by Melissa Good
“Like what you did in the carrier, evading the bad guys.”
“Yes.”
“I’d say that’s a damn good thing,” Jess said. She moved along the wall, bumping Dev a little until they were shallow enough for her to stand. “Thanks for indulging me in being an antisocial sourpuss.”
That made Dev smile. “The party was okay. But I think it is going to take me a while to get used to things like that. When we had them in the crèche, there weren’t any drinks involved and no...uh...dancing.”
“Probably why they didn’t call it a party.”
“Yes, that’s true. It was always called a gather, or a gathering. We did get treats sometimes though. Candy balls, or a bit of cake.”
“You like that stuff.”
Dev nodded, visibly more cheerful. “They told us it wasn’t good for us, but yes, I do,” she said. “I think you do too.”
Jess licked her lips. “The whole tray of brownies clue you in to that?” She laughed. “I’ll probably be sick tomorrow from it but I don’t care. It was worth it.” She paused. “Another one of my faults. I live for the moment.” Her eyes went to Dev’s face, watching the subtle tension relax.
Ah. That made her feel better. “I think the kids took to you all right,” she said. “Better than I thought.”
“I don’t think they made up their minds yet,” Dev said. “They seemed to want to be friendly though.”
“They did,” Jess said. “Jason was right. I pissed off half the room and at least didn’t alienate the other half.” She turned and leaned against the wall, stretching her shoulder out. “But at least they got to meet you and interact before some of the other assholes got to them over breakfast.”
Dev leaned her back against the wall and folded her arms over her chest. “I don’t think Jason was in the part that wanted to kill you, by the way,” she said.
Jess half turned and regarded her. “No, and you either apparently.”
Dev hesitated, then turned her head and met Jess’s eyes, a very faint smile appearing on her face. “You didn’t really think I would be, did you?”
“No.” Jess managed a small smile of her own. “I’m not the most social person out there but I didn’t figure you hated me.”
“I don’t,” Dev said. “I like you very much.” She paused and thought. “I did wonder, though, what it would be like to kiss you.”
Jess blinked. “You did?”
“Yes.”
Live in the moment, isn’t that what she said she did? Jess didn’t stop to think, even for a second. “Okay.” She turned and leaned over, tilting her head slightly to one side and kissing Dev on the lips, completely unprepared for the jolt in her guts and the instant and powerfully sensual wash that sent tingles to every inch of her body.
She meant it to only last a second, but it went on longer than that, until a door slammed in the distance. She drew back to find Dev staring at her, eyes round and astonished. “Uh.” Jess croaked out, then fell silent
“That,” Dev finally said, on an unsteady breath. “Was not at all what I expected.”
Jess was finding it a little hard to catch her own breath. “Me either.” She eventually muttered. “What in the hell did I just do?”
“Well if you don’t know, I definitely don’t.” Dev muffled a short laugh. “But wow did that ever surprise me.”
Jess folded her arms over her chest and rested her head back against the wall, feeling the unsteady race of her heartbeat thundering in her ears. “Yeah.”
They looked at each other. Another door slammed in the distance and Jess looked up, and then back at Dev. “Not sure what’s going on. Maybe we should get out.”
“Okay,” Dev said. “Maybe we should.”
They were both silent for a moment more, then Jess started laughing, shaking her head and plowing through the water toward the steps. Dev let herself sink down into the water and swam after her, using the casual motion to give her time to stop...shaking? Her body felt very, very strange.
DEV CLOSED HER locker, aware of Jess’s closing presence behind her. She turned just as she arrived and smiled. “That was nice.” She said.
“It was,” Jess said. “C’mon back to my place. We’ll share a cup of mead.”
Dev nodded, happy to deposit her damp towel into the dispenser with Jess’s and follow along. She found herself still thinking about the kissing thing. That had been—very—interesting. She hadn’t expected it to feel like it had and if she concentrated she could still sort of feel how it felt on her lips.
“Dev?”
“Huh?” Dev jerked a little, looking up to find Jess looking at her in bemusement. “Um...sorry.”
“You okay?”
Was she? Dev wasn’t entirely sure what she was at the moment. “I think so,” she said. “Maybe I’m just a little tired. That was a long session in the gym today.”
“Yeah, it was,” Jess said. “Reminded me again of how little time I’ve been spending in there lately.” She rubbed her bare arms with her hands. “Too much time spent in med instead.”
“Is your back all right?” Dev asked.
“Yeah. It’s okay.” Jess twisted her body cautiously. “Just out of condition a little. Wish they had a pill or an instant program for that, I’ll tell ya.”
Dev smiled. “Me too. It’s a lot of hard work.” She looked around at the empty halls. “Is the party still going on?”
Jess had been watching the ground as she walked. “Huh?” She cocked her head. “Oh. Yeah. Right. The party.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “I don’t care. Maybe. You want to go back to it?” She looked at Dev who was shaking her head side to side definitively. “Right. I should check met, I guess. See when that window’s going to happen. How’s the carrier?”
Dev blinked at the onslaught of rambling details. “Ah.” She sorted through them. “We did some very good work today and Clint was going to finish the engines tonight. I think it will be ready tomorrow at some time.”
