Something tickled against Dion’s bare chest, stirring him. There was pain in his ribs. He shivered. Little legs crawled over his body, looking for a way in. His eye snapped open to see the black, formless mass of wriggling insects that covered his chest. He couldn’t move. Something had him pinned down, no matter how hard he struggled. His heartbeat thumped in his head as he gasped for breath, fighting to sit up.

His eyes adjusted quickly. He wasn’t strapped to a table with heart-eating insects. It was Ember’s hair. Sinking back down into his pillow, he took a deep breath and relaxed. The two of them were too tall for the bunks and had to share the double bed. At some point in the night, the other man had curled himself around Dion, using him as a pillow.

“Get off,” Dion commanded, throwing all his weight into shifting the other body. Somehow, that encouraged Ember to hug him tighter. 

There was no one else in the room to help him. The shower was running, but there was no sign of anyone else. 

“Hey," Dion tried again, “Sleeping Beauty! Get off!” Done with being gentle, he pinched Ember’s nose closed. The temptation to squeeze as hard as possible was difficult to resist, but he still needed the twins on his side until they met with Tsoukalas. 

Shining gold eyes blinked at Dion with an eerie innocence until Ember seemed to realise where he was and sat up. “Morning!” he sang with a broad smile, stretching his arms in the air. 

How is he always so cheerful? Dion got out of bed, tying his robe tighter. He couldn’t shake the feeling of crawling legs. “We need to get ready. Get up.”

The shower stopped.

“Where is everyone?” Ember asked, stretching his legs as he stood up.

“Not sure.” As far as Dion could tell, everything was where they had left it the night before. They’d given up on trying to repair his DataCuff. The little piece that went flying had vanished into thin air. It turned out it was integral to getting the thing to work. “They’ll probably come back.” Atticus wouldn’t go anywhere without him.

The bathroom door slid open, revealing Hyejin. Steam billowed out from behind her, creating a glowing haze. Her dripping wet hair clung to the delicate curves of her neck. The waterdrops caught in her eyelashes almost sparkled. The white towel was the only thing that covered her, wrapped tight around her body. Her cheeks flushed bright pink when she seemed to realise that they were awake.

Dion sucked in a breath and immediately took a seat on the other side of the table, his hand between his legs to reposition himself discreetly. It had been a long time since he’d had intimate company. Hyejin was gorgeous. He already knew that. What he hadn’t anticipated was reacting like a horny teenager in heat.

“Morning, Princess,” Ember greeted casually. He seemed completely uninterested in the stunning woman; all the more for Dion.

“Uhm,” Hyejin murmured, voice cracking as she glanced between them. Her hand tried to tug the towel lower without pulling it down too far. There wasn’t much she could do to hide herself more than she already had. Her face was redder than that tomato thing they’d eaten when they first met. She quickly stepped back and slammed the bathroom door closed. “I didn’t think you would be awake yet!” she called from behind the door.

Dion smirked. This girl was far too adorable. “Are you okay?”

“Uhm… there are… no adult robes left…” Her voice was so soft he could barely hear her. “I spilled coffee on the hospital gown… ”

In that moment, he would have given anything to touch her. Her skin was so soft. It was awful luck that Dion wasn’t in a position where he could give his robe up for her. Maybe she would have warmed up to him more. He stared toward the ceiling, willing himself to calm down. 

Ember tore the blanket off Hyejin’s bunk and knocked on the bathroom door. “Here, use this for now. I’ll see if Trev has any more.”

“The other two went to do that already,” Hyejin said as a dainty little hand squeezed through a small crack in the door to take the blanket.

“I don’t suppose you know the time?” Dion asked, changing the subject. As much as he wanted to stay on the topic of Hyejin’s absence of clothing, he’d just be setting himself up for disappointment. They weren’t alone, and Ember didn’t seem like the brightest star in the sky when it came to reading a room. 

