Heritage (Under Revision)
Chapter 8

Chapter 8 - Leon

“You wanted to see me dad?” I say walking into my father’s office.

“Yeah Leon, take a seat. No need to salute, I’m not your CO right now, I’m just dad,” he says as I take a seat in the chair across from his desk.

“So, your mother and I have been talking about your birthday...and we still have just one important invitation left. You know what I’m talking about son?”

“Yeah dad...I know. I’m just nervous about it, what if she says no?”

“Well, then at least you tried Leon. I know you wanna invite her for reasons other than just for the sake of the party. I can tell you like the girl. And hell, if I were your age I’d most likely be chasing her too.”

“Psh, are you really implying that I like her dad?”

“I’m not implying, I already know. You look at her just like I looked at your mother when I started falling in love with her. You also bicker with her like you have a crush on her too,” he says as I look down in embarrassment like I’ve been caught doing something wrong.

“Don’t worry about it Leon, I approve. She’s the perfect young woman for you. You just need to grow a pair and ask her to your party already.”

“Grow a pair, really dad?”

“Hey, just because I’m older then you does not mean I’m not up with the slang. Trust me, I know more than you will ever realize.”

I just shake my head and smile.

“Whatever dad.”

“But anyway, are we at an understanding here son?”

“Yeah dad.”

“Alright, good. By the way, I have a surprise for you, you’re getting your own squad.”

“What? Seriously?”

“Yeah. Jameson went down the tubes, so we have no one else to command a squad because everyone else is a genuinely bad Cadet. You however, are just a curious one.”

“Wow...thanks dad, I’ll take the squad, and I’ll do everything I can to bring it back up to shape.”

“That’s my boy. I still have one more thing to work out for it and then it’ll be yours. Well, I better not keep you any longer, you’re dismissed son.”

I stand up grinning, and rush out of the room to go to mother’s workroom. I arrive just a few minutes before I’m supposed to be there and enter the room.

“Hey son, how’d the talk with your father go?” My mom asks me.

“It went pretty well. I wasn’t in trouble for anything this time.”

“Well that’s good, I’m glad you’re finally getting your act together son.”

I give my mom a quick smile and take a seat. A few minutes go by and Stella enters the workroom, giving my mother a quick salute. Mom smiles and heads for the door. She turns around to address us one time before leaving.

“I expect you two to be on your best behavior in my workroom, I want to replace it the way I left it. Work hard, I’m positive that you two can replace a solution. Goodnight,” she says to us, giving a radiant smile, almost as if knowing that we’re going to succeed.

Things become awkwardly quiet for a few moments before I decide to say something.

“Uh, well…we can get to work, if you’re ready,” I say, trying to be polite.

“Yeah…uh, of course…” Stella replies.

By this point I can hardly keep my eyes off of her and her really short shorts. I almost felt my jaw starting to drop at one moment but I catch myself and try to act somewhat normally.

As I return to my and start to swivel around in the chair, my foot accidentally comes in contact with Stella’s.

“Sorry,” I say in a low tone as I prepare to examine the circuit board.

“No problem,” Stella replies giving me a small smile.

Another awkward silence occurs and a certain point our eyes meet for a brief moment. Stella’s eyes are such a beautiful color, and seem to be so deep, like they’re connected to her very soul. I try not to stare for too long before looking away. I see her shake her head and begin to wonder.

“Are you feeling ok?” I ask slightly.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. It’s just this piece of shit circuit board. It’s pissing me off,” she replies as I try to hide a grin and muffle a laugh.

“What’s so funny?’ She asks, somewhat pouty.

“I’ve just never heard you swear so much in one sentence,” I reply still holding a smirk on my face.

“Oh…well…”

“I’m just giving you shit, it’s kind of cute to be honest,” I reply, realizing that I sound slightly embarrassed.

“Oh, um, thanks.”

“You’re welcome, Stells…I mean, Stella,” I say, correcting myself as fast as I can and I begin to use my plasma cutter to cut a hole in the circuit board.

“I love this thing,” I say staring at it with pride. “I wish I had one. You wouldn’t happen to have a Gigascope would you?” I ask Stella.

“No, unfortunately. Mine got dropped a few weeks back someone ran it over up in the hangar,” she replies. “But, I’m betting your Mother has one in here somewhere. Do we have permission to use her tools?”

“Yeah, as long as we clean them and put them all back when we’re finished,” I say as I go to one of the many glass cabinets my mother has in her workroom.

“Ah, here it is,” I say taking it down from a shelf.