“Great.” They reached Jess’s quarters and she scanned in and they walked inside. Jess halted after a few steps and stood still, her eyes sweeping the room. “Hold it.”
Dev stopped and waited.
After a minute, Jess relaxed. “Ah. They just brought the jackets back.” She pointed at the chair, where two sets of them were draped. She walked over to them and lifted hers, then handed Dev the other one. “Might as well get out of your monkey suit.”
Dev looked at the jacket, then at her.
“Just another saying.” Jess tossed her jacket back over the chair back, stepping over to where Dev was standing and reaching out to gently ruffle her hair. “You don’t look like a monkey,” she said. “Go on and change and then we’ll sit down and have a glass of mead together.”
She watched Dev smile, then turn and walk over to the door, pausing to let it open and then going through, noting consciously the clean lines of Dev’s body and how well proportioned she was. Then she took in a breath and released it, going over to her uniform cabinet and opening it.
Jess put the jacket away and unsealed the catches on her sleeveless jumpsuit, peeling it off her body and setting it onto its holder. Then she paused and regarded her reflection in the mirror mounted in the back of the cabinet, scowling a little at what she saw.
That made her frown, and shake her head. She grabbed a set of shorts and a tank and put them on. What the hell did she care what she looked like? It mattered only in the field sometimes, and then she had her clothes on and looked all right.
Outsiders didn’t see the scars. Hell, most insiders never saw them.
She went to the sanitary unit and ran a brush through her hair, which was almost dry after her swim. She met the somber regard of her own eyes in the smaller mirror, her thoughts going back to the pool.
Going back to that kiss.
Damn she’d enjoyed that. Jess stared at her reflection. She closed her eyes as she felt the sensation again, the faint, surprised reaction from Dev, and then,
unmistakably, her response. Hard to say really which one of them was more freaked out.
Might have been her. Dev seemed surprised and interested, but that was all. Did bio alts kiss up on station? Or anywhere? Jess was a little bemused to find herself very much wondering about that. Did she want to kiss Dev again?
Hm.
Did Dev want to kiss her again? Probably not. She probably was sitting down in her workspace right now and keying it up on her pad to find out what it all was about.
With a sigh, she turned and went back into her main area, just as the inner door opened and Dev came in, holding a box. “What’s that?”
“I was kind of hoping you’d tell me.” Dev came over and set the box down. She was also in shorts and a tank, and barefoot. “I found it in my space.”
Jess examined it thoughtfully. ”It’s one of the boxes our nav modules come in,” she said. “I’m guessing no one sent you a nav module.” She gently opened the box, tipping the top back and exposing the contents. She and Dev peered inside, almost bumping their heads together.
For a moment they regarded the contents in mutual silence. Then Jess reached in and picked up a sample, bringing it out and into the light. “Ah.”
“What are those?” Dev asked.
“Seashells,” Jess said. She handed over the specimen, an oblong item with a tan and orange pattern on it. “I think you have an admirer.” She wasn’t sure if she should be amused or pissed off. To have someone send this sort of crap to an ops tech—
“This is interesting.” Dev was turning the shell over in her fingers. “What does it mean?”
Well, most techs were men. Jess eyed her new partner. Most of them weren’t charming young women. “It means someone likes you, and sent you that because they thought you would like it, and by extension like them. It’s a present.”
Dev’s brow creased. She tilted her head and looked at Jess, visibly confused.
Jess went to her small cabinet and took the mead and glasses out. She crooked a finger at Dev and then went to the steps up to her relaxation area, climbing up them and entering the quiet space.
Dev followed her, carrying the box.
Jess filled the glasses and put the bottle down on the small, low table, then sat down on the comfortable couch and waited for Dev to join her before she handed over her glass. “Here.”
“Thank you.” Dev leaned back and seemed to relax. “Could you explain this present thing?” She indicated the box. “I don’t really understand it.”
Jess took a long swallow of her mead, and let it slide down her throat. “Well,” she said. “Um...” She looked sideways at Dev. “What do bio alts do when they like someone?”
Dev had to really think about that, so she took her time and did. What was Jess actually asking her? She cast her mind back over her life in the crèche, and tried to imagine just giving something to someone to make them like her. Would she do that? Had she? “What exactly do you mean by like?” She finally asked.
Jess’s lips twitched. “Didn’t you have any friends up there? People you hung out with? That you wanted to do something for, just because?”
Dev stared into the glass she was holding between her hands, her eyes a little unfocused. Then she took a sip. “I don’t think I did,” she said, after a long pause. “I had daymeal sometimes with Gigi. We talked about things but I never wanted to do anything for her except maybe hold the disposal door open when she had to put her tray in.”
“That’s not really what I meant.”
“No I didn’t think so,” Dev said. “Oh, wait. Is it like when I was in the mess this morning, and saw all the people? I thought about how you wouldn’t like it so I thought it would be nice if I brought you something?”
“Well...” Jess made a face. “Sort of.”
“Is it like this?” Dev held up her glass. “You do nice things for me.” She looked up at Jess, with a serious expression. “Do you do that because you like me?”
