Gazrael finished screwing the droid back together, his focus on the task at hand. Nearby, Leonia sat with her cracked mirror propped up on the table, her fingers drifting over her makeup palette. She held up a shade of red, tilting it toward the light.

  “What do you think of this color, darling?” she asked, her voice dripping with theatrical flair.

  Gazrael glanced over and shrugged. “It looks… red.”

  Leonia rolled her eyes. Of course it’s red, you idiot. She thought. “Okay, but how do you think it would match my eyes?”

  “Ohhh… uh… it wouldn’t.” He wasn’t actually sure, but he figured that was a safer bet than encouraging her.

  Leonia scowled, her fingers hovering over a slightly darker shade of red. “What about this one?”

  “It’s… still red?” His voice wavered, unsure of what answer she wanted.

  She sighed, exasperated. “How do you think it would match this?” She gestured broadly to her face.

  Gazrael hesitated. Her pale skin could probably pull off any shade of red, but her violet eyes and black hair complicated things. Why is she making this so difficult? He thought. “Wouldn’t it be easier to just match with black and violet? I mean, your eyes are violet, your hair is black, and you dress in all black.”

  Leonia waved her hand dismissively. “It’s not about what’s easy, darling. It’s about art.”

  “Ohhh… of course, it’s about art. Silly me.” He made a sarcastic facepalm motion.

  “Yes, it’s about art.” She slid a finger down her pale skin, her movement slow and deliberate, as if to emphasize her point. “Could you imagine a better canvas to unleash an artist’s vision than this?”

  Gazrael shrugged, unfazed. “I mean, I’m pretty sure an actual canvas would be better. That’s what they’re for.”

  Her face twisted into an annoyed scowl, and she picked up her mirror, using it to block him from her sight. God forbid he say something sweet to me when I give him such an easy opportunity.

  “Okay, well, is the art gonna help me load this thing into the launch tube, or are you going to help with that?” he asked, testing the weight of the droid. It was heavier than he’d like, but he could manage it alone if he had to—though it wouldn’t be pleasant.

  Leonia flashed her shiny black nails as if that alone were a sufficient reason to refuse. “There’s a dolly over there,” she said, gesturing to the side of the hangar bay.

  Gazrael turned and spotted the wiry little contraption. It wasn’t a simple dolly; it had levers and cranks, like some bastardized hybrid of a dolly and a forklift. His face twisted in disgust. “Are those wheels?”

  Leonia smirked. “Oh, darling, a machine like that doesn’t need repulsorlift tech.” She muttered under her breath, barely audibly, “Not that Garrett’s cheap ass would pay for a repulsorlift dolly anyway.”

  Gazrael rolled the dolly over to the probe droid and slid the base underneath it. He stared at the series of levers and cranks, unsure which one to pull. “Which of these do I pull to lift it?”

  “Ah, darling, you just pull the…” Leonia got up and approached the dolly, examining it. She tried to remember the one time Jerec had shown her how it worked—though she’d been more focused on combing her hair at the time. “You pull up… that one?” She cranked the lever, but the base of the dolly separated into two plates without lifting. “Oh… that’s not right.”

  Gazrael’s voice took on a teasing tone. “Oh, cargo girl doesn’t know how to handle a cargo dolly, huh?”

  Despite his teasing, Leonia’s face flushed red with embarrassment. How dare he mock me! “Shut up… it’s… it’s this one.” She tried another lever, but the dolly only clenched up, the plate still refusing to rise. Her embarrassment deepened, her face turning purple. “We don’t need a dolly. We can just lift it.”

  “What about your nails?” he continued, his tone still teasing. But he placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry, Starlight. I’ll handle it.”

  That was when the door to the hangar bay hissed open, interrupting them.

  “WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU TWO?”

  Leonia shot up from the dolly, her face instantly shifting to smug pride as she turned to face So-mi. “Oh, Captain, whatever do you mean?”

