The Number One Star in the Interstellar Era

IT took a couple of seconds before what his brother said completely registered in Reas' mind.  "Why would he be coming here for dinner?"

Seeing how Reas had completely forgotten about their earlier conversation, he smiled.  "Because I invited him," he answered in a good mood.

Reas felt even more ridiculous.  "Why would you invite him?"

"Because we're friends," Astrid easily answered.  "And this is also a way for me to thank him for inviting me to visit Polaris.  If not for that invitation, I probably wouldn't have met Sister Ellis.  I'm probably still fumbling about on where to find a good and trustworthy agent.  Which would probably take months, even years if I'm unlucky.  That simple invitation fast-forwarded a lot of things for me.  I can only express this heartfelt attitude by cooking him a home-cooked meal."

Reas suddenly didn't know what to say.  Because his brother made a lot of genuine good points.  Although having Ellis Payne as Astrid's manager wasn't directly related to that guy, Lauren, it was still indirectly linked to him.  So, what else could he say? 

And as if on cue, an image of that guy flashed in his mind – dirty blond hair and a pair of brown eyes that were akin to melted dark chocolate.  He stopped and shook his head fiercely.  What was he thinking?  Comparing that guy's eyes to chocolate like some trying hard poet.

"So, is that your plan now, treating everyone you're thankful for to a homecooked meal?" he asked in a kind of joking manner, just so he could avoid what he thought of just now.

"Why not?  You should know how great my cooking skill is," Astrid said.  "I dare say I might even be better than most professional chefs."

Reas knew the other was just joking when he said the last part.  But considering his brother's cooking skill, that certainly wouldn't be far-off from the truth.

"Try not to bicker too much with Lauren," Astrid said after a while. 

Reas scoffed at that.  "And was that my fault?  It's his fault for being so touchy with you."

Astrid looked at him with a helpless expression.  "That's just how he is.  He's the type to convey his affection through physical contact.  He meant no harm.  And you know as well as I do that there's no romantic feelings behind his actions.  He's just an overly affectionate person."  Then, he added with a teasing tone, "Or do you just hate that he's like that with me because you wanted him to be touchy-feely with you as well?"

As expected, Reas' whole face turned red at that.  "A-Aster!  Can you stop saying nonsensical things?"

"I'm not though?" Astrid said with an innocent look.  "I'm just stating my observation."

"Well, your observation is wrong," Reas said with quite a force in his voice, as if saying it like that would make it true.  "Stop with your matchmaking.  Do you see me doing the same to you and the general?"

"That's because you don't approve of Wulf.  I, on the other hand, have completely different feelings for Lauren.  If the two of you end up together, I would definitely give my seal of approval."

Reas' face that was starting to cool down, heated up unexplainably again.  Probably because he felt that the other was not just teasing him.  His brother was serious when he said that he and Lauren had his approval.  He had a lot of words to refute what Astrid just said.  But at the end, he could only shut his mouth because he had a feeling that he would just be a stammering mess if he did.

He seriously couldn't understand why his brother kept on pairing him up with Lauren.  Just what led him to think that there would be something more in the future between him and that guy?

The only answer he could think of was their bickering.  Yes, it's because Reas always reacted to every little thing that Lauren did.  He had never acted like that towards anyone.  Well, except the general.  But that's a completely different matter altogether.  That's probably what led to this misunderstanding. 

It's a good thing that last time, when he accompanied his brother to Polaris, he had already decided to stop bickering with that guy.  And he did quite splendidly too.  Did Astrid not notice that?  Then, he just had to continue on doing that tonight.  He would continue doing that until he cleared whatever misunderstanding Astrid had.

"I won't bicker with your friend," he said, changing back the topic to their earlier subject of conversation before Astrid went on teasing him.  "In fact, I would be hospitable and treat him as a guest."

Astrid looked at his brother with interest, wondering just what came over the other.  Well, whatever it might be, one thing's for sure – the dinner would definitely be interesting.

----------

Lauren stared at the building in front of him.  He looked again at the address given to him by Astrid to make sure that he was on the right place.  And he was, this building was indeed where Astrid currently lived.

He felt a bit complicated.  Although the community where the building was located was pretty safe, he could tell by its structure that individual units would probably be not that big.  Should he recommend a better place to Astrid?

As he was contemplating that, a familiar voice called his name.

"Lauren!"

He turned to the direction where the voice came from and saw a guy wearing a cap and a mask covering the lower half of his face.  Just with the voice, he already knew who the other was.

He walked to that direction and greeted the other.  "You didn't have to come out.  I could have just walked in by myself."

"It's faster this way," Astrid said.  "Let's go."

The two walked inside the building.  Lauren adjusted his own cap and mask, securing them properly just in case someone in the building saw them. 

"Reas is already there, waiting," Astrid said as they walked.

And Lauren almost missed a step at the mention of that surly guy.