Mycerra made the last trip to the infamous Captain's Pedestal Fighting Pit, the same fighting pit Bohai earned his scar at. Close by, an equally rowdy Lipolt Casino simultaneously provided customers and fighters for a never-ending entertainment.
Aria rented the fighting pit out for the entire morning. She expected Aria to fight dirty. She expected to have her ass handed to her by the matriarch. Bohai agreed to be her 'second' in the match up against Aria T'Loak and Lotticia Hinder; and bravely decided to meet her at the fighting pit. Brom stayed with Amani at the apartment just in case anyone tried to be 'smart'.
Mannis rode with her in the taxi to the fighting pit as moral support.
"No offense, but my credits are on Aria." Mannis announced dryly.
"None taken?" She dismissed his concern, feelings clouding her mental space. "Aria T'Loak is the reigning warlord for a reason."
"Pirate queen." He corrected instinctively.
The taxi zipped through traffic. Mycerra chose to block the view on her side. Mannis ogled the dingy infrastructure on his side.
"Same difference." She turned toward him. "How is Hadrian? Rumor has he's attached to Hinder's thumb."
Mannis laughed brutishly. "Understatement."
"That thirsty?" She asked incredulously.
"He always chased danger." Mannis explained. "Hinder is the newest high."
She clenched and unclenched her fists. Anxiety kicked up the biotics. "Better than Red Sand, I s'pose." She mused.
"Ice will fry your brain. Newest fad on the market."
"What is ice?" Mentally she created a list of drugs to avoid and keep out of Haven 1. Red Sand and Ice occupied the top two slots.
He continued to 'admire' passing traffic. "Ice is a powder. Some snort. Some use it as a drink mix. It's a quick high. If you liquify it and skip the powder entirely, it's more dangerous. Better high, but higher chance of overdosing."
"Do you use it?" Concern tainted the attempt at nonjudgment.
He patted her knee. "Too expensive for my blood. My drug is a project car. Can't beat that."
She breathed easier.
"Do you?" He flipped back at her.
"Heard enough about Red Sand to avoid it and enough about Ice to know the path it'll slide down." Her voice trailed off.
Hushed voices escaped the closed office door. Nurse Byrne talked to Sierra and Alfred Colton about placing her on medication to control the mood swings and make her more pliable. Ten-year-old Mycerra sat on a cold, hard wooden bench and swung her feet. A small part of her understood what they discussed. A larger part of her pretended they cared, wanted to believe they cared.
"We are unable to produce the desired results without greater cooperation, Mr. Colton." Nurse Byrne said blandly. "I suggest a non-addictive medication in short bursts of time for the required testing that secures our funding."
"Is that necessary?" Sierra whinged. "She's attended this school since the age of six. She hasn't returned home since her initial enrollment. This is the only environment she's known for the last four years."
"We appreciate that your sacrifice has aided our efforts in better enabling biotic students. Do not mistake me, Mrs. Colton. We wanted to inform you we're looking into alternative methods to refine results."
She stopped swinging her legs and leaned forward.
The door creaked open, and her parents walked out ahead of the nurse. She faked a smile for the three adults and hopped to her feet. She ran over and hugged her mother. Reluctantly, Sierra Colton hugged her back.
"You killed a dealer, as I recall." Mannis's voice filtered in.
"Favor for someone." She shakily smiled. "I keep my promises."
He leaned on her.
"And I know when to leave people to their own choices." Hadar acted like a proud batarian, and she wouldn't fault him for that. She permitted him the freedom to push away her friendship and concern. She hoped Craid pursued his piloting career and never quit chasing it. They shed the worst of their problems.
He patted her leg again. "You know how to talk turian."
She grabbed his hand impulsively. "I appreciate the value you've given my time on Omega. You've been a good friend." Her small hand fit perfectly in his larger hand; soft skin pressed to a more metallic skin texture.
"Friend?" He joked. "There are no friends on Omegas. Only marks."
She smiled at the light tones. "That must make you a gullible mark then."
"I'd argue you're the better mark than I. Believing we're capable of goodness." He semi-seriously teased.