  “TAKING THINGS THAT AREN’T YOURS! GOING PLACES WHERE YOU DON’T BELONG!” So-mi stormed toward them, stopping about six feet away, her anger palpable.

  Leonia checked her nails dismissively. “Oh, Captain, that really doesn’t narrow it down. I do both of those things so often.”

  “Don’t tell her th—” Gazrael pleaded, but Leonia cut him off.

  “MY DIARY!” So-mi looked like she was about to lunge at Leonia, prompting Gazrael to step between the two women.

  Leonia smirked. “OHHH, THAT. Well, So-mi, an engineering bay is hardly a good place to keep such confidential reading material.”

  “READING MATERIAL?!” So-mi tried to reach around Gazrael, but Leonia stepped back, repositioning herself behind him. Perfect, Leonia thought, smirking at how effective Gazrael was as a human shield.

  “Now, Captain,” Leonia said, her voice dripping with mockery. “How was I supposed to know that unmarked book was your diary? You have private quarters for that. An engineering bay is hardly the place to keep a private diary.”

  “IT’S NOT A BAD PLACE TO KEEP IT IF I’M THE ONLY ONE WHO GOES IN THERE!”

  Leonia’s tone turned condescending as she put her hands on her hips. “If you’re the only one who goes in there, then how do you explain me getting it?”

  “DON’T TRY BEING SMART WITH ME!” So-mi shoved Gazrael aside abruptly, closing in on Leonia. But instead of looking intimidated, Leonia met her gaze with defiant indignance. She never backs down, Gazrael thought, stepping between them again.

  Leonia grabbed him, trying to push him aside. “Don’t worry, darling. So-mi isn’t going to try anything.” Her eyes dared So-mi to prove her wrong.

  The tension hung in the air for a moment before So-mi finally turned and stormed out of the hangar bay, before pausing at the door. Leonia smirked, returning her attention to the dolly. She tried another lever, and this time, the plate rose. Triumph flashed across her face as she presented it to Gazrael with a dramatic wave of her hands. “I think you owe cargo girl an apology.”

  Gazrael turned his attention away from So-mi’s exit, missing the moment the dolly lifted. “Wha— Oh, right. Good job, Starlight.” The door hissed shut behind him as So-mi left.

  Leonia’s upper lip twitched with jealousy. He wasn’t even paying attention to me. I was doing this for him, and he’s still thinking about her? She tried to reassure herself. No, I’m his Starlight. He doesn’t love her. He loves me. But the thoughts weren’t enough to stop the venom from spilling out. “Stop paying attention to her.”

  “I’m not. She’s gone. I was just talking to you.” He folded his arms. “Don’t start getting jealous on me. It’s not a cute way to act.”

  Leonia’s eye twitched. He dares to tell me what’s cute? After he paid attention to her over me? After he compared me to a piece of canvas? “Oh, I’m not cute enough for you now?” She grabbed her makeup case, her grip tight enough to snap it. “I’ll show you what fucking cute looks like.”

  She was spiraling now, her jealousy blossoming into a grand conspiracy in her mind. He must despise me. He’s using me as a pawn in his rivalry with Garrett. No, worse—he’s going to offer me as a sacrifice to So-mi after their mutiny. She couldn’t string together the evidence, but she was certain it was true. I’ll show him. I’m not just a pawn. I’m his Starlight, the best thing that ever happened to him, and he’ll start treating me like it.

  She pushed her entire finger into her palette, preparing to paint her eyelids violet by hand. “You want violet and black? I’ll SHOW you violet and black.”

  Gazrael reached out, trying to calm her. What the hell has gotten in to you? He thought. “Leonia, it’s fine. You look gre—”

  She pulled back defensively, her tone shifting from anger to hurt. What if I’m just a pawn? What if he doesn’t love me at all? Her inner monologue was anything but restrained. “Is it pink hair? Is that what you want? You want bubblegum pink like So-mi?”

