"Not why I was asking," I said, reaching to catch his bicep.Across the walkway, a cluster of people – a ketaari, a brin, and a dalloid – started to beeline toward us.They looked young.I tightened my fingers on Araxis's arm."Incoming," I murmured.
His hand drifted to his side where he might have had his iridescent sword on a different day.I laughed, surprised."No, they'refans," I added, and then they descended on us.I took a half-step forward, just ahead of Araxis who looked, in a flash, deeply uncomfortable and unsettled while the teenagers – I was sure, now, that they were teenagers – peppered us with questions and then launched into a long list of things wehadto do on Sozamia Station that were interesting and underground and by invitation only.The ketaari, bold, even insisted that I give her my contact information.
"You could come dancing with us, you know," she offered generously, the charms along the back of her head tinkling."Humans aren't usually allowed in Volt, but I know the bouncer."
"That sounds wonderful," I said with my best marn den smile on."Why don't you give meyourinformation and I'll forward it to my manager, and she'll reach out to Volt and arrange an appropriate appearance fee."
The ketaari's broad mouth flattened in her version of a smile, and she chortled with amusement."You see?"she said to her friends, "I told you that the ancestors played a great joke when they put a ketaari soul inside of a human body."
We gently extricated ourselves after taking a photo together, which had the effect of making other people along the walkway stare at us and do a double-take when they recognized us from broadcast.The cluster of teenagers became a stream of people who wanted to chat and get autographs and take photos and ask us a thousand questions about what had happened on broadcast and how things were goingbetween us– as if they knew either of us at all.Araxis was wedged against the railing, and I'd put myself in front of him so that the crowd had to come through me first.
After all, I knew how to handle this kind of thing.Araxis – well –
I spared him a glance, and he was pale beneath the glow of neon lights all around us, his eyes wide.A brin tried to engage him in conversation, reaching out to stroke a hand down his shoulder – they're a handsy people – and I put myself in the way immediately."It'ssonice to meet all of you," I said loudly, "but we're on a date.We don't get much time together these days, just the two of us."I made myselfglowin Araxis's direction, and he flushed immediately – which had the desired effect of having the crowd who'd clustered around us make soft sounds of approval and, in a couple cases, resigned disappointment, the overly familiar brin among them.
I reached and grabbed Araxis's hand, threading us through the dissipating crowd and taking the first walkway that led from the main thoroughfare to the balcony of stores and businesses built into the towering height of Glimmer Ward.As I tugged Araxis after me, he looked a little dazed, which was far more endearing than it needed to be.
"I should have warned you," I said, grinning.
He fluted out a long, weary breath."I hadn't realized we would be quite so – distinct."
I laughed, bumping his shoulder with mine, my hand still holding his."A human and an abaya?It’s barely been a month since the Tournament aired.I know broadcast is fleeting, but we've got a couple more weeks of infamy, I'm sure.Are we close to the gallery, anyway?"
He nodded."Another block, on this side of the thoroughfare."
Good.We could stay on the walkway, which was a bit more shadowed and less trafficked, and maybe avoid a repeat.We picked our way past the flashing rows of arcades and bars, sex shops and strip clubs, and I spared a thought for how much fun Glimmer Ward could have been if it had Radiant Ward's nonchalance.
Now that Araxis knew what to look for – namely, heads rapidly turning in our directions, little camera droids being flicked from wristbands to try and capture a fleeting shot – he effectively steered us away from a couple clusters of curious half-drunk revellers.It was too loud to talk, the throbbing music spilling out from the establishments we walked past creating a soundscape that was almost like being blasted with a hose of music.He still held my hand, grip firm, and the feeling of his cool skin against mine made something pulse inside of me, in time with the music roaring to one side.His crest was braided beautifully, white and immaculate, and was painted in all the technicolour shades we passed beneath; he lit up in flashes like the oscillating colours of deep space travel.
