Getting to Know You - Part 2

Takes place 3 hours prior to landing on Ezra

“I’ve never fired a weapon at another living thing, but my sisters and I were trained as marksmen. It could save my life one day, right? I’m a decent shot, but not the greatest. I’d hit them before they got close, but if they were shooting back I’d have already ducked for cover. Oh! I can do some impressive gunspinning, but that’s all show and I’m told real gunfights don’t incorporate fancy displays like that. I can beat a man’s skull in with a metal pipe, though.” Jacy stepped up to the shower and pulled the door open wide before tossing Vas his towel.

“Well not meaning any disrespect to you or your shooting ... but shooting a person ain’t the same as shooting a - AAAAH!!” Vas jumped as she swung the shower door wide. Vas scrambled to cover himself, it was a vain attempt at this point, even with the towel tossed his way. Sure the boy wasn’t that hard on the eyes, he would hope, but his skin wasn’t free of marks. Many of them were faded leaving a slightly lighter tone on his skin, leaving a dimple to remind one it was there. Some were newer, bright white against his naturally darker shade. Most prominent was an “X” weirdly discolored on one side of his ribcage. Unlike the rest, it seemed even time hadn’t made it fade. The most eye-catching was the riot of color from a tattoo peeking out from his sides. Not a small one either, color could be seen just cresting up and around his shoulders too.

Jacy stood at the shower letting her eyes rove up and down his torso. Not in a creepy, lustful way, but to take in the clear signs of conflict or abuse that marred his flesh. “So this is what you tried to hide from me and perhaps I see why, but Sugar bear, I was going to see them eventually.” She reached out and ran two fingers over the palest scar. “Were they inflicted as punishment or in an altercation? Oh give me that!” She took the towel and stepped back so he could get out. “Just wrap your man stuff, Vas, I want to look at these scars.”

“How presumptuous.” Vas said trying to suppress a smile as he wrapped a towel around his waist, he was still a bit red in the face but there was little to keep getting red over at this point! She wasn’t wrong but he didn’t know how she would have reacted. “That one …” pointed to the one she touched. “ … first one I got. A few days before we got swept off Santo another boy stabbed me for the rat I caught.”

“Stabbed over a rat? And this one?” Her hand slid over to his ribcage.

“That’s an ugly story.” Vas said after a long moment. “Sure it’s something you wanna here?”

“No, I’m not sure at all. But I’m here and you need to tell it to someone. Maybe the tame version?” She pulled him over to the better lighting and used a second towel to dry him slowly while she looked over the scars and tattoos.

Vas’ tattoo, now that Jacy could see it clearly, encompassed the entirety of the young man’s back. The work was painstakingly done as if it were painted on. It was largely dominated by an ornate angry dragon diving down in a storm of purple and pink blossoms. The background had misty mountains and with the lower half revealing a stormy sea with cresting waves.

“You ever heard of Brown?” Vas asked turning his head a little as she worked.

“The color and many men with that last name, but none of them you’re referring to I’d imagine. Are you the Dragon or is that your …. Sect?”

“Brown is when you take gunpowder and either refined cocaine or some type of methamphetamine and you mix ‘em together.” Vas explained. “So when it came time to fight the bad guys, the good guys would mark you up …” He made a little ‘X’ swish in the air. “… staunch the wound with Brown and off you go. Tame version.” Really tame version. “And the Dragon is neither me or my sect … well, it’s sort of me but not quite. I didn’t … pick it.”

“I suppose the tame version leaves out critical details for the benefit of my sensibilities and not by means of omitting facets of the story you’d rather not confront?” Jacy walked a few steps away and turned her back so Vas could get dressed. “I tried to tell you of my past and future, but you didn’t want to know. I very much want to know of yours. Will you tell me? Maybe after an Ice Planet?”

“Jacy … I’ve done a lot of things. Bad things. I didn’t think twice about it and honestly … I still don’t.” Vas explained getting dressed. “I can't even say I regret them since there wasn’t a choice in it. So yea, I can’t help but want to protect a little of your sensibilities from something ugly I’ve done.” The punk admitted. “Folk don’t take kindly to my ilk, they … well … I want you to think better of me. I know it’s childish but can’t help but feel that way.” He said turning her around once he was dressed. “Since you’re so curious though … that X on my side and color on my back. Less about me and more about who owns me. I know that it just makes more questions than answers and I’ll tell when I’m ready … I ain’t pushing it off, just it’s something you don’t wanna unload in one sitting I think.” He said. “But the ones who marked me. They will find me, that's a certainty. ‘Swhy my head is so firmly in the moment.” Vas took a breath. “I know I’m here today, but tomorrow? Dunno.”

“You are on the Lunar Veil; a well-traveled freighter bound with unknown destinations ahead once they’ve concluded their business with Ezra. No one can own you if they cannot find you. Dorian; he can give you some pointers on staying off the grid and I can help you hide...perhaps on my ice world home. It’s not the life I wanted for you, but it’s better than being pursued by ….the Dragon?” Jacy tapped the back of her hand as she thought through any sort of plan to get Vas out of trouble. She scratched her scalp and looked at him, “Would that work? Surely they would not hunt you down over such a distance.”

“Dragons.” Vas corrected. “It’s sweet, really. Having someone give a damn like you do Jacy.” He said pressing his forehead to hers. “I doubt Dorian could tell anything new that I haven’t done. Trust me. Nothing stays hidden forever. I’m okay with that.”

