Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Candy
Once they were outside the restaurant, all previous discomfort had flown completely out the window.
“It’s so cute out here,” she said, reaching her hand out and splaying her fingers.
It felt like a late summer day in New York, minus the ever-present piss smell and streets littered with trash.
Veterok-III’s atmosphere closely resembled Earth’s, but the air was crisper, cleaner.
Warmer. The courtyard was pristinely clean, dotted with droids picking up whatever trash they happened upon.
Never in Candy’s life did she think she’d be happy to see astroturf, but right now, all she wanted to do was roll around in it.
They fell into step beside each other, Candy having to take slightly longer strides to keep up with Votra. Droids in the shape of birds flitted around them, letting out mechanical chirps that absolutely delighted Candy.
The stretch of concrete pathway that led away from the restaurant opened up to a swath of astroturf cut away from the concrete.
Above it in the air was a screen, a movie Candy didn’t recognize playing across it.
The sound from it was quiet, subtitles in Universal rolling across the bottom of the screen.
“You are never going to believe this,” Votra said, eyes glued to the screen. “This is Outlaw Koran.”
Excitement bubbled in Candy’s chest. “Let’s watch it!” She pulled her arm from Votra’s and bounded onto the green, spreading her arms and letting the warm sun kiss her skin. The homesickness got easier over time, but this was the happiest she’d been in a while.
Votra caught up to her, sloughing the jacket from her arms. And honestly, Candy couldn’t bring herself to pretend not to stare.
Candy was no stranger to Votra’s bare arms by now, but it wasn’t often that she got to see them in broad daylight.
Votra's top didn't reveal her chest like most of her shirts did, but it did put on display long, prominent veins that branched up the length of her arms. Candy wanted to trail her fingers along them. Or her tongue.
“Is this alright?” Votra asked, stopping at a spot far enough from the other filmgoers to give them some privacy but not so far that the screen was hard to see.
“Perfect,” Candy said. Votra passed the food containers to Candy and laid her jacket across the prickly plastic grass.
“Here, sit on this. I am sure this type of terrain will be uncomfortable against your legs.”
Candy’s heart sped up as she sat. This felt so… romantic. She immediately pushed the thought away and sat. Votra was right–the jacket was much better on her legs than the grass would have been. “Thank you,” she said sweetly. Votra settled next to her, her arm lightly brushing against Candy’s.
Eating was the last thing on her mind as Votra handed her food over. The bluefish smelled incredible. Candy allowed herself to lean on Votra a little as she adjusted herself carefully so as not to let her thighs touch.
Votra’s eyes were trained on the screen in front of them, reflections of the movie dancing across her dark irises.
She wondered what little Votra had been like, sitting on the floor of her living room, excitement dancing in her eyes as she watched this movie–to Candy’s delight, Koran was just as hot as she imagined her.
Votra watched Candy as she took her first bite of bluefish. “What do you think?” she asked, gesturing to it with a nod of her head.
Candy took a careful bite, still a little afraid of it after what it had done to her legs, and warm spices exploded across her tongue. It almost reminded her of Indian food from back home–creamy, spicy, rich. Some sort of pearled grain sat beneath the soupy chunks of… vegetable?
Whatever it was, she was in love with it. “That’s fucking amazing, oh my God.”
“I am glad you like it. I was a bit concerned at first–the flavor profiles of Medran food are quite different than Earth food, so I was not sure how much you would like it.”
Candy’s eyebrows crept up. “What do you know about Earth food?”
“I know that there are many different types.
Among the planets out here, the food is generally quite uniform–Medran food is typically briny, medicinal, healthy.
Daocurian food is always spicy. And food from Alqen is entirely vegetable based, with a lot of bitter elements.
But on Earth, you have so many different kinds of flavors.
“And then cake. Cake is the thing that I want to try the most. So many of the Earth novels I have read mention cake and always make it sound so good. It is a celebration dish, correct?”
God, Votra was cute. “Sometimes.” Candy’s food was forgotten in her lap in favor of just… listening. She could listen to Votra talk all day. “Not all Earth food is sweet, y’know.”
“I know. I would especially like to try Indian cuisine one day. It sounds the most like the food we have on Alqen–very vegetable-based, with a few staple sauces that we use on most dishes.” Votra shoved a bite of food into her mouth, and Candy already missed her voice.
“Maybe I’ll take you to try it one day,” Candy said. “And then we can have cake afterwards.”
“That sounds like a plan.” Votra returned her attention to the screen just as Koran and Calypso shared an intense, passionate kiss. Damn, maybe she did want to watch this movie. “What is living on Earth like?”
Candy mulled over the question, popping a forkful of food into her mouth.
