by D. Brumbley
She winced at the thought. “I don’t think I’ll ever do that. I don’t want anyone looking at me without my clothes on except you.”
He stopped them outside the club in the short line waiting to get in, and pulled her in with both arms around her waist. “Any kind of tattoo on you would be ornamentation on perfection. Completely unnecessary.”
Mercury knew she might someday grow accustomed to Orion’s compliments, but for the time being, she blushed a deep scarlet and pressed herself against him in a kiss. She had never felt so sexy in her life, so desired by someone that she, surprisingly, wanted to be desired by.
“Hey, pal, you coming in or what?” A rough voice said from behind them, coming from the bouncer who was larger than Orion, but not as tall even as Mercury.
Orion hadn’t realized they had finally moved to the front of the line. “Oh, yeah. Sorry. I was distracted. Don’t even try and blame me.” He scanned his communicator to pay the cover for the club, and the burly man passed them inside.
“Nothing like last time, got it?” The man was glaring at Orion as if he’d been personally offended. “You’re on notice.”
“Relax. Last time was a perfectly legitimate misunderstanding. Won’t happen again.” Orion seemed supremely confident as he stepped through, pulling Mercury along with him into the even-darker space of the massive club.
Her face was still burning from all of the thoughts he had put into her head, but her confusion won out over her arousal. “Last time?”
“One of my exes told her boyfriend she was cheating on him with me, to avoid telling him who she was really cheating on him with. Guy saw me here, blindsided me. Pretty good fight, but I ended up getting kicked out. Last year sometime.” He shrugged it away, since he clearly didn’t think it had been a big deal. “Like I said, I’ve been single a long while. Shouldn’t be anything else hanging around that needs dealing with. If there is, I promise I’ll warn you when I see it.”
“Alright. I believe you.” She kissed his cheek but took a deep breath before she steeled herself to look around at the place he had taken her. The club was arranged in tiers, with the DJ booth resting on the highest apex of the cone. Steel grating rose in thin layers above them, all filled with bodies. Clearly it was a popular spot for people to get away. The second tier, where he took her, also contained the bar, illuminated brilliantly in the otherwise-dim interior.
The highlight of the party seemed to be people jumping from one tier down to the next and crowd-surfing in the lower gravity, to general cheers and raised glasses. The music was loud and dirty, with lyrics that no one could readily understand, but which didn’t seem to matter. People tried to pull her away to dance the same as they tried to pull away Orion, but he politely shook his head and kept moving, never letting go of her hand.
He found a two-seater couch that was unoccupied and claimed it for them, then pulled away to head for the bar and fetch them some drinks. All around her, people were laughing and dancing right up against the couches that lined the outer edge of the room, some with more dignity than others.
She watched Orion as he got to the bar, even though everything in the bar seemed to demand her attention at once. She felt the increasingly-familiar but still shocking stab of jealousy when she saw a mostly-exposed blonde sidle up to Orion while he waited, but all Mercury could do was shift in her seat for a better view. From the look on Orion’s face, the blonde was someone he knew, but his eyes didn’t linger on her for long. Everything about the woman’s body language was making an offer she clearly hoped Orion wouldn’t refuse, but it appeared he turned her down, since the blonde did eventually walk away, leaving Orion alone.
Just as Orion was turning back to the bar, Mercury felt someone take Orion’s place on the couch with a comfortable sigh. “This place gets pretty crazy, huh?” The newcomer said in what she recognized as a vaguely Spanish accent. The man was cause for a double-take in the same way that she’d needed a moment to take in Orion’s appearance on first sight, though for slightly different reasons.
Even sitting down, she could tell the man was nearly Orion’s height. Where Orion was built lean, though, the man beside her was a truly massive human being, well-muscled and built like the rugby players her parents had watched when she was a child. His physique was on open display, as he was wearing only a thin white singlet for a shirt. It hugged his abs and chest and left the huge bulk of his arms exposed for her examination. His eyes were dark along with the rest of him, and where Orion was clean-shaven, the man beside her kept a short moustache and goatee, though his head was shaved. He had an open smile to go with his impossibly-deep voice, and seemed right at home as he leaned back into the couch cushions. “I’d ask if you come here often, but if you did, I’d remember you.”
