The thick green stem of the plant spiraled tightly around the plastic stick that was ensuring the plant would not fall victim to the abnormaly huge fruits it carried. Fine wires made sure the leaves would not steal each other's light, while the hydroponic lamps made sure the plant would not need to starve at any point. Transparent nutri-gel allowed Becky to see the roots of the plant digging further and further into the cubed pot. But the big eye catchers were the fruits: The texture of a strawberry, orange in color, filled with a deliciously sweet, almost liquid white flesh. The taste was widely described as a melting pot of honey, strawberry and milk cream, while the rather thick peel reminded of marchpane, with the consistency of a paprica. Truly a marvel of genetical engineering, the Curacaoan Passion Fruit, exclusively grown on Curacao due to the oxygen-rich atmosphere, the unique light refraction of Cortez' blue sun and the harmless layer of terraforming gases mixing with the stray hydrogen of the Barrier, as well as a very strictly sanctioned license allowing only Orbital Spa & Cruise to cultivate it, somehow made its way into the far, far distance the Apahanta had brought between herself and Sirius.
Now, the plant was more than three dozens of jump holes away from where it used to grow, and with a hydroponics bay able to simulate the previous conditions of its home in Sirius, three trays of Curacaoan Passion Fruits were able to bear fruits for the first time outside of Sirius. And they were bigger, healthier and most likely even tastier than the ones in Sirius, given there was no need for pesticide and other chemicals.
Becky eyed the big fruits, slightly nervously. She didn't know much about these fruits except for why they were considered extremely expensive in Sirius. So expensive, most of the people visiting Curacao would not be able to get their hands on a single one of them. In fact, there was a time when Orbital would only distribute them to the most influental and richest visitors of the planet. It was more likely that someone would sell fakes.
It was a bit of a wonder, she thought. Not only was she here, probably farther away from Sirius than anyone else, part of a crew living on this mostly self-sufficient warship. But this incredibly exclusive fruit was dangling right in front of her, without anything stopping her from simply grabbing one, just to try it. The only thing that made the plant a forbidden fruit to her was the fact that she knew those plants are somewhat of a gift from the Captain. And the fact that she did not know when these fruits would actually be ripe for the picking. So she just stood there, all alone in the middle of the night in the hydroponics bay, which had become a hydroponics deck over the course of the years since the embarking from Sirius. It was warm in here, specifically in this section of the hydroponics deck, as most plants in here shared a similar preference of a sub-tropical climate.
It was not without reason for her to be here at this time. According to the Apahanta's internal time zone, Valentine's Day had hit. It was a bit difficult to be creative with the limited resources the ship would offer, especially if it was supposed to be a surprise. There was no privacy at the workshop in engineering, and the crafting module always documented what was 3D-printed and how much of what resource was used. There was also always someone at the canteen, so using the kitchen in secret was definitely impossible. Luckily the ship was big enough for every crew member to have their own quarters, so Becky figured she could prepare something in her own room. All she needed was the materials and the tools, and in this case, the main ingredient was right in front of her nose. Her finger carefully traced the texture of the fruit, tenderly poking it to see if it would just happen to fall off from light pressure. It was a naive thought, she could just twist the fruit out and nobody would look into it. Or would someone?
Sighing, she grabbed the fruit and pulled slightly. It was big enough to fill her palm and gave in very slightly to the pressure. In a way like a tomato, she thought. Coincidentally, "in a way like a tomato" was the color of her cheeks turning, right when Becky realized she was no longer alone in here. She saw her just in the corner of her eye: Sombra was there, about ten meters away from her, staring at her. The sudden surprise made her rip the fruit off the plant, with little resistance, and now she was caught in flagranti. Slightly panicking, she looked at the big fruit in her hand, then at Sombra. The curacaoan woman with the long black hair returned a smug expression. "Big plans for today, huh?" Sombra asked, coming closer, smirking like an imp.
"Don't tell anyone, alright?" Becky begged, somewhat defeated, instinctively hiding the fruit behind her back as if it was any good now. "Fuck, you really surprised me here. Stalker. Didn't make a single sound, either."
Stopping next to Becky, Sombra fingerpistoled the woman with the silver-dyed hair in her side, making her flinch at it, almost causing her to drop the fruit. "So who's the lucky one?"
"That's a secret," Becky returned, giving her an apologetic look.
"Not for long if you don't tell me," Sombra said in a teasingly threatening manner, poking Becky in the side once more, which made her flinch again and take a step back.
"I'm not going to tell you," Becky insisted, her expression turning into a slight frown.
"Welp, as long as it's not Noel, I don't care." Sombra turned to the plant, inspecting it. "You know, we don't really know how intense these are. Nobody has tried them yet, but according to Ez, they will likely be a lot more potent than those on Curacao. Lucky timing, though, given today is Valentine's Day."
"Have you ever tried one?" Becky asked, feeling less threatened now. Sombra could have easily fucked her over here.
"A few times, with Ez." While talking, she inspected some of the other fruits, grabbing and twisting them slightly to check for any imperfections. "I didn't know you have someone. Since when is that?"
Becky bit her lower lip. "Well, uhm, technically not yet. It's a work in progress."
"How much progress so far?" Sombra inquired, picking one of the fruits herself.
"...Erh, I'm sort of going for an insta-kill here, if you catch my drift." Becky gulped, looking at her fruit. "Uhm, did you eat them raw or prepared?"
Sombra smirked at her once more, like a smug devil, or Anna Heinrich at a modular installation during her prime days. "You're going all-in on this? Pretty brave. That can horribly backfire, you know?" she said, but seeing how much Becky was blushing, she figured she shouldn't tease her too much.
"I'm sort of feeling like I can risk it. I wouldn't try if I had a bad feeling about this." Nervously kneading the fruit slightly, she exhaled. "So, do I eat it raw or do I prepare it?"
"You can do either," Sombra began, raising the fruit and pointing at the upper area, where it turned slightly white. "You can eat everything of this, but the flesh is slightly harder and tasteless up here, so I'd cut it off. Generally, it's a curacaoan custom to eat the fruit from both sides at the same time with your partner. Or partners. That being said, the raw fruit is quite intense, and given this one is supposedly even stronger in effect, I'd not overdo it. Ez usually cuts the fruit into slices, then dips them into a bowl of hot chocolate, lets the chocolate cool off and then we ate it like a chocolate thin. You just put it on your tongue and let the chocolate melt and then it releases the fruity, thick juice all over your mouth, making it feel all tingly. And a few minutes later you feel the effect kick in and then, well, you'll be busy for a few hours."
"I guess I don't need to worry about the calories of this thing, then." Becky slightly grinned at Sombra, who nodded.
