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Cruise Control, Part 5



"What do you want?" Emerson replied.

"I wanna say thanks for helping me and helping Tammy," he said. "Tammy wants to say thanks for saving her life and for helping me. We, uh..."

He dragged the pack forward. "We have a water filter. And a sleeping bag. And some vitamins. And a hatchet. Tammy was surprised that they make hatchets our size. And, uh, some stuff."

"Stuff?" Emerson rose into view, a small smile on her lips. "After all that, you offer 'stuff?'" She took a deep breath. Cruiser watched her chest move, then looked back at her eyes.

"Well, we got a jump suit. Tammy wanted to get one two or three sizes bigger than the one I gave you. That one."

"Wanted to?"

"I voted for one a size smaller. Mildred said I was too young to be a dirty old man, yet, so we got the larger."

Emerson laughed. "Well, thank you, Mildred." Then her face blanked. "How big is the sleeping bag?" she asked softly.

"One," he said. "It sleeps one, comfortably." She nodded and he looked down at the ground, moving a bit of dirt with his toe. "Of course...the carrier's bed is a bit wider."

"Ah," Emerson said. "Tammy wants you to have a companion."

"No. No, Tammy wants to thank you for saving her life. She really does think she owes you. I do, too. If you want to live indoors... You could come back with us. As a friend."

"As a pet," she snarled.

"Yeah," he said with a shrug. "That's the legal way. Well, she'll try to find your first owner. And maybe buy you from them. So you could stay with us. If that's what you want..."

They stared at each other for a while. "Look, there's the stuff," he said. "You can have it. And she'll keep bringing me back all winter. Think it over. And, uh, you can always change your mind."

"Okay," she said. He put his hand out for a shake. She took a careful step forward. "If, uh, if I kiss you goodbye, are you going to run off into the woods?"

"No," he said. "I don't think so."

"Let's find out." She gathered him into her arms and kissed him gently on the lips. He returned it, hugging her tightly.

When she pulled back, he let her go. Then he shrugged and started walking back to Tammy.

Emerson watched him go. Watched him yell for the human's attention. She picked him up and they talked quietly for a second. Emerson couldn't make anything out over the wind in the trees and the water bubbling over rocks below her.

But it didn't look like fighting. Cruiser's owner even looked sad. Then Tammy waved in her general direction, though she certainly couldn't see the sylph cowering in the grass.

And they left. No enticing, no begging, no counter offers or promises... They just left. She thought for a bit, then turned to go back to her burrow.

-----

"That's too bad," Tammy said as she walked down the trail. "I hope she comes around."

"Maybe once the snow falls," Cruiser said.

"When do you want to go back?" she asked. "Don't want to go there every day, it'll seem like we're nagging. Or desperate. But if we wait too long, you might lose contact with her again."

"Oh! I hadn't thought of that!" he said. "Maybe we should make sure she knows when to expect us."

"Okay," Tammy said, turning around. She got as far as the last turn before the bridge when the little man in her hands got excited. He pointed to the side of the trail, shouted, "Stop! Stop!" and waved.

Tammy knelt and lowered him to the ground. Emerson stepped out from behind some grass, leaning over, resting her hands on her thighs from recent exertion.

"I, uh, I, huh-huh, I thought, huh, it over and... I would... Like to take you up. On your offer."

"Okay," Cruiser said. He gave her a short hug. "Let's go get you packed."

"No, no," she said. She took a deep breath. "There's a snake back there...."

-------

Due to the serpentine threat, Tammy picked both sylphs up before she was formally introduce to Emerson. They took care of that on the trail.

Tammy shook her head as she walked along. "My first supervisor used to refer to two of my coworkers as the Emerson Twins. If he'd been drinking, they were the Emerson Quadruplets."

"We can change it, can't we?" Cruiser asked. Then he slapped a hand to his forehead. "Durrrrrr. YOU can change it, Emmie. If you want."

"Well, my registered name really is Dorothy. I don't like it much but..."

"Are you sure we're going to give her back?" Cruiser asked.

"It's the law," Tammy said. "If you got taken away, you'd want them to bring you back to me, right?"

"Yeah," he said slowly.

"It's okay," Emerson assured them. "Maybe... Maybe she doesn't want me anymore."

