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“Yes, and no matter what, you have done what you can for her and for everyone here, Jace,” Dr. Isa told him. “Now let us enjoy our last night on Earth.”

Gravity

“So you’re not going to leave me on my own for the rest of the night, huh?” Jace grinned up at them as they mingled with the crew.

“No,” Khoth answered and handed Jace another cup of water to drink from. “Your blood sugar may be low. You’ve hardly eaten. We need to--”

“I’m fine, Khoth,” Jace answered patiently despite interrupting him.

Jace had been answering some form of this question from him though over a dozen times so anyone’s patience would be tested. Yet Jace seemed to understand it came out of a good place.

“Dr. Isa has my same concerns.” Khoth nodded at the ship’s doctor who was speaking to a knot of several science officers. She nodded back.

“She’s not hovering,” Jace pointed out as he dutifully drank the water.

“She is watching quite closely and is within striking distance at all times. I do not believe you have not noticed this,” Khoth pointed out.

Jace sighed. “I’ve noticed. She is wasting her time. She needs to enjoy the night. As do you.”

“I am enjoying it. I am with you,” Khoth told him, and felt a faint blush blue his cheeks. “What better place to be than by my Pilot’s side? Do you not wish me… near?”

Jace let out a sound and bumped his shoulder against Khoth’s. “You have no idea--no idea--how hard it is not to hug you, kiss you, cuddle against you.”

Khoth smiled. “Yes.”

“You recognize how hard it is for me not to touch you?” Jace let out a chuckle.

“Yes.” Khoth smiled broader.

“But you’re, of course, not struggling with that at all? Because you’re superior?” Jace’s eyes were sparkling with barely suppressed mirth.

“You will never let me forget that, will you?”

“I believe I told you that no, never will I forget that.” Jace laughed. “But it’s only funny because there's more than a bit of truth in it.”

Khoth was not so sure himself as he met more and more humans like Dr. Isa and Matias. He had just been about to hold Chili when Jace had his attack. Now, he could not risk being distracted by the pig. Jace needed his full attention. Perhaps someone truly superior would be able to do more than one thing, but Jace was too important to risk.

“Hmmmm,” Khoth said noncommittally. “More water?”

“I’m good. Really.” Jace smiled at him. That smile dimmed a little. “Timmy and Danny--the two boys who died… were killed by the Khul--were in the store that morning. I caught them stealing. They weren’t the nicest kids. They were sort of jerks actually. And I got one over on them.”

Jace let out a mirthless huff of air.

“It was just one battle in the long war with them though, because I knew they would be back, you know?” Jace continued. “And maybe next time they’d win. Or I’d keep catching them. But they would be back.”

Khoth began to understand that the death of those two children was more than what it seemed on the surface. As shocking and horrible as their deaths were in a vacuum, these were tied into the warp and weft of Jace’s old life. Not only was that old life gone, but parts of it were never going to be coming back

“I wish I could even imagine them trying to steal from the next clerk, but I’m not even sure if Walter will reopen the store. Maybe he’ll even leave Sunrise,” Jace sighed.

Walter had come up to them right after Sami had left. He had a kind face and gentle eyes that had softened when he’d looked at Jace. He’d warmly clasped Jace’s hands in his. Jace had turned the hand clasp into a hug.

“You’re making me nervous, Walter, like you’re going to salute me or something,” Jace had laughed as he’d embraced the older human.

“Isn’t that what I should be doing? You’re the Pilot,” Walter answered as he pulled back and gazed at Jace with a touch of awe. “You look like you, but so different.”

Jace self-consciously ran a hand through his dark brown hair. “Yeah, but everything looks different from up here.”

Walter hadn’t been told about exactly what had happened to Jace. But he had been there when Jace had brought down Metal Rain. So he had clearly put two and two together now that he knew Jace was controlling the ship.