Core-born though he might be, Theo could extrapolate that the Stream in the Restricted Sector must be similar to the data streams back home. However, those were only accessible through restricted-access nodes kept in university research buildings and Quorum centers. These tattoos appeared to allow anyone access. The shirtless man quaffing a carbonated beverage and belching loudly did not appear to be a member of the governing class.
Theo reached out to trace over the lines, half expecting them to feel raised, but there was only the warm, smooth texture of Jun’s skin. “So, you don’t have access anymore?”
Jun had slowed their walk to focus on Theo’s fingers tracing over his tattoos, his expression wistful. “I can access with a pad or console; I just can’t link in anymore. I had my circuits burnt out and my connections erased. It was necessary, to keep a low profile.”
That sounded painful, especially the part about burning. Theo winced as he traced the lines up under Jun’s sleeve, thinking about the way they covered him from neck to knees. “Didn’t that hurt?”
Jun’s voice dropped to a near whisper, wrist twitching beneath Theo’s touch. “Most worthwhile things do.”
Then, without another word, Jun grabbed Theo’s hand and shoved it into the pocket of his coat, holding it in place as they walked.
Holding Theo’s hand.
In public.
He couldn’t suppress his gasp or the twitch of his fingers against Jun’s.
Jun didn’t respond beyond a single, slow caress of his thumb across Theo’s palm, nothing in his rigid posture giving away the tender gesture.
There it was again, a touch. The slightest brush against his palm, soft and unsure. Such an odd, stilted expression of affection and support, and yet. Like all the other tiny, stifled gestures Jun made, it went directly to Theo’s heart.
His heart was an idiot.
Axel stepped off into a shadowy alcove with a cheerful wave farewell. “Catch you later, lovebirds! Bring back some credits and try not to die. Or, if you do, send the credits first!”
Boom had already melted into the crowd, nowhere to be seen.
Jun didn’t acknowledge his pilot at all, his hooded face trained forward as he strode purposefully through the crowd with Theo by his side.
Chapter Twenty-Two
They cut through a long, winding alley bereft of people, between towering soot-black metal buildings glowing green from the crowded signs overhead. Along the thoroughfare at the other end of the alley, strange chrome vehicles covered in acid-bright lights zipped past with a high, whining drone of sound. It echoed down toward them, hollowly meshed together with the raucous voices of passersby.
Long, wet streaks dripped sluggishly down the walls to either side as they entered the narrow space, and Theo found his normally inquisitive nature completely uninterested in determining the source of the dampness.
It seemed a mystery best left unsolved.
So, he turned his curiosity to Jun, who had slowed his walk, hand still loosely cupped around Theo’s in his pocket. The casual gesture fanned the flames of something utterly inadvisable in Theo’s chest. Something that would only end up burning him, in the end. It would be worth it, though, to have had this with Jun for even a moment.
Theo peered up at him, trying to make out his face around both of their hoods. “May I ask what we are dropping?”
“No.”
“Very well, then. May I ask where we are going?”
“No.”
“In that case, may I ask who we are meeting?”
Jun stopped in his tracks and turned just enough that the green glow lit his elegant profile. “Theo. I’m begging you to stop asking questions.”
“No.”
Jun turned the rest of the way, and Theo’s arm followed with his hand still in Jun’s pocket.
Theo scoffed at Jun’s offended expression. “Oh, you don’t like it when I give you curt, negative answers to your requests? How odd. You seem to think I should be overjoyed with the very same treatment.”
It was endlessly entertaining to witness Jun relaxing his tough facade enough to roll his eyes petulantly. “Alright, alright. I get it. You can ask three questions, but they can’t be about the drop.” The tinge of affection in Jun’s voice was more than enough to propel Theo forward with his inquiries.
Theo restrained his urge to jump for joy, clutching Jun’s fingers instead. “The mind races with excitement. However shall I choose? Oh, I know! Pick a number between one and ten.”
“Four.”
“Where were you born?”
“Goryeo.”
“What? But that’s a Core planet! You were born in the Core?”
Jun’s brow raised regally, the light and shadow of the alley blocking his face out in harsh angled shapes. “Is that your second question?”
Theo bent his knees with a groan, catching his hood as it threatened to slide off in his pique. “No. Damn it all, Jun. You do make things difficult. Very well. If you were born into the Core, how did you end up out here, running dangerous missions such as this?”
For a long, silent moment, Theo thought he wasn’t going to answer. The dim light reflecting off his irises made them appear deep pools of dark water into which Theo might very likely drown.
Then he blinked, and the illusion was gone.
“My parents were scientists. Brilliant, like you. They worked for the Quorum, but my mother discovered something. Something dangerous. We had to leave. I was six when we jumped the Verge. I grew up out here, an Outlier as much as any other, much to their bitter disappointment.”
Parental disappointment, a subject Theo knew well. He could probably teach classes on it, instruct others on disappointing their parents. Make good use of his years of firsthand knowledge.
It was the first thing they had in common that Theo could not celebrate.
He stroked over Jun’s hand in his pocket, softly and gently as he moved a little closer. “That must have been quite the discovery if it could cause a Quorum scientist to leave her prominent position for the dangers of the deep dark. I guess my final question would be—what was it?”
Jun scanned the empty alleyway in both
