Zero Gravity

Finian opens the door to his quarters and finds a seat at his desk, he is exhausted. Zila said it would be a 9-hour flight to their next location so the crew had some time to recuperate and Finian needed every moment he could get. His exosuit has been whining for days and is in desperate need of repair. His body is screaming to be in low gravity again, every muscle fibre of his being feels raw and weathered. Just as he is considering extracting himself from his exosuit, he hears a knock at the door. Hoping to the maker something else hasn't gone wrong and that they are not, yet again, in impending danger, he makes his way to the door and opens it. To his shock, it is Scarlett standing there. 'Maker she is gorgeous' he thinks. "Hey," she says. Trying to ignore the fact that she is only wearing her face tank top and there is a clear view of her cleavage, Finian replies, rather breathily "Hey Scarlett, do you need something?". He leans against the door frame trying to look at ease despite his muscle pain. She looks down at her feet almost nervously, " I just wanted some company really and wondered if you did too?". Pushing aside the whines from his body, Finian replies "Of course, would you like to come in?" She nods and enters.

Once inside, the door closes behind them and Scarlett inspects his room. "This is incredible, they really did think of everything when they designed this ship" she exclaims. Finian's room had been designed for all his Betraskan needs as well as his need for Zero G. Finian tries to hide his wince as he sits back down on the desk chair, but Scarlett is too good at reading people and she notices immediately. "Are you okay Fin?" "I'm peachy" he protests but he can't help the sarcasm that seeps into his voice. Scarlett walks over to him without a word and kneels in front of him. Her hands come up to the release button on his chest but Fin catches her hand. "What are you doing?" Fin asks. "Fin," she says quietly but with a warmth that makes Fin want to melt, "you need a rest from our gravity. We have been up for days and I can see how much it has taken out of you." Slowly, despite hating anyone seeing him in this state of weakness, Fin lets her hand go and she releases his suit. She then gets up and moves to the panel by the door and deactivates the gravity. Her feet leave the floor and her hair begins to move around her head like flames. Fin is captivated by the sight, she looks so beautiful. Wait? What? No, stop thinking like that! But he can't, there is something about her, different from the many, many other attractive people he has crushed on before. Fin pushes up out of his exosuit and feels his muscles ease in this new environment. Scarlett makes her way over to him, gliding seamlessly across the room. "There, feel better?" "Much, thanks, by the way, most people don't actually notice my pain," he says. She looks sad at that.

"Can I ask you something Fin?" she says quietly. "Of course, anything" "Do you remember your life before you had the exosuit?" He looked at her in surprise, this was not the question he had expected from her and he wasn't sure what to say. "Well, I was young when I got sick but I have a few memories from before." He has never told anyone about his childhood before the disease, to be honest, no one has asked or cared before but she looks intently at him and he feels at ease with her. "I remember playing with other children running through the tunnels in our community. I was so fast back then. Think I could even give Kal a run for his money" he chuckles. "I remember the feeling of being in bed with my mother, her telling me bedtime stories, I remember how comfortable it felt. I wish I could feel that again, the comfort of a bed with no pain" he looks down. Using her finger, Scarlett lifts his chin so that his eyes meet hers. "It's not weak to talk about it Fin. Out of all of us, you are without a doubt the strongest." There is no mocking in her blue eyes as she speaks to him. She lets her hand leave his chin, and strangely he misses her touch when it's gone. There is an awkwardness in the air and they can't quite reach each other's gaze.

