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Aboard the Severance: in Transit to Yarrow 2
The lynx had heard him coming down the dark hallway, but the captain didn’t have to know that. He may be the quietest stallion she’d ever encountered, but she still had the remarkable hearing of a feline with her large, off-white ears adorned with black tufts on the tips and honey golden hexagon plugs in the lobes. Her short, poofy gray and white tail waggled behind her as she searched for a way to turn on the heat source for her herbal tea.
She had been trying to sleep in the bunk just below Day’s, but the high pitched hissing of their nostrils, made as air passed through their highly efficient respiratory system, rattled through her feline ears. The sound was grating, like dragging metal against stone. Juniper already suffered from insomnia during most sleep cycles, and noisy bunkmates didn’t help. Adding to her inability to sleep, Jax’s bunk was on the other side of the wall at her paws. She could hear the koala tapping a claw against the wall to the shitty music blasting through his shitty earphones.
Sleep was not going to wrap her in its embrace any time soon, so she had tiptoed over to the kitchen for some Sleep Cycle tea in her burnt orange pajama shorts and oversized black crop top bearing the face of a barn owl on the breast. The loose cropped shirt exposed an earthy patch on her cream colored shoulder, and she now wore thin, circular glasses with gold frames on her round fluffy face.
She could feel his intense eyes on her back as she searched for a switch or dial near the heat source. Despite her awareness of his presence, she still flinched in surprise at his deep, serious tone that echoed through the dark metallic kitchen.
“The button on the wall with a flame on it; admittedly, it is not that obvious given its position relative to the heating element.” Always so short, so robotic. Like every one of his words cost him a day of his life. Like he was used to intent listeners.
Her hands automatically landed on exposed hips where patches of earthy Fur peaked over the band of her shorts, before pushing the button he’d indicated. Her claws clinked against the pot of water as she set it over the heat to boil, before turning back to the captain with a sigh and a roll of her silvery eyes.
Now that they were alone, she took a breath to observe the captain’s more exposed appearance, since he’d shed his overcoat. The stallion wore a tight, short-sleeved black undershirt paired with the light armor pants he’d worn earlier that cycle at Beta-09. His attire revealed a strong and toned upper body, clearly ready for combat when needed. His tail was also visible, no longer obscured by his overcoat. The straight white-haired tail was cut short and bound at the base by a tight gray cloth, only hanging far enough to reach the end of his buttocks. That ass. She licked a fang before snapping back to reality.
“That’s not my name you know,” she muttered with a twitch of an ear. “It’s Juniper. Just Juniper. Also, it smells like a corpse flower in here. Why don’t you have any plants or some shit to filter the air better? Don’t you ever get complaints from your other passengers?”
He exhaled through flared nostrils and let out a short chuckle, a mild smirk wrapping his dark brown muzzle. The stallion took a few heavy steps into the kitchen and leaned against the nearby wall, crossing his muscled arms before responding without pause. “I suppose the job file had an error in it then. Anyway, that works for me. I disdain titles and honorifics. As for the smell, you are probably right that the air filter needs to be replaced, I suppose I’ve just gotten used to it.”
He paused briefly, seeming to consider what he would say next with a tap of his digits against the rough material of his pants. “I don’t get many passengers, and I don’t usually care if they like the accommodations. This is not a vessel designed for passengers. I can assure you, I was hired primarily to ensure this mysterious ‘research trip’ was off the books and that your team was not harmed.” He stated simply, a hint of curiosity in his gaze. Juniper could tell he was trying to figure out how clueless the team was about this excursion and his role in it.
Her eyes never left the stallion as he spoke. Dropping a tea bag into the boiling water after cutting the heat, she replied testily, “not an issue with the job file. An issue with my record at the citizenship office.” The way he dismissed her in conversation was reminiscent of her first years in Central Space. The factory. The way the guardians spoke to the kids. The guardians. Dead.