"I don't have many friends, Mannis. I appreciate the ones I have." She pulled his clutched hand closer.
"What about Bohai?" He asked peculiarly.
"He's more like a kid brother. I really hopes he makes the best of the opportunities he's been given. So much potential. So much life. So much love. He'll make a great dad or uncle one day. Right now, he's on a good path." She sighed happily. "Yu is too. Girls got a good head on her shoulders. Loves turians. For now, anyway."
She inhaled and exhaled. She shouldn't be sad that she was leaving Omega. The entire concept felt foreign to her. She couldn't keep this up – adapting to different places and it abruptly ripped away at the first hint of peace.
"I'll miss robbing you blind at cards." He broke the mournful tension.
"Now that your project car is finished, you'll have to find a new hobby." She pressed her ear to his carapace and listened to the thumping echo. Tha-thump. Tha-thump. Tha-thump. "Or make one with a pretty turian lady."
He chuckled. "I won't raise a family on Omega." He vowed.
"No argument from me, Mannis." The taxi descended toward the popular location on Omega. "I'll have to pay for your ticket to earth someday. Show you where I come from."
"I won't be out of touch. Call you once or twice a month." He promised.
"Don't lie to me. You'll call me once or twice a month for a month or two. Then it'll be emails. And then it'll be crickets. No emails. No calls." She teased in good spirits. "Next thing you know time difference will become this huge issue…"
Tha-thump. Tha-thump. Tha-thump.
"I have to complain to someone."
Tha-thump. Tha-thump. Tha-thump.
Her throat clenched. "Who knew I could trust someone from Omega?"
His tones played off hers. "Humans. Can't trust a single one."
She snorted. "Damn turians. Imperialists, the lot of them."
"As if humans have a right to colonize our planets. You're just newborns to the galaxy."
"Imperial braggart."
"Shortstack."
She let go of his hand and opened the door. "Skyscraper, let's go." She snapped her fingers at him. "I have someone to beat to a pulp."
The walk to Captain Pedestal's Fighting Pit littered with broken glass, bottles, garbage, half conscious individuals in various states of homelessness, and a sense of despair and desperation that smelled distinctly like urine and alcohol. Bohai let them in at the front door, a metal door dinged top to bottom. He locked it behind them.
They followed the well-lit corridor toward an arena area composing majority of the space. They stepped out onto the amphitheater style seating confronted with Aria's choice of sports. In place of the typical pit filled with sand, a temporary open-air maze dominated the sandy middle. Bohai lead them wordlessly down the steps towards the maze and veered them off toward a unisex locker room. They entered the open layout of benches and lockers and recoiled from the scent mix of blood and sweat stinging their sense of smell.
Hinder lounged on a bench and tossed an asari dagger from one hand to the other. "I thought you'd refuse at the last second." She sneered.
Hatred burned in Mycerra's veins. "And miss the chance to beat you to the ground? No."
Hinder feigned lack of concern. Aria exited the equipment room with four vests and four electrical pulse rifles. She dropped them dramatically on a bench opposite of Hinder.
Mannis clapped Mycerra's shoulder. "Good luck. I'll be at the casino after you're done."
They waved after him. Hinder snickered.
"What the fuck you laughing about?" Mycerra stepped up to the plate and closed the space between them. "We're going to settle this once and for all."
"Your both defective biotics. He's a gimp, and you're an emotional bomb." Hinder leaned forward and dropped her voice to a vicious whisper. "You couldn't land a blow on me."
Bohai grabbed Mycerra's wrist. She tensed up. Aria tossed a vest at Hinder, then at Mycerra and Bohai. "Gear up. Biotics permitted. No killing anyone. No outside weapons other than the electrical pulse rifles." She ordered everyone.
Hinder's jaw worked, no words exiting her lips.
Bohai and Mycerra donned their vests and collected their rifles.
"It automatically recharges after a few seconds. It shoots an arc of energy that – if it hits the vest – will stun you. If you are stunned, you are out of the combat for the round. We play out three rounds." Aria laid it out for them. "Any questions?"
