Space Kisses

1

Jericho watched as his months salary drifted away from them. On fire. A newbie's mistake. He shouldn't have brought Alandra with them. He was angry, the words he wanted to say were hammered down by the tears making their way out of his eyes.

They would have to be out here a few more days. They would risk running out of fuel and having to call out for help and hope for the best.

"It'll be fine, Jericho." Thato placed his heavy hand gently against his shoulder. "She has a lot to learn. We sent her out too early. Lesson learned."

Jericho stared down at the metal floor trying to keep his focus there. His workers shouldn't see him crying in such a manner. Very unprofessional of him to be acting this way. Thato ignored this behavior, scooting some boxes to sit next to Jericho.

Jericho without thought leaned over for a hug. Thato leaned somewhat a little startled but Jericho was more so when Thato landed a kiss on his lips. Teary and wide-eyed Jericho awkwardly returned the kiss. For a moment they weren't in the middle of a disaster and Jericho could think clearly.

"Sorry." Thato started releasing himself from the moment, "I didn't meant to cross boundaries. I just couldn't handle seeing you the way you were."

"Thank you, Thato." Jericho hurried hoping that the moment hadn't ended officially. He gently tugged at Thato's arm wanting to go back to that moment. "Thank you."

"I didn't mean to." Thato answered. He sat up and moved away from the bench.

"Oh."

"That's not what I meant. Uh, could we talk about this in private, boss?"

Jericho scanned the room, "No one is here."

Then he understood that he meant and nodded. Anyone could walk by and overhear. Thato returned the nod and headed out northbound.

He ran his hands across his face in an attempt to look presentable. He huffed knowing that it was a lost cause he'd have to hide in his room until the next time they needed him.

Don't hide. The thought of being like this in front of the crew twisted his stomach. He wasn't supposed to be an emotional mess.

"Hey, boss." A chirpy voice that could only belong to Essa "Alandra is sending out a transfer what the hell happened?"

He kept his eyes out toward the sky. "She messed up thanks to me."

He turned noting she didn't try to hide that she saw on his face.

"Are you crying about it? Damnit, I leave for work for a small holiday and everything goes to space."

"Months work out the window."

"Shit. But she ain't gonna leave now." Croaked Zanders walking in with a double stack sandwich. "I blew a engine my first round."

Essa visibly shuttered at that memory, "I'd like to forget that."

"You've never told me that.." Jericho laughed.

"Different boat, different conditions. Where I first met, Essa, actually." Zanders smiled before finishing his trek across to wherever. He had a sandwich so Jericho prayed he wasn't going to start a project with food in his hands.

"He was the apprentice engineer of Glider 1a." Essa offered up as an explanation, "The ego larger than the anyone I've ever met. Swore up and down there wasn't anything wrong with the engine. His boss, a man who preferred flirting over checking the work of his littles... well, it didn't end well."

"I remember hearing about that. But they I don't think ever mentioned it was someone's error."

"Aye, but it was." Essa shrugged not wanting to elaborate more on the incident, "Where's Thato? I need to double check our system. If we're going to hang out here to collect to make up for our loss."

"Uh, I don't know actually." Jericho paused then pointed the direction he went in. She turned and headed that way. He was glad she didn't notice his reaction to hearing that man's name. He could only hope that he seemed nonchalant with his answer.

Could we talk about this in private, boss? His question bounced around his head as he made his way northbound, just a few minutes behind Essa. But there wasn't any reason to continue pouting and feeling sorry for himself.

Had some shit to do.

He walked by Thato's room hoping that the man was there. Nothing. So he continued forward where his was. The door was ajar. Jericho opened the door as gently as possible trying to convey a chill persona as he walked in.

"Hey. I know instant conversation about an awkward moment." Thato started. Jericho simply smile and walked over to him.

"It's fine. We've been dancing around this for awhile." Jericho laughed. He started pulling off the rest of his gear as Thato watched. Jericho continued trying to pretend still that this was a normal occurrence. A man in his bedroom watching him, his foot snagged against the pants tumbling him forward hard against Thato.

"I was trying for a smoother intro." Jericho responded after a moment. He rolled to the left allowing Thato space to run for his life.

"Jer, you are far from smooth."

"Thanks, pal."

Thato leaned over and gave him another kiss, gentle against his lips, "No worries, I'm here all day."

"That conversation?"

"Doesn't have to be with words."