Aiden cut in, not in the mood to hear about the Blank Slate or her surprise relationship with the gunner. “Should I have the ship's computer play a sad song while you recount your tragic tale?”
Barix ignored him. “Then when they finally left, sneaking away without so much as letting me know the room was finally available, I discover it's a complete mess, the couch cushions and pillows tossed all over the place. I don't know if they were wrestling in there or something, bu-”
Aiden made a strangled sound at that, and the Ishivi paused to look at him suspiciously. “What?” the slight man demanded.
“Nothing,” he replied hastily. He really didn't want to talk, or think, about what they might've been doing.
“It was! I had to get Fix in there to clean it up, which meant it took even longer to get to sleep.”
The combat android could pretty much clean anything as good as new, but Aiden still resolved to avoid using that couch in the future. He wouldn't be able to think of anything but them around it now. Thanks a lot, Barix.
Today was shaping up to be about as great as yesterday. Or early this morning. Whatever.
It only got better from there, because a few minutes later Lana finally swept onto the bridge. Although her full lips were pressed together in a thin line and she pointedly avoided looking at Aiden, she acted casual as she dragged her portable terminal over to its usual spot beside the gunner's workstation, on the left end of the semicircle.
But rather than settle down and get to work like he hoped she would, instead the Blank Slate strode over to plant herself in front of his station.
In spite of her . . . nocturnal activities, Lana was looking far more composed than when he'd seen her slipping out of the gunner's room last night. Her porcelain skin glistened slightly and was flushed with heat, her long reddish-blond hair still slightly damp, as if she'd recently come out of the shower. Although she'd taken the time to brush her hair until it shone, and pulled it back in a cute but practical ponytail. She was wearing a clean uniform, her slender curves making the drab garment far more interesting.
Not that he should be noticing, especially now; not only was she formally a member of his crew, a subordinate, but now that he knew she was in a romantic relationship with someone else it was even more unprofessional.
Still, it was impossible to ignore that Lana was one of the more beautiful women he'd seen. Maybe not to Ali's level, but then again nobody could be. Especially considering the adult companion had been customized to his specific preferences.
Although in spite of the young woman's delicate features, at the moment she looked anything but vulnerable as she confronted him, her bearing so rigidly disciplined she could've been the gunner. Her lover.
“I just wanted to formally inform you,” she said stiffly, “I'm in a relationship with Dax.”
Barix choked on his drink, spraying it all over his workstation. “You what?” he spluttered. Or maybe, knowing him, he'd said 'eww, what'. “How, when . . .?”
In spite of her clear anger at Aiden, Lana looked as if she was biting back a satisfied smile, and he had to wonder if she'd timed her announcement for when the slight man was taking a sip.
“Seriously!” the Ishivi continued, wiping disgustedly at the mess he'd made with his sleeve. “The Captain would be nauseating enough, if understandable. He does have that animal magnetism, heavy emphasis on “animal”. But the gunner? I literally didn't think he had it in him . . . you might as well be riding Fix!”
“You seriously want to comment on anyone else's virility?” Aiden snapped, glad for an excuse to turn the discussion away from Lana's new relationship. He turned to Barix, sneering. “I'd wager half my earnings from our next job that you haven't been with a woman, at least one who didn't require a healthy payment of chits for the pleasure, in all the time I've known you.”
The slight man glared murder at him. “I'd be happy to take that wager.” But then, suspiciously, he wasted no time trying to turn it back on Aiden. “And you're one to talk, Captain. After all, you just lost out romantically to the human equivalent of a plank of wood! That has to be humiliating. If you hadn't stolen Ali, would your achievements with the ladies be any more notable than mine?”
That, that wasn't . . . Aiden bit back a curse. That was due to circumstances, not inability; privateers running for their lives didn't get many opportunities for shore leave and casual hookups. And they rarely had a chance to see the same person twice in their travels, unless they went out of their way. Which was a stupid and dangerous thing to do, with the combined might of the Movement dogging his every step.
Aside from Aiden's history with a certain venomous woman who spent most of her time in the engine room, who he heartily wished he never had to see again.
Whatever his excuses, he took too long scrambling for a response to that verbal sally; judging by Barix's smug little grin as he lifted his drink for another sip, it was obvious the man knew it.
Lana cleared her throat impatiently. “If I could interrupt your endless bickering to get back to the point, sir. Now that we've formally reported our relationship, I'd appreciate it if you didn't physically attack Dax again.”
Barix sprayed his drink across his workstation a second time. “He did what?” he spluttered. “Just what sort of excitement did I miss last night? Are you telling me that while I was tossing and turning on the couch, the living quarters were turning into some sort of low class allnet
