Still

"Wow. . .I mean, uh– wow. Okay." Minutes after Holland and Talho had left Riku showed up in the Thurston Garage, and Eureka wasted no time in asking her advice. She decided that Riku deserved to have the same story she told Talho– which caught Riku by surprise.

"So now, I'm not sure how to act at night. . .around Renton." Though Riku was shocked at Eureka's cavalier story telling, she could see in her face how sincerely worried she was about the whole situation.

"Ok–well, before anything, I should say that we're almost at the school. Now, when we're there, we shouldn't talk about these type of things around other people, y'know?"

Eureka looked troubled, but managed to shamefully say, "I'm sorry."

"Oh! No, no – It's not your fault. In fact, I'm really glad you told me. I feel like we're growing closer, Eureka."

And there it was, no one could stay sad around Riku. "We'll talk at lunch, ok? You've got the food, and I've got the key to the roof."

While Eureka and the kids were at school, Renton and Axel were pushing through their second week of a BIG job. A couple of independent sky couriers brought their ship in for repair. Like many around the world, those who believed the waves would return, this young couple had kept both their ship and their industry LFOs, and were now looking for mechanics who had re-opened their shops to accommodate trapar-based machines.

Surprisingly, the world had adjusted quickly to the lack of trapar; and so now, just two years after the fact, few mechanics – outside the military – had the equipment to handle independently owned LFO's or sky-ships.

Renton was right. There was NO market in Bellforest; but the news that military mechanics made up 95% of the world trapar market gave Axel confidence. Soon, with hints from his Grandpa, Renton figured it out too. Independents who owned unregistered equipment, including LFOs and sky-ships, would be looking for mechanics with no military ties – who were, in fact, either a-military or anti-military.

At first, Renton was opposed to the idea. In fact, he still was; but the couple in question were extraordinary. More specifically, their LFOs were one of a kind.

"The basic structure...the frame sections too...It's not one of the Mon-Soono types. Overall, this looks closer to the Terminus Series."

"Haha, I'm impressed. I was skeptical about leaving my LFOs in the hands of a kid–"

"That aside, where's the board for this thing?"

"Mine doesn't need anything of the sort, you'll see while you work on it. So, how about it? Will you take the job?"

"Yes sir, Mr. Beams."

The racoon-looking man jumped back at Renton's politeness. He hadn't expected Axel's grandson to be quite so well-mannered. Finally, he threw back his head and let out a mountainous laugh. "Hahaha. . .call me Charles."

"And of course, you can call me Ray." The slick beauty at his side had spoken, and Renton was struck by the strength of her voice– like a french horn or smooth note on a piano.

"Of course, it will take some time, and it will cost you, but I can guarantee a great job and. . ." Renton looked toward his Grandpa for the words to replace his thoughts:

'The military, nor anyone else, will ever know you were here.'

"Discretion.."

"Yeah, that."

Again, the racoon-man threw back his head in laughter. "We have no doubt when it comes to the Thurstons, especially with Axel still alive."

"Ha, I'll outlive all of you, including the troublemaking trio, if they end up leaving as reckless lives as you two and Renton have."

"Honey, I seem to remember a bit of a reckless streak in the Thurstons–" Ray was clinging to Charles arm and giving Axel a devilish look. "–But it didn't start with Renton or his father. . ."

"Now don't go digging up the past!" Axel had lost his head for a moment, but soon composed himself, walking off in a huff and yelling back to Renton, "Come on, we got some bit of work to do. I'm going out to find the parts."

Back at the school, Eureka was telling Riku about the last week. She explained that Axel had given them Adrock's master bed room, which hadn't been used since Renton's mother had died. And so, the living arrangements in the Thurston home had become much less cramped, especially since the Gekko's crew was gone.

The house itself was bought by Axel in his youth, but he had never occupied the main bedroom. He was content with sleeping in his office, and for as long as Renton could remember, his Gramps had spent 85% of his day either in the garage or in his office. However, now that Eureka was back, and he was retired, Axel had given Renton both his office and the main bedroom.