Mycerra inhaled and exhaled. "Nope."
"No, Ma-am." Bohai saluted.
Aria nodded to Hinder. "By the rules."
Hinder put both feet on the floor. "To the starting places."
Bohai grabbed Mycerra's arm and gently walked her out of the room and toward their designated starting point. Bohai and Mycerra marched solemnly to their side of the impromptu obstacle maze. "Win or lose, we did our best." Bohai encouraged.
She glared at him. "I do not need a pep talk right now."
"You sure about that, boss?"
"Don't get cocky with me, Bohai. Bitches going down. No question about that." She shook a finger in his direction and adjusted the strap of her electrical pulse rifle. Bohai suggested the electrical pulse rifle as a neutral safe option. Aria and Hinder mocked the idea at first, giving in after Mycerra allowed biotic abilities to be used. "Beware the biotic trickery."
They looked up to the scoreboard. Round 1 scores blanked at 0.
"Team Alpha about to kick ass." She hyped herself up. "Be – e – agg-aggressive."
"I didn't know you were a cheerleader." Bohai teased to lighten the tension.
She swung her arms to loosen the stiff muscles.
"We don't' have to- "
"Yes, the fuck we do." She turned on him. "We are not leaving Omega without taking the opportunity to shoot at Aria and Hinder."
He put up his hands. "I'm behind you all the way, boss. Always was, always will."
Guilt tripped her. "Sorry."
"All good. I get it."
Their fists stacked.
They lined up at starting entrance 2.
Through the thirty-six by eighty-inch opening, they stared at a temporary wall six feet from them. She fiddled with the rifle sling and practiced swinging it out and back to her chest. The weight of the rifle paled in comparison to Hammy. Hammy was a hammer in her hand. Hammy delivered powerful strikes. Hammy made her feel safe. The electrical pulse rifle concerned her.
Pistols that shot sticky grenades? Acceptable. Desirable. Sign her up. In fact, she needed to find out who made that pistol and try to buy one. No. Buy two and give one for Bohai.
Shotguns that shot discs that bounced and then impacted? Interesting but not her favorite modification.
But an electrical pulse rifle? That unnerved her. Weapons killed people. The stun setting on most modern weapons never sat well with her. If you were going to shoot someone, you should accept your shot may kill that person. You didn't pull the trigger without accepting responsibility. The stun setting, outside of security use, had no place.
Electrical pulses shouldn't be used for child's play.
Suggesting paint ball would have seemed juvenile. Somehow that seemed safer than electrical pulse rifles. They weren't exactly playing a child's game, were they?
The buzzer startled her.
She jerked her gaze upward instinctively, heart racing.
Bohai rolled his neck and shoulders. Bouncing on his toes, he gave Mycerra a knowing an acknowledging nod. She returned it numbly.
A small part of her worried she crossed a line today, here – with Aria T'Loak and Lotticia Hinder. At what point did she lose herself that she willingly wanted to kill them both? Before or after Omega? Before or after the reapers?
He led. She followed.
Judging from their previous knowledge of the lay out and square footage of the fighting pit, the maze couldn't be overly large. That meant the maze was impossibly intricate with narrow walkways or simple with walkways sizable enough to allow two people to advance shoulder to shoulder. Judging by the fact she and Bohai fit comfortably shoulder to shoulder, the simplicity of the maze seemed more likely.
Left or right.
A barren street littered with bodies and the smell of burned flesh and metallic tang.
Bohai tapped her arm.
She smiled shakily. "Bad memories."
"No reapers here, boss."
"Doesn't stop the bad memories, Bohai." She grimaces. "Left or right?"
He stepped off to the right. She padded after him guarding their rear. He stopped at the corner and glanced around it down another long narrow path. "Think the perimeter is literally a perimeter path that leads into the center?" He whispered.
"Possibly but this is Aria we're talking about. She'd make it more difficult than that."
"Would she?" Bohai asked seriously.
