"You are consistent, aren't you?" Roys was the biggest thing in his office.

Corporate didn't believe in sending more than what was absolutely necessary, so they decorated the captain's quarters minimally. Roys' desk couldn't fit in the rectangular room without pressing the side against the wall, creating a thin hall that one of his stature had to walk sideways through. The clunky gray desk had a built-in holo screen, turned off the moment I walked into the room. A single chair sat in front of the desk and hooks on the wall held his supplies. A console table by the door had his new exoskin folded on it. On his desk, he had an open box of candy.

We were alone under the white lights of the habitat. I lounged in the chair, hands in my pockets and head knocked back over the seat. My cap nearly fell off because my hair remained damp from the long day. I caught it and sat up when I replied, "Consistency is key, they say, and I would hate to disappoint."

"Ethin," he said.

"Lucky," I corrected.

His chair groaned from him leaning forward, hands steepled on the desk. "You don't bring much luck to your team, do you?"

"They all survived, didn't they?"

"You were more than willing to abandon them. Again."

"Survival of the fittest." I shrugged and ran my tongue over the back of my teeth. "You read our reports. If we kept standing there waving those flamethrowers around, the bugs would have killed us or the fire. Neither option sounds too damn pleasant, so I chose life."

Roys wore that stupid frown, one warning of a scolding. “And yet you theorized almost instantly why those insects were reacting the way they were."

"Making assumptions about me?"

Roys sensed my lies like those bugs sensed their meal. "I imagine you would have deciphered an answer easily enough if you had any patience. Maybe you would have formulated a plan that didn’t put Lilea’s life on the line.”

He feigned to have a lot of faith in me and that was irritating. My voice came out clipped, "Maybe. Maybe not. Regardless, that ain't my job. So, what discipline will fall upon me today, Captain?"

"None." He sat there, poised, utterly unreadable.

"None?" I repeated, thumbs tapping against my legs, counting, waiting in a silence that dragged and dragged until I couldn't take it anymore. "My, my, aren't you in a good mood this evening."

"I'm no different than usual. I see no reason to discipline you because you will face the consequences of your actions without my intervention." He gestured at the door. "You're dismissed."

That was disappointing, but I hauled myself out of the chair. My steps were slow to the door, waiting for Roys' inevitable last word. He would have something to say, to go on about my lack of patience again, call me a coward, something of the like because that was how he truly felt.

I reached the door that slid open after registering my presence. An empty hall greeted me, but there was an itch, one I couldn't scratch, that couldn't be ignored. Behind me, Roys hadn't moved. He smirked when I stormed over to the desk to slam my hands down.

"The fuck are you doing?" I snarled, giving him a once over, then the room, half expecting a wall to disappear to reveal the whole troop watching our interaction for giggles. Something was amiss and it was prodding my brain.

"Why bother bringing me in here for a thirty second conversation leading nowhere?" I asked.

"It's mandatory for captains to speak to their officers individually after such an event, either for questioning, discipline, or support, although I rarely hear anyone mention that list bit. You don't require any of that, regardless, so you're dismissed." He gestured at the door again. "If it sets you at ease, I'll be calling the others momentarily. Lilea, especially, needs support right now."

The bastard was contagious because my eye started to twitch. "Fuck you."

"If you are trying to ease your guilty conscience by talking back to me, it won't help. I suggest you talk to Lilea."

He was practically using my words against me. It was a fair play, I'd give him that, but he was far too smug about it. I cut the space between us, leaning in and enjoying how he retreated as much as he could. "Should you be pissing me off considering our little escapade in the caves?"

Finally, I got a reaction out of him, that twitch in his eye. The world returned to as it should be, me annoying him. That warmed the fire in me, adding fuel to a sputtering tank.

"That little escapade was a mistake that I am sure you already have or are just waiting to collect on," he replied, maintaining his signature frown. For him, it was less a frown and more a natural state of being.

"You think so?" I knocked the rim of my hat against his forehead.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you contacted corporate already to get me reassigned. They'd take time, but I am waiting for the order," he said and I didn't miss the twitch in his fingers. The urge for a fix. The candy on his desk that he couldn't get without me noticing, that would be like admitting defeat, so I stalled a second, a moment longer.

"It's nice knowing you're worried about it, that I'm on your mind," I whispered, low and teasing, counting the twitch in his finger that got worse and worse.

"Not necessarily you," he countered, making me laugh.

"Keep telling yourself that." I glanced at the box. So did he. Neither of us moved. "So, is that why you let me stay at the habitat afterward? Hoping some kindness would keep me placated?"

"I let you stay because we survived a horrible ordeal and you are bad enough with a full night's rest, let alone exhausted."

"Does that make the third time you've shown care for me? Aw, sweetheart, you're going to make me blush." I laughed again at the disgusted face he pulled. "Here I thought you were feeling shy after avoiding me for over a week."

He scoffed. "I have nothing to be shy of. Feeling stupid, yes. We were riled up and you got what you wanted. Congratulations."

"Thanks, but actually, I'm not all that interested in reassigning you, even if every moment you're tempting me to change my mind."

That had him tilting his head, curious and suspicious. Always suspicious. That twitching finger now tapping an erratic beat.

"What's stopping you, then?" he asked.

I waited to see if he'd give in, switching my attention from his eyes to his hands. They suddenly clenched so fiercely his knuckles were bone white. Scowling, Roys dropped his hand into the box. He undid the wrapper, popped the candy in his mouth, then threw the wrapper at me.

