“This place is different from the others,” Levi said. He kept his voice casual, conversational, like he was working through an idea rather than building toward something. “The sanitarium was a trap that actively tried to kill us...but this place? The ship isn’t hunting us. The creatures are.”
Asher remained quiet behind him, his hand stilling on Levi’s hip.
“If we got rid of the creatures,” Levi continued, “this place would just be... a place. Rooms. Food. Systems that work.” His thumb traced the edge of the mattress. “We could learn how to do our roles. Eventually. We’d have time.”
“Time for what?”
“To be together.” Levi let the words land. “Without something trying to eat us or crush us or kill us every five minutes. We could just... be here. You and me.”
“You’d want that?” Asher’s hand flattened against Levi’s stomach, fingers spread wide pressing in like he needed to make sure Levi was still there.“You want to stay here with me?”
“If it was safe.” Levi’s chest tightened with the lie, or with the part that wasn’t a lie — he couldn’t tell anymore, the line between strategy and honesty had become so blurred that when he saidtogether, he heard it in his own voice and it sounded real, because part of it was. “If the creatures were gone and we could just live here. Yes.”
Asher’s face pressed into Levi’s hair and he let out an exhale that shook, just slightly, before it steadied. His lips moved against Levi’s scalp, not kissing, just pressed there, and Levi could feel the shape of words Asher wasn’t saying. “Together. You and me.”
“Together,” Levi whispered. He turned his head to kiss him, to seal a deal and to feel Asher’s mouth on his, because maybe if he kissed Asher, this moment could last. Maybe he couldmakeAsher remember being a person out there. Maybe he could make Asher want to leave.
The alarm tore the moment apart.
Full klaxon, the overhead lights switching from dim yellow to red, the pulse of it hitting the room as an automated voice rang out over a speaker:Warning: containment breach. Purge protocol authorized for compromised zones. All personnel report to emergency stations.
Asher’s arm locked around Levi’s waist. “Stay.”
“Asher—”
“Let them handle it. We stay here.” His grip tightened.
Levi pushed at Asher’s arm, managing to half sit up as the aches in his body objected to every part of sitting up. “We get rid of them,” he said. “That’s what we just talked about. We get rid of the creatures and then this place is ours.”
Asher looked up at him from the pillow. The alarm light washing red across his face, his eyes bright as that pout seemed to form on his face again.
“And then,” Levi said, and he didn’t know where this came from — strategy or honesty or the recklessness of someone who had just slept for the first time in days, “you find wherever the cafeteria is and you take me on a date.”
“A date?” Asher’s eyes widened.
“My first one. So it better be good.”
“Your first—” He bolted up. The alarm kept screaming and the ship was doing whatever it did during a breach and the expression on Asher’s face was something Levi had never seen on anyone, in any scenario, in any loop — joy so undiluted it looked almost violent. “You’ve never been on a date?”
“No.”
“I’m going to be your first date?”
“If we can get rid of the creatures…yes.”
Asher was already off the bunk and rushing to grab their clothes from the desk. He tossed Levi’s jumpsuit at him without looking. “Get dressed,” he grinned as he pulled on his pants, completely forgoing the boxers. “I’m taking you on a date, baby.”
Levi tried to dress quickly, but he was flustered, both by having Asher watch him dress, the alarm, and the fact Asher wassomehow already armed, dressed, and vibrating at the doorframe.Please let this work. We can make this work. Play the game. We get back to the void and I’ll make him hold onto me.
“You ready?” Asher asked as Levi finished pulling on his boots. Levi just nodded and grabbed the gun off the desk, slipping it back into his pocket. “Let’s go kill some monsters.”
He loves me,Levi thought as the door opened to a cacophony of sound and chaos, nameless NPCs running about and shouting orders. Asher grabbed his hand, still grinning like a madman.He really does love me.
I’m fucked.
9
Rumble Pack