"Dehydration is more likely going to be an issue. And sore knees." Just as Sombra said that, the ship's omnipresent rumbling sound caused by the engine got louder. The lights shifted from blue to red and the ship began to vibrate. ""... What the fuck?"
Sleeplessness was rarely an issue for Ezrael. Usually, the daily exhaustion from the chores of a Captain or the nightly company would ensure that hormones would make him drowsy. This night, however, he was alone in his quarters. Alone with his thought. For almost an entire year they were hiding in this nebula now, and while it provided everything they needed - namely water and the occasional mineral-rich asteroid, as well as protection from the anomaly that caused everyone on the ship to feel depressed and hallucinations the closer they get to one of the planets - it was simply just a nebula. A thick cloud, preventing them from seeing anything cool. There was no way out of this system, except one he tried not to take. It was risky, and there was no need to take the risk. Or was there?
He lay on his wide bed, a pillow under his head, black harem pants covering his lower body and legs, one hand on his abs, the other under his pillow. There was minimal lighting in his quarters, merely a blue light tube ranging from one side of the bed to the other, illuminating the floor from under the bed. This close to the front of the Apahanta, the sound of the engine rumbling was a bit quieter than the sound of the ventilation system blowing warm air into the room. This would be the third Valentine's Day without Maren. It wasn't something that bothered him, usually. It was probably just the time of the night where one's brain just wouldn't stop second guessing everything that can't be changed anymore. There was no way he would ever return to Sirius. It was something he insisted on. Under no circumstances did he want to return. It was not necessary. They would be able to handle anything on their own. They did so for three years now.
And why, even. Maren was nothing but trouble. An agent of the Wild. She had an incubus inside her, and sooner or later, she would have lost her patience and infected him. Certainly! Most likely. Maybe. He had no idea why she never did it. She had so many opportunities. Just as many as he had to get rid of her, or her incubus Valery. Was being ignored by the Nomads really worth living with one at his side? In a way, he had allowed her to use him as protection. Maybe he was an accessory to cause harm to someone, maybe to allow her to infect someone. He didn't know. For all he knew, when she was at his side, she played along the rules they both established, knowing that if either of them broke them, the other would likely kill them. It was a dance that lasted for many years. A bittersweet dance, with many good and many bad memories.
All these memories kept dancing around in his thoughts. All the nice moments with her. The moment she admitted to be an agent of the Wild, and how he forgave her and accepted her as she was. He remembered her referring to him as a merciful knight for that. As someone able to move between hell and heaven without picking a side. Just like the Apahanta remained independent from all factions, he never picked a side between mankind and Nomads. Like an observer, like an untamable force of nature. In a way, that was all he was about. Never slowing down, never stagnating, never staying with the same woman for too long. Maren was an exception, being in a relationship with him for years, but in the end, no pressure or threat, no sweet promise, nothing managed to keep him at her side. He had to leave.
And now he was trapped in this system. In this nebula. The only jump hole to leave this system was unstable and any probe passing through it got ripped apart by unknown anomal forces. In about a week, the Apahanta would be trapped here for an entire year. This was not acceptable, yet not even the best minds on this ship saw a way out of this system, except for the use of the jump drive. And this one only offered two options.
Hopping off the bed, Ezrael left the room the way he was and decided to take a jog. It was night time on the Apahanta, so all lights had switched from white to blue. Nobody was in sight, the hallways were empty. He simply jogged down the hallway, hoping it would exhaust him. Hoping for different thoughts. Something not related to Maren. Maybe Enma Loyola? What a wild meeting. No, that was a bad thought. It was horrible. What trick did she pull off to become a guildmistress of the Core? What crazy times. At least he didn't need to be afraid of the Core anymore. Or the Order, who lifted their bounty on him in return for him sharing the entire weapon database with them. No need to be afraid of the Nomads. Whatever they had planned for mankind, it would not affect him here. There was nobody out here, except the Apahanta. The entire universe felt incredibly empty the moment they left Sirius.
Just as empty as these hallways. Nobody was around at this time. The night shift was on bridge and in engineering. Everyone else was sleeping, while the hundreds of service robots took care of the maintenance. That reminded him of Nodtvibot, the service robot he and Maren had on the Hoffnungsschimmer. A Kishiro Service Robot, but Maren gave him Erik Nodtviet's voice, but somehow it always sounded like he had a cold. Maren had a talent for comedic relief.
Entering a lift, Ezrael took a moment to catch a breath. He had made out with Maren in this lift many times, like a teenage couple. She even did more naughty things to him in here when the lift had a malfunction. Why was it so hard not to think about Maren?
Leaving the lift on another deck, he continued the jog. His long black hair began to stick to his back from the sweat. Maren often complained about his hair in the drain, or his hair tickling her when they cuddled. She didn't like the red highlights he used to have, so he stopped that. By now, he preferred his hair just black. Maybe it was an age thing to try and be less eccentric - whatever that means for a Curacaoan with a huge warship, a very obvious but very decorative scar at the eye and a very colorful, promiscuous history. Maren hated it when he met with other women, but she knew it was a habit he wouldn't overcome. She tried her best to capture his attention as much as possible, though. So even now, three years and three dozens of systems in the distance, he still had her on his mind.
She was insidious. Every time he spoke of her, he convinced everyone on the ship that she was malevolent. Her intentions weren't pristine, despite her love for him. Maren was evil. A devil. An agent of the Wild. Agent Unschuld, which translates into innocence. The irony couldn't have been greater. Nothing about her was innocent. Maren was evil.
Back at his quarters, he felt dirty with the sweat all over his body. It was a bit early for a shower, and it would likely refresh him to the point where he wouldn't be sleepy at all afterwards, but he didn't want to lay down like that either. He dropped his pants and entered the bathroom. The hot water rinsed any sweat off his skin. He looked down at his arms and couldn't help but notice the otherwise barely noticable imperfection of his slightly fading white skin that got deprived of the tanning sunlight of Cortez, in comparison to the flesh and skin of his body that got replaced by synthetic flesh and skin, years ago after almost dying to fire. There were no scars, no burnt skin. Just this really subtle change of skin color. The only scar on his body was at his eye.
Quite obviously, Maren left a second scar on him. It was not visible, but the fact he could not stop thinking about her was driving him insane. They used to shower here together, more than that. She left the scent of his shampoo. Sometimes during the night, she would bury her nose in his hair and just smell it. She always complimented him for his long hair, and pointed out that she doesn't know many men that could wear long hair. Leaving the shower, he grabbed a towel and stopped in front of the sink, looking at the mirror while wiping himself dry. "Apahanta, blow drier." And a second later, warm wind blew from multiple sides down on him. The sensation gave him goose bumps. Many times he had been standing here like this, with Maren hugging him from behind. One hand at his strong chest, her other hand wandering down his abs and deeper. He remembered how out of shape she was when he saw her for the first time. She had a chubby belly. But over time she worked out and ate less trash thanks to him. She became really beautiful. Even now he could see her face in the mirror, nuzzling his neck and placing kisses on his shoulder. Not too rarely they ended up needing another shower.