"Maybe," Tammy agreed.

"Yeah, maybe!" Cruiser said desperately.

-----

The Registry office they used wouldn't be open until Tuesday. Tammy shrugged. "Well, I took forever to register you, Cruiser. I suppose it's only fair if I take a day or two to check her registry."

Emerson's upbringing hadn't been as spartan as Cruiser's. She knew about all sorts of food and TV shows and so on. The only thing he really introduced her to was Battleship.

She politely watched their nightly duel but didn't really get into the game.

For the rest of her time, though, she did have a list of things she'd missed. Things that weren't in the forest, or things that her asshole owner hadn't provided.

Tammy was quite willing to supply her fudge fix, even without Cruiser's puppy-dog eyes in the discussion.

She even locked Cruiser in the carrier so their guest could relax alone in her first hot bath in a long, long time.

Emerson climbed out of the tub to find a bright yellow jumpsuit. She dried of and tried it on. It was a much better fit. She hopped up onto the counter.

"Pretty," Tammy said. Emerson twirled to show how well it fit. "Very nice."

"What is?" Cruiser asked.

"I don't know if you should know," Tammy said. Her sylph shook the bars of his carrier. "Oh, alright." She grabbed the handle and turned it around. Emerson obligingly spun once more.

"Ooooooooh," Cruiser said. She blushed. Tammy smiled.

Then she stood. "Okay. It's been a long day, and I have to go to work tomorrow. Emerson, what sleeping arrangements do you want?"

"What, me?" She looked up at the giant woman, trying to decrypt her expression. "Well, what are my choices?" Not with you, she thought to herself. Not with you, not with you, not with you.

"Well, not with me," Tammy said. A thrill of shock ran down Emerson's spine. "But you can have the carrier or the sofa or... Well, anywhere you want. And I can lock Cruiser out or in, or let him be with you, whatever you want.

"It's really up to you. I know," and her voice dropped an octave, "that a gentleman like Cruiser would accept 'no' for an answer. But if you'd rather be safe than sorry, we can arrange it."

Cruiser gestured towards Tammy, crossing his little heart and slitting his little throat.

The sylph imagined standing outside the carrier once more, listening to Cruiser plead for his freedom. Deciding whether or not to grant it, and on what terms.

And then holding him to them. She sported a wicked smile. Then she shook her head. There wasn't time to properly train him to heel. She could be going home any day.

"I'd, uh... I'd like to spend the night with Cruiser, please?"

"Okay." Tammy stepped to the cabinet over the sink and took out a dispenser of some sort. "Do you know what these are?"

Emerson stared at the box. A sultry woman in doll clothes smiled at them. It reminded her of the boxes of condoms the asshole carried around. Except this woman was obviously a sylph.

Tammy pressed a tab and a small pink capsule dropped into a hopper. It was about the size of the palm of her hand.

"What are these?" Emerson asked.

"Oh," Cruiser said, "you put one of those inside you. And it melts and covers everything. So, you know, nothing gets through."

"Nothing?" she asked with a giggle.

"Yeah, nothing." He shrugged. It was how Pet had explained it to him.

"So it's like a little gelatin chastity belt?" she teased. He looked at her blankly. Tammy laughed and carried the dispenser over to put it by the carrier. She waved and, still giggling, walked back to her bedroom.

Emerson started to explain then he snorted. "No, THAT gets through!"

------

They were still wrapped in each other's arms in the morning when Tammy left for work. She made sure there was food and water available and that the phone was down where they could reach it.

She wrote down her work and cell numbers and Mildred's and taped the paper to the phone.

Then she blew a kiss to the sylphs and went to work.

The day passed lazily. They snuggled together, discussed fudge, watched a bit of TV and called Mildred just to see how she was doing.

She chatted happily with them both for a while, pretending to be shocked that Tammy wasn't hovering over them.

And they hoped.

Tammy was still terrified that she'd crush or kill her sylphs. She used her cell to call home from the parking lot to be sure no one was near the apartment door before she opened it.

They had to both stand by the speaker and talk before she unlocked and slowly, so slowly swung it open. She didn't relax until she saw both sylphs waving at her.

"You could put the cage around the door," Emerson suggested. "Then you'd know we couldn't be in there. Or," she corrected in sudden memory, "you'd know Cruiser wouldn't be in there."

