Out of bounds

[Sombs]

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Day 1 - Location unknown

The white lights of the corridors have changed to blue ones, as they did every time the Apahanta entered the night cycle. Only few people were still awake now, and one of them was Ezrael, who walked through the corridors of the bridge deck to reach him room, next to the bridge. Having helped with the repairs where it was possible to him, he was quite tired by now. Mind-absent, he entered his room, just to get surprised by the sudden embrace of Sombra. With big eyes he looked down at her shoulder while she was slung around his body, and gently he placed his hands on her back. Other than himself, she smelt nicely and looked clean, while he had the scent of oil, fire and dirt on him.

"I for-" he mumbled, stopping himself from voicing the thought. He had forgotten about her. She was visiting him and Leon before the attack of VS-0074 in Delta and had since then stayed in his room. And now she was caught here with the others. His grip on her tightened.

"It's okay, I'm fine. The ship told me you're fine as well, so I used the time to clean up your room," she returned, rubbing her cheek slightly against his shoulder. "I heard your announcement and thought about the entire situation and how I could help and such."

"You should let go of me, I probably smell horrible," Ezrael sounded quietly, taking his hands off her back, however she didn't loosen the embrace a single bit. For a moment, there was silence. "It's okay, Sombs. We're not dead, and I don't plan on changing it."

"You lost half of your crew, the ship is in a critical condition, you probably got hurt as well and still helped with the repairs until now. You're exhausted, aren't you." It was less of a question. She let go of him, making a step back to look at him. Smears of dry blood were on his suit, especially at his gloves. "Come, I'll clean you."

Not resisting, Ezrael allowed the young woman with the thick black hair to take his hand and lead him to the bathroom. His body felt heavy, and there was not too much time until he was expected to be on his feet again. However, he had to shower anyways, and letting Sombra lead for now was some sort of comfort. Their Apahanta suits dropped to the ground, followed by their underwear. A minute later, steam emerged in the bathroom as hot water rained down onto their bodies. Leaning his back against the tiled wall of the shower stall, the Captain closed his eyes, feeling the gentle movements of Sombra on his skin. It reminded him of easier times on Curacao. It reminded him of Maren.

Maren!

How would she deal with this? He wanted to propose to her, but when she arrived at Livadia, she must have been waiting for him for hours, only to find out the Apahanta was not even in the Omicrons anymore. She was probably mad at him. For now, until she would realize he wouldn't be around for a longer time. How long would that time be?

The thought was interrupted by Sombra, who had her hands between his legs, rubbing a sponge against his private parts, who reacted to the stimulation. "Hello Ezrael," she said with a smirk, looking at his eyes while continuing.

"I'm tired, Sombs," he just returned, closing his eyes again. There was no time for this. "I need to be up in a few hours."

Nodding in understanding, she kneeled down infront of him to clean his legs and his feet. Only for a moment Ezrael wondered about this situation. Maren probably would have given him some sassy and funny comments right now. Something he loved about her. Sombra however remained silent, which was nice as well. She knew him for years and she knew when to be silent. She knew there was nothing to say to convey comfort. No solace for him right now. People died because of his decision as captain. Something Ezrael and Sombra were used to was comforting each other just by being there for another. Something Maren probably didn't understand, Ezrael thought, since she never had this kind of social support.

Now, Maren was alone again. With their cat, Mittens. Hopefully she wouldn't forget to feed him, Ezrael thought. Pictures of Maren and Mittens were in his head, and he forget the time in these thoughts. Would he see them ever again? Once again Ezrael had faced death. The fourth time in this year, and he was still facing it. This time, death had the form of a giant black hole. And he didn't know anything about it yet.

The sound of water rushing to the ground stopped, the shower stall was opened by Sombra, who fetched towels, just to come back and start rubbing Ezrael dry, being more gentle this time between his legs. "Any estimates on the sensors?" Sombra asked while wrapping a towel around his lower body, just to proceed with herself.

Ezrael looked at her with a certain surprise, as the question dragged him back into sober reality. "The KSRs are doing the job over night. Leon is still awake, operating the makeshift repair drone we turned the Handsome Rover into. So the sensor array should be working again somewhen tomorrow in the morning, according to him."

"And then we can tell why we are not dead while being so close to a black hole," she said quietly, smiling however. "Maybe we're just on the other side of Omicron Sigma. Nobody ever travelled behind that black hole to tell how the area looks there."

"In that case we would see some stars in the background and probably the great nebulae. Here we don't see anything but the black hole. You're right, there might be some spatial interference blocking our view, though. We'll see more once we have the sensors back online."

They left the shower stall, finding themselves infront of the sink, where they could see themselves in the mirrors. Sombra smiled at the view. Both of them with wet black hair and well-trained bodies, naked. "I haven't seen us like that in a long time, Ez," she said quietly, nodding at the mirrow with a shy smirk. "Things were so much easier on Curacao." Without Maren.

"They will be easy again once I brought us home," Ezrael returned, looking at them in the mirror with a firm glance.

"No, they won't." She kept her smile on the lips. "Things will never get easier, but at least we have each other."

He looked at the eyes of her reflection, who met his eyes. Often he saw her as naive, sometimes even annoying, but thinking about it, she was right. They helped each other in any situation. She was always loyal to him, even when he left Curacao for the Core, met Maren and started to live with her. Wrapping his arms around her from behind, he pecked the back of her head. Usually he disliked seeing himself with wet hair, but there was something to the view of them he just had. Nevertheless, there was this little wish of Maren being around. As he caught himself thinking of her, he shrugged. "Apahanta, please turn on the blowdryers." And hot air streamed down to them from the ceiling. A soothing feeling on the bare skin. Once more he closed his eyes, enjoying the warmth of the air coupled with the warmth of Sombra infront of him. It was nice to have this, and he would miss it if this was not possible.

It reminded him of Leon, who was mad at him for a good reason, he thought. The poor guy was trapped in a nightmare. He hated space, and space battles, and in the heat Ezrael didn't even give him the chance to leave the ship in time. Under other circumstances, he would have let him stay on Livadia. On the other hand, it was a blessing to have him here, as he was the most talented engineer he knew. However, he was alone here. Nancy was on Curacao, probably waiting for him to come home. Now he was with the Apahanta, stranded at some black hole, doing everything he can to keep the ship in one piece. Yes, he had a very good reason to be mad at the Captain, his best friend, mentor and teacher.

The blowdryers turned off and the jetblack hair of Sombra and Ezrael was dry. A slightly fruity scent filled the air, originating from the curacaoan shower gel Sombra used on them. Dropping the towel, Ezrael left the bathroom and headed for the bed. He really needed to lay down now. His muscles felt sore, his feet were hurting. It felt like salvation when he lay on the soft matress, and even better when the young woman joined. Snuggling under the blanket, she lay at his side, her head on his shoulder. "To be honest, I was surprised when I saw this bigger bed in your room. I always thought you didn't want to make it more comfy in here."

"I realized I had to spend much time on my ship. The crew needs a captain and stuff, you know. So I thought a bigger bed would be a good idea in case I get visited by you or other women."

"It definitely is better than the military beds. Who are the other women, by the way? Nancy? Maren?" She pecked his neck.

"I want to sleep, Sombs. We can talk another time about that." Elena, Sherry, Victoria, the list of affairs is getting longer and longer, Ezrael thought. "Good night, Sombs."

"Good night, Ez," she sounded quietly, audibly content. She was happy. The only happy person on the ship...

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Templates: Character | Transmissions

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