Day 13
It is a peaceful morning, Akari and I stay off each other as we go through our morning shower and breakfast. Even though her curvaceous body under the water is tempting, I feel much more the need to be close to her, not in her. To that end, we eat on the couch, cuddling as we chat softly about each other, continuing our discussion about our past. Unfortunately, at 0900, I reluctantly leave her, as I need to head up to the bridge for my shift. She goes back down to her room, as it is her day off. I’m sad that we couldn’t have the same this time, but she is needed throughout our visit at Sirius Orbital to coordinate communications.
As I go through the door, the bridge crew gives me their warm morning wishes, engaging me in their chit-chat as I start my daily checks. The only exception is Emma, staying somewhat stoic by my arrival at the station beside her. Although I don’t have long to wonder why she is behaving like this, she whispers another threat with the most innocent voice, reminding me of yesterday’s description of crude sexual acts she will do to me. If there were any doubt that she wants me, they no longer exist.
Once all my tasks on the bridge are complete, I head down to engineering as I need to confirm that all systems are in good shape for our arrival at Sirius Orbital tomorrow. Even though we do not work close to each other, Leet and I chat all through the morning, mostly about her hobby. To think a robot can create art blows my mind, so I ask her many questions about her craft, from how she learned to the subjects she likes to paint. This makes the morning fly by in a hurry, my stomach eventually reminding me that I need to eat. I head upstairs to pick up my lunch, planning on spending my break with Leet.
My meal in hand, I’m on the stairs leading to the third floor when I hear Akari and Natasha coming down from the bridge. Turning around to head back up to join them, I stop when I hear what my companion is saying to the doctor.
“… think this is a great idea. It will be fun, it’s been so long!” Akari says in a tone that I know very well.
A chill runs down my spine as my mind makes hypotheses of what they are talking about, although a specific, especially pesky one is taking considerably more space than the others.
“I wasn’t sure if you would, considering how close you are with Alex,” Natasha says very compassionately.
“Oh, Nat, I’ll always have time for you. It’s just been… “ Akari says until I can’t hear her as they get into the galley.
I’m frozen in the middle of the stairs, my mind slowly filling with a darkness that is worrying me. My hands start to shake as the only explanation submerges everything else, preventing me from trying to rationalize it, from moving forward to confront them, or moving back and go hide in shame. I’m still hearing their joyous chatter as they prepare their lunch but it is when I hear them kiss that the water accumulating on the side of my eyes finally breaks and runs down my cheeks.
I knew this day would eventually happen; Akari told me that our relationship will not make her stop seeing the rest of the crew. I accepted it as if it was fine even though, deep down, I knew I wouldn’t. I should be excited, I should be happy that she can share intimate moments with her friends.
Despite all that, I’m feeling like a starship just hit me at faster-than-light speed. One part of me is broken by what Natasha and Akari will be doing. I cannot accept that they will be together; I cannot fathom how they can do that to me. The other part is angry at me for being so self-centered and jealous of the fun they will be having. I knew it all along; why can’t I just be okay with it? Why can’t I just be happy that Akari does what she allows me to do so openly and happily? Why can’t I just be a better boyfriend to her?
I get pulled from my inner storm by the sound of the microwave door being closed, reminding me that I’m in the middle of the stairs. I go down to the third floor just in time, hearing them get out of the galley, making sure that they do not see me. Even though a small part of me is asking that I go talk to them about it, I won’t be able to deal with Akari’s reaction should I expose my shameful emotions to her. Anyway, how would she react? She certainly will not put on hold her plans with Natasha just because of me.
I stop at the door of the engineering room, conscious that I can’t come in, tears running and moody. I put my lunch on the floor and brush my cheeks with my sleeve and I snort to clear my nose. The minute I take helps me gather my thoughts and push aside all this to spend a nice lunchtime with Leet.