Her face hung for a moment. Cruiser put a hand on her shoulder.

"Maybe," Tammy said. "That's a good idea, but that's for later. Who wants to go out to dinner? Emmie? What's your favorite restaurant?"

The first three she listed were unfamiliar to the human. The chains didn't exist in or around Springfield. She blinked. "Wow. Where did you come from originally?"

It turned out that her first owner had been so far away, Tammy thought she might not even have a relative there.

"Oh, yeah, that's possible," Cruiser offered. "You should see this family's reunions. There are zillions of people there."

Emerson shrugged and asked for Mongolian barbecue. Tammy raised an eyebrow at Cruiser.

He claimed to enjoy the place for the paper-thin cuts of meat, but Tammy noticed that he cheered for the big gouts of flame when the food was cooked.

"I may.... have mentioned. Going there. One or two times," he admitted. Behind him, Emerson flashed ten fingers.

Still, she had decided to let the sylph pick. "Let me change into my asbestos," she said, stepping over them to go to her room. Behind her, Cruiser pumped an arm in the air. "I saw that!" she growled without looking around.

He froze so still that Emerson thought he was having some sort of seizure. When he shook his head ruefully she burst into laughter.

-----

Tammy placed the carrier on the table and opened it. "There are no menus," she told Emerson as she lifted the pair into the air. "I go down the buffet line," she said, pointing the pets, "picking meats, seafood, vegetables and sauce. That guy stir fries it on the big grill there."

"With FIRE!" Cruiser said.

"I think those war movies ruined him," she said to the other sylph.

Dinner was fun. Even with assurances, Emerson was leery of the fire until after she'd seen one blossom.

Tammy took very small servings, which meant more trips back. And more flames. Tonight's chef smiled wide every time Cruiser cheered. Tammy also noticed that the flames got significantly larger from her second helping on.

The waitresses remembered Cruiser, calling him by name and asking how he liked the food. They discovered Emerson and teased him about his girlfriend.

But they were very solicitous of what Tammy and Emerson wanted, too.

The fortune cookies were different here. They were cylinders rather than the usual folded shapes, with the fortune rolled up in the hollow center.

The waitresses brought three, along with a crab hammer for Cruiser and Emerson to break their own. They all applauded his smashing effort and politely clapped for Emerson.

Cruiser unrolled his and pronounced, "Many friends to make a good burden go quickly." He held up three fingers. "Tammy, Emerson, Mildred. Many, more, lots. It's true."

Emerson read hers. "Look for happiness in the unlikely of place to be." She glanced at Cruiser and looked down at the table.

Tammy quickly scanned hers and read, "That was not chicken."

"EEK!" Cruiser said. Emerson rolled her eyes. "I've heard THAT one before," she said. "But at least it's not-"

"Help," she and Tammy said together, "I'm being held prisoner in a fortune cookie factory!" They laughed. Cruiser joined them after a second.

"No, really," Emerson asked, "what does it say?"

"Life works out with eventually. That's why it is Life."

"Huh," Cruiser said. "What's that mean?"

"Means I could probably make a fortune teaching English as a second language in Thailand," Tammy muttered.

-------------

The registry clerk remembered Tammy and Cruiser. He raised an eyebrow at Emerson.

"Hi," Tammy said. "We found a sylph. She's been taken from her old owner and we're trying to get her back."

"Ah," he nodded, pulling his keyboard closer. "She doesn't look too happy about it."

"It's been a while," Emerson said.

The clerk touched her chin to turn her head. "No tags," he said. He shrugged and asked, "Where is your tattoo?"

"She doesn't have one," Cruiser blurted. The clerk laughed but kept his eye on Emerson.

"I don't," she said with a shake of her head.

"Okay." He grabbed the scanner and ran it over her head. There was a beep. "Dorothy Dollhouse," he read from the computer screen.

"Eugh," Emerson said. "Dolly doll doll."

"Says here that your owner died," he read on. Tammy put her hand around Emerson's shoulders.

"She was pretty sick," the sylph said calmly.

"There's contact information for the estate," he continued. "Let's see..." He dialed a number and spoke to whoever answered.





Cruise Control, Part 1
Cruise Control, Part 4
Cruise Control, Part 6
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