Finally, he tipped his head toward a door set into a windowless facade, a dark sign above it.I couldn't make out what it said.I raised my eyebrows as he stepped in close, reluctantly dropping my hand so that he might knock.At my look, Araxis flushed beneath the wash of orange and pink lights pulsing from a pit fighting establishment next door."I reserved the time for us.We can call it unintended foresight."
The door hissed open, and a tall rus'a ushered us inside, inclining her towering head as fronds drifting peacefully behind her.As soon as she shut the door, all the sounds from outside were cut off, leaving just the two of us – and our host – inside of the gallery beyond.
The rus'a welcomed us and told us, in her chime-like voice, that she would be in the office space in order to give us time toluxuriate in the collection.Her fronds had then shimmered a very pretty peach which I knew, from Khrelen Tintissi's obsession with rus'a, meant there was a sensual overtone to the statement, so either she really did think you could get off in some capacity by looking at art or she figured we might get a little fresh with each other in the privacy of the gallery.
I spun to take in the space, whichsurelyhad to be one of the most understated places in Glimmer Ward, a welcome refuge from the lights and sounds and clamour of the ward outside.The gallery was utilitarian with metal girders and austere walls, but the lighting was lovely and there was a stillness to the air that felt like a held breath.On every wall, and resting on pedestals throughout the gallery, were tapestries and mixed media sculptures that looked simultaneously like the hangings in Araxis's room on the ship or some of the fine art that had been in the dignitary's suite on the Creche Athal ship, and also like a scrapyard.
My hands drifted to my hips as I took it in, and then I cast a quick look at Araxis who was hovering, a bit uncertain, near the entrance."It's nicer in here," I said, hoping to put him at ease.
"Hm."Araxis slid past me, his shoulder brushing mine, to walk to the nearest display stand."You didn't seem surprised to be – accosted."
I moved to his side, looking at the sculpture, a tangle of wires and gears and chips that had somehow been soldered together so delicately that it had the appearance of lace.As I tilted my head, I could see that, from a certain angle, the shapes resolved into the outline of a bird of some sort."No," I said, walking around the pedestal to take the piece in from different angles – breathtaking.And weird, and a bit unsettling, the way the shadows seemed to shift, alive, as I moved."You wouldn't know if you haven't left Verdant Ward – everyone's too rich and polite there to say anything – but it's bad in Central and Glimmer.I figured that out pretty quickly."
I turned to look at the next piece, a similar amalgam.This one seemed to form the twisting coil of a massive snake, or the spiral of DNA, or just a mess of springs and wires.Every time I moved, the sculpture took on a new surprising dimension.Araxis followed after me, the only sounds around us our own footsteps, which echoed through the gallery.
"But you do not find it bad in Radiant Ward?"he asked, hands tucked behind his back as he, too, leaned to inspect the piece.
"No," I said."No one cares who I am there.I mean, I've run into a few people who complain that I lost them money but –"
Then his question caught up with me, and I drew up short.I turned and looked as Araxis moved to an interior wall that served no structural purpose, just providing more space for pieces to hang.He was looking at a particularly complex tapestry that seemed to have an overlay of microprocessors which shimmered in the light.
I stared at him, my stomach tight as a fist."How do you know about Radiant Ward?"
I watched the realization of what he'd said take hold.Araxis blinked rapidly, turning to look at me as his eyes tightened with distress."Ah," he said, subvocal bright beneath the syllable."Yes, I should apologize.You will be unsurprised to learn that Vivith took it upon themself to… monitor your movements."
Something cold, like fear or shame, trickled down my spine, and while I tried to keep it from my face, I must have failed because Araxis shook his head, stepping toward me."They are not now," he insisted, firm."We had a –massivemay not be a sufficient descriptor.A monumental argument about it when I learned what they had been doing.It is done now."He said it like it was certain, as if I didn't have to worry now about what Vivith had seen or why they'd beenspyingon me.
I knew Val had been able to figure out where I was because she'd been keeping an eye out for my name in the station systems.Of course Vivith could do the same.Of course I hadn't thought to try and cover my footsteps.