She looked back to the water on the stove, granting him a side glance as she stirred the golden floral liquid, “I’m not from central space. Anyway, no sob stories. We don’t get told much about our tasks. Each of us has our own assignment, except Jax. He just acts like a thorn in everyone’s ass. He’s not actually the leader of anything. They didn’t tell us why we are collecting data from Y2, just that we are.”
She gave him a playful smirk as she continued, “Sounds like you were hired to be rid of us if you ask me. I can’t quite pin why else Poston wants this excursion off the books other than to have us murdered by a rogue stallion from the Void Market.” She grinned menacingly with a glance at the captain as she filtered the steaming liquid through a mesh lid into a caterpillar print thermos, dumped the soaked tea leaves into the waste shoot, and filled her lungs with the calming floral scent, never breaking his gaze as she blew some of the steam in his direction.
The dark stallion appeared unphased. “If I’d been hired to kill you three, I’d have already done it. At a minimum, the koala. The second we hit hyperspace, I’d have been in the clear,” he quickly shot back, clearly comfortable with her dark humor.
Juniper raised a clawed hand to her muzzle, releasing a small giggle, “oh, that’s no fun. You’d get lonely with three bodies in the bunks for the rest of the ride until you found a place to drop them.” The side of her mouth tugged up into a smirk, “Or maybe that’s why this ship reeks.”
She pulled her rear up onto the counter closest to Aries and leaned forward, tufted elbows propped up on her knees, looking over the rim of the steaming thermos at the dark captain with innocent eyes. “What did they tell you we were here to do, captain?” She sipped the liquid gold, filling her chest with comforting heat.
“Aries is fine, just Aries. As for what I know. I’d say I’m in the same boat as you. I know what I’m supposed to do, not why. That is not unusual for my work, though. This job just happens to be interesting enough for me to want to pry.” He stated simply before leaning back against the wall a little more with his gaze fixed on her.
“Academics often give different objectives and information to different individuals. Maybe Poston told you something he hadn’t told us, but he must be paying big Credits for you to be so clueless,” Juniper frowned, arms crossed and brows furrowed.
Aries’ amused smirk shifted to a grin, and his eyes narrowed. “If I knew the reason behind this job, I’d not be asking. It is not exactly the ideal way to flirt with a cute lynx.”
She sipped her tea then giggled wildly, sparks in her eyes. “You call murder jokes flirting? You need to get out more, Captain Aries.” The stallion rolled his dark eyes with feigned annoyance when she called him captain yet again.
“Murder jokes come with the territory, I’m afraid. Granted, they are more useful flirting fodder for my more typical associates and clients, which you and yours are decidedly not.” He stated with a dismissive shrug, his expression firm.
“If we were plants, you’d be a thorny Honey Locust,” Juniper flashed him a wicked grin.
Clearly noticing Juniper’s redirection of conversation, Aries paused a breath. “You’ll have to explain the reference, the kind of plants I’m familiar with are generally more specialized to my needs, like Cicuta maculata.” Another murder joke. This guy was speaking her language.
Her arms flew into the air, almost spilling hot liquid all over herself. “You’re buggin’! Cicuta maculata?! Way too obvious! I prefer something more subtle, like Atropa belladonna.” Her eyes glistened, and she spoke rapidly, obviously excited by the topic.
“Sometimes potency is more important than subtly, but nightshade is quite a good choice as well. Nightshade can be fun to cultivate, and layfurs easily mistake it for a more typical plant.” He said almost enthusiastically, a light smile spread across his muzzle. Juniper’s eyes grew wide and glossy as Aries basically played out her ideal wet dream: a dark, mysterious fur nerding out about plants with her in the deep of a sleep cycle hurtling through space. She touched a hand to her lips to make sure she wasn’t subconsciously drooling all over herself.
But just as quickly as the captain’s excitement had surfaced, it vanished. His expression fell back into statuesque seriousness as he straightened his back, putting himself back in line. She could see that he’d let his stony facade slip, she’d caught a glimpse of a different Aries. She imagined a tiny soldier in his head barking orders at the stallion to get back in line and compose himself. She giggled at the image.
