STAR MAP, aurora burning | f. de seel

□ Chapter Five

His hand feels weird in mine, although not entirely unpleasant. My fingers brush against the cool of his metal exosuit while my palm meets the leather of his glove. I hold my uniglass to my ear, pretending to have a conversation. My lower lip is sucked between my teeth, chewing on the skin slightly as I mime listening to the other end of my imaginary phone call.

"Thirty seven times by nine-hundred-and-eighty-two," Finian mutters at my side.

I run the calculations, taking my time to move my numbers around in my head before responding slowly. "Thirty-six-thousand-three-hundred-and-thirty-four."

Finian snickered slightly, not even glancing up. My quizzical look was enough to prompt him. "I didn't need it. Just wanted to make sure you were still awake."

"Bastard," I sniffled.

"You love me."

"Doesn't make you less of a bastard."

Finian's fingers stopped just over the top of his uniglass. His big, black eyes blinked softly a few times, before a quivering smile greeted his face.

He glanced at me. "You didn't deny that you love me," he said before turning back to his work.

I look around at the busy, marble floor of the Repository, feeling an unwelcome heat slowly settle beneath my skin. Aurora is busily yelling at security, while Zila and Tyler lurk not far from her. They had played an obvious distraction. A half baked theatric about a young man who had cheated on his girlfriend.

Meanwhile, Finian and I are cooped in the corner. He holds his uniglass in one hand, numbers flying across his screen. Scarlett's dressed us inconspicuously. To go with the theme of today's 'lovers' theme, she had demanded us to hold hands to prove that we were together.

'A boy waiting for his girlfriend is less suspicious than a boy waiting in a corner alone.' She had reassured.

My hand slowly tightened on his. "Well..." I struggled to find a comeback. "Don't flatter yourself."

"Aww, do you love me, Tea?" He had taken the last bit of my name. It sounded so odd to hear the syllable isolated on his tongue- strangely enough making my heart skip over a beat. Tee-uh.

"Hey don't push it," I muttered back. "Just because you're infatuated with me-"

"Now you're putting words in my mouth!" He remarked, fingers busily gliding across his uniglass.

But softly, I felt his hand squeeze mine back.

My uniglass dipped in my other hand, nearly slipping to the floor. I cleared my throat, watching Scarlett trail from the vault, glad for the distraction. I didn't recognize her at first- she wore a blonde wig. Her most distinct feature swept beneath it.

Attached by a leash is Kaliis, dressed in an atrocious outfit. His shirt is made of fishnet and his pants shiny and black. Underneath his arm he carries a box.

Finian sighs in relief. "Thank the Maker."

I take a few more moments pretending to talk on the phone before I mime hanging up. I look up at Finian, smiling sweetly as I wrap my arms around the back of his neck, thumb rubbing the tense muscle there.

"Smile," I offer through gritted teeth, leaning in to press a short kiss to the side of his warm cheek. The action is enough to make my stomach feel fluttery and strange, face heating once more.

He didn't need the instruction, his face already having melted into a soft smile. So fragile, it had been, too. He was clearly very good at his acting. Already his hands had come to rest on my hips, as if instinct.