The three kids shared Diana's room, which was originally a bedroom, bathroom, and library; but for two years now, it had been merged into one large room encompassing all three, so that one staircase led to the door of the kids' room, and another led to the master bedroom's door. The only hallway on the second floor was a six foot wide landing connecting the two rooms, which also supporting a ladder that led to Renton's old attic bedroom.

The house had always been met to accommodate a large family, but since Renton's mother had died, and Adrock had left, Axel had allowed clutter to pile up on the first story. When Renton returned with the kids, his first project – mainly orchestrated to keep his mind off Eureka – was to clean out and organize the entire house. This ended up taking several months, but the result was a relatively clean kitchen, bathroom, den/front room, office, and storage room.

All this to say that Axel turned Renton's room into a storage room, and took to occupy the storage/now bed-room on the first floor. When Renton learned that Axel had finally re-opened the master bed room for use, he was flabbergasted at his grandpa's willingness to allow Renton and Eureka to be so intimate.

'He must be softening in his old age,' Renton thought. But Axel had the last laugh, though he did not intend to deceive either Renton or Eureka.

"You guys don't sleep in the same bed!" Riku had exclaimed what Eureka had told her as if such a thing hadn't been seen or heard of in Bellforest for hundreds of years.

"Mm-mm," Eureka hummed as she shook her head. "Our twin beds are separated by a night stand about 4 feet wide." Riku paused to admire how Eureka had worked out in her head the exact distance separating her and Renton.

"So that explains it. I was confused when you said that you didn't know how to act or what to do. I would think Renton would be doing all the DO-ING if you two were sleeping together. So it's been a week since–"

"Well, it's not exactly like that!" Eureka was in a panic to make sure Riku understood the exact situation– she needed someone to know exactly what she was going through, just to get it off her chest...that way, hopefully, she would be able to breathe smoother, and her heart would beat slower, when she was alone with Renton.

Now Riku was intrigued, and she leaned in to hear Eureka's confidences.

"I was surprised the first night, and I was sad. . ."

"Renton. . ." Eureka's plea was met with silence. "I guess you're asleep. Renton. . .I wish I could be closer to you." Up till this time, Renton had been sleeping, but he was awoke by a pressure at his side. Something in him said to yield, so that, less than half-conscious, Renton nudged over to the opposite edge of his bed.

Eureka took her time getting comfortable, trying her best not to wake up Renton as she crawled into his small twin-size bed. "I wish. . .we we're so close that we couldn't see where you end and I begin."

Renton began to stir, and Eureka felt an arm reach across her back and gently squeeze her side. Eureka looked up, but saw that Renton was still asleep. His face wore a carefree expression, and something in his slackened features told Eureka he was having a good dream.

"Eureka, be careful. . ." She couldn't help but smile.

'He's dreaming about me.'

"What, Renton? What's there to fear when I'm with you?"

"Be careful. . .you might get pregnant."

Instantly, Eureka's smile turned into an embarrassed half frown; and she nudged Renton's side just hard enough so he could still feel it in his sleep. "Renton, you idiot." Still, Eureka fell asleep with a smile on her face.

BONUS SCENE: [Eureka falls asleep after reaching her climax for the first time with Renton on the make shift truck-bed]

... Eureka's body shot up off the truck bed and pushed against Renton's hand.

"Eureka. . .Eureka," Renton tried shaking Eureka, who was panting heavily, but he decided to let her drift into sleep. Gently and patiently, Renton cleaned Eureka and his hand off on a spare towel he had near the truck. But he left a bit of the warm liquid on his index finger and brought it to his lips.

'It tastes like. . .'

"Lemon. . ." Renton felt embarrassed saying it out loud, and he quickly crawled into the bed truck; and, snuggling close to Eureka, fell asleep.