“Anyway, please do explain how I am this honey locust,” he coldly stated with a swish of his hand.
Her pearly fangs glistened in the kitchen lights as she spoke, “honey locusts have thorns you see, and you’re prickly and stern. You’re not exactly a cuddly kitten.” She shrugged matter-of-factly.
“Prickly and stern, huh? Not the worst set of descriptors I’ve been called.” He remarked with a reserved chuckle. “I’d guess with a word like honey in the name, though, there must be something redeeming about it,” he inquired, clearly fishing for a compliment.
“Honey Locusts are good for lumber,” she shrugged with a slight blush. “And they are nice to look at.” She let her glossy eyes drag over the toned captain. He appeared unfazed by her not-so-subtle look over from hoof to pointed ears. The stallion released a deep chuckle. His grin was unusually genuine. It was almost unnerving, but the tingle in her belly told her a different story.
“And what about you? If we were plants, what would you be?” He asked with a challenging smile as their eyes met.
She considered his question, nibbling a claw. “Probably a plant native to my home planet, the starlah. It can only survive there. It is toxic to most all living things, except for the waste bin mammals we call grazers on the farm. In a way, I am not everyone’s cup of tea and it takes a certain kind of individual to find me palatable.”
She clasped her hands together, ears sagging as her gaze became unfocused and a flash of memories flooded back in like a high tide pulling her under. Her Pop had loved starlahs. Their yard had been full of its blooming orange and yellow flowers… full of blood and fire. The screams… Only a few seconds passed before her eyes refocused. She was getting better at keeping the memories from consuming her, but she often had to anchor her thoughts when they drifted into the past against her will.
Dragging herself back into the present by rubbing her claws along the thermos, she continued, “They flower in the evening and bear deep earthy berries in the autumn.” She trailed off before suddenly hopping down from the counter with feline grace. Her ears perked up as she flashed a maddening smile at the stallion. “What are you doing up so late? Want some tea?”
He put a clenched fist up to his muzzle and cleared his throat, repressing any eagerness that lay beneath the surface, “I’ll pass on the tea for now, but don’t count me out for a future cup. I’m basically always up late, a likely ill-formed habit I’ve developed thanks to stim use. However ill-formed it might be, it has led to a nice evening.” He remarked with a warm smile. He appeared to almost take a step towards the lynx when, as if the ship had ears and eyes, the color hue of the lights changed again, denoting a deepening of the sleep cycle. *Is that disappointment?* The lynx tried to read the confusing stallion. Trying to figure out Aries was like trying to identify a plant specimen without reproductive structures.
He sighed and rubbed the back of his long neck. “We should both try to get some sleep soon, though. We will be exiting hyperspeed just a few hours after we all wake. If you need anything or need to know where something is, you know where my quarters are.”
“Your loss, honey locust,” she casually shrugged before rinsing her thermos in the tiny sink. “This ship is tight as a cocoon, I’d have to be blind as a cave cricket to get lost in here.” She waved a claw as she strutted past Aries, flicking a strand of his white mane as she went.
“Hope your dreams are as sickly sweet as you, stud muffin,” she smirked over an exposed shoulder as her hourglass figure sauntered down the hall towards the sleeping quarters with a wiggle of her poofy tail. *Got him.*
Laying in her bunk, she felt a warmth in her core that hadn’t been there when they’d first boarded. This stallion was prickly, but he definitely had a fun side, despite this rogue business. Aries wasn’t her usual “type”, but she had a feeling he would be the highlight of this trip.
Well, him and expanding her research on outer rim planet pollinators. With that, she drifted off to sleep humming a tune her Pop would sing when she was young about the sun and pollen creating love and life all around. She slept better in that strange cramped bunk with Day’s nostrils hissing and Jax snoring like a ship motor than she had in months, dreaming of Aries and whether or not the size of the stallion gave insight to the size of the stamen. *Mrrrrrr.*