“Wanna give it a try?” I ask her, holding out the Gigascope.

“Sure, thanks,” she replies taking it from my hands and firing it up.

“Leon, uh, could you help me? My hands are shaking a bit and I don t want to mess it up,” she asks sounding somewhat embarrassed.

“Sure” I say.

My heart starts to pound in nervousness as I stand up and move behind her, our legs slightly brushing each other, . I can see her hands start to shake even more.

Is she really nervous? I thought I was bad.

“Uh, if you could just hold my hands steady while I insert the Gigascope, then we can see the central unit,” she says.

“Yeah, uh, sure,” I say, barely being able to form the words.

I move slightly more behind her and arch my arms over hers and grip her hand to steady them. She moves back slightly as she inserts the Gigascope into the circuit board, causing her to brush against my...

Oh no, not now, not now! Okay Leon, just think of other things. Let’s see...cats, dogs, the stars, Stella’s ass, the sun, football, Stella’s perfect body. Damn it! This isn’t working at all. Just control yourself Leon, just control yourself, take deep breathes and keep it in your pants.

Sweat starts to roll from my forehead a bit as I try to concentrate all my thoughts elsewhere. She unexpectedly stands up after that and slams into my jaw, causing me to flinch and stumble backwards.

“Oh my God! Are you ok?! I’m so sorry, Leon!” She exclaims apologetically.

She then trips over her backpack and falls into me. I grab her and stop her from falling completely on the floor, my hands wrapped around her waist.

It took some self-control in order for me not to go elsewhere with my hands. Once she has her ground completely I release her.

“Um, thank you,” she says to me gratefully.

“You’re welcome. So…do you know what the problem is?”

“Yes! It’s the A.I. thread, it must’ve torn when the hole was punched through it. It has to be completely removed and replaced. I have no idea where we’re going to replace a Nanothreader, or the replacement threading,” she says to me, seeming to lose hope.

“I know where we can replace both,” I say brightening the mood with a smirk on my face.

“Where would that be?” She asks me, raising eyebrow.

“Well, Ma’s got about a hundred rolls of A.I. threading, and Dad bought her a Nanothreader for Mother’s Day last year.”

“For Mother’s Day? All my Mom got was a new bathrobe,” Stella says laughing.

I walk across the room and grab the roll of A.I thread as well as the Nanothreader. As I’m clamping the device to the circuit board I notice Stella grabbing something really quick out of the corner of my eye.

Instinctively, I look over. My gaze freezes, even as Stella stands up. My eyes are completely fixated on her ass, which looks damn near perfect in those shorts. She clears her throat loud enough so that I snap back into reality and look her in the eyes.

“Oh, uh, you caught it. Nice save,” I say in gratitude.

“Thanks,” she replies, giving me a grin.

A few more minutes of working goes by and we’ve already got the A.I. thread completely replaced. I place the Nanothreader back in its case and put it back on the shelf as Stella cleans the table. We meet back at the workbench, and begin to hope for our goal.

“Well, here goes nothing,” Stella says as she hits the ON button of the circuit board.

The board immediately lights up, momentarily blinding our eyes as a myriad of colors flash to and fro.

“YES!” I yell, throwing my fist into the air.

We both laugh and I hug her in relief. During the hug though, her thigh rubs just a little too much in the wrong place, and I can feel things going up again.

I pull away from her quickly and start to pack my things. When all of our things are packed up, we both reach for the circuit board, causing our fingers to make contact.

“Oh…um, you can turn it in, if you’d like,” she says to me shyly.

“No, no! It was your project. You should turn it in, Stells…Stella, sorry.”

“Well, how about I keep it with me, but we both turn it in tomorrow during class?” She offers.

“That sounds great, thanks, Stella,” I say giving a smile.

“Well, I guess we should head back before curfew. I don t need another demerit. I’m trying to change that, I say a bit embarrassed.”

“Really? That’s great, Leon. Good luck with it, I’m sure you’ll do just fine,” she responds as she opens the door.

“Thanks, Stella. That…that means a lot to me, coming from you,”

“No problem, I’ll see you in class tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow,” I say as I sling my bag over my shoulder.

“Oh, and Leon?” She says with a smirk on her face.

“Yeah?”

“Don’t forget to clean your tool,” she says as her smirk turns into a grin.

She then closes the door and goes on her way. I stand there for a moment, shocked and I start to laugh to myself.

“I’ve really gotta learn how to hide a hard on better,” I say to myself as I leave the workroom.