“It’s about two hours till dawn, yet,” she called among the sound of frantic shuffling. It sounded like she was struggling. Dion had forgotten about her broken arm. It wasn’t the part of her body he’d been focused on.

He cleared his throat, “Do you want a hand?”

There was a pause before the door slid open once again. This time, she was glaring at him. She’d managed to tie a knot in the blanket to drape over her neck. Her porcelain back was still exposed above the waist, along with her tense shoulders.

This woman will drive me insane.

“Is that some kind of sick joke?” She demanded.

“Huh?” Dion was confused until he saw Ember in the kitchenette, gesturing to his hand. Mother Earth, I am a fool. “No, I was genuinely offering assistance.”

That didn’t seem to make her any happier. She continued to glare at him. “Why?”

There wasn’t a good answer for that either. “Forgive me for caring. I’ll let you suffer alone next time.” Dion rolled his eyes and leaned back in the chair. At least that seemed to kill his mood.

“Plenty of time for breakfast,” Ember announced, breaking the tension. The way that the giant continuously found food in strange places had Dion stumped. It further lent to his growing opinion that Ember was actually a very large dog in a very large human body. “Do you two want any?”

Dion was about to reject the offer when his stomach answered loudly on his behalf. “I could eat.”

“Me too. I’m starving.” Hyejin whined, taking a seat at the table with Dion. 

“Tell me about this Tsoukalas,” she finally said, giving up on her hair altogether.

Dion had to think for a moment. He didn’t know a lot about this particular sector of the galaxy. He’d only been here once before as a stopover point on the way to a different planet. “I’d be lying if I said we can trust him. Apart from deadly tourist attractions, most of his wealth comes from moving contraband.”

Hyejin looked like she was listening, but her big eyes were on Ember tinkering in the kitchenette. Her stomach gurgled softly and Dion couldn’t stop himself from smiling.

“So you think he’s money-hungry enough to agree to help us?”

Dion began to trace an invisible illustration on the table with his finger. “His planet is about to get inundated with NexTech lackeys, Sentinels included. They will poke into every aspect of this world, looking for signs of Yesterday’s Children. You saw what it was like in Morrian. NexTech doesn’t take half measures. He needs to lie low. That means suspending business until further notice. If goods aren’t moving, he’s not making money.”

Ember joined them, carrying three bowls of soup. The smell made Dion hungrier. His mouth was salivating before he even got a spoonful. He hadn’t eaten since the shuttle ride to Tollindo, if you could call alcohol food. 

“He doesn’t really make deals,” Ember chimed in between mouthfuls. “It’s like… he will eat all your food and leave only the bones, but you’ll be so hungry you will beg for the bones.”

As weird as the description was, it made sense. A Shadow Lord was a master at manipulation and extortion. Dion wasn’t sure that they had anything worth offering. It was a long shot, but he didn’t know what else to do on short notice.

The main door opened and Atticus strolled in with his arms full of clothing. “Oh, that smells good!” He commented after sniffing the air. Dion couldn’t remember the last time his brother looked so healthy and full of spirit. He placed the pile of clothes on an empty chair and started separating them into neat piles on the table. “I tried to match the sizes to everyone’s old clothes, so I hope they fit.”

“Wait, you got real clothes?” Hyejin stood up, excited. “Not just robes?”

Atty nodded and handed her one of the piles. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to wear dirty scraps when I meet a Shadow Lord in general, let alone one that we need to suck up to.” 

He had a point. Dion hadn’t considered their presentation in his plan to meet Tsoukalas. It hadn’t been an issue with Yoshida, but indentured servitude wasn’t quite the same thing as asking for a favour.

“You’re an angel!” Hyejin declared, rushing to the bathroom to change — or rather, dress.

“Where’s Echo?” Dion asked, surprised that Ember wasn’t asking the question. 

“With the Mayor. They’re setting up the meeting time with Tsoukalas. He’s off-world at the moment, so we need to video call him.”