Sarah plucked her things out from the duffle bag, carefully, one by one. On top of the bag she had packed a few books, some school related, others for her own entertainment. She put aside a textbook from her engineering class, thinking Wex would appreciate having a glance at it. Underneath the books, all her clothes were stuffed into the pack, chaotically and unfolded. It didn’t matter that Jent had likely riffled through everything; this was always how she packed her bags, stuffing and shoving until the thing was about to burst, then spending upwards of an hour trying to get the zipper to close.

She made three different piles with her clothes: pants, shirts, and underwear. Her room was not equipped with any drawers, but there was a small closet located on the wall across from the door. The top shelf of the closet she had already reserved for all her snacks and non-perishables, but there were two shelves below it, upon which she planned to organize her clothes and finally bring back some order to her life.

At the bottom of the bag she found an article of clothing that didn’t fit into any of her three categories. It was a tight but elegant black dress. The only dress Sarah owned. Her mother had mentioned something about taking her father out to his favorite restaurant while Sarah was home, and she had thrown it in there just on the off chance her dad might feel well enough to travel to the five star Italian bistro.

She held the dress up and frowned. It’s not what I had in mind when I packed this dress. Sarah thought. But I am going to a dinner of sorts. She got undressed, making a mental note to wash and return Nickle’s lab coat. She slipped on a new pair of underwear and experienced a feeling of ecstasy that nearly matched what she felt earlier while eating the chocolate bar. Even though she had been routinely washing her clothes during her time on the Slipsteam, something about having to wear the same underwear for multiple weeks in a row felt unsanitary to say the least.

She wriggled into the dress, happy to find that it still fit considering she had bought it while she was still in high school. There was no mirror in her room, but the door to the closet was metal and produced a murky, slightly misshapen reflection. She tried to check herself in it but quickly abandoned that plan after seeing the deformed image of herself that was being reflected back.

What am I doing? Why am I dressing up for him? It’s not like he’d even notice, and he has no understanding of human perceptions of beauty. Sarah grappled over whether or not she should wear the dress, then, deciding that she wasn’t actually wearing it for him, but that she was wearing it for herself, she made up her mind. Sarah had been teetering over the line between captive and crew member since the day she had arrived on this ship, and she was tired of not knowing her place. Without her, the entire crew would have likely died on the Slipsteam from some loose screw or broken part that went unnoticed and blew the whole thing up. She wasn’t a captive or a crew member, she was a smart, capable, young woman, who also happened to be the only reason the captain of this entire enterprise was still alive, and she was ready to start acting like it.

Just as Sarah had anticipated, Grom did not notice her outfit, at least not directly. He clearly took notice of how much leg she was showing, seeing as his eyes continued to find their way down to her lower half as she entered his chambers and sat down at his desk-turned-dining-table, but he said nothing about the dress itself. Sarah didn’t take much note of his staring as the smell of the fried rice was too intoxicating. She sat down and took a bite before realizing she was being rude.

“Sorry,” she covered her full mouth with her hand, “I should have waited for you to sit. It just smelled so good.”

“You don’t have to apologize for poor manners. I’m a Kylen, remember?” Grom took a seat.

“Yes, well, I’m a human. And in human culture it’s rude to stuff your face before your host has even taken his seat.”

“And yet another reason why I find human culture to be so fascinating, albeit idiotic.”

“Hey!” Sarah swallowed her bite and reached for the glass of red wine in front of her. “At least we don’t kill over something as stupid as misspeaking.” She took a sip and, looking at Grom’s downcast face, immediately recognized her mistake. “Oh, Grom, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

“No, it’s fine.” Grom waved a hand at her dismissively. “You’re right. Kylen customs are incredibly stupid. Who am I to judge your culture of politeness when I come from such a barbaric tribe of murderous devils?”

“But you’re not.”

“Not what?”

“Not a murderous devil.”

Grom let out a small, patronizing chuckle. “You’ve seen it first hand, my murderous streak.”

“He had a gun pointed at you. What were you supposed to do, not defend yourself?” Sarah took a large gulp of wine.

“You don’t know what I’ve done in the past.”

“You’re right.” Sarah leaned back in her seat and folded her hands into her lap. “And I’m sure it’s horrible. I’m sure I’d be shocked to hear about it. But no matter how many details you were able to include, no matter how colorfully you told the story, I still could not be convinced that the person you were describing and the captain sitting in front of me were one in the same. You’ve changed, even just since I’ve known you. You’re different now.”

“So you’re saying I should just forget about all the atrocities I’ve committed?”

“Not forget, no. Never forget. Just, move forward. Forgive.”

Grom was quiet. He threw back nearly his entire glass of wine in one swig. “Before, on the old ship, when you said I looked lost, how could you tell?”

Sarah kept her eyes trained on her hands. “I could tell because of what I sometimes see when I look in your eyes.”

“Which is?”

“Myself.”

Silence drifted through the room, making the atmosphere heavy. Sarah looked up only to better navigate where her glass was, but Grom’s eyes still somehow found hers.

“You’re lost, too?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“Because you’re here instead of home?”

