For a long moment, Elethenn stared at me – he might not have been able to see out of the white eye, but it still felt like he could use it to peer into my soul – before letting out a long, deep, andexhaustedsigh."We will take a shuttle," he said."And you'll write to Araxisnow, and we'll confirm that he agrees with your course of actionbefore we go."
We weren't going to do that."I'll book the shuttle," I said, smiling as I flashed up my interface and confirmed the booking with a few taps."We might as well start walking to the transit station.Araxis will get back to us right away."
"Sashen –" he started.
"Don't fight me," I said."I'm incredibly stubborn."
"Yes, I am aware," he continued."I was merely going to ask –" I pushed past him into the hall as he trailed behind me."I – I do not intend to be rude, but… Ah, yes, I see.It must be."
"What must be?"
"That is what you are wearing.I – Yes, I see.You – hm."
"Oh, do I look different?"I asked mildly.And to be fair, these days I was either wearing gym gear, lounge clothes, or conservative abayan formal wear for meetings.Sometimes I threw in a lumpy sweater to mix things up; more recently, I'd been living in the sweater Araxis had given me.In this outfit – tight pants that pinched me right at the narrowest part of my waist; a sheer top that glinted and cut away to startling diamonds of flesh while little beads winked at regular intervals – I looked like Sashen Solar again, confident and in command.Except maybe a bit more feral, like I'd gotten a taste for blood and I was hungry for more, although, admittedly, most of the blood I'd tasted was my own.
I'd always known this person was in there somewhere.It's why I'd considered pit fighting back on Yellow Fin, before things went horribly wrong on me.I turned and looked at Elethenn as he took in this particular outfit, and I could actually see him put himself back together, trying to regain some composure thatI'drattled.Like tonight, for the first time, he could feel a sliver of my power.Like tonight, maybe he could finally see what it was that everyoneelsesaw in me.I'd bet actual credits that he thought I looked hot.
I barely kept myself from preening."I told you I could loan you something," I said, smug."Just wait until the jacket comes off."And then I winked – which was probably lost on him – and pushed my way through the front door and into Verdant Ward beyond.
On the way, I opened up the pink message chain I shared with Araxis.I'll be out for a bit tonight, I wrote.Elethenn is with me.Headed to see Tam in Radiant Ward; big fight night there (with dancing!).And then, using the drawing interface, I doodled a heart and an X for him.The crossed lines are a kiss, just so you know,I added.More symbols that don't make much sense.Hope you've made it through your meetings without biting through your tongue!That would be a waste of an absolutely perfect tongue.
I pointedly angled the projected interface toward Elethenn so that he could see I'd sent the message as promised, even if I flashed it away before he could read what I'd said.He didn't look any happier, and I saw his hand brush the side of his hip every now and again, like he was checking something.
And of course he was: he was probably armed.
Well, good.Now I wasreallysure nothing bad would happen.
We crawled into the inter-ward shuttle, which hurtled into the cluttered space around Sozamia Station before queuing us up for docking in Radiant.I watched my wristband interface restlessly, torn between hoping for a response and dreading one – would Araxis tell me to head home, that I was being stupid, or would he indulge me, trusting that I could take care of myself?– but none was forthcoming.I eventually tapped the display off, trying not to feel too disappointed.
The guards at the checkpoint were a bit difficult, taking objectively too long to inspect our credentials.Then again, any time spent around guards wastoo long.When they finally cleared us and we headed into Radiant Ward, I sighed loudly and reached up high over my head to stretch out my shoulders.Between our meetings, travelling the whole of Sozamia, language lessons, and the quick reports I was still compiling for Perseus and then sending from public dataports when I had a moment, I'd been sittingsomuch recently.Even the sparring sessions Araxis and I had arranged, and the slivers of time I was taking to train on my own, weren't enough to compensate for my new meeting-heavy lifestyle.
