Chapter 15 - Episode: Lessons Learned (part Three, of Three)

The Oven had heated up to full by the time Eric and Joanna had finished with 'seconds', and the rest of the checklist showed the oven operating as it should. That left them the rest of the hour for 'thirds' and a shower. Eric slipped his clothes back on, as his hair still glistened wet. Joanna sat in a shower robe in the kitchen, warm with afterglow.

"So how have you enjoyed your first few days here, Eric?" The silver haired woman asks conversationally. Eric laughs, and when he asked himself the question, the laugh and the smile felt natural. "Pretty well, by the sounds of things." She smiled wide and Eric nodded.

"Yeah, everyone seems very, very, welcoming," He chuckles, then it gets caught in his throat, "Everyone," he repeats and shakes off the memory.

"Something wrong?" She asks, and his mind races to think up a dodge.

"Oh, just something that happened early, early, this morning. I had to go out in the fog to test a sensor," He started, and Joanna sat up.

"Before curfew lifted?" She asked, eyes wide, and set her coffee down. "Don't you know how dangerous that is? There's more than just fog out there."

"Funny you should bring that up," He sat down across from her at the table, and looked at his own paper cup, empty. He hadn't drunk all of that, had he? He hadn't taken the top off either but it wasn't on, now. He looked over at Joanna who sipped at her coffee, expecting him to finish his sentence, clearly. "But I encountered a Regulator when I went out there." He said softly. Her lips parted as she lowered the cup from them. "It's what caused the sensor error," He continued and Joanna looked confused, as she recovered her loose lip. "It was damaged and I fixed it."

"You fixed it?"

"I'm a military qualified Engineer, Regulator repair is part of the core training curriculum."

"Did you get much use out of it?" She asked, and Eric nodded. 

"There's some stuff I still can't talk about, but yeah." He decided to push the conversation away from that. "Belle wasn't too happy about it, but she's more glad I didn't get... regulated... than angry."

"Well, yeah, Regulators were one of the deadliest things mankind ever made, and that was at the worst of things. Now they're beyond Apex predators and most of the stuff that could fight them is either on reservations or extinct." She took another drink of her coffee.

"Or in sci-fi." Eric chimed in and Joanna chuckles, and licked her lips as the seconds ticked over. "So you're a teacher, where at?" He asked and she smiled at the question.

"Nine Lotuses University." She said with a smile, and Eric blanches. "Yeah, I know, big money, but hey. I got the job on my thesis and its a beautiful campus."

"Given how much they spend on landscaping, it better be." Eric scoffed and Joanna looked up at the comment.

"You've been there before?"

"Two years of Accelerated Practical Engineering. Full Marks." He said with little fanfare. "Does the sprinkler system still 'sing' on Wednesdays?" He asked, curious about his somewhat Alma Mater.

"Yes!" She laughed, and when he smiled a little mischievously "Wait, that was you?" She shook her head. "How'd you get it to do that, they replaced the sprinklers every month it seems like."

"They replace the sprinklers, yeah." He nodded, "But, and keep this to yourself?" He smiled when she nodded, "I bet they still use the same tried and true maintenance drones don't they?" His grin reaches his ears as her jaw drops. "Yep. Every time the sprinklers are 'maintained' on Monday they get adjusted, then by Wednesday they get reset. Nobody figures its something in the Fixer bots, and not in the sprinklers themselves." He sighed. "But if they're still singing. Damn I need to check on that betting pool." He laughed and scratched his chin.

"Betting pool?"

"It was my graduation prank, and there's a betting pool in the Engineer's Track that follows those. How long it takes to fix, and what the actual problem is. It's my prank, so I'm due a quarter of the Bookie's cut." He scratches his chin. "I hope they don't think I died on tour or something." He chuckled. "Everyone who tries to fix it pays into the pool with what they're idea is, after all these years I might just call them on it." He shook his head again. Good times. 

"That's quite the academy to get a degree from, and you went from there to the service."

