Chapter Twenty-One

It was universally agreed upon by the Crew, with the notable exception of Theo, himself, that Theo should not be given a knife.

He and Jun waited in the docking bay, surrounded on all sides by crates stacked higher than Theo’s head, for Boom to return with alternative weaponry.

Theo snapped and unsnapped the dark hooded jacket Boom had bestowed upon him to cover up his hair. It was apparently crucial for them to avoid unwanted detection by passersby and surveillance equipment. He looked up to Jun, who stood close by.

Jun regarded him with a conflicted twist to his lips, and his voice dropped to a growl. “How? How are you the best thing that’s ever happened to me?”

Theo had the singular experience of being both thrilled by the words and insulted by the tone.

He scoffed, pretending to brush imaginary dust from his trousers while he attempted to conceal his pleasure at the words. “I suppose you think you deserve better.”

The bay was cold, but Jun radiated heat as he stepped closer. “You know nothing of what I deserve. Better is not the word.”

Jun’s hand wrapped around Theo’s jaw, firmly but gently lifting his face to look into Jun’s eyes.

They were naked and clear of the facade of irritability he had been wearing moments before. Jun leaned in close enough that Theo’s ever-hopeful heart leapt at the possibility of a kiss.

But, of course, he stopped with a buffer of cold ship air still between them. “I meant it, Theo. You are.”

Theo tried to twist away, disappointment bubbling in his stomach at the denial of a kiss. The wasted dream of Jun’s lips upon his. “What am I, exactly?”

The only thing softer than Jun’s steady gaze was the brush of his thumb down Theo’s jaw. “The best thing.”

Jun’s attention fell to Theo’s lips, the damp heat of his breath whispering across Theo’s upturned face as he swayed even closer and closed his eyes in tremulous anticipation. Finally.

Finally.

Boom clattered into the room, and Jun wrenched his hand away with a long step back as she dropped an armful of weapons on the floor between them. Theo eyed the pile thoughtfully, trying to determine which he was going to use to kill her with for the interruption.

Jun refused to look at him and, instead, crouched over the pile. But it was clear he’d been affected, his back still heaving with uneven breath as a wash of color stole over his cheeks.

Theo would have found it endearing if he weren’t so incredibly frustrated.

Boom squatted beside Jun, the cuff of her boots slouching low to reveal more than a hint of knife. “You’re lucky we had this crate of outdated Verge tech. They’ll use just about anything over there, and half of this shit doesn’t even have the capacity to Connect.”

With a sneer, Jun held up a battered, rusted ray gun pinched between his thumb and forefinger. “You really expect me to use this stuff, Boom? I might as well just hit them with a rock.”

Theo picked up a rifle nearly as long as his arm, and yelped as Jun immediately yanked it out of his arms with an admonishing grunt.

“No. Absolutely not.”

Boom handed Theo a palm-sized, square device with a single button covered by a plastic dome, currently latched shut. “Here. You get a single-use stun detonator. That should take out anyone within a twelve-foot radius. Just hit the button, drop it, and run. You’ve got about five seconds to get out of range.”

It was blocky, and unattractive. Theo turned it over in his hands with a disappointed sigh. “It lacks a certain amount of flair, though, doesn’t it? Couldn’t I have something with just the tiniest bit more style?”

Jun decided upon an ancient-looking ray gun and a set of black iridescent metal blades. He tucked everything away so efficiently on his person that Theo would never have detected their presence if he had not personally witnessed the concealment.

Jun then turned his attention to Theo, tugging his jacket open. He shoved Theo’s stun detonator into a hidden interior pocket of the jacket, tucked up under Theo’s arm in a very discreet lump. “There. Do not use this except as a last resort. Basically, if I’m not dead, leave it alone.”

Theo grasped his arm as he tried to pull it away, fingers tight with alarm. “Dead? Do you anticipate such an outcome as a likely possibility?”

Jun pried his grip away with careful fingers, allowing a fleeting squeeze, just once, around Theo’s palm. “It’s best to stay alert and prepared when making contact on these sorts of deals.”

Theo observed as Boom examined and discarded several weapons, then decided on a discrete pistol that disappeared into her modest cleavage. “Why do you engage in such business ventures if they are so dangerous?” he asked her.

Boom shrugged as Axel joined them in the bay. She tossed another detonator at his head, laughing when he scrambled to catch it. “High risk, high payoff.”

Axel clipped the detonator to his belt and made a rude gesture in her direction. She ignored it entirely, and Theo stepped back to get out of the line of the daggers Axel was glaring.

“I see,” Theo said. “Nothing ventured, and all that. Still, couldn’t you find employment less likely to result in catastrophe?”