  Gazrael restrained his exasperation, knowing it would only make her spiral further. How does she even come up with this stuff? “No, I like the silver and black. It catches the light well, makes you shine brighter than the galactic plate.”

  She paused, her grip on the makeup case loosening slightly. Of course. I’m his Starlight. I shine brighter than her. But the doubt lingered. What if I’m still just a pawn in his game against Garrett?

  He could see the frantic flash in her eyes and knew he hadn’t fully mended her ego. “You’re my little shining Starlight. Brighter than any star in the night sky, and more vibrant than any flower the galaxy could muster.” He searched for more lines, remembering her earlier remarks about art and being a canvas. “Your flesh is a tapestry, carefully woven into humanity’s magnum opus, the pinnacle artistic creation of a thousand artists to make the perfect beauty.”

  He cringed internally at the word choice of “flesh,” but Leonia didn’t seem to notice. She muttered almost breathlessly, her voice infatuated. “I’m your little Starlight… the pinnacle…”

  With that, she launched herself at him, leaping into his chest with enough force to nearly knock him over. Her legs wrapped around him, and her lips met his in a sudden, painful kiss. The force split her lip, the taste of blood seeping into her mouth. This is it. This is how we bond—in blood.

  She deepened the kiss, her tongue pushing into his mouth, mingling their blood. When she bit his lip, he jerked back in pain, but her legs kept her anchored to him. Now we’re truly connected, she thought, her mind rewriting the past few moments to absolve him of all blame. He loves me. He always has. I’m his queen, his Starlight. Nothing else matters.

  He didn't push her away, would have been hard too with her wrapped around him, he accepted her kiss and reciprocated, even as the pain of her biting his lip shot through him. But that didn't stop the question in his thoughts. What the hell is happening anymore?

  **********

  The air on the bridge was tense. Blender couldn’t catch Blitzer in the act of staring at her, but she knew every time she turned her attention away, his eyes snapped right back onto her, digging into her core where they threatened to wrap around her bones and pull them painfully out.

  Unfortunately for her, while he wouldn’t let her catch him looking, he absolutely would not stop trying to talk to her—and to reask the same questions over and over again.

  “I just… I don’t get how you could do that to me.” His voice was equal parts angry and hurt.

  “Do what to you?” The question was quick and quippy. It was genuine. What exactly does he think I’ve done to him? She thought.

  He turned his head as if he was going to look at her but stopped halfway through the motion. “You knew I liked her.”

  Blender rolled her eyes. “Yeah, and when you asked me if you had a shot, I said no, didn’t I?”

  “Oh, and you didn’t bother telling me why you said no? It didn’t occur to you to say, ‘Oh, Blitzer, actually, I’m trying to finger your crush’?”

  “Stop being so fucking crude about it.” She glared at him, daring him to challenge her gaze. “Has it occurred to you that maybe I’m not just trying to ‘finger her’? That maybe, just maybe, I actually fucking like her for who she is? So tell me again, what did I do to you?”

  He huffed before meeting her gaze. “I was going to ask her out.”

  “And now you know she would have said no.” Blender countered. “What’s the problem?”

  “Oh, sorry. When I was thinking about asking her out, I didn’t think my own sister would sabotage me.”

  “Sabotage you? Sabotage you?” Her voice was racked with disbelief.

  “Yes, Sarah, sabotage. If you would just—”

  “If I would just what?” She stood up from her piloting seat. “Go ahead, tell me what.”

  Now Blitzer looked at her, choking up as he tried to find the right words. “If you would have just… just… tried to…”

  “Oh, thrilling. I’ll jot that down.” She dragged her hand across the air, pantomiming writing something down in invisible notes. “Blitzer would like me to just… just… try to…”

  Blitzer turned red from being mocked and turned away, his way of terminating the conversation. But Blender wasn’t done. “I didn’t wake up one morning and dedicate myself to ‘winning’ So-mi, okay? It just happened. I didn’t exactly expect it either. Why she ended up writing about me in her diary is as much your guess as it is mine. You don’t fucking own her just because you like her. She can have feelings for whoever she wants.”

