Theo cut in with a smirk, “Come, now. I would wager neither one of us has much claim to innocence any longer—” He tossed a wink to Mr. Stone, who, to his absolute delight, winked back at him. “—wouldn’t you agree?”
Jun didn’t seem to appreciate the exchange, his focus whipping to Mr. Stone with a chill Theo could sense over his shoulder.
It was just as amusing to watch Ari go bright red as it was humiliating when it happened to himself. His twin squawked with offended dignity and turned to Mr. Stone with wide, shocked eyes. “Why—I can’t believe he would— The very nerve!”
Mr. Stone smoothed one big, rough hand gently over Ari’s uncharacteristically mussed hair and settled it across the back of his neck with a squeeze, eyes sparkling. “He’s got a point, baby. We’ve been pretty thorough.”
“Orin!”
Theo had never known just how satisfying it would be to hear Ari screech someone else’s name in outrage. He decided, right then and there, that he and Mr. Orin Stone were going to be great friends.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“Are you going to introduce us to our new guests, or are we supposed to stay in the naughty corner until you let us out?”
Ari jolted and grabbed onto both Orin and Theo as Axel’s voice buzzed overhead. The coms clicked off with a squeal, then clicked on again almost immediately after, Marco’s mild voice wafting through. “I cringed at that, Captain. I vote for a fine.”
Ari slowly started to relax, losing his vise grip, but Axel returned at twice Marco’s volume.
“Treachery and lies, Captain! Marco just wants you to fine me because he’s hoping the cringe bank will fund new parts.”
Jun avoided Ari and Orin’s curious gazes, glaring instead at the camera in the corner while Marco offered his response.
“Okay, yeah, but. I still cringed, and—”
“Enough! Everyone to the bridge, we’re coming up.” Jun growled at Axel’s “oh, goody!” and stalked off in the direction of the door. He paused just before the bend in the crates, where he would disappear from sight, to find Theo over his shoulder. “Bring your friends.”
He took off, leaving Theo behind to corral his brother and newfound friend through the ship.
Theo took Ari’s hand in his, frowning at how cold it was. He chafed it gently between his palms as he led him after Jun. Mr. Stone followed so closely that Theo could feel his massive presence at his back, like a wall.
After a skeptical glance at the dented lift doors, Ari entered and held tightly to Theo as they rode up to the bridge. He whispered in his ear, “Do you trust these people?”
Theo gave his hand a squeeze and bumped their shoulders together, exactly the right height to line up perfectly. “Much to my astonishment, I absolutely do. They’re loyal, hardworking, and they care about one another. I couldn’t ask for more in a colleague or friend.”
Ari’s innate sweetness beamed through his small, sincere smile, and Theo absorbed it like a plant basking in the sun. “I’m delighted to hear that you’ve made good friends, Theo. You deserve it.”
Mr. Stone wedged himself in front of them as the door slid open, feet braced against the floor as if he were expecting an attack.
Turning to them, Jun assessed his stance with a slowly raised brow, then jerked his head toward the bridge. “Come on; might as well get this over with. Apologies in advance—they’re barely house-trained. Especially Axel.”
The Crew stood in a jagged little line in front of Jun’s console. Marco’s calm face split the difference between Axel’s open curiosity and Boom’s suspicious stare.
Axel let out a long, low whistle, examining Ari as though he were some new variety of snack that might or might not be poisonous. “Whoa, that’s creepy. You guys are, like, twin-twins. Super, crazy identical. Please don’t murder us in our beds.”
He flinched as both Jun and Mr. Stone took a menacing step toward him, both of them frowning to varying degrees. “Oh, shit! Now Park’s pissed off in stereo.” He swiftly aimed a wavering grin in the twins’ direction. “Sorry, guys. You’re totally not creepy.”
Laughing at that, Theo noticed Ari’s wounded expression and released his hand to hook their arms together. He couldn’t stop touching his brother, just to feel that he was real, and solid, and there. “Don’t mind him, Ari. Axel might be a fine pilot, but he has even less control over running his mouth than I do.”
Ari’s “That seems improbable” was overshadowed by Mr. Stone’s sudden, keen interest in Axel.
“You’re the pilot for this giant heap of metal?”
Marco dug an admonishing elbow into Axel’s side as he burst into giggles.
“Sure as shootin’, partner,” he finally got out. “Boy, that Verge accent is strong, huh? Sounds like you’ve got a mouth full of gruel.”
To Theo’s astonishment, Ari let him go to surge forward. He stood between Axel and Mr. Stone with his hands on his hips. “Mr. Stone is as eloquent as any Outlier, and displays significantly better manners.” His voice dripped icy hauteur in every word. “You will treat him with the respect he deserves.”
Boom reached around Marco to flick Axel on the stomach with one of her metallic fingers. She relaxed her rigid stance and leaned back against the console. “He’s feisty. I like him.”
Rubbing his belly with an exaggerated pout, Axel turned to Jun. “You know, Captain, we can’t help but notice an emerging trend. Every time you leave the ship on your own, you come back with a red-headed Doll. This one even brought along a giant cowboy accessory. We want to put it out there that you don’t have to keep every one of them. Maybe we could implement some kind of a catch-and-release program.”
“Shut up, Axel.”
Theo raised his eyebrows at Jun as they spoke quickly and simultaneously.
Mr. Stone tugged Ari back against him with a gentle hand on his hip. The fact that Ari allowed such
