|31|
Tiur kissed him goodbye. "Don't follow me, Thane….Make your fate." And with the next breath he took, she was out the window.
"Tiur…" he put his hand on the frame, leaning out to see a sight of her. She was gone. In that instant, Thane felt alone. He looked up at the city.
The aroma of brownies lured Feron to the mess lounge. Finding more than just brownies, Feron watched from the door as Roun stepped on her boot to prevent her backing up and teasing a piece of brownie away from his tongue. "Stop moving, why don't you—"
"My toe!"
"Sorry," he licked his lips of crumbs and sucked his indexes. "Let me see that foot."
"You're standing on it—"
"Oh, well, don't get underfoot…." their voices collaborated with giggles between the two.
"She makes him brownies now—that's just great," Feron's breath misted the bulkhead metal used for concealing himself and peeping around the cover, "….That's just great—prick sneaks on The Duke, gives me grief, chokes me out, and steals Laura…" his eyes saucered when Roun lifted her knee to inspect the damage brought about by a scuff to her boot, meanwhile Laura nibbling on a brownie square and watching with bored indifference.
"Hey, hey," Feron came through the door, startling both of them, "….Laura, I see you made brownies—Aaron's going to be pissed if you two stashed them all."
Roun lowered her knee, deliberately. "Feron," his hand landed on the counter behind her hip, "…your timing's impeccable…I was about to devour the leftovers."
"Yeah, impeccable, that's my name—Laura, mind bringing one to Aaron so he doesn't feel left out?"
"Aaron doesn't care—"
"Yeah, he's drooling on the nav—go appease the man," Feron picked up the brownies and put them in the pan, pushed this into her hands and shuffled her to the door, "…we'll clean up!"
"Feron—" and the door shut.
Glancing without a care to the drell confronting him, Roun resumed his plucks of crumbs off the countertop.
"I know what you're doing, so stop—just stop."
"We baked a cake together—what's the issue, Feron."
"That's not all that's baking—I'm trying to complete a mission here and you're deliberately messing with my head."
"Can't handle the pressure?"
"I can handle my work—" Feron jabbed the air in direction of where Laura had gone, "—I can't have that going on with you!"
Bending off the counter, Roun sucked his lips in and finished the chocolate taste lingering in his mouth, "….What's the harm, Feron? You said yourself you cut her off."
"I—" the din of alarms declared proximity to docks and Feron twisted in ire.