‘Holy crap, Blake, you couldn’t just ask me where I was going? Or call me? I would have sent you photos if I’d known you gave a shit. But you’ve said three words to me in about a year, so I figured I was good.’
‘I don’t care about your photos.’ Blake pressed her palm to the sensor, and the tech room door opened. Eron frowned, certain he’d noticed a trembling in her fingertips. ‘I don’t care about the beach you’re on or the bikini you’re not wearing. None of that matters. It is pathetic and trivial. I just wanted to know you were alive, that’s all I needed. That’s all I have time for.’
‘Wow. Just, wow.’ Kira shook her head. ‘Those tactfulness classes are really working for you, aren’t they? Sister of the year right there. Well you know what, I don’t care about the new toys you’re building down here. I don’t care about your robot dogs or whatever other mechanical pieces of shit you’re building. So I’m just going to go back up where the sun is shining and normal people are having normal fucking days.’
Blake turned away, but not before Eron caught the brittleness in her expression. She was exhausted, that was plain. ‘Go. It was a mistake to ask you here.’
‘Yep, probably was. Sound the bells, ring the alarms, Blake Beckworth made a mistake.’ Kira wiggled her fingers, prosthetic metal digits moving with a fluidity no actual fingers could rival.
With all Blake had achieved, it was easy to forget she was completely human, but Eron saw it in this moment. Everything about Blake was leaden: the way she braced herself against the doorframe, the rigidity of her stance. Tension was holding her upright. Perhaps Kira saw it also, because she did not leave. And her voice was gentle when she next spoke.
‘B, I’m sober enough, okay? Barely touched a drop.’
It might have been convincing if not for the vague slurring of the word ‘drop’. Blake did not reply. She stepped deeper into the tech room, and the door closed.
Kira’s shoulder’s drooped. ‘What is with her, E? She looks like hell.’
She turned, too quickly, and her inebriated state sent her wildly off balance. Eron’s arms raised before he could halt himself. He embraced her. Their height differential saw her feet lifted off the ground. She tilted her head, and her breath was warm against the base of his throat. The scent of alcohol reached him.
‘Ah, Eron. You always know how to make a girl feel better.’ Kira laughed, a light mockery in her tone. Flippant with word and deed, she was as unsettling as she had ever been.
Eron needed to let go, move away from her right now. His hand drifted down her back, tracing the familiar curve. Her amber eyes made their soft way over his face. Ludicrous. How this diminutive creature could blur the world around him. A soul of Kur lay just a few paces away, yet he was caught here, barricaded from that miracle by this disorderly emotion.
Enough.
He let her go, but Kira moved faster than her current state should allow and wrapped her arms around his neck. She dangled there, feet off the ground, hanging against him like a strange human blanket.
‘Kira –’
‘Just one more second, okay? I know, I know, no touchy-feely, but indulge me. No one’s here to see – the fun police are at prayer duty, right? I’m sorry you got ass-kicked over it all, I’m really sorry. I promise just this, then no more.’
Eron tilted forward, bending so that Kira’s feet touched the ground. Her hands slipped down to wrap around his waist. Good judgement dictated that he push her away. He was the usual disappointment to himself. They stood pressed together, the top of her head soft against his mouth. The air was thick, and his senses chaotic with the touch of her.
‘She’s not doing so good, is she, E?’ she mumbled against his chest. ‘Is she okay?’
He breathed into the black strands of her hair. ‘Your sister is strong.’
‘Yeah, but she’s human.’
She took a long, slow breath, and he felt the press of her breasts against him. Another opportunity to let go arrived and then slid away. But he promised himself, just this, then no more. As it should be. As it should have always been.
‘See, just a few seconds. Like I promised.’ Kira slid her arms free, brushing her fingertips across his waist. She gave him a lopsided smile, and then she was following after her sister as steadily as could be expected of her. The door opened, then closed again, removing her from his view. But Eron did not follow straight away. Taking a moment to find a decorum he would not lose again.
Blake - 6
Blake rushed to the back of the tech room, pulling a slender glass vial from a stainless steel drawer. Kira would follow. There was little doubt of that, so Blake had to make the most of the momentary solitude. Her shaking hands caused the vial to clatter against her teeth. Perhaps the tension of the morning had gotten to her. The sudden desire for the Waters had caught her off-guard. The liquid seared through her mouth, tracing a warm path down her throat. Blake tensed, bracing for the heat that would come with the movement of the Waters into her stomach and through her blood. The drive to suck back more was nearly insurmountable, but there could only be this – the barest portion – while Cym investigated more thoroughly, exactly what the Waters were doing to Blake’s cells. Nothing good. That much was clear. So infuriatingly obvious. The weight loss and the unhealthy pallor of her skin might as well be a flashing neon sign – Blake Beckworth is unwell.
Sound the bells, ring the alarms, indeed. Kira was correct. She had made a mistake. Several, most likely,