Axel’s anger turned to Theo with sharp, clipped words in a sarcastic tone. “Well, you know, dollface, turns out that galactic subterfuge requires funding and an absolutely massive set of balls. Right, Captain?”

“Shut up, Axel.”

If Theo had thought Axel’s tone was sharp, Jun’s would have left the smaller man bleeding.

Axel made an exaggerated gesture with his organic arm, ending with a snap of realization. “No, yeah, I forgot. Your supersecret plan that only everyone on this ship already knows about, including your new boyfriend, judging by the work you’ve given him. Yeah, I’ll be sure to keep mum on that, Park.”

Jun took a heavy step toward Axel, who flinched away, face going blank and white as sim-parchment beneath his freckles. Jun took a slow, deliberate step back, hands held palm out at his waist. “I’m not going to hurt you, Ax. I don’t run that kind of Crew.”

Axel was still pale as he rubbed his hand behind his neck, but he faced Jun without fear. “Yeah, I know, Captain. Old habits die hard, I guess.”

Jun’s posture was rigid and his expression sincere as he spoke low and fervently. “I made you a promise, and I intend to keep it. You won’t ever work for a rough Crew again, not while I’m around.”

The bright, flickering lights of the cargo bay gave the illusion of tears in Axel’s eyes, there and gone by the next flash of light. “Saving the galaxy one scrawny little shit at a time, right?”

With a surprising display of camaraderie, Jun clapped him once on the back. “If that’s what it takes.”

Marco scooted past them, his metal augment clanking more heavily against the flooring of the ship than his organic foot, despite wearing the same boots on each one. He opened the bay doors with a flourish and a broad, cheeky smile. “Stay safe, Captain. I’ll go get Sylvia a bellyful of crystals and have her ready to go for you.”

The unexpected sight of Axel and Boom descending down the ramp behind Theo sent him puzzling. “I was under the impression that the pair of you wouldn’t accompany us.”

Axel glanced up from where he was picking at his teeth with a narrow attachment. “Oh, we won’t be going to the drop. I’m just running out to grab some nosh, and who knows what nefarious scheme Boom is up to?”

Shoulder checking him on her way past, Boom jogged down the ramp onto the scuffed metal flooring of the dock. “We’re out of regen and bandages.”

Theo grunted as Axel’s elbow connected with his gut conspiratorially. “See? Med supplies. Nefarious.” He pitched his voice to be heard by Jun and Boom up ahead. “For your victims, perhaps?”

Boom didn’t check back over her shoulder, but there was no doubt to whom her response was addressed. “Keep talking and find out.”

Axel stopped midway down the ramp, arms flung wide. “Did everyone just hear her threaten me?”

With hand outstretched, Jun waited at the bottom of the ramp (to Theo’s delight and surprise) to assist Theo down onto the floor. “I dunno. That sounded more like a promise to me.”

Axel clomped down the rest of the way, muttering under his breath, “Disgraceful, the way they treat me around here.”

The group completely ignored him.

The dock was sparsely populated, with a few broken-down older ships being disassembled right next to newer freighters and speedships fueling up. There was a distinct lack of color, everything cast in shades of gray from the DreiXian’s clothing to the ships. The only exception to the monochromatic theme was the occasional poison-bright flash of neon flickering beneath a layer of grime. It made Theo want to toss out a bucket of paint to brighten things up. Or an army of polishing cloths and some very strong cleaner. It was entirely possible that the buildings could be brightly colored beneath the muck.

He faltered as something soft dropped onto his head.

“Here.”

Theo batted at the material Jun had dumped atop him, struggling his way free of a thick, gray, circular scarf which bore a remarkable resemblance to the blanket on Jun’s bed.

He clutched it against his chest, turning his face up to Jun, utterly charmed by the clumsy gesture. “You’re lending me one of your scarves?”

Jun shrugged, eyes trained on the people bustling around them as they turned out of the docks onto a busy thoroughfare lit on all sides with dirty, glowing signage advertising myriad things. “It gets cold, sometimes.”

Theo slung the scarf around his neck, rubbing the soft, thick yarn between his fingers. His shout of surprise was muffled by the material when Jun reached over and roughly pulled his hood up over his head. He then did the same with his own.

“Keep that on; don’t let anyone get a good look at you.”

Theo nodded, bumping shoulders with Jun as he held onto his new scarf. “Quite right. Wouldn’t want them to discover how pretty I am, right, Jun?”

The fact that Jun actually stumbled over nothing at Theo’s words lit a bank of warmth in his belly. It spread through Theo’s limbs and brightened his smile as he laughed and laughed.