I hadn't spent much time in this area of Radiant Ward because I never bothered with the docks, so I paused outside a few shops and by some market carts to admire what they had on display.One vendor, a haggard looking iless, had knock-off Tournament souvenirs and got unreasonably excited when they recognized me as I approached.When I asked, they were able to produce two mugs, one with a bad illustration of me and my Tournament catchphrase, the other with a spectacularly hot ink drawing of Araxis with his gleaming swords; I paid more than they wanted and arranged to have them delivered to our suite in Verdant.I also picked up a framed photo of myself with a signature that wasdefinitelynot mine, laughing as we headed off toward Tam's with it shoved under one of my elbows."I'm going to make him put it up in his office," I said, delighted.I hauled it out again to look at it, and burst into peals of laughter."Oh, fuck – look.They spelled my name wrong."I tapped at the polymer separating the badly printed photo from the air and shook my head, grinning."Maybe this is my evil twin.Sesshen Salar.My evilvoltaaritwin."
"Hm, I do not know that youcouldhave a voltaari twin," Elethenn said, voice dry as we made our way through the tangle of tunnels, Elethenn tipping his chin now and again to show me the way through this unfamiliar area."Although I know little of human biology.Perhaps you can be both."Then, his stare growing a little more thoughtful, "You are a curious person, Sashen.You are not at all what I expected when you stopped to order dumplings that first day."
"Oh, and what did you expect?"I asked, slipping past a cluster of voltaari who'd stopped by a hovering display screen outside of a bar to stare at the newsfeed as it came in.I glanced up: some mining facility was on fire somewhere far away.I made a mental note to check in the morning that our provisioning wouldn't be affected, although I failed to see what – I scanned the captioning quickly – Sadrum-4 would have to do with anything we'd picked up for Thelessia or to sell in Xitera.
Elethenn turned down a broad alleyway that was bustling with activity as the shift clicked over from yellow to orange and workers spilled out of facilities lining the walls, and I followed after him.He shot me a quick look over his shoulder."Hm.I thought that you might be rather… demure."
I couldn't help myself.I barked out a laugh, and Elethenn trilled, smiling at me."It is only a sign of the limitations of my own cultural viewpoint," he assured me as we rounded another corner into a tunnel I'd been through a couple of times; we were getting into somewhat familiar territory."Like every other abaya, I watched the Galactic Tournament.I expected you to be – different, once you'd declared."
"Tamed," I supplied.I drifted to the side of the tunnel we were walking through and grabbed two hot cups of tea from a little cart, where the biryat grimaced at me from within his climate-controlled dome of hot air, which meant that he actually was quite pleased to see me; I'd often stopped by after training.I wrinkled my nose at him, frowning in gratitude, as I tapped my band against the payment terminal and pivoted to thrust one of the cups at Elethenn."Were you surprised to see me on my own then?"
He nodded, murmuring his thanks and sipping the tea as we wandered closer and closer to Tam's."Yes.And then – I suppose it is rather funny now, isn't it?"
"What's funny?"
"That I thought… you were inviting my attention," he finished.When I glanced back, my eyebrows shooting up, he flushed silver and ducked his head."I see now that I misread the situation.It was foolish of me to have even entertained the idea that you might be..."He trailed off, apparently unable to finish the sentiment.
"Why?"I asked, curious, slowing my pace so that we were now moving at what I might generously call ameander."I mean, Icouldhave been."
"There's no need to humour me," said Elethenn, voice a little flat as he stared at the plume of steam drifting up from his cup."I understand now that you would never have been interested in being courted by someone like me."The way he said – low, almost ashamed – made my chest tighten with uncomfortable recognition.I knew what it was like to feel that way, unworthy and undesirable just because of who you were.
I paused, studying him as he continued to walk ahead, before he realized he'd lost me and turned back to look at where I had come to a stop.Around us, the tunnel was quiet except for small clusters of travellers, everyone minding their own business as usual in Radiant.
"That's stupid, Elethenn," I said, frowning."You've got to stop acting like it was impossible because of whatever it is you think about me, and whatever it is you think about you.You're attractive.I'm not surprised Tam is interested."
The ripple of emotion across Elethenn's face was flashfire quick, although he schooled his face to something neutral, his mismatched eyes blinking rapidly.He didn't move any closer."You can't mean that," he said, quiet.
