Chapter 15

Mirolasor was at war again. When the ship entered the system, they were greeted by three aggressive warships demanding to know their flight path and intentions. Sol managed to talk them down, but it wasn't exactly a relaxing re-entry.

"This stupid war," he said to Remma after he switched off the comm. "I hoped they'd be done with it by now."

"Maybe in a year or two," Remma said. "In the meantime it's good for business."

"I hate to think of it that way, but you aren't wrong." Sol shook his head. "Let me send Loden a message to let her know we're on our way."

They took the ship's one remaining shuttle down to the surface of the moon. Sol watched from the cockpit as the atmospheric haze gave way to far-below swathes of trees. As they grew closer, he could see rivers and ranges of hills, rocky outcrops, all the features of home.

"Is it good to be back?" Remma asked.

"Yes," Sol said, almost too choked up to speak. "Yeah. It's really good."

The shuttle glided down toward the ground and settled in a clearing not far from the colony. When the hatch opened and flooded the shuttle with pine-scented air, Sol's eyes began to water anew. He had tried to keep his spirits up in captivity, but he'd definitely had some dark thoughts, on more than one occasion, about the likelihood of his imminent demise. He hadn't thought he'd ever get to smell this air again.

As they walked up the path toward the colony, Remma reached over and took Sol's hand. Sol smiled down at his feet and held on tight. He was happy in a way he'd never been before: going home, and in love.

Halfway to the top, the colony gate opened and people came streaming out. They were too far away still for Sol to make out facial features, but he recognized everyone nonetheless, from their clothes and their size and their hair. There was Turel, and Julen with the baby, and Samae—Samae shouting and waving as he leaped down the path, and behind all of them came Loden.

"There's your mom," Remma said, as if Sol hadn't already seen her, hadn't been searching the crowd for her from the moment the gate opened. "Is she crying?"

She was. Sol kept his eyes on her even as Samae came running for a hug, even as all the other colonists surrounded them, laughing and clapping him on the back and shoulders, shouting various rude, fond things at Remma and hugging him, too. Sol was glad to see all of them, but most of all he was glad to see his mother.

"My baby," Loden said, when the crowd finally parted. She opened her arms to him, tears streaming down her face, and Sol went to her and hugged her so tight she made a squeaking noise. She seemed smaller than he remembered. He didn't mind, in this moment, being her baby.

"Hi, Mom," Sol managed, and then they both cried for a while, holding each other.

"How in the world," Loden said at last, "did you get away from that monster?"

Sol laughed. "Mom, it's quite a story."

* * *

There wasno good way to get the shuttle back to the ship in orbit. The ship said they could keep it, and Sol was glad to have it; it would come in handy. The colony didn't have a shuttle, and it would be nice to have one to visit other colonies and go on longer-range scavenging missions.

He said his goodbyes to the ship from the colony's control room. "Thank you for everything," he said to the console as it flashed various lights at him. "I couldn't have done any of it without you."

"I'm so glad I could help," the ship replied. "You deserve to be home."

"Stay safe on your trip back. Message me when you arrive. I want to know that you've made it back to your people."

"Is it normal for humans to worry about ships?"

"Only when the ship is a friend," Sol said, smiling. "So you'll message me?"

"Of course," the ship said. "Goodbye, Solomon."

"Goodbye, ship. Take care of yourself."

"Nice ship," Remma said after Sol ended the call. He'd sat silently while Sol spoke. Now he reached out and rested a hand on Sol's knee. "You did good to make friends with it."

"I liked it," Sol said. "I was using it, kind of, at first. But mostly it was just nice to have someone to talk to."

"The most useful friend you've ever made." Remma leaned in for a kiss, and Sol welcomed it, leaned into it and kept Remma close for more. "Hmm," Remma said. "Here?"

"No." Sol pulled back and grinned. "Later. We have to get through dinner first."

There was a welcome-back dinner for them that evening, which was mostly an excuse for everyone to get drunk. Sol started the meal next to Samae, who wanted every gory detail of Sol's imprisonment and eventual escape. Across the room, Remma was probably doing the same thing, based on his hand gestures. They kept making eye contact, watching each other, checking in. Sol was glad to be back with his friends, but he couldn't wait to get Remma alone.

"So what happened with the two of you?" Samae asked.