Her analysis of Aria T'Loak proved simple at first. Narrow minded, power hungry, ego-centric, narcissistic. The woman commanded and demanded. She never asked. Not much changed beyond that assessment, if she were honest. Even evil pricks loved someone, and someone loved them.
Hell, Hadrian lost himself in Lotticia Hinder and she thought him to be more intelligent than to fall for that thirst trap.
"We'll find out soon." She answered.
He started down the path treading cautiously rifle raised.
Tha-thump. Tha-thump. Tha-thump.
"No! No! Please. Please! Don't- "A woman pleaded with the husk beating her husband to death, both gaunt from starvation.
Tha-thump. Tha-thump. Tha-thump.
She heard the sand grinding together seconds before the singularity threw them into the air. Bohai held onto his rifle by a fingertip. He hurriedly clawed it back to full grip in time for Hinder to round the other corner.
Bohai shot wildly, Hinder ducking and sliding. Mycerra caught her breath too late, her vest jolting with electricity from Aria's shot. Bohai joined her in electrical misery from Hinder's slick contribution.
They landed with a thud ten seconds later. Aria and Hinder stood over them smugly. Hinder poked Mycerra with the barrel of the rifle.
"Think we killed them?" Hinder asked Aria mockingly.
Aria gave Bohai a stiff kick to the rib. Bohai groaned and caught his breath again. He choked down air. Mycerra struggled to pull in air, lightheaded. Her hand twitched erratically, breathing improving gradually.
"Fuck." She croaked and rolled onto her chest. Positioning her hands beneath her chest, she reminded herself to never fight in a sand pit.
"Round 1 to the asari." Aria declared. "Round 2 starts in five."
Mycerra stayed where she was until Bohai helped her sit up. She played off the breathing difficulties as nothing more than having the breath knocked from her. She ignored the voice that told her to consult a doctor and bow out now. Too much pride, ego, and hatred clouded reason away into a locked room.
Bohai brushed sand off his knees and elbows. "You're looking a little pale, Boss."
"Those pulses feel a little strong?" She suggested. "Aria said the stun setting would be the lowest."
"Probably at the highest." Bohai grumbled. "Typical mercs. Can't trust a single one to keep their word."
She nodded along. Her eyes glued to the board again. "You go left, and I go right this time?" She asked him.
"Ambush them at speed this time." He agreed.
She closed her eyes, breathed as deeply as her lungs permitted, and clenched her cramping hands. They ached too much for comfort, physical and mental. The buzzer sounded. She rushed down the left, Bohai speedily to the right. Her senses caught up on cue.
Round and sweep the corner. Clear. Straight way, no one in sight. Turn to the right that opens to a half wall and an open pit in the middle. She spotted the hint of blue and threw out a Pull. The asari jerked over the half wall and crashed into the full wall nearest her. She vaulted over the half wall on her side and shot the recovering Hinder at point blank range.
A blast hit her in the back. She fell forward and twisted in time to avoid a face full of sand.
"Do tell me, Wei Bohai. Have you tried to train your weak biotics?" Aria mocked him, her voice blasting from the local speakers.
Hinder started to recover. Mycerra tried to dispel biotic energy, her head feeling as if it might explode if she didn't gulp down oxygen. Wide eyed, the human female biotic worried she might not make it out of the war sport alive. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" Hinder asked, a tinge of concern barely discernible amid the disdain.
Mycerra pounded on her chest until she breathed again. Coughing violently, she propped up on her knee. "Fuck, that hurts." She gave no thought to Hinder potentially harming her.
Aria disappeared back into the maze again. Mycerra had no idea where Bohai was. Taking the rest, she dropped back to her ass and caught her breath.
"Seriously, you're not going to die, are you?" Hinder sounded worried.
Mycerra turned her head toward the kneeling asari catching her own breath. "Shit hurts, doesn't it?" She mocked the hostile asari.
Hinder scowled.
The rounded ended. 1 vs 1. Mycerra fist pumped the air. Bohai appeared at her side and offered an arm. "Last second trigger action." He grinned.
She relied on his strength. The kid packed on muscle since his arrival, she realized. "Round 3. Let's win this." She breathed.
