33. Science Friction
Chapter thirty-three
Science Friction
The flight back home was lonesome. I spent most of the way to Earth staring at the screen that showed our surroundings.
I knew it wasn’t sentient, but I felt like space was the only thing large enough to grasp the totality of my ever expanding emotions.
I knew it didn’t make sense, but I kept watching it.
It was cathartic. It didn’t resolve any problems, but it let them feel heard.
I chose to sleep when I grew tired of thinking. I tried to turn on music and mindshows to pass the time, but I couldn’t focus. All I could do was think and shut my mind off.
Thinking availed me little more than compounding worries. It was a worthless endeavor without Akna and the rest of the imps at my side to sparse through the Correction’s drama in the south.
Naoma tried to message me a couple of times on the flight home, but our conversation was flat.
We both avoided the substance of Ralia’s death and dropped the chat after both of us realized it was better to talk in person.
Boyband sent me a couple of videos to waste my time with.
Despite wanting to complain to him about them, they helped the final stretch home pass much faster.
I took the skyride home, thankful that no assassins or anything of the like had found me on my way back.
I stood before the monastery after walking home from the skytrack station.
The city was loud and the monastery was not the picturesque sanctuary of the Arabasian monasteries, but it was still a comforting site. It was our sanctuary. That was enough.
I opened the door, hoping to see Naoma first. I didn’t see Denji, and it wasn’t a somber Abbas, and it wasn’t a sarcastic Boyband.
“Have you come back?” David asked.
I crouched and rubbed my hand across the meat pillar’s back and over the mechanical ridges of his tech. David was less sweaty than usual, making the petting somewhat comforting.
I smiled. “Yeah, I’m back.”
“Back to kill me? Will you–”
“No, no, no!“ Boyband ran into view and scooped up the Beef3. “Zeg, Pet. He was doing so well, then you come back and he’s reverted to this?”
I smiled and let out a relieved laugh. I reached out and pulled him into a deep embrace as he held David under one arm. He slung the other around me. Had we not just lost one of our closest friends–her body at least–I was sure he would have pushed me away with a snide comment.
He held me tight. He sniffed. I didn’t bother him by pointing out his vulnerability like I would have in lighter circumstances.
I patted him on the back as I let go. “How are the others doing?”
“Fine. Decent enough, I think.”
His eyes had hints of tears. I wondered how he had been since learning of her death but felt it was best not to ask. Some things are best kept to oneself.
He sniffed. “Denji’s working on the pond to make it a decent habitat for that Orca-mech.”
“She arrived?”
“Yeah, those Violet elites dropped her off and I could tell they had been pissing themselves. Deniji’s pretty proud of the habitat so far, but it needs more work.”
“I smiled. I’ll have to check it out.”
We stared at each other, both of us on the verge of tears. I walked away before I could let small talk torture us any longer.
I stepped inside and kicked off my shoes. The soft give of the tatami mat was a warm welcome home after the most foreign trip one could take.
I passed Denji’s study and waved to him as he looked up from a blueprint hologram on his desk. Even though he didn’t know Ralia as well as the rest of us, I was sure her loss hurt after seeing the others grieve.
Akna and Kuni were playing a holographic board game and speaking one of the Arabasian languages.
I waved at them as they passed and let their peace continue undisturbed.
I doubted the kid had a grasp of the events transpiring around him, but I hadn’t spent enough time with him to see how well acquainted he had become. I would fix that soon enough.
Abbas stood from the seat in which he sat reading a worn book and looked over his shoulder when he heard me pass.
He had been facing a wall-sized window that looked out onto one of the gardens, but with how quickly he stirred, I wondered if he had been able to focus on the words at all.
My focus had been tested ever since I got on the shuttle home.
“Holding up well?” he asked.
I shrugged and moved to sit into the seat next to him. Both of us watched the rain begin to increase from a sprinkle to a downpour over the garden. “As best as I can manage.”
I looked at him, no longer seeing the younger face of Ali, but the experienced demeanor of the Abbas that he really was. I had always thought he was younger than me, but now he seemed a touch older. Seeing past the judgement of his betrayal, I could see that he was just as worn as I was. “You?”
He closed his book and placed it on the short table between us. “Just trying my best.”
“Aren’t we all?”
He let out an airy laugh, free of humor. “Isn’t that the truth.”
“Did everyone do okay while I was gone?”
His eyes were wide as I glanced at him. It might have struck him as an odd pivot from previous resentment to full trust, but he was the most experienced among us after me.
Not only was he an experienced Imp, but he had the whole side of his work with Cut to add to his expertise.
“Yeah, I guess so. Kuni’s as fluent as you could ever want.
Everyone took the news pretty hard, but he didn’t seem to grasp it.
I don’t know if it was because he didn’t know Ralia long enough or if he thinks her ghost in the system means she’s still alive.
The kid has had a mess of a childhood already… and it’ll only get worse.”
“At least he has a decent role model to look up to.”
”’Decent’ is right, if not a little generous.”
“Look, Abbas, I’ve let it go–””I know. I want to believe that you have, but I… I dunno. Maybe it’s me who is struggling to forgive myself.”
“At least you’re making up for it.” We had all been hurt enough as of late and I didn’t want to keep this wound open. “Anything new at Haven?”
