Vk stared at him for a long time. “Better than most, I understand when one’s choices in relationships are counter to the culture’s teachings. But I never thought you a coward, Regi a’Divashi de Minait a’Otutha qee Pertin e Rel.” Her tone and her use of his formal name made Regi wince, but before he could construct a response, she left. He wondered when everything had gotten so complicated.
Chapter Five
After a difficult night of tossing on his thin mattress, Dante gave up and decided to get dressed. His schedule would have changed after yesterday’s disaster, but life on the ranch had taught him to get his day started even when he would rather lie in bed and contemplate the many things wrong with his life. He found contemplation was more a city skill. He was almost dressed when the door chime rang.
Dante opened the door to find Vk on the other side. “I’m getting my shoes on. Come on in.” He turned back to his bed and started the process of lacing up the alien boots. The fastenings had to go around pockets for the tools aliens preferred to carry on their feet, so even though these various pouches were empty on Dante’s boots, he still had to thread the laces around them.
“You could move furniture into this room or move yourself to one designed for sapient occupation,” she said as she walked the perimeter.
“I like this room.” Dante was comfortable here, but he could also admit to himself he liked that when Regi visited, they would sit next to each other on the bed. Dante hadn’t recognized how serious his crush had become until Regi had asked him to stop touching. The man had been nothing but supportive, and Dante was borderline sexually harassing him.
That was not his style. At least, it hadn’t been since sixteen when he’d been ruled more by hormones than common sense. Back then he’d turned dancing in the gay clubs into a full-contact sport, much to his father’s embarrassment when a fewpictures turned up. His father had either bribed or threatened people to keep them out of the press. Dante had insisted it was normal to rub on complete strangers, but now he found the idea as embarrassing as his father had then, although for a different reason.
And yet, despite knowing how creepy it was to touch without invitation, he still did it to Regi. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
“I assume our ride is canceled,” said Dante.
“No, Regi insists that we should keep to our schedule. He said that the temple needs to see we are unconcerned.”
Dante snorted. “Funny because it seems like we’re all worried out of our minds.”
“How much worry does it require to leave one’s own mind?”
Vk had the eyebrows of humor going. At least that was what Dante thought of them as. Since she didn’t have hair on her face, that was a misnomer, but her skin wrinkles did take on eyebrow shapes when she was amused.
“A lot.”
Vk squatted down, her back to the wall. “Regi has gone to the temple to speak to the more reasonable members of the leadership.”
“And Ter?” Dante asked. He still couldn’t believe that a man intelligent enough to experiment with space engines would throw parts at a member of an alien species that was holding them hostage.
“He is yelling at his own junior engineers since there are no Kowri aboard to endure his temper.”
Dante pulled the boot laces tight and slapped them into place on the sticky strips holding them closed. “Is it safe to go out on a ride if Bekdi is out there trying to gather a mob?”
“I have not seen him this morning. I met the person who tends pebafri when he brought the animals, and there werefew Kowri about. However, I saw none I recognized as having authority.”
“People without authority can fire weapons as well as anyone else.”
She sucked air through her nose. “Regi insists it is safe, and while I believe him a dunce in some matters, when it comes to security, I have every faith in his ability to assess threats.”
Dante studied Vk. In the weeks they’d known each other, he’d never heard her speak a word against Regi. Something had changed. Dante’s face grew warm as he wondered if Regi had explained how Dante had made a fool out of himself. Everyone on the ship was so worried about protecting his feelings that maybe Vk thought Regi should have allowed the harassment.
“You shouldn’t talk about Regi like that,” he said.
“I’ve known him longer than you. I recognize his flaws.”
“Yeah, well this crew is not making life easy for him. Between Ter throwing things and the engineering crew deleting things and me overstepping good manners, we’ve made his life difficult.”
Vk snort-huffed-vibrated her nose. “You have not overstepped any manners, not even imaginary ones. Regi is so convinced that you are a victim to be protected that he has lost any courage he once possessed.”
Dante frowned, not sure he followed her meaning. “I’m not a victim who needs protecting.”
“You are a victim, but I agree that you can protect yourself. I just believe Regi doubts that because if he allowed himself to see that you do not require protection, he would have to address his own emotions.”
“No,” Dante snapped.
She blinked at him, and the eyebrows of good humor vanished.
