AJ felt the eyes of her colleagues like searchlights. Her heartbeat was on blast in her own ears.
Improvisation was forbidden onSNL—Noah was going to get himself banned.
AJ looked around for Dani—she must still be backstage. What was AJ supposed to do? She would stay put. Noah would see she wasn’t coming and fold this back into the monologue, and—
“Ana Tar?”
God, their training was something else. His voice was like a hypnotic trigger; every muscle in AJ’s body clenched, willing her to join him onstage. More than that, she couldfeel himurging her—for the first time in years, he’d initiated a scene and the channel between them was opening. AJ should fight this. She needed to fight this.
Think.The producers would be furious. But this could be ratings gold. They were the duo from “No,” which pretty much guaranteed this would go viral. Plus, Arho was a monster ship and Ana and Rho hadn’t been together publicly sinceInto the Blue.
Wait.Dani would be incensed—but Noah was the one going rogue. AJ was just responding.
Shit.The last thing AJ needed was more online attention. Oranyattention. Especially when she was wearing a green T-shirt and glasses, with her hair in a messy bun.
“Ana, is that you?”
Your scene partner is your life,Ezell had written inLaughter & Death.If this is to work, you must follow them wherever they go. You must follow them to the end, into death if necessary.
AJ couldn’t leave her scene partner hanging.
As she made her way to the platform, Noah’s eyes never left her face. She stepped into the light, distantly aware of sporadic applause. Warily, she surveyed him.
“Rho, you made it through the wormhole,” she said.
But Rho was barely there, a passing shade, a suggestion. It was Noah who stepped toward AJ now, grasping her shoulders, all traces of politeness gone. AJ swayed under his touch, but he held her firm, eyes burning as he said, more quietly than he should have, “I was so scared I lost you.”
The words wrecked AJ. For a split second, she thought she heard a howl pierce that vast darkness inside him. Noah’s gaze was blackening with need. AJ felt the last of her resistance give way.
“You didn’t,” she said. “I’m here.”
Noah inhaled sharply. “You have no idea how much I missed you,” he said, his voice breaking.
And then he kissed her. AJ’s eyes slammed shut as she felt their tongues collide. She wrapped her arms around his neck as his hands engulfed her back.Yes.The audience’s ruckus shook the lighting rig, but AJ didn’t care. She was kissing Noah, and he was kissing her, nothing else in her life was real compared to this, andfuck,it felt so good, they had to stop, they really had to stop—
He pulled back at the last possible second. “I almost didn’t recognize you,” he said, catching his breath as he gestured to her hair and her glasses.
“I know,” said AJ, peeling them off. “I’ve had to adapt.” This got a laugh. “Life in the year 3500 is a little different.”
Noah offered her his hand. “Yeah, now that you mention it, this crale seems…off.”
As the flight path glimmered to life before them, AJ placed her hand in his.
“Oh, this isn’t a space whale,” she said. “It’s a radioactive Super Rat. Welcome to New York!”
There was nothing in existence like playing with Noah. He seemed incapable of dropping her hand, so they walked together around the set, building out a world in which humans were forced to live inside giant rats after the Fire Siege at Ikea, Red Hook, rendered the city uninhabitable.
“It’s not so bad,” AJ said, gesturing to the iconicSNLclock. “She swallowed that last year, so now we know what time it is.”
They were not standing amid the best comedians in the business for nothing. Within a minute, Dave was walking on. “Guys, you made it!” he said, giving them both massive kisses on the lips and joining hands with AJ.
Now, like an amoeba, the three of them walked across the set until they were joined by Katie Jaffe, one of their star cast members, who had somehow gotten her hands on a Star Trek costume in the last ninety seconds. “Captain’s log,” she said, joining the amoeba. “I’m no longer alone.”
As they made their way back center stage, the crane camera operator motioned to wrap it up. Noah looked at AJ. “Ana, are you getting a telepathic message—”
“Yes,” she said. “It’s the Super Rat. She says we’ve got a great show for you this evening, with musical guest Léa de Lonval and—”
“Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!”
