The thought of Orin being forced to navigate Core paperwork on his own after Aristotle was reunited with Theo kept haunting him. He could not push it from his mind.
Orin’s face twisted into a smirking mask, one broad thumb reaching up to pull suggestively at his full bottom lip. “Here I thought I’ve been teaching you all kinds of skills. Didn’t know I should’ve been angling for a trade.”
Something hardened in his eyes as he looked at Ari, something brittle and sharp, glinting like glass. Ari tread carefully around it.
“I would like to exchange navigational skills. I could teach you to navigate the written word, and you could teach me to navigate the stars. At the most basic level, of course. I realize that I could never hope to achieve your level of piloting skill.”
The glass slid away as Orin blinked slowly at him. His lips twitched before settling into a thoughtful frown. One long index finger came up to trace the edge of the open page with surprising delicacy. He leaned forward to hunch over the book, leaving Ari staring at the top of his head. His voice was soft but lined with gravel, all traces of arrogance abandoned.
“I won’t be any good at it.”
Ari sniffed dismissively, spinning the book around to face Orin properly.
“I shall be the judge of that.”
*
The noise volume of the next establishment was nearly as overwhelming as the stench of the last one, the heavy beat of synth music battering Ari’s ears before they had even entered the swinging doors.
He simply could not understand how anyone could enjoy themselves when one was unable to hear oneself think.
Orin wrapped his arm around Ari’s waist, pulling him tight to his side as he led them through the writhing throng of bodies crowding the floor, all moving together in time to the pulsating rhythm hammering a dull ache in Ari’s head.
An unfamiliar hand snaked around his waist from the other side, squeezing his hip as Orin shoved through the tightly packed couples ahead of them. Ari checked over his shoulder in fear, but no one was there.
It took several minutes before they finally broke through to the other side, the music still blaring but not quite as overwhelming as it had been on the dance floor.
Orin shouldered a visibly inebriated man aside to push Ari into the corner and pulled a chair over for him. Ari sat gingerly, trying not to touch the crusty metal arms with his hands. Orin grabbed onto them without a thought as he leaned in, lips moving against the shell of Ari’s ear as he pressed in close enough to be heard.
“You don’t let nobody bring you a drink, you don’t take nothing the server didn’t give you directly, you hear me?”
Ari nodded, throat closing against the thought of attempting to shout back over the music.
Orin squeezed his shoulder. “Good. Now you wait right here. I spotted our singer when we were walking in. I’ll be back in two shakes.”
Ari watched him dive back into the crowd, head visible above the dancers as he waded through without an ounce of hesitation.
Ari twisted his hands in his lap, fighting back the nonsensical feeling of missing him already. It was ridiculous. The man had practically spent all night and day beside him. All the same, Ari couldn’t shake the feeling. He didn’t want to be apart from Orin; he missed standing beside him, holding him, feeling him above and inside him. It was like an addiction.
Absolutely ridiculous, to crave such a connection at all times like this. Ari blanched at the sudden thought that he might be a natural-born, round-heeled slut, that having had a taste of it, he’d flop on his back for any man who asked him.
He scanned the room surreptitiously, picking out a few men among the strangers in the crowd who could be considered attractive. There, big and broad and corded with muscle, inoffensive face, even a few scars for interest. Or that one, handsome face and wide shoulders, long-fingered hand gripping his drink like a lifeline. Or even him, with wide blue eyes and hair like spun gold, hips gyrating to the music.
To his relief, Ari felt not the slightest inclination to bed any of these men.
Orin glanced over at him above the crowd with a little smile and, oh.
Perhaps he was just an extremely focused round-heeled slut.
Ari decided he could live with that.
His thoughts were interrupted by the blond man he’d had just been considering. The man leaned in far too closely, sweaty face brushing against Ari’s jaw as he shouted in his ear.
“Can I buy you a drink?”
Ari backed away as far as he could, shaking his head vehemently.
The man slid onto the badly stained chair across from Ari, laying a hand on his arm as he continued to shout, “Well, then, why don’t I just keep you company for a spell?”
Ari shouted his refusal over the music, but the man gave no indication of having heard him. He leaned in too close again, hand extended for Ari to shake.
“Name’s Randy, nice to meet you.”
As Ari reluctantly accepted the handshake, Randy’s other hand slithered up the inside of Ari’s thigh, stopping with a sickening squeeze inches from his crotch. Ari yelped as he cringed back with disgust, struggling to free his hand from Randy’s grip, pushing the other hand away forcefully.
Randy’s smile was sharp around the edges, white teeth gleaming in the multicolored lights bouncing off the dance floor. “Not from around here, are you?”
Ari declined to answer, contorting himself out of the boxed-in chair and shoving his way into the crowd in search of Orin.
Bodies knocked into him from every side, the scent of sweat and perfume thick in his throat. Strange hands touched and squeezed and pinched as Ari grew increasingly frantic, struggling across the floor.
He finally spotted Orin with a sigh of relief and made his way over until he could see him clearly. Ari stood frozen in shock as he watched Orin move together with a strange man on the dance floor.
The stranger was fine-boned and handsome, long elegant arms exposed by rolled-up sleeves as he wound them around Orin’s neck. Ari couldn’t help noticing the practiced movement of Orin’s hands as they moved over the stranger’s hips, pressing him close. Orin nuzzled his face into the stranger’s neck, lips moving against his skin as Ari’s heart dropped to the floor, pummeled beneath the dancing feet of everyone around him.
Orin lifted his head and caught sight of Ari, his whole body stilling for a moment before he looked back down at the stranger with a laugh, allowing him to move the hair out of his face with a caressing hand.
Ari was jolted into motion, moving resolutely toward the exit even as he was buffeted about by the dancers. Someone grabbed at his backside, but Ari just kept moving, wiping the sweat from his eyes with his sleeve.
It was a good deal of sweat.
The establishment was overheated, that was all.
Ari pushed out into the relatively fresh air with a stifled gasp and leaned against the dented wall. He took a few moments to gather himself before walking off in the direction of the docks, scrupulously avoiding brushing shoulders with the nighttime crowds spilling out into the settlement’s streets.
Ari had reached the dock and was heading for his ship when he heard Orin calling. He tilted his head over his shoulder to see Orin approaching at a long-legged trot, sleeves rolled up and shirt unbuttoned to the waist. Ari turned back and increased his pace.
Orin caught up with him regardless, wiping his brow as he snagged Ari’s shoulder. “Green looks good on you, Red.”