as he took another sip of his fluffy drink. "I'm glad. Amuno is known for their Fluff Stuff beverages. It's one of the other reasons I wanted to come up here."
"I can tell. Like this drink is better than even pizza. And pizza is amazing."
"Isn't pizza a food?"
"See? That's how good this is. Better than even food."
Asurah shrugged and watched as a small child with a tail rushed by, his parents calling his name from behind. He then glanced at me. "I don't know. The collared greens from Hera are quite good as well. In fact, they're my favorite meal."
I raised an eyebrow. "Really? I don't know why, but I didn't see you as the veggie type."
Asurah laughed, making my heart swell at the lyrical sound. "Why? Because I have sharp teeth? Not all creatures with sharp teeth are all into meat, you know. Glacics are a mostly vegetarian species. There are some who like meat, but not a lot of us do. I prefer fish. And veggies, as you put it."
I snorted as I took another sip of my drink, amazed with the information. Glacic's had sharp teeth...and yet they didn't use them to eat meat? Isn't that why carnivores have sharp teeth? Then again, this was an entirely new species we were talking about. Earth logic didn't apply here.
I was actually glad we came here. I didn't have to think about the mission at hand, and hanging out with Asurah was actually rather fun. He taught me things I didn't know, and he was amazingly skilled at video games, I came to found out when we went to a small arcade. I was able to forget and have a fun time with Asurah. And I realized that I treasured his presence much more than I had anticipated. Hell, if I were to be completely honest with myself...I would have to say that I was actually beginning to fall for him. Which meant my mission was going to be much harder than I thought. And I wouldn't just feel guilty when I betrayed him. I would feel completely shattered. I doubt I would even be the same person when this mission was finally done.
However, I pushed all of those thoughts aside and enjoyed my time at the mall. Feeling happy for the first time, in a long time.