"Fuck!" he yelled, shaking his head in discomfort, followed by a disgusted sigh. "Fuck you..." Just him in the mirror. He turned around and leaned against the sink while his hair turned from wet and sticky to fine and dry. The warm air brushed it, made it wave in the wind. Like that, he kept staring at the shut door to his room. "She is evil," he said to himself, as if to prove a point.
Short time later, he left the bathroom and went over to the bed, grabbing his Apahanta suit and slipped into it. There was no way he would sleep now, and staying alone in his room certainly wouldn't help his mind to calm down. Grabbing the zipper, he pulled it up slowly, feeling how the material would tightly apply to his skin, up to the neck, only to feel like a second skin. With that, he stormed out of his quarters and headed for the bridge. Two other people were here, and they didn't even sit at their posts but played cards. One of them was Hada, a thin woman from Honshu. The other was Emily, a younger woman from Cambridge. Both were usually reliable, but the night shift was usually extremely boring, so they obviously figured that it was alright to lay down on the floor and play cards. When Ezrael entered, Hada rushed to stand up while Emily remained on her belly, lazily greeting the Captain. "Hey there."
"Get up, I need you at your consoles!" Hada nodded and moved over to the sensors station. Emily however returned a dazed look at him. "NOW!" he yelled, making clear this was not a joke. Intimidated, Emily hurried over to the weapon controls. "Apahanta, red alert. Spool up the jump drive!"
The lights turned red and sirens marked the raised alert status.
For a short moment, the Apahanta accelerated to an almost impossible speed as it passed through the hyperspace window, leaving the horrible blue mist that mocked Ezrael for almost an entire year. The time spent in hyperspace was so short, not playing along with the true space perception of time, it took only the blink of an eye before the ship emerged at the new destination. It was a big relief when Hada realized they did not crash into an asteroid, a planet, a sun or a black hole, and the area surrounding the ship seemed to be non-hostile. She leaned back in her chair and gave Ezrael a thumbs-up. "No idea where we are, but we're there."
"The best kind of there," Ezrael quietly returned, looking at the main screen, taking in the new view. It was not a nebula. At least not one they were inside of. He took a deep breath. A moment ago, it felt like a warm hand was on his shoulder. Now it was gone. Something cleared up in his mind and just like the Apahanta was no longer inside this blue mist of a nebula, the fog in his head was gone, too. The relief of removing a hundred acupuncture needles at once. Whatever mystery lingered in the blue system, Uncharted 37, it was no longer affecting him. "I don't know how you ladies feel, but I feel a lot better now."
"True," Emily agreed, being surprised about the sudden change. "How did you know?"
"Gut feeling. Hada, anything on sensors? Stellar bodies? Nebulae? Flying saucers?" the Captain asked, getting out of his chair to walk over to the sensor station.
"A red giant, marking it as center of this system for now. About 50k away, so we're golden. Uhm, sensors are working on a system scan. There are a few planets. Far away and one relatively close to the sun, volcanic planet. Also debris, looks like a fragment field with multiple big chunks. Getting a few interesting readings here. This entire system seems to be full of dust. My guess is that a gas giant collided with a big planet many years ago, given the debris and the density of this dust. It doesn't seem to impair our sensors, though, except for the visual ones."
He looked over her shoulder to check the readings. "No weird anomalies so far, that's a big plus. I'll switch to internal sensors for a moment." One tap on the display later, the Apahanta was visualized in multiple layers. "No damage to us, the Apotheosis or the Little Blue, all good. Would have been a shitty Valentine's Day otherwise."
Just as he said that, Sherry arrived on bridge. The Second-in-Command headed directly over to them while staring at the main screen. "Report?"
"We just jumped to a new system. Welcome to Uncharted 38!" he said, giving her a quick smile before tapping the console again to switch the sensor view.
"In the middle of the night?" Sherry asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Technically, it is early morning," he corrected her. "Have you noticed any difference since we jumped?"
"My head feels lighter." She exhaled audibly through her nose. "Captain, may I talk with you in private for a moment." She grabbed him rather forcefully by the arm but made sure neither Hada nor Emily saw it. With a pull, she made him follow to the Captain's seat. "Are you alright?", she asked more quietly.
"Look, I know what you're thinking," Ezrael began, gesturing her to take it easy. But she took his hand and held it firmly for a moment.
"You obviously don't, because if you did, you wouldn't have done this without any word to me. You know the risks of blind jumps. I don't mind that you made this decision without talking with me beforehand, but damn, Ez, more than half of the crew was sleeping and even now half of the bridge crew didn't arrive here," she said, trying to remain calm but with a certain firmness in her voice. "We could have died just like that."
"But we didn't, and no preparation could have changed our fate if we had jumped into a sun or a planet," he said in defense.
"That's true, but also bullshit." She sighed, shaking her head. Two other bridge officers arrived and went to their stations while looking at the main screen.
"I was hallucinating again, Sherry. This needed to stop, and we know leaving that system was the only solution." Another bridge officer hurried to her station. "It was urgent."
She stared at him for a few moments, her gaze switchting back and forth between his eyes. She let go of his hand. "Alright. Standard procedure?"
"Standard procedure. Once the drone pilots are here, let them scout the system. I want to know where we are, and if possible, if we are closer or further away from Sirius now. In the meantime let me make an announcement to the crew." Sherry nodded and without any hesitation, she turned around and moved over to the officers that just arrived.
Ezrael sat down in the Captain's chair, taking a deep breath. She was not wrong, this was an irresponsible risk. Literally anything could have happened during the blind jump. Luckily, it did not. And if there is one thing that has been with him his whole life, it was mother fortune. Nevertheless, he didn't plan on challenging fate again any time soon.
The ship was still on red alert as Sombra hurried through the hallways, with the fruit in one of her hands. On her way, she saw at least five other people leaving their quarters, each of them somewhat dazed from waking up in the middle of the night, barely able to put on anything more than their Apahanta suits. They ran to wherever they were supposed to be, mostly the bridge or engineering. Sombra didn't need to be anywhere, though. As Quartermaster, she barely had anything to do other than keep inventory of what was in the various storage spaces of the ship. Nevertheless, she rushed as fast as possible back to her quarters.
