She motioned towards his holoblock. “We’ll want to bring these up first, though. I don’t think we’ll end up back down here… after…”
Lee arced a brow curiously. She was aware of how this looked, and aware of the late hour.
“You’ll see,” she promised, grinning to herself. Fate sure had an interesting sense of humor.
A dozen or so minutes later, she led Lee quietly by the hand, down through the dimmed and darkened Heptagon. She only let go of his hand when they reached the starboard doors of the Spectrum.
She shook her head when he reached for the panel covering the wires. “Not this time—they’re already down.”
He raised his eyebrow further up his forehead. “RIMs again?” He guessed.
“Nope.” She let her lips pop on the “p.” Then, grabbing his hand again, she pulled him after her into the darkened stands of the Blackout Galaxy.
“So you remember weeks and weeks ago, when you gave me my present?”
“The star flower?” he asked. The mention of his little nickname for her sent glittered pricks up her spine. “That was months ago,” he breathed.
“Yeah, well, it took me a little while to source a provider…”
“A provider...” he began, but fell silent when Kat again dragged him down towards a figure near the base of the stands. Kat recognized the cadet, a blond-haired Ultra looking to make a little extra pocket change.
“Well,” they demanded, glancing uneasily between her and Lee. Of course, the cadet recognized them as well; Kat would have been irritated had it been otherwise.
Kat rolled her eyes, but extended her hyperband to make the exchange. Once the funds had been transferred, the cadetopened up the drawstrings on a dark bag and tipped a small cubic tin into Kat’s outstretched palms.
Shooting the two of them one more anxious glance, the cadet slipped back off into the dark, leaving Kat to inspect the label on the bottom. “It seems like we got the right one.” Snapping the lid loose, she held the tin out for Lee. “Chocolate?”
“Chocolate, wait, you got us—” Lee leaned over the tin. She could tell the moment he realized the nature of the luxury treat she was offering him.
Sucking in a breath and biting his lip, Lee dug out a morsel. There was such a look of elation, of giddiness and boyishness, on his face as he brought it up to his lips, she couldn’t stifle her laugh.
“You’re welcome.” She grinned, still breathless as he savored that initial bite of bitterness, the dark percentage of chocolate that would very momentarily melt into an inebriation of complex tasting notes.
“Are you going to try some?” Lee asked. She could already smell the chocolate on him.
Kat just laughed. “This is mostly for you. I never liked them as much as you did.”
“Oh, come on. It’s been years. I didn’t even know they sold them outside that one sweet shop in the Lehibro?”
“I’m not sure they do, either.” She grinned. Chocolate and a show in the city. She’d never forget that trip with him and Tonya.
He didn’t have to do much to sway her as she allowed Lee to drop one of the smaller morsels onto her tongue.
She cringed as the bitterness swept in—yep, she still didn’t like them. But she had to admit the moment the concentrated liquor concoction set in, it wasn’t all that bad. Sort of cut the bitter taste in half.
When she swallowed, she found Lee still grinning at her, his eyes twinkling in the starlight that streamed in through the highwindows. A twinkling that probably had quite a bit to do with the sweets he’d just devoured.
“I don’t even know what to say,” he said, with that goofy smile still on his face.
“Then kiss me, you dork.” And to that, he submitted.
CHAPTER 42: LEE
A JARRING pain was the first thing that Lee noticed the next morning when he met consciousness. Grappling for the chunk of government plastic prodding his back, Lee shoved his holoblock against the wall as he stretched out his back, now pain-free. He’d slept at odd angles before, but this one may take the prize.
He propped his head up onto his hand as he glanced over at Kat’s slumped form. She didn’t have it too bad—aside from where her cheek pressed into his headboard. He was already regretting falling asleep in his all-terrain suit. He couldn’t say at what point of the night they’d passed out. But the slats there would definitely be leaving a mark…
He shifted once more to make himself comfortable, and she sighed. Stretching her toes downward in her sleep, she twisted her head towards him.