  Blitzer huffed indignantly. “Well, try to think about this from my perspec—”

  Blender’s anger turned into an almost manic giggle. “Sure thing. I’ll think about it from the perspective of Blitzer. Here, let me get started.” She paused, putting her finger to her chin, pretending to think. “Hmm, I’m Blitzer. I’ve never successfully talked to a woman in my life before and have been repeatedly giggled at by So-mi when I try to hit on her. Also, I spent hours arguing with her and second-guessing her intuition. I, Blitzer, am very confused about why she doesn’t like me.”

  “Oh, sorry for never successfully talking to a woman before. Sorry for daring to think maybe, just once, I might be able to feel a little happiness. Sorry I don’t have the same romantic history as you.”

  Blender glared before she continued. “Let me pretend that I’m Blitzer, the coward who didn’t fly at Endor, who let my friends get blasted out of the sky without being there for them.”

  Blitzer snarled back at her. “Don’t you dare fucking bring that back up.”

  If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

  “Oh, why not? You sat there once and watched as my love life was ripped apart. And now you’re mad you can’t just impose yourself and do it again.” She started storming toward the door, hitting the controls to have it hiss open.

  “That’s not fucking fair, Sarah. You can’t fucking blame me for your boyfriend getting himself killed.”

  She turned and yelled. “I’M NOT TRYING TO BE FAIR, JACKASS!”

  She stepped out, and the door hissed shut behind her. “It’s not fucking fair of you to be mad at me because So-mi writes about me in her diary.”

  She knew he wouldn’t hear that last bit through the door, but there was something relaxing about getting it off her chest, even if it was to an empty room. That’s when her eyes fell on Jerec in the corner, watching her, his mouth agape. He held a spoon, halfway to his lips, some kind of Pantoran sweet treat now dripping onto the floor as his body froze. I wasn’t as alone as I thought, she realized.

  Blender almost yelled at him but took a deep breath. He doesn’t deserve it. He didn’t do anything. She tried to exhale as much anger as she could. “How much of that did you catch?”

  He shook his head before responding. “You were yelling that you weren’t trying to be fair and something about So-mi.”

  “Did you want the full context?”

  He shook his head dismissively. “Not really.”

  A small smirk came to her face. If everyone minded their own business, especially Leonia, the way Jerec does, none of this would have happened in the first place. “That’s good. I didn’t really want to tell you anyway.”

  She stepped over to the counters and started rummaging through for her favorite flavor of ration bars. She was partial to the eri-berries flavor, though she had a suspicion that Leonia did too and had stashed them all in her room shortly after departure. Instead, she found herself settling on Jogan fruit-flavored ration bars. Ripping open the wrapper, she realized Jerec was still standing there awkwardly, watching her, curiosity sketched across his face. She tried to hide the annoyance from her voice as she asked, “Why are you staring at me?”

  Jerec gulped, catching himself, and looked away. “Sorry. I’m just remembering something Blitzer told me earlier.”

  Blender exhaled some frustration. I don’t exactly want to spend more time thinking about Blitzer, but I also don’t want Jerec staring at me while I eat lunch. “Oh yeah? What did he tell you?”

  Jerec shuffled awkwardly in place for a moment. “Well, he said that your real name is Sara, not Blender.”

  Blender rolled her eyes. “I was not born under the name Blender Oneya. I was named Sara Oneya at birth… but no, Sara isn’t my ‘real name.’ Blender is.”

  Jerec looked visibly confused by the answer. “So Sara isn’t your name?”

  Blender sighed. “I don’t identify as Sara. I identify as Blender. I respond to Blender, and when I refer to myself, I refer to myself as Blender. I’m Blender. Just call me Blender. It’s what you were introduced to me as anyway.”

  Jerec took another bite of his sweet treat. “So why did you choose Blender?”