It was almost a disruptive honesty. Jess bit her tongue as she had the oddest sensation of momentarily losing control over her body, and quite possibly her mind at the same time. “I...um.” She felt warmth come over her and realized she was blushing.
What the hell? “Sure. I mean, yes.” She regained control over her ability to communicate somewhat. “I think you’re...um.” Jess found those curious and interested green eyes studying her. “Hey you’re my partner. I’m supposed to do stuff for you.”
Dev studied her glass again, a faint, wistful smile appearing on her face. “Oh,” she murmured. “Well, I’m glad about that. But I was sort of hoping maybe you were being nice just because.” She took a sip, holding the snifter between her hands. “That would be an interesting thing to experience.”
Jess was caught flatfooted again. She had no idea what to say to that, or what to do about the sort of forlorn expression on Dev’s face. It made her stop and think again. “I’m...um...not really...” She paused. “I w...want to be nice to you.” She stuttered a bit. “I don’t have to be. I don’t want you to think I do things because I...” She let the words trail off, not really sure what she was trying to say.
“Because you want me to like you?” Dev offered, softly. “You don’t have to. I do like you. I like you just because, and it made me feel good to bring you stuff from the mess. So I think I get that now.”
“Oh.” Jess felt intense relief. “Good.”
“But it really doesn’t explain this.” Dev put the glass down, and picked up the box of shells. “Why would someone send these to me? I don’t know anyone else here but you.”
“Oh.” Jess set her glass down next to Dev’s and took the box. “I think Clint sent these to you,” she said. “I think he wants to get to know you better.”
“Ah.”
Jess was very glad they’d jumped subjects. “Back in the day, when someone was interested in someone else, and wanted to get to know them better, they sent them a nice present. Usually flowers.”
“We had those at the crèche,” Dev said. “But no one was allowed to send them to anyone.”
“These are the new flowers.” Jess held up the shell. “So Clint’s saying he’s interested in getting to know you.”
Dev leaned back on the couch and folded her hands in her lap, regarding her companion thoughtfully. “Wouldn’t it be more productive for him just to ask me?”
Jess shrugged. “Do you want him to?”
“No.”
“Oh.” Jess put the box down.
“I think he’s pleasant and funny, but I don’t want to get to know him any better,” Dev said. “I enjoy working with him, but I don’t think I would enjoy doing this with him.” She picked up her glass and drank from it. “So what do you think I should do about these...” She picked up one of the shells and examined it curiously. “...things?”
“I’ll take care of it,” Jess said, in a quiet tone. “Don’t worry about it, Dev.”
“Thanks.” Dev smiled at her. “That’s very nice of you.”
Jess found herself smiling back. She picked her glass up and looked at it. “Do you like doing this?” She indicated it.
“I like spending time with you,” Dev said. “You make me feel human.”
Disruptive honesty. Jess felt her jaw drop a little, as she tried to process that with sufficient intent to come up with a response that was other than a splutter. She looked at Dev, feeling just a little short of breath, feeling her eyes blink repeatedly.
“Are you all right?” Dev asked, after a long moment. “You seem to be in some discomfort. Was that incorrect for me to say?”
“No.” Jess put her glass down and reached over to put her hand on Dev’s shoulder. “I think it was a huge damn compliment. Probably more than you know.” She felt the weird tension she’d been feeling relax and she smiled. “You make me feel human, too.”
Dev studied her for a minute, then smiled back.
“So.” Jess released her, and leaned back. “Let’s find something less weird
to talk about.”
“Okay. Could you tell me about this mission thing?” Dev amiably went with the subject change. “Where are we going? What’s it going to be like?”
Jess picked up a control on the table and pointed it at a screen embedded in the wall. “Lemme show ya,” she said. “I don’t usually ask people up here to see my etchings, y’know.”
“Oh. Well, thanks.” Dev slid a little closer, as the screen lit. “Thats very nice of you.”
“When you see how bad I etch, you’ll change your mind.”
“What exactly is an etching?”
DEV HADN’T CHANGED her mind. She had completely enjoyed seeing Jess’s sketches of the places they would be going, and even more, she’d enjoyed hearing Jess talk about them.
Now she was in her bed, curled up under the covers and in a state of almost profound bemusement. She felt strange, and warm, and like she wanted to giggle. She really didn’t know why, except that she was having a hard time thinking of anything except Jess.
Well, she supposed that was natural. A lot of things had happened to them today, from their rough and ready meal in the morning, to the ceremony, to the party, to swimming to...well, the whole kissing thing, and then the mead and all that.
Tomorrow night they would finally go on their mission. Jess had told her they would spend several days on it, and might even have to sleep in the carrier while it was going on.
She found that thought very interesting.
Jess had also told her they would pass through at least one of the big strongholds where many people lived, and get a chance to see what that was like, and then go to a very remote place where she would meet with the fishermen she wanted to travel to the bad guys with.
It all sounded good. The mission itself, and the danger she thought Jess was trying to make small, still worried her a lot. But the parts around it were getting her excited, and she had to admit she was looking forward to getting in the carrier and going off to do it.
