Updated 11/5/17: Condensed the main gala action into one chapter, and added a chapter giving some more focus to Shiro's first proper conversation with Tactus.

Chapter 7: The Afterbirth:

Hyperion

Luna

December 15th, 2840

The music of violins drifted through the speakers of a nearby holochair as Tactus poured Shiro a glass of Venusian wine in the comfort of the younger lancer's private suite. Five years younger than Shiro, Tactus au Rath had come from a prominent Martian family infamous for the stream of raped and murdered rivals left in their wake. Shiro felt a little nervous upon learning the other man's lineage. On the one hand, his family had a reputation for poison and assassination, so the Black Paladin felt on edge around the man. On the other, Tactus had apparently gone out of his way to make Shiro feel welcome in the Augustus household and seemed like a decent person under all the snark and egotism. Shiro was just about to take a sip of wine when Tactus pulled out a tube of white powder and snorted it up his nose.

"Ah, much better," Tactus sighed as the narcotics entered his system. "After all that time at the Academy, I was growing weary of military crank. It's good to have access to respectable drugs again." Okay then, Shiro thought to himself. So Tactus evidently enjoys getting high. Come to think of it, he sounded a bit different while he was pouring our drinks. Was he coming down from his last high when he introduced himself?

"How many of those have you had today?" Shiro asked, raising an eyebrow with a deadpan look on his face that said he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer to his own question. The other lancer grabbed the bottle and took a seat on a couch in the suite's common room.

"Sadly, this is only my fifth," Tactus replied as he reclined on the couch and took a sip of his wine. Shiro blinked in surprise before he shrugged and took a sip of his own. Who am I to question someone's life choices with everything I've had to do to stay alive? He mused. It doesn't look like he'd take me seriously even if I did try to tell him it's a bad idea of mix substances like that. Thankfully for Shiro, the wine did not turn out to be poison, so he relaxed his guard a bit. "I only overhead snippets of your conversation with the ArchGovernor while I was eavesdropping in the hall," Tactus added as he put his feet up on the small coffee table in front of him. "So, tell me. How does an orphaned Earthborn Gold manage to stay alive on the streets of lowColor slums for a decade?"

"Not alone, that's for sure," Shiro answered, deciding that if people were going to ask him personal questions like that it would be best to be as vague as possible while reframing his adventures with his teammates into something that Golds would be able to understand. "There were these lowColor kids who would bring me food whenever I couldn't afford to eat, or brought medical supplies after I got beat up by other Golds." Not exactly true, but similar enough to what happened after my escape that people won't start asking questions, he reassured himself.

"Really?" Tactus asked incredulously. "I can't imagine any lowColor doing that on Mars. Of course, I've never had to go down into the slums at all. My parents were rich enough that I spent all my time in Pearl clubs. My brothers tried to open one in Agea when they were fourteen, you know. It was a classy affair at first, before they got shut down over a few incidents of ruined sons and daughters, followed by the trademark Rath family trifecta of poison, dead heirs, and midnight duels." Shiro chuckled at the anecdote, finding some dark amusement at the fact that even a business built on Pink sex slaves could have more violence and rape than the amounts already inherent in that industry when the Rath family got involved.

"Nice taste in music by the way," Shiro commented, hoping to change the subject. Tactus looked away, uncomfortable. But Shiro noticed the blush on the other lancer's cheeks roused his curiosity. Did Tactus play this? He glanced around the room until his eyes found a closed violin case resting carefully on a table in the corner of the room. "Is this your playing?" he finally asked. Tactus didn't meet his eyes, but the other lancer did nod in confirmation. "It's really good," Shiro said as he put his wine down on the table. Tactus looked up in surprise at the complement. Can't imagine his family encouraged his talents, the Black Paladin mused. He probably doesn't really share things like this about himself.

"Trying to curry favor with my family, are we?" Tactus asked accusatorially, his eyes narrowed. Shiro flinched back at the suspicion in the other man's voice. Okay, his family life is clearly messed up if he's this suspicious of even a basic complement, he thought to himself. In the last two months, he'd gotten used to thinking that every Gold besides Mustang and the Telemanuses was a fanatic supporter of the hierarchy, but he'd never really thought about people who tried to be decent like Mustang but didn't have the luxury of family figures like the Telemanus clan. Now, he was beginning to see that the Gold regime fed on its own by forcing people to conform to certain standards of behavior as much as it fed on the labor and lives of the lower Colors.

"No," Shiro replied. "I was just paying you a complement. You're very talented." Tactus paused, as if he couldn't fathom the idea of someone being nice to him without some ulterior motive involved. The man leaned over and grabbed the bottle of wine before he tipped it back, chugging the entire bottle as he held up a finger gesturing for Shiro to wait until he had finished.

