Opalina Outpost

Chapter 17: Emergency Call

Lio finished his morning oatmeal just in time. Jossen appeared in the mess hall doorway and boomed, "Breakfast needs to be done in ten. Report to the muster room."

"Not so loud," Duhar whimpered. His head was cradled in his hands.

Onfenka shoved a glass at his elbow. "Hydrate."

Half his friends looked like freshly microwaved death after their night at Starmesa, but Lio couldn't stem his own energy. He hopped up from the table, offered to clear up the remaining dishes, and made a great stack of them before turning to the wash station.

"You are too fucking chipper," Aziri snapped behind him. 

He had no retort. Because it was horribly true, and if he weren't so happy, he'd want to kick himself. He scraped the dishes off to load them into the steam rinse. Starmesa had worked magic for him. Somehow, someway, Ravi had relented, and they'd picked up as if it were Ferdi's all over again. Except that everything about it was better, because now he had an inkling of how incredible Ravi really was. With any luck, that wasn't the last night they spent together in Opalina, because he was suddenly full of ideas of how to spend his free hours.

Dishes running and table swiped clean, he followed his muttering, hobbling crew to the muster room. They settled into seats just as Ravi swept out of his office, looking as though he had managed a full night of sleep. Very much not as though he'd spent half that night gasping Lio's name into a pillow.

"Morning, everybody."

"Morning, Com," Yorune cried.

Duhar jerked from his slump. "Please, can all just agree to whisper?"

"Sorry, Duhar," Ravi said. "It's back to work today, Opalina. I wanted to give everyone a run down of the next couple weeks. Good news is that our improved resumes mean more commendations possibilities open up—" Lio fought the insatiable grin that was trying to sneak free when Ravi's gaze landed on him.

Ravi cleared his throat and took a large step away from the muster room table. "So. That's good, and will give us some work to do until dispensations come up in two weeks. I'd like to sign up for another competition, but the next one is a ways out, so we'll return to training after everyone gets back from the break." He nodded to Jossen, who approached the front of the room. "Our subal has found our next commendation task. He'll take us through the details."

"Thanks, Com Endessen." Jossen took over, droning on about what sounded like it would be a fairly mundane task. Something about collecting desert specimens for an Enlightenment lab, which sounded as if it was going to be very boring. Lio kept his gaze fixed on the subal for as long as he could. Which turned out to be approximately four seconds before he needed to look at Ravi.

The dispensation break was a week long. Ravi had already made it clear he planned to stay at Opalina. Lio conveniently forgot to file his dispensation paperwork, which meant he would stay, too. He just had to figure out how to break it to his mother that he wasn't returning for the break, and then he'd be able to have Ravi all to himself at the outpost.

The light from the imager Jossen was using shimmered across Ravi's sun-darkened skin. He looked rapt, completely attentive, completely unperturbed by any magnetic pull of desire. Lio, who was doing his best to be magnetic, sat taller in his chair and imagined his will was a compulsion beam radiating out to his quarry. Any second, it would work and Ravi would be forced to look at him, be lost in his gaze—Teres kicked his ankle under the table.

Compulsion beam failure due to enemy interference. He hauled his attention back to Jossen, who was discussing the intricacies of desert rocks. Or something.