Chapter 15 #2
“I mind the next day when I’m the one in a shirt far too hot for this planet.” I lifted mine up to wipe the sweat from my brow. Roys stared and I kept my shirt up longer than necessary because I liked the way he admired me.
“See something you like?” I teased.
His eyes gave their answer, but still he tried, “I’ve seen better.”
“Asshole.” I reached toward the jungle. One flora had flowers that were perfectly safe.
I plucked a handful to pinch the petals between my fingers.
I felt his attention as I brought the flower up to smell and then pressed against my cheeks.
Soft, tickling, smelling of lemon and something a little sweeter.
“You have a thing for plants or something?” he mocked.
“I’d argue anyone who says they don’t is lying. We’re meant to be in places like this.” I glanced toward the forest, grabbing more flowers when we passed. “Not cold, lifeless machines.”
“Never took you for the hippie type.”
“I am nothing if not surprising.” And I proved that further by twisting the stalks together, earning a peculiar look from him.
“To say the least.”
“You like it.”
He knocked his head to the side, grunting in a manner that one couldn’t fully interpret.
I chose to believe he agreed, although I wasn’t entirely sure how I would feel about that.
This agreement worked because we didn’t like each other.
It was kind of part of the appeal, and I chose to continue believing that hadn’t changed as we fell into a comfortable silence where I picked more flowers and weaved them to make a crown.
When I presented that crown to Roys, he laughed. “Try it on. It’ll suit you.”
“No, this is for you, oh mighty captain.” I sat it on his head before he could react, then took a picture with my commlink because he looked like an idiot standing there blinking with alien flowers on his head. “I will be sending this to the team.”
“Don’t,” he reached for my wrist too late. The message was sent. He sighed and let go while removing the crown to toss into my chest.
“Careful. I worked hard on that.” I sat the crown on my head since he didn’t appreciate it. My commlink and his blinked from the incoming messages. Laughter spread from within the energy shield.
Roys rolled his eyes. “You look ridiculous.”
“Don’t be jealous. You had the opportunity to wear it, and I will not be making another. This is one of a kind.”
He sighed, daring to sound content, daring to let me feel content, then ruining all that by asking, “Did you talk to Lilea or Iylene?”
“Why would I?” I picked more petals one by one, leaving a trail of yellow behind us.
His voice had a softness to it, one he used on the others when he was feigning to care. I didn’t want him using it on me. “Because you should. Because you want to.”
Roys didn’t know a damn thing about me to presume anything of the sort. He showed up as our captain to boss us around like all the others. We were names on a spreadsheet, replaceable. He would forget each of us the moment we were reassigned or dropped dead. Pretending to give a shit was insulting.
“Don’t try that,” I said.
“What?”
“Acting like you know me. Thinking that us fucking means your words have any merit.”
He frowned, his eyes taking on an even darker hue, the one he showed when I really irritated him. Probably would make that face to others too if they got under his skin like I did. “You have made it abundantly clear what you think of me and my opinions.”
I removed the crown to toss into the jungle. “Yet you’re still giving them, earther.”
Roys stopped. I left him behind, trailing the edge of the forest for another bloom. He didn’t give extreme reactions often. Each one he showed, I stockpiled. The fix and the earther —his two sore spots. They were the paths to take, the ledge he hung from.
I pivoted to face a glare unlike any other.
There was pure rage in his expression. If we were alone, the incident in the cave would have repeated itself.
He controlled the anger in the open where others could see.
Kept his grip firm on the flamethrower, jaw set tight and fingers twitching for the candies in his pockets.
But he was the captain for a reason, for plenty of reasons, and one had to be keeping his cool in the face of insubordinate officers.
I suppose I had to give him points for that.
“That was a guess, but I see I was right.” I approached slowly, like a cat sneaking up on prey, except this prey had razor-sharp teeth, same as mine.
“How did you formulate that guess?”
“Overheard you using earth speak the other night. Couldn’t hear who you were talking to, but it’s not a common tongue. The group and I were arguing about it.”
“You told others?”
“Yeah, we like to gossip.” I tried to put the blossom behind his ear. He caught my wrist, holding tight enough to bruise. The flower fell, and he let go after shoving me back.
I turned from him because, unlike me, he wasn’t a coward. If he wanted to hurt me, he would do it face to face, and I wanted to get the patrol over with so we could stop this nonsense. Might as well work and chat.
“Arana hinted that you might have been a fuckboy for wealthy off-planet earthers. Lilea thought you’re just a good captain learning multiple languages.
Personally, I said earther, born and raised, and I’m right, aren’t I?
” I continued my path, hands in my pockets.
The flamethrower hung from the strap on my shoulder to bounce against my thigh.
“And you didn’t bring it up until now because you were waiting for an opportunity to piss me off?” He traveled somewhere behind, closer, but not at my side.
“I like to store information for a sunny day.”
“You like to have an exit when you’re feeling cornered.”
My teeth scraped from side to side. “Fools who don’t watch their exits are often dead ones.”
“And you’re no fool. You’re too smart for your own good sometimes.”
“You keep saying that, but I don’t think you really mean it. There’s no need for you to pretend out here. No one else is listening.”
Roys adjusted his flamethrower, pointing it toward the flora as if he heard something. “You’re so bent on believing that I could not possibly have a single good thought about you.”
“Well, not a single one. I am good in bed, and you should think about that.” I spun around to walk backward in front of him.
He hated that, more specifically, he hated me based on the frustration practically seeping out of his pores.
“But tell me, what is your story? Earthers aren’t found often out here, not in your position, that’s for damn sure.
Does it have anything to do with your using? ”
That twitch in his eye spread to the other. He popped a candy into his mouth to crunch beneath his grinding jaw. “Leave.”
“What if I want to stay? I thought I’d be rewarded for going on patrol.”
Roys had the look of a lecture coming on that he silenced with a sigh. “You’re a terrible person, Ethin Katlan.”
I gave a mock bow. “Been working at it my whole life.”
Because horrible people always made it to the top. The nice ones wound up dead.
As I passed into the energy shield, another soldier exited to meet Roys.
Over my shoulder, I watched the two of them easily converse.
After they walked away, I went into the habitat for some food, spotting Lilea and Ryker playing on the viz.
My feet stupidly carried me toward them before I went back outside to lie under the suns, where I stayed until lights out.
Roys’ office was locked that night, so I found a different sap to exhaust me enough in hopes of keeping the nightmares at bay.