Page 53 of Catching the Kot'oll Driver

“And you never worried about him?”

“No way! I worry about him. But that’s what he wants to do, so... I know you want to be police too. Maybe I’m stumbling. I’m sorry.”

I let out a breath. “I don’t mind. Though, I don’t know what else I can be doing.”

He blinks. “Does that mean you’ve thought about switching jobs?”

“I... I hate to admit defeat, especially when I’ve fought so hard to get to where I am. But... Look, after you got injured, I couldn’t even help to move you over to the spaceship because I just didn’t have the strength and would never have it because of my species.”

He frowns with care in his eyes. I sniff and rub tears from my eyes. “I’m so useless. I can crack cases when the clues are in front of me, but when it comes to anything in the front line, I just... Maybe it’s time to admit that I’m not good at that at all.”

He hisses. “But they still make you do front line job all the time, pretty much exposing you to danger every day; even more danger than other police have to be under.”

“Well... I ask all the time and make sure I’m on the roster. Maybe... Maybe I’m the dumb one.”

“Somehow, you remain hired.”

A wry smile finds its way onto my face. He continues, “And your boss let you insert yourself onto the roster.”

“Hey, in my defense, if I have the right equipment, I fulfill the requirements.”

“Then... I guess they can’t fire you unless you do something wrong.”

“Yeah... And... I’m pretty good at my job and I’ve never done wrong as determined by our policies and law.”

“Good.” he lets out a breath. “It’s just that, maybe it’s time for you to just do what you’re good at.”

“What do you have in your mind?” I wonder... Do I even listen to a guy who has never done something remotely close to what I’ve been doing?

He has been driving spaceships.

Not to be disrespectful, but driving around is almost the easiest thing an adult can do, so... He can be enjoying his job and has been wanting to do that, but still, driving is a lot simpler than my job.

He says, “A private detective? Or a consultant of some kind? There has to be work out there which beings need someone smart to help, but the cases aren’t life or death.”

Um... I have no idea. I’ve never thought about that before. It sounds like something I can try. But...

I say, “I’ll have to get out of this job if that’s the case.”

“Or you can work in the office.”

I shake my head. “It’s not like that here. The team isn’t separated like that.”

“Oh... Maybe you should take your time. It’s going to be a major shift.”

He covers his mouth as he yawns. “I’m sorry. I’m tired, it has nothing to do with our conversation. You know that I enjoy spending time with you.” There’s a faint blush on his cheeks, which makes my heart pound.

“Take a rest. You need all the rest to become healthy again.”

He nods, but his eyes narrow into thin lines. He murmurs something, fighting to open his eyes. Cute won’t be the most suitable word to describe a big adult kot’oll, but that’s all I have in mind.

I say, “Just sleep, we can talk later.”

He seems to doze off before I can finish my sentence, he must have fought to stay awake for long.

Maybe I shouldn’t have asked him such a complex question when he is fresh out of healing ray, which is taxing on itself. All he got was a short nap, and I plastered him with questions.

Is it really time to quit?

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