Grabbing my meal from the floor, I open the door to a chilled wind from the AC running full blast. I find that Leet is already at the workbench, having connected the bulky charging cable on her side. She told me earlier that she will be painting tonight, so she will use lunchtime to recuperate some of the energy she will not get during the night.
“I’ve kept a warm seat for you,” Leet says to me, pointing to her legs.
I install myself on her and start to eat without saying anything. The first few seconds are awkward as the silence stretches between us, only interrupted when I bring food to my mouth.
“What’s wrong, Alex? You haven’t said anything,” she asks me with a concerned voice.
I deeply breathe as I finish chewing my food, swallowing with difficulty as I feel my throat being contracted by my emotions.
“I…” I start to say before my voice chokes. Taking a sip from my bottle of water, I give myself time to squeeze really tightly the cap on my emotions, not wanting to spill any of them on Leet. When I feel that I have a good enough grasp on myself, I continue, “It’s nothing, just feeling tired.”
A few extra seconds of silence elapse before she replies, “Okay but you know you can talk to me about anything. You sure you are alright?”
“Yeah, yeah, of course,” I say quickly, annoyed that she doesn’t drop it.
“Because--” she starts to say with a soft voice but I interrupt her as I don’t want to hear anything more about her trying to help me.
“Why don’t you wear underwear?” I say, loud enough to talk over her, finding the first thing that crosses my mind to just make her shut up.
The silence again, only interrupted by the simulated sound effect of her sighing.
“Why would I? Humans usually have underwear to contain any liquids that could leak and to support their genitals. I don’t have any of those issues. Why do you ask?” she finally says as she puts her arms on my legs.
Having finished my meal, I put the plate on the cold workbench to give me time to think, having asked the question to change the subject. I finally reply, “I don’t know, I just think it would look good on you.”
She moves her head over my left shoulder, making me turn mine, the first look we exchange since I have sat down on her lap. Her face shows resignation and kindness, leaving me speechless about why she is so caring about me. I cannot take her gaze for more than a few seconds, looking down at her hands on my legs.
“Would you like for me to wear some? For when we are together?” she asks softly into my ear.
I shiver of delight at the idea of seeing her in sexy underwear, at the idea that we will spend more intimate time together, at her hot presence under me.
Shy that I expressed such a desire, I reply very softly, “I would.” I continue to look down, feeling the heat rising on my face. I also feel the tension raising down low, a protrusion forming on my flight suit.
“I’m sure we could arrange something, Alex. In the meantime, would you like me to make you forget your worries?” she asks, moving her hands slowly toward my nether region.
I breathe deeply at the thought of having her warm mouth over me, of her helping me escape the sad feelings I’ve been having. Soon, I feel her over my covered cock, rubbing me through my clothes. I close my eyes as I let the sensation flow through me, helping me feel better, and making me forget. Unfortunately, this makes me think about what is bothering me, about Akari having fun with Nathasha, that they will have sex like I want to have with Leet.
This realization, that I’m no better than Akari, makes me jump off Leet. I go a little bit further into the room, leaving her warm aura for the cold air a few meters away, helping me cool down the thoughts raging in me. I deeply breathe the freezing air stinging my lungs to wake me up from my stupid behavior. I lean on the cold wall to face Leet, raising my head slowly to face her. Her expression shows surprise at my abrupt reaction, most likely not understanding why I moved off her so swiftly.
“So, have you decided what you will be painting tonight?” I ask her, as innocently as I can.
She frowns at me, before saying, “Alex, what’s going on?”
I close my eyes, breathing deeply to contain the anger rising in me. Why does she have to ask? Why does she have to be so considerate with me? If she knew the full story, she wouldn’t want to be with me, that’s for sure.
“Just answer my question,” I say in a controlled effort to stay calm.
“I’ll paint Foxy,” she says with a hint of disapproval in her voice.
Raising my head, I ask her as if nothing was wrong, “Who is Foxy?”
“It’s a plush fox that Emma brought back from Earth.”