Mercury gave the man a polite smile, though she was vaguely aware that he was probably trying to be more than polite. If she didn’t return his advances, she assumed he would understand that she wasn’t interested. “You’re right, I don’t come here often. This is my first time. My name is Mercury, I’m here with my Match. What’s your name?”
The man’s grin didn’t seem deterred by the revelation that she was there with her match, and he offered a massive hand to take hers. “Carlos Espinoza. Pleased to meet you, Mercury.” When she gave him her hand, he actually kissed the back of it, and crossed one tan boot over his knee to get comfortable. “I feel like your name comes with a moral imperative toward a pick-up line. Maybe something about how completely appropriate it is that you’re the hottest woman in here and named for the hottest planet. It sounded terrible even in my head, but I can’t just not say so when it’s so obviously the truth.”
She chuckled politely. “Thank you, that’s quite a compliment. I feel I should tell you, though, that statistically that is impossible. There’s always someone more attractive than any one person in the room, based on the qualities each person finds attractive. To some in this room, I could be considered the least attractive.”
“So you don’t believe in objective measures of beauty, but you do believe in objective measures of compatibility with another person? You did say you’re here with your match, right?” He looked around as if someone was going to come out of the woodwork to claim his seat, then shrugged. “Not that I see anybody about to fight me for this spot, but I believe you.”
“The matching program takes a lot of things into account that can be measured by individual tastes. I didn’t even know what my match looked like before I met him, or if I’d be attracted to him. I was alright with that as long as there were enough other categories where we matched well.” Mercury glanced around as well, but once she got started, it was hard for her to stop talking. “I’m happy with my match, actually. I’m not looking for anything or anyone else. He went to get drinks.”
“Of course he did.” The man sipped at his beer and laughed, but it was hard to tell whether he was laughing at some private joke or at something she’d said. “So what do you do, hotness? When you’re not getting drinks with your new match, of course.”
That question actually made Mercury relax. Her job was safe. She could talk about that. “I’m a doctor from Seven.”
“Are you? Well, that explains the posture and the general kind of reserved thing you’ve got going on. Plus I think your skirt is longer than anyone else’s in here. That’s a compliment.” He reassured her with a charming grin. “I work in security. I used to bounce for this place, actually, a while back, but I got a steadier job a while ago, private contractor. Being a doctor would take more finesse and restraint than I think I’m cut out for.”
“That aspect might be difficult since you are a large man, but not impossible. If you wanted to learn.” Mercury looked away again, more nervous the longer Orion was away. Had he left her for the blonde after all?
“Well, you know, if I had the right person to teach me, maybe.” He smiled at her again, but then Orion finally appeared, carrying a shot and a drink in each hand. It should have looked diffi
cult, but his long fingers made it look easy. The look he gave Carl was dark as he handed Mercury her two glasses. “This guy bothering you?”
“Not particularly.” She said as she immediately jumped up to get close to Orion. It wasn’t because of Carl that she was so eager to see him, she was just glad he hadn’t run off with someone else. Mercury was aware of the fact that she could get annoying or difficult. “We were discussing Carl’s possibilities as a doctor.” She looked up at Orion again. “I was wondering where you were.”
“Bartenders always cater to anything in a skirt before they pour for a fellow prick. I’m sorry about the wait.” He put an arm around her easily with a smile, but then glared past her to nod at Carl. “This guy thinks he can be a doctor? You’re stupid enough to keep pushing your luck with a matched woman, what makes you think you’d have the brain cells to be a doctor?”