Arriving there, she entered quickly, just to see that Noel was already awake, but for reasons still lying in bed, both arms cuffed to the backrest. A very unimpressed look was all Sombra got as a welcome, and she returned an apologetic smile. "Yikes, that's an unfortunate timing, huh? Funny how that works," she commented, quickly coming closer and getting onto the bed, crawling over to him and sitting down on his lower body while leaning forward to remove the cuffs.
"You know, waking up like this is more fun when you're here, too. But I woke up, we're on red and you're not here. And I can't do anything," the young man complained, mildly comforted by how she sat on him.
"It's not like I've planned it like this," she said quietly, unlocking the first cuff.
"So what's going on?" he asked her, his view mostly obscured by her chest as she leaned over him.
She unlocked the second cuff and moved to hug him tightly, which he returned. "Okay, so the weirdest coincidence just happened, right? I went down to botany to get some fresh food, and when I arrived there, Becky was there. Like, in the middle of the night, right? We talked for a moment, because, you know, Valentine's Day, and she said she wanted to go all-in today. I tried to find out who she's going for, because, you know, there are like three guys on the ship that aren't either into men or already taken, but she insisted on not telling me, so I thought about it and wondered if she's going for one of the two from Sec or Morris? But he's like twenty years older than her, and let's be honest, while he definitely got in shape now, he isn't really the kind of guy that would match her, huh?" She looked down at him, only to find a disapproving gaze. It made her give him a lopsided look.
"What has that to do with us being on red?" he asked her.
"Uh, nothing?" she returned, confused.
"Sombs, we're on red alert and you're telling me Döneken about Becky!" He exhaled while she smirked at him. "I think we jumped, judging by the engine rumble."
"Yeah, I think so, too." She lowered her head to kiss him on his lips. "You're adorbs when you fall back into rheinlandian."
"... it's still red alert, by the way," he pointed out.
"I know," she returned.
"... I sort of need to go to engineering," Noel reminded her. "You know, red alert? Battlestations and such? Combat readiness?"
"Yeah, I know," she assured him, yet not making a single move to get off him.
"... I kinda need to go." They just glared at each other's eyes. "Like, now."
"Yeah." Yet she didn't move off. "Well, you better go!"
"... Sombra?"
"Yes?"
"I need to go, now."
"Yeah." She leaned in for another kiss.
"Som-" Accepting it for just two seconds, he pushed her rather nonchalantly off his body, which made her giggle. "We'll continue this later, I really need to get to engineering."
The Rovers had left the hangar bay, one after another. Remotely controlled by the drone pilots on bridge, they spread out to take a closer look at the points of interest in system. Ezrael followed everything from the Captain's chair, checking the various guncam feeds of each Rover. The gas giants seemed rather uninteresting, and the volcanic planet near the sun did not seem to special either. The closer one of the Rovers got to the giant planetary debris field, the more curious Ezrael got, however. He stood up and moved over to Becky's drone control console, leaning over her shoulder to take a closer look while supporting himself with a hand at the backrest of her chair. "Those are interesting formations. They don't look natural," he pointed out.
"Certainly not," Becky agreed, slightly intimidated by Ezrael being this close. "I don't get any specific readings, though. Just much heat, much dust, and these spires with platforms."
"They remind me of Omicron Beta and Theta. Can you scan for microbes?" he asked her.
"Sure," she replied. A few taps on the display later, both of them sighed. "Yeah, no, the Rovers don't have the equipment for a detailed bio scan. Sorry, Captain."
"Not your fault. Sherry, set a course for the fragment field! It's probably the most promising area here anyway," Ezrael commanded, still watching the feed. "Feels good, huh?"
Confused, Becky needed a moment to understand what he meant. She sheepishly looked up at him for a moment. "You mean the Rover?"
"Yeah. This one is my favourite. The Hayabusas are neat, and the Bretonian LF has a decent handling, but the Gitano is the first one we got for the Apahanta. Always liked this one the most. Small, compact ship but matches the look perfectly." He idly smiled at the screen. "Say what you will about the Junkers, but this thing is definitely not garbage."
"I like it," she said in agreement. "Admittedly, I'm not that much into ships and such, but she feels less sluggish than the Bretonian one, and more robust than the Hayabusas."
He remained at her side for a while. The giant rock spires became more and more visible the closer the Handsome Rover got. Ezrael's awe however got interrupted by the sound of an empty stomach complaining audibly. Embarrassed, Becky moved a hand to her belly for a moment. "Sorry, I didn't get to eat breakfast yet."
"Neither of us got to," Ezrael corrected, patting her shoulder. "I'll go to the canteen and get some food. Any wishes?"
"Uhm, shouldn't you stay on bridge right now?" she asked.
"I got the best crew in this part of the galaxy handling this. I seriously doubt I'll be needed here in the next few minutes, so it's all fine. You got this!" And with that, he made a move to leave.
"Hey, hold up!" Becky firmly stared at the display as Ezrael returned to her side and searched for anything interesting visible on the feed.
"What's it?" he asked.
"Uhm, eh," she stammered. "What's your plan for the today?"
"For today? Uh, I guess I'll keep myself busy with exploring. Most of the crew will likely be doing Valentine's stuff today, so I don't want to be in their way there," he explained, sighing. "I don't know yet, didn't think about it."
"Cool. Cool." Becky kneaded her lower lip with her teeth. "I can help you with that. Don't have any plans myself for today."
"Neat! It's going to be fun!" he said, once more patting her shoulder, then he moved away and left the bridge.
Becky heard how Sherry approached her from behind, stopping next to her. "I think this is the first time I've seen him being this oblivious to something this obvious. You can tell he is really excited about this system full of dust."
"At this point, who isn't," Becky mumbled in agreement.
With the alert level lowered, the amount of people on the bridge was significantly lower. In fact, at this moment, it was only four - including the Captain. Sitting in his command chair, he bit into a freshly picked apple, making that iconic crunching sound as his pristine white teeth cut through the juicy deliciousness. The main screen showed the feeds from multiple Apahanta cameras as well as the feeds from the Rovers and the Apotheosis. Much to keep an eye on, but at the same time, the same feeds were watched from the people at the canteen, who currently enjoyed a regular breakfast. While Sherry sat next to him in her XO chair, one of the two bridge officers still remaining carefully approached the two, asking for permission to leave for breakfast. Ezrael nodded, smirking at her before taking another bite of the apple. The woman left the bridge, and while his eyes were focused on the main screen, Ezrael poked Sherry's side with his empty hand.
"You should go and get some breakfast, too," he said, only eyeing her for a less than a second before returning his gaze to the feeds.
"I can drink my coffee here," she replied in her natural neutral way.
"It wouldn't be the same if you weren't there, silently observing while everyone else talks about inappropriate topics." He smirked at her in a smug way. "Come on, you always say it boosts morale when command shares meals with the crew. And I'm certainly not leaving the bridge now. So that leaves that responsibility to you, Commander," Ezrael explained before taking another audible bite.