"Huh?" Sol asked, redirecting his attention to his friend.

Samae was smiling at him knowingly. "You and Remma. I've had suspicions for a while, but now I'm certain. You had some bonding time on that ship, huh?"

Sol was tempted to play dumb, but honestly, why bother. Everyone was going to figure it out sooner or later. Sol didn't really feel like hiding what was going on.

"Bonding," he said. "Yeah, you could say that."

Samae smacked the table in victory. "I knew it! Wow, I love to be right."

"You're insane," Sol said, but he was looking at Remma again, and he couldn't seem to stop smiling.

The party showed no signs of slowing down even late into the evening hours. Sol wasn't ordinarily one to ditch a party in full swing, but he had other things on his agenda. When Samae got up to get another drink, Sol took the chance to slip out of the mess hall and back to his room. He caught Remma's eye on the way out. Message sent and received.

A few minutes later he heard a knock on his door and went to let Remma in. Remma leaned in the doorway, smiling, looking relaxed and happy. Sol was pretty sure human alcohol didn't have any effect on him, but he seemed a little drunk anyway.

"Get in here," Sol said, and hauled him inside by the front of his shirt.

Remma had never been in his room before—Sol had always sought him out, not the other way around—but Sol had no interest in giving a tour. There was nothing interesting to see, anyway: his bed, his closet, his single shelf of knick-knacks and mementos. If Remma wanted to snoop around, he could do that in the morning. Sol was on a mission.

He dragged Remma down for a kiss. Remma's mouth was soft against his aside from the sharp points of his teeth, a delightful contrast. Sol wanted him in every possible way—to make Remma his, body, heart, and soul.

Remma muttered his name and held him close, his hands clutching at Sol's hips and sliding down to his ass, hungry and possessive. "I can't wait to have you," he said between kisses. "Your ass?—"

"What about my ass," Sol said, pleased by the flattery but also just wanting to get on with it. He didn't quite know why he felt so urgent; they had all the time in the world now, as many days or months or years as they wanted to spend together. Decades; the rest of their lives. He was frantic anyway. He wanted Remma in bed, inside him already.

They stumbled toward the bed, trading sloppy kisses and tearing at each other's clothes. Sol shoved Remma down onto the mattress and dug the lube out of his chest of drawers. It was almost empty, but there was enough to get them through tonight. He tossed the tube onto the blankets and climbed on top.

Remma had managed to get himself undressed. His slit was flushed and slightly swollen. Sol was still learning about this part of him, but that was for sure a good sign. He smoothed his hand over it and Remma sighed and wriggled into a more comfortable position.

"Feels good," Remma said. "You going to get me ready for you?"

"That's the idea," Sol said. His mouth was dry. He liked having Remma spread out for him like this, turned on and wanting more. And he liked that Remma trusted him with this, letting Sol explore his body instead of concealing it, taking his time instead of forcing his cock out before it was ready. The sex had always been good, but it just kept getting better.

He played with Remma's slit for a few minutes, dipping his fingers in, stroking the swollen rim. Remma went breathless and heavy-lidded and began rocking into Sol's touch. Before long his cock slid out and rested on his belly, huge and slick, always bigger than Sol remembered.

"Okay," Remma said. "Now I'm going to fuck you."

He put Sol on his hands and knees and then just sat back and watched while Sol got himself ready. Sol hid his burning face in the pillow as he fingered his asshole open. Remma stroked Sol's ass and the backs of his thighs and made appreciative noises like Sol was his own private pornography. Sol felt like his entire body was throbbing in time with his heartbeat as he slid his fingers as deep as they would go.

"I love to watch you," Remma said, so raw and earnest that Sol had to squeeze his eyes shut from a combination of embarrassment and giddy delight.

He and Remma had fucked enough on board the ship that Sol knew he didn't need to be too diligent with his prep work. He tossed the lube backward toward Remma and said, "Slick it up, big guy."

"Big guy," Remma muttered disparagingly, but Sol heard the cap pop open, so at least Remma knew what was good for him.

He wrapped his arms around the pillow and focused on his breathing as he listened to the wet sounds of Remma lubing his cock. His own dick hung between his thighs, hard and throbbing, the head dragging on the rumpled sheets. He moved his hips for some friction, forward and back, until Remma smacked his ass and said, "Hold still."