"I remember seeing you at the academy'' Finian says into the silence. "I admire you. You seemed to breeze through life so easily. You always had friends, a new boyfriend every couple weeks, you were good in class but not too good, you know. People took one look at me in that thing," he gestures towards his exosuit, " and thought I wasn't worth the time." Scarlett looks at him in surprise. "You always seem so confident, not seeming to give a shit about what people think," she says. "I guess it's to try and protect myself," he admits. Just then the ship jolts and Scarlett reaches out and grabs Fin's hand to steady herself in the Zero G. Seems to have just been a bit of passing turbulence but they continue to hold hands for some time after. He runs his thumb over the edge of her hand and she gives his hand a little squeeze. She floats closer to him, her other hand moving to tangle in his brilliant white hair. "Finian, I don't know what it is about you? You are so outrageous, funny, nerdy, intelligent and strong. How did I not see you before?" "Well, when you are up against the beach blonde, muscular men of the Aurora Academy, which I do have to say where all excellent specimens'' He winks and she punches him in the shoulder. Their eyes lock, Fin snakes his arm around her waist, closing the distance between their bodies, and Scarlett tilts her head slightly. When their lips meet it is like nothing either of them has experienced before. Scarlett has kissed a lot of boys in her time at the academy and before the academy, to be honest, but nothing felt like this. To Finian, feeling her lips against his was even better than he could have ever imagined. They melt into each other, Fin cradling her face with his hand as their kiss deepens and Scarlett moving her legs to wrap around Fin's waist. Eventually, they both break and gasp in a breath. "Woah! I just kissed one of the Jones Twins!" Fin exclaims. Scarlett giggles " I hope I lived up to the expectation, I mean I don't know about my brother's skills, you may have to ask Kal about that!" They both float around laughing.

Fin reaches for Scarlett's hand again. "Hey, can I show you something?" he says nervously. "Yes, what is it?" she asks. He doesn't reply to her but instead moves across the room to the control panel by the door. He dims the lights until there is only the glow of the native Betraskan plants on the wall. He makes his way back over to her. "No one other than my family has seen me without my contacts in. As you know normally there are purely for practical reasons, like I would be blinded instantly by all the light '' he jokes. "But I want to be able to look at you with my eyes, properly, if that's okay?" Scarlett looks at him not sure what to say. She has never seen a Betraskan without their black contact lenses, she almost forgot that they have irises beneath the black. She has no idea what to expect, but for Fin to trust her like this means something so she nods her head. Fin reaches up to his eyes removing one lens at a time. Slowly, he raises his head to look at Scarlett and she audibly gasps. Her eyes have adjusted to the low light and she can see his brilliant eyes, the iris the lightest of blue and they almost sparkle. "Fin," she breathes "they are ... are...." He tries to look away and shuts his eyelids thinking she is disgusted. "NO" she almost shouts and he looks back at her in slight alarm. "Fin, they are stunning, like nothing I have seen before! They are like how a pale ocean glints in the sunlight" A slight colour appears in Fin's cheeks and his eyes move from Scarlett's to her lips. This time they both lean in slowly, then tension is different now. They have shared something that is deeper than pure attraction. Their lips meet and they become intertwined in each other's arms.

Neither of them knows how long they stay like that, floating together, but suddenly there is a knock at the door and they hear Tyler's voice behind the door. "Hey, Fin we need your help on the Bridge." They come apart from each other as the gravity begins to normalise and they sink to the floor. Finian float over to his exosuit and positions himself inside it. Scarlett manages to grab his lenses and kneels in front of him with her hand outstretched. He puts them back in and straps himself back into his suit. They both walk over to the door as the green light on the control panel blinks, indicating the gravity has been fully restored. The door opens and Finian goes to leave but Scarlett catches his hand and turns him around planting a kiss straight on his mouth. All he wants is to relax into the kiss but he is distinctly aware of the fact that Tyler, his alpha, is standing right there and he has come out of his room with HIS TWIN SISTER and now she is kissing him. She releases him, gives him a big grin, glances towards her brother than with a flick of her hair she turns and makes her way towards her quarters. Finian turns to face Tyler, he is not sure what he expects, a punch? Anger? But what he finds is not what he expected. Tyler is laughing and says "It's about time!" and makes his way towards the bridge. That is when Fin knows for sure these Jones Twins will be the death of him one way or another.