“Because I don’t where home is.” Sarah was hoping they could leave the conversation at that, but Grom’s gaze was fixed on her with anticipation. “Growing up, I never thought I would leave Earth,” she continued. “I had planned on going to school there, at the university where my father taught engineering, and eventually open up my own ship shop. But then my dad got sick and everything just started to fall apart. The medical bills were adding up, and we had to take money out of my college fund. Our house was always full of nurses and doctors, and we had to move a lot of our furniture out to make room for the machines they had my dad hooked up to. It didn’t feel like home anymore; it just felt like a hospital that had pictures of my family decorating its walls. I had to go to Reeveral for school because it was cheap. That place never really felt like home, either. I love my friends, and my old boss Bernie, but Reeveral Port was just a stop on the road to where I was meant to be.”

“And where you meant to be?”

Sarah shrugged. “I’ll let you know when I arrive.”

The two finished their dinner without much further discussion, aside from a few comments about the new ship and how the crew was settling in. After the wine was gone and their plates clean, the captain stood up and began collecting their dishes. He reached for Sarah’s plate, and she put her hands on top of his. Their eyes met. She stood up slowly, her hand running up along the Kylen arm.

Grom put the plate down. “Sarah, I don’t want you to feel like…what happened before—”

“Shhh.” Her finger was on his lips. “That was then, this is now. And right now,” she pressed her body up against Grom’s and whispered in his ear, “I want you.”

He wrapped his arm tightly around her waist and pulled her into a passionate kiss. He tasted like the wine that had gotten them both a little tipsy. Sarah found the taste delicious, and she wanted to drink all of him. They wrestled with their clothing, and each other’s, as they made their way to the bed. Grom had put the silk sheets on, and Sarah’s naked body slid on top of them as he aggressively, but not violently, threw her on the bed.

His mouth met hers, then his kisses began to travel down her neck. He cupped one breast with his hand while sucking on the other. Sarah’s breathing became short and stunted as her body convulsed with pleasure.

He kissed her lightly on the stomach and between her legs, before using his tongue to skillfully explore her. She moaned, loudly, and gripped some of his hair in her fist. “Don’t stop,” she begged, “don’t stop.” His played with her body, went deeper, faster, and harder, until she released a final soft moan, and he could taste her satisfaction.

After taking a few seconds to recover from her orgasm, Sarah flipped herself on top of the captain and brought him inside her. He sighed with desire and pushed himself deeper. They moved together, their breathing synchronizing with loud intensity until they both reached climax. Sarah collapsed on top of Grom with exhaustion, leaving him inside of her, not wanting to lose those final moments of pleasure.

They laid in elation, their sweaty bodies entwined, for the rest of the evening.

Sarah slept through the entire Grendle Port 6 visit. The Gray Arrow had landed at the docks early the following morning, and Grom had managed to slip out of the bed without waking his human companion. It had been over a month since Sarah had slept in a real bed, with real sheets, and her body had relished in the feeling, giving her a much needed ten hours of deep slumber.

When she awoke, the ship was already traveling to its next destination, and Grom was sitting at his desk, staring at the storm clouds that were wreaking havoc on some poor Grendle planet natives.

Wrapping the sheets around her naked body, Sarah got out of bed and collected her clothes.

Without turning away from the window, Grom spoke. “I brought Nickle with me today.”

Sarah was trying to pull her dress on while not letting the sheets slip. “Brought him where?”

“To the markets. We stopped by the Port 6 help desk. They have a public radio there. I let him call his family.”

The information was so unexpected, Sarah accidently dropped the sheet. She stood, her dress only half on, beaming. As Grom looked at her, she quickly covered her chest with her arms, and turned her back to him.

“I-I don’t know what to say.” She got the dress fully on and turned back to the captain. “I mean, besides thank you.”

“His wife did think he was dead.” Grom poured Sarah a glass of water and held it out to her. “I could overhear some of their conversation. She had lost all hope, but she said their daughter didn’t. She mentioned that her daughter often talks to the stars at night, addressing Nickle…”

Not knowing what to say, Sarah took the glass of water and finished it off with one long sip.

“He’s going to stay with us until we can find a replacement doctor. And then we’ll find a way to get him back to Earth as soon as possible.”

“Oh Grom.” Sarah put the glass on the table and threw her arms around his neck. “Thank you!”

He didn’t immediately hug her back. She could feel his muscles tense up underneath her embrace, but that only made her squeeze him harder. After a few seconds, Grom gently patted her on the back, and, realizing that was likely all the reciprocation she could expect, Sarah let go.

“We have one more quick stop to make while we’re orbiting Grendle.” Grom stepped away from Sarah and went back to looking out the window. He pointed to a station directly in front of them. “That’s Grendle Port 4. We’ll refuel there. Slick said something about fuel being cheaper there because it’s less of a tourist destination.”

“Alright,” Sarah said. “I guess I’ll go shower then. Check in with Wex maybe, see if he needs my help today.”

“You should pack your bag.”

“Huh?”

“Pack your bag,” Grom repeated. He looked at her. “I’m getting you a better room. Yours is terrible.”

“You really don’t have to do that. I don’t mind how small it is.”

“Well I mind. We had one crew member stay behind on Grendle Port 6, so you can take his old room.”

“Okay, if you insist.”

“I do.”

“Then I’ll go pack.”

Sarah went to the door. Before she opened it she looked back at him. “Thank you, Grom.”

He nodded. Sarah noticed a heaviness in his stare but could not decipher the meaning behind it. Her heart was aching with the desire to ask him what was wrong, but her head was telling her now wasn’t the time. She listened to the latter and left without another word.