Sighing quietly, she glared at him for a moment. It was subtle, but there was a hint of a smile. Ezrael had mastered the art of detecting traces of emotions in Sherry's expressions over the years. After all, it had been about eight years now since they met on Durban Station's bar. Standing up, she gave the main screen a final approving look and then left with the same coffee mug she already had back during those days with the Core, however not without commenting "I'll be back in an hour, then. Try not to make a mess."
"Not before dinner," Ezrael merely returned as she headed for the hallway. And with that, it was only him and Becky on bridge. The woman with the dyed shining white hair had her feet on her workstation, a glass of fruit juice with a straw in her hand and her eyes glued to her display, showing the journey of the Handsome Rover through the unique forest of what looked like naturally formed asteroid mesas. The Apahanta itself was closing in on the location, passing first rocks.
The headphones around her neck played a pop song, something one would hear in the clubs and dance to but not pay attention to the lyrics - simply because they weren't english. Becky quietly moved to the rhythm, nodding her head slightly while her feet shook ever so slightly back and forth, sometimes completely off-beat, but that was something she didn't care about. Sometimes she hummed with the melody without noticing, however, the results of that would become obvious to her as she realized Ezrael was approaching. The lean curacaoan man stopped next to her console and leaned against the wall, smirking at her. "What are you listening to?"
"Uh", she replied in an outburst of eloquence, taking her feet off the console to sit a bit more appropriately, "nothing interesting." Obviously, the answer was not very satisfying, so Ezrael gave her a lopsided look, encouraging her to go on anyway. "It's a woman called Lyzia Ivanova. No idea what the title is, it's in coalition letters," she explained. "In fact, I have no idea what she's singing about. I like the tune, though," she explained.
"Well, since it's just you and me here, why don't you put it on the speakers?" he proposed, smiling gently at her.
"Uhm, okay." She leaned forward to grab her PDA from the workstation and connected it to the bridge speakers. For a moment, the music turned quiet, just to restart from the beginning, now audible all over the bridge. Becky didn't really know how to feel about it, blushing slightly. It wasn't visible with the rather limited lighting in the CIC. About a minute passed as Ezrael and her listened to the song. She kept her eyes glued to the display, not too sure about how to feel about sharing music with the Captain.
"It's a song about jealousy," Ezrael explained, surprising her with that statement. "She's singing about someone she loves, how her palms get sweaty just looking at him, but in the refrain she complains about him being in love with another woman."
"She sounds bittersweet, yeah," Becky figured from the sound of her voice and the way the melody was both sad and encouraging, while obviously being a dance mix, so the bass hit hard. "I didn't know you know that language."
"Just a little bit, really," he admitted. "Before you joined the crew, the Apahanta saved a Coalition Destroyer in Omicron Delta from Nomads. I don't remember the name from the top of my head, but it was the ship commanded by Katya Pimakhova, a friend of ours since that day. Beautiful woman, a credit to her people, really. Had a nasty habit of non-stop smoking cigars, and her voice reflected that." He chuckled. "Mishtar Vertiga. That's how she addressed me, even in private."
Becky smacked her lips for a moment. "You laid her?"
"No, although she made very clear she was interested," he clarified. "I don't know the full context, but she was on the run from the Coalition and hid in Coronado. She had a room on Barrier Gate, where I visited her. I offered her a place to stay on the Hoffnungsschimmer, and she was with us for a while, but I guess that was not really a fulfilling solution to her, so she left at some point. I never heard of her again."
The next song began to play. "Huh. Quite the story. Do you think she is still out there?" she asked him.
"I'd like to think she is," Ezrael said quietly, his expression not subtly hinting at his doubts. "A strong woman, both physically and in the way she acted. But Sirius isn't known for being a rather merciful place."
"I see," Becky sounded quietly, leaning back in her chair. "And here I thought this would be another Captain Handsome story," she added, smiling at him.
That was a blast from the past, Ezrael thought, giving her a curious look. "It's been a while since someone called me that." In fact, it was mostly Maren referring to him as that, to the best of his knowledge.
Noticing his sudden change of demeanor, she cleared her throat - the apple juice caused it to feel a bit slimy. "I-I didn't mean to offend you."
"You didn't, don't worry. Just didn't expect to hear that after years." He frowned, staring at the main screen. The tune about the song about jealousy was still in his head despite a completely different song playing now. "Is everything alright with you? You seem a bit distracted lately. You're more sovereign, usually."
She gave him a surprised stare. "Uhm," she began, stammering, "I think I'm alright? Yeah?"
"I remember how you joined us," Ezrael said, smirking charmingly at her. "A huge misunderstanding, but damn, you were convincing. I was really impressed that day."
"That was..." she began with a bit of discomfort and embarrassment, "... I felt incredibly stupid when I realized it was not a casting. Honestly, I still feel like an idiot about it." She hid her face with her empty hand, trying to avert his charming smirk.
"Don't," Ezrael said, stepping closer, placing a hand on her shoulder. "First of all, it was great. But that's not why I hired you. Merely a, honestly funny, coincidence. What I admired was your dedication. You wanted that job, and you were willing to do anything to get it. I mean, it was mostly a personality check, given the information Abs gave me about you were speaking for themselves. An intelligent woman with experience in piloting, a basic combat training, upper level education and a training in accounting, and definitely one of the coolest models Hot Gear ever had."
"I never finished the training," she clarified, revealing her face again as she held the glass of apple juice with both hands, "Working as a model, and uh, performer, was something I did to get the credits to finance everything. And then Paige hired me for Hot Gear, and then one thing lead to another and now I am here."
Letting go of her shoulder, he gave her a wide, gentle smile. "And I'm very happy that you are here!"
"Thanks," she said quietly, his smile turning out to be contagious. "It's nice to hear that."
"It's nice to be able to say that," he assured her, looking back at the main screen. He narrowed his eyes.
"Like, seriously," she said quietly, smiling gently. "I always felt weird about this misunderstanding, but this makes me feel a lot better."
"What the hell is that?" Ezrael said, not paying attention to her but to the main screen. "Becky, get the Rover closer to that!"
Taken out of her train of thought, she looked at the main screen, not noticing what he was referring to. "Where?"
"There!" He pointed at something red blinking in the far distance, barely visible in the dust clouds surrounding them. "The red dot! Zoom in on that!"
She leaned forward to look at the display of the workstation console. Doing as he commanded, she zoomed in on the area he pointed at. After a few seconds, she noticed it, too. There was a silhouette.
"No... no, no, no... nononono, that's impossible. The fuck... this is impossible... That's not good... fuck!"