"Yeah, It was when OZ, Australia, Oz-pin-Nine had rebuilt himself, remember."  He recalled the rather durable, self-rebuilding mechanical dictator of 'OZ's Emerald Zone. 

"You served there? I'm teaching a class on that Conflict, this term." She laughed. Eric looked up. Wow, were they already 'teaching' about it? Like it was one of the Old Wars? Seemed... odd. He knew soldiers who had died, whose families still thought they were MIA, because their actions couldn't be disclosed yet, and she was teaching about it like it was a known?

"I'd like to sit in on a lesson," He said with less of a smile. "If I could?" He asked, and Joanna nodded enthusiastically.

"Yes, of course! I'll arrange for a visitor pass, I might be able to get one for my class on Friday." She offered. Oh yeah, it's Wednesday already. How bout that? "If not, next week, definitely!" She said with an eager look on her face, excited at the teachable moment she was probably cooking up in her head.

"I just might sit and listen, don't go pointing me out, okay?" Eric pleaded, jokingly. He was more curious to what those kids would say without knowing who he was. He might dress up full 'janitor' working on one air conditioners. That would be funny.

"Of course," She held up her hands in an assuring posture. "No obligation, just: if you hear something you want to comment on..."

"Got a problem student?" Eric asked, feeling like there was more to her eagerness than just a love of educating. He narrowed his gaze and she blushed hard under his scrutiny. She leaned back and let her robe slip open, revealing her incredible breasts once more, and stirring Eric's libido in its grave.

"Maybe..." She dragged out the word, and Eric laughed. Fair enough.

"Well, I need to clock this in." He stood up and picked up her Maintenance Ticket, which now sported her signature of approval for a job well done. "See if there's anything else Belle needs me to check out." He smiled at her and walked next to her to lean down and kiss her. "Though if you're baking later, give me a call? Make sure its all in order."

"I've got your number." She tapped a card he'd left on table. "I'll ring you," She winked and smiled as he saw himself out, picking up his bag of tools on the way out. He closed the door behind him and headed over to the elevators. Seeing one arrive, he stepped in without thinking and stopped short of walking into Julia.

"OH." They both said at the same time. She had her phone in her hand, and a basket of fresh vegetables hanging off her arm. Eric was silent, and in their search for words, the doors to the elevator closed behind Eric, nearly biting him in the ass. It started to lower and Eric stepped to a corner opposite the buttons.

"Sorry," He said, and reached over to hit an override, but saw the ground floor button had already been pushed. He blinked.

"I, got a call from Belle," Julia held up her phone. "Delivery for me, so I decided to just pick it up now." She explained.

"Ah, right. Sorry." Eric nodded and averted his gaze as the curvaceous newly wed stood awkwardly in the center of the elevator. "Sorry about yesterday," He said, "I was a moron. I-"

SLAP.

Eric was, despite his credentials, a soldier. He was not so flat footed that he didn't see Julia shift her weight. There was no way he missed her breasts and ass shaking as she brought back her hand, and aim for his face. He just hadn't seen a reason to deny her the satisfaction.

"Don't you hand me none of that, Eric Wyre." Oh wow, full naming me? "We... I.... should have been more conscious of your circumstances..." Circumstances, that's what we're calling it. "It's just that we... I guess..." She shook her head. "It was my mistake. I'm sorry." He felt his cheek itch a little from the slap. It was a baby fart compared to what had hit him during basic, never mind OZ. 

Still, it stung in a different way, didn't it?

"Let's start fresh, huh?" Eric suggested and held out a hand. "Eric Wyre, nice to meet you." He smiled and she shook her hand. 

"Julia Amberly." She said with a small shift of her hips, as Eric felt the elevator slow.

"Mrs. Amberly," He nodded. "I think I met your beloved the other day, said to look after you and help you get to know the town." He explained.

"I think that would be lovely, my sister-in-law and I would love someone to keep us company while we learned our way around." Julia offered and Eric nodded.

"I'd be honored," Eric bowed his head dramatically, and brought it up as he heard the doors to the elevator open. They walked toward the office side by side, smiling and talking about the weather.