“That sounds like a nice subject to paint. Looking forward to seeing it,” I smile at her. Looking at the clock, I add, “Let’s go back to work, I want to make sure I have time to finish all my preparation for tomorrow.”
She shakes her head while she disconnects her charging cable, I feel her bewilderment at my refusal to discuss what is eating me from the inside.
In contrast to this morning, we stay mostly quiet throughout the afternoon, only chatting when needed. This gives me time to think about Akari, about our relationship, about the issue, about what I should do. Unsurprisingly, I do not resolve anything or find the one magic answer to my worries; it even aggravates them. In the beginning, the thought of Akari in the naked arms of Natasha was creating fright and confusion, now I feel anger and jealousy of their desire to be with each other.
How could they be doing this to me? How could Akari not ask me before? How could she think it will not hurt me?
This stream of thoughts and questions makes that I do not see the time fly by, only finding that it is dinner time when I find that I have completed all my tasks. I sigh as I do not have any good reason not to be there, not to have to confront everyone, not to have to act like I don’t care.
I find my place beside Akari, as silently as I can. She is lively tonight, talking wildly with the rest of the crew, joking about this or that. I keep to myself, only speaking when addressed so I can be ignored by everyone. I would have thought that they would see me and ask questions, but they all seem to only have eyes and ears for my girlfriend. Everyone but Leet; she is returning my gaze whenever I look toward her, resignation showing on her face.
When dinner is done, I help do the cleanup, hoping that nobody will talk to me so I can go directly to my bedroom and mope alone there. Unfortunately, Akari comes around me while I’m wiping food spots on the table.
Putting her right hand around my back, she says with a melodious voice, “Don’t wait up on me, Natasha and I want to discuss some stuff. See you later.” With that said, she kisses my cheek and goes joyfully to the stairs to join Natasha, who’s wearing a wide smile of complicity.
I’m dumbstruck by how unconcerned she is of my feelings, how she has casually ignored me, how she is so happy to spend time with someone else than her boyfriend. I continue to look at where she disappeared for a good minute in the hope that she will come back as she finally realizes how she is hurting me. When it is clear she will not, I let my eyes scan the room and find Leet looking at me. She offers me a meaningful smile and a small side nod to invite me to discuss. I shake my head in refusal, I’m not even sure I could speak right now.
I drop the cleaning supplies in the galley and go to my room, unsure of what I should be doing. Scanning the room, my eyes find my e-reader, deciding that plunging myself into a novel could help me forget about this whole thing. As I go to lie down on my bed, I decide that the couches of the common area would be more interesting.
I walk back one floor up and drop on the center couch, my shoes flying off my feet once my back hit the soft cushions, e-reader soon after in front of my face. I open the screen and dive right back into the story, focusing on remembering where I was before I closed it the last time. The ship slowly fades away around me as I get entangled in the story, my worries finally relegated to the background. The story of faraway worlds and time makes me dream of being in that universe, to travel the galactic empire to have grandiose adventures, to establish on a new planet. The fact that I’m reading all this on a starship heading to Sirius, during my first space travel, is lost on me as I want to forget the misery it has brought me today.
“What are you reading?” I hear someone say in the real world.
Slightly annoyed that I get interrupted when I’ve finally found a way to ignore what I’m agonizing over, I move my reader from over my eyes to discover Blistas looking down at me from the backrest of the couch.
I sigh before I answer, “It’s an old book. Foundation by Isaac Asimov. It’s a classic science-fiction novel.”
She nods slowly, acknowledging what I’ve just said, although I have the feeling that she isn’t interested in what I’m reading.
“Alex, are you okay?” she says compassionately.
There we go, another trying to revive my worries.
“Why would you say that?” I reply, playing dumb.
“You know what I mean, about Natasha and Akari. You weren’t hiding your jealousy very well during dinner,” she says softly.
I inhale sharply before replying, “I don’t want to talk about it!” I raise my e-reader back over my eyes, focusing on the words in front of me even though I don’t really understand them.