“Same thing that made me push my luck.” Carl said as he got up, leaving his beer on the table as he stepped up to Orion’s challenge. Her earlier estimate had been correct. Carl was shorter than Orion, but it somehow didn’t seem that way when the two men were standing and staring each other down. It was a difference of only a few inches between giants, and Carl was a behemoth of a man compared to Orion, with easily a hundred pounds on him, mostly muscle. “I’ve got a very high opinion of myself. And my luck.”
Mercury looked back and forth between them. “If you think you’re going to fight for my hand or something, you two will be sorely disappointed. I decide for myself, thank you very much.”
They both looked over at her with a smile at that comment, but Carl eventually looked away at Orion and stepped back to retrieve his beer. “I like her, man. I had my doubts the other day when you were talking over her profile, but seeing is believing. I approve.”
“Yeah, I think I’ll hang onto her.” Orion said with a chuckle, then moved to sit in the seat Mercury had gotten out of, pulling her down into his lap as he laid a hand on Carl’s shoulder. Obviously they weren’t headed for a fight. “In case this asshole didn’t actually introduce his stupid self, Mercury, this is Carl Espinoza. Rent-a-cop extraordinaire and my best friend for the past twelve years or so.”
“He did say his name and that he was security.” She looked over at Carl from where she sat primly in Orion’s lap. “He must have left out the part where he knew you.”
Carl gave a shrug that was only mildly apologetic. “What can I say? I’m this guy’s one and only line of defense against himself, most of the time. Had to make sure he wouldn’t need it where you’re concerned.”
“Your faith in my ability to make my own life choices is appreciated, pal.” Orion glared and reached past Mercury for his drink, but kept one arm around her waist, his hand moving over her side and her back idly as they sat there.
“Whose idea was it for you to get matched in the first place, huh?” Carl shot back with his own glare, then lifted his beer in a toast to Mercury. “You put him under a lie detector and ask him that, then send me a thank-you card afterward. You’re welcome.”
“Well, thank you, then.” Mercury said with a polite smile, then grabbed her drink and sipped at it slowly. “Are you interested in being matched if you pushed Orion to do so?”
“Oh, my application is already in the works.” He finished off his beer and tossed the empty bottle at a trash can twenty feet away, barely over the heads of the people in the crowd. When he hit it dead center, some people sent shouts in his direction, but others applauded, and he bowed in the couch to those who were clapping. “Then a few days ago when we all got our acceptance for Jannah, it asked me for permission to recalibrate my results based on all participating personnel.”
“Smaller pool, but I hope it works out for you.” Mercury said kindly as she leaned into Orion. “I’m glad Orion and I were both accepted.”
“She was worried she was gonna lose you to Dick-ADD.” Carl chuckled next to his friend and scooted farther away to give Mercury room to adjust however she saw fit against Orion. Mercury wasn’t actually his type, but he had meant what he said about her being a gorgeous woman. It was best he keep his distance. “Who snagged you up there, Jaz? I thought I saw her slinking around earlier, but I wasn’t sure it was her.”
“Yeah, it was Jaz. Seemed to be out thirsty for the night. Not too happy with me when I told her I was taken.” Orion shrugged off any mention of the girl with a kiss to the back of Mercury’s shoulder. He was taken, and happy to be so.
“Well, knowing her, she’s interested in making you jealous right about now.” Carl rubbed his hands together and got up from the couch, stepping clear over the low table in front of them to get back out toward the dancing. “And who better to help out with that than your best friend, right?”
Orion rolled his eyes. “You’re a twisted fucker, you know that?”
“I do. But it still means a lot to hear you say it.” Carl clasped a hand over his heart to treasure the compliment, then turned his grin on Mercury. “It was nice to meet you, Doctor. I’ll see you again soon, I’m sure. Take good care of my brother.”
Mercury was quiet after Carl left, then she turned on Orion’s lap so that she could face him. It turned more into a straddle, but since she wasn’t doing it to intentionally entice him, she hardly noticed. “I was worried you went off with someone else. I’m sorry I doubted you.”