I liked when he got a little petty.

"The game, dancing around the topic, around each other, waiting for you to bring this up, seeing what'd you say and what you've been thinking about this whole time, and of course, waiting for you to give in," I finally replied, earning that suspicious curiosity once more.

"Give in to what?"

"Fucking me."

That made his eyes widen. "What?"

"I've fucked all the guys in this troop that I was interested in already. Too many of them are far too interested in civilized conversation afterward. You, however," I tapped his nose, "dislike me entirely, so why not make this three-month tour worthwhile?"

He blinked rapidly, mouth agape, then puffed out a breath. "I can never tell if you are serious or not."

"I'm serious."

"Why?" He was so suspicious it would be cute on anyone else.

"Because I'm bored." And it would be fun to sneak around, to get under his skin in an entirely different way, and I liked what we had done, so imagine what more we could do.

"That seems to be a common state of being for you," he said.

"A curse of mine, I'm afraid." I shrugged. "Yes or no, captain?"

The urge was there, the thought, the memory and the promise of a future. The stick in the mud he feigned to be wasn't entirely accurate for him to have gone through with what happened in the first place. A part of him that yearned for a thrill, set free in those caves, a craving for a different kind of addiction, resided within the captain's shell, not much different than the flora around us, a danger waiting to bloom. If given the right reason.

"It's just sex, pointless, incredible sex that we can partake in when the nights are long, and we want more than the monotonous days of flora and danger. No one else will know. I swear this will stay our little secret." I caught his collar to pull him in for a kiss. The final push.

The taste of cherry was overwhelming, that candy of his mixed with his unique taste that brought on a thrill no synthetic could replicate. I ran my tongue over the roof of his mouth, stole that candy, and bit his lip before he pushed me in place, taking over the kiss entirely. He commanded the air in my lungs, bringing each forth until my chest ached. When we departed, he had the candy caught between his teeth. His eyes weren't dark this close. They were an unreal blue, rivaling the most unknown parts of deep space.

"And I assume this won't affect you following orders at all?" he asked.

I traced my tongue over the seam of his lips. "I follow them where they truly count, don't I?"

Roys caught me by the hair, knocking my hat aside. One tug and he had me moaning against his mouth, damn near crawling over the table for what I knew he could provide. But he retreated and pushed me aside.

"Leave. I have work to do." He brought up the holo screen on his desk to summon the others. Before I turned away, he added, "Here. After lights out. Commlink off."

I picked up my hat and put it on. "You gave us orders to never have them off."

"Keep giving me attitude, see what happens." He mocked, wearing that warning look, the furrowed brow that made each scar deepen. I was more than excited to see what would happen that night.

"Ethin." I froze at the door, not looking back when he said, "Messing around won't change what happened with Lilea."

"You really know how to ruin the mood, don't you?" I stalked out the door that slid shut behind me.

In the hall, Lilea walked my way. The cradle healed the crack in her shell, leaving a faint mark over the dark spiral patterns. She didn't limp and didn't look at me. Tugging my hat down, I lowered my head and brushed by her wordlessly.

Arana, Ryker, and Zavir sat around playing poker in the communal area. Arana made her bets and lost, based on how she sat with her head in her hands. Ryker counted his winnings, the biggest of the pile, for the time being, and Zavir dealt the next hand.

"You joining in? We should have time before," Zavir glanced toward the barracks. "He calls us."

"Absolutely not." Ryker put his arms around his wins. "Lucky cheats, I swear."

"No, the truth is in the name." I fell into the seat beside Ryker and pulled out a smoke. "Deal me in."

Arana whimpered when tossing a cigarette, her last one, on the betting pile. Then there was a spark in her eyes when she sat tall and held her cards. "I am winning this time," she said.

We all pretended to agree. She had a hit out on her for a reason and even that couldn't convince her how bad she was.

We sat there playing. Arana lost over and over. Ryker whimpered as I accumulated his wealth. We made a rule that I'd give back half of what I took, considering how I never lost. Iylene had watched me for over two hours once to ensure I didn't cheat. But I doubted they would do that ever again.

Lilea returned to the communal area. Iylene went in next. Zavir kept checking his commlink. Ryker didn't speak much. Then Arana threw her cards on the table and said, "I'll be the first one to say it, this is awkward."

"It is unpleasant." Zavir sighed and all eyes went to me.

I pointed my cigarette toward each of them, my second cigarette. I emptied the pack, and I didn't care because I won three more from Arana already.

"Don't give me those looks. The lot of you ran with me," I said, scooping up my winnings and tossing the smokes into the old pack. They weren't my preferred brand, but it was better than nothing.

"Yeah, well, I never abandoned one of our own before." Arana laid her arms on the table, shivering while rubbing them.

"Abandoned is a harsh term." My teeth tore into my cheek. Blood fell on my tongue. Her voice echoed in my brain, a broken stream for the worst nightmares.

"But the correct one," said Ryker, falling back in his chair, arms crossed. "It was the right call, Lucky. A shit one, but the right one."

"Exactly." I breathed in the last of my cigarette and crushed it in the ashtray. "Lilea will understand once she has a day or two to calm down. Iylene will pretend like it never happened by tomorrow."

"You hope so." Zavir shuffled the cards needlessly. No one wanted to play another hand.

As annoying as Roys was earlier, I was relieved we'd meet tonight. I needed the distraction.