“Well I’m not okay with that. Dragons hunting Sugar Bears...it doesn’t sound fair. Why do they want you back so badly?” She had her arms wrapped loosely around Vas’ waist and was trying not to take advantage of the intimacy of the moment, but she wanted to cave to it; lose herself in it. That would not be the foundation of a next step, not the way Vas moved. She could never go backwards so she had to move forward slowly, at his pace.

“‘Verse ain’t fair, I got a raw deal but that’s what I got. I ran to find something better ... I found you.” Vas stated softly. “They want me back because simply put … I belong to them. No matter what my opinion is on the matter.”

“I think it was I who found you. I was part of the team, at least that found you. Technically Captain Keller discovered you, but you fit next to me better, don’t you feel?” She goosed him good then knelt down to retrieve a practical pair of pants and top from her luggage. She left the cases open on the floor and got ready to take her own shower. “I think it’s barbaric, owning another conscious soul. I wonder…. Are you for sale? I could make them an offer if it’s money they want.” She looked him straight in the eyes and slowly slipped off her soiled sleepwear. “You’ll need to find me another towel. It’s in the long trunk.” Jacy walked backwards into the shower stall and flipped the water on. Frack, that was hot.

Vas didn’t turn fast enough so he got to see plenty in terms of Jacy. “Uuuuh long trunk!” That was an image that was now burned to his brain till the day he died. What a way to die! “Oh … um … N-no.” Vas rummaged in the indicated long trunk for a towel. “It ain’t money they want.”

“Well, we’ll think of something they want more than you. You probably already know what that may be. Perhaps after our first unchaperoned social outing you’ll want to share your thoughts on the subject.” There was a long pause while she scrubbed at the grease smudge on her face and considered her next revelation. “Vas, while we’re sharing ugly deeds… I mean, I don’t find it ugly, but you and I were raised so differently. I’m not sure if you’d take unkindly to it, but you may find it relevant in some way. Are you sitting down?” She swept her hair out of her eyes and peered through the open stall, he was not. “I tried to tell you this before and we ran into obstacles. Shit, this is going to sound so bad, but… over the past five years I’ve had intimate relations with 585 men and 195 women. No, that’s not right because some of those were more than once. The point is, it’s a lot Sugar bear; more than most would consider normal. I won’t lie and say I didn’t enjoy it, but it was and is part of my job.” \*Shit, Jacy you couldn’t find a better way to tell him?!\*

~I’ve had plenty of ‘intimate’ moment myself, just not the pleasurable kind.~ Vas though ruefully. “If it was your job it was your job.” He said in almost a clinical tone as he found possibly the softest fluffiest towel in the ‘Verse. Now THAT was something he could be jealous over. “You with anyone else at the moment?” He asked. “Don’t tell me I’m the other woman.” He joked.

“With anyone else at the moment? Of course not, I’m on vacation. But I will have to return to work soon. I plan to speak with the Captain, inquire as to running my work from this ship. It would keep me closer to you, but you may not want that I suppose. The Captain may have no mind for it either. I need this crew, though.” She almost mumbled that last part under her breath.

“So my turn to ask the question. Have you figured out what my occupational engagement is and does that have to be a problem between us?” Jacy stared ahead at the frosted wall of the shower, waiting for his answer.

“You figured out what my occupational engagement was?” Vas chuckled walking over to the frosted door and leaned lightly on it. “If you’re okay with me one day not coming home. I’m more than okay being the guy you come home to at the end of your workday. You being a Companion don’t bother me one bit.”

“Oh thank it all. I thought you were going to say whore. I’m not judging them; some of them are fine people, but I hate it when...well you didn’t say it so I don’t have to throw a tantrum. Did you know back on Santo all this time, killer boy? Hand me that bottle of shampoo, Sugarbear.”

“I had a notion before, I was sure after.” Vas explained as he cracked the door a bit to pass her the shampoo bottle. “Killer boy? Should I be insulted?” He snickered but the smile quickly faded. If he was just some ‘Killer boy’ would that be easier to swallow? People tended to have a notion of his kind. He was trying to leave that behind … while he could.

“Oh no, did I say that wrong? I got that wrong, did I? You didn’t kill for the Dragons, afterall.” She squirted an excessive amount of shampoo on top of her head and started rubbing it in. “Relax, Vas. As long as you only did it for your job I can’t hold that against you.” She splashed water over the door and gave him a smile. “At least now we both know each other almost intimately and I haven’t even seen your manhood. I told you this game would be fun.”

“I am a killer as much as a companion is a whore. That is to say, not at all and each an art form that takes a lifetime to master.” Vas clarified. “I appreciate you saying so.” He hadn't expected that kind of understanding. Not from anyone. Yet he wasn’t surprised it came from Jacy.

“Yet … you haven’t seen my manhood yet.” Vas laughed smiling.

“There’s always hope; that’s what makes life so much fun. I saw your heiny and your manly chest and your chiseled waist,” Jacy bit her lip to show she approved. “That will just have to get me through the shift. Aren’t you glad I dispelled those awful curtains in the communal shower? It’s creating opportunities already!”

“Why am I not surprised.” Vas shook his head. He was glad though, he had someone. It was a nice feeling. Worth it. And he got to see a pair of titties. The same ones he fell on not that long ago. Go fig!