Chapter 6
Optimism got them up early, just the two of them, Cassius carried the basket of seedlings; Leonus followed with the planter over one shoulder.
The mountain air was cool and sharp, carrying the smell of damp soil and resin.
From this height the forest terraces stepped away below them like green ribbons, the sea glimmering far off through the dome’s false horizon.
Cass straightened, protective hands hovering over the basket.
“Tell me!”
“I’m going to open a taverna,” Leo said. “Maybe make wine.”
“Oh? How?”
“I don’t know.”
“Have you ever—”
“Never.”
“Then I think it’s a splendid idea!” Cass jumped to his feet and began pacing. The words left Leo lighter. He’d been ready for doubt, not this surge of joy.
“Demeter,” Cass called. “What is the ENF topocline for Admiral Ares’s allotment?”
Two Alpha, with a Three Alpha drop.
“What does that even mean?” Leo asked. He hadn’t realized his donum—his settlement allotment—already existed. Of course it did. A real place, waiting at the end of all this.
Cass climbed onto a rock behind him, both hands resting on Leo’s shoulders as he looked out. The warmth of his thighs pressed against Leo’s back.
Limestone outcroppings, dense low grasses, cedars, heathers, lavenders—the Mediterranean type.
“Alright, see that line of trees down there?” Cass pointed. “And beyond it, the slope with the flowers?”
“Aye.”
“That’s your land.”
That’s my land. The thought hit hard. He could almost see it—rolling meadow, stone and glass house, a terrace for planet-rise. A place.
“What about me, Demeter?”
Your allotment is K2-75 Alpha, directly downslope. A rocky shore with a small cove of volcanic sand.
The two of them stood there, silent, grinning like fools. A new world waited, and for the first time Leo could picture a life. A Taverna, a sloping hill with a home, some dogs.
Cass’s hand rested over his heart when he said quietly, “We’ll build something beautiful there.”
“Aye. We will.”
The wind changed, bringing a faint buzzing, rattling sound.
Cass’s head snapped up. “What’s that?”
Leo followed his gaze. A dark circle marred the green on the ridge above, steam shearing at its edges. The air shimmered; the trees rattled as if a storm were trapped inside the dome.
“Demeter, report,” Cass barked. “What’s happening on that ridge?”
It appears a sensor malfunction in—
“Fucking fix it then!” Cass was already running upslope. “Darla—the poplar grove is freezing! Get the crew to Section 215, now!”
Leo caught himself nodding at the command tone even as he ran after him.
Crossing the front was like being punched by the gods. The mild air vanished, replaced by an arctic blast that stole his breath. His soaked shirt froze against his skin; every breath cut like glass.
“Pull them up!” Cass shouted. “Pull them up!”
The young trees came away too easily, roots snapping free of the half-frozen soil. Leo’s hands burned with cold as he yanked them one after another.
“Just the leafy ones!” Cass yelled. “These!” He thrust a poplar into Leo’s hand and dashed away again, leaping from rock to rock.
The Forest Crew arrived with baskets and sackcloth. They worked in furious silence, snatching the saplings from the edge of the kill zone as ice crept visibly down the slope. Leo’s vision blurred. The air itself groaned.
“Cassius!” he roared. “Come down! It’s too cold!”
I’ve repaired the leak. Please leave the cold zone until temperature normalizes.
Leo stumbled through the snowmelt toward him. Catching Cass by the arm and turning him downhill was easy—the hard part was the look on his face: triumph and heartbreak all tangled together.
“Come on, Cass. You’ve done it. You saved them.”
The rover’s blankets steamed in the cold. Leo wrapped one around them both, ignoring the pain in his leg.
“Not a damn thing,” Darla said when he tried to help further. “Take him home.”
“But—” Cass rasped. “My trees…”
“I know, love, but there’s nothing more we can do till it warms.”
“Love?” Cass whispered, smiling weakly. “That’s new. Fido, are you developing emotions?”
“Nonsense.”
But when Demeter murmured, Leonus, your heart rate is— he silenced her. The only thing that mattered now was the cold of Cass’s body under his arm, the steady weight against his side.
I love him. The thought rang like a bell, steadying his steps all the way down the mountain. I love him. Brave, clever fox.
In their quarters the air was tropical, the tub already filling, Cook-In chiming.
“Thank you, Demeter,” Leo muttered.
Of course. There is tea, coffee, and a Terran delicacy called spicy chicken soup.
“That sounds good,” Cass murmured. “I wish it was from the Luna Moth, though.”
That is the one I selected.
Cass stopped, staring at the Cook-In.
“I saw you every day at the Luna Moth,” he said slowly, letting Leo herd him to their bath.
“I’ve never been to any place by that name,” Leo said, peeling the jacket away.
“There’s a mural of you there,” Cass murmured. “I passed it every day.”
Steam curled around them as they stripped out of their frozen clothes. Leo warmed him inch by inch, lips and hands chasing the cold from his skin until the ache in his chest was almost unbearable.