Axel spread his arms wide, casually stepping over a pile of refuse that oozed green slime across the grimy metal walkway. “Welcome to the Wastes. The crotch of the galaxy. Hot, damp, and reeking of piss. This is the spot where every rancid piece of flotsam this side of the Verge comes to do their dirty deeds. The land of shame and shadows, disaster and decay, regret and—”

Axel tripped on the foot Boom stuck out in front of him, but caught himself before falling face-first into a suspicious-smelling shimmering puddle while Jun and Boom cackled.

“We get it, Ax. It’s gross. Not your favorite place.” Boom sighed.

Slinging his mechanical arm over Theo’s shoulder companionably, he gestured vaguely with the other. “Actually, my favorite grub stall is stashed in one of these shadowy corners. Best okonomiyaki in the galaxy, with a side of murder for hire if you’re in the mood.”

Jun turned a flat gaze on Axel, one eyebrow titling upwards lazily beneath the shadow of his hood. “You’re definitely putting me in the mood, pilot.”

Axel pulled Theo in close until they were walking cheek to cheek. He squished his freckled face into Theo’s as he replied, “Aw, shucks, Captain. Not in front of the esteemed Dr. Campbell. You’ll make me blush.”

Boom gave a casual flick of her wrist to reveal a small blade that snapped to her metal-lined fingers. She flipped it in her hand, pulled out a tube of violet lipstick, and reapplied it using the knife’s reflection. Pocketing both, she aimed a sharp smile in Axel’s direction. “Besides, Park, why hire out when you can do it yourself?”

The rest of their walk was remarkably quiet.

It would have been tranquil, if not for the bustling city life all around them. Dark-faced buildings loomed tall enough to blot out the sky, and the sickly radiant light from omnipresent neon signage blurred together until Theo could barely make out the shape of the setting sun.

Where Theo was from, there were strictly adhered to clothing norms for men and women alike. There was nothing of the sort here.

Anyone and everyone wore trousers or skirts or very nearly nothing at all with a nonchalance Theo desperately wished to achieve.

It was exhilarating.

As drab as the garment colors may have been of those passing by, their hair, tattoos, augments, and cosmetics were another matter entirely, echoing the flashes of neon against the bleak metallic-black of their surroundings.

Axel’s green hair blended in perfectly. Theo thought with vindictive glee about all of the times his own vibrant red hair had been deemed too bright and vulgar. He would be very nearly understated, here, especially with the absence of any augments. What an enthralling concept.

Several people had very similar tattoos to the lines and circles running down Jun’s neck and torso that mimicked circuitry. Except, on the other people, the lines were glowing beneath their skin.

Theo pointed at a shirtless man so covered in glowing circuitry that he matched the flickering sign above him. “Why do their tattoos glow, but yours don’t?”

Jun stiffened, and for a moment, Theo believed he wouldn’t answer. But he held out his hand. The circuitry on his wrist terminated at the clusters of hexagonal shapes that spilled over the back. “They’re still Connected to the Stream. I Disconnected when I left my first Crew.”

Core-born though he might be, Theo could extrapolate that the Stream in the Restricted Sector must be similar to the data streams back home. However, those were only accessible through restricted-access nodes kept in university research buildings and Quorum centers. These tattoos appeared to allow anyone access. The shirtless man quaffing a carbonated beverage and belching loudly did not appear to be a member of the governing class.

Theo reached out to trace over the lines, half expecting them to feel raised, but there was only the warm, smooth texture of Jun’s skin. “So, you don’t have access anymore?”

Jun had slowed their walk to focus on Theo’s fingers tracing over his tattoos, his expression wistful. “I can access with a pad or console; I just can’t link in anymore. I had my circuits burnt out and my connections erased. It was necessary, to keep a low profile.”

That sounded painful, especially the part about burning. Theo winced as he traced the lines up under Jun’s sleeve, thinking about the way they covered him from neck to knees. “Didn’t that hurt?”

Jun’s voice dropped to a near whisper, wrist twitching beneath Theo’s touch. “Most worthwhile things do.”

Then, without another word, Jun grabbed Theo’s hand and shoved it into the pocket of his coat, holding it in place as they walked.

Holding Theo’s hand.

In public.

He couldn’t suppress his gasp or the twitch of his fingers against Jun’s.

Jun didn’t respond beyond a single, slow caress of his thumb across Theo’s palm, nothing in his rigid posture giving away the tender gesture.

There it was again, a touch. The slightest brush against his palm, soft and unsure. Such an odd, stilted expression of affection and support, and yet. Like all the other tiny, stifled gestures Jun made, it went directly to Theo’s heart.

His heart was an idiot.

Axel stepped off into a shadowy alcove with a cheerful wave farewell. “Catch you later, lovebirds! Bring back some credits and try not to die. Or, if you do, send the credits first!”

Boom had already melted into the crowd, nowhere to be seen.

Jun didn’t acknowledge his pilot at all, his hooded face trained forward as he strode purposefully through the crowd with Theo by his side.