Chapter Fourteen: Time Alone

After an uncomfortable two and a half minutes, the door of Eureka's room swished open and she entered, followed by Renton. They sat down on the lower of the bunks on the left from the door, hands still locked together. Eureka's wings cast a soft, fragrant glow about the already well lit room. Renton was taken by this scene, and it brightened his mood a bit, just a bit, just enough for him to ask Eureka the question he meant to ask her without his voice shaking.

"Eureka," said Renton, playing with his clothes,

"Hmm?"

"During the mission, the ambush." said Renton, searching for the right words, "Tyler went off alone on a Ref board, he just touched the KLFs and they would sort of, dissolve. Do you know why?"

"Yes," she replied, her eyes thinning slightly,

"You, really?" asked Renton, caught off guard by her answer,

"Yes," she repeated, "I heard from Holland while you were out."

The soft glow stirred as Eureka shifted herself into a more comfortable position, "Theories point to it being a common trait among male Coralians." she said, and began to shake her head slowly, "I don't understand it well."

"I see, I should ask Holland then." said Renton. Spotting an opportunity and standing up, "but in the meantime,"

Eureka watched curiously as Renton made his way towards the door, but didn't leave. He instead reached out and switched off the lights, but the room barely darkened and they could now see the beautiful green glow on all the surfaces in the room, save a few which were veiled by shadow. Eureka inhaled sharply, "Renton!" she gasped happily, but she couldn't find the right words to portray it and simply finished: "It's pretty!"

"Yeah," replied Renton. He stared at Eureka for a moment, then let fly, "but not nearly as pretty as you."

Eureka sat still for a moment blushing, then leapt up and threw herself into Renton's arms, who staggered back a few steps, "Renton!" she exclaimed, 'I, I love you!"

Me too, I mean, who wouldn't love me? joked Renton silently, "I loved you first." said Renton, smiling,

Eureka returned his smile, and they kissed.

"It's almost eleven," yawned Holland from his seat above and behind three lower seats, two of which were empty and the third occupied by Talho.

The bridge was the second most well-kept rooms on the Gekko-Go, surpassed by only the living room/lounge.

"Moondoggie's got lunch today right?" asked Talho

"Yea, but maybe someone should ask Eureka and Renton, they always seemed to enjoy cooking." replied Holland, rubbing his left eye, "Besides they're much better at it than doggie. In fact I don't remember having constant good meals since they were here last year."

"That's up to you," said Talho, turning in her chair to look at Holland, "you're the leader."

They both sat there staring at each other for a good ten seconds, then Holland sighed, "Fine, fine." he said, standing up, "I could use the exercise anyway." He muttered as he trudged up the staircase.

He stopped half way up, "Hey, I don't suppose you would know where they are?" he called down,

"Take a guess," replied Talho, "probably by the Nirvash, in the living room, or in one of their rooms."

"Yeah thanks, that narrows it way down." grunted Holland sarcastically as he continued up the stairs and out of the bridge.

A minute later Holland arrived at the hangar door to see Tyler still sitting against it with his eyes closed, "Just what the hell are you doing?" asked Holland slowly,

"Nothing important." replied Tyler, opening his eyes and standing up and sidestepping out of Holland's way.

"Whatever." moaned Holland, too tired to push the question, as he walked past Tyler, opened the door and peered inside.

He withdrew seeing that there was no Renton or Eureka inside, and shut the door, setting off towards the living room and leaving Tyler to lean back up against the door and close his eyes again.

Before he knew it Holland was in the last hallway on his way to the living room, this was the main hallway, a few other hallways crossed it and many doors dotted it's sides. He continued walking through this hall towards the living room around half way down it, but as he passed the last crossing hallway before reaching the living room, he caught a glimpse of an oddly familiar form out of the corner of his eye, down the crossing hall to the left.

He blinked, That was, "Gonzy?" he exclaimed, wheeling around and looking down the hall again, "How, didn't you,"

but there was no one there, hallucinating now, I've really got to get more sleep he thought with a sigh, and turned back on his way towards the living room.

"Hey, leader!" cried Matthieu and Hap simultaneously from the couch as the living room door slid open and Holland strode in.

The room smelled of what Holland suspected to be Moondoggie's burnt cooking from the adjacent kitchen.

"Doggie, I think it's burning." he said into the room, a faint "Oh… Crap!" could be heard from the kitchen, followed by some scrambling then something metal hitting the floor with a clang.

"What's up?" asked Hap like nothing had happened, seeing the leader's exasperated and confused expression,

"Looks like somebody got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, eh?" joked Matthieu, also noticing Holland's expression,

"Shut up," said Holland lamely, running his hand down his face, "Anyone know where Eureka and Renton are?"

"Neh." said Hap, "But knowing them their most likely by the Nirvash or visiting that kid in the hospital, Dominic was it?"

Holland closed the door and strode off again, this time in the direction of Eureka's room. The room wasn't far from the lounge, and he reached it quickly and without event and slid the door open.

This room was by far the most interesting one he had visited on his little 'journey' to find Eureka and Renton. The first thing he noticed was that Eureka and Renton were there, then the soft green glow that covered most of the surfaces in the room, he wondered what it was for a moment, then realized they originated from Eureka's wings, which stood out among all.

That's an eye opener, he thought, then he shifted his gaze towards Eureka and Renton, and noticed they were in the midst of a kiss, Holland had apparently caught them of guard because Eureka had froze and Renton stared at him.

"Sorry, was I interrupting something?" asked Holland, stifling a laugh,

Renton and Eureka quickly jumped apart, Eureka turned towards Holland, blushing, and Renton jumped back and pointed at Holland, "Do you mind?" he exclaimed, his face reddening.

"Sorry," said Holland through gritted teeth, trying his best to stifle his laughs, when he had calmed down a moment later he continued, "Would you be interested in cooking dinner? You've always seemed to enjoy it. I would offer you lunch but, heh, it seems as though Doggie's already made it."

There was silence for a moment, although it seemed like a minute, before Eureka broke it, "Yes, I'd like that." she said with a smile,

"Alright," said Holland, backing out of the room slowly, "I'll just, leave you to it then. See you." he shut the door and cut off the light which was previously streaming through from the hallway, and the room glowed green once again.