Ezrael's sudden reaction was unsettling. It was almost like he was panicking. "What is that?"
"It looks like a Harvester," he said, walking away from her, closer to the main screen, raking his fingers through his thick black hair in disbelief. "That's a fucking Harvester, an AI Cruiser! Fuck!"
The atmosphere at the canteen suffered a sudden shift the moment one of the crew members pointed out that there was a Harvester on the feed, and everything quickly went from jovial breakfast gossip to stunned silence. Everyone had their eyes glued to the screens, except for one woman: Sherry. The moment she noticed the AI cruiser, she took a final, big sip from her coffee mug, placed it on the table and stood up. "Alright everyone. Action stations, go go go!"
Of course there was no way to be sure what was going to happen now, but everyone knew this was definitely the time to prepare for the worst case. On bridge, Ezrael sat in his command chair, leaning forward, pressing his fists against his lips. After three years of isolation, this was one of the most unsettling first encounters. His heart was beating faster. The Handsome Rover carefully moved closer to the Harvester, keeping just enough distance to be able to evade in case of a sudden reaction. The tense silence got interrupted when the bridge crew arrived right after Sherry, who quickly moved next to her Captain, taking her seat as the XO. "So much for not making a mess," she commented quietly.
"We have no idea where we are, who they belong to and what they are doing here," Ezrael mumbled with lowered voice, staring at the AI Cruiser. It was not moving or reacting. "We've been on good terms with PRIME and Canaan, but what are the chances of that thing knowing or respecting that."
"It seems inactive," the Commander pointed out. "Any comm signals?"
"Nope. Energy readings are minimal, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's inactive." The Curacaoan took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his neck while glancing at Sherry for a second. "The high density of dust particles in this area means we can't cloak, and the many rocks could punch holes into the armor if she drop shields, meaning cloaking is out of question for now. We also don't know if more of them are around. If we get into a combat situation, we have only one chance at a blind jump out of this area, and that only if they don't use disruptors to stop us from jumping."
"If we were to run, it would be now or never," Sherry summarized, biting her lower lip. "Did you recall the other Rovers?"
"Yeah, they are already on their way back. It's only the Handsome Rover out there, keeping an eye on that thing." His breathing was unsteady. Sherry noticed that and placed her hand on his arm.
"Try to relax, Captain. I know it's been a while since our last battle," she said quietly. "Your crew needs a strong Captain now."
"If it comes to a combat situation, it's us, five drones, one gunboat and one freighter against that cruiser. We've upgraded the Apahanta for this kind of combat, and the environment is in our favor. If that thing tries to maintain its ideal firing distance, we can get one of those big rocks between us - that will either prolong the battle and give our shields time to recharge or force them to get into our ideal firing range. All in all, right now the odds are strongly in our favor," Ezrael explained, his voice less quiet now. "If the Apotheosis launches pulses from the distance and the Rovers move between us and the Harvester to mess with its targeting system, we might be able to get out of this without hull damage. Armor fatigue is definitely something I'd like to avoid."
"Hada, give me a tactical scan of that ship on the main screen. Try to identify the armaments as best as possible," Sherry commanded and stood up to take a few steps forward, to show more presence. Shortly afterwards, a list of the target's turrets appeared.
"Gammu plasma cannons, pulses, a mortar," Ezrael sounded quietly before joining Sherry. "Ranged loadout, ideal to harrass battleships. We'll need to get those rocks between us. We can dodge those weapons only in a chase situation, and I'm not going to let that thing force us out of the cover." Biting his cheek, he leaned over the railing separating the command area from the bridge officer posts. "Becky, relay standard hailing frequencies over your the Handsome Rover, tell it we come in peace, ask if it needs help. Hada, get ready to translate incoming text transmissions."
"We're more than 50 K away from it. If the Harvester decides to call for help, we can't jam it from here," Sherry pointed out quietly.
"We don't even know if it works on this particular Harvester," the Captain returned, kneading his upper lip with index finger and thumb. "If it fails, I don't want the Apahanta to be where any reinforcements would directly head to. Right now we can possibly outrun anything."
"True."
Silence. Seconds passed very slowly. The uncertainty of the Harvester's reaction caused everyone to tense up.
"Well, now we know it's active," Sherry commented, looking at the text displayed on the main screen.
Ezrael's glance dropped to the floor for a moment as his fang almost bit a wound into his lower lip. "Empathy had a more human approach in terms of communication. This one here reminds me of Progenitor. Could be a PRIME harvester. In that case, chances are this could go well. Becky, proceed. Tell it we come in peace and all that."
As Becky recorded a standard hailing message, Ezrael stared at the camera feed. The tension was almost unbearable.
Becky leaned back in her chair and turned towards the Captain. Ezrael took a deep breath. "It wants to know why we are here." He narrowed his eyes, staring at the AI cruiser in the feed. "We need to be careful with our wording. Our answers need to be precise and not give away too much. I'd much rather ask the questions than answering them... Relay the following words, Becky: I have found you in a dormant state. Do you require assistance?" Nodding, Becky got back to work and sent the response in her own voice.
Once more, silence. Ezrael began to chew on his lower lip again. Everyone waited for the next response to occur. It took more than a minute, but eventually, the new response came in.
「 :: <request> [unit] "Handsome.Rover" transfer [fuel] :: 」
"It wants fuel," Ezrael translated, looking at Sherry. "That's why it's barely emitting any energy signatures. It's out of fuel and has no energy!"
"Don't rush to conclusions yet," Sherry responded, although feeling some level of relief. Ezrael was likely right, she thought, but it was best to be careful.
"Right. Becky, respond the following words: I have ten metric units of Deuterium. Can you convert this?"
"Ez, I think it would be better if we offered a trade for information instead of giving it free fuel," Sherry pointed out.
"We offered assistance, not a trade," Ezrael replied, sighing quietly. "If this thing remotely operates similarly to other PRIME units, it acknowledges that as a token of friendship. It's easier to share information with friends than with strangers, wouldn't you agree?"
"I hope you are right with this. Ten units of Deuterium hopefully aren't enough to get it combat ready," Sherry sounded quietly.
"Get slowly closer to the Harvester and drop ten units of Deuterium, Becky, and then move away from it. Let's see if it has enough energy to tractor the fuel in," Ezrael said and crossed his arms in anticipation. Becky followed the instructions and jettisoned the fuel beneath the Harvester. The feed showed that a lot of dust had covered the hull and the otherwise green lights were red. Threateningly red. The Handsome Rover quickly hurried away afterwards, keeping a distance of two kilometers.
A red glowing cone was emitted by the Harvester and longed for the fuel containers, dragging them closer to the ship. Some sort of hatch opened and devoured the containers, then closed. For a while, nothing happened. Then, the red glow of the lights on the AI Cruiser became stronger.