“Hop in, Earthling,” Leo said, voice rough.
“Leonus, I need to tell you something.”
“Hush, love. Tomorrow. Tomorrow.”
They soaked in silence. The seedlings were safe; the cold front repaired. A small heroism—but one that mattered. The bell rang still in Leo’s heart. Admiration, attraction, trust, the vision of their future… Love. Just like this. Spend my life loving him.
Marcus woke late, sunlight spilling across the terrace and stabbing him straight in the eye. His first coherent thought: I almost told him.
His body bloomed with pain. He sat up, groaning, every muscle an argument. And under the ache—Leo’s mouth, Leo’s hands, Leo’s voice murmuring nonsense in the steam.
Even after the bath, Leo hadn’t stopped.
He’d wrapped Marcus in warm towels, cleaned the scrapes on his hands, rubbed salve into the raw patches where the cold had bitten through.
He did it all with the same quiet intensity he used to listen to Marcus’ ramblings, and it undid him so softly he barely caught himself.
“I like to take care,” Leo murmured when Marcus pushed back. “Now stop squirming.”
Marcus wasn’t used to being tended. He took care of himself. Always had. And Cassius, who’d needed it. Wasn’t that why he was here? Even Leonus was easy to care for. Easy as sinking into that bath.
But Leo taking care of him? Something else entirely. Quiet, tender care. And instead of fear and resentment, Marcus felt …peace. Fucking hell.
“No wonder you almost blew it.”
Whatever his heart wanted, the lie was his duty. His penance. His redemption. My brother’s child and reputation. His chance to finally come out from under father and be his own person. To raise Melodie free and clear. My brother’s life in my hands.
The impulse to tell Leo the truth had to be stopped; nearly revealing himself couldn’t happen again.
He poured coffee, using both hands to steady the cup.
Three solemn notes chimed from the wall console.
Cassius Sutherland, Demeter said. Please report to the Waterfall Park.
Now what the hell was all this?
“Where’s Fido?” he rasped.
She laughed.
You mean Imperator Martis, Leonus Augustus Ares, the Lion of Mars, Legatus Augustii, Heros Phobos, Bellator Invictus, Beloved of Apollon? He is waiting at the park. He says to wear a clean coverall.
Marcus had touched the tender back of Leo’s neck when he’d wrapped Marcus’s knee, his black and silver hair just starting to escape its disciplined line. He did that little smile, and now he has my heart in his fucking hands.
He managed to get himself together by the time he reached the park. Barely.
Darla met him at the entrance, grinning ear to ear. “My hero.”
“What’s this?”
“They’re giving you an award,” she said. “Even Basim’s there. I didn’t want you to panic when you saw them all lined up.”
He saw what she meant: the forestry crew, the genome-bank techs, Principal Director Basim, and Leo—standing at the front.
“Go on, new Marcus,” Darla whispered, nudging him forward.
“Cassius Sutherland,” Basim said, “your actions yesterday represent the best of the Explorer Corps. Your quick thinking and leadership averted what could have been a severe setback to both the biome and our mission.”
The groups applauded and Leo stepped forward holding a ribbon of deep blue silk. The medal was gold, a simple outline of the Demeter and ‘Sutherland’ underneath.
The medal was my idea, Demeter said, smug. Do you like it?
Leo pinned the ribbon to Marcus’s chest.
“I am proud of you,” he said quietly.
Marcus blinked, the words cutting straight through him. Again. This man, again, slicing me to ribbons in public. He swallowed.
“Proud of me? Is that Latin?” he managed with a faint laugh.
Leo spoke directly into his ear.
“What you did made me proud. I doubt General Sutherland said it much. So let me do this for you, little fox.” He squeezed Marcus’s shoulders, meeting his eyes. “I. Am. Proud. Of. You.”
Marcus’s throat closed. “How dare you make me cry in front of all these people,” he hissed, blinking furiously.
Leo pulled him into a quick embrace, laughing under his breath. “You can take your revenge later, Earthling.”
Marcus lingered after the others had gone. The crowd dissolved into small clusters of laughter and chatter; Darla waved, Basim offered him a solemn nod as Leo led her out, and soon the clearing was empty. The mist clung to the air, like stardust.
He rubbed the blue ribbon between his fingers. ‘Sutherland.’ Not Cassius. He, Marcus Sutherland, had made Leo proud.
“Bellator Invictus and all. Proud of me.”
He looked up toward the ridge they’d saved.
In the far light, the young trees swayed gently around the edges of the freeze, silver leaves trembling in the breeze.
Hopeful. He smiled despite himself. Worth saving.
Maybe this is what redemption feels like—not one grand gesture, just small opportunities to be… better.
The truth. He had to tell Leonus the truth.
Because Leonus deserved it. Deserved to choose before the separation.
Marcus would make his case to his Match, explain everything.
He could wear this ribbon, deserve it the way Leo had given it.
He tucked the medal into his pocket, and made his way home through the golden air.