Jupiter Ascending /Caine Wise

Chapter 8 - Orus

After boarding the Aegis cruiser Caine and Jupiter are escorted to the bridge to meet the Captain Diomika Tsing. Now that they are once again surrounded by people, Caine resumes his self-appointed role as Jupiter's bodyguard.

Stinger approaches Jupiter addressing her reverently as, "Your majesty."

Jupiter and Caine are both relieved to see their friend is well, although Jupiter is much more open with her emotions. "Stinger!" she says as they embrace, "you're all right."

Stinger smiles and dips his head respectfully, "For the time being, your majesty, for the time being."

Captain Tsing informs Jupiter, "We will be escorting your majesty to the Commonwealth Ministry on Orous. If there is anything we can do to make the journey easier, you let us know."

Looking down at the formal gown Jupiter is still wearing, she says, "Actually, I'm feeling a little overdressed. So if you maybe have something I could change into..." then remembering the last two times she adds, "By myself," then turning to glance briefly at Caine, "while I'm awake."

Caine awkwardly looks at Jupiter like a guilty puppy. "What?"

"Of course," Captain Tsing says. Turning to one of her officers she instructs him to lead her majesty to private quarters where she could change, then adding, "And get Mr. Wise a shirt as well."

Caine looks down observing that he still has no shirt since ripping it off at Stingers farm. Shrugging he follows the officer and Jupiter to her quarters before being directed to the bunks to change as well.

Jupiter finishes changing into an Aegis uniform when Caine buzzes her quarters. Jupiter manages to find the commands for opening her door and sees Caine now dressed in a spare uniform as well. Thanking him for bringing her something to make the journey easier, she jokes with him about her being far from royal.

"If that were true," Caine responds, "you would not be on an Aegis ship headed for the hall of titles."

"Yeah, about that," Jupiter starts, moving so they are only a couple of feet apart. "Stinger says you attacked an entitled once?" she asks looking up at her with those big brown questioning eyes.

Clenching his jaw, Caine doesn't really want to discuss this, he says, "Stinger talks too much."

"Is it true?" Jupiter presses gently.

"Doesn't matter." Caine says gruffly. Wishing that Stinger never mentioned this he can't help but feel defensive.

Sensing his tension, she apologizes, "Sorry. I get that it's none if my business." Jupiter looks up at him with soft brown eyes and gently says, "I was just trying to understand."

Caine nods his head and says, "Look the truth is, I don't know why I did it. I... I don't even remember doing it," he says quietly and shakes his head trying to recall the events after. "It just happened. "

Jupiter looks at Caine sympathetically and moves in a little closer, "We all do things we can't explain."

Opening up a little more Caine continues, "They said it... was in my genes. A... defect of my genome-geneering." Caine hung his head truly believing he was defective but it only seemed to make Jupiter move even closer, closing whatever distance remained between them.

"Could explain a lot of things about me," she said softly but with a little smile. "Like the fact that I have the uncanny ability to fall for men who don't fall for me." Jupiter was already so close her scent invaded his nostrils, then she tilted her face up towards Caine's so their lips were inches apart. She was almost daring him to kiss her. Caine was having a hard time concentrating on what she was saying, all he could think was how close she was. He could feel her warm breath on his skin and she continued speaking no more than whisper. "It's like my internal compass points straight at Mr. Wrong. Maybe it's in my genes. Maybe I have defective engineering, too."

At this point, Caine could barely think straight. Is she teasing me? he wondered.
Taking a step back so he could think again, he says, "You are royalty now. I'm a splice, you don't understand what that means..." It means I'm not good enough for you, he thinks. "But... I have more in common with a dog, than I have with you."

Jupiter blurts out, "I love dogs, I've always loved dogs."

Caine freezes for a moment, not sure what to say to that awkward but very adorable confession. If only it was that simple. Caine opens his mouth for a moment, but then says, "I should go...your majesty." He has to force his feet to move, he wants so much to stay where he is, but he knows that they are too different.

"Right," she says, slightly stunned.

"You need to strap in before we portal." Caine adds as he makes a break for the door before he can change his mind.

"Right, okay," she says again, trying to clear her head and feeling fairly embarrassed at her clumsy come-on and subsequent rejection.

Around the corner Caine stops and looks back at Jupiter's door. Just as it is closing he can hear her sigh in frustration repeating to herself the words, "...I love dogs? Huh?" Caine smiles to himself. Reluctantly he turns away and heads back to the bridge.

***

A few hours later, Caine returns to Jupiter's quarters. It might have been wiser to stay away, but when the captain asked him to inform her majesty that they were nearing Orous he couldn't bring himself to say no.

"Hi," she said when she greeted Caine at the door. Caine only came to let her know they would be arriving soon, but when Jupiter stepped aside to let him in, he entered her room.

Clearing his throat Caine slowly gazes at Jupiter, "I hope your majesty was able to get some rest."

Jupiter blinks up at him, Is he really trying to make small talk? Or he just trying to remain distant again? Sighing, Jupiter says, "Yes, thank you." After a moment of awkward silence, Jupiter asks, " Will we be arriving soon?"

"Um, yes. If your majesty would like to return to the bridge, you could watch as we enter orbit." Caine suggests. Urgh, Caine thought, frustrated by his inability to to perform even the simplest of small talk, I must be making such a fool of myself. Turning swiftly, Caine exits Jupiter's quarters so she can't see the look on his face.

Once they began to make their way to the bridge, the mood between the two becomes more relaxed. "What is Orous like?" Jupiter asks as she walks next to Caine, their hands occasionally brush each other in some of the narrower corridors.

Focusing on her words instead of her nearness, Caine thinks of Orous. "I haven't been there in many years, only a couple times since I completed my training with the military." Looking down at Jupiter he pauses when they make eye contact. Everything kind of loses focus until only she is left. Trying to remember what he was saying he looks ahead again. "Orous is basically a large bureaucratic hub. The population has long ago reached the planets capacity. Not only are there towers that reach into space, but there are two main rings around the planet itself made of space stations and satellites." Pausing to see if Jupiter is still listening, she nods at him, encouraging him to continue talking.

"The space stations are quite large, some are used for farm land. The wealthier members of the the population live mostly in the outer rings."

Jupiter who has been listening attentively asks, "Was your training done on Orous?"

"Um, no. There is a military base on a nearby moon," he says growing quiet. The military, the Legion, it's all he's ever known and to not be a part of that, it's like he's missing a piece of himself.

Jupiter turns her face up to his when he grows silent, as if sensing the direction of his thoughts, she gives him a small smile. Returning her gaze, he realizes that when she is around the emptiness isn't so bad. Protecting her, has given him new purpose. Even if it is only temporary, it feels good to be relied on, again.