jeriendhal | Fic: Altered Trajectory (cont.) (Reply)

“Sorry, it’s a… thing, with me. I don’t care for the idea of harming the helpless.”

Rufus gave him the best ironic eyebrow lift he could manage at that moment. “Says the first officer of the pirate ship.”

Rolas frowned down on him. “We’re not pirates.” He paused. “All right, we’re not pirate right now. Melika happily retired after we got married. She only brought the Scarlet Claw out of mothballs because she was trying to figure out how the hell you managed to be in two places at once and the trail led towards Bolt Hole.”

“I’m not even going to attempt to explain that one,” Rufus told him.

“Your twin we met on the space station was from an alternate universe. We got the story from the Galapagos when we came across…” Rolas suddenly clamped his mouth shut, ears turning back in agitation as he nearly blurted out something that evidentially had to remain classified.

“Ran into one of their ships, did you?”

“I can’t discuss that.”

Which wasn’t a yes, but it wasn’t exactly a denial either. Rufus decided to let it pass for the moment. There would be plenty of opportunities for questions later. “Have you and your wife figured out what to do with us yet?”

“Not as such, no.”

“My offer still stands. We need, rather desperately, to find and talk to the Galapagos. Do that for us and the government might be willing to ignore this little peccadillo.”

“That’s Melika’s decision, not mine,” Rolas said.

Rufus pondered that for a moment. How much of the Softpaw’s little harem game was for real and how much of it was an act? Certainly Rolas didn’t look particular embarrassed by what he was wearing. Speaking of which… “Don’t you get cold in that outfit?” he asked.

Rolas’ mouth quirked up. “I take a little pill to thicken my undercoat. It’s not that chilly, really.”

“But how did you even get started in this whole affair anyway?” Long archived memories finally bubbled up to the surface. “Wait a moment. You were originally kidnapped by the Red Vixen when your ship was attacked by her, weren’t you? And you ended up marrying her?”

“That’s right.”

“That’s a rather serious case of Stockholm Syndrome, don’t you think?”

Rolas hmphed. “I didn’t really start falling for her until we met again back on Vulpine Prime. She’d dyed her fur and wore an utterly awful smelling perfume to mask her scent when I saw her in her Red Vixen persona, so I didn’t recognize her at first.”

“Just the same.”

“Understand this, Lord Ru Ofanius. Melika saved my soul and quite probably the life of my sister. Whatever else she has done, I owe her a debt for that and I will not hear you speak ill of her.”

TBC