11. McQueen.
He found her on the topmost deck, in a tiny observation room. Made for two by the look of it, he thought wryly.
"I knew I'd find you here." he told her. She didn't look at him. *Is she blushing again? * he wondered.
He sat down beside her. All he kept thinking was, how could she not know? But he knew, no matter how angry he was, he knew that she really didn't. The confusion was written all over her face.
" You like to look at the stars. You'd have found this place sooner or later."
She turned and stared at him, searching for a clue as to how he felt. The thought made him smile, so that he nearly missed her next question. Even while answering it, he was wondering how she could not know?
"How can you not know what an In Vitro is?" he asked her.
At her reply that she was stupid and ignorant, his anger raged. How many times had he been called a stupid tank? He'd lost count, but he'd promised himself he'd never use that word to anyone. And now here she was, calling herself stupid! It mattered to him, for some reason he couldn't begin to explain explain, it mattered very much that she know he didn't think she was stupid. Of course all he succeeded in doing was scaring her again, so he changed tack. He tried to be more. caring. was the word, he supposed, but it wasn't something he felt he was good at.
"If you were stupid, they wouldn't have sent you out here, would they? And as for locking yourself in, well, lets just say that was unlucky." He was pleased to see that she shifted back into her seat properly, and then groaned to himself, knowing what she was going to say.
"Tell me," she asked, "tell me about In Vitro's. Please?"
He sighed.
*How do I keep it simple, without showing her all the anger, the rage, the hurt? How do I tell her about the prejudice, the horrors involved? *
He tried, choosing to be extremely selective. She could look it up in the ship's library if she wanted all of it. She interrupted him only once, and her final response didn't come as a surprise. He felt that he knew she'd react as she had. It was comforting somehow. The thought disturbed him; did he really want comfort from this elf? To distract her, and keep his mind from wandering over things it ought not to, he asked about her. He listened intently, recognising the clues that she seemed unaware of. He let her talk, asking just one question.
"So what about your father?"
It made her go quiet for a second or two. He watched as a blank look passed across her features, glazing her eyes for just the tiniest fraction of a second.
He knew, he just knew somehow inside, that this was a community of women who'd taken their half-breed children and gone where the world couldn't harm them. To where they couldn't call their children tank brats, or their mothers whores. To where they wouldn't suffer the daily indignities that came everyday to couples trying to make a tank/natural born relationship work. And her father was a tank, of that he was certain.
" You don't look any different to me. How can anyone know you who you are?"
The question, when it came, was not unexpected, though her request to see his navel was. He was angry for just a second, but knowing that it was an innocent request made it easier. He found himself offering her his bent neck to view. Her request to touch it, though, sent fire through his veins. He was on his feet like a shot!
He practically barked at her, "I have to go. I 'm on bridge duty. Can you find your own way back to your quarters, or shall I send a crewman to guide you?"
He turned and fled, frightened by the fact that he had actually been waiting for her to touch it. He'd wanted to feel her fingers on his neck, on his extremely sensitive navel.
When he was far enough away from her, he stopped and leaned against a wall. God almighty, how long was he going to have to put up with her? She made him furious. But - and he really didn't want to admit it - he was attracted to her as well. Damn her to Hell!
He glared at a passing crewman who'd stopped to enquire if he was ok, and marched off to the bridge, dreading his next encounter with her, the damn little elf! That made him smile. An elf. She'd always be an elf to him now. He liked that - and even that thought disturbed him!
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He found her on the topmost deck, in a tiny observation room. Made for two by the look of it, he thought wryly.
"I knew I'd find you here." he told her. She didn't look at him. *Is she blushing again? * he wondered.
He sat down beside her. All he kept thinking was, how could she not know? But he knew, no matter how angry he was, he knew that she really didn't. The confusion was written all over her face.
" You like to look at the stars. You'd have found this place sooner or later."
She turned and stared at him, searching for a clue as to how he felt. The thought made him smile, so that he nearly missed her next question. Even while answering it, he was wondering how she could not know?
"How can you not know what an In Vitro is?" he asked her.
At her reply that she was stupid and ignorant, his anger raged. How many times had he been called a stupid tank? He'd lost count, but he'd promised himself he'd never use that word to anyone. And now here she was, calling herself stupid! It mattered to him, for some reason he couldn't begin to explain explain, it mattered very much that she know he didn't think she was stupid. Of course all he succeeded in doing was scaring her again, so he changed tack. He tried to be more. caring. was the word, he supposed, but it wasn't something he felt he was good at.
"If you were stupid, they wouldn't have sent you out here, would they? And as for locking yourself in, well, lets just say that was unlucky." He was pleased to see that she shifted back into her seat properly, and then groaned to himself, knowing what she was going to say.
"Tell me," she asked, "tell me about In Vitro's. Please?"
He sighed.
*How do I keep it simple, without showing her all the anger, the rage, the hurt? How do I tell her about the prejudice, the horrors involved? *
He tried, choosing to be extremely selective. She could look it up in the ship's library if she wanted all of it. She interrupted him only once, and her final response didn't come as a surprise. He felt that he knew she'd react as she had. It was comforting somehow. The thought disturbed him; did he really want comfort from this elf? To distract her, and keep his mind from wandering over things it ought not to, he asked about her. He listened intently, recognising the clues that she seemed unaware of. He let her talk, asking just one question.
"So what about your father?"
It made her go quiet for a second or two. He watched as a blank look passed across her features, glazing her eyes for just the tiniest fraction of a second.
He knew, he just knew somehow inside, that this was a community of women who'd taken their half-breed children and gone where the world couldn't harm them. To where they couldn't call their children tank brats, or their mothers whores. To where they wouldn't suffer the daily indignities that came everyday to couples trying to make a tank/natural born relationship work. And her father was a tank, of that he was certain.
" You don't look any different to me. How can anyone know you who you are?"
The question, when it came, was not unexpected, though her request to see his navel was. He was angry for just a second, but knowing that it was an innocent request made it easier. He found himself offering her his bent neck to view. Her request to touch it, though, sent fire through his veins. He was on his feet like a shot!
He practically barked at her, "I have to go. I 'm on bridge duty. Can you find your own way back to your quarters, or shall I send a crewman to guide you?"
He turned and fled, frightened by the fact that he had actually been waiting for her to touch it. He'd wanted to feel her fingers on his neck, on his extremely sensitive navel.
When he was far enough away from her, he stopped and leaned against a wall. God almighty, how long was he going to have to put up with her? She made him furious. But - and he really didn't want to admit it - he was attracted to her as well. Damn her to Hell!
He glared at a passing crewman who'd stopped to enquire if he was ok, and marched off to the bridge, dreading his next encounter with her, the damn little elf! That made him smile. An elf. She'd always be an elf to him now. He liked that - and even that thought disturbed him!
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