  Blender shrugged. “It’s what I was called back in the Rebellion. They called me Blender. A lot of people used aliases like that instead of their legal names.” She stopped and gave him a small smile before putting down her ration bar, opening the cupboards, and pulling out a cup. She rummaged around, finding various liquid drinks—some alcoholic, some not—before pouring them into the glass and making an improvised cocktail. Finally, as the large glass was filled, she covered the top with her hand and shook it up. Stepping across the room, she offered the cocktail to him. “And that’s why the Rebels called me Blender.”

  Jerec set his spoon aside on the table and took the drink, sipping it. His face winced almost immediately.

  Blender smirked. “Not a fan, huh?”

  He shook his head no and handed the drink back to her. She took a sip, the taste of alcohol and a strong tart flavor flooding her mouth. She made a dissatisfied face before setting it down on the table and wiping her mouth. “I don’t blame you. Not my best… not a lot of sweet drinks on board, though, so not much to work with.”

  Jerec looked at the drink on the table with strong disgust before looking back at her. “So that’s why they called you Blender?”

  “Because I usually made the drinks and had a tendency to blend them.”

  Jerec looked at the floor. “Did you like being in the Rebellion?”

  Blender stopped to consider the question, sorting through her memories, thinking of heroic war stories to tell. But the truth was, there wasn’t much to tell. I was never a hero. “No. I found it to be pretty boring.”

  Jerec’s face deflated. Clearly, he wanted to hear a story, she thought. But she really couldn’t give him anything exciting. Still, she could tell him her story anyway. “Blitzer and I signed up just before the Empire blew up Alderaan. We were 13, so the Rebels didn’t have us doing much actual fighting. We were teenagers who knew how to fly and had an old civilian liner that we stole from an impound lot, so they mostly had us do small-scale supply runs and smuggling. It wasn’t exciting work. We stuck to the Outer Rim, where there wasn’t much Imperial presence.”

  Jerec’s eyes lit up a bit as she mentioned smuggling. “What kind of stuff did you smuggle?”

  Blender’s eyes briefly glazed over with memories, making her take a moment to answer. Night after night of Moorja boys handing us medicine. I never asked how they obtained it—was never sure I wanted to know. She and Blitzer would quickly tag the crate with the Rebellion symbol using spray paint, fly close to a random town in the Moorja system at the dead of night, and just leave the crate for someone to find. “Medicine, mostly. Occasionally blasters. Nothing big—sidearms and stuff like that, to arm small cells. But mostly medicine. The boys who ran the Moorjan Rebel cell were convinced that charity would strengthen the Rebellion by appealing to the masses. So they’d acquire medicine and hand it off to us to deliver to towns at the pitch of night for townsfolk to find in the morning. Very boring work, but I learned how to tag crates with the Rebel symbol pretty well.” She shrugged. “Is that the kind of war story you were hoping for?”

  Jerec beamed, which caught her off guard. Most people prefer war stories about facing off against stormtrooper legions and being in the thick of space battles, she thought. But Jerec was different, she guessed. He was more gentle inside than his rough, brutish physical appearance would ever suggest. His eyes seemed to gloss over a little. “So you guys must have helped a lot of people, then?”

  “Yeah… I guess we did. That was the point, after all. Help the people, and then the people would help the Rebellion.” She picked up the drink again, cradling it, and then sipped it. The tart flavor mixed with the burning alcohol almost made her gag, but she forced it down.

  He smiled contentedly for a moment before he frowned. “I was never brave enough to join the Rebellion.”

  Blender shrugged, unsure whether to put the drink back down or keep muscling it down. “I wouldn’t have if Blitzer hadn’t dragged me along with him to join.”

  Jerec glanced away awkwardly, unsure of his next question but proceeding to ask it anyway. “So why did you leave?”

