control and everything else in his quarters was locked as well: disabled until a specific keycode was entered to release the controls once more.
Her heart sank. Did he still not trust her? Was she just a prisoner that he was using for his own amusement? Sure, he’d acted like there was something else between them, and maybe he even felt that way, but at the end of the day... she was still just a stowaway. A knot tied up her throat. She had to talk to him, to explain how she felt. To make it clear that she wasn’t using him, that she wanted to stay with him on the Sraibur no matter what she had to do on the ship.
She shook her head and slipped into the bathroom to clean up. She’d put off explaining how she felt, not wanting to deal with an uncomfortable situation in case he didn’t feel the same way, but she couldn’t just let it go. She’d let too many opportunities, too many good things, pass her by because she was scared to go after them. Well, she wasn’t going to let Faros stand between her and Nokx. No matter what he tried. If Nokx wanted to be with her and she wanted to be with him... there had to be a way.
For the first time in a long time, EJ felt like she had a plan and an actual goal. She just had to get out of Nokx’s quarters first.
EJ got dressed and paced the inside of the room, pondering when someone might come for her, and it was both an eternity and just a blink before the door chimed again. She tensed, bracing for the worst, and finally exhaled in relief to see Violet and Gemma standing there instead of another scary Xaravian.
Violet peered into the room, then smirked and tilted her head at the hall. “Why don’t we walk and talk.”
EJ blushed when she finally took in the state of the room and the bed and... everything, and slid into the hall to join them. “Uh, yeah. Dessert really... worked out.”
Gemma giggled and swung her arms as she walked behind Violet and EJ. “Violet mentioned it. I’ll have to give that a shot. They already bitch enough about paying for real coffee and chocolate... Maybe they’d be more enthusiastic about resupplying if they saw the real payout for themselves.”
“We would have delayed lunch for you,” Violet said, glancing back at Gemma with an arched eyebrow. “But you seemed rather distracted in the loading bay. Did you get a chance to eat yet, seeing as it’s dinner time?”
“No, and I’m famished. Mess hall?”
EJ followed along with the other Earthers, a little confused at why Violet fetched her instead of Nokx and a little worried about where Nokx had gotten to. There was still too much left unsaid between them; she wanted to talk to him as soon as possible. But EJ appreciated having the other females around, since it was a prime opportunity to bring them to her side with the issue of returning to the Hollbrd.
Violet brought them back to the small dining room where they’d eaten dinner and took her same chair after handing the ordering panel to Gemma, who immediately started ordering what looked like everything on the menu. It was a good thing EJ and Nokx processed all the crates in the loading bay and resupplied the food system, otherwise there wouldn’t have been anything left.
Violet put a small puck on the table and slid it over to EJ. “Take this, keep it on you. This will signal me if you run into any issues.”
“Issues?” EJ studied the small metal thing, turning it over in her hands. “Why would I need to signal you?”
“In case you run into any unexpected trouble.” Violet shrugged, studying a small panel and her comms unit. “Faros is planning something. I don’t know what it is and I’ve warned him, but I recognize the look and I wouldn’t be surprised if he does something stupid.”
EJ swallowed a knot in her throat. That didn’t sound good. She kept her attention on the puck, though, so her fear wouldn’t show too clearly. “So, uh... Out of curiosity, how did you know, with these guys, that what they do means more than just... what it is?”
She wasn’t being clear, but she didn’t know how to ask what she couldn’t even articulate to herself. EJ sank lower in her chair and debated getting more of that eye-watering