If she absorbed another shot, would she recover?
They walked back entrance 2. Muscles warmed, blood flowing, the tinglies racing along their skin, the pair of humans stood shoulder to shoulder.
"You're shocking me, Boss."
"Sorry." She said reflexively.
He smoothed down her lifted hair. The countdown for the buzzer gave them a generous minute and half. "You go right, I go left?" He suggested. She agreed.
The buzzer sounded.
She veered right. Bohai darted left. Mycerra slid under the attempted Pull and threw out a singularity. Hinder went sky high. Mycerra fired the shot from underneath and nailed Hinder. She never looked back, making the full circle, confirming their original theory. She spotted Aria chasing Bohai toward the middle. Adding pep to her step, she vaulted over the halfway and launched a stasis at Aria. Aria threw up a bubble shield and faced off with Bohai and Mycerra diagonally opposite of her in the opening, a perfect equidistant triangle.
"Now this is a challenge." Aria's expression rapidly shifted from enjoyment to smugness, the bubble shield detonating. Mycerra threw up one in time to protect herself. Bohai flew off his feet. Aria nailed the edges of his vest and lit him up with electricity. He collapsed to the ground, defeated.
Mycerra now circled with Aria. A recovered Hinder stayed on the perimeter to observe the showdown. Each purposefully refrained from touching the trigger. A biotic charge disrupted the circle. Aria caught Mycerra's fist in her hand and forcibly lowered the fist to waist level again in a battle of biotic expenditure.
"I will always- "Aria squeezed the trigger at point blank range and shoved Mycerra back to avoid sharing in the electrical shock. "-be better than you."
Mycerra stumbled back. The vest subdued the shock gradually. The training pit spotted out of view. Bohai hastily removed his vest and dropped the rifle. He ran forward to catch Mycerra before she face planted red faced. Rolling her onto her back, he started CPR. Hinder called up the nearest healer and ordered them over immediately. Mycerra sputtered back to life minutes before the salarian doctor showed up.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Hinder demanded again.
Mycerra tried to flex her hand. "It's fine." She lied.
No one believed it. "I can better- "
"No. I'm leaving Omega tomorrow." She informed them all definitively. "I'm not staying longer. Bohai, help me up." She ordered her right hand.
Bohai extended a hand. She continued to try flexing her hand. Lightheaded, chest tight, she focused on her hands. They exited Captain Pedestal's Fighting Pit ambivalently, sans gear. Bohai watched her closely. She cringed under the attention.
"How's that therapy?" Bohai interceded.
She scoffed. "It's a war zone."
"Without reapers." He held out his fist.
She tapped it with a flat hand. "You know what's fucked up, Bohai? I don't hate the reapers. I hate Omega. I hate Cerberus. But I don't hate the reapers. I've learned that it's not the reapers that haunt me, but the travesties and the tragedies of war. The aftermath burns more than the current events. I once thought living through history would be interesting, entertaining even. Until I lived through it and made history."
"Became history." Bohai said gravely.
"I'm the one people remember the name Colton for. And that's not necessarily a good thing. So I should get my shit together and make sure they have something positive to attach to the name. Instead of angry, bitter bitch." She mused darkly. "Do you have nightmares?"
He shook his head. "I have regrets. In some ways, it's worse than nightmares. Regrets make you think about what you could have done better."
"Should've, could've, would've." She sang out mournfully.
"You know what I don't regret?" He guided her toward the casino. "Believing that we can do better for ourselves."
They caught up with Mannis at the Lipolt Casino a few blocks away from the fighting pit. The usual crowds drifted from table to table. Mycerra soaked it up one last time. The ambience of mixed conversations mingling into one big hum layered on top the mouth-watering smell of fried food. Most people carried a drink in hand.
"Who won?" Mannis asked when they joined him at the poker table.
Bohai stood behind him, more awkward since he technically met Mannis a few days ago.
"2 to 1. They won." Mycerra delivered the bad news.
Mannis hmmed and added another chip to the pot. He scanned his opponents across the table.
"I must help Bohai pack up his apartment. You square?" She whispered.