  Blender exhaled before answering. Perhaps Jerec doesn’t mind his own business as much as I originally gave him credit for, she thought. And she wasn’t exactly glad to be trudging through her memories, especially the ones from the end of her Rebel service—the memory of being cast out unceremoniously, of sitting there as a droid recited name after name of friends who had died in those final months. Not friends, she corrected herself. Just other Rebels I came to know over the four years of my service. But the closest thing I really had to friends since I turned 12. “We didn’t leave. We were left behind.”

  Jerec furrowed his brows. “Left behind?”

  Blender nodded. “Endor happened. The Emperor died. The second Death Star was toast. Vader died. The Executor went down. The Imperial fleet broke. Also, the part where they started killing themselves with satellite dishes.”

  She paused for a second. Endor isn’t really my place to tell stories about. I wasn’t there. They had been delivering another medical run when it happened because, with only a single laser cannon on their junker that could barely even handle hyperspace, Blitzer didn’t want to escort the main fleet to Endor. The junker wasn’t a fighting vessel. It had been a miracle it even still flew, he had told the Moorjan boys when they asked for volunteers to escort the main fleet. This should have been Cappy’s story—had Cappy lived, had I been there to save Cappy. There was one less Moorjan boy with Cappy gone. She shook her head to clear her thoughts before she finished answering Jerec.

  “After Endor, the Rebellion became the New Republic. Became a real government with real legitimacy. And being legitimate meant having to clear accusations of using child soldiers and funding itself by illegal operations. Didn’t matter that Blitzer and I were 17—almost 18. Didn’t matter that what we did was mutual aid, not black-market dealing. We were still teenagers, and the New Republic didn’t need us smuggling guns and medicine anymore. So they cut us loose. Called it a favor, but…” She looked around the recreation room with dissatisfaction. “Well, they called it a favor, but I only had three things in my life, and after that, I only had one: a brother I fight with constantly.”

  She pushed the cup to her lips, forcing herself to finish the vile drink. I have to. I’m Blender, and Blender makes the drinks. As the last drops oozed down her throat, she slammed the cup on the table, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. She took a moment to collect herself, making sure she wouldn’t heave the disgusting fluid back up. Her throat burned as she talked. “I’m sorry, Jerec… I don’t really want to keep talking about this.”

  He seemed to nod in acknowledgment. There was respect in his eyes now. I’ve never felt that he disrespected me before, but now it seems he appreciates me in a new way he hadn’t before. Perhaps the first person to have ever respected her military service, as meager as it might seem. She stepped away from the table and began stretching. “If you’ll excuse me now, I haven’t been able to get my exercise routine in today.”

  He nodded in acknowledgment again, finishing his sweet treat before tossing the spoon across the room into a repository for dirty dishes. He had some good aim—the spoon slipped right in with a clattering noise. He nodded to her again, an awkward gesture, but he turned to the elevator and clicked the button, humming as he waited for it to hiss open. Stepping inside, he keyed in the floor level for the barracks the men stayed in. She watched him go as she finished her stretches, about to key in the elevator herself to go to the top floor that Garrett had turned into a storage space where she kept her exercise equipment, but she was interrupted as the door to the rest of the ship hissed open. She turned to see So-mi standing there.

  “Fucking little brat and her deadbeat boyfri-...” So-mi’s angered grumbling ended abruptly as she spotted Blender, her angered face immediately shifting to an embarrassed blush, she spun on her backfoot in place in a desperate escape.

  “Stop, don’t go.” Blender’s voice was anxious, desperate for So-mi to stay.

  So-mi froze in place but didn’t turn back to her still trying to hide the blush that covered her blue face. They both stood locked like that for a moment, So-mi turned away but not leaving, Blender watching her, but waiting for her to turn back around by herself. Blender exhaled and tried to speak with more confidence. “Come back.” The way the words came out sounded less like she was trying to be confident and more like she was issuing orders.

  So-mi slowly shuffled around in place facing her but looking down directly at the floor trying to hide her blushing still, wondering what had happened between when they descended to the Silver Sparrow when she was able to protest Blender coming along with and when they got back, now that she seemed incapable of facing Blender without feeling herself melt into a puddle. She recalled now she hadn’t argued with Blender about taking blender with, she had argued with Garrett, perhaps if she had tried arguing with Blender about it she’d have felt the same way as she did now.