"Looks like it's processing it," Ezrael commented, taking another deep breath. "Becky, send another message. Does this prove to you that I am a friend?" And so she did.
「 :: affirmative :: 」
"Great, we made a friend," the Curacaoan said with a smirk, giving Becky a thumbs-up. "Now let's-"
"Captain, the AI cruiser just sent a strong distress call in all directions," Hada announced from the sensors console.
It was situations like these that Sombra really hated. The ship was on red alert, and the bridge officers tried their best to deal with the issue, and more than half of the other crew members had something to do - some took control of the Rovers, the Apotheosis and the Little Blue, some prepared for damage control, others hurried to Engineering to make sure the power core would do what it was supposed to do. All in all, most jobs were done by the Kishiro Service Robots, and the human crew supervised them wherever it was needed.
But there was nothing to do for Sombra. First she was a smuggler and supply ship pilot, but with her Whale no longer around - or even needed - that was no longer viable. To give her something to do, Ezrael assigned her as quartermaster, so she was in control of storage and distribution of goods among the crew. However, in reality, this was also done by the Apahanta's AI and the KSRs doing the dirty work. Every now and then she checked the inventory, but in the end, in a combat situation, there was nothing for her to do either. So, while the lights throughout the corridors were painting everything in red, the curacaoan woman walked down the hallway. She knew where she was supposed to be during these times - either in her room or in one of the other rooms in the most inner area of the ship - either the canteen, the dorms or the hydroponics.
Arriving at the dormitories, she opened the door to, what the crew refers to as, the cat room. By any means, it was just a regular meeting room with a few couches and holographic windows and colored lighting, however the walls were full of little trenches, wooden stairs and cat tree caves. Among the few animals that lived on the Apahanta were Sombra's three cats she took with her from Curacao when she decided to move in. One was Ezrael, or Catzrael, obviously named after Ezrael. Another was Catleon, named after Leon, the chief engineer and one of Sombra's and Ezrael's best friends since childhood. Despite the name referring to a male friend of hers, Catleon was actually female - something she found out after naming her. The third was Mojo. Sombra once heard someone saying that word, and without knowing what it was colloquially used for, she decided it was a good name for a white cat that always looked like it had no idea what was going on. A look of confusion and insecurity. Contrary to how Mojo looked by nature, he was a very happy cat.
For a moment, Sombra was glad to see all three cats when the door opened. Then the initial happiness took a dent as she also saw Abigail, the ship's counselor with her daughter Luna. The one and only child on the ship. How old was she now? Three, four years maybe? It wasn't Luna's fault, but Sombra hated her. Even more so her mother. The innocent child was on the floor, petting Catleon, who rolled around happily on the carpet, while Abigail sat on one of the couches and throw a mild smile at Sombra. The only response to that was a cold look back at her while the door closed again. For a few seconds, Sombra just remained motionless in the hallway, in front of the closed door, pondering as to whether she could overcome her hatred for Abigail and Luna in this trying time.
The canteen was empty - apart from the service robots that prepared freshly harvested plants from the hydroponics into either lunch, snacks or non-perishable food paste. If she was being honest, she had to admit she didn't expect the self-sufficiency of the Apahanta to be this unproblematic. Even after three years away from Sirius and any resupplies, the cargo bay was still full of stuff from Sirius, as everyone tried their best to preserve the good stuff and instead go for fresh food from here. Not just fruits and vegetables from the hydroponics, but also lab-grown meat and chemistry-based cheese and many other technical wonders. At first it was weird to think that almost everything she ate and drank was a product of science and engineering, but the results made literally everyone forget about the processes turning molecules and bacteria and recycled waste into delicious, nutritious foods. Ezrael had made sure that they wouldn't miss out on anything, and all the credits and time spent on preparing paid off.
Seeing the new food vending machines covering a few square meters at the wall made her happy. It was her idea. She talked with Noel about how she missed those machines from all the stations in Sirius, so the boy took a few hours to design them together with her, and weeks later, they managed to put ten different looking machines in the canteen and a few more in other places. Service robots would take prepared snacks and drinks and refill the machines every now and then. It had a much more fun vibe to get food from the vendors than just walking up to the counter of the canteen and grab something. Some of the machines were heavily inspired by similar machines Sombra and Noel had seen on New Tokyo when they became a couple. Those machines always reminded her of that. One of the most romantic and happy weeks of her entire life.
That thought alone was enough to make a decision. If the Apahanta really was in danger, she didn't want to be alone. She wanted to be with Noel. Luckily, Engineering was not too far away from the canteen.
Engineering was most likely the second biggest single room on the Apahanta, only rivaled by the cargo bay and the hangar. The power core took up a majority of space here, with all the various protective installations around it. While it often did not sound like it, Noel always claimed that Engineering was probably the most secure place of the Apahanta, and the power core was the least likely thing to break. It used to be different, but after many fights and years of turning the Apahanta from a regular battleship into a stealth deep space reconnaissance jack-of-all-trades fortified home ship, APM's initial design philosophy for the Mako as a battleship to conquer the Omicrons got bent into a "We'll all die if we're not prepared for literally everything" philosophy.
Noel sat on a bench, visibly idling as there was only so much to do for the trainee. Everything was handled by dozens of service robots and the senior engineering team. His specialty was reverse-engineering at this point, but during a time like this, there wasn't anything to do for him other than staying ready in case something bad happened. Thus, the slender boy just sat around, staring at his PDA as it displayed what was happening on the bridge. That was until Sombra jumped at him, sitting down right next to him with a slide, pushing against him. The surprising shock made him reflexively yeet the PDA away. Taking a deep breath, trying to recover from the ambush and the sudden feeling of a stomach drop, he chuckled at her as she approach his face with her own to plant a kiss on his cheek, then his lips.
"Shouldn't you be in one of the secured areas right now?" the boy asked her, obviously appreciating the sudden burst of affection from her.
"Engineering is secure. I just pacified the only hostile with a kiss, he is completely charmed now," she returned with an impish smirk. "I was at the cat room but Abs and the child are there, so I went here instead. It's Valentine's Day, after all, so I want to be with you, especially right now!"
"I don't think Leon would like you to snoop around here. In fact, I recall both Ezrael and Leon having told you to stay out of Engineering since that one time you spilled a peppermint milkshake all over the robotics management console," Noel said quietly while she nuzzled his neck with her nose. "And Leon."
"First of all, there are now cup holders at most consoles, even on bridge, all thanks to me pointing out a critical design flaw. You know how they say space flight gets safer every time a horrible accident happens? That's what happened here, except nobody died. Yet. This was all planned," she explained in a false pouty manner. In the meantime, Noel stood up and fetched his PDA, which luckily didn't get damaged from the fall. He returned to her, smiling at her as he sat down.
