FSE

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Shade was alone when he woke; for once in his own bed, on his own ship. He stood with a groan and a stretch, dressed, and joined Ami in the cockpit of the ship.

"Hey, where we headed?" he asked, falling into the seat next to her.

"Got a message from Rayne, he's using a week's worth of his vacation days to visit Thresa." she said. "So I figured we'd stop by and the two of you could hang out, go to bars or whatever it is you organics do, while I go buy myself some upgrades."

"Sounds good," Shade agreed, smirking as he thought of the shenanigans he and Rayne might get into.

They had a habit of competing for the same prospective partners, but they might end up with a good threesome if they played things right--foursome if Ami got involved. Though this would provide Rayne a chance to brag about how he was just slightly bigger than Shade. It was a risk/reward situation.

But as he imagined the carnal comforts he might find, he felt a twinge of doubt and dissatisfaction. It was something he hadn't felt in a while, a deep pang, not just for fleeting pleasure or physical warmth, but for a deeper, rarer comfort. He brushed away these feelings, wondering if Ami had sensed them. Of course she had. But she gave no indication. There was nothing she could do about it, anyway.

"We should be there in about two hours; we can refuel when we get there." she said.

They landed on Thresa without incident, Shade making his way to the nearest bar. He caught Rayne's familiar scent almost immediately, saw him sitting at a table near the door, nursing a drink. Shade approached and Rayne greeted him with a smile and a friendly hug. Shade noticed how his old friend's warmth lingered on his fur. His smell was different; deeper, somehow.

"What'cha drinking?" Shade asked.

"Already forgot what it's called, but it's nice," Rayne said, glancing at the beverage.

"Alcoholic?" Shade asked.

"No, I came to a bar and ordered something non-alcoholic," Rayne chuckled. He expected some comment about Ami being his designated driver, but evidently Rayne had chosen to withhold his teasing for now.

"Want me to grab another round?" Shade offered.

"Sure, yeah." Rayne laughed, taking another sip. "Just ignore that I was about to offer to buy you a drink."

Shade laughed.

"What're friends for?" he said.

"So, where's your designated driver?"

Shade snorted.

"It's not like you to come off your ship without your escort." Rayne said, taking another swig.

"Getting herself some new upgrades." Shade said. "Guess she trusts you to keep me out of trouble."

Rayne smirked.

"What're friends for?" Rayne said, and Shade chuckled.

"Yeah..." he murmured. He found himself looking at Rayne with a soft smile, noticing how blue his eyes were, before those eyes glanced over toward him and met his gaze and Shade glanced away. His friend raised an eyebrow.

"You good?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah," he said quickly. "Yeah, I'm fine."

He quickly busied himself with the tabletop menu, using the touchscreen built into the table to order a round for them both.

"You really do need a drink," Rayne chuckled. Shade laughed with him, though a bit awkwardly. Rayne didn't seem to notice, his smirk widening as he leaned back in his chair.

"So Ami's getting herself some new upgrades, huh?" he asked.

"Uh-huh. She likes to switch things up every now and then," Shade said, leaning back in his own seat. "I guess it's fun to try something new."

"Wish I could swap out my parts for better versions." Rayne chuckled.

"Are there parts you don't like?" Shade asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Hey, you know there are parts I wouldn't trade for anything, doesn't mean I can't upgrade 'em." Rayne said with a wink.

"I dunno, though, I always kinda thought my ears were too big?" he said, scratching at his left ear.

"Come on, I like them."

Shade's eyes widened as he realized what he'd just said and Rayne raised an eyebrow again.

"Shit, what am I, getting drunk from just being near your drink?" Shade laughed. Rayne laughed in return.

"So, we've established you think my ears are cute."

"I didn't say that!" Shade laughed.

"Yeah, but that's how I'm gonna tell that story from now on."

"Don't you dare."

Thankfully, it didn't take long for the topic to change, as a cute lup?n girl caught their attention. They argued briefly over who should go talk to her, whether or not they could both try to charm her at once, before they just decided to flip a coin. Shade called heads and got up to make his move.

They had a nice conversation, but she cut off his efforts quickly.

"Alright, well, I'll just get out of your way, then," he said with a smile. "And look, if you do change your mind and decide to find someone tonight, they'll be lucky."

"Aww, thank you, you're sweet!" she said, reaching out and touching his arm in a gesture of friendly, if platonic, affection. He nodded and walked back to Rayne, sitting back down.

"Damn, and she still seemed flattered," Rayne said after Shade had explained things. "See, that's why the ladies really like you. You're more than just charm."

Rayne's words held a tone of sincerity and Shade smiled at him.

"Thanks," he said.

"Next round's on me," Rayne said.