  Blender’s next words also came out sounding like she was issuing an order than that she was trying to sound confident. “Look at me.”

  So-mi exhaled trying to get the blush off her face before looking up at her, with a flash she had went from not wanting to look at Blender to suddenly unable to peel her eyes from her, the way her tanned skin and blonde hair seemed to glow like an angel, her green eyes shining like emeralds, the toned arms and legs that she knew Blender could pick her up with with ease. Being picked up by Blender would feel so lovely, she thought, being lifted up by someone who glowed like an angel and whose skin was soft as silk. She could almost feel it now.

  The silence was awkward as So-mi now instead of trying to avoid looking at Blender seemed utterly captivated by her, lost in her own fantasy and Blender stood waiting for her reply. “So-mi, talk to me.”

  The words seemed to pull So-mi out of her captivated trance, as she shook her head. “Sorry, sorry, sorry, I was just… thinking about the engines.” Did I really just say I was thinking about the engines?

  “Right… the engines, how are the engines?” Blender asked.

  “They're running fine.” Did I really just say that?

  “That’s good when things are running fine.”

  “Yeah, it uh, helps things run smoothly I guess.”

  Blender shook her head a little, a small smile playing on her lips. She was ready to cut the small talk, they were only wasting time. “About the diary, on the bridge…”

  So-mi started blushing, cutting her off. “I'm sorry, I yelled at you, you didn't deserve it”

  Blender's hand waved her concern away. “No, no it's fine, your privacy was invaded, about what the book said, the stars. Becoming stars.”

  So-mi's head started to turn away again, her nerves still getting the best of her, trying to fight her face’s attempt to blush yet again. “Yeah, heheh, becoming stars, what about it?”

  “I want to try it. Travel the stars together, see the galaxy, just us alone in space. Sub spacers just like we are now… just without the… baggage.”

  So-mi looked up at her, meeting her eyes. “You do?”

  Blender tried to make the most natural and charming smile she could in the moment. “I don't think there's anything I could want more.”

  “But what about Blitzer?”

  Blender’s smile cracked ever so slightly. “What about him?”

  So-mi's hands started clenching together anxiously. “Well… you said you’ve never been apart before… always together.”

  Blender paused with uncertainty, at this moment she felt she'd be much happier without him around… but he did manage to stop her impulses from getting her in trouble and after all, wasn't she being impulsive right now rushing to be alone with So-mi so quickly? She refocused on So-mi, the pink hair, the soft blue skin, the yellow eyes, the nervous anxious poet side of So-mi that as far as she knew only she had been acquainted with, everyone else had only met the assertive and snippy mechanic side of So-mi.

  “I can't let Blitzer hold me back from the life I want.” Now it was Blender struggling to meet So-mi's gaze. “He means well, but we're different people with different interests, we can't actually stay attached at the hip forever.”

  Talking about her brother as it turned out was not a way to try and spark a real romance between her So-mi, So-mi couldn't relate to sibling issues and after a few moments of longing stares Blender felt forced to try and spark the tinder a different way. “Maybe you could show me how the hyperdrive wor-”

  She was cut off as So-mi suddenly looked her dead in the eyes. She didn't need to be anxious around Blender, Blender had supported her against the dark atmosphere of the Silver Sparrow, had helped her against Garrett without question, fearlessly intervened in Gazrael and Garrett's brawl, Blender was there for her then and she was here for her now, keeping her safe supporting her. So So-mi felt herself try to be like Blender, try to be tough mechanic turned captain she showed the rest of the crew and fling herself across the room trying to push her lips against Blender’s.

  For a second Blender froze before she melted, her lips parting as she returned the kiss, just in time, as So-mi's moment of bravery broke and her anxiety returned driving her to pull away, but Blender's strong arms wrapped around her holding her in place.

