Chapter 8

Zarabeth released a lazy sigh as she inspected herself in the small mirror hanging from the wardrobe door, brushing her hair back into manageable form so that it wouldn't be a complete mess by morning. Looking at Jim through the mirror's clear reflection, she watched him for a moment as he sat on their bed in the corner of the small room, the boy intently reading over the contents of the same envelope she'd seen him with the evening before. He seemed to be in deep concentration, so she thought it better to keep her curiosity to herself for now. Her mind back to being distracted as she fought to get the brush through a particularly stubborn knot of hair, Zara's thoughts drifted over how close Jim had said they were to their destination. A little flying, a couple days more for the Aberdeen's mission, and Jim had promised that they'd have some time to themselves.

She looked forward to that. Even though there wasn't really much of anything for Zarabeth to do with Jim working every day, she somehow always found herself busy from the minute she was up to the moment he was able to come to bed with her. It had been one of the most laid back trips she'd ever flown with, yet the most enjoyable considering it was her first adventure back in the Etherium, but now as a free woman and not as a slave.

Zara gripped the side of the wardrobe as the ship suddenly trembled beneath her feet, taking the time to regain her balance before letting go, a process she'd gone through many times since earlier that afternoon. Even though they'd been flying through the storm cell for the majority of that day, Zara still wasn't quite used to the feeling of the ship's sporadic quivering and jolting, making even the simplest task an effort from varied moment to moment.

Waiting out a new surge of turbulence, the girl quickly finished up what she was doing before crawling into bed beside Jim, glad to be off of her feet for the night.

Scooting in close to him as she closed her eyes with a stifled yawn, Zara let her head fall to the side to rest against Jim's shoulder before quietly voicing her interest in what he was doing. "Is that from work or home?"

Looking up as if suddenly awoken from sleep, the boy looked down at Zarabeth snuggled in beside him before surrendering the envelope and its contents over to her, running his free hand over his eyes distractedly as he always did when he was tired. "I forgot I had this until today. It came just before we had to leave."

"From Silver?" The girl's eyes skimmed over the many words written over the pages, trying to be quick to decipher the code the cyborg always used to disguise his writing. "He...He's moved to Inyang. The smugglers planet?" She looked up at Jim for confirmation. "That doesn't seem like the safest hiding place."

"Pirates, smugglers, refugees. To a man on the run, there's not much of a difference. I think he's safe enough. If nothing else, there's a lot of people on that planet. If you didn't know exactly who you were looking for, it'd be close to impossible to find him. A criminal living on a planet with other criminals isn't exactly the worst idea."

"That's true." Reading over it once more, Zara smiled a little at his well wishes for their anniversary, her concentration broken by Jim's voice as he spoke with as casual an air as he could manage. "It's funny, but we'll be pretty close to Inyang as soon as we get to our mission. Any guesses yet as to where we're gonna be?"

"If I had a map, I might be able to guess now."

"If you even knew how to use it."

Poking his side in mock irritation, Zarabeth gave a quiet laugh before moving to lay down so that her head was in his lap, looking up at him with a smirk of a smile. "I know how to use a map, thank you very much. I'm not completely helpless as a navigator."

"Well... I wouldn't exactly trust you behind the helm. Not on my ship anyway. Just got the paint redone a few weeks-" Jim's words were cut off by the unexpected force of a pillow landing square in his face, leaving the boy stunned for only a moment before having the mind to return the playful blow with the same pillow that had hit him. "Oh you wanna go? You wanna fight, Mrs. Hawkins? I'm ready for ya."

Watching as the boy's crystal gaze filled with a look of all too familiar mischief, Zara knew that there was no escaping him, but she still tried to squirm away none the less. "Ji-Jim wait-"

Unwilling to let her get away, the boy was quick to pin her beneath him, mercilessly poking at her ticklish sides with nothing but a satisfied smile and a few teasing words as he watched her writhe and struggle helplessly in his hold.

Zara was trying so desperately to stifle her squeals and laughter, embarrassed that they weren't the only people around, but still unable to deny how much she'd missed just being with Jim like this.

Just when she thought she'd die of the playful torture she was being put through, Jim's hands stopped their ticklish prodding, leaving Zarabeth trying to catch her breath as she smiled up at him, drunk with the happiness and contentment filling her in this small moment.

Even just the love and pure adoration looking down at her in Jim's gaze was enough to make her every defenses melt away, closing her eyes as she let his gentle but passionate kiss overtake her need for anything else.

Unwillingly letting him break away from her, their faces still only inches apart, Zara's soft smile mirrored his as they stayed in silence for a few perfect moments of peace.

Pulling one of her arms out from beneath his hand, she let it fidget with the ends of his hair at the back of his neck, a habit she'd gotten whenever she didn't know what else to do. Her gaze didn't leave his for even a second, watching as his gentle smile brightened in the sparkle of his eyes, a blush rising to her cheeks at the sudden feeling of insecurity brought on by his unwavering look.

Noting her change, Jim's lips curled more into his classic half-smile with a small laugh, aimed purely at his own thoughts voiced in a hushed tone that only caused Zara's blush to darken. "Do I tell you enough how much I love your laugh?"

"I-I don't know if you ever have." Unable to hide how flattered she was, she closed the distance between them for a moment, only giving him a small kiss before laying her head back down again, the small smile eclipsing her lips not about to go away. "But it's very sweet of y-"

Gasping in a mixture of fear and surprise as the ship seemed to drop out from them for a split second, Zarabeth found herself clinging for dear life to Jim, her legs tangled around his beginning to relax as soon as she realized what had happened.

Jim chuckled quietly, patting her head like a parent soothing a child as he watched her sit up to cuddle in closer to him. "You alright?"

"Y-Yes. Just startled me, that's all." Looking up at him with a nervous laugh, she waited for her racing heart to slow as she looked around the room distractedly. "We'll see if I sleep tonight. You're used to this, I guess."

"You learn to live with it." Leaving a small kiss in her hair as he ran his hand soothingly over her shoulders, Jim gently pulled the girl into his lap, his head resting against hers as he quietly laughed again. "We should be out of it by late tomorrow, so not much longer. Can you last that long?"

"May I remind you that I've been flying longer than you? I've lasted through four surprise attacks, an exploded star, and a pirate mutiny. I think I can take a few more hours of turbulence and rain." Nudging him teasingly, she crawled out of his lap to get her pillow back where it belonged before crawling under the covers, knowing she shouldn't keep Jim up for too much longer with how important the next few days were.

Following her with a chuckle, Jim laid down beside her before snuggling in close, humming quietly in contentment for a moment before his eyes suddenly widened with a thought as he propped himself up. "Wait, four? What were the other two?"

Looking in incredulous amusement up at him, she reached over to the edge of the bed to turn out the lamp before rolling over to face him again. "I've told you this. The first two were with Mimoths in Amelia's second tour, the third was after that when we were on Sanchel, and the last was in the third year when we were with the Proteuns in the outer rim."

"Oh, right, right. I remember now."

Laying back down, Jim was about to say something else when the ship violently shook again, Zara's hand tightly gripping his before letting up a little.

With a reassuring squeeze, the boy pulled her hand up before giving it a small kiss, his voice quiet and comforting against the backdrop of constantly creaking wood as he let his forehead rest against hers. "Don't worry. I've got you."