***

Later, the two of them sat outside, enjoying the evening air. The breeze was light and carried the faint fresh and flowery scent of aran-brand anti-pollution purifiers. Shade sat near a bottle of Blue Winter while Rayne nursed his Earth-brand beer.

"So, I was thinking we could hit up the casino," Rayne said. "They've got games from all over."

"I don't gamble much," Shade said with a shrug. "Gambling's illegal on Lup?, and this crazy ex of mine used to do it a lot, kinda killed my enthusiasm."

"Well hey, I don't gamble either," Rayne said. "I just figured Ami would be great at it."

"Oh, she is," Shade laughed. "We had to stop going to casinos 'cause we figured walking in and winning all the money they had would be suspicious."

Rayne laughed. Shade chuckled and took another swig.

"She can really still bypass all the anti-android scanners?" Rayne asked after a swig of his own drink.

"Mm-hm," Shade said with a nod. "She has so far."

Then Rayne glanced over toward him and their eyes met briefly. The light blush on the tipsy half-lup?n's face, just under the light grey fur of his cheeks and running across the bridge of his snout, made him almost... cute? His smirk was handsome--not just handsome, but handsome. And those eyes...

"... What?" Rayne said, smirking a bit brighter. "I got something on my face?"

"Nah, I just... zoned out, I dunno," Shade sighed. He stood up. "I'm gonna head out."

"Back to your ship?" Rayne asked, surprised.

"Yeah, being planetside after so long out in the void kinda takes a lot out of me." he sighed, hoping it was convincing.

"Alright..." Rayne said, setting his drink down briefly. "You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm... fine," Shade said, smiling.

"Alright," Rayne said again, smiling himself now. "See you tomorrow?"

"Sure," Shade said. Rayne nodded and picked the bottle back up again.

"'Kay, see you then," Rayne said, turning to stare out at the stars.

Rayne's ears twitched in the breeze as he turned away and Shade smiled. He felt things then, things he realized he had felt before, or maybe just things he didn't want to admit he had always felt. He felt that feeling--the feeling he thought he could only feel for certain people, things he never imagined he would feel for any guy, let alone this one particular friend.

These things stirred in his chest and refused to fade as he walked back to his ship. He frowned, conflicted. He'd tried to ignore them at first, even considered trying to push them away, but it was slowly dawning on him that these were just things he felt. It had taken him this long to process them, but now he knew. He knew not only could he find Rayne's male physique attractive, it was deeper than that, so that his eyes and his smile made Shade's heart beat faster.

He stepped up the cargo ramp and let it retract slowly with a mechanical whirr, the cool air of the ship surrounding him. Moving through the cargo bay, he passed into the hall and walked down to the cockpit. The door slid open with a whirr.

"Ami..." he said.

Her ears perked as she heard his tone, a quiet sigh of anxious breath.

"What's..." she started to say as she turned toward him. Then she stopped. He knew she had analyzed every little feature of his face. And he saw from her face that she knew.

"Oh..." she said quietly.

"Yeah," he sighed. He wasn't sure what else to say. She opened her arms and he took the invitation, embracing her with a sigh.

"I..." he began.

"Shh," she said. "You don't have to explain. I know."

He chuckled lightly and sighed again, breathing into her fur, taking comfort in the fact that she knew.

After what seemed like hours to Shade and must have been years to Ami, she pulled away.

"But... couldn't you sense-I-I mean, from my vitals...?"

"I detected an increased heart rate and a flood of hormones; norepinephrine, dopamine, oxytocin. I can't detect what causes them," she said with a soft laugh. "I just thought maybe you'd run into an ex."

Shade laughed.

"I also picked up on the confusion, though," she said, stroking his shoulder gently. "I figured your ex had dumped you, but then I thought, 'Oh, he's found another pure and innocent lup?n girl whose heart he has to break to spare her a life of crime and constant danger.'"

This time he laughed harder. He'd needed that laugh.

"I ran a bunch of simulations in my head, honestly," she laughed. "I thought maybe Rayne had swooped in and stolen someone you really had your eye on, or maybe just spending time with him made you think about Tirra."

She moved her hand up to stroke the fur of his cheek, looking into his eyes, and he saw the millions of tiny blue pixels that made them glow like stars in the galaxy.

"You came back here, and I got ready to console you about whatever it was..." she whispered, "and then I saw your face."

"Damn microexpressions gave me away again, huh?" he chuckled quietly. She laughed and pulled him into another long hug, though not nearly as long as the first one.

"I know you're feeling things for him you haven't felt in a long time," she whispered. "It's not that I can't talk to you about this, but I'm not exactly the expert on emotion, particularly love. You know I'm here for you if you need me. But I think we both know who you need to talk to."

Shade smiled.