Legitimately, this was goodbye for her and Mannis. She already said goodbye to the kids. Craid Voldek, Quincent Lassoss, Gilappus Warden and Mihal Lidan promised to walk the safest routes to school. She informed their parents of her expected permanent departure from Omega. None cared, although the Wardens talked about arranging a new escort for the quartet.
Mannis smiled at her. "Hierarchy approved." He joked.
"You have my contact details." She swallowed her momentary grief and smiled sadly. "Don't be a stranger."
Bohai put his arm around her shoulder and walked out of the casino with her. "Did I tell you Baccus tried to bribe me into staying?" He said.
Mycerra almost lost herself at the reveal of Inos offering to double Bohai's salary.
"Omega has a dark cloud over it, Boss. If I had no connections elsewhere, I might have considered it."
Each step weighed more on her heart. She went through this several times already. Change happened. She needed to surf its waves and ride out the turbulence and discomfort. Things would settle again, and she'd find home again. A true home.
"Yu will be happy we're leaving."
"I thought she considered me evil?" Mycerra summoned a taxi at the dock.
"No, no. She…she's gone cold turkey on the co-dependence. Without Fitz, the effects are harsher. We have each other to lean on and she has a ship full of hostile turians."
"The scales weren't in her favor." Mycerra acknowledged. "But maybe because of the harshness of it, she'll emerge stronger for it."
Bohai held the door of the taxi for her. "And us?"
She smiled at him. "You've grown so much, Bohai. You don't see it, but I see it every day. Your parents would be proud of you. Inos is proud of you. I'm proud of you. Dravis will be proud of you. Whatever happens from here on out, all you need to know is that you've done good, and perfection is impossible."
He blushed.
"Now get the fuck in the taxi so we can clean up your apartment and finish your packing."
He laughed and joined her in the taxi.
The weight of it brow beat Mycerra into a moment of contemplation, reluctant acceptance, dulled grief, and the occasional hope of happiness. They scrubbed the apartment till it sparkled and reflected their faces. He packed his various knick knacks, weapon mods, and weapons into a crate. Between scrubbing and packing, she regained full use of her hands again.
Mycerra added everything to an itemized list. Her brow raised at the grenadier belt. "Been moonlighting on Inos?" She quizzed.
"Wha-no. I thought it would be a nice addition for my training with STG."
"You going to become a soldier for the cause?"
"Maybe. If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for everything. Just look at Omega. Nobody stands for anything except themselves, and it just falls apart." He added extra padding to keep everything from moving around.
She crossed her arms. "You feel comfortable being a shill for the council?"
"If it's not the council, then it's a company. If it's not a company, it's the government. We're supposed to believe in the Galactic Council, yes?"
She frowned. "I guess. I don't like their set up. Only three races deciding intergalactic laws. For how many other races? Dozens? And humanity only just joined them. Drell, Elcor, Hanar, Turians, Asari, Batarian, Vorcha, Salarians. And that's what we see on Omega."
"Rumor has the asari hid something important from everyone else. They're on thin ice." He sat down on the couch and motioned for her to join him. She propped up on the end hunched forward. "There's argument from the Krogan that they want to have the asari removed from the council. As punishment."
"That bad?"
"Worse actually. Because their beacon could have saved more lives if they revealed its presence sooner." He folded his hands behind his head. "The salarians were caught trying to destroy the cure for the krogan sterility plague. And the turians…well, the turians are mostly innocent in the current affairs. A lot of political speak this way and that."
"I guess it's a good thing we never had a hand in it." She mused darkly.
He grimaced. "I told STG I'd ask for you to join the team when your political career ended."
"I wanted to say yes. I really did."
"I know. We owe STG. Sometimes I think we owe him for a fair bit that we are unaware of." He scratched the back of his head and leaned forward. "I sometimes feel like I'm stepping into a political mess that will only lead into another war. And this time, the humans will be forced to pick a side."
She cracked her knuckles.
