Tying up Loose Ends

A Pink Dormouse Production

Chapter Five

Avon

"This is it, guys, Astbury Base." Marianne powered down her console. "Home sweet home"

"I hope you warned the local publicans that our friend here is drinking alcohol again- we wouldn’t want any of them to run out." Avon glanced across at Vila, who flashed him a look that said  'You are definitely going to pay for that later’.

"Don’t worry: I need to speak to the landlord of the Sprocket and Piston about letting you two have his one and only suite. Once I’ve paid my bar bill for the last six months and given him the rest of this year’s rent up front I’m sure he’ll give you a sizeable discount. I’ll need to speak to the Port Authorities too so I could be a couple of hours. Find something constructive to occupy yourselves while I’m gone won’t you? Virginia, close down all systems except life support." She checked her crossbow, swung her backpack over one shoulder and strolled off the flight deck, sealing the hatch behind her.

"Ever get the feeling you’ve been conned?" Avon swung himself out of his seat and onto the floor in front of Vila.

"She’s got us trapped, hasn’t she? Want me to look at the lock?"

Avon rested his forearms on Vila’s knees and locked eyes with the other man.

"If you are planning to leave me, you should do so now."

"D’you want me to go?"

"That is hardly the question."

"So... if I stay, where do we go from here?"

"Hard to say. We seem to have been stuck with each other for a long time and it wouldn’t be the same without you annoying the hell out of me."

"We work well together, don’t we? Bound to be plenty of work round here for a pair of ex-revolutionaries."

"When you bother to use what intellect you possess, I suppose we do make a reasonable team. Though why do you assume we must work together in addition to sharing this suite Marianne says she has for us?"

"So you’re proposin’ to me now?" Vila’s eyes seemed to light up at the idea.

"In a manner of speaking. I shall of course reserve the right to evict you at any point I see fit." Always have a get out clause...

"I always knew you were a romantic at heart." Vila was now enjoying the exchange far too much for it to stay a serious discussion much longer.

"What heart?" Avon got into the spirit of things. "You seem to be confusing practicality and sentiment; nearly as common an error as confusing lust and love."

"So it basically just boils down to sex as usual?"

"Well now, I wouldn’t know. You might have to remind me." Avon coaxed, sliding his hands up Vila’s thighs.

Vila slid onto the deck.

"Like this?" he asked, pulling Avon towards him.

He’s never kissed me like this before; but then I’ve never let him kiss me like this before... tried to keep my distance because there was always someone else... only got Vila now and he’s got me right where I want to be, I think. Oh fuck who cares about thinking?

Lying on the flight deck after, the thought that he was hopelessly out of his depth was unwilling to go away.

What are we letting ourselves in for here anyway? Can I cope with DS-Lite for eternity when I want the full sugar, high caffeine version with a fair slice of BD and plenty of SM thrown in? I don’t deserve any of this. Not after- after... But I don’t want to lose him-

"Vila?"

"Uh huh."

"Why?"

"Because." Vila grinned at him. "You want a meaningful answer, ask a proper question. You’re not safe to be let out at the best of times, never mind when you’re fretting about someone who never even had a second thought about why you spent so much time stropping at him. Need me around to protect the rest of the galaxy from you- or you from them: never quite sure which really."

Oh, hell, he really does give a damn about me. Fuck it, I need some space to figure this out.

"Time for a shower before Marianne gets back." Avon untangled himself from Vila and stalked off.

The shower was warm, absolving, washing away whatever was stinging his eyes. He was feeling a lot calmer by the time Vila slipped in beside him.

"You didn’t lock the door."

"It wouldn’t have stopped you."

"True. Did you want to talk about it?"

"No. But stay with me. I haven’t had enough of you yet." So much for a quick shower...

In all the time they had known each other they had never showered together; Avon had always made a point of waking early enough to be washed and dressed before Vila surfaced. It meant that at least one of them was ready in case they were called back unexpectedly, but more importantly it reinforced the distinction between A Scene and Real Life.

But what’s real these days? Looks like it’s going to be him and me against the Universe. Do I mind? Probably not.

An exasperated squeak reminded him that he was holding Vila more than a little too tightly. He relaxed his grip and contemplated his next move.

He pulled Vila to him into the longest, deepest kiss... Then the hot water ran out.

"Bloody hell, Avon! Has the ship got it in for us or somethin’?" Avon turned the shower off.

"Just not designed for a sudden trebling of crew numbers at a guess. I think we should get dressed and continue this after Marianne shows us to the hotel."

Vila

Astbury was certainly interesting: the architecture was reminiscent of a variety of pre-atomic styles he had seen illustrated in literature. He had been a little unnerved by all the SCorps’ people, who were in town for the Summer Solstice, in spite of being flanked by Marianne and Avon the whole time.

Avon had seemed most impressed that the market place housed a large warehouse containing numerous leatherwear stores and a smaller warehouse specialising in boots. Pity that so many of his secret credit funds had been emptied to pay for repairs to the Scorpio and supplies for Xenon Base...

Their suite at the pub was more of an attic flat, accessible from a staircase behind a lockable door on the second floor. Not particularly sumptuous but it had a king-size bed, plenty of wardrobe space, comfortable sofas and a sizeable drinks cabinet.