"Weird, because I have seen the footage of what happened and it didn't look like it was planned at all," the boy said in a teasing manner. He typed something on the PDA as she wrapped an arm around him.
"Secondly," she began, ignoring his point, "I contested that ban, convincing Ezrael that it was a bit too much. I already suffered the loss of a perfectly fine peppermint milkshake, which, mind you, was a irreplaceable luxury good back then. Sacrifices had been made that day, and thanks to that, we not only have cup holders at the consoles, but also the means to make our own peppermint milkshakes."
"Which, apparently, you are the only one to like them." He held the PDA in a way so that both of them could watch the video footage of the incident. Sombra was leaning over the robotics console and placed her paper cup with a straw on the black, reflective and most notably, angled surface of the console. Leon was next to her, staring at the display, and as Sombra let go of the papercup, it slowly tipped over, spilling small amount of the contents over the console. Sombra quickly reacted and tried to grab it, but some of the milkshake got on her hand and the sudden cold experience made her accidentally throw the papercup up in the air, mostly in Leon's direction, resulting in a spray of peppermint milkshake sullying his Apahanta suit while magically evading Sombra's black dress entirely. Laughing uncontrolled, Noel looped the footage, making the incident happen over and over again. It looked very funny to him, and he knew Sombra found it funny, too, despite her trying not to laugh.
"Weirdly enough, his hair had that peppermint milkshake scent for the next days despite him showering multiple times. That's the untameable power of a peppermint milkshake," she commented, turning her head to her boyfriend again. "Well, I don't have a milkshake with me, so what's the worst that can happen right here and now?"
"I'd rather try not to find out," Noel responded, putting the PDA away.
A few seconds of silence passed until she scooted close to him again. "You seem rather relaxed despite us being on red," she said more quietly.
"Well, we're not in danger," the boy replied.
"We're on red alert, though, and no longer alone. And we don't know where we are, and if there are more AI ships, and what else might be out there."
He exhaled in a calm manner and smiled as he placed a hand on her thigh, only then noticing that her legs were actually shivering. Slowly he turned his head up to hers, realizing she was hiding her fear behind a wide smile that slowly fell apart. "Sombs, everything will be fine. This ship has fought against Nomads, Order, Corsairs and also against Gammuians before. Ezrael knows exactly how to deal with enemies, and we don't even know whether that thing is actually hostile to us."
"I'd really prefer if we were alone again," the woman said quietly, pushing her head against his chest. "For a long time I thought Ezrael was maybe a bit too extreme with getting as much distance as possible between us and Sirius, but now I can totally relate. We find one thing that is from Sirius and everything feels horrible."
"Hey..." His hand gently stroke her back as she burrowed herself more into his front, basically sitting on his thigh while pushing her head against his chest. It certainly didn't look comfortable to him. "... it's all going to be fine! Have some trust in Ez."
"I do trust him," Sombra said, her voice muffled as she was talking into his chest. "Look, it's not like I can control fear, it's a natural response, like getting horny when I see you."
"Wonderful comparison, thank you very much," he commented, in a mixture of being weirded out and being unimpressed.
"Look, I... just hug me, alright? Right now I'd prefer being inside you since you are calm as fuck." That made him smile awkwardly. "I'd just stay near to your heart and listen to how calm it beats while enjoying all the warmth."
"That's sort of romantic, but also really weird. You have a talent for mixing those two things."
"Well, you rarely say weird things, so it's always up to me," she said, scooting off his thigh to drop herself down between his legs, looking up at him. "In fact, you know what? You're quite the pussy! I can't think of a single instance of you ever objectifying me. Do you know how boring that is? Whenever I'm gossiping with the girls, I never have anything bad to say about you. Even Ezrael had more negative aspects about him than you, Mr. Perfect Gentleman Twink."
He stared down at her, an eyebrow risen, his lips slightly angled. "You want me to objectify you?"
"Yes!" From where she kneeled on the floor, she leaned forward to hug his belly and pushed her face against it. Leon was walking around in the distance, looking over at them. Noel realized how wrong it must have looked to him.
"Uhm, could you... get back on the bench?" Noel asked politely, somewhat trying to pull her up yet she resisted.
"No, this is comfortable," she said in a muffled voice, tighthening her grip around his body. "Objectify me already!"
"You collectible," he said, deadpan.
She moaned quietly.
"You absolute inventory item. You literal gear slot filler."
"Not exactly what I had in mind, love, but go on," she mumbled.
"You're such a consumable... you hot piece of decorative furniture..." She faked another seductive moan. "You human equivalent of a pawn shop good. Just thinking of you makes me want to put you on a table, shelf or window sill, if we had any..."
"Yeah, that's the ticket. Keep going, love!"
"I will pin you against the fridge like a children's drawing, with a letter-shaped magnet," he said in a teasing voice.
"What letter?"
"Uhm, an L."
"There are many sexy words starting with L. Like leather," she commented, pressing her lips against his belly.
"Or loot."
"I'd love to be your loot."
"I'd store you in a chest, thinking I could use you at some point in the future but then I forget about you until I find you later when randomly looking for something else in the chest," he explained, gently stroking her head. "It's a chest from that weird warehouse where all furniture has funny names, but it came with some screws missing so you have to make up for three screws."
"Yeah, this is awakening something inside me," Sombra said quietly, clearly enjoying the moment. She didn't notice it, but she was no longer twitching.
"I want to forge you and then hammer, you hot utility. You're like molten bronze in my hands... which is kinda painful, like, have you ever had molten bronze in your hands?"
"I love getting under your skin," she purred.
"Twelve iron bars, one potion of invisibility, one Sombra..." She faked another moan, this time loud. "... sixtynine cheese wheels."
"Okay, stop," she said, chuckling, looking up at him in a jovial manner. "I can't hold it back much longer, love."
He leaned forward, moving his head to her ear and whispered in a sensual manner: "Subject, predicate... you."
She bit her lip as he said that, then slowly moved back up to sit in his lap, hugging him tightly. "Not even Ezrael managed to make me feel what I am currently feeling," she said quietly, kissing Noel on his lips. Her left hand lovingly cupped his cheek, while her other hand slowly moved down from his chest to his belly and further.
"Those iron bars are turning into an iron rod right now," he whispered between the kisses.
"That's interesting and such, but I'd really like to know more about those cheese wheels," she breathed, which made him laugh into her mouth. He pulled his head away from her for a moment, unable to stop the laughter. She gave him a smug smile, clearly proud of making him laugh like that. Just as she was leaning back in again to force her lips on his, the announcement sound echoed through the entire ship.