“Earth is honestly pretty different, depending on what part you grew up on. My part of Earth is pretty wealthy, in the grand scheme of things. If you don’t consider all the debt.
” She snorted. “I grew up in a big city.
My dad stayed at home with me and my sister when she was born, and my mom worked.
A lot. But she was always around when she could be.
“And then there’s my Uncle Lochlan. He was around just as much as my parents were.
I think it pisses my mom off, how alike we are.
” She pushed a piece of fish around in its container, fighting back the homesickness rising in her chest. “I’m really lucky.
I’ve always been surrounded by love, and my parents worked hard to get to where they were.
My uncle put my mom through college, and I know he worked his ass off to do it.
And thanks to what he did, my mom was able to put me through college, too.
” Her attempts to hold back her tears proved futile, and she brushed them away as they fell.
“Sorry. You weren’t even asking about them.
Earth is my home, but when I think about Earth, they’re what I think about. ”
“It must be nice, growing up so surrounded by love,” Votra said. Half of her food was gone already. “Your family sounds wonderful.”
“They are,” Candy said. “Do you have any other siblings, or is it just Qaed?”
“I have another sibling. Vendi. He is three years younger than me and he could not be less like me.” Her gaze on the screen was unfocused, but less stony at the mention of Vendi. “He is a force of nature, to say the very least. Perhaps you would like him. He is a bounty hunter.”
“Oh, a bounty hunter and he looks like you? Can you give me his comm info?” Candy teased, and Votra nudged her with her shoulder.
“She reminds me a lot of you.”
Candy cringed. That wasn’t a good thing. She didn’t want to remind Votra of her sibling, of all people. “In what way?” she asked, almost afraid of the answer.
“She is extremely hard headed,” Votra said, earning a playful smack from Candy. “She has been through a lot in her life. But somehow, she believes in the good of all people, just like you. I wish I had inherited that trait from her.”
“I think it’s just because I was raised by people who never gave me a reason to think people could be bad,” Candy said. “People are good, Votra. Maybe not all of them, but a lot of them. You just have to believe in the ones that prove their goodness to you.”
Something Candy couldn’t place flashed across Votra’s face.
“I have spent a lot of my life around people who have given me no reason to believe in inherent good,” she said quietly.
She turned to face Candy, her eyes curving into crescents as she smiled.
“But I suppose I have met some recently that might change my mind.”
All Candy wanted to do was kiss her. But for some reason, she felt like she shouldn’t.
This had been so easy up until now. Working, with the occasional break for sex. For all Candy knew, she’d passed the threshold of contract-breaking sex and they were about to go back to a life of all work, no play.
“Um, I think I’m gonna throw the rest of this away. Are you done?” Candy asked, rising from her spot on the grass. Shit, that hurt.
Votra blinked up at her. “Oh, yes. I am. Thank you,” she said, passing her container to Candy.
When she returned to Votra, Votra was standing, dusting off her legs. “I guess we should get back to work, huh?” Candy said.
“Yes, I think we should.” Votra went to retrieve her jacket from the ground, but Candy dove for it at the same time. Their hands brushed, sending a jolt through Candy’s body.
God, she was fucked. Her gaze froze on Votra for a moment, but Votra was the first to pull away. She allowed Candy to pick up the jacket, taking it from her when she offered it. “Sorry. I hope it’s not too dirty.”
Votra smiled, folding it into the crook of her arm. “It is fine,” she said, squinting her eyes against the artificial sun. Sometimes, Votra looked so… cat-like. It was way cuter than it needed to be. “Are you certain you can work like this? You must be in pain.”
The throbbing pain in her thighs had taken a backseat to the swirl of much more pressing feelings coursing through her. Like the fact that she was weirdly turned on right now.
“Nah, I’m good,” Candy said with a dismissive flick of her wrist. “Let’s go.”
They crossed the field and returned to the pavement, Candy struggling to keep up with Votra. “Your legs are long. You have to slow down,” she said, hooking her hand around Votra’s forearm to force her into the same pace.
Votra laughed, her steps slowing. “Of course, my apologies,” she said. Damn Votra and her charming, gentlemanly way of talking. It never failed to make Candy’s stomach feel like a pool of goo.
They returned to the restaurant’s shuttle bay, much emptier now that lunch time was over. Votra’s shuttle was one of only a handful in the entire bay. Candy supposed she should feel guilty that they’d wasted so much of their day out, but she couldn’t bring herself to.
“I had a good time,” Candy said after a beat of silence. “I know I said it already but… thank you for–”
Votra silenced her with her lips, and the kiss was softer than any of their kisses before, as if Votra was afraid she was going to break her. Candy felt as if she might melt into a puddle if Votra didn’t hold her.
As if reading her mind, Votra’s arms slid around Candy’s waist and pulled her close. And Candy let her.