“You can hide from the issue all you want, it doesn’t change the fact that you have--” she starts to say but gets interrupted by laughter coming from the stairs.
Natasha and Akari soon come into view, their loud and obnoxious voices showing how inflamed and infatuated they are. When they reach Natasha’s bedroom door, she pushes my girlfriend against it and kisses her without any restraints, pressing her body against the metal in such a lewd fashion. At the same time, Akari moves her hands all over the doctor, rubbing her back until she finds her ass, groping her generously. They both giggle as the door opens, getting inside in a hurry as their hands have found clothes to be removed.
The betrayal is hard to contain, I just want to barge into the room and yell at them for forgetting me, for engaging in this without telling me, for making me feel angry. I fix the door where they disappeared, my hands clutch my e-reader very tightly and my jaw hurts my teeth from the enraged gnashing.
“Alex, you need to talk about it. Don’t do the same mistake as a few days ago. You need to say what’s bothering you. Don’t bottle up your emotions,” she urges me with a concerned voice.
I immediately discard her advice. She doesn’t understand anything. She doesn’t understand me. She’s an alien, after all. She doesn’t know how humans deal with issues. She can’t help me.
I continue to look at the door, ignoring her, focusing on the disturbing acts that must be happening on the other side of the bulkhead.
I hear a sigh followed by a few words in her native language, then she says in English, “At least, get out of here. It’s not a good idea for you to stay here.”
Her imploring voice makes me break my intense gaze, looking up at her. She seems very worried, for as much as I know Volnec’s expressions. It shocks me that she seems to care so much about me, that she wants me to be happy. Why does she feel this way? We aren’t together and she’s only known me for what, two weeks?
“Alex, you come to talk to me anytime, day and night. Okay? I only want you to be happy but you need to open up when you don’t feel great. I’ll be in my room if you want to discuss it,” she says with a caring voice.
She puts a hand on my shoulder, squeezes me, and goes away. I’m left looking at where she was, stunned by her show of friendship and care for me -- somewhat of a stranger to her. All through the last two weeks, the crew has shown me compassion, patience, and conscientiousness. Why do I feel betrayed by them when something doesn’t go the way I want? Why can’t I just enjoy being in this exceptional experience? Why do I have to be angry when I’m fulfilling a childhood dream, that I’m having a girlfriend, and getting new sexual partners all at the same time?
All those questions are interrupted when I hear a loud moan coming from Natasha’s room, recognizing Akari instantly as I heard her do the same so many times with me. I start to softly sob at the hurt I’m inflicting on myself, at my perceived possession of my girlfriend, at my selfishness in this whole ordeal. I’m the one at fault. I’m the one who doesn’t fit into their mold, who cannot accept the rules that have been clearly laid out.
When I feel that I cannot take it anymore, I rise from the couch and head back down to my room, the sound reverberating louder and louder building back my anger. As I step onto the third floor, I look at Blistas' door, wondering if I should take her offer, but I do not feel like she can really help me. I drop my e-reader on my bed and go down another flight of stairs and end up in front of Leet’s door. I look at it while I will myself into spending the evening with someone, my first instinct being to mope alone in my room. As much as my mind is yelling at me to go back, I perfectly know that I’ll just be miserable by myself. At least, with someone, I might be able to think of something else and forget this whole thing. Considering she is the person that I have been the most intimate with apart from Akari, she seems to be the logical choice, although I promise myself to not engage in anything sexual with her.
I softly knock on her door, my hands playing with each other, reflecting the turmoil my mind is going through. It doesn’t take long for her to open, a brush in her hand and a look of surprise on her face. As I can’t stand her questioning gaze for long, I avert my eyes and see a canvas on a tripod beside her bed. I forgot she is painting this evening. Nonetheless, I make my request, my plea for diversion, to repress the thought that my girlfriend is getting pleasure from the hands of another person.
