Chapter 4 – A Rose by Any Other Name
I'd been deep under when a gentle jostling at my shoulder woke me up.
I blinked blearily, scrubbing my face hard with my palm.
"We're here," Araxis said. The lights in the cabin were as dim as before, the faintest pink that painted him in gorgeous soft tones, and it took me a moment to wrench my stare away from his eyes and his skin and the gleam of gold in his crest, and to instead look at the ship waiting outside.
It was small, and kind of beat to shit.
"Thanks," I yawned, slowly shifting my weight.
"I can't believe I didn't even wake up when we cast off.
" God, when was the last time I had slept so much?
Humans needed more sleep than lots of other species, so I'd always been running on a deficit at the den to try and keep my credit balance in the positive.
My head was swimming with the sudden surplus, and I was warm and toasty.
I shifted, and Araxis's jacket slid down from around my shoulders, still smelling of smoke and spice.
I shrugged out from underneath it, carefully folding it in my lap as the shuttle nudged closer to the ship.
"Our ship is cold as well," Araxis said next to me, looking away as he calculated the approach to the airlock on the screen. "Not quite as cold as the shuttle but… you can keep the jacket. If you'd like."
I squinted at him in the dim pink light, trying to parse out exactly what he was doing. Was this just being nice, or was this an overture?
"That's kind of you," I said, and from the way the familiar silver flush darkened his skin – visible even in the pink hues of the cabin – I wondered if he got gratitude very often. Or compliments. "You're a good pilot. Last time I flew I felt awful afterwards. Thanks for taking care of everything."
The lights overhead slowly brightened as the shuttle pulled up to the airlock jutting from the ship's body, which was a gleaming silver oblong that looked a bit tarnished and scuffed, like it had been hidden along too many rough asteroids in less than ideal conditions.
Had the scientist on board – Evreni, I knew from my notes – been studying some obscure microorganism like Araxis had said, or did Creche Thiel make a habit of hiding away to avoid whoever it was Araxis had been determined to steer clear of?
Maybe they had debts of their own or, I don't know, conflict with other creches.
In that case, it really was generous to bring a stranger to their creche ship.
So I added, for good measure, "You really have no idea how much your help means to me. I was in a tough situation, and I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't saved the day. I'll be a good passenger, I promise."
As the pink overhead continued shifted to white, I glanced over at Araxis, who was blushing pink again – he definitely didn't get complimented enough – and that might have been my new favourite thing.
Which was the kind of thought that bore saying aloud.
"You know," I said, watching him out of the corner of my eye, "You're cute when you blush.
And I'm definitely keeping the jacket: it's pretty clear you've got better fashion sense than me.
I could use the help." I gestured self-deprecatingly at my orange sweater.
He exhaled, short and sharp, and twisted to look at me as the shuttle shook from the docking clamps that locked it into place.
His eyes were narrowed with seriousness, but there was a pleased curl to his lips, and the blush was still gleaming along the faint texture of his skin.
"I am not being selfless," Araxis said. "I hope you might part with one of your singular sweaters.
I have never seen anything quite so… loud. "
"Just like me," I said, stretching in the seat as the airlock outside pressurized, the ticking echoing even in here.
"Hm, yes," Araxis intoned. "Are you aware that you snore?"
I laughed and unclipped myself, standing and stretching more. The shuttle felt warmer than it had when we were in the middle of absolute nothingness. Although –
I looked at Araxis again and waved a hand in the general direction of the air (so basically, everywhere). "Is it just me or is it actually warm in here? Did you do that?"
If I thought I'd seen him blush before, now the pink edged its way toward red.
He scoffed, twisting and unclasping his harness and heading to the shuttle door.
"That would be an inefficient use of fuel," he said, although he shot me a pleased look over his shoulder as the door finally hissed open.
Araxis immediately launched into a quick monologue in abayan, the unfamiliar syllables melodic and rhythmic in a way that felt comforting, like a song in a language you've long since forgotten.
