Chapter 02

"I still can't believe you did that! I thought they would pummel both of us into bread dough if they ever caught up! And you just stood there and trounced them without even having to breathe very hard!" She made another frustrated noise as She curled Her fingers into claws in front of her, shaking Her arms in anger.

He shrugged, still walking next to her. "I wasn't expecting them to go down like that either, but if only I'd known that they were a bunch of idiots with a combined intelligence that couldn't catch fish in a barrel..." He shrugged again, smiling crookedly. "But I guess it doesn't really matter now. The energy rating on that thing won't drain the battery for another hour, but has enough kick to leave them twitching in low-level agony until we can get off the street."

"Why didn't you just use that in the first place?"

He laughed. "Well, because there was more than one of them, and it's trickier to use when someone is running at you instead of groaning on the ground already. It just worked out that they were obliging enough to cuddle up together like that after they'd fallen off their feet. I can't say I have ever had someone accommodate me quite like that before, so I wasn't even close expecting that. Maybe you should just be grateful that neither of us got hurt and they'll be lucky if they make it back to wherever they came from before the street gets dark." He winked at her, and She rolled Her eyes.

"Yeah right. I'm glad they're not going to make me into their next ragdoll, but I feel like this stitch in my side is never going to go away."

"Well, I am not sure that there is a whole lot I can do to help with that. Anything I have for that would be on my ship. You may have to just wait until you catch your breath all the way and it subsides."

She came to a complete stop. "Your ship? You have a ship?! Well..." She swallowed and then tried to walk back Her outburst, appearing to mull Her thoughts over more hesitantly now. "That's...I mean, I bet that's...cozy..."

He stopped and turned around to face her, tilting His head as he considered her, one eyebrow arching skeptically. "Uh...sure. I suppose that is one thing it is." He thinned His eyes at her, even more skeptically. "But I am not sure how that would surprise you, or why you would be surprised that I might have a ship. Do I look like someone who is down here all the time?"

She hesitated, trying to figure out how to navigate their conversation in a way that resulted in Her getting out of here instead of being stuck here a little longer. "I mean... I guess not. No." She looked at the ground and grew particularly silent.

His shifted, still trying to understand whatever was cranking away behind the scenes inside of Her head. "Right." He took a step towards her. "I assume...you don't have a ship?"

A blast of laughter escaped out of Her before She could stop it, more than a little loudly. "Ha! Me?! Not a chance. I don't even have two pairs of clean clothes to wear, much less..." She seemed to rein in Her outburst, Her gazed falling again, looking at the ground. "...An entire ship."

He really wished he knew what to say, but everything that came to mind sounded trite, empty, or totally unwelcome. He cleared His throat, and then cautiously tried to find the right response in the middle of saying it. "That...sounds...a little less than ideal." His expression grew uncomfortable and strained as the taste of how useless the nonsense He'd just insulted Her with now soiled His mouth.

She grunted in agreement, Her gaze lingering downward a moment longer before She looked up at Him. "Look, it's fine if you-" She sighed, cutting herself off. She shifted on Her feet, trying to decide how best to convince Him to help Her without creeping Him out, or panicking Him.

He pursed His lips inward in a thoughtful, but slightly annoyed, expression as he considered all the circumstances that were present and tried to evaluate all the possible options that went with them. "I...well, I do need..." He sucked in a deep breath through flared nostrils and then rocketed it harshly through gritted teeth. "I have to make this delivery, near Baramasta. I'm not sure if you even know where that is, but it's further than either of us can walk."

She rolled Her eyes and shook Her head. "'Further than either of us can walk'? Wow, you must think I'm as airheaded as those men! I don't have to know where it is to know that much."

His gaze avoided Her face for a moment as he struggled for how to reply.

"Look, I may be the closest thing to a street urchin as you have ever had to talk to, but that doesn't mean I am a complete moron. I've been to a lot of places, and on a lot of ships." She sighed. "I mean, I wasn't always invited on those ships, but that doesn't mean I don't understand, okay?"

"Well, I mean...I didn't mean that you..." He cleared His throat and swallowed, stalling for time to find the right words. "I...I know. I'm sorry it sounded like that. You seem more than able to take care of yourself."

"Ha! Oh yeah, they're totally going to make me queen of self-sufficiency any second now. I just need the right recognition. That's why I don't have a place to sleep, I don't have any money, I don't know where I am going, I don't know what I am going to eat tonight, I don't have a place to sleep-" Her voice cracked as She got closer to the end of Her sentence before the words caught in Her throat. She coughed a little, clearing Her throat and trying to recover. "I am just fine. I just need to find out how I am going to get off this useless rock without having to barter my humanity rather than just my remaining dignity."

"Well..." He cleared His throat again, shifting uneasily, His next word coming out prolonged and forced. "Where are you hoping to go...exactly?"

"Well, it's not like I know where this...Barry mader place is, but as long as it's not a mining asteroid, it's likely to be better than here. At this point, I be happy to end up somewhere they are not going to shackle me when I land and strap another labor collar around my neck."

"Baramasta," he corrected, "and no, it's not a labor camp, it's just a long way from here." He sucked in another deep breath and blew it out His nose again. "I am not sure how I feel about this. I know that it is completely ridiculous, not to mention reckless, for me bring a self-professed stowaway on my ship, but for whatever reason, I can't bring myself to feel like it is as poor a choice as it sounds on paper."

She started fidgeting nervously with Her fingers. "Well...that's fair, I guess. But...what does it mean?" She didn't want to call attention to the fact that he was considering allowing Her to accompany Him even against His better judgment, so She felt it best to let Him sort out what He'd decided.

He rolled His eyes and put His fingers on His chin, looking at the ground as he considered. Then he shook His head a little and threw up His arms in frustration. "I don't know, but I guess that means I am going to give you a chance, even though I have no reason to think you couldn't just hijack my ship as soon as we're off the ground. But I can't think of anything that has happened since you stopped me on the street that would reinforce my skepticism." He shook His head again and looked at Her face. "Can you at least tell me why three very large, incredibly stupid, drunk men were chasing after you? Did you rob them? Did you..." His cheeks heated a little, and he cleared His throat. "Were they displeased about being cheated out of...uh..." He was turning redder by the second, a deep blush flooding His complexion.

Her eyebrows shot up towards Her hairline in confusion and then Her eyes nearly bugged out of Her head. "What?! No! No, absolutely not! I...no...just no." She waved Her hands in front of Her scissoring them back and forth like She was trying to shew away some kind of pest.

"Right. No...I...I didn't think so but..."

"You can't be too careful?"

He rolled His eyes again and sighed. "No, I'm afraid not." He shook His head, holding His forehead with His fingers as he tried to decide. He shook His head a little more as he looked skyward and then turned to her. "Alright. I..." His lips wrinkled together in an expression of futility. "You're welcome to come along with me if you feel you have no other choice..."

Her eyes went wide, the surprise overwhelming Her expression. She reined it in quickly. "I...I mean...well, I guess out of all the dozens of choices I have, the offer to come with you does seem to be the best one, for the moment..."

His expression looked frustrated and unenthusiastic, but he managed to drawl back to Her in a voice that also oozed with sarcasm. "Then I guess that settles that then."

"I promise I'll be a good guest! I'll even do my best to make myself useful!"

He rolled His eyes again and shook His head. "You can if you want to, I guess..."

She couldn't stop herself from throwing Her arms around Him and giving Him a hug. "Thank you so much! I promise, I really appreciate it!"

He stiffened as Her arms went around Him, and he hesitantly patted Her back with one hand, petrified with discomfort. "Right. Well, we better get going then..."