Downstairs, the main bar of the Sprocket and Piston felt comfortingly familiar- your standard dive for those outside, and just within, the law- tables arranged in dark alcoves; the main sources of light coming from the bar itself, the jukebox and the corner where the pool table resided. No video games, unfortunately. The well worn floor was slightly sticky from years of spilled drinks and the walls were papered with flyers for long past events, random scrawlings by the regulars, and wanted posters (acting more as a status symbol for those depicted than as any form of advertisement). Just like the Pear Tree back on Earth in fact.

Oh yes, the Pear Tree, where you could get anything you wanted if the price was right. Vila had generally gone there when he couldn’t fence items through his usual contacts and Avon... he had been practically a regular, on his own, or with whoever was his current ‘flavour of the month’. He’d been the only one prepared to relieve Vila of the weird tech stuff that had been part of a much larger haul and had suggested that he get back in contact when he had anything else to offer. And Vila had got loads of stick from his friends for sucking up to some hoity toity Alpha Bloke. Not that Avon had ever shown any personal interest in Vila- that had all happened much later...

The landlord here had offered Vila a job and Avon had looked very surprised by the enthusiastic way in which Vila had said he would think about it. But then Avon had been busy with Anna and the bank scam during the time that Vila had been bartending at the Pear Tree, as a favour for a friend who had been forced to leave the area in a hurry. Quite fortunate really considering that Avon’s ex had suddenly decided that passing on gossip to the obviously interested new barman was far easier than deciding if wanting to resume the relationship was such a good idea.

Vila’s reminiscing was interrupted by Marianne appearing out of the crowd with another round of drinks. She had dressed up for the occasion in yet more black leather: a jacket with long fringes everywhere and a pair of trousers with small gems around the pockets; the Cuban heeled boots made her taller than ever, not necessarily a bad thing when surrounded by this many dodgy characters.

Well that settles it- he’s definitely going to be draggin’ me down to the market tomorrow.

Marianne set the drinks down on the table; Avon looked up at her.

"More wine? I’m really not used to it these days."

Vila picked up his brandy glass and frowned at Marianne.

"Y’know, Avon, for someone who’s used up most of her profit from the last run payin’ off debts she looks awfully smug."

Marianne flashed them a positively evil grin.

"I like that you guys seem so happy. Maybe I should have told you earlier; my room is directly below your suite. I was in there earlier preparing my hunting rifle for a trip out to my brothers’ farm and..."

Avon smirked at her.

"Ah. We shall bear that in mind in future." He leaned his head on Vila’s shoulder and whispered, "How much would she pay us to watch?"

Vila did a double take.

"You’re drunk."

"A little." Avon slid his arm around Vila’s waist.

"A lot."

"Merely checking you still have a gun, seeing as I do not. We may have company."

The crowd parted as three men with the SCorps’ colours painted on the arms of their long leather coats walked over from the bar. Two of them took up defensive positions half a pace behind the third man. He was taller than the others, apparently unarmed, and his beard and long hair contained more grey than black.

"Ma-ri-anne," there was an air of authority in his voice, tinged with more than a hint of menace.

She stood up, which only served to emphasis how tall the newcomer was; Vila gasped and pressed in closer to Avon.

"Da-ri-el. It’s been a long time."

"Long enough for you to forget how much you owe me?"

"Certainly not," she pulled a velvet bag from one of her jacket pockets and poured the gems it contained into Dariel’s hand. He examined them closely.

"Paid in full with interest." He embraced her, with a smile that was emulated by his companions; Vila started to relax as Avon took his hand off their gun. "So how have you been?"

"Not bad: business seems to be picking up again; the Sappho’s running well; I’ve kept out of the way of most forms of trouble. You?"

"The usual. Nils was back for a while and asked after you but I needed him to head to Betafarl and see if he could salvage anything from our operations before the Federation started investigating small businesses there. Maybe one day you can both manage to be in residence at the same time. And those two? They yours?"

Uh oh. Not the sort of thing you want to be sayin’ in front of Avon...

"You know me, Dariel: I don’t do primary relationships. If anything they belong to each other."

"Hmmm. So tell me, are you exclusive or would you be prepared to share your Primary?" The big guy seemed to be directing the question at Vila.

Bloody hell! One minute he’s tryin’ to intimidate us, the next he’s-

"The man asked you a question, Vila." Avon murmured in his ear.

"Yes, well, er..."

"If it’s any help, I would have no moral objection to you wanting to spend time with Marianne." All well and good but Avon’s tone of voice wasn’t helping Vila’s ability to form any sort of reply. Vila looked to Marianne for inspiration.

"Dariel, they’re new in town. Give them a chance to settle in before you pounce. Why don’t we see if I can still beat you at pool?" She picked up her bottle of beer and led the SCorps’ leader and his bodyguards over to the far end of the room.

"You enjoyed that, you bastard." Vila was unsure what to make of Avon’s comment about Marianne.

"You sound surprised. Surely you didn’t expect things to change that much just because I put our relationship on a slightly more official footing?"

"Well, I didn’t expect you’d treat me any better; but you don’t mind if me an’ Marianne-"

"Certainly not, that would seem to be the way of things on this planet so we may as well try and integrate ourselves with the locals. Not tonight, of course..."

So much for a safe, quiet life. But then if Avon’s prepared to bite my neck in public I suppose I should be prepared to put up with a bit of excitement. And I might get to play with Marianne without him stropping too much. Not sure about that Dariel, even if Avon is interested in him- especially the way Avon’s interested in him...

On to Playing at Grown-Ups

Back to Chapter Four

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