Jace wanted to argue with him, but he knew he would get nowhere. “All right. I’ll accept this for now. But once I deal with your mother, you’re all mine.”
Khoth’s head lifted. A smile threatened to break across his lips. “I see.”
“That’s right, Khoth. We get to revisit this!” Jace nodded firmly. “So, I’m going to take a shower and take--take care of some things. Afterwards, we need to talk more about strategy.”
Khoth’s eyes slid down to the mounded comforter over his lap that covered many sins. “I understand. I will leave you to… deal with things.”
“The Osiris will show you to your quarters where you can… deal with your own things,” Jace told him, cheeks burning. “Meet me back here in an hour. We can eat together.”
Khoth gave a formal bow and then left his bedroom. Jace sat there, unmoving, for some time. But then he smiled. He now knew that Khoth tasted of spicy citrus. Like nothing on Earth.
Possession
He was insane. That was the only reasonable explanation for kissing Jace. After he had told his mother that he would not use Jace’s--or his own, though that was unspoken--attraction to move the young man in any direction he’d still kissed Jace! Kissed him! After spending the night evidently wound around him like some vine.
His lips still remembered the kiss. His right hand drifted up to them, but he jerked it down. He should not be indulging in this--this--this… he didn’t know what this was. Yet there was a certain pep in his step. His mind whirled. His Xi and Xa sparked. He hadn’t felt so hopeful in a long time though he could not exactly identify why, as his problems were just as they had been, except for Jace not being angry with him.
Happiness. This is unadulterated happiness.
At least it was when he wasn’t scolding himself for his actions. But it was done. He had kissed Jace. Jace had enthusiastically responded. They had determined to wait to pursue it until things with the Alliance had been worked out.
Can things be worked out? Without violence?
Though he could think of many reasons why things would not lead to a peaceful or fruitful conclusion, he found himself unwilling to think about them at this moment. He was most definitely insane.
The door to Jace’s quarters opened and he was face to face with a metallic skeleton with flaming red eyes that stood seven feet tall. He went for his rahir, only to realize he didn’t have it. He reached for his draagves, but he didn’t have that either. He only had a momentary thought that such a monster should not have been allowed to get this far into the ship unless there had been a major malfunction with the Osiris. But he was already moving. He struck out with one fist at its head while swinging around a leg to strike at the thing’s lower body. His fist was caught in one of the metal clawed hands and his leg was blocked by the other with no difficulty.
“Khoth! What’s wrong?” A female voice, slightly higher pitched than most women he had dealt with, came out of the metallic maw.
Khoth froze. “G-Gehenna?!”
“Yes! You didn’t guess right away?” she asked, sounding absolutely astounded that he would not know her in this monstrous form.
“Ah… no,” he responded quietly as she released his fist.
“Well, you are not as up to date on human entertainment so you wouldn’t recognize the Terminator!” she cried with evident glee.
“Terminator? My understanding of that word is not one I would associate with you,” he stated.
“Oh, but it is! It fits me perfectly if you understand the story! Oh, it’s a wonderful story about good machines and bad machines. The good machines are so marvelous and defeat the bad machines and earn love from humanity!” she burbled.
He stared at the death’s head with its magma colored eyes that seemed to burn with malevolence. “I still do not understand what happened to your other body?”
“It alarmed people! They were afraid of me and I didn’t want that!” she informed him.
“And you think this form will not alarm them?” Khoth kept his voice neutral even as his gaze flickered over the steel limbs capable of crushing a human under its metal heel or the claw-like hands that could rip out a tender human heart.
He couldn’t imagine under any circumstances that humans would not be alarmed--if not terrified--by a grim looking, metal skeleton with flaming eyes.
“Oh, yes! You see in the movies the Terminator ended up being the good guy, like I said! He took care of John and Sarah Connor and--Jace! What do you think about my new body?” Gehenna asked with evident expectations of delight as Jace came up behind Khoth.
Jace got out a choked laugh. “The Terminator, huh? Well, uhm, that’s an interesting choice. I did wonder what you were going to come up with.”
Khoth’s heart began to beat faster at the sound of Jace’s voice. He felt the warmth of Jace’s body as the young man slipped around him into the hallway so that they could stand side by side admiring Gehenna’s current form. His cheeks blued and his heart thudded quickly in his chest at Jace’s renewed nearness.
I must get a hold of myself, Khoth told himself. We are to be colleagues. Friends. That is all.
Khoth curled his fingers towards his palms and dug his nails into the soft flesh there to anchor himself.