  Maybe it was seconds, maybe it was hours before they finally had broken apart, both lost sense of time, feeling as though they were both floating through space alone together, shining like the star So-mi had written about until they flew to cloud nine. Blender finally loosened her grip but So-mi no longer wanted to retreat and for a moment the awkward uncertainty of the two no longer held them apart from each other but now held them together longer as neither would be the one to pull her partner from cloud nine.

  Finally though their embrace would be broken, not by choice but as the door to the bridge hissed open revealing Blitzer who now looked at them in embrace, pain and jealousy flashing through his eyes as the women broke apart. “Just wanted to let you two know that the second droid is ready for launch.”

  So-mi felt herself melt once more in the persona of the rough mechanic and new captain of the vessel. “Thank you Blitzer, prepare to lau-”

  “No no no no, not yet.” Blender interrupted receiving a confused look from So-mi and a look of jealous disgust from her brother. “It's late… I think we should pull back a bit and sleep on it first, get the full crew fresh.”

  “Oh really Sara, you wanna just take a nap outside the giant murder cloud knowing that something out here has destroyed at least one vessel?” Blitzer responded coldly.

  “And it's going to be out there regardless and we're going to enter the mysterious gas nebula regardless, getting some sleep doesn't change either of those, it just gives us a chance to rest.”

  “Is that what this is about? Resting, or are you just gambling with everyone's lives to spend some time wi-” This time Blitzer was cut off by So-mi.

  “Pipe down both of you.” So-mi paused for a second daring either of the twins to disobey before she continued. “You're both right, we ARE in danger, but we also should REST. I am so fucking tired of all this shouting and violence today.”

  Blitzer and Blender continued eyeing each other, it was unclear which twin would break the silence to speak first. The door behind them hissed open now as Leonia and Gazrael returned from the hangar bay, Leonia clinging to his side like a mollusk and beaming with pride while Gazrael seemed to be attending to some injury on his lip. Leonia's eyes darted to the scene between her and as she seemed to read the tense hostile atmosphere she had walked into, her beaming face turned into a sick smile revealing blood that she had proudly left smattered across her teeth, she knew somehow this was her fault and she was quite proud of how effortlessly she could play them against each other.

  So-mi clenched her fist and felt bile rise in her mouth as she saw Leonia's stupid smug smile and wished she could just slap the bratty little runt of a bitch right there on the spot, but instead through gritted teeth she attempted to speak professionally as the captain. “Great timing, we were just discussing taking a night to rest before launching probe 2, what are your opinions?”

  Gazrael spoke immediately to cut off Leonia before she could speak for both of them. “We should pull back from the cloud a bit first. We have it's coordinates and space is empty, if we override the navi-computer’s safety protocols we could hyperspace to the edge of the galactic plate and then back once we're ready.”

  Leonia beamed up at him, pulling him into a lopsided posture as her embrace pulled on him. “What a great idea darling. If only our captain or pilots had so much common sense.”

  So-mi rolled her eyes at the obvious sarcastic jab at her expense, pretending in the moment that Leonia was just a brain damaged loth-cat that was clinging to Gazrael. “A good idea… Blender, Blitzer make it happen. We launch the next probe in 10 hours.”

  Blender stepped past Blitzer through the door to the bridge to carry out the order, Blitzer stood in place preparing to argue against So-mi but as he looked around he saw the futility of it, it seemed everyone else on board was more eager to spend a night with their romantic partner than act pragmatically.

  Leonia wasted no time dragging Gazrael towards the elevator. “Come darling, we rest together tonight.”

  Gazrael didn't struggle at all walking with Leonia, his longer legs actually reaching the side of the elevator before her smaller legs and she excitedly hit the buttons and stepped inside the elevator, he could hear her humming excitedly, the same song as before. After a few moments the elevator hissed open revealing Leonia's cramped quarters before them, as they stepped out of the elevator Leonia turned to him. “Stay here, I need to get ready.”