Theo grunted as Axel’s elbow connected with his gut conspiratorially. “See? Med supplies. Nefarious.” He pitched his voice to be heard by Jun and Boom up ahead. “For your victims, perhaps?”
Boom didn’t check back over her shoulder, but there was no doubt to whom her response was addressed. “Keep talking and find out.”
Axel stopped midway down the ramp, arms flung wide. “Did everyone just hear her threaten me?”
With hand outstretched, Jun waited at the bottom of the ramp (to Theo’s delight and surprise) to assist Theo down onto the floor. “I dunno. That sounded more like a promise to me.”
Axel clomped down the rest of the way, muttering under his breath, “Disgraceful, the way they treat me around here.”
The group completely ignored him.
The dock was sparsely populated, with a few broken-down older ships being disassembled right next to newer freighters and speedships fueling up. There was a distinct lack of color, everything cast in shades of gray from the DreiXian’s clothing to the ships. The only exception to the monochromatic theme was the occasional poison-bright flash of neon flickering beneath a layer of grime. It made Theo want to toss out a bucket of paint to brighten things up. Or an army of polishing cloths and some very strong cleaner. It was entirely possible that the buildings could be brightly colored beneath the muck.
He faltered as something soft dropped onto his head.
“Here.”
Theo batted at the material Jun had dumped atop him, struggling his way free of a thick, gray, circular scarf which bore a remarkable resemblance to the blanket on Jun’s bed.
He clutched it against his chest, turning his face up to Jun, utterly charmed by the clumsy gesture. “You’re lending me one of your scarves?”
Jun shrugged, eyes trained on the people bustling around them as they turned out of the docks onto a busy thoroughfare lit on all sides with dirty, glowing signage advertising myriad things. “It gets cold, sometimes.”
Theo slung the scarf around his neck, rubbing the soft, thick yarn between his fingers. His shout of surprise was muffled by the material when Jun reached over and roughly pulled his hood up over his head. He then did the same with his own.
“Keep that on; don’t let anyone get a good look at you.”
Theo nodded, bumping shoulders with Jun as he held onto his new scarf. “Quite right. Wouldn’t want them to discover how pretty I am, right, Jun?”
The fact that Jun actually stumbled over nothing at Theo’s words lit a bank of warmth in his belly. It spread through Theo’s limbs and brightened his smile as he laughed and laughed.
Axel spread his arms wide, casually stepping over a pile of refuse that oozed green slime across the grimy metal walkway. “Welcome to the Wastes. The crotch of the galaxy. Hot, damp, and reeking of piss. This is the spot where every rancid piece of flotsam this side of the Verge comes to do their dirty deeds. The land of shame and shadows, disaster and decay, regret and—”
Axel tripped on the foot Boom stuck out in front of him, but caught himself before falling face-first into a suspicious-smelling shimmering puddle while Jun and Boom cackled.
“We get it, Ax. It’s gross. Not your favorite place.” Boom sighed.
Slinging his mechanical arm over Theo’s shoulder companionably, he gestured vaguely with the other. “Actually, my favorite grub stall is stashed in one of these shadowy corners. Best okonomiyaki in the galaxy, with a side of murder for hire if you’re in the mood.”
Jun turned a flat gaze on Axel, one eyebrow titling upwards lazily beneath the shadow of his hood. “You’re definitely putting me in the mood, pilot.”
Axel pulled Theo in close until they were walking cheek to cheek. He squished his freckled face into Theo’s as he replied, “Aw, shucks, Captain. Not in front of the esteemed Dr. Campbell. You’ll make me blush.”
Boom gave a casual flick of her wrist to reveal a small blade that snapped to her metal-lined fingers. She flipped it in her hand, pulled out a tube of violet lipstick, and reapplied it using the knife’s reflection. Pocketing both, she aimed a sharp smile in Axel’s direction. “Besides, Park, why hire out when you can do it yourself?”
The rest of their walk was remarkably quiet.
It would have been tranquil, if not for the bustling city life all around them. Dark-faced buildings loomed tall enough to blot out the sky, and the sickly radiant light from omnipresent neon signage blurred together until Theo could barely make out the shape of the setting sun.
Where Theo was from, there were strictly adhered to clothing norms for men and women alike. There was nothing of the sort here.
Anyone and everyone wore trousers or skirts or very nearly nothing at all with a nonchalance Theo desperately wished to achieve.
It was exhilarating.
As drab as the garment colors may have been of those passing by, their hair, tattoos, augments, and cosmetics were another matter entirely, echoing the flashes of neon against the bleak metallic-black of their surroundings.
Axel’s green hair blended in perfectly. Theo thought with vindictive glee about all of the times his own vibrant red hair had been deemed too bright and vulgar. He would be very nearly understated, here, especially with the absence of any augments. What an enthralling concept.
Several people had very similar tattoos to the lines and circles running down Jun’s neck and torso that mimicked circuitry. Except, on the other people, the lines were glowing beneath their skin.
Theo pointed at a shirtless man so covered in glowing circuitry that he matched the flickering sign above him. “Why do their tattoos glow, but yours don’t?”
Jun stiffened, and for a moment, Theo believed he wouldn’t answer. But he held out his hand. The circuitry on his wrist terminated at the clusters of hexagonal shapes that spilled over the back. “They’re still Connected to the Stream. I Disconnected