"You're taking too long," Sol complained.

"You'd think you'd be appreciative," Remma said. He nudged the head of his cock against Sol's hole, drawing agonizing circles with the tip. "Just for that I shouldn't give you what you want."

"You want it too, though," Sol said, pushing his hips backward, feeling Remma begin to sink in before drawing away. "You can't pretend you don't."

"You're right," Remma said. "Deep breath, then," but he didn't really wait for Sol to brace himself before he shoved in.

Sol made a truly humiliating noise, sort of a high-pitched squeak, as Remma worked his way in with far less care than usual. It was like now that Remma was assured of Sol's feelings he was going to take what he wanted and assume Sol would say something if he objected.

Sol did not, in fact, object.

"My sweetheart," Remma said to him, hands on Sol's hips, rocking back and forth to stuff his giant cock into Sol's asshole. "You're doing so well. Just relax."

"You try relaxing," Sol said, "while some huge alien is splitting you open," but okay, he was being dramatic. Remma wasn't anything he couldn't handle. It was just a lot, every time, but that was part of what was so good about it: pushing his body to his limits, learning what he was able to take.

He was so hard. He was going to come so fast. And Remma was no help, nudging his cock right against Sol's prostate, winding him tighter and tighter. Sol rubbed his face against the pillow, trying to let out some of the feeling. It didn't really help. He moaned; that did help, a little bit, but not enough to make much of a difference.

"Oh, have mercy," Sol said, and Remma chuckled warmly and didn't slow down at all.

Sol gave up. He pushed his face into the pillow, clenched around Remma's cock, and came.

Remma let him tremble through it, then carefully pulled out and flipped Sol over onto his back. Sol let his thighs flop open invitingly, which Remma took as permission to palm Sol's softening dick. Sol hissed through his teeth: he was too sensitive for that.

"Sorry," Remma said. "Couldn't resist."

"Couldn't you," Sol said. He pulled one knee toward his chest, opening himself. Remma slid back inside with a groan.

It was slower this time, softer and more tender. Remma kissed Sol's slack mouth until Sol recovered enough to kiss back. Sol wrapped his arms around Remma's neck and enjoyed the weight of him, the feeling of Remma's body shifting above him as he sought his pleasure. Soon Sol was hard again, although he didn't think he would come a second time. He felt too relaxed for that, almost languid from how Remma was kissing him and gazing down at him, with a small smile on his face.

Remma loved him, probably. Sol had a strong suspicion. It was strange to think about. Sol hadn't ever thought love was on offer, but he was so glad to have found it. He didn't ever want to let Remma go.

"Hey," he said to Remma, and kissed the corner of his mouth and his cheek. "Hey. I love you."

Remma pulled back to shine a warm, bewildered look down on him. "You do?"

"Yeah. I do love you. Are you surprised?"

"Pretty surprised." Remma's mouth slid into a smile. "But pretty happy."

"I love you," Sol said again, to hear himself say it, to speak the feeling into full life and reality.

Remma dropped down again and buried his face in the crook of Sol's neck. Sol could feel his smile. "My Solomon. I feel the same way, you know."

Sol prodded the back of Remma's thigh with his heel. "Don't get distracted. You're in the middle of something."

Remma laughed. "Sorry. I'll get right back to it." He rolled his hips, and Sol moaned and held on.

When they were done, and had cleaned up enough to avoid a total disaster in the morning, Remma lay back in bed and pulled Sol into his arms and kissed the top of his head. "What should we do tomorrow?"

"Well." Sol pretended to think about it. "You should fuck me again in the morning, and then we should have breakfast."

"That's it? That's your big plan for the day?"

"Do you want a big plan? Loden will find something for us to do by evening. Why waste your chance to do nothing?"

"Okay, fair enough. It's true that Loden doesn't like idle hands."

"If you aren't working, you're probably causing trouble," Sol intoned, the refrain of his childhood, and Remma laughed.

"Then let's do nothing tomorrow," Remma said, "and when Loden sends us out again, I'll go gladly, and take advantage of every minute I get to spend with you." He paused. "Do you think we'll run into another bear?"

"Don't worry," Sol said. "I'll protect you."

"My hero," Remma said, and they lay together close and warm in Sol's narrow bed until Sol drifted off to sleep.