“Not much. Plenty of arguments over the presidency that’ll probably hold out until the election.”
“Zeg, that’s next month, isn’t it?”
“It’s three months away, but don’t sweat it.”
“Why, because you’ll handle everything with Haven?” I stopped myself and let out a breath. “I don’t mean that in a bad way. Handle it all you want, I want you to take ahold of that–”
“If you want me to, I’ll keep my hand in it.”
“Of course, du.”
“I doubt they’ll win the election again after all of this guk, but I’ll utilize my company assets as best I can, you plug?”
“One hundred percent. Also, don’t feel like you need to run everything you do past me. I’m not the leader–”
“But you kind of are…”
I shook my head. “Sure, I can act like the adult in the group when the younger ones need direction, but you understand half of the world that I don’t.
Do what you need. Act as you think best. Just let me know what you need from me.
Ralia… she led her own jobs. I guess she still will…
I don’t know. We’ll figure it out. What I mean is–”
“I plug. We’ll work and keep in touch.” He held his hand out to me. I took it and we shook.
We took the next few minutes to stare out into the rain again. Relaxation still felt like a feat, but for a few short minutes, my thoughts were empty.
“Why waste your time with me?” he asked.
“Waste? Nah. This was much needed.”
“Guy time? Why not go to Boyband.”
I shrugged. “I’ll talk to him later.”
“You didn’t come to me because I looked lonely, right?”
I shrugged again.
“Well, I appreciate it.”
“I’m glad.”
“But you really should go to her.”
I smirked but kept my eyes forward.
“I’ll get to her soon.”
“Trouble in paradise?”
“Oh, not at all.”
“Has Zhou been bothering her?”
“The homunculus? Ha, we’ll chat about that thing later. It’s full of… fun. Sure, that’s the word.”
“Yeah, I’ll utilize the chance I have to relax.”
“So again, why waste your time with me?”
“Because he has some irrational worry bothering him,” Naoma said, “like always. Right, Pet?”
I looked over my shoulder. She was standing in the doorway.
She shared my smile.
“What, did you think I would blame you for what happened or whatever?”
I shook my head. “How long have you been listening?”
She shrugged. “A few minutes. I like to hear you talk.”
Abbas leaned forward, but I stood before he could. “No, you stay, we’ll leave you alone.”
He raised his eyebrows a few times.
I waved him off and met Naoma. She took my arm and we walked down the hall to a room with a similar wall-sized window. She held my hand as we sat on the mattress atop the tatami mat and watched the rain.
“I missed you,” I said.
“You better have.” She laughed with a delicate smile.
“I wasn’t avoiding you, I swear. I just wanted to catch up with everyone before–”
“I get it. Can you spend time with me now?””Is Denji fine?”
“I think so,” she said.
“Good, then you have all the time you need.”
We turned to face one another, taking in our respective faces and bodies.
She wasn’t as done up at the Neon Idol but wore her natural beauty.
Subtle makeup and clean hair with a robe over casual violet jumper lacking any light adornments.
Her lips were her natural pink, though recently moisturized.
Her eyes pulled me in to see beyond her appearance, into that soul I had learned to love.
I bit the inside of my lower lip.
Her eyes dilated and her eyebrows raised into a hopeful, yet tame look. She ran her hand up my thigh, then onto the bend of my back. She lifted her other arm up, as delicate as a feather, and placed it on my neck.
All this time, I couldn’t turn away. My heart pounded in my burning chest. The rain was a perfect chorus to the peace I felt with her, kindling that flame that I longed for.
She ignited it.
Naoma pulled me in, pressed her lips to mine in a passionate kiss. It was the most beautiful, yet delicate feeling I had ever experienced. No pressure. No fear. No anxiety.
Bliss.
The world was outside.
Naoma was here. With me.
She let her tongue slip forward and I brushed it with mine. Our blossoming love was a pink canvas upon which we painted a full flower.
I ran my hand down her back and pulled her in, not tight, but close enough to let our warmth billow with each movement of our lips.
She let go of the kiss and brushed her cheek against mine. We remained there in silence, appreciating each other’s warmth until she whispered, “I missed you, Petya.”
It took me a second to control my quivering breath. “I missed you, too.”
I didn’t know if she had wanted to hear something so plain and simple, but I went with it.
She held my hand, her angelic skin rubbed against the coarseness of my own.
She ran her face down my neck, kissing it as she moved, then rested her head on my shoulder. “Never leave me, okay?”
“What? Of course not, I would never…” I lifted her chin with my finger and waited on her to look into my eyes. “What is it?”
Much to my relief, there was only a hint of worry in her eyes. I couldn’t find sadness, though these were only my best estimates.
A moment of heavy silence passed between us as we watched each other.
“I…” She reached in for another kiss, savoring it. “I really like you. I… the world is such a mess of uncertainties and I want you to be a constant.”
I pulled her down to lay next to me on the mattress and continued to kiss her, trying all I could do to tell her with my wordless lips that I felt the same. Our kisses grew from a warm soft into burning passion.
I could deal with my grief later. Now was for her.
I ran my hand through her hair as I pulled back and whispered, “I love you Naoma.”