Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head

<Night>

Jade was chuckling again. “So you ‘wouldn’t be able to keep up’, eh?”
“Mentally! I said mentally!”
“Ah right, okay then… so you weren’t talking stamina?” She grinned.
“… No.”

She put her hand on his knee. He stared at it.

After a while he waved a vague hand towards the bushes.
“Just gotta, uh…”
He started muttering about water and draining something.
Plisken nudged Jade.
“He say something about a space weevil? Does that mean we’re getting dessert?”
“I don’t think the pudding he’s talking about is the kind you’d want to get yer teeth into...”

It was about then that Cass fled into the undergrowth.

<snip>
“Bollocks” Jay sighed, throwing his hands up in the air and turning to leave “Fine! I’ll go find her and apologise...”
“I think it’s a little past that” Alex snapped, rising to his feet “Stay there, I’ll go”
Jay opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it
“Honestly” Alex grumbled as he pushed his way past him “Six hundred years old and still no idea about how to treat a woman...”
</snip>

He stomped after the heartbroken girl, and almost walked into the back of her.

“Whah, sorry.”
She leaned against a tree. “S’okay.”
Her voice was barely a croak.

He ran his eyes over her – she was all hacked hair, skinny limbs and sad downcast eyes.

“Wanna talk about it?”

She looked up, into his face, as if trying to read something behind the furrowed, concerned brow.
He imagined she was thinking that she could almost trust him, but not fully.
Aptly she said nothing.

“It’s all right” he told her “you don’t have to.”
She burst into tears.

“C’mere” he said, placid as the nearby tree-munching brachs.
“No” she replied, almost child-like, voice fair throbbing with hurt… but she didn’t put up much of a fight as he pulled her into a warm and, he hoped, comforting hug.

“Mff uddenm uve?” She muffled into his shoulder. He gave the back of her ragged head a little stroke then guided her by the shoulders to a convenient fallen log, where they both sat.
“What?”
“I said 'why doesn’t he love me?'”

Alex scratched his cheek and stared into the trees. How was he supposed to answer that?

He thought about it.
“Well, he probably does, in his own way” he decided.
“Why doesn’t he want to be with me then?”

He squinted at her, wondering how she could be so brain explodingly clever yet so naïve. It was kinda touching.
“Well because he’s married, with a kid, I suppose.”
“But sometimes…” she trailed off.
“… it seems like he wants you back?”
“Yeah.”
He grunted.
“He’s a man. And as you’ve probably noticed we’re kinda selfish dicks when it comes to…” he stopped, nodded and gave a tight little gesture “… you know, love an’ that. Some of us.”
He coughed, embarrassed to be talking about such things.

“You?”
“Oh yeah. I’m King of the Dicks. Used to be, anyway.”
She almost smiled, then her eyes narrowed. “You’d have thought his lifetimes of experience would have taught him a thing or two.”
“He’s still a man.”
She gave him a sidelong glance.
“But he’s a good person… How can he-”
“Doesn’t mean he’s not an asshole when it comes to certain things. Or at least smeggin’ stoopid.”
She raised her eyebrows, surprised, as Solvay normally spoke about Jay with respect.
“Sorry. I can relate” he explained.
“You’ve been hurt too?”
“Yes, but I mean I know where he’s coming from, as an asshole myself. An ex asshole.” His brow crinkled. “Or a semi-asshole. Whatever.”

“It really hurts.”
“I know, darlin'.”
“What do I do?”
Alex took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. Relationships were difficult enough when things were normal, let alone three million years in the future lost in deep space where there were hardly any humans alive. Still, the basics were likely the same.
“… You just gotta heal.”

---

Early morning

Phi jerked awake at the tapping.
“Katrina!” She hissed. “There’s someone at the door.”
Seymour snapped awake “What!? Who!?” He said, too loudly.
“Shhh.”
“That’s Jay’s knock” said Katrina “you know, the one we agreed on.”
“I don’t remember that at all!” Claimed Seymour, still too loud.
Molly rolled her eyes. “I’ll get it, shall I?”
Max started grizzling.
“Go ahead.” Katrina nodded. “Be careful.”

Molly cautiously opened the door, which creaked ominously. Seymour squeaked a little and covered his eyes. When he peered through his fingers he was relieved to see Jay standing in the doorway, hands on hips, smile on face. There was a dinosaur’s leg behind him.

---

Later. An "orange" grove, some distance outside the city:

“So your plan is to head for the shuttle? See if it’s salvageable?”
“Yes.”
Seymour nodded. “Good. Mr Solvay and Mr Eastlick can fix it and Mr YuWan’Kar can fly us back to the ship.”
Efof’s face contorted in a Ffionian expression of sorrow.
“Erm, probably not, actually.”
“Whyever not?”

Everyone looked at him. He realised the time had come to tell them.
“I’m, uh…”
He looked at their tired faces. It was extremely difficult.
“Yes? Spit it out, man!”
“… I’m actually going to stay.”
“What!?”

There were various intakes of breath and exclamations of surprise.
Phi rushed over and put her arm around him. “Efof! But why?”
“Well you know the village? Our wonderful new Ssala friends?”
“Yes.”
Efof grinned, bashful. “Well I think I might be in love…”
FeBuggure laughed. “You sly old dog!”

After many utterings of sadness, cuddles, back slaps, shoulder pats and congratulations from the crew, it was decided that Efof would accompany them on the shuttle recovery mission and that – all being well - they’d drop him off at his new home in the Ssala village en route to the Dwarf but if the EM generators were still active outside the city, he'd hike or hitch a boatride with some of the returning rebels.

“What about Bedge?” Alex asked Seymour.
“Oh, yes of course... I do miss his eggs, you know.”
“Me too.”
“Well, I'm sure we’ll think of something.”

The heavens opened, showering them in cool, refreshing droplets.
“Rain!”
Alex smiled, closed his eyes and outstretched his arms. It was so good.
“Gods I’ve missed rain. Mmmff.”

Seymour watched the ridiculous leather-clad man groaning in pleasure, and twisting about as the water ran over the contours of his body. Once again, there was far too much skin on display.

“Yes, that’s all very well but would you mind writhing somewhere else? You’re making me very uncomfortable.”

--
--

<Off to the shuttle then.
Yeah, any probs just give us a shout.>