“I’ve got history. Nothing to be sorry about. But nothing to be worried about either. I’m not going anywhere.” He smiled and reached over to the table to grab her shot. “Mercury, this is Tequila. Tequila, meet Mercury. Oh look, Tequila has a twin!”
Why had she never laughed so much before in her life? Had she lived around unfunny people, or was there something about Orion? She didn’t have enough data yet to draw a conclusion, but as she tried new drinks and new dance moves in the packed club, she became more and more convinced that fun was a symptom of being around Orion. Laughter was a rule of his existence, and if he had his way, no one would ever live without it.
The dancing of the evening gave them more opportunities for the ongoing inquisition they had been conducting on each other since they met. Insatiable curiosity seemed to be one of many insatiable aspects they had in common. “You are quite the anomaly.” Mercury said at one point, in the middle of the dance floor. “Did your parents decide your genetics? Or do these tall genes run in your family?” She leaned in and kissed his cheek lightly. “We would have some very tall children together.”
“I don’t think our genes leave us much choice.” He reached up a hand to caress her cheek, and he could feel a slight flush to them both from the heat of the club and the alcohol already having an effect on her. So much for an Irish predisposition toward strong liquor. “My brother wasn’t modified, but they did me when I came along, and they did Khadi a few years later when she came around. The way they tell it, they went in to see the geneticist, went through the usual options, and they were told the only way to get the results they wanted was for us to end up freakishly tall. So here I am, free of fatal congenitals and still growing about three centimeters a year.”
Mercury laughed only loud enough for him to hear her, and glanced down before she kissed him again. “It’s not that odd. Some men, rarely, continue to grow until age twenty-five.”
He had to shift on account of the way she kept squirming on top of him. “Only you could be giggly and informative at the same time.”
“I’m mostly concerned about being informative.” She moved her kisses to his lips, but when she could feel he was getting hard again, she heard someone clear their throat loudly behind her, followed by a low, rich, feminine voice.
“Yup, that’s my brother. Mauling someone in a club, no regard for the public gag reflex.”
Mercury was taken aback by the statuesque woman who had spoken. There was a dark caramel cast to her skin, crowned with dark hair and Orion’s blue eyes. The woman was lean, but she knew how to dress to accentuate what she had. “Oh, hello. You must be Khadi?”
Orion sighed as he leaned back into the couch again to glare up at his sister. “She must be. She’s the only person I know who’s capable of killing a buzz that fast.” He cocked his head to one side at Khadi and motioned to the couch cushion next to him. “I didn’t have a chance to get a drink for you yet. I thought you said you’d be late?”
She gave a dramatic sigh before she sat down. “I thought Drake would come with me, but then we got into another fight and I told him to go fuck himself and came alone. He makes me crazy.”
“No crazier than you drive him.” He shook his head at his sister’s constant fighting with her match. “Should I even ask what you’re fighting about this time, or is it just another prelude to make-up sex?”
“He wants us to move to a different station after what happened on Nine and with you leaving. He thinks there are ‘shady characters’ everywhere here.” She growled and and leaned her head back. “My career is here. I don’t want to leave. Whatever. I’ll dance with some ‘shady characters’ and show him.”
“Only thing that’s gonna show him is that you can dance, and the only thing it’s gonna show you is that everybody is more shady than Drake.” Orion chuckled at the thought of his sister’s match. He was probably a little too good a man for Khadi, but he wasn’t much for pragmatism. It wasn’t the first time he’d gotten nervous about the possible safety of Three.
Mercury kept quiet during their entire exchange, not wanting to interject her opinion when she had barely met the woman. From the conversation that followed, Mercury discovered that Drake wanted to move with Khadi to a data processing station with only a few hundred people on it and no night life. Khadi was obviously less than enthusiastic about the idea.
Eventually Mercury decided to say something. “You know, studies show that a relationship is much more likely to succeed if a couple learns how to have effective discussion and to make compromises. Maybe you could convince him to find another station that would allow you to work or commute but isn’t as large as this one?”
