She looked up, and heavy bands of aurora borealis painted the sky with reds, greens, purples, yellows, and a thick band of white.“Wow.”
She felt the touch on her mind, and he was sharing her wonder.She was generous.She let him feel what she remembered about the first time she saw the radiation bands dance across the atmosphere.Her twelfth birthday.Her grandfather had just gotten temporary custody as long as she continued to go to therapy.She had stood outside without looking in the shadows.Her father was fighting for custody because she had a trust fund from her mother’s side of the family.Even from prison, he was fighting to keep her.
It was a step toward freedom, and the lights were celebrating with her.The lights on Earth and the lights here at Sanctuary Base sang the same song, Millions of kilometres apart.
She smiled, and tears tracked down her cheeks.“It’s beautiful.”
“It is.I have never imagined something so stunning.”
She grinned and looked at him, but his gaze was firmly fixed on her.“Oh.”
He nodded.“Oh.”
The light moved across his skin, the white a perfect canvas covered in colour.
“You look lovely all bathed in light.”She reached out and touched his jaw.
He turned his head and kissed her palm.“So, contract now or now?”
She giggled.“With only us here, you are sure you want to go for that?It isn’t like either of us has another option.”
“I believe it is more that you and I have a matching mindset.”
Trin nodded.“Fine.Contract now, but I am way too full to try anything frisky tonight.”
He grinned.“Deal.Then we can lie in bed and watch the light.”
A bot rolled up with a tablet held high.
“I had to add some clauses that I don’t think any other Hmrain have to.”
“Safety gear?”
“That is one.”
“Nebel would have, but Lily inherited his indestructibility.She didn’t need safety gear.She’s bulletproof.”
He nodded.“Since you aren’t, you are going to be held to a physical protection clause.You can’t do anything to endanger yourself or incur penalties.”
“Penalties?”
“Yup.Time away from your workshop and no reading on tablets.You will be stuck to wandering the base and helping the bots harvest in the greenhouse.”He smiled.
“Oh.Well, that is non-invasive but still annoying.”
“That is the idea.I am not here to injure you, but I won’t let you do it either.”
She blinked and sighed.“Tablet, please.”
He grinned and handed her the tablet.The next two hours were changes of phrasing, adding clauses, and including theholiday protocol.
“What is that?”
“I want to design items for Terrans and send them out to them via courier drone.”
“We can use bonded couriers.Why do you want to do this?”
“Oh, because during the winter months, we give gifts to recharge and get through the worst of the darkness.You look like a weird Santa, I act like an elf, and Boss is the reindeer.We have the whole gang.”