"And there's the breeding problem the Krogans have. They can't or won't control their population count. There was a world, Garzug or something like that, they were given. They destroyed the world by outbreeding in a few generations. Between you and me, I think the sterility plague saved them. Now everyone's going to expect them to outbreed every world, and unless they change the way they live and think, that'll lead to another war too."
"It's my job to be the pessimist, not yours." She curtly reminded Bohai.
He scoffed. "We're inheriting problems that we didn't start. And you know they'll want Earth to take in their young when everywhere refuses. Earth is cramped as is."
She didn't need him to lay out the severity of it for her. She envisioned it perfectly, far to easily.
"I have a bad feeling, Boss, that while we're recovering and finding love and adventure in all the corners, there's a storm out there, brewing. The reapers brought everyone together, and individually we will destroy each other. Whether we want to or not."
"And when that day comes, we have to know where we stand as individuals and as a society." She picked at her nails. "We all come together in the way we're meant to."
"At what cost?" He asked plaintively.
She looked at the floor. "Fear. Fear is what kills people, Bohai. We can't be afraid of the what-ifs. Bad happens. Good happens. The gray is infinite. And we can't be afraid to interact with the galactic community. No one's perfect. Not even us."
"I'm afraid, Boss. We're in the eye of it all. It's going to get worse." He predicted.
She looked him in the eye. "I got your back. I just have to finish up old business first."
"Thanks, Boss." He sprawled out and sighed.
"You want to stay with me and Amani tonight? Tia might wake you up, but the couch is a little more comfortable than…sleeping alone here." She gestured to the apartment.
He smiled. "I'd love to."
"You know Amani loves you, right?"
The moment passed between them effortlessly. He lit a candle and placed it on the counter. He bowed his head and closed his eyes. A prayer escaped his lips, and he blew out the candle. Locking the door on his way out, he said goodbye to his life on Omega.
Amani surprised them with a cooked dinner. "Wine for all of us." She smiled ear to ear at her love and Bohai.
Bohai placed his crate by the shoes.
"Everything settled?" Amani asked Mycerra.
"You mean has Aria or Hinder changed? No. But, we closed that door." Mycerra answered. "Said goodbye to Mannis. To the kids. Brom is escorting me tomorrow, alongside Bray. Hadar sent his best regards in the Hadar way, varren strips. Hadrian is Hadrian."
"A loop around the track?" Amani guessed.
Mycerra nodded, perking up substantially. "I understand the thrill of racing now." She created a wide gap with her fingers. "And why he chases danger."
"And you, Bohai? Did you wrap up all business?" Amani poured drinks for three.
Bohai removed his shoes and walked forward. "Wilmak and Tallyn offered to pay for a round of drinks, but I'd rather spend my time with people who care." He answered.
"I'm sorry, kid."
"I never expected anything from Omega. Wilmak and Tallyn aren't really friends. Associates, maybe." He waxed moodily. "Everyone who matters is here." He pointed to the floor. Small fussing sounds drifted from the bedroom.
Amani rushed to the bedroom.
Mycerra took over in the kitchen. Bohai made himself helpful in plating. Amani rejoined them with Tia in her arms, a delicate bundle swaddled in a blue blanket. The familiar comfortable energy radiated from each of them, the conversation flowing naturally. A bit of alcohol, and Bohai opened the can of worms about Mycerra before Omega and Mycerra elaborated with less trepidation.
Empty plates in front of them, bottle half empty, and most of the night slipping away, they drowned in the beauty of it.
Family.
A feeling of belonging.
Home. She found home in them.
"Do you need an extra blanket, Bohai?" Amani asked, the exhaustion catching up with her.
He stretched his legs. "I'll be fine. I sleep better with less layers." He said. "Thanks for hosting me."
She hugged him. "No, no. Thank you. For giving me a woman I could fall in love with." She kissed his cheek.
He blushed. "No big. Just what- "
"Family does." She finished for him. "If you need help with new toys, you know how to contact me."
He pulled her back into a big hug. "Thank you for the dinner."
She rubbed his back.
The regret and grief hung in the air thickly. No one wanted to acknowledge the goodbye. They decided to pretend it away.