Sins and Fortunes

[Sombs]

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October 11th, 826 A.S. - Cortez

At the very same time in Abigail's quarters, the shower turned on. Ezrael listened to it as the door to the bathroom was still open. Staring at the ceiling, he lay in bed, already wearing his workout outfit. Most importantly however was the little human being that lay on his chest, bundled in warm blankets, held with one hand. It was Luna Vertiga, his daughter. She slept.

It was warm in this room, pretty cozy. Still, Ezrael didn't feel too comfortable. It was less about who he was with. The little girl was an angel, at least as long as she remained at his chest or in the arms of her mother. It also wasn't about Abigail, despite him knowing everything he needed to know about her.

No, it was about their guests.

A few minutes later, Abigail returned from the bathroom, her body covered in a large towel, her hair still wet. Moving over to him, she sat down at the edge of the bed, smiling at him and her daughter. "You two look so lovely like that."

"There is nothing lovely about this little poop machine," he said in a quiet, sweet voice, knowing the baby won't be able to understand his words but the sound of his voice. "You should help me, she is absorbing my warmth like a parasite."

Taking him as serious as he wanted her to, she ignored him and gently stroked the head of the baby. "Hello Luuuuunaaaa," she whispered, prolonging the vowels of her name. "Absorb all of his warmth and then his powers!"

"Better ready yourself instead of turning her into a monster like yourself."

"And here I thought you like it when I absorb your warmth." Smirking, she leaned in to kiss him on his lips. "What's your plan for today?"

"Getting a quick snack, then doing some workout, then a shower and I guess I'll need to take care of our guests. Not much else to do. Leon, Sombra, Noel and the Commander are going to depart today. Will be a boring week." He sighed quietly, looking down at Luna, simply to avoid eye contact with Abigail who still kept her head close to his.

"That means you can't leave the ship. I guess that means I'll have you for myself for the entire week?" she asked him, smiling more widely. Her hand caressed his cheek.

His response followed after some hesitation. "I guess as much as I get time for that, given Sherry isn't here. I need to do everything she usually does."

"But you'll sleep here every night, right?" she asked before pecking him again.

"Only if you two don't get on my nerves," he answered in his sweetest voice.

"I'll try." A third kiss, then she stood up again and returned to the bathroom. Ezrael stared at the ceiling again, a hand gently stroking over Luna's head. Like that he remained there for another fifteen minutes until Abigail finally returned to get her Apahanta suit from the cabinet. Slipping into it, she returned to the bed. Ezrael looked over to her, watching her zipping up her suit. Her hair was styled now. Still, she looked weak. He knew she was trying to look good for him. Sighing inwardly, he took the bundle off his chest, moved a bit and placed Luna back on the warmed spot on the bed. Then he stood up.

Abigail slung her arms around him, burying her face in his neck. He had showered and smelled fruity as usual. After some hesitation, he placed his arms on her hips. She knew it was without any passion, the way he treated her, but she also knew he tried.

Since Commander Aguilar, Leon, Noel and Sombra had left for their vacation, the daily workout session was dropped and people were free to do what they wanted to. Still, when Ezrael entered the gym, there were a few faces. Lynn, Drone Pilot Trainee; Becky, Drone Pilot Trainee; Brad, Armory Officer; Mitchell, Chief Security Officer. Lynn and Becky were usually hanging out together as they were best friends from working together on bridge, piloting the Rovers, while Mitchell and Brad simply wanted to remain in shape.

The Captain moved over to one of the treadmills, looking over to the two girls that were currently just sitting on a bench, talking and giggling about something. He didn't listen. Setting up the treadmill, he took a deep breath. Then he went for the jog. The world around him was slowly fading away as he was more and more lost in his thoughts. So many things had changed since he took the Apahanta's command. He deserted from the Core, went rogue. Half of the crew died when they went out of bounds. He ended up being in a relationship with a Wild. Got a daughter from a woman that works against him. There was still a bounty on his head, so settling down was impossible. Breaking up with Maren with impossible, as the nomads would start to hunt them down for all the knowledge they have. And despite loving his daughter, he couldn't make peace with it being the child of a BIS agent. And she just reminded him about none of his close friends being on the ship right now. Leon, Sombra, Noel, Sherry, all on vacation. Unlucky timing. And then the other things, like the guests.

The jog felt good though, exhausting him slightly. After twenty minutes he realized that Becky was now on the treadmill infront of him. She was still talking with Lynn on the treadmill next to her. There were some interesting memories he had about Becky. When HOT GEAR had sent her to the job interview, and she heard it was lead by Ezrael Vertiga, she was expecting a different job. So she had prepared herself for a certain kind of casting. Instead she ended up becoming a drone pilot for the Rovers. Average piloting skills, but the Rovers weren't built for combat anyway. She did a good job at what she was supposed to do. She was also popular and kind. Sometimes she wrote articles for the internal news.

"I guess that means I'll have you for myself for the entire week?"

Again the sound of the shower, mixed with female moaning. All the sweat was washing off. It was weird, Ezrael thought, his eyes closed. There was only the wall infront of him anyway, and water would get into his eyes. He held her lower back while she was slung around him.

"I guess that means I'll have you for myself for the entire week?"

Ezrael stepped out of the shower and took his clothes while Becky remained where she was. It annoyed him that he couldn't stop thinking about Abigail's words. No matter what he did.

"I guess that means I'll have you for myself for the entire week?"

He sat in the canteen, alone at the officer's table. Nobody else was here. Just him and the PDA infront of him. Weird, he thought. Just weird. His head was slightly tilted left, supportively held by his left fist against his cheek. His eyes were aimlessly staring his right arm on the table, middlefinger slightly rubbing against the tip of his thumb. There was no focus at all. The PDA was uninteresting, just reports saying everything was green for all systems. The crew consumed the same stuff as usual. The plants of the hydroponics were ready for the harvest. Monthly medical checks were alright, only one small second degree burn from clumsily touching a hot tool in the workshop. No pregnancies, no food poisoning, no flu. It was different only for the guests.

Ezrael stretched, lifting his arms into the air, arcing his back, moving the shoulderblades. It was time to visit the guests. Wearing his Apahanta suit now, he walked down the corridor to the lift. Down. Deeper. Deeper. Lowest section of the crew quarters, currently only with restricted access. It was his ship. He could go anywhere. The four security robots surrounding him as well.

The lift doors opened up again. A few meters of walk, then he reached the meeting area of this deck. Two gallic men, two gallic women at the table, playing poker via PDA link.

"But you'll sleep here every night, right?"

"Any news on her?" Ezrael asked, a firm expression in his face as he focused one of the gallic officers. He stood up out of politeness, then shook his head. "Any requests?" The gallic officer shook his head once more. Ezrael looked at the eyes of the other officers. They had mixed expressions. None of them angry, though. Something he considered a good sign. "I've stumbled across a large pack of cigarettes in the storage. They aren't gallic, but maybe still better than nothing. Just don't forget to keep the windows closed when smoking," he sounded, taking the package out of the hands of one of the four security robots, moving closer towards the table of gallic people and placed it there. One of them nodded in appreciation.

But Ezrael didn't pay much attention. His gaze was focused on one of the doors, and he moved towards it. One of the gallic officers stood up as if Ezrael had provoked it, but the one next to him patted his shoulder, so he sat down again. Ezrael entered the room, looking at the person in the medi-bed. Then at the display. The values were in yellow. The person was stable now.

Leaving the room, Ezrael gifted the gallics a final look, then left for the lift again. The guests were fine. Fine enough. And they didn't seem to plan anything conspicious...

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