KHALL
Khall swiped his comms as he rode in the droid-driven hover car to work.
Bo had been despondent when he headed out, and he hadn’t exactly left things in a good place with April.
From all he knew of her, she would never take that out on his children, but he also knew that Bo would need extra comforting right now and maybe if April was upset, she wouldn’t notice as much.
He hated leaving things this way - hated leaving at all.
But sometimes he could cheer Bo up with a phone call. He reached out to April’s comms, and took a deep breath as he heard the alert chime on her end. Talking Bo down usually meant a long, tearful call. Hopefully, he had time for that before arriving on the job.
“Hello,” April’s voice on the other end was breathless and happy. Music played in the background - a strange combination of classical and modern.
For one instant he worried that she was somehow out at a club again. Then he heard Bo’s bright laughter and Minerva’s low chuckle in the background.
“It’s your dad,” April said happily. “Stay quiet so we can hear him.”
But that was not to be. He could tell by Bo’s laugh that she was down the rabbit hole of something she had found very, very silly.
“So, she’s okay,” he said.
Relief washed over him, and he was suddenly so grateful to April that he didn’t care about her keeping that stupid negligee.
“Yes,” April told him. “We’re having a dance party, and your daughters have some pretty sweet moves.”
“Minerva is dancing?” he asked, incredulous. Minerva did not dance. She didn’t do anything undignified.
“Minerva is a regular Xana Sekta,” she said, naming a famous dancer who had recently won and intergalactic hologram program.
Xana Sekta was also a Fiirithian, which meant she had an enormous bottom, which she put to good use in her dancing.
Minerva howled with laughter in the background.
“Do you want to talk to the kids?” April asked.
“We have to keep working on our dance, April,” Bo moaned in the background.
“It’s your dad,” April said. “He just wants to say hello.”
“No, no,” Khall told her quickly. “You guys have fun. Call me anytime. I mean it.”
Something else must have happened, because Bo began shrieking with laughter again.
“Okay, okay,” April laughed.
He could hear her moving away from the laughter.
“Thanks so much for calling,” she said in a soft voice. “It means a lot to them, even though they’re busy dancing. You’re a really good dad.”
“Thank you, April,” he said.
“Apriiiiiil,” Minerva yelled in the background.
“Okay, I should go,” she said.
“Have a good night,” he told her.
The comm ended but he kept his eyes on his bracelet for a minute, feeling warm and fuzzy in a way he hadn’t experienced in years.
April cared about his kids, and understood them well enough to know how to cheer them up on a hard day.
And she cared about him too, enough to take a minute to encourage him.
Whatever her plan was for that stupid lingerie, he didn’t care. If he made things right with her, maybe he could convince her she didn’t need it after all.
The city melted away as Khall dreamed on of what his life might look like if he let himself fall for her.
He knew the whole idea was crazy.
But what if it wasn’t…?