“Leet, I need you!” I say very softly but firmly, barely audible from the background noise of the ship. “I am unhappy right now,“ I say before pausing, a sob interrupting me as I think of the joy Akari is having, restarting when the intense emotion finally leaves me after causing havoc in me. “I don’t want to talk about it, I just want to spend the evening with a close friend.” When I finish my request for help, I shyly look back at her face, in the hope that she will be there for me.
I do not have the time to wonder that she embraces me warmly, putting her empty hand behind my head to make me lean my forehead on her shoulder. I instantly start to cry softly as I feel the benevolence and the care that my friend has for me, leaning in her arms as much as I can. The freeing feeling that I feel is so welcome, that finally, someone seems to understand what I’m going through or, at least, that she is there for me and wants to help me.
Leaning her head against mine, she softly says to me, “Are you sure? I’m sure it would make you feel better to talk about it.”
I shake my head, unable to say anything as my throat is constricted by the despair and anger enveloping me. I grab her flight suit in a clenched fist as another wave of tears runs from my eyes, not wanting her to ever let me go. My other arm is on her back, pressing us hard on each other, needing to feel the presence of my dear friend.
“Okay. Come in and make yourself comfortable,” she says before releasing me, pushing me softly inside her room to close the door and give us some privacy.
I brush my tears with a sleeve of my flight suit before sitting on her bed, elbow on my knees and face buried in my hands, to cover my emotions to her.
“I just need to wash my brushes and I’ll be right with you. Okay?”
Feeling guilty, I reply through my hands, “I’m sorry to disturb you, continue to paint, I don’t want to change your evening's plan.”
“Nonsense, I always have time for my friends. I can pick up painting later. I cannot ask you to put your emotions and needs on hold,” she says with empathy while I hear her move about.
I move my fingers aside so I can look at her, although the renewed tears only allow me to see her blurry shape. Why is she so understanding with me? How can she be so friendly with me when she knows me for such a short time? Maybe it’s her programming that makes her friendly with everyone?!
Her blurry motion finally stops in front of me, then I feel a hand on my shoulder. “I need to clean my painting materials, I’ll be back in two minutes. You okay with that?” she asks with an even gentler voice than before.
I nod my head, covering back my eyes so she doesn’t see the water streaming down my face. I feel her hand stay on me for a few more seconds before leaving me, hearing her footsteps going away and the door opening and closing.
A sob of despair escapes from my mouth, previously withheld so she doesn’t know how much I’m devastated by all this. Recognizing that I only have a few minutes before she comes back and that I do not want to burden her with my emotions, I push them out abruptly, wailing and crying at the intensity of everything I’ve repressed since lunchtime. The sound of my broken voice echoes in the room, my tears sip through the cracks of my hands and wet the legs of my flight suit, and my body slightly trembles at the rush of intense signals coursing through my body. I lose focus on time, on my surrounding, on my other issues, I only live for Akari’s dishonesty, her hurtful cheating causing a rift in me.
When the torrent starts to dry up, my mind starts to change focus, leaving my girlfriend behind and thinking about the doctor, how she seems to have instigated it, how she is taking Akari from me, how she must be sweet talking her into leaving me. I raise my head from my hands, tears no longer flowing as I now feel anger from her actions, betrayal from her false friendship with me, and fear from what she must be trying to convince my partner right now. I rub all traces of weakness from my face and stand up, the energy of the treachery I’m feeling fueling my body to take action.
As the fog slowly lifts from my mind to be replaced with sharpness, I look around the room to distract myself from the urging feelings that beg me to take harsh actions. The canvas on the easel is still mostly white but the contour of a fox starts to appear, representing the plush set just behind the painting on the desk. Looking around, I see other objects set on the shelf: a metal Golden Gate bridge model, a plastic samurai figurine, and a turn-of-the-century London double-decker bus. Looking at the walls, it is mostly empty, opposite to other crew members like Bruce or a certain someone who is hurting me right now. There is only a specific corner that has decorations, where she has all of her canvases. Some are simply resting on the floor and wall, others have been hung up.