“I particularly like how you managed to slip it into his clothes while getting your ass kicked,” Jin continued, wiping the smile right off her face.
Raider coughed into his hand to hide his laugh.
Baran looked delighted at all the shit she was catching.
“I did not get my ass kicked,” Kira declared.
“Oh, excuse me.Having your face pounded in.”
“I had a carefully considered plan.”
“Did it involve taking a beating?”
“Oh, shut up,” Kira grumbled.
She probed the spot under her eye, finding it still sore.
Jin reached up and touched the bracelet her move had exposed.“We really need to get this off you.If we’re going after these pirates, you need to be in top shape.”
Kira brushed his hand away.“I’m always in top shape.”
“No, you’re not.”
Kira glared.“You’re even more annoying in this form.”
“Finally, something about it I like.”
The lift arrived at their destination.The doors opened to allow them to step off.
Most of the station’s hotels were located on level nine, close to the fine dining establishments and the trendier clubs.A few hotels existed in the pleasure district, next to or inside the brothels and gambling dens, but Kira avoided them at all costs.You never knew what happened in those rooms.Everything from illicit liaisons to murder.
She preferred to stay somewhere where the sheets were clean and the surfaces didn’t need a full blown sanitation every time someone checked out.
Spotting a cart selling candy globes, Kira made a beeline straight for it.After a short exchange with the vendor, she selected one of the globes and paid for it with her ID chip.Moments later she was walking back toward her group.
“What’s this?”Jin asked as she handed him the globe.
It was the size of his head.The spun sugar walls of its exterior were transparent.A tiny fox was curled up inside.Tail over its nose.Ears pricked.Eyes closed.
It was adorable and something a child might desire.
“A sugar globe.”
“And you’re giving it to me, why?”
Despite his question, Kira noticed Jin cradled the globe like it was some precious treasure and not a sweet confection with a life span as short as a mayfly.
“You asked to ride my senses every time you saw one of these.”
She’d always given in too, because it was such a small request when compared to what he would gain from the fleeting connection.
Jin had needed those all too brief instances where he could taste and experience everything it meant to be alive.It had helped ground him.Kept him from becoming the monster the inquisitors feared.
“You’ve been concentrating on everything you lost.But have you ever thought of what you’ve gained?You no longer need me as an anchor.”
He could taste anything he wanted.No waiting for Kira to be in the right mood.No time limit on the experience.Just him and his senses.
Kira couldn’t think of a better gift.