I stood and peeked around his shoulder to the waiting party – two abaya stood in the airlock, listening – before scooping up my bag and swords and folding Araxis's jacket over my arm.
"Sashen," said Araxis, stepping down from the shuttle and into the hallway so that I could take a good look at the two abaya who were waiting for us.
"This is Egnax." He gestured toward a tall abaya, her skin tinged with gray, her crest black and bound in a knot at the base of her neck; one arm was missing from the elbow down.
I knew, from the file Araxis had sent me, that she was the ship's engineer and, sure enough, a smudge of grease was swiped up the side of her neck, her baggy jumpsuit grimy and well-worn.
"And this is Evreni," he added, gesturing to the other abaya, although I knew her on sight as well. Short and stout, she had a long gray crest that was braided down to her waist; the skin around her wide-set eyes was feathered gently with lines.
"Sashen is a dancer from Yellow Fin," Araxis continued. "He will travel with us to the Thenat cluster."
Both abaya watched me rather placidly, quiet and thoughtful.
It's funny that I didn't seem to notice then that they weren't surprised to see me, or maybe I did notice and thought that Araxis had sent a message ahead.
Really, I think my head was too far up my own ass to take much in. And isn't that just a recurring theme?
"Hm." Evreni was the asteroid scientist or whatever, and when she narrowed her eyes at me, I suddenly felt like I belonged under a microscope or in one of those dish things.
Or whatever else scientists did. The point is, I felt inspected.
Her stare raked over me as I stood there, smiling my stupid and pretty smile.
"Thank you so much for having me," I said.
"I hope I don't get in the way. Let me know if –" I caught myself before saying, if you need a hand with anything because that seemed particularly insensitive.
"– if I can be of help in any way. I'm pretty good at getting into tight spaces.
" I glanced at Araxis, to see how I'd done.
But that was a mistake. I had meant that I was helpful at cleaning out behind ducted walls – Alet Trident had shoved me in a few nooks and crannies in the den for deep cleaning, since I had a pretty flexible spine from all the dancing and because humans tended to be squishier than a lot of other species – but as soon as I looked at Araxis, it became innuendo.
Araxis silvered and Evreni stiffened, before the scientist turned on her heel and headed out of the airlock in stony silence.
Whoops. "I used to help with the air filtration system at the den!" I insisted, feeling heat prickle at the back of my own neck. Weird. I was normally immune to embarrassment.
Next to Araxis, Egnax's craggy face – she was not what I'd describe as a pretty abaya – shifted into in a grin, revealing flashes of her sharp teeth.
A low trill rumbled from her throat. She glanced at Araxis and said something quick in abayan, and he flushed even more before she clapped her hand on his shoulder and added, in Standard, "I'll go put on tea, hm?
" She turned and vanished into the dim cargo hold.
I stepped down into the airlock, embarrassed by how embarrassed I was.
"If you would wait a moment," Araxis said, careful not to look at me.
"There are a few items on the shuttle to unload.
" He started hauling small boxes from the engine area, just a tiny wedge of space at the back of the shuttle, unclipping them from the cargo netting above and twisting to load them into my waiting arms.
"You know I really meant actual literal tight places," I said, suddenly too warm. "I fit inside air ducts! And behind water pipes!"
Araxis fluted out a breath, glancing at me from the side of his eye as he set a small barrel at the edge of the shuttle. "It is fine, Sashen."
But it wasn't. I really hadn't meant to put my foot in my mouth before I'd even stepped off of the shuttle. "It's not," I sighed. "I said I'd try not to be an idiot. Sorry I embarrassed you in front of your creche-mates."
Araxis picked up the last of the packages, closing the shuttle door; I followed him to the end of the airlock.
"I am not embarrassed," he said, wrenching the wheel on the airlock and tapping away at a keypad to start the depressurization process.
"Don't let Evreni make you feel badly. It is one of her worst habits, and you are our guest." He directed me to set down the packages that were teetering in my arms, and then he led me through Creche Thiel's ship.