"Goryhell, now I see why Mustang got you a job," Tactus commented once he finished off the bottle, his voice beginning to slur from the sudden and substantial influx of alcohol. "You're just like Darrow. He always claims he doesn't have an ulterior motive in moments like this. It's maddening to be honest, and I wished he'd stop pretending to be so noble. My brothers taught me a long time ago that nobody does anything without an agenda." Shiro winced at the rebuke, feeling sympathy for the Gold sitting across from him. Tactus got up and pulled out another wine bottle, chugging it in the quiet

"Darrow got me that violin, you know," Tactus went, becoming more inebriated after that second bottle. "I had a Stradivarius as a child, and my brothers broke it for fun. When I told Darrow that story, he spent half his bank account on a Stradivarius violin from Quicksilver's auction house. When I asked him what it was for, he said if was for me to play. I asked him why he bought it, and all he said was that it was because we were friends. I walked away and tried to sell it, but after I did, I felt so guilty I didn't let the sale finalize and made the auction house cancel the sale. I've been practicing in private, trying to shake off some of the rust. I want to surprise him with a sonata."

"But he always takes me for granted," he added, pausing for his third bottle. "He says he's my friend, but he never tells me anything. He's always whispering with others, dismissing me like I'm a fool, he's just like her… Mother calls me the Mighty Servant now, and my brothers both tell me to get out of his shadow. But I still feel like Darrow's worth following. He always will be. I just can't stop trying to undermine him, like when I launched our escape pod at the Academy without him." I don't think Tactus' admiration of Darrow is just respect for another man's charisma, Shiro mused as he listened to Tactus tell more stories about his time with Darrow au Andromedus. I think Tactus might have a crush on Darrow.

"Not that I don't care – I do – but why tell me all this?" Shiro asked. He could understand if Tactus wanted someone to talk about his issues with, but he could tell from the way his co-worker acted when sober that he wasn't normally this talkative. If anything, Shiro doubted that Tactus ever really talked about his problems at all. He kind of reminded the Black Paladin of Lance in a way. But Tactus was more of a foil or a dark reflection of the Blue Paladin in a sense. Because while Lance hid his insecurities behind jokes and humor, Tactus masked his with drugs, alcohol, and an acerbic wit. "Why not just tell Darrow how you feel? He'd probably understand."

"I don't want him to see how weak I am," Tactus commented drunkenly after his third bottle of wine. "My brothers commed me after the Academy, kept trying to egg me into ditching Darrow. I told those shits to fuck off, but the messages from Mother aren't any better. Every message I get just pisses me off and I needed a chance to blow off steam. But Victra and Darrow are off Jove knows where, Roque's off at another symposium, and I ran into you before the Pinks I ordered got here. So don't try to get too attached to me, Teranova. The only reason you're hearing all this is champagne, boredom, and desperation." I know the feeling, the Black Paladin thought silently. I never wanted my team to see me when I was vulnerable. I guess the only difference really is that Tactus doesn't have the burden of leadership to deal with on top of his issues.

"I understand," Shiro replied with a nod. "The lowColor kids I hung out with back on Earth came to me whenever they needed someone to talk about things with. But I never felt comfortable sharing my problems with them. It was always more cathartic to explain things to an impartial stranger than have to deal with everyone's expectations of how we should behave." Tactus nodded, apparently understanding what Shiro was saying. Shiro moved to sit on the couch next to Tactus in case the other lancer got drunk enough that he either wanted a hug or else became too inebriated to stay awake. But before either of them could say anything more, a knock came and startled them out of their quiet conversation.

"Dominus au Rath," the voice of one of the Grays called through the door of the suite. "Your Roses have arrived." Tactus perked up almost immediately.

"Fabulous," he remarked. If Shiro hadn't known any better, he wouldn't have thought Tactus had sounded like he was too drunk to stand a few seconds ago. As it was, Tactus only stumbled once as he made his way towards the door and let three young men and women around their ages file into the room. All six had hair in various shades of pink, marking their caste clearly for anyone who looked at their eyes and sigils. Sex slaves, Shiro thought bitterly as Tactus stripped off his shirt and started outlining instructions to the Pinks.

"I was setting up an orgy for tonight when I ran into you," Tactus explained to Shiro as he shut the door and began unbuckling his pants. "I rented six of the best boys and girls from The Gardens. Care to join me?" Inwardly, Shiro grimaced at the thought. The entire existence of the Pink caste appalled him to no end. While Pinks, like Reds did fill multiple roles as servants, the main job available to them was the life of a sex slave. The fact that Tactus could speak about renting fellow human beings purely for a few hours of drunken group sex so casually rankled him. But he still had to maintain his cover, so he politely declined as he beat a hasty retreat from the room, closing the door just as Tactus threw off his underwear and flopped down on the bed.

I wanted to give some more focus to Tactus. I quoted some of his lines from the middle of Golden Son.