Chapter 21 #2
The sibling-like bickering went on long enough for Davik to finish his second mug to the dregs.
He was about to get his refill when he saw Fia stepping over the threshold into the mess hall.
She still had a sleepy haze in her eyes, but she looked stunning.
An ethereal creature plucked from the stars. Almost literally.
Like an icy comet. Beautiful, distant, and fleeting.
“Morning, Fia,” he said, feeling a bit of warmth creep into his cheeks.
“Good morning,” she replied. “Oh, a new crewmate?” She walked over to offer a hand to Drey.
Drey took her hand and gave it a hesitant shake. “I’m Drey, and who might you be?”
“I am Fia,” she replied with a dip of the head.
“Huh, Davik didn’t mention he was fucking a fish.”
Every drop of blood that had been rushing to his face fled into the pit of his stomach.
Christ, Drey…
“Oh,” Fia said, her face splitting into a wry smile. “You are that Drey. Your reputation precedes you.” She turned to walk towards the scullery, pausing as she passed Davik. “Also, he has not fucked this fish. If he had, he would not be walking.”
Davik’s mind swam to an image of her straddling his lap, one he had cultivated in his mind so often that he could draw it from memory. But she didn’t linger long enough for him to ruminate on that visual. She continued towards the scullery as Carissa snorted a laugh into her coffee.
“You’re an asshole, Drey,” Davik grunted.
“What?” he retorted before he slumped back in his chair. “Sorry, I didn’t use the proper taxonomical phrasing. What do you want from me?”
Carissa seemed amused by the banter. Usually, she mediated Drey’s nonsense, but she was enjoying the show.
“I want you to apologize, or fuck off. Ideally, both,” Davik said, leveling a finger at him accusingly. “You think that your demeaning bully shtick is cute? She’s actually been here, working, helping us to get Marius back. What high horse do you have to sneer down from?”
“Carissa knows what a high horse I have, you little shit,” he growled, jutting back his own accusatory finger.
“I had to deliver my best friend’s ashes back to his widow because of those feral bastards on the Rim.
” His shadow fell over Davik as he rose to hover over the table.
“So, pardon me if I don’t have flowery words for your girl.
I don’t work with her kind, and I sure as shit don’t condone sticking your dick in one. ”
The girl in question poked her head out from the scullery. “I thought we had established that he has not had the pleasure of that. Though if you are so curious—”
Davik didn’t know if he should chuckle. Drey looked equally conflicted, caught halfway between a laugh and a snarl.
“Look, see, you’re taking more offense than she did!” Drey said, settling into joviality rather than rage.
Fia rejoined them at the table, a cup of tea steaming in her hands.
“Oh, no, you are mistaken.” She took a measured sip before she sat down next to Davik. “Your attitude is offensive, but you are not worth reasoning with. This is also not my ship, so I do not have the authority to enact bodily harm.”
“Ooh, snarky. And off the collar, too.” Drey gestured at Fia, patting his neck. “I see Davik has a thing for feral and illegal wildlife.”
This time, Drey did not deflect the kick from Carissa that knocked his chair out from under him. He barely caught himself before his face slammed into the table.
“Say sorry, Drey,” Carissa said, her tone like that of someone calmly correcting a child. “I swear to gods above and far, far below, you pick the stupidest hills to die on.”
Drey grunted and righted himself back in his seat. “It’s not a stupid hill to die on, and actual people died on that hill,” he seethed through gritted teeth.
“Do you hold the same contempt for humankind as well, Drey?” Fia asked, slowly swirling her mug. “The fighting on the Rim is not just fish versus men. Sol slaughters the fleshy ones like you out there, all the same.”
“Yeah, well, the humans out there chose their fate. They picked the wrong side. And they don’t have the excuse that they got brainwashed into some berserker rage to protect their fucking hives like yours do.”
Davik opened his mouth to hurl Drey’s own dirty laundry back at him, but stopped as he felt Fia’s hand find his shoulder. Her palm was warm from the mug, and her fingers squeezed softly, quieting him.
“That’s not an apology, Drey,” Carissa corrected. “I was on that tour of the Rim, same as you. That’s a piss-poor excuse for being an ass. Shut up and talk nice, or I’m jettisoning your shuttle with you in it.”
Drey leaned back in his chair and took a sharp breath. “I’m sorry for causing a scene.”
“That’s not—” Davik protested, but he felt Fia’s fingers tighten on his shoulder.
“Close enough,” Fia murmured. “It was an interesting experience meeting you, Drey.” She rose from her seat, and Davik suppressed the urge to ogle the curves that were now dangerously near his eye level.
“I am going to work on the data in the buffers. Carissa, can you ping me when he has disembarked?”
She nodded in recognition as Fia turned to leave, and Davik downed the last of his coffee. Once she was out of earshot, he locked his eyes on Drey.
“Get your shit together, man. This is low, even for you.”
“What do you expect me to do, play nice-nice with ‘em? One of their zonked-out drones took my fucking eyes, Dav. Took a year for me to adapt to these synthetics, and now I get to be on maximum dose neurological augmeds for the rest of my goddamn life. And you want me to do what? Pretend like it didn’t happen?”
“No, you idiot,” Carissa snarled. “You do the bare minimum and shut your mouth if you can’t cage every insipid thought that comes to mind. We’ve worked with Icthians before, and you weren’t this much of a brutal dick about it. What crawled up your ass today?”
Drey breathed slowly, his furious expression fading into soft dejection.
“I’m … between docs. Still recovering from the latest aug fitting.
Can’t sleep. Been out of psych meds for a few weeks, and it’s,” he paused, taking a deep breath before continuing.
“I just saw her, and it hit a nerve. I’m sorry, C. ”
Davik breathed his conflicted sigh of relief. Drey always had an issue with occasional outbursts, sometimes even violent flashbacks, but Marius had always been around to reel him back in. At least this incident resulted in him being an irate dick rather than flinging fists.
“Oh, look. You remembered how to apologize,” Davik muttered, rising to his feet. “Carissa, can you copy me on that ping when he leaves? I’ve got maintenance to do. Let me know when he’s out of here.”
Before he left the room, he felt Drey’s hand tighten around his upper arm. He whirled around to find himself scooped into an inescapable embrace, the colossal augment-riddled frame of the man trembling.
“I’m just losing it, kiddo. I’m … I’m fuckin’ sorry. I’m sorry for everything.”
The squeeze around his chest was strong enough that Davik felt the air wheeze out of his lungs. But he returned the gesture, as best he could.